Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

The dirt ground hushed under bare feet as two little boys walked down the dark path.  It was night time, passed bedtime for sure…if they had one.

“I’m hungry!”

The younger of the two boys complained.

“We aren’t far.”

“But I’m tired!”

‘Me too.’   The older boy thought.  He had been up early, helping a neighbor take their green waste to the wharf before school.  The neighbor had promised him a little pocket money if he helped, and the boy was keen to eat today.

“We’re almost there.”

“NO! I want to go home!”

The older boy turned to his little brother in frustration.  They had been walking on the poorly lit dirt path for less than fifteen minutes and it seemed for fourteen of those minutes, his little brother had been complaining.

“You know we can’t go home, Dad’s been drinking, plus there’s no food there.”

He turned around and continued walking.  They had taken this path so many times, he could walk it with his eyes closed.

“So! He’s only angry at you!  You didn’t help him today!”

“I had to go to school.  I’ve already missed three days now.”

Frustration bubbled up in the older boy's chest.  

‘Why did he have to miss school?  Why couldn’t he stay and play like everyone else his age?’

“We are almost to Grandpa Dio’s house.  Please, let’s just keep going.”

“NO!  It’s your fault dad gets so angry, you are a bad son! Then he gets angry at me...which means you're a bad brother too!”

Angry tears started to form in the older boy’s eyes, he turned in time to see his brother drop to the ground, arms crossed over his little chest.  The older boy walked over to his little brother and squatted down in front of him.

“Do you really think I’m a bad brother?”

“Yes!”

His little brother leant forward and hit him.  It didn’t hurt physically, but the older boy felt it strike his heart deep.

“You're wearing my only pair of shoes so your feet don’t get dirty.  You're wearing my only jacket so you won’t get cold.  I got up early today to make enough money for school lunch…which I shared with you…And you say I’m a bad brother?”

“I HATE YOU!”

His little brother kicked him with his own shoes.  The older boy stood, turning quickly to walk up the dirt path alone.  This wasn’t the first, or even the tenth time his little brother forgot who took care of him when his mother was working, or their father was missing or drunk and passed out.

If he was a good person.  A good brother, it wouldn’t matter what his little brother said.  He would carry him the rest of the way.  But every time he’d done it in the past, his little brother punched and kicked him harder.  And the older boy was done being hit for the day.

His lip was already split.  His left eye was throbbing and swollen.  His head hurt from where he had been dragged by it.  His arm hurt from where it had been twisted.  His thigh hurt from where he had been kicked.  And his stomach hurt…but that was normal, he was always hungry.

Tonight he decided not to be a good person.  Leaving his little brother to scream out a list of all the reasons he hated him today.  It didn’t matter how hard he worked on the boat for his father.  The man spent ALL the money they made on alcohol.  The woman he married…his little brother’s mother, worked to pay for the roof over their heads and the water in their taps.

Hiding what little she could to buy food.  But as the older boy was not hers by blood, he was not hers to feed.  Or so she said.  His father had never minded that his wife only ever set the table for three and not four.  So the older boy learnt very quickly to eat whenever he got the chance.

His ‘family’ lived in a two bedroom apartment on the second largest merling island.  He and his little brother had once shared rooms, until he started putting school before being his father’s slave.  He had failed too many exams, and was being teased about being held back again.

The older boy was already teased for being poor.  For being dirty.  For smelling like fish.  For dressing in ripped clothing.  For carrying his school things in a plastic bag.  For being covered in bruises.  None of that he could truly help.  But being teased for being dumb?  That he could fix.

He had stayed after class to read in the school library.  He had walked to the public library after school and stayed there until it closed.  He left early before his father woke up and did yard work for neighbours to earn money for food.  He even spent a weekend going from house to house, offering to wash peoples cars, in hopes he could make enough money to buy some old school exercise books and a bigger pair of shoes, he’d seen at the secondhand shop in town.

The same shoes that were on his little brother’s feet.  The jacket he had found in the library’s Lost & Found box.  It had been sitting there for three weeks before he finally took it.  One of the pockets had a hole in it, and there was a stain on the sleeve, but it was still the nicest thing he owned.

With all his studying and hard work, came the benefits.  His very first A !  The older boy had been so proud of himself, staring at the mark like he’d won a prize.  A few more of them and school wouldn’t hold him back another grade again.  Unfortunately for the older boy, his good mood was short-lived when he went home and found his things on the overgrown lawn.

His punishment for choosing school over fishing for his father had resulted in him being kicked out of the house.  So, with his plastic bags of clothes and books, the older boy walked to Grandpa Dio’s house and stayed with him…until his father dragged him to the fishing trawler one morning.

Sniffles and sobs could be heard a few feet behind him as his little brother followed him down the dirt path.  He refused to look back.

“M-m-my feet -h-hurt…”

He ignored his brother.

“I said m-my feet hurt…”

He walked a little faster.

“Slow d-down!”

He spun on his feet and watched his little brother slowly catch up to him.  Dragging his feet across the dry dirt path.

“My feet hurt.”

“So do mine.”

His little brother sniffled, wiping snot on his jacket.

“C-carry me.”

“What?

“My feet hurttttt.  Carrrrrrryyyyy mmeeee!”

He stared at his little brother.

“No.”

His little brother blinked at him, confused.  He had never said no before.

“You said I’m a bad brother.  So I’ll be a bad brother…”

The older boy turned and started walking away.

“I HATE YOU!!!  I WISH YOU WOULD JUST DIE!!!  I HATE YOU FOREVER!!!”

The older boy had felt guilty, but the sting of his little brother’s angry words had him facing forward.  His sore body was taking one step at a time.  His little brother’s whining and wailing stopped the second they got to Grandpa Dio’s house.

Grandpa Dio was sitting on his little stool outside his small shack.  He stood slowly and greeted them kindly.  He wasn’t really their grandpa, just one of the many elders that took in abandoned sons.  He had always been old.  But now he seemed smaller…more fragile.  

The older boy sat at the small wooden table, listening to his little brother complain to Grandpa Dio about everything being his older brother’s fault.  The list was long.  And although the older boy knew most of it wasn’t his fault.  He still felt immense guilt for being labeled lazy, rude…a troublemaker.

He sat there, quietly.  Listening to Grandpa Dio tell him to be kinder to his little brother.  Waves of anger, disappointment, guilt and loneliness built up inside him, only to pull back like the tide.  He stared at the grilled fish and plain rice Grandpa Dio had given him for their dinner.  Wondering when would his little brother be told to be kinder to him?

“I’m still hungry…”

“Ohhh I don’t have any more sorry, Sun.  But I’m sure your big brother will share with you.”

The older boy looked at his untouched meal.  Then looked at Grandpa Dio, who nodded to him with kind encouragement.  Feeling helpless, but not wanting to disappoint Grandpa Dio, the older boy pushed his meal over to his little brother, and watched as it quickly disappeared.  When his little brother finished his meal, the older boy sat at the small wooden table, staring at the empty space in front of him.

“I’m still hungryyyy…”

Grandpa Dio chuckled, ruffling his little brother’s head.  He cleared the dishes and laid a sleeping mat and blanket for them to share.  When they were settled, Grandpa told them a story of mermaids and gullible fishermen.  Of sea monsters the size of mountains and ugly sirens with beautiful voices.

As the elderly man spoke, he walked over to an old set of draws.  Pulling out a little tin of medicinal ointment.  Grandpa Dio very gently applied the ointment to the older boy’s cut lip, bruised eye and bruised arm.  His little brother watched while slowly taking all of the blanket for himself.

Grandpa Dio stood up on shaky legs, joints popping as he groaned.  The older boy lay still, staring at the ceiling.  He was cold, sore, and hungry.  But none of it compared to the emptiness he felt.  Had he done wrong in a past life?

“Mmmm…so warm.”

His little brother rolled back and forth as he cocooned himself in their only blanket.  The older boy turned his head to stare at his brother, who smiled smugly at him from his side of the mat.

“You said I was a bad brother.”

His little brother ignored him.

“You said you hated me and wished I was dead.”

Still his little brother ignored him.  The older boy stared at his brother until the smaller boy finally turned his head to look at him.

“Every time I look at you, I’ll remember those words.”

His little brother stared at him, but before he had a chance to reply, the older boy stood and walked out, grabbing his shoes and jacket.

“Hey!  You can’t take those!”

Outside Grandpa Dio sat on his little stool, smoking.

“Thank you, Grandpa.”

He said quietly.

“You are always welcome.  But it is past bedtime, get some rest.”

The older boy put on his shoes and jacket, before turning back to the older man.  He was smiling kindly at him.  It made the boy think of how nice his life had been before his father claimed him.  There wasn’t much to go around, but they made do.

The words were on the tip of his tongue.  ‘Everyone hated me.  Everything hurts.’

Grandpa Dio stood up, cupping his head gently, before hugging him.  The older boy wanted to enjoy the hug.  When was the last time he was hugged?  A few birthdays ago?  Who hugged him then?

‘Tell him you don’t want to live with a dad that uses you for free labor!’

Grandpa Dio pulled away, patting his cheek softly.

‘Tell him you don’t want to live with that woman that holds no place for him!’

The older boy stared into the elderly man’s large black eyes.

‘Tell him you don’t want to live with a little brother that hates you!’

He opened his mouth.  Grandpa Dio smiled at him.

“Yes?”

‘Tell him you don’t want to live anymore!  Tell him!  Tell him!’

The words were there.  Right on the tip of his tongue.  But the only thing that come out was;

“I love you, Grandpa.”

The elderly man smiled and patted his cheek once more.

“I know you do, sweet boy.  Come…it’s time for bed.”

When Grandpa Dio turned, the older boy walked away.

“Where are you going?  Mut?  Mahasamut!”

Mut ran to the beach.  The very same one he’d been abandoned on when he was a baby.  It was where he always went when he wanted to escape.  When he was really young, he used to sit on the beach for hours, looking at the water, hoping his mother would come back for him.  But she never did.  Mut didn’t truly know who his mother actually was.  The merlings only took their daughters.  They, at least, were worthy of keeping.  

Sitting on the cold sand, Mut rubbed the little scar on his wrist.  He had a matching scar on his hip.  

Eight years ago, when he’d been abandoned by his mother, and unclaimed by his father, he had been left on this beach to die.  Only found by Grandpa Dio when his wails of pain carried to where the elderly man was walking that morning.  By the time Mut had finally been found, the crabs had already started eating him…

The chill in the air was the only indication that winter was approaching.  Soon his father would be anchoring his trawler and falling directly into a bottle for the next three months.  There was probably only one or two more days left before the waters closed for winter.  

Meaning food and clean water would be scarce for him.  Mut wished he didn’t feel too guilty to steal.  He had tried it once.  Being so hungry he slipped an apple into his pocket from the market.  He brought it back to the fruit and veg seller, placing it gently in the box it came from.

Mut went back the next day and asked to work for food.  He worked from the early morning to the mid afternoon when the stall closed.  And was given a box of fruit and vegetables for his efforts.  Happy and relieved, he went home to show his family.

That night, as he watched his step-mother cook with the vegetables he brought home, Mut found himself confused when there was still no place at the table with his family.  He had gone to bed hungry once again, unable to understand what he had done to be excluded, and what he needed to do to earn a place at his family's table…

Taking off his shoes and jacket.  Mut walked to the ocean’s edge.  What would be in that deep darkness tonight?  A shark?  A leviathan?  A monster that would see a little boy as an easy snack?

Should he fill his pockets with stones first?  Would it matter?

Mahasamut took one step forward, then another.  The black water making him shiver as it slowly soaked into his thin clothing.  At heads deep, Mut felt the terror of the dark water around him

‘Would it hurt?’

‘Did you matter?’

He thought about it more and more.  A few moments of pain, then nothing.  No more hunger.  No more bruising and broken limbs.  No more loneliness.  And, as Mut swam lazily in the dark ocean, he could admit; it was the loneliness that hurt the most.  He was always alone.  Even in a room full of students.  Even at home with his…family.

The moon had been full three days ago.  But with the clear skies, the moon shone bright across the water, creating a silver blanket that rippled.  As pretty as it was, he couldn’t shake the feeling of nervousness as the time passed.

His muscles were starting to ache as the cold water slowly froze him.  Drowning hadn’t been his top way to go.  But maybe the cold would send him to sleep?  Honestly, he just hoped it would be quick.  

Turning his head around, Mut looked at the dark mounds that were the ‘breeding’ islands and decided to swim for between them.  How long would it take to get to the triangles edge before tiring?

With a new goal in mind, Mut swam hard for the middle.  His legs were trying to kick off the concrete that seemed to set in his leg muscles.  Soon his arms felt heavy…his chest burnt from the exertion.  Looking around, it felt like he had gotten nowhere.  Too far from his island home, but not far enough to the line.

Wiping away the salt water stinging his eyes, Mut watched the moonlight on the calm black water.

‘Why was this taking so long?’

‘Maybe the monsters don’t want him either…’

Mut drifted back.  Letting his arms and legs spread out to drift on the water like a starfish.  The moon was so bright.  And the stars!  There were so many.  Looking like some giant god threw glitter into the sky.  From where he floated, those stars made him feel really small.  Insignificant…

One single hot tear fell down the side of Mut’s face.  Before another joined it.  Soon, tears began to fall easily as Mut let himself fall into his own emptiness.  That huge bottomless cavern where his heart should be.  He wanted to curl up inside it and disappear forever.  But it was lonely there!  He was always so lonely.

Mut’s silent tears turned it sniffles then eventually brokenhearted sobs.

‘Please…please…I don’t want to be alone anymore!  If there are any gods listening.  Please…can I have someone?  Anyone!  I promise I won’t be picky.  Please…please…’

When his crying finally subsided, and he felt his exhaustion finally take over, Mut pushed his body down once more, hoping the journey back to the beach would be quick.  He looked around the black waters once more before turning towards home.

Mut’s body jolted in the water.  Fear filling his veins faster than any ice water could.  

In front of him, was a head.  It was pale in the moonlight, with dead pale eyes that shone in the dark and a large flat beak that took up most of its face.  The ugly creature stared at him, before its horrifying mouth opened, showing long thin needle-like teeth.

On instinct, Mut slammed his hands into it, but his body had frozen.  Before he could scream, the creature moved forward, and Mut was suddenly pulled under the water…

Chapter Text

Far, far away from the merling islands.  Deep down in an icy, black trench, survived a little siren.  

After a long day of chores, the little siren had been given to his younger sisters to serve as a target while they practiced their hunting skills.  Years of being used as easy prey had given the little siren plenty of time to perfect the best hiding spots around the trench…no matter where they cornered him.  

Finding himself trapped after seven of his younger sisters were joined by nine of his younger cousins.  They had ‘accidently’ killed their brother, and now had no one to torment.  And although he couldn’t have imagined a worse death to endure…at least his male cousin was finally free from his siblings.  

Squeezing his thin frame in between two broken walls of ancient black coral.  The little siren spent hours out of his kin’s reach.  It was a tight fit, making it hard to breathe, but it was better than what they had planned for him.  His sisters were cruel, but his cousins were vile.  And it was that fact alone that had forced him to stay right where he was.

When the coral beds began to fade into darkness.  The little siren continued to wait, hoping his family would grow bored with the hunt.  Deep into the night, when the cold finally became too much for him to bear, the little siren swam back to his mother’s cave.  

Moving side to side, he avoided going near the entrances to caves belonging to the other sirens.  Some of the elders were too lazy to leave their caves and hunt for themselves, choosing instead to drag in the younger child and eat them.

Silently, he slipped into his mother’s cave on high alert.  Waiting for the attack.  It was never a relief to be home, but his tiny hovel protected him from most things.  He was thin enough to fit through the gap, which curved up into an open pocket.  The stone was threaded with tiny cracks that released hot water, making his little hovel the warmest place in the entire trench…that he knew of.

The little siren kept close to the ceiling, moving through the jagged hallways as quietly as he could.  He was almost to his tiny hovel when, in the darkness, his mother snatched him around the tail and yanked him down hard.  Smashing him into a sharp rock that stuck out from the hallway wall.  Panic overtook his senses as his older sisters pinned him down.

For not letting his younger sisters catch him in their hunt; the little siren received one cut to his hand; slicing the webbing between two fingers.  A painful and gut-churning punishment, he spent the rest of the night and most of that morning, tucked in his tiny hovel, nursing his hand, while his heart filled with fresh misery.

Like their merling cousins, sirens discarded their male offspring at birth.  Not because they couldn’t swim or live under the ocean.  Because they could…granted, they were smaller, slower…weaker.  They were discarded because siren males were sterile, and therefore useless.

Both male and female sirens were born with micro thin membranes between their fingers and caudal fin.  This webbing was so fine, it looked almost invisible, and its sole purpose was to give each siren speed when moving.  When cut, the membrane dies off, slowing that siren.

And a slow siren is a dead siren.

Higher ranking sirens; the females that had higher successes in breeding, kept a son or two as a servant, to raise their babies while their older daughters went out to hunt.  After a successful season of nesting, a celebration was held.  Where one or two male sirens were taken up to the Great Open, to be cut, hunted and killed for sport.

It was a nightmare the little siren had every few nights.  Knowing that if he survived his sisters, the Great Open hunt was to be his eventual fate…

When his damaged webbing finally died off, and he could move his hand without the throbbing pain, the little siren slipped from his tiny hovel, in search of food.  That afternoon, he found himself surrounded by his sisters once again.  And this time he let them catch him quickly, unable to mentally cope with another cutting.  

Their reward for catching him was to take turns cutting off his short hair.  Never missing a chance to ‘accidently’ cut his pale skin in the process.  It hurt terribly, each nick of their blades into his flesh stung like poison.  But what hurt the most…was each one of the sisters holding a blade, he raised from a babe.  Each one he nurtured, fed, comforted…now, all laughing and fluttering around him while they cut pieces off him.

That night, the little siren tucked himself as far back as he could in his tiny hovel and curled up his tail to hold tight.  He felt that if he didn’t hold onto something, his mind would fall into a million pieces, never to be pulled back together.  The new wounds on his head and neck felt so excruciating, the pain throbbed from his head, over his shoulders and down his spine.

Unable to bear leaving his tiny hovel, the little siren stayed curled around himself.  He was starving, but the risk of another hunting party had him beside himself with dread.  Rocking himself for an ounce of comfort.  He pretended his arms; which were wrapped tight around him, belonged to someone else…someone that cared for him.  He had no more hair to cut.  And the little siren was terrified his sisters would start cutting his wings.

One morning, when the Jurassic coral began to glow bright and illuminate the ancient ruins that were once a human city.  The little siren crawled from his tiny hovel, wincing as the cold water passed over his open cuts.  They were no longer bleeding, but they stung something fierce.

His mother had left before the coral began to glow, taking all eighteen of his sisters with her.  They would learn to hunt, sing and seduce.  They would fight to the death over their human prizes and come back pregnant with a clutch.

With an empty cave, the little siren slept when he could, scrounging outside the cave entrance for small crabs and isopods.  Hiding when he felt the water shift, signaling that another siren was in the area.

No siren was allowed in the cave of another without permission.  So with his mother and sisters gone, for the first time in a long time, his home was safe for him.  As time passed by the little siren’s wounds and red bruises began to heal.  His hair grew in small patches where there were no scars, and he was getting used to the missing web between his fingers.

The little siren had taken to swimming around the inside of his mother’s cave.  The main hall was large enough for him to swim freely in a circle…over and over, faster and faster.  With his family gone, it was an empty relief.  He was still free game for the others if he got caught outside his mother’s cave.

He could live without them for sure.  Without the traffic coming in and out of the cave, more and more sea life became bolder.  It was getting easier for the little siren to find a meal.  But as much as he enjoyed his family’s abstinence, the longer they stayed away, the more likely another siren would risk taking this cave for themselves.

There were thousands of caves in the black trench, but none were as large or as warm as those that could be found on the lowest levels.  There, the stone was the warmest, with heat flowing from the cracks.  To seek the warmest cave always ended in a fight to the death, and there had only been a few younger fearless sirens that had challenged his mother for it.

His mother was the strongest fighter, the strongest breeder.  If that wasn’t enough to keep others from taking what was hers in her abstinence, then the knowledge that she also possessed dark powers was enough to keep them in line.  

Her ability to siphon the life of one to extend her own, made way for a heartless ritual she continued with one daughter from every clutch she had.  His mother could summon violent storms or curse households with sterility.  Worst of all, his mother came from a long line of ‘Callers’.

When he was much younger, the little siren would listen to his mother spin stories to his sisters at night.  Callers were once gifted priestesses, whose sole purpose was to worship and feed the great sea-serpent; Lernaean...a multi-headed dragon with regeneration powers and venomous breath.

She said, the ruins that littered their trench, was once a grand ancient city of white stone.  A place where humans and the people of the sea could come in peace.  But peace was destroyed when a merling fell in love with the city’s prince.  That prince took her to wife, only to spurn her a year later for the affections of a young siren.  The love triangle ultimately caused a rift between merlings and sirens.

When the prince took his siren love to wife, the weak-minded merling threw herself from the castle’s tallest tower, dying on the rocks below.  The merlings took their fallen daughter, leaving the city waters.  In an act of pettiness, they poisoned the coral around the city.  Causing the fish and other sea creatures to leave.  They spun lies about the sirens, causing other sea people to turn their backs on them.

Fishermen were coming back to the city empty handed.  The closest continent to them was too far to travel without food spoiling.  The city’s people slowly began to go hungry.  It wasn’t long before famine caused anger and panic.  To save his own skin, the prince turned on his siren wife.  Spewing lies that she was a witch, that she seduced him with her voice.  Sirens that live within the city walls were captured by its people.  They and their children were slaughtered and cooked to feed the city.

Before the siren princess took her own life, she sang out to her mother and aunts; long lived Callers.  She begged for their vengeance, and the next morning, horror was met with horror as the siren’s mother called on the giantess Lernaean.  The seas were pulled from the city’s shores before a nine headed serpent charged forward on a mountain of waves.

The Lernaean crushed the city into pieces, sweeping the ocean over it to clear out the human filth, breaking the earth until a deep trench was formed.  In their victory, the sirens decided to make the broken city and the trench their new home.  Over time, the coral that had been uncovered by the opening of the trench began to die out…as if it too was poisoned.  Leaving nothing but the old white and red veined coral that still clung to life.

The same coral that lined the ceiling of his mother’s cave as the little siren moved to the entrance, desperate to relieve himself.  He had waited until all the coral darkened for the night before slipping out into the open.  On a normal night, he would relieve himself above the cave’s entrance, but the current was a little rough that night.  So as quietly as he could, the little siren made his way up the cave’s outer walls, and let go.

Up above him, the glow of an anglerfish caught his attention.  He watched it, freezing his body still.  They weren’t dangerous to him, but they were curious creatures.  And had a tendency to give the location away to sirens hunting a hidden male in the dark.  Slowly as he could, the little siren swam back to his mother’s cave.  Clawed fingers feeling his way as he navigated the black tunnels.

Inside the first hall, he felt it.  The shift of water around him.  It was a single…no…multiples.  The water flickered and curled around him.  The little siren silently crawled up the cave wall, careful not to touch the coral that burnt bright when irritated.  Feeling as he went, he eventually found his tiny hovel and curled himself inside, heart pounding in his chest, lungs struggling to pull in the water around him.

His family was home…

In his tiny hovel, there was a long coned stone that protruded out.  The little siren would tuck his hip behind the stone, curling his tail up to cuddle it as he slept.  The stone anchored him to the back of the hovel.  Too many times had he seen a younger sister drift from her bunk, only for another sister to kill her for her collection; items that they found on their adventures.

Knowing the lack of mercy his sisters had for him, the little siren hid deep in the back.  Every so often, waking to the change of water rippling around him, only to see one of his sister’s hands trying to reach for him as he slept.

Lucky for him, that morning the cave was silent as his sisters slept.  He slipped from his hovel and waited.  When he felt no movement in the cave, he set off to silently make his way out to relieve himself before looking for a quick meal.

Looking up, down and side to side, the little siren floated up before he sighed in relief.  Gently sweeping his long tail, so that the mess would dissolve away from the cave’s entrance.  Turning back down, he moved along the cave entrance looking for something to eat, while constantly checking around for danger.

A pale crab was scourging away quickly, and with a light flick of his tail, the little siren snatched it from the wall.  It was small, but small was always better than nothing.  He was quick to eat, never wanting to make his food suffer.  Pressing his back to the stone wall, the little siren looked around him, there was nothing but cold sand and darkness outside the coral growth.

Movement above caught his attention.  Looking around, the little siren spotted a large jellyfish.  It looked injured, and an easy catch.  Eyes focused on his target, he shot up, grabbing the top of the jelly.  He bit into it, chewing quickly.  Jellies didn’t come down his low.  They were soft and somehow still crunchy.  The texture felt nice and light as he bit into its flesh.

Peering at it in his hands, the pale creature was missing half its tentacles.  One or two would have been fine.  But half had him stop mid-chew.  The little siren looked up in time to see a braided cord thrown down around him.  Lifting his hands on instinct, he caught the cord before it tightened completely around his neck.  Panic hit him physically as his oldest sister pulled him up and up.  The little siren struggled, digging his claws into the braided cord, wearing it down strand by strand.

Images of the white stone city falling under the waves and down to its final resting place flash through his head.  As hundreds of sirens rose from their caves to swim towards the pit; once a coliseum for humans, now a crumpled ruin.  The other sirens were talking excitedly to each other and he was catching snippets of it.

The little siren saw the images of thousands of humans floating in the water amongst the broken debris.  Ripped apart by hungry sirens long since gone.  He saw the memories of sirens sharing images of their past seductions, mating with humans only to pull them down to their deaths.  Laughing from below as they struggled to swim to the surface.

Feeling as if his anxiety could stop his heart any moment…a mass gathering was never a good thing.  Above the pit, floated twelve seasoned sirens.  One his mother, eleven were his sisters.  It looked like the sister that held him was the only young one to survive the hunt.  Images from her mind, brushed against his, showing him the chaos of it all.

A storm; created by his mother.  A human vessel tipping.  Dead fish and ice slipping into the water.  His mother spinning around, ordering her oldest daughters to kill the other sirens while her youngest ‘saved’ the humans.  

He saw flashes of bloody water as his sisters pulled two screaming human females to their death.  Another human vessel came close, only for his sisters to attack it, using their claws to pierce and bend the hard material around it.

His sisters and mother had fought to the death for the twelve males they now held in their arms.  One by one, they ripped open the chest of their chosen human, and with sharp claws, they cut out the heart.  A cold nauseating feeling started to roll over the little siren.  

‘There was no reason for him to be at this gathering.  None at all!’

He had seen the images of the horror humans could inflict on sirens if they were slow enough to be caught.  He knew they were evil creatures from what he had been shown.  And yet, he still couldn’t stomach the brutality of his mother and sister’s ripping open the humans like crabs.

‘Were they not partly human too?  Was that where the cruel streak in his sisters came from?’

Human males were used for breeding, as male sirens were born infertile.  The little siren had seen the images his older sisters had shared with each other in their mother’s cave.  They would crawl on land, letting their skin dry until their bodies changed.  Their long elegant tail was transformed into alien looking legs.  Their limbs and nails shortened, their skin changed from pale white to…well, they just looked more human.

They walked on those two legs, wandering the beach and island town until they found a male they liked.  Most were simple enough, drawn by a siren’s naked beauty.  But some needed to be sung to, seduced into laying down, and staying quiet.

Although sirens seem to disdain humans in general, the act of mating itself looked to bring them much joy…sometimes.  There were even some sirens that kept their humans on small islands, sharing them over and over until the human’s mind broke or they starved to death.

When a siren was pregnant with a clutch, they normally would drag the human down to his death.  Celebrating their successful union by eating their…hearts.

A terrifying realization struck the little siren.  If his mother and sisters were pregnant, they’d all go into nesting.  His sister that held the other end of the braided cord didn’t need him to take care of her…which meant his days were numbered.

With his heart beating wildly, he watched his mother and sisters finish eating their human’s hearts, before tossing the dead bodies to the sirens below as a gift.  Hundreds swarmed, fighting and shredding the bodies in an excited flurry.  The little siren saw that his younger sister was no longer holding the other end of the cord and he pulled at it, loosening the threads until it floated down below him.

Before him was chaos as the sirens fed.  Blood clouded the area, attracting larger predators.  The little siren looked up, and saw the face of mother.  Her pale eyes stared straight at him.  In that moment, he saw an image of himself being cut and taken out to the Great Open, where they would hunt him one final time.

He lowered his head in defeat.  Only looking back up when he saw his mother become distracted by the fighting.  He moved before thinking, swimming as hard and fast as he could.  Pregnant, his mother and sisters couldn’t risk chasing him and exerting themselves.  But once the others were finished eating, they would hunt him down.

The little siren swam until he reached the end of the ancient coral, then shot straight up into the deep blue of the Great Open.  Fear of the unknown was washed over by the gruesome reality that if he didn’t flee now, he would die a painful death.  For the moment, all he could do was put as much space between him and his family as possible.

Chapter Text

Word had spread around the islands that his father had refused to pay his workers.  Soon, it was near impossible for his father to find anyone willing to work for next to nothing.  Which made him desperate enough to seek out Mut.  

The night he was pulled under the water by that monster, Mut returned home that morning, only to be beaten for leaving his brother at grandpa’s.  His little brother had watched from the driveway, coming over while Mut heaved in painful breaths while nursing broken ribs.  Snatching Mut’s jacket out of his hand before running inside the house.  Bloody, and broken, Mut limped to his friend Khom’s house. 

For the year that followed, Khom’s mother hid Mut away every time his father came by their house looking for him.  With Mut gone, his little brother had become their father’s new punching bag.  He had seen the bruises when they passed each other at school.

Had his little brother not been wearing his jacket, perhaps Mut’s guilt for not being there to take those punches would have been stronger.  Yet…he still remembered grandpa’s speech on forgiveness every time he thought about his little brother.  He missed his grandpa, who had passed away a few months after Mut’s ninth birthday.

He used to say “Sometimes we must be the one to first offer kindness.  To lead by example in forgiveness.”  

‘Did that mean if Mut wasn’t the first to forgive and be kind to his brother, his brother would turn out bad?’

So, when his brother threw rocks at his head at school.  Mut kicked the rocks aside and forgave him.

When his brother spread rumors that Mut got kicked out of the house for doing drugs.  And stole money from his mother.  Mut lost what little friends he had, and still forgave him.

When his brother poured old milk in his torn school bag, destroying his school books.  Mut washed off his things and forgave him.

When his brother pushed him onto the road…in front of an oncoming car.  Mut climbed to his feet, brushed himself off and cracked his brother in the face so hard it broke his jaw.

His stepmother had wanted to press charges, but there were too many witnesses that saw Sun push Mut in front of the car.  It didn’t help that he was screaming “JUST FUCKING DIE!” before Mut landed the first and final blow.

That night, Mut visited his little brother in the hospital, sneaking in after hours.  Sun was rugged up, sitting comfortably in front of a TV; watching cartoons.  He looked shocked and frightened when he saw Mut climb through his window.

Walking over to his little brother, Mut watched as the boy cowered in the massive hospital bed.

“I don’t want to hurt you…I never ever thought I would to be honest.”

Mut stared at his brother, before walking over and grabbing his jacket.  He sat at the end of Sun’s bed, looking at the material of his jacket before spotting his brother’s name written in black marker on the label.  He laughed without humor, flicking the label.

“I used to dream of having a family.  I remember the day father collected me, bringing me home.  I was so nervous, but then I met you.  And suddenly I had a little brother.  Even though you were only two years younger than me, I felt responsible for you.  I wanted to protect you and make you happy.  So when dad got angry, I put myself in front of you.  When you were hungry, I gave you my food.  When you were cold, I gave you my clothes, my blankets.  When you were struggling to read in class, I stayed up and read with you at night so you wouldn’t fall behind.”

His little brother huffed.  Tears of anger, falling down his face.

“Grandpa used to say I had to be the bigger person.  To show you what forgiveness and kindness really is…but after today, after what you did…I’m low on kindness.  So, from now on; if you push me, I’ll push you back harder.  If you lie about me, I’ll tell the truth about you.  I’ll tell Mr. Goer what really happened to his dog, and where your mother buried it.  I’ll tell your friend Jimmy where his piggy-bank really went, and what you spent his money on.”

Hatred filled his little brother’s eyes as Mut spoke.

“Our father is stupid and cruel.  Your mother is stupid and selfish.  And you’re growing up to be stupid, cruel and selfish…like them.”

Mut leaned close to his little brother.

“It makes me feel sorry for you to be honest.  So I forgive you.”

Mut stood, placing his jacket on the bed.

“You can keep the jacket.  It’s the last kindness you’ll ever get from me now.”

It was another beautiful sunny day on the water but Mahasamut’s mood was dark and gloomy.  After his 11th birthday, Mut had spent the month couch hopping between Khom and Type’s house, hoping to avoid his father; who’d been struggling to find workers.  Every time their paths crossed, Mut was dragged to the boat and forced to work until he could escape.

His father stormed into his school during class.  Hungover and probably still drunk.  He screamed abuse into Mut’s face, before taking a swing at his teacher.  Mrs. Hin fell flat to the floor in shock, and when Mut tried to help her up, his father grabbed a handful of his long hair, dragging him all the way to the docks.  

Mut tried to twist out of his father’s grip, but was given several punches to the gut before he gave up.  That was three days ago now.  His father had tied him to the boat, refusing to give him food and even water if he didn’t keep casting out the nets.

Today he was tired, sun burnt and dehydrated.  The blisters on his shoulders stung under the hot sun.  The blisters and cuts on his hands looked raw and a little infected.  His head was pounding and his throat hurt like he had swallowed a razor blade.

“Fuck! Something is twisting the nets!  Pull them back!”

Obeying reluctantly, Mahasamut started to pull the nets back to the boat.  Sharp pains raced up his arms each time the ropes rubbed on an open blister.  As the netting got closer, it was easy to see what the issue was.  A dugong was tangled in the nets.

“Fucking stupid animals!”

Mahasamut’s father grabbed a wooden club from behind the helm, and lent over the side to hit the poor creature.

“NO!”

Mahasamut pushed his father out of the way.  Making a split call to jump into the water and with his small knife, cut the fishing net, freeing the trapped dugong.  As the creature swam off, Mahasamut started swimming back to the boat.  His fingers barely touched the top of the ladder, before he felt an explosion of red blinding pain to his back.

Looking up, Mahasamut saw his father holding the wooden club high, ready to take another swing.

“What is wrong with you!”

Mut jumped away from the boat, feeling the air swing pass him as his father’s club narrowly missed his head.

“You stupid little shit!  You useless fucking child!”

Mut watched as his father angrily pulled up the fishing net, cursing his son as he inspected the holes he made.  His father stomped back to the helm and started the boat.

A cold fear ran down Mut's body.  

‘His father surely wouldn't drive off?’

Swimming through the pain in his back, Mut quickly reached for the ladder, only for it to be pulled out from his grasp.  He stared wildly at the side of the boat, thinking furiously on how he could get back on it.

“If you love them so much, you can live with them!”

“You can’t leave me out here!”

“Watch me!”

Mut swum around the boat as fast as the pain in his body would allow.  His headache was starting to cause his vision to go black.  He kicked as hard as he could to the other side, hoping to grab onto the anchor’s chain.  But the boat was already moving before he could reach it.

He floated there, watching in horror and disbelief as his father actually left him.  Mut kept thinking ‘any minute, he’s going to turn around…he’s just bluffing.’   But when he lost sight of the boat, his panic turned to misery.  Tears fell from his stinging eyes as Mut tried desperately to keep his hysteria at bay.

There was no fishing allowed inside the merling perimeter.  And the last island Mut had seen was one of five outer islands, still forty-five minutes away from the smallest breeding island in the triangle.  

Looking around, Mut was floating in open water, outside the guarded lines of home.  The chances of a merling coming across him were slim, but with the bloody cuts to his hands, chances were higher he’d be found by something else.

The only land was the outer islands, it was a mere speck on top of the water.  He had to swim for it.  Even if there was no chance he’d make it.  Mut had to believe a merling would come along.  Maybe even another fishing boat…

With the closest outer island as his target, Mut swam straight for it.  But every time he looked up, he wasn’t any closer to it.  The water’s current was getting stronger as the sun sat low.  How long had he been swimming for?  His body felt exhausted, his back and shoulders felt numb.  It was getting harder and harder to move his arms.

He was going to die out here.  His father had really left him for dead.  Another fishing trawler had passed them yesterday morning.  Mut had waited for his father to turn before he signaled to the other men passing them.  He held up the rope still tied to his foot.  The men had just turned to themselves, ignoring him.

His father had been warned once when he put Mut in the hospital with a dislocated shoulder.  The neighbor that called the police had his house burnt down a week later.  His father was on the water that day, so no one could blame him.  But everyone knew he did it.

Mut froze in the water.  Still as stone.  He was watching a grey fin glide over the water’s edge.

‘Not a dolphin…’

He prayed to any god that might be listening, ‘please…just swim away.’  A sob shook his entire body as the fin rose and rose.  This wasn't some small reef shark.  It was circling him, smelling him, waiting for the right moment to take a curious bite.

Mut hadn’t tried to kill himself since that night when he was eight.  He’d thought he was ready, but the moment that ugly thing pulled him under.  He fought tooth and nail, passing out from the lack of air.  Only to wake up at sunrise on the beach.

He wasn’t ready to die then.  And he wasn’t ready to die now…

Mut reached down to grab his pocket knife, only to realize, in his haste to swim for his father’s boat, he’d dropped it.  The shark was getting closer, that fin glided smoothly through the ripples, dipping down.  Mut waited, breath held.  But the fin never resurfaced.

What was more terrifying than seeing a shark in open water?  Losing sight of it.

Mut slowly spun around, not only to avoid making too much movement in the water that would excite the shark, but because his body was struggling to even stay afloat.  Eyes darting back and forth, he saw nothing.

Suddenly movement behind his shoulder made him gasp as the shark struck at him with an open mouth.  Tiger shark, he knew it from its flat nose.  But the jagged razor teeth had Mut frozen in place.  Even his brain seemed to go blank.

Something grabbed his ankle, pulling him under the water.  It caused the shark to miss him, but it was a near thing.  Feeling its large body swim over his head.  Mut felt his middle being taken a hold of, lifting him once again to the surface.

When his head broke free of the water, he sucked in as much air as he could. Coughing when salt water was sucked in.  He looked around, spotting what had grabbed him.

‘That thing!’

In the afternoon light, Mut could see it looked just as hideous as he remembered it.  With pale skin and dead white eyes.  It was too close for comfort, and he tried to swim away, but the muscles in his arms were giving up.  His headache throbbed from behind his eyes to the back of his skull.  He felt like he was going to be sick.

The ugly thing struck out, making Mut’s eyes grow wide in fright.  It hit the shark that had suddenly appeared from behind him.  The ugly creature pulled Mut against him, its other arm out in front, pushing at the angry shark as it tried to get him.  

Exhausted, scared and losing the will to stay awake, Mut clung to the creepy creature for dear life.  Its body jerked under his a few times, arm striking out to push the shark away from them, until it was still in the water.

Mut blinked a few times, before resting his head against the creature's shoulder.  Seeing red ribbon-like wings floating in the water from its back.  It was grotesquely thin, with its spine and ribs protruding under thin, pale white skin.

Closing his eyes when he felt the creature move.  They were gliding through the water quickly.  Every so often it would tap him.  Mut had quickly learnt that it meant “take a deep breath”.  Almost drowning the first time it happened.

Each time they dipped down under the water, the ugly creature shot through the water like a missile.  Only lifting him above the surface long enough to take a few breaths, before diving back down.

When they finally stopped, Mut threw up.  His head hurt so bad that even when he opened his eyes, he saw next to nothing.  The ugly creature cooed at him gently.  Its voice was soft, gentle.  It didn’t match the hideousness of its face.

The creature rubbed his back gently, moving them away from the bile he’d vomited up.  It's cold hands touched his neck and face, and for a split second, Mut felt a little better.  Looking around, Mut saw that not only were they now in the merling perimeter, they were in the middle of the island's triangle!

‘How fast was this thing?!’

Relief consumed him all the way to his toes.  And when he closed his eyes, thanking the gods, he opened them to see three merlings surrounding them.  Dark in their beauty, they looked to be talking to the pale creature.  Or at least communicating with it.

No words passed between them, but the ugly creature swam slowly to the closest merling, gently handing Mut over to her.  He held on to her tanned shoulders, turning to look at the creepy thing that had saved him…again.

Mut studied its face, thinking it's mouth wasn’t as massive as he had once remembered.  Although its cheek bones pointed sharply down, giving it a beak-like face.  It had red frills on its neck, the same color as the ‘wings’ on its back.

‘Gods it was ugly!’

Its pale dead eyes moved to him, then nodded, before slipping under the water and disappearing.

Mahasamut woke up in the hospital.  A fisherman untangling his nets at the docks had been waved down by the merling holding Mut.  Several men pulled him from the water and took him straight to the hospital.  There was no doubt that people were afraid of how crazy his father could be.  But if a merling told you to do something, their word was law.

The police had been called, and Mut told them everything once he’d finally come too.  Kept in the hospital for over a week, his father had been arrested, and let out on bail.  Mut had been given several IV drips, eaten his weight in hospital food and walked out with his back, neck, shoulders and hands covered in bandages.

He made it to the carpark before his father came storming around the side, wooden club in hand.  He was screaming and raving about the merlings having taken his boat, anchoring it outside their ‘walls’.  His father had been banned from stepping off the island.  Which meant no more fishing…but it also meant, Mut was a dead duck.

His father swung the club at him, missing him only by a few inches.  Mut fell to the ground to avoid his father’s next swing.  Watching as the man lost his footing, and crashed to the ground.  The wooden club in his hand slipped out, rolling close enough for Mut to stand and grab it.  He wasted no time, slamming the club down on his father’s knee.  Pulling the club back, he heard his father screaming “Wait! Wait! Wait!”  But all Mut could see was that shark.

By the time the police got there, the wooden club was in the bin near the hospital entrance, his father was being fitted for casts on both his legs, and Mut was already on a fishing trawler to another island.

It was the smallest island, but it was also the prettiest.  Mahasamut had slept on the beach at night, and worked for a few fishermen during the day.  He introduced himself to the resort owner, offered to work any job they could find him.

Art; the resort owner was nice.  Making up jobs like; cleaning up the cobwebs, collecting rubbish around the beach, washing dishes.  Working around the resort, Mut managed to talk a few tourists into sightseeing…for a price.

And with his father banned from leaving the island, Mahasamut was free to do as he pleased without worrying that he was going to be dragged by his hair.  It was only a few weeks after that, that his grandma found him.  She hugged him tight and begged him to come back with her to the city.

But…he couldn’t.  He’d miss the ocean too much.  

When she finally gave up for the night, she introduced him to the man she traveled to the island with…

He looked like an angel, and was just as kind and sweet.  With curly brown hair and golden brown eyes, fair skin and the prettiest smile, Peat was the most beautiful person Mahasamut had ever seen in his whole life.

Chapter Text

They sent out hunting parties, just like he assumed they would.  Traveling only at night, the little siren used the silver light of the moon to light his way.  During sunlight hours, he would find a safe space to hide and rest.  Sometimes it was a coral reef teaming with life, sometimes a broken and abandoned human vessel.  The little siren found it easier to wriggle his body under the sand to camouflage himself.

The next time he saw a hunting party, the numbers had dropped, but still he hid inside a forest of seagrass, covering the red of his body with sand.  They had come so close to him at one point.  Had he lifted his arm, he could have touched one of their tails.  But, the sea gods favored him that day, as a herd of dugong came over to graze.

As those that hunted him finally left, he continued to lay still, unsure about the dugongs.  He knew from the images between his sisters that the creatures were non-threatening.  But they were new to him, and large.  At this point he was honestly scared of his own tail.

Staying where he lay, one hand dug into the sand as his anchor, he watched the baby dugongs play.  The sand covering him eventually was swept away with their zooming back and forth.  They were curious about him, snuffling over his body gently.  They nudged at him until he raised a shaky hand and softly stroked their pudgy belly with the back of his knuckles.

He patted them some more, until a heavy looking bull came over, pushing the babies away to snuffle at him curiously.  The little siren gently patted the bull dugong with his knuckles, and was rewarded with prickly kisses.  He felt a brush of happiness.  It was the most physical contact he had ever had that wasn’t filled with pain.

His surroundings were terribly bright, but so beautiful.  It was the first time he was so close to the surface, with schools of fish swimming in pretty patterns.  Giant crabs and crayfish were easy to find, making him full for the first time in his entire existence.  Never had he eaten so well!  Had he not been fleeing for his life, the little siren could find himself happy in the Great Open.

The dugongs nudged him until he followed.  Swimming in the middle of them, he used their wide bodies to shield him from hunting eyes.  The water was growing warmer as they traveled.  He would search for his meals amongst the seagrass as they grazed.  He even found himself hugging the older dugongs as they napped.  Anchoring himself to them so he too could rest.  It was nice to have company…

But one day, as the dugongs were resting near the water’s surface, the sound of a human vessel was coming upon them quickly.  Scared of being captured, the little siren dove down, hiding amongst the coral below.  There he stayed until the water grew dark.  In the morning, he finally emerged, only to find he was once again alone.  The dugongs were nowhere to be seen.  

A heart-aching depression enveloped him, missing the sounds they made, and the way they moved the water around him.  With them gone, the calm he had felt with them soon disappeared too, and the Great Open was once again a scary, lonely place.

Over time, the little siren saw less and less of the hunting parties.  He followed the warmer waters, sticking close to giant whales and for a few weeks, a cluster of turtles that seemed to find the warmest currents easily.  In his search for food amongst the coral and seagrass, the little siren curiously took a small nibble of the thick cluster of kelp that had been growing close by.

Discovering it was delicious!

Although he still hunted for crabs, crayfish and juicy fat prawns when he came across them, the little siren practically spun in circles of joy when he spotted a forest of kelp growing on the seafloor.  Everywhere he went, each cluster of kelp tasted different.  Some sweet and tangy, some salty and creamy.  He would eat until he grew tired, digging his hand into the seafloor below and resting, hidden amongst the tall kelp.

The little siren’s eyes were slowly adjusting to the brightness of the Great Open, but he could never truly sleep when it was bright, taking small rests between his travels.  Even when the bright light of the day disappeared, a soft silver light burnt bright during the night.  He’d swim almost freely in that silver water, though still keeping an eye on his surroundings.

In his travels he steered clear of the human vessels, big and small.  Hiding under the sand when humans in black skins and long finned feet swam around the coral.  He caught rides with large sharks, letting them go when they turned to cooler waters.  He swam as fast as he could when he accidentally stumbled into the territory of a shark-like people, who chased him with long sharp spears.

The little siren found his body healing better than he ever had back home.  His hair was regrowing.  His wounds had healed, adding to the many silver scars that littered his body.  His belly was full most nights, making him feel stronger…happier.  He was lonely, but he could live with loneliness if it meant his life free of pain and misery.

But…when he was all alone, surrounded by vast blue nothingness.  In those quiet moments.  He couldn’t deny he felt as small and insignificant as a grain of sand.  When there was no current, no sound…nothing around for miles.  It was in these moments; the little siren wished for a…companion.

It didn’t matter to him what species they were.  It didn’t matter if they ever spoke a word to each other.  But, to have company.  To have someone to swim with, to eat with, to sleep next too.  Should he turn back and try communicating with the shark-people?  Or keep traveling, in hopes of coming across a pod of dolphins or maybe another herd of dugongs if he was lucky?

A sound of distress woke him in the afternoon light.  He had gorged himself on sweet kelp, napping next to a reef that housed several large curious eels.  He had found them relaxing to watch, and decided to sleep off his full stomach.

Crawling out from under the shelf of soft anemones, he looked around.  It wasn’t heard to see what was happening.  Although still far from his eye, the sound of pain and terror traveled clear to him as a giant mother whale, and her little baby were being hunted and harassed by a group of orcas.

Orcas were one of the few predators of the ocean sirens avoided at all costs.  They were homicidal psychos that would spend hours taking turns tail slapping a defenseless creature just for the fun of it.  They never ate a siren if they saw one, but they would still waste their time going out of their way to kill one.

One orca was easy to out swim, it was just unfortunate that they normally hunted in packs.  It was too easy to get boxed in while one was sneaking up under you to smash your soul from your body.  A siren's bone structure was not a fragile thing, but after a few nose bumps that could make you airborne above the water’s surface?  Not even stone could withstand it.

The little siren knew the orcas would exhaust the baby whale, killing it.  All while the mother could do nothing but watch and mourn.  It hurt his heart, hearing the panicked sounds of distress.  He felt anxiety build in his chest like a wound opening.  The high pitched echoes of terror were too much to bear, and when he saw one of the orcas diving down while three distracted the mother he couldn’t hide any longer.

Swimming as hard and as fast as he could, the little siren shot straight to the orca that was turning up towards the baby.  It was making its way to land a stunning blow that would most likely kill the sweet creature.  He darted for the orcas eye, digging his long claws into the socket.  The screech of pain it made was almost deafening.

The little siren spun, catapulting himself down to the coral he’d been resting in.  He didn’t need to turn to see that he was now being chased by the group.  The angry high pitched squeals were getting closer and closer, but he was almost to the small alcove in the coral, he’d been napping under…

*BANG!*

Pain blasted throughout his body as an orca smashed into the side of him.  He turned, digging his claws into its face, refusing to let go while he waited for his brain to catch up with his body.  Everything felt numb in a way, like his muscles were stunned.  His bowels released, unable to control it as his tail was consumed by the feeling of thousands of pufferfish spines.

The blow was supposed to stun him, while the others caught up to crush him.  But with the little siren holding on for dear life, he was giving himself enough time to recoup.  Turning his head side to side frantically, he saw a large black trench not too far from them.

Leaning over, the little siren attacked the orca’s eye digging into it with his fingers until he was shaken off violently.  He took the moment of freedom to bolt straight to the trench, dodging out of the way just as another orca tried to slam into him.  The water that rushed passed caused him to spin out of control.  Crashing into the edge of the trench.

His head hit a jagged rock with a sickening crack.  Vision filling with black and white flashes, the little siren blinked rapidly through the pain.  Nausea rolled inside his stomach, while his head throbbed with hot pain.  His arms and tail began to feel numb and tingly once more.

The little siren braced himself, knowing he was too weak to fight or swim.  He turned painfully, bracing for impact.  Instead he gasped, staring up in confused horror.  

The orcas were hovering above him.  Each one squealing and calling out in anger and outrage as giant dark grey tentacles wrapped around their large bodies, pulling them slowly into the black trench below.  

Frozen in a living nightmare, the little siren watched them disappear one by one.  He turned to flee, only to feel his tail engulfed in searing pain.  He turned just in time to see his tail in the mouth of an orca, before they were both dragged down into the darkness.

The descent down was slow, but no less grisly.  The little siren tried to bend down, cutting at the orca’s face with his claws.  But instead of letting him go, it clenched its teeth down harder.  As the first orca died, blood and high pitched shrieks of pain and anger consumed him in the black nothingness.  He turned to look at the light above, focusing on it getting further and further away, thinking; ‘any moment now…please let it be quick.’

The little siren didn’t fight, with his tail in the orcas mouth, he wasn’t willing to risk ripping his fin, or the thin membrane between it.  His life flashed before his eyes.  In it, there was nothing but dark, icy waters and misery.  Pain, fear, hunger and hopelessness.  

If he managed to get free, he promised himself that he would find a place with warm waters and sunlight.  A place full of sweet, thick kelp and fat playful dugongs.

The sound of the orca’s screams, the water so thick with blood he could barely breathe.  Then he heard a sickening *CRUNCH* .  The orca biting his tail let go, freeing him.  Using his arms, the little siren paddled the water, digging his fingers into the rocky wall.  He couldn’t move his tail, the pain of trying had him vomiting instantly.

When he heard another *CRUNCH* , the little siren began using his hands to climb up the trench wall.  The tentacle holding a struggling orca flicked hard, smashing the angry creature into the stone walls.  He heard the massive *THUMP* , before feeling the water shift.  Climbing faster, the little siren felt the edge of an open pocket in the wall.

He threw himself in, barely pulling up his tail before the orca was slammed into the wall where he’d been seconds before.  The little siren felt the stone around him, crawling quickly to the far back of the pocket, before tucking himself around a bend.  He hugged his tail close, squeezing his eyes shut as he began to hyperventilate with fear.

The little siren woke to the sound of crunching, his head throbbed in time with the pain in his tail.  He held it tighter, turning his head to the wall, hoping to block out the sounds.  In his mind, he watched the little orange and white fish play in the anemones he’d been napping under earlier that day.

The next time he woke, there was nothing but silence.  His body hurt too much to move, so he closed his eyes once again, forcing his mind back to the little fish, and the memories of the baby dugongs playing.

Drifting in and out of consciousness, the little siren only moved enough to lay down flat.  He found the little pocket in the wall was quite deep.  Although it didn’t lead to the top, it did have tunnels to other open pockets, and one small cavern.  It was five times the size of his old hovel from home.  And when he dragged himself up into it, he felt safe enough to lay long-ways, resting his body.

There were moments as he rested, that he wished he was brave enough to venture out to eat.  But the memories of those tentacles…the sound of the crunching from whatever great monster made them, had his chest fill with stones.  

To curb his hunger, he hummed to himself softly.  Remembering the songs his sisters would sing as they braided cord or sharpened their blades.  Lost in his memories, the little siren began to sing.

It was soft at first.  But it distracted him from his pain, from his fear.  Soon he was tapping his fingers over the stone he lay on, singing to himself about silver water and adventure.  When he paused, he heard a loud sigh, before more silence.  He stayed quiet for the rest of the night after that.

The little siren awoke with a start.  He held himself still, listening intently for the sound that woke him.  There was nothing but soft scratching.  Curiously, he crawled through the tunnels to the lower entrance, being careful not to knock his head or tail.  He poked his head out for a second, before pausing.  He poked his head out slowly this time.

Letting his eyes adjust to the dim light, he could see faint beams of sunlight rippling into the trench.  Giving the little siren just enough light to see two large crabs inside the pocket.  One was dead, its shell crushed.  The other was eating something off the wall.  

The little siren’s stomach clenched violently, demanding he grab the dead crab.  The crab that was still alive lifted up its sharp pinchers, snapping at him in warning.  Unwilling to frighten it, he took the dead one to the back of the pocket.  Breaking the shell away to tentatively nibble at the meat inside, sighing in relief when it still tasted fresh and sweet.

He hummed as he ate, grateful for the meal, and when he finished, he eyed the other crab, tossing up whether he should eat it now, or hope it would still be there tomorrow.  His stomach twisted, at the idea of ever seeing another to eat.  He crawled to where the crab sat picking at the wall.

The little siren snatched at it, killing it quickly.  He carried it to the back, eating it slowly.  Savoring the taste.  He left the bones at the entrance, before slipping up into his little cavern and resting.  Humming himself to sleep.

He had slept well.  He could feel it in his body.  The back of his head ached, and the end of his tail was sore and stiff, but he’d been resting for what could have been days.  Stretching his body, he made his way through the tunnel to the pocket’s entrance.  Stopping when his eyes adjusted.  There was a large crayfish pecking at the wall, eating whatever was growing there.

The little siren wasted no time killing it and eating.  He picked the shell clean, and when he was finally done, he placed the bones at the entrance.  He crawled to the back of the pocket, leaning against the wall.  Moving his sore tail up and down, side to side, he watched the thin ribbons of sunlight flicker through the trench.

He was humming without thought.  Sighing to himself as the small light danced on through the water.  Before he knew it, he was singing once again.  He sang of sunlight, of starfish moving slowly over the sand.  Remembering a day he laid on the seafloor, simply watching thousands of them.

When he finished singing, he heard another huge sigh.  The monster at the bottom of the trench sounded close.  The little siren made to move slowly back up the tunnel and hide, his heart beginning to squeeze in his chest.  But was frozen in place when he saw a large crab floating past the entrance, only to be gently nudged into the pocket he was sitting in.

The crab tried to swim out, but the tentacle lifted back up to pat it back into the pocket.  Distracted by the growth on the wall, the crab gave up its escape to peck at what grew there.

‘Had the monster been feeding him?  Was it a trap?’

Moments went past before the little siren heard a heavy grumble.  In fear, he shot up the tunnel into his cavern.  Pinning himself to the wall while he waited for a tentacle to slip inside and snatch him.

Instead, that grumble changed several times in tone, before the siren burst into tears.  The monster was singing.  Or it was trying to.  There were moments it would sing a melody, only to stop, as if it couldn’t remember the rest.

When there was nothing but silence, the little siren crawled to the tunnel, and gently started to sing.  He sang about silver water, the same song the monster had been trying to sing before.  Pausing for a moment when he heard a gentle continuous deep vibrating sound.  It made him think that the monster was happy to hear him.

So tentatively, the little siren moved back into the open pocket and sang another song.  One about soft sand and sweet kelp.  When he was done, he snatched the crab up.  Eating every last morsel, before adding the bones to the pile near the entrance.  He crawled up the tunnel, stretching his body and moving his tender tail around, before falling asleep to the rhythmic vibrating hum the monster was making.

In the morning, he felt better…stronger.  His tail was tender but he could move it now.  His head only hurt if he touched the back of it.  The little siren moved down the tunnel and into the pocket.  It was empty, but still early.

Feeling a little brave, he swam slowly to the edge of the open pocket, peering over into the darkness below.  He could see nothing, but as he flipped onto his back, he stared at the light coming from the top of the trench.  In the early morning light, he could see several pockets in the trench wall.  

‘Maybe one had a tunnel that would lead out?  Maybe he could simply swim out?’

Darkness eclipsed the trench’s entrance, causing the little siren to swim to the back of the pocket.  He held onto the tunnel's edge as the monster moved down the trench quickly.  Its descent had a suction effect, pulling the water with it.

The little siren’s hand slipped and the water pulled him out of the pocket into the trench, spinning inside the twister of water.  When the twister faded, he floated there, dizzy and disoriented.

Panic thick with fear froze him in place as he felt a large tentacle wrap slowly around his middle.  He held his breath, waiting to be pulled down and eaten.  But instead, he was gently raised up to another pocket in the trench.  One much higher up.

The tentacle let him go, only to nudge him into the large pocket.  The little siren floated there for a few seconds, listening to the grumbles below.  He caught snippets of thoughts that weren’t his.  The monster below was hoping he would like his new…home?  Spinning around in time, the little siren watched nervously as another tentacle lifted up, holding a large knotted ball of…

‘Kelp!’

The little siren squealed in delight, jumping out of the pocket to swim around the tentacle in happy circles.  Only moving back to the large pocket when his tail started to ache.  The tentacle placed the ball of kelp on the edge of the pocket.

Eyeing it nervously, the little siren reached over and touched it tentatively.  When it didn’t strike him, he began to pat it, like he did with the baby dugong.  The contact gave him a clear snippet of the monster's thoughts.  It was happy that it decided to go out for the ‘gross green hair’ for its new…‘little friend’.

‘A friend!’

The little siren continued to pat the tentacle, humming his happiness.  He heard a deep huffy sound, before the monster began to make that rhythmic vibrating noise.  Given the knowledge that he wasn’t on the potential list of foods the monster ate, the siren felt his heart and breathing finally begin to calm.

The tentacle slowly pulled back down into the darkness.  Leaving the little siren to explore his new pocket as he munched on his big ball of kelp.  The pocket entrance was large, if he straightened, he still couldn’t touch the wall.  In the back, there was a tunnel above, curving down into a large hall, bigger than his mothers cave.  

To one side, there was a thick crack in the earth, leading to a space that seemed a little larger than his sleeping space in the other pocket.  But what made him really happy was the veined coral that grew inside the hall.  It glowed a pale blue, lighting up the hall.  The little siren stared at the glowing coral for ages, looking over each line.

When he finally came back out into the open pocket, there was more sunlight threading past the trench.  He lay on the pocket’s floor flat, letting his head rest on the edge of the entrance.  Above him, he could see the top of the trench, mesmerized as sunlight glittered through the deep blue.

He was so happy, he began to sing.  And sound after, his new friend began to sing along with him.

Chapter Text

His 18th birthday was surely one to remember.  Mut had begged his parents not to make a big deal this year, wanting to simply work and join them for family dinner.  But they had seen fit to extend family out to everyone on the island.

Not that Mut could truly complain.  For an abandoned child, he was incredibly loved now.  Peat; his Ma, was an angel.  Kind, considerate, loving, and always put others first.  Fort; his Da, was a monster.  A cold-blooded killer.  But he worshipped Peat.  And he was the best father Mahasamut had ever known.

He had always carried some trepidation as their ‘son’, feeling like deep down he could never belong.  Even after Fort and Peat legally adopted him.  Even after every family dinner, every family Christmas.  Every birthday… 

Mut had fucked up, he made mistakes and got angry enough to self sabotaging himself.  Simply waiting for that day when the rug was pulled out from under him, and he was abandoned again.

But…his parents; Peat and Fort.  Never once treated him differently from their own.  Granted, he was older.  But the life they built on the island had always included him.  The business Da had built, was to set Mut up for life.  A life that he had always dreamed of.  Da and his family were rich.  He didn’t have to start a business.  But he knew Mut loved this island, and loved the ocean.

When Mut finally proved to Da and to himself that he could run the business on his own, he would be set.  To be his own boss and become truly independent on his own merits.  Da had found his diary when he moved from the main house to the bungalow on the beach.  

Ever since he could remember, Mut had been logging down every dollar they had spent on him, hoping that when he could, he would pay them back.

Da had burnt it.

“You owe us nothing.”  He said.

‘Wrong…”   Mut thought.  ‘I owe them everything.’

After sleeping with a married tourist…for money.  The shop had been burnt up by her angry husband.  Mut had fucked up in the worst way possibly.  And he didn’t know how to fix it.  With Peat stuck at home with the twins sick.  Fort had come to the hospital to collect him.

Never once had Fort ever raised his hands to Mut in violence or anger, but still, as he watched Da storm into the hospital room, he braced himself for it.  Hell…he deserved a beating for everything he’d done.

But Da had checked his injuries, and asked if he was ok.  Mut had tried to apologize, but where did he start?  Unable to find the words, he broke down into tears.  Ashamed of himself.  Da had simply hugged him.

“Hey! Everything that’s gone can be replaced.  What’s important is that you’re ok.”

“But I-”

“-made a mistake.  One I don’t think you’ll make again.”

“The business-”

“-means nothing if you aren’t around.  Son…it’s just stuff.  It’s your life that’s irreplaceable to us.”

“I should-”

“-You WILL come home and heal.  Then help us rebuild.  Then avoid married couples.”

Mut sat there staring at Fort in disbelief.

“I thought you’d be mad…”

Fort looked at him.

“I’m fucking livid.  But not at you.  Now if you’re done, let's go home before Peat faints from worry.”

Mut nodded, guilt eating away at his stomach with the thought of how panicked Ma would be.  Da placed his coat over Mut’s shoulders and patted his head like he did with all his children.  Opening the door for Mut, Da let him walk out first before making their way to the hospital exit side by side.  As Mut stepped around the corner, the husband of the tourist he slept with stood.

“I wanna talk to you, you fucking whore!”

*CRACK!*

Da moved like lightning.  One moment he was standing at Mut’s side, the next he was standing over the man.  

“How dare you?!”

The man’s wife ran over from the waiting room, ignoring Mut like she hadn’t been bent over the upstairs futon couch hours before.  Fort’s hand struck out like a snake, grabbing her by the throat and pulling her in close.

“I dare because you fucked my teenage son.  I dare because your husband hurt him…tried to kill him.”

Mut’s stomach rolled as he heard Fort’s words.  They were cold, but filled with barely controlled rage.

“If you two aren’t on the first barge off this island tomorrow morning.  I will personally cut you both into pieces and feed you to the sharks…”

The woman was shaking in fear, only to watch in horror when Da’s skin began to ripple.  He certainly had a way with people.  Her eyes shot to Mut, but Fort shook her like a straw doll.

“Answer me!!!”

She tried to choke ‘yes’ and he dropped her.  She was half coughing, half hyperventilating on the floor.  Her husband groaned as they walked passed, and Da kicked the man in the chest…hard.  Causing the guy to curl around himself and wheeze.

Da turned, sheering Mut down the brightly lit hallway and out into the carpark.  Da had been handing him the car keys ever since his legs could reach the pedals, but with his hands in bandages, Mut simply climbed into the passenger seat and sat quietly all the way home.

Mahasamut rubbed the scars on his hands, thinking about that night.  Ma had been so upset.  Going as far as tucking Mut in bed that night, as if he was a small child.  Da eventually came into the room and threw Ma over his shoulder, taking him back to their room.

The day his hands were fine to work with again, was the day he moved into the bungalow and went back to work, focusing on making up for his mistake.  He worked morning to night, only resting between customers.  He had hired two boat hands a few weeks ago, after his parents bought him a boat for his birthday.  Yep…a boat.

Aunsam still captained his.  Hiring a marine biologist student, who was trying to get her hours in the water.  Her name was Gift.  She was sweet, funny and amazing with the customers.  She and Aunsam were getting rave reviews on almost every online tourist site.  Only stirring up more business.

Mut had hired Palm; a local boy from the island.  His mother worked at the resort and had been beside herself at the thought of Palm having to venture off the island to find work on the mainland.  

Palm was silly, cracking dumb dad jokes constantly, but hadn’t been late to work once.  He never finished work until the equipment was cleaned, checked and put away.  Plus he only had to be told once, picking up everything quickly.

He and Palm were currently playing the ‘quiet game’.  Palm had been telling him birthday jokes all day, and Mut was ready to drag Palm behind the boat in the emergency raft.  They had dropped their customers off at the resort, and went back onto the water to take photos for the website.

With Art’s granddaughter; Jasmine’s help.  They had a pretty professional looking website for the business.  Not to mention social media presence.  Once a week on a sunny calm day, they took footage of the reef, or the Sealife that crossed their path.

Sometimes they would add informative facts, sometimes it was just funny voice overs and memes.  Aunsam had added videos from the sky, advertising their helicopter tours.  Gift was in the middle of adding videos of every cafe, bistro and restaurant.  Including behind the scenes where the cooks would show how they made their most popular dish.

And Palm.  Fucking Palm…  

His boat hand had decided it was a brilliant idea to film Mut taking off his wetsuit, playing sexy music to a slowed down video of Mut rinsing the salt water off his body.  Little bastard had put a peach emoji over his ass and uploaded it.  The video had three million likes in the first week and had boosted business.  It was the ONLY thing saving Palm from a painful death.  

Mut learned to milk the horny tourists for every dollar they were willing to throw his way.  Until one night, a pretty guy with brown eyes and brown curly hair offered him 10K to ‘turn him inside out’.

It wasn’t like he hadn’t been fooling around with tourists from the resort for years.  But now, Mahasamut flirted with his clients constantly.  It was good for business.  He didn’t offer his ‘services’ to everyone.  He was picky with who he went to bed with.  He had a type.  But if that type happened to want to throw stupid amounts of money at him for one night…he’d be an idiot to say no.

He saved every penny.  The only money he tended to spend was on his family for gifts or licenses and classes.  Mut was still studying online in his very limited time off.  He had spent his own money on Korean language classes for Palm, but the boy was working earlier and later to pay him back.  

Thanks to Ma, Mahasamut was multilingual.  He wasn’t as advanced as Peat, but knowing English, Mandarin, Korean, Japanese, German and some Hebrew had opened so many doors for him.  Work was easier, advertising was easier.  And they had been booked up completely for the next year and a half.

“Mut, do you copy?”

He leant over, picking up the two way.

“Yeah, copy.”

“We need you behind Melusine now.”

“On my way.”

They hadn’t been anchored yet, looking for the perfect spot to film.  So Mut changed gears and checked the GPS for Aunsam.  He was on the port side of Island Melusine.  The island Mut was born on.  

The boat his parents had bought him was a large charter, made for work.  It was luxury with its expense.  But it was made for holding several people comfortable while looking for the perfect fishing/diving area.

Lunch was organized on certain tours, but it was platters already made and packed into the fridge by the resort staff.  They offered different tours on different days.  Some with a large group, taking both charters out together to stop at each island for sightseeing.  Some in smaller groups for fishing/short dives and history markers.  Some private, which included a little bit of everything.

Aunsam’s charter was floating near the backside of the island, Mut pulled up next to it, turning on the spot-lock to keep them in place.  Gift had binoculars in her hands, her face red and blotchy from crying.

“What’s wrong?”

Mut looked from Gift to Aunsam.  The older man looked pissed.

“We came back to film the herd of dugong, but when we got there Rungtiwa was there with nets.  We were worried so we called you…”

Mut looked at Gift, then back at Aunsam.

“But?”

It was Gift that spoke.

“They lifted something up into the boat, too large to be a fish.  I think…I think…”

Gift stopped herself before she burst into angry tears.  She only recently had a run in with Mut’s former ‘father’.  Gift was strong willed, smart, determined to fight for what was right.  So she had no fear when she got in Rungtiwa’s face about leaving his nets for turtles to get tangled in.  But when he pressed a knife to her neck…well, that would make anyone cautious.

“Ok…”

Mut wanted to call Fort.  He was the one person he thought of when he needed help.  But he also needed to start standing on his own feet.

“Aunsam…what do you think?”

The older man was ex-military.  He had more experience in confrontation.

“Call Fort, give him our location.  You and I will go talk with them while Palm and Gift stay at a safe distance.  If they are killing dugongs, I suppose we sink the boat and let the merlings deal with them.  If it’s a misunderstanding, then we wait them out until they leave.”

Mut nodded.

“Palm…swap over.  Call Da and give him your location.”

The young guy nodded nervously and grabbed his backpack, walking to the side of the charter to jump over.  He patted Gift’s shoulder as he walked to the radio and started calling to the house.  Da had a radio in his office.  

He’d probably be going over the books while Mut’s little brother Sky colored in on the other side.  His little sister Pearl would be on the patio reading another book about merlings.  It would probably be ‘quiet time’ at the house.  With each of his siblings napping, or doing their own little activity.

It was amazing how Da could keep all his younger siblings in line.  But, he sort of understood it in a way.  Fort was a source of great safety.  He was always there to help, protect, and comfort…in his own strange way.  As much as they all loved and adored their Mama.  His siblings followed Da around like little ducklings.

“Look!”

Aunsam handed Mut the binoculars.  As they traveled closer to Rungtiwa’s fishing trawler, Mut could make out two men hitting something at the back of the boat.  Rungtiwa was standing off to the side.

Mut felt sick to his stomach.  Praying to the gods that it wasn’t a dugong they were hurting.  Aunsam went under for a moment before coming out with two long range rifles.  One; a browning x-bolt two.  The other; an accuracy international axsr.  

Da had the first rifle licensed for ‘hunting’.  How the license extended to the boats, Mut would never know.  But the second rifle looked like the terminator would use it.  Pure military grade.  Unnecessary, but Da was paranoid about pirates.  Of all things.

Aunsam opened fire.  

The shot blasts were deafening, but Mut had been taken to enough firing ranges with Da to withstand the sound.  Through the binoculars, Mut watched the wooden club in the fisherman’s hand explode as a bullet hit it.  Another bullet shattered through the glass next to Rungtiwa’s head.

All three men on the trawler dropped to the floor of the boat.  Mut drove closer, turning the charter around so he could turn back up and turn the spot-lock on.  Aunsam called out while his gun was trained steady to the back of the trawler.

Mut took out his blade before jumping from his charter to Rungtiwa’s fishing boat.  His former father saw him, and began to swear viciously before making a move to stand.  The sound of the rifle blasted behind Mut.  Another bullet destroying the wooden post next to his father’s head.

“If you don’t need a new hole, lay the fuck down!”

Mut shook off the immediate feeling of needing to salute the older man.  Aunsam was always joking and laughing.  It was out of place to hear him so serious.  Mut kicked at the men on the ground, throwing the wooden club over the side of the boat.  The two men crawled away from the pale and bloody creature tangled in the net.

He didn’t need to look close to see what it was.  Not a dugong.  All spindly, with pale white skin and red ribboned fins.  Rungtiwa and his men had caught the ugly creature that had saved Mut years ago.  Leaning down, Mut started to cut the net away, careful not to nick the creature's skin.  Its long clawed fingers were bent out of place, still shaking to cover its hideous face in fear.

Pulling the net away in pieces, Mut noticed the creature's tail was longer than any merling’s.  He cut away the rope around its tail, before another shot fired overhead.  Rungtiwa had tried to stand while Mut had his head down.

The creature hiccupped in fright, curling its body into a little ball.  Seeing it like this, it looked so small, so defenseless.  Mut leaned down, whispering to it, but the poor thing was lost to its terror.  He buckled his blade back in his belt sheath and began to lift the scared creature.

“It needs to die!”

One of the fishermen said.

“It can’t live!”

Mut ignored the man.  Lifting the ugly creature into his arms.  Aunsam was moving to open the back gate to the charter, lowering the steel steps.  Unable to do it any other way, Mut threw the creature over the side of the trawler.  Jumping into the water to grab it.  He swam one handed to the back steps, where Aunsam leant down and dragged it onto the charter.

The distant sound of a higher powered engine caught his attention.  Da was on his way.  Rungtiwa noticed, looking nervous.  Fort hadn’t just threatened him once or twice.  He’d put him in the hospital and smashed both his ankles.  Giving Rungtiwa a permanent limp.

“We were doing nothing wrong!”

Aunsam took aim again as Mut closed the back gate.

“Beating defenseless beings is a crime in these waters.”

Rungtiwa laughed without mirth.

“You fucking shit for brains!  That’s not a defenseless being!  It’s a fucking siren!”

Mut shook his head.

“It’s too small.  You know bett-”

“-Fuck off!  It’s a siren!  No merling is going to punish us for killing it!  It deserves to die!”

Mut looked down at the ugly creature.  Yes, it sort of looked like a submerged siren.  A small one, with shorter limbs…

“You’re wrong.  This thing has been living in these waters since I was eight.  The merlings know it's here.”

The two fishermen looked shocked.  Rungtiwa was swearing and waving his hands around.

“You lie!  You’re a fucking liar!  It’s a siren!  They are killed on site!”

Mut shook his head.  It was hard to believe he used to be so scared of this stupid little man.

“I’m telling you, this creature has been living in these waters for years.  I’ve seen it speaking with the merlings with my own eyes.  You’ve broken their laws.”

The fishermen looked at each other, before turning on Rungtiwa.  Mut turned to the pale creature, unsure of how to treat it, but Gift would be a great start.  He left it laying at the back gate.  Turning on the engine and turning off the spot-lock while Aunsam kept his rifle trained on the trawler.

Da speed passed them, like a bat out of hell.  His speedboat slowed, then stopped short of Rungtiwa’s boat before the air was filled with a chorus of loud cracks.  All echoing in the wind.  Fort hadn’t waited, no longer willing to deal out another warning to his former father.

With the condition of the creature, Mut didn’t stick around.  Needed to get to Gift fast.

Pulling up next to Aunsam’s charter, they dropped anchor.  Sending out a distress signal to any merling in their area.  A small underwater speaker floated next to them, sending out a loud whine.

“Is it…?”

Gift was standing at the side of the boat next to Palm.  Her hands over her mouth, too scared to speak the words.

“Not a dugong, but I need you to have a look at its injuries.”

She nodded.  A determined look on her face.  Gift grabbed her first aid bag and with Palm’s help, stepped from boat to boat.  She walked quickly over to Mut, who was turning the shaking creature over.

Gift gasped, backing away until her legs hit the table.  Mut stared at her in confusion.

“That’s...that’s…that’s a goddamn siren!”

Chapter Text

Time seemed to pass by slowly.  Days turned to weeks, to months, to years.  The little siren stayed with his large friend, never needing to go very far.  He was free to come and go from the trench as he pleased, but didn’t venture all that far.  He loved sitting near the coral and watching the little fish play in the soft anemone.

His large friend was too big to get close to the coral without scaring the little creatures.  Understandable.  He had only seen him a few times at his full high.  His large friend was hundreds of metres tall, larger than anything the little siren had ever seen.

He had arms and legs, like a human…almost.  With black and grey scales that felt like rough stone under the little siren's hand.  He had long, sharp claws on both hands and feet.  Plus long black scaled wings on his back, with a single claw at the top of the bend.

And his face…  Well, the little siren thought it looked quite lovely.  Once, when he was hiding from his sisters, he had stumbled across a stone statue.  He had assumed it was of a large octopus.  But seeing his friend’s face.  It had all made sense.  His head was curved up, with sharp curved spines from between his bright red eyes.

Strong brows, and high cheekbones, with a large long beard of tentacles.  The little siren had seen him open his mouth once.  Inside were almost a hundred rows of razor teeth.  He had beautiful red eyes.  They glowed with such light that the trench would glow in the dark when he looked up.

The trench was another surprise.  At the bottom was a large opening that led into a massive cavern.  It was his large friend’s nest.  The stone around it was smooth, after years of being worn down.  They stayed up, talking most nights until the little siren fell asleep at the edge of his pocket.

Sometimes he would wake up, feeling his friend’s tentacles on him, only to push him gently back into his pocket.  The little siren found out that his friend was very old.  Very, very old.  And not from this world.  There was less space in his world.  Less food.  When he first came here, there were giant reptiles that were easy to catch and eat.

But, there was a large explosion, and he found refuge under the earth.  Sleeping over the long years until the earth shook and cracked.  Opening up this trench.  He ate, but was never hungry.  Enjoying his quiet and his rest.

The little siren shared his memories with his friend.  Mostly, of the things he seemed to like.  The turtles, the dugongs, the little crustaceans picking at the coral.  The fish that would chase each other.  And the dolphins that played and made bubbles.  His large friend was terrifying to all, scaring even the largest monsters away.  

It sounded incredibly lonely, so the little siren stayed with him in his trench.  But that wasn’t the only reason.  He liked the company.  Though there were moments his friend fell asleep, and would sleep for days, weeks, months…even years.  That was when the little siren began to feel lonely.  But when his friend woke up, the little siren would sing, and shared his memories of the coral and the creatures that passed by.

He had traveled out further this time.  Getting bolder only when his large friend was awake.  His friend had gone out the night before, collecting a pod of orcas and one massive leviathan.  Taking them back to his nest to eat whole.

The blood and fear wafted up the trench walls that morning, forcing the little siren to venture out for some fresh water.  He filled up on kelp and went out to explore the human vessel that was sitting perhaps an hour's swim from the trench.  Still in calling distance if he got into trouble.

Humans had so much stuff.  Although mostly broken over time, or grown over with coral, there was so much to look at.  He slipped through openings, picking up things he had seen his sisters bring home, or things never seen before.  Taking nothing.  It didn’t belong to him, so once he looked over something interesting, he would gently place it back down.  Drifting further in.

He lent down to pick something up, only to hear a horrid shrill scream of pain.  The little siren stilled, listening.  Another scream, choked and muffled.  He wanted to hide, but getting back to his trench was the smarter option.  He silently swam through the human vessel.  Out the torn side.

Looking around to check the coast was clear, the little siren swam back to his home…only to stop when another scream of pain rippled over him.  Turning to where the sound was coming from, he wanted to turn back, go home, pretend he heard nothing.

Instead, he made his way quietly to where the screams were coming from.  Passing the human vessel, over a few large rocks and around the bend were three sirens.  All smiling and silently laughing as they cut the skin off a…merling?

The tortured creature had to be.  From the images his sisters had shared when he was little, merlings were similar in looks, much like sirens were, he supposed.  But where sirens had pale white and red hair; merlings had black.

Sirens had white eyes, merlings had black.  Sirens had pale white skin, merlings had darker golden skin.  They were shorter in neck and arms, but thicker in size.  All softness and muscle, where sirens were skin and bone.

He didn’t recognize these sirens.  Their markings were different to his kin.  Another scream echoed inside his mind as he watched the siren's blade run down the hip of the young merling, pulling a long strip of skin free.

Nausea rolled around in his stomach.  Unable to cope with watching, he grabbed a large rock and pegged it hard at the head of a siren.  Ducking down when he heard the crack of impact.  Satisfaction curled inside him.  Never once having the gaul to go against his own before.

Sneaking around the side, he tucked himself in a large crack, covering the rest of him in sand.  He watched two sirens swim past, looking around before splitting up to look for who threw the rock.

The little siren waited, before slipping from his hiding place and silently swimming over the rocks.  The young merling was tied, bound and bloody to a long stake in the sand.  The cruel siren he hit with the rock floated unconscious nearby.  Silently, he swam closer, looking around before snatching a blade that had fallen to the ground.

When he looked up, the merling looked terrified of him.  He pressed his fingers to his mouth, hoping she would stay quiet.  He moved around her.  Cutting the cord free of the stake, and unbinding her.  As he moved down her body, he realized the sirens had cut off the end of her tail.  Crippling the merling.  Even if she got free, she’d never be able to swim to safety.

The little siren felt like crying when he saw it, lifting his head up to meet her black eyes.  She was wary of him, and most likely in a lot of pain.  He went to hand her the blade, only to see her fingertips had been cut off.

Now he did start to cry.  His kind were too cruel for this world.  The little siren circled his arm around the merling’s warm, thick waist.  Careful not to touch her cuts and pulled her up with him, checking his path was clear.

He swam straight to the trench as fast as he could, calling out to his large friend that he was coming.  A strangled sound escaped from the merling he was carrying.  He looked down, catching movement to his side before shooting up to avoid the blade that barely missed his head.

He was catching broken images as the siren was calling out to her sisters.  The little siren swam harder, calling out to his own companion.  He ducked and dodged before finding himself chased by all three of them.  The one he knocked unconscious sending out angry images of everything she was planning to do to him when she got her hands on him.

But years of good eating and lots of safe unbroken sleep had made him stronger, faster.  Finding himself confidently out swimming them, even with the extra weight of the merling in his arms.  His home was in his sights, only a few more minutes to go.

The little siren knew from the thin connection he shared with his large friend, that his friend was sitting just under the rim of the trench.  Waiting for the little siren to bring him his next meal.  All he had to do was keep swimming, a little bit longer.

The merling under him curled her arms around his chest, burying her head into his neck.  He didn’t need to hear her to know she was waiting for them to die.  Seeking what little comfort he could give her in the moment.  Never had anyone sought safety within his arms, it filled him with a great sense of responsibility.

Feeling braver than ever before, the little siren shot through the water.  Making it to the trench before slowing down.  He waited for the others to catch up before gliding over the trench’s opening, spinning in time to see his large friend’s tentacles whip up and wrap around each siren, crushing their spines before pulling them down into his mouth.

The panicked sound from the merling had the little siren swimming over to the coral, away from his friend.  There was a soft pink coral with a thick base and soft spiky blooms at the top.  They prickled on the tongue, but numbed all feeling in one’s body.  The darker the pink, the stronger the toxin.  

So the little siren left the young merling for a few seconds, while he looked around for the darkest pink he could find.  Cutting a cluster with his sharp claws, he brought it over to the merling, who was staring at the trench opening in horror.  The little siren glided in front of her, blocking her view of the clouds of blood floating up as his large friend crutched away.

He pointed to the dark pink coral, then pointed to his mouth, then to her mouth.  She looked at his hand, reaching up to see her own torn hands.  Her body began to shake and shiver from the shock of her mutilation.  Without thinking, the little siren used his knuckles to open her mouth and shove the coral in, closing her mouth before she screamed.

The merling chewed quickly, swallowing several times before hiccupping.  He held her by the elbow, waiting for the coral to take effect.  When the merling’s body started to become slack and relaxed, he waited next to her, unable to do anything about her wounds.  Only time could heal the cuts…but her tail.  There was nothing he could do.

She was bleeding still.  Badly.  It was starting to attract a few curious sharks.  Normally sharks didn’t bother sirens, no matter how little over large they were.  But something injured was enough cause to investigate.  So he pulled the merling closer to the trench, before checking to see his large friend had traveled back to his nest.

The merling whimpered a little, but the coral he had given her was dark enough to stone her body and eventually her mind.  He would let her rest, before giving her more.  Swimming into the trench, he guided her down until he reached his pocket.  Pausing.

The little siren swam down to the bottom of the trench, through the opening to his large friend’s nest.  There, his friend was tucking himself into his favourite spot for another rest.  There had been times where the little siren had tried to sleep down here but the space was too large, and easy for him to float away, only to get accidentally squished.

Large red eyes watched him as he swam closer.  He sent out images of what the sirens had done to the merling.  His friend tentatively wrapped a tentacle around her middle.  Lifting another to wrap around the little siren.  As his large friend’s red eyes began to flicker, so did the memories of the merling.

She was far from home, and had been at the siren's mercy for too long.  Not only was she bleeding on the outside, but inside as well.  She wasn’t long for this world and missed home.  Missed her mother and her sisters.  The hopelessness of never seeing them again, never feeling their warmth crushed her soul more than the pain she suffered.

It ripped at the little siren’s heart.  The love she had for her family, for her home.  And it was no wonder.  From your memories.  It looked like paradise.

His large friend whispered to him.  He felt it deep within his mind.  She would die soon.  It made the little siren sob.  Wishing he could give up his health to help her.  He watched the cruelty she suffered under the mercy of his own kind.  He remembered how she clung to him for safety.

He was responsible for her now.  And…all he could do for her was to dull her pain…

‘Could he reach her home?  Would she survive the journey?  Could he reunite them…even for a short while?’

His large friend hummed in thought.  There was a shortcut, under the earth where the water became warmer.  But there were many large, monstrous beasts under the earth.  They would need to travel together…to a point.  The opening was too small for him to push through.

But for the little siren and the merling…there would be plenty of space.

The little siren left the stoned merling in his large friend’s care.  Racing to the coral to cut more dark pink blooms for her.  His large friend said there would be no food down in the deep.  So he lifted several large clams, and one large crab.  They would leave immediately, but he wanted the merling to eat first.  Knowing she had eaten nothing for weeks.

When he entered the darkness of his large friend’s nest, the merling was on the brink of hyperventilating.  Although her body was still relaxed, she could see the large red glow of his friend’s eyes.

The little siren killed the crab, ripping off the top shell to feed small pieces to the merling.  She began to cry, sobbing between bites.  He knew that feeling all too well; the overwhelming relief of finally eating after too long waiting.  He made her wait between bites, as eating too quickly could cause stomach issues.  Although, the black and purple bruises on her stomach and chest reminded him that her insides were just as damaged as her outsides.

He ate two clams, before feeding her all the crab, eight clams and a large cluster of dark pink coral.  When her head started to nod, and her eyes began to grow heavy, the little siren wrapped his arms around her thick warm body, and swam them to his large friend, who wrapped them up in his tentacles.

The little siren watched as his friend moved deeper down into his nest, before lifting a heavy looking boulder.  There, under it, was no light.  And there was where they were going.  He cradled the merling in his arms, tucking her head against his shoulder.  He closed his eyes and fell deep into his large friend’s mind, falling unconscious as thick tentacles surrounded him.

They had bonded.  Keeping a thin fragile line between them.  But the little siren was scared of the darkness, and the journey was still long.  The toxins from the dark pink coral would cause the merling to sleep for a few days.  But he had twisted more in his hair, knowing that if she woke, he could send her into a painless sleep.

The longer he submerged himself inside his large friend’s mind, the stronger their connection became.  Not that he minded.  It was nice to never feel alone, ever when he was.  He could see what his friend saw.  Ancient ruins and dark tunnels.  Large monsters moving out of the way and down their own caverns to hide.

Veins of orange light lit the tunnels, too hot to touch the brighter they became, but as time passed, so did the distance between them and their trench.  The water was becoming warmer, the monsters they were seeing were becoming less and less.

The young merling had awoken once, but the little siren had given her all the toxic coral in his hair, calming her to sleep as he hummed.  Once she fell unconscious, he fell back inside his large friend's mind faster, looking through his bright eyes as they moved through the darkness.

It had taken just five days to get to the crack in the earth.  It was massive, but too small for his friend to fit through.  The large tentacles released him, stroking his tail before pushing him and the merling through the crack.  The connection between them was thick, his large friend was sitting in the back of his mind, as he was in his.  And through their mental link his large friend told him to ‘go, life is slipping’ .  

Feeling the overwhelming urgency, the little siren didn’t wait, but swam up and up, towards the light of the sun.  When they broke the surface of the crack in the earth, he swam them in the direction of the merling’s memory.  Recognizing through her the past images they had shared; the shapes of coral and rock-beds.  They could be no more than half a day away…if he didn’t stop.

Holding the merling tight, the little siren swam fast and hard.  Ignoring all around him to reach his destination.  He pushed himself harder than ever before, now that they were so close, he needed to get the merling home as soon as he could.

She had stopped holding on to him, and a few times, he was forced to shake her to breathe.  He just needed her to hold on, just a little longer.  The young merling was too weak to move.  Too weak to cry.  But images of her sisters, of her mother and aunts flashed inside his mind.  Their love and safety was all she wanted, wishing she’d never snuck out on her own for an adventure.

The little siren felt his heart break.  Holding the merling close, he pushed himself harder, desperate to get her home.  He needed to, even if it took every last bit of his energy.  The lines between islands were coming up, the markers like a giant clawed hand reaching up from the earth with its five fingers raised above the water.  A three spiked crown in the middle.

‘They must be the human islands.’

Trepidation ate at his guts, nervous that he might be sending himself to his own death.  But for what his kind did to this poor merling, he would pay it to see her home.  He was so close to the barrier.  Flicking his tail harder, his lungs burned with exertion.  He just needed…

A line of merlings rose, blocking his way to the barrier, all holding vicious looking weapons that were pointed at him.  But he sighed in relief, pulling back to look at the young merling in his arms.  He patted her bruised cheek, sending her image after image that she was home.  But she wasn’t awake.  She wasn’t moving.

‘Please…wake.  You’re home.’

He shook her gently, his soul shattering as he realized he may have been too late.

Looking up, the merlings were surrounding him, some screaming for help, others beginning to mourn.  He shook his head, calling out to her, they were so close.  She was home!

‘Look!  Look!’

He tried.  They had tried so hard to get her here.  He shouldn’t have hesitated at the human vessel.  He could have swam faster!  He held her mind inside his, refusing to let go.  There was nothing but an empty void.  But with his large friend's mind still linked, the little siren didn’t find himself falling into that void with her.

A large, beautiful merling took both the young merling and him into her arms.  Pressing her mind into his.  He let her in, freely.  She sort through him mentally until she found…her daughter.  

This was her mother.

He called out to the young merling desperately, misery taking him.  Then he started to sing.  He sang to the fading merling, hoping his voice could bring her back from the edge of death, even just for a moment.  A large merling embraced him from behind, and another from the side, and another.  All linking their minds together to find their dying kin.

In the dark void of death, she heard him.  He sang clearer, pulling her back, pressing her consciousness into her mother’s.  Her heart beat weakly, her soul grew warm.  She couldn’t open her eyes, but she felt her mother hold her.  She felt her sisters with her.  She smiled and sighed in relief…she was home.

She faded quickly, in the arms of her family.  

The little siren stopped singing to sob as the connection between him and the young merling faded to nothing.  He let the other merlings search his memories.  Images of pushing himself to get their kin here flash through his mind.  Of him finding the young merling, and cutting the rope to swim them away to safety.

But they didn’t stop there, as the group held him close.  They rummaged through his memories.  Finding his birth place, his family.  In it, they watched him being hunted and tortured by his mother and sisters.  Of his escape, of his love for dugongs and him saving the baby whale.

The memories he had of his large friend were blocked, kept hidden by his friend.  He didn’t want them to know of him, or how close he was.  When they were satisfied, they each pressed their nose to his, thanking him for saving their sister, their cousin, their niece.

Then they moved away, leaving him to be held by the young merling’s mother.  She looked at him, then pressed her nose to his, before pressing her forehead to his.  For saving her daughter, she welcomed him to their waters.  For bringing her daughter home, she offered friendship between him and the merlings.  For pulling her daughter back from death to feel her family once more, the merling offered him a place in her home, a place in her family.

The little siren stared at her in shock.

‘A home?  A family?’

His large friend mentally pushed him to go.  Telling him he must.

‘Must rest.  Must enjoy.  Must love.  Must love.’

The little siren nodded, and was taken by the hand.  They all swam past the barrier, the faded young merling carried in her sister's arms.  She was home…and now, so was he.

Chapter Text

Mahasamut stared at Gift in disbelief.  It wasn’t possible.  Siren’s were longer in limbs…  Plus, the merlings would never allow…

‘Could it be a child?’

The underwater speaker was thrown back on the boat with a loud *THUMP* , causing everyone on the back deck to jump in surprise.  Mut walked over to the back, opening the gate and latching it to stay.  

A merling he didn’t recognize swum around to the back.  Assuming he left the gate open as a sign to come up, she lifted herself up easily onto the ledge.  As a general rule.  Merlings weren’t a fan of drying out.  Not unless it was during the three nights of the full moon.

The merling had amazing upper body strength, crawling up the back of the boat like it was nothing.  She sat at the edge of the open gate and peered over to where Mut was pointing.  

Seeing the siren, her head whipped to them angrily, eyes filled with black fire.

“It wasn’t us. Rungtiwa and two men pulled it up in a net and beat the hell out of it.”

She didn’t look convinced.  The merling turned when the engine of Da’s speedboat caught her attention.  Speedboats were a no-no inside these waters.  But considering what his parents had done for the island and for the guardians under it, they could get away with a lot.

The merling crawled to the creature, whispering to it gently.

“I’ve given him more warnings than I would like.  Go collect him if you must.  But I will only finish him off tomorrow.”

Da yelled out after shutting off the engine.  He jumped over the side, while Palm was tying the two vessels together.  Mut knelt down next to the creature, but the merling pushed him away, turning the siren’s body around gently herself.

“What the fuck is it?”  Da said.

“Siren.”  The merling replied shortly.  Her voice making them all wince.

Now that Mut could see it better, the creature was a mess.  Its fingers were broken, bone was sticking out of its forearm.  Its whole body was littered with cuts and bruises.  The merling moved her fingers over the creature…the siren.  It gasped in pain, whimpering when she tried to touch its stomach.

“Hospital.  Now.”

Da didn’t ask questions, didn’t even wait.  Pointing to Mut.

“You with me.  You three, take everything back and close up shop.”

They all nodded, while the merling twisted off the back of the boat.  She dropped into the water with barely a splash, disappearing from sight.  Mut grabbed his backpack, patting Palm's shoulder before throwing his bag over the side of the boat and jumping over.

Aunsam and Gift were leaning over the charter, trying to hold the speedboat still as Da picked up the siren and handed it to Mut.  It was awkward as the weight pulled to one side with its tail.  Mut sat on the white leather couch, holding the siren close to him as Fort turned on over the engine, speeding off the moment Aunsam pulled the last rope free.  

‘How were they going to explain this to the hospital…?’

The siren was bleeding all over him.  Not that he cared about the blood.  But it felt strange…not cold as such, though not warm either.  Its skin felt clammy, even under the afternoon sunlight.  He wondered if siren’s were closer to snakes than merlings.  Wind flew past them, drying the siren’s skin quickly.

‘Fuck it was ugly.’

Mut stared at its bird-like bony face, with the hideous red gills on its neck and pale white hair.  He wondered what the siren would look like dried out.  They were supposed to look like angels.  Not just pretty, but breathtakingly beautiful.  It was hard to believe such a creature could be labeled an angel.

When Mut thought of angels, he thought of Peat.  Who, in his opinion; was the most beautiful person Mut had ever seen.  Though he preferred the black hair of the merlings, to Ma’s curly brown, or Uncle Sky’s white.  

As he got older, Mut realized he was a sucker for brown eyes.  Although Ma’s eyes were a tri-colored golden brown, as opposed to his twin’s pink and gold.  When the sun caught them, the gold sparkled.  But, it was the brown that Mut had focused on.

Once, he had stayed for a drink after work with a foreign tourist, who had the most beautiful brown eyes.  Mut had stared into those eyes, trying to make out every shade of brown he could see.  The cocktail that had been bought for him had Mut unapologetically staring a little too deeply, accidentally giving the impression he had feelings he didn’t.  

Luckily for him, he was kicked out of the bar for being underage before he was forced to tell the random stranger he was simply enamored with their eyes.

Mut pulled the siren in closer, watching its skin start to dry and flake off.  Its eyelids slowly opened, meeting his gaze.  They stared at each other for a long moment, before the milky color of the siren’s eyes slowly darkened.  

It looked like little paint balls of brown exploded inside the iris until the siren's eyes were the most striking brown Mut had ever seen.

Pale scales slipped free to reveal soft, fair skin.  The long white tendrils of hair bled to merling black over Mut’s arm.  He gaped as the siren’s tail fell away like old tissue paper, uncovering slim, lithe hairless legs.  Male privates were uncovered next; all soft and hairless.

A flat stomach was joined to a lightly muscled chest, with two pretty pink nipples that had peddled in the breeze.  A fair elegant neck sloped up to sharp jaw lines, revealing the most stunning face Mut had ever seen in his entire life.  The siren looked like Peat and Sky, yet not quiet.  The siren’s nose was a touch different.

It's…his lips were soft, pink and pouty.  His ears were shaped similarly, with the tiniest point at the tip.  The siren looked like some sort of ethereal elf from a fantasy movie.  Mut couldn’t stop staring into his eyes.  Those perfect, crystal brown eyes.

“HERE!”

Jumping at Da’s voice.  Mut looked at his dad, still in shock.  Fort grabbed a blanket from the cabin's cupboard and threw it at Mut, who caught it with one hand.  Da was yelling at the fishermen on the docks to give him a hand tying up, while Mut awkwardly covered the siren in the blanket.  He whimpered and hissed in pain, burying his head into Mut’s chest like a little kitten.

Da tapped him on the shoulder before pulling him to the side of the boat.  Mut placed the siren in Fort’s arms, jumping to the wooden dock quickly, leaning in to take the siren off Da’s hands.  Spinning, Mut walked swiftly up the wooden stairs to the upper part of the dock.

Fort’s truck was parked as close to the dock as a car that size could get.  With the keys still in the ignition, Da got behind the wheel before Mut opened the door and placed the siren in the back seat.  He jumped in the passenger side and spun around to look at the siren’s beautiful face.  Half hidden by the blanket.

The trip to the hospital was a blur, as was checking in the siren.  Da had stormed ahead of him, barking out orders like a king.  The siren was taken to emergency, then straight into xray and then; surgery.

Mut stayed while Fort went home to check on Peat and Mut’s siblings.  Aunsam and Gift had come in while the siren was still in surgery.  Gift had given him a crash course in siren’s.  None of the information was good…nor was it useful.  When Mut had said the siren was male, Gift had almost fallen off the chair with shock.

Aunsam dragged her out for dinner, promising they’d come back once the siren was clear for visitors.  Palm stopped in on his way home.  He handed Mut a warm jacket, and a small cooler bag filled with water, sandwiches, chocolate bars and cut fruit.

His young boat-hand stuck around until his mother finished work.  Mut waited with him outside the hospital after Palm started to annoy and distract first-year Doctor Khanom Wong.  Ever since the young doctor arrived to work on the island, Palm had made it his mission to irritate the poor guy.  When asked why; Palm simply shrugged his shoulders. 

“He’s cute when he’s angry.”

Mut waved at Palm’s mother, watching them walk up the hill together.  Palm took his mother’s bag, hanging it over one shoulder while his backpack hung off the other.  They swapped gossip and went back and forth with really bad jokes until they finally walked out of sight.

When Mut walked through the hospital doors, the nurse waved him down, calling for the doctor on duty, Dr Rock Degani.  Degani had already spoken to him twice.  The first; was what they found in xrays.  A fractured skull, a crack in his cheekbone.  Seven broken fingers, a fractured wrist, shattered forearm, three broken ribs, and a hairline crack in his hip.

The second talk was going over the inside issues.  There was an intracranial hemorrhage, a broken rib that had punctured the siren’s lung, and a ruptured intestine.  The only part of him that hadn’t been damaged was his legs…tail…whatever.  Either the idiots beating him focused on the siren’s head.  Or the change of forms has fixed that half of it…him.

A male siren…

He had never heard of such a thing.  Gift had been so dumbfounded by the fact the siren was male, she had begun to slowly work her way to the operating area.  Even going as far as to ask if she could sit in on the surgery.  When the nurse told her to sit down for the fifth time, Aunsum decided it was time to go.

What was more baffling to Mut, was how the merling today touched the siren.  Like it…he was dear to her.  Shaking his head, he ate the food Palm left, binning the rubbish before checking his roster for tomorrow.

Da had sent him a message to pass it along, giving him the option to cover him.  Mut chose to head home instead, texting Fort he would be fine to work.  He was taking a couple around the islands to dive for their honeymoon, so it wasn’t going to be an early start.

Once Dr. Degani told him the ‘patient’ was stable, Mut thanked them, leaving his details with the receptionist, before leaving for the night.  There wasn’t anything he could do and he had work the next day.

It was a thirty minute walk to the beach from the hospital, and another ten before Mut finally got home to his bungalow.  He’d been texting Peat and Palm back and forth on his journey, before walking up the stairs.  He slid the glass door open, before pausing.  Turning, he saw a black haired head floating above the water.

Dropping his things inside the door, Mut closed it and made his way to the waterline.  Greeting the merling he’d met earlier today; respectfully, but coldly.

“How is he?”

Mut shrugged his shoulders, trying not to flinch at her voice.  He rattled off the siren’s injuries, watching her face carefully as he did.  The merling shook her head, huffing in anger.

“Take care of him.”

“No.”

Her head whipped to him.  Her pretty face twisting in disapproval.  But Fort Sengngai was his father, and she had nothing on him.  Mut shook his head and walked forward.  Letting the waves gently brush over his feet.

“I have work, someone else on the island can care for him.”

“You…will care for him.”

Mut shook his head.

“I am not the only one on this island.  Just because I found him doesn’t make him my responsibility.  And that’s another thing!  Why is there a SIREN in these waters?  What happened to your rules?”

The merling hissed at him, her displeasure turning her doll-like face fearsome.

“YOUR responsibility because YOUR kin!  Take care, selfish boy!”

That pissed him off.  Storming into the surf, he faced her, only inches apart.

“You have NO right to call me selfish!  You left me to be raised by that monster!  To be abused and starved-”

“-then you have common ground with Tongrak!  He suffered a worst life, not for a pathetic 11 years, but 78 years!”

Mut stared at her in disbelief.  ‘78 years?’

“But…what?”

She snorted.  Flicking her hand in the water dismissively.

“He saved one of your sisters from a brutal death.  Risked his life, left his home, to bring her back here.  Her mother…your mother took him in, making him kin TO YOU!”

Mut shook his head, but felt his resolve begin to wear down like wet paper.  If he was being honest; he had planned to check on the siren after work tomorrow, but being told to do it by a merling just rubbed his fur the wrong way.

“Fine.  So he’s here because he saved her.  Why is he still here?”

The merling made a metallic scratching sound, laughing under her breath.

“Male sirens are less than slaves among their own kind.  They are tortured, hunted, starved and disfigured by their mother and sisters.  To go back would mean a hellish death.  He was offered a place within your family and took it.”

Mut scoffed.  ‘His family indeed.’

“I’ve never heard of male sirens.  Are they dangerous?”

Broken metal scraped together as the merling tipped her head back and laughed.  The noise felt like it could bust his eardrums.

“Tongrak is no more dangerous than a baby dugong.  He is shy, quiet and very curious, but scared of humans.”

Mut nodded.

“And he eats?”

“Kelp…mostly.  But anything in a shell will do too.”

Mut could tell the merling was getting impatient.  So was he.

“Anything else I should know about him?”

The merling tilted her head to the sky, starlight distracting her.

“He is precious to us.  Just take care of him.  Your mother will come to collect him before winter.”

‘His mother?’

That got his attention.  He’d finally get to put a face to the one that abandoned him.

“Fine.  Wait!  Winter is two months away!”

The merling didn’t stick around, letting her body fall backwards before spinning and swimming off.  Mut swore under his breath.  

‘Precious to them?  Give me a break!’

He stomped up the beach, toeing off his wet sandals before taking off his wet clothes.  He hung them over the railing before going inside.  Mut locked the door behind him, walking up the stairs to his bathroom, before having a quick hot shower.  

Once finished, he hung his wet towel over the shower glass.  And set his alarm for work tomorrow.  Mut slipped under the covers naked, too tired to look through the basket of clean clothes.  As he lay in bed, thinking about the day, he was plagued with too many questions swimming around in his mind.

He wondered if Rungtiwa was dead.  With the amount of fire-power he heard Da blast at them…that trawler had to be in pieces under the water.  The merlings would pull it apart, using what they wanted, while bringing up the rest to the beach to be salvaged.

Mut kept telling himself to sleep, but his brain drifted to the siren’s face.  To his lithe body.  His soft, fair skin.  The memory of the merling saying ‘he is precious to us’ continuously played inside his head.  

‘His birth mother thought the siren was precious…  A siren?’

Resentment sat heavy in his gut.  

‘The son of a siren was precious to them?  But not a son of their own?’

His resentment bubbled into jealousy.

‘That ugly creature was precious to them?’

Mut caught the distasteful thought.  Forcing himself to shake off the bitterness he felt.  It wasn’t the siren’s fault he’d been abandoned.  He subconsciously rubbed the little scar on his arm.  The scar he’d had since being dumped on the beach.  

‘He wasn’t worth keeping.  But a creature from an enemy species was…?’

Mahasamut found himself back at the hospital the next morning.  His clients had cancelled after the husband was caught sending sexy texts with the bride's younger sister.  The bride had left on the first barge off the island, while the groom was stuck with packing while resort staff pretended to look busy for gossip.

His three day tour had been officially cancelled, but it was no issue with him.  He had already been paid and with a 24 hour iron-clad cancellation policy, he wouldn’t have to return the money.  When the couple hadn’t shown up to their appointment, he’d gone to the resort; thinking they’d simply slept in.

Mut had caught the end of the show as the bride stormed off with her luggage.  Now, with his day free, he’d planned to visit his family, hoping there was still some breakfast leftover.  Walking up the hill, Mut said hello to the locals as he passed, until he stopped, realising he’d walked straight to the hospital instead of home.

Waving at the receptionist on his way passed, Mut found the siren’s room.  It wasn’t hard with the amount of staff standing in the doorway mooning over him.  Mut silently shooed them off, closing the door before dragging a chair over to the siren’s bed.

The siren looked small and fragile surrounded by the machines keeping him alive.  Mut leaned over, resting his elbow on the bed while he stared at the siren’s face.  There were splints on his broken fingers, as well as a cast on his arm.  He was littered with gauze and medical tape too.

His midnight black hair had been cut short, while the side of his head, behind his ear, was shaved and covered in a thick gauze.  IV drips and heart monitors were in place.  Plus a tube in his chest to help him breathe after they operated on his lung.

“That monster sure did a number on you.”

Mut tentatively touched the siren’s hand.  Gently rubbing his thumb over the only skin that wasn’t covered in gauze or bruises.  He felt his whole body react to the small touch.  It was instant; like slipping into a bed with clean sheets.  Like slipping into a cool pool after a hot day's work.  He felt anxiety he hadn’t realized he’d been holding dissolve like salt in water.

The machine monitoring the siren’s heart began to wave faster.  Mut’s heart fluttered as he watched the machine’s screen for those rhythmic spikes and dips as the siren’s heart waved over the screen.

The door opened, causing Mut to jump in his seat.  The doctor smiled apologetically and waved to him.  Standing up, Mut got one last glance at the siren before joining the doctor in the hallway.

“Hello, Mahasamut.”

Mut nodded.  Though Doctor Degani was kind, and had helped his siblings during all their ailments.  Mut just wasn’t a fan of doctors.  Especially when they treated abused children without filing a complaint with the police.  

Degani had never treated him when he was a child.  But he was a doctor and Mut just didn’t care for them.  The doctor ran through the operation, then through the treatment, before the few scares the siren had given them during the night and early this morning.

“...we were relieved when he started breathing again, but he’ll need to stay on a ventilator until his lung expands and when we can confirm he can breathe without help.”

Mahasamut looked through the glass panel of the door.

‘So that’s why his face was covered.’

“Mut…I called your father on filing a police report.  Your cousin’s injuries are extensive after all but your father doesn’t wish for the police to be involved.  I would ask…if you could have a word with him.”

Mut turned his face to Dr. Degani.

“Police?”

The doctor huffed, trying to cover his annoyance.

“Your father said the exact same thing.  Look, I know that Sengngai do things their own way, but your cousin was beaten within an inch of his life.  He stopped breathing twice.  The damage done to his brain is…”

The doctor sighed.

“Please, can you talk to him?”

Mut smiled, knowing why Da hadn’t allowed it.

“There’s no reason to call the police.  Rungtiwa did this.”

He tilted his head towards the siren.

“The merlings have already punished him.  He won’t get a chance to do this again.”

Dr. Degani closed his eyes, before nodding.  Sighing in defeat.  He wasn’t a merling son.  But he was married to one.

“Fine…oh!  That’s another thing.  Your cousin’s name?  Fort had avoided my question this morning.”

Mut grinned, knowing early mornings were chaos at home.

“Um…Tongrak.  His name is Tongrak, he’s actua-”

Instantly the machines around the siren rang deafening.  Alerting them that something was wrong.

“What is it?!”

Mut tried to get into the room but a nurse gently pushed him back.

He looked over her head, watching nervously as Degani and several nurses pulled out equipment to help the siren.  It didn’t take a genius to guess in the end.  The machine monitoring the siren’s heart was no longer spiking and dipping.  On the screen, amongst the flashing light and alarms, was one single flat line.

Mut was dragged out of the room when the doctor turned on the defibrillator.  He had moved without thinking.  

Each time that fragile body convulsed under the electric shock, Mut could almost feel it in his own chest.  Emotions he couldn’t comprehend were swirling around inside him like an ocean black-hole.

There was only one single thought in his mind as his anxiety and panic built.

‘Don’t die…please…not because of that moron…’

Chapter Text

Tongrak was caught in a nightmare.  He had to have been.  After falling asleep in the kelp forest with the dugongs, he had a nightmare that he was caught in a human net.  Only to be pulling into a human vessel.  The nightmare had seemed so real.  Painfully real.  But it wasn’t possible.  He had been sleeping in the kelp on the sunniest days for years.  Never once getting caught in a net.

Danu had said the human’s didn’t fish in that area.  Not with the risk of harming the nesting dugongs.  So…it had to be a nightmare.  Right…?

The humans had beaten him, kicking and hitting him with heavy wooden sticks.  His body was rocked with sudden, blasting blows and crippling pain.  He had almost forgotten how it felt to be hurt this badly.  He begged himself to wake, and eventually; he started begging to die.

Rak passed out, only to awake in another dream.  His body was a mass of blinding pain, but he could sense Vivi close.  Feel her fingers over his skin.  Everything hurt so bad, he felt like his insides were peeling open, tearing apart.  Blackness consumed him once more.

‘Fuck it was ugly.’

Rak woke to a familiar voice in his head.  Opening his eyes the best he could, he saw the child.  Danu’s son.  He had grown, but there was no mistaking those eyes, that face.  He looked like his mother.  Like his sisters.  The child’s voice was easier for him to hear than any human’s.

This child…when he spoke, his voice was soft, smooth, relaxing.  Whether he spoke with his mouth or not.  Though he always called Rak ugly…  

He didn’t mean to be.  He hadn’t realized he was.  But the child was the only human he’d come into contact with, and each time he had called him ‘monster, hideous, creepy, grotesque and ugly.’

There was no denying that it hurt Rak’s heart to hear it.  He didn’t want the child to think him ugly…or bad.  He’d been living with Danu and her daughters for the past 29 years, he remembered when this child had been born.  Danu’s first son after 18 daughters.  Rak watched her take the child to the beach.  He waited with her for the father to come.

But when the sun rose, Danu walked back into the water.  When the human male’s came to collect their children, she turned and left.  Rak stayed, hiding behind a large rock, waiting for the child to be picked up.  One by one, each baby boy was taken…but not this boy.

The sun rose high, and this child was the only one left.  It began to cry.  And cry.  And cry.  Yet, still no one came for it.  Rak waited some more.  The cries of the child hammering into his brain, even under the water.

Cries of loneliness and hunger turned to fear and pain.  Rak shot to the surface, face towards the child.  Two large crabs had started to cut into the baby’s skin.  He moved without thinking, swimming around the rocks to the beach.  Rak dragged his body over the sand, picking up each crab to throw back into the water.

The baby boy was bleeding, wailing in pain.  He picked the child up, cradling him awkwardly.  Rak winced as the baby cried in his ear.  But he rocked the child, running his knuckles over his tiny back.  He hummed as he rocked him, sighing in relief as those loud wails slowly turned to hiccups and sniffles.

‘RAK!’

He looked up, seeing an angry Vivi sitting in the surf.  She was pointing to him and then pointing to the water.

‘GET BACK IN HERE BEFORE YOU’RE SPOTTED!!!’

He hugged the baby boy closer, he was so warm.  So soft.  Rak rubbed the child’s tiny ears.  Marveling at how small he was.

‘RAK!  Danu is going to kill you!  NO!  She’s going to kill me for not watching you!  RAK get your bony tail back here!!!’

He didn’t want to, but he could feel himself start to dry out.  Rak turned, reluctantly placing the child under some shade, and crawled back into the surf.  Wincing when Vivi pinched him.  She tried to pull him out further, but no one was coming for the baby.

He couldn’t bear to leave the child.

‘Please, Rak come on.  If nobody hears it’s cries then it won’t be found.  Let it cry.’

It was no secret that Vivi didn’t like humans.  Said had been excommunicated by her tribe.  Her first strike was refusing to breed with the humans.  Her second strike was killing a little girl that had been playing on the rocks where she was resting.  Vivi had scared the child, causing her to run in fright, but the little girl slipped on the black algae covering the sharp rocks and cracked her skull.

Vivi hadn’t meant to hurt her, she had only been teasing, like she’d always done.  But the death of the little girl had hit her hard.  The village had blamed her for the child’s death, and so did Vivi’s family.  

After being kicked out of her home, she had traveled from tribe to tribe until she reached this one.  The merlings here didn’t care about breeding; having their own army of daughters three times over any tribe in the world.  

For the death of the little girl, Vivi was given probation.  That was five years ago now.  She never went near the beaches if she didn’t have to, and steered clear of all humans.

Rak waited a little longer, dipping up and down in the water to stay wet while holding onto the rock.  Vivi sat on the seafloor, watching him with her arms crossed over her chess.  Each time he looked at her, she puffed out her soft cheeks like a pufferfish.

Ducking his head under the water, Rak looked around, checking they were alone before lifting himself half up on the rock.  He began to sing, softly at first, but becoming louder and louder.  He pressed his intent in every melody, calling out for any human close by.  He just needed the attention of one.

Vivi was instantly behind him, pinching at his ribs in panic.

His voice carried over the beach, through the forest behind it.  The sound of crunching leaves had Rak go silent, ducking back behind the rock.  A small, elderly human walked through the forest to the beach.  He looked over the brightly lit sand, smiling, before turning back into the forest.

Rak had moved the child further up under the shade of a tree.  The old human couldn’t see the baby from the beach.  Panicked, Rak opened his mouth, only to have Vivi cover it, pulling him under the water.

He struggled in her strong embrace, and heard the child begin to cry once more.  The sound of it echoed inside his head.  Rak wriggled like an eel, freeing himself from Vivi before breaking the surface, hiding behind the rock.

Vivi was pulling on his tail, being careful not to cut herself on the sharp spikes in his fin.  The baby boy’s wailing caught the attention of the old human, and slowly he was found.  When the elderly human picked up the child, cradling him as he cried, Rak felt his heart pause.

‘Take him, please take him.’

The old human cradled the crying child to his chest, patting his little back gently before saying something and walking away with him in his arms.  The relief Rak felt as he watched them go was a physical thing, relaxing every muscle in his body.  He let go of the rock, letting Vivi drag him out of the crown (the centre waters of the three islands.)

She ranted to him for a little while; of what would happen to him if he had been caught by a human.  And how lonely she’d be if he disappeared.  It wasn’t that she didn’t get along with the other merlings.  But they were either too young, or in training, or wanting babies, or had babies.

Now…Rak stared at Danu’s child.  All grown up but still so young.  He saw images of human faces the child loved and admired.  Rak would only get one chance to pick a human form as he began to dry out.  So while the child’s mind swirled with thoughts of human faces with eyes the color of sea-turtle shells when the sun hit it.  Of smooth bright skin and merling black hair, Rak took each image, melting them together within himself.

He wanted the child to feel comfortable around him…knowing his true form disgusted him.

Rak felt his body floating in soft darkness.  In his mind, he touched his large sleeping friend; who was still napping at the bottom of that giant crack in the earth.  Sometimes, when Rak dreamed, he dreamt he was sleeping inside the large friend's mind.  Safe, and sound.

Sometimes, when his large friend slept, Rak could feel him inside his mind.  Though he was dreaming, his friend saw and felt everything.  Rak was just glad his large friend hadn’t been in his mind during that nightmare.

He heard the child’s voice in the darkness.  It called to him like the sun through a dark ocean.  Rak found himself swimming out towards the smooth voice, feeling his consciousness rising from a heavy slumber.

The light around him was too bright, but he heard the child’s voice.  He was so close.

“...yeah…no…they will fit…yes…ok…thanks.”

Rak focused on the child’s voice until his surroundings became clearer.  His eyes darted around the room before panic spread through him like a toxin.  He wasn’t in the water, he was on land!  Rak immediately tried to sit up, hiss when a dull ache hit him in the guts.

Something was covering his face, there was a hard cord inside his nose, running down his throat.  He felt it as he swallowed.  There were more cords, some on his chest, some in his arm.  His heart began to beat against his ribcage, the human machines around him started to wail, which only caused Rak to move faster.

“Hey hey hey!”

The child raced to him, pinning his body down.

“Stop!  You’ll hurt yourself!”

Rak struggled against him, but the child was too large, too strong.

‘Why was he doing this?!’

More humans ran into the room.  All rushing towards him.  One by one they all started grabbing him, terror took hold of his body, unable to stop himself; Rak tipped his head back and screamed.

The muzzle over his mouth muffled him, but not by much.  His voice filled the room until the clear barriers to the outside started to shake.  The humans covered their ears, dropping to the floor.  Leaving only the child who pressed his upper body over his to hold him down.

Rak took a breath to scream again, but the pained cry of the child caught his attention.  Looking down, he saw blood dripping from the child’s ear.  Rak frozen in confusion.

‘Had he hurt the child?’

Black eyes met his.  They were the same dark eyes of the sweet baby boy he held on the beach.  He couldn’t help but touch the hurt, cradling the child’s head as he cooed quietly.  He hadn’t meant to hurt him.

Rak looked up, seeing the humans slowly stand, but they came no further when the child waved his hand at them.  Looking back at the boy, Rak pulled him up to rest on his chest like he had when he was a baby, gently carding his fingers through the child’s hair.

His human-like fingers and short nails made it easier to touch without risk of harming the boy.  The other humans left, listening when the child told them to go.  Now alone together, Rak sighed, wrapping his arms around the child to hold him closer.  His lips brushed over the boy's soft black hair.

The weight of the child was heavy, but it felt nice; comforting.  Even as his insides ached, even as his lungs felt tight.  The cords in his arms made it awkward, but the child lay still, letting Rak hold him.

His fingers moved from the child's hair to his ears, rubbing over them.  Not as tiny as they once were, but still as soft.  Rak heard the child sigh, his large body above him relaxing.  It caused more weight to rest on him, but he didn’t care.  It had been years since this sweet child was in his arms.

Tongrak had been given his name when he first entered the merling waters.  Not as a guest, but as family.  He had been repeating the last thing his large friend had said to him, before turning over to sleep in the crack in the earth.

‘Must love.  Must love.  Must love.’

He didn’t know what it meant.  Love was a human word, not something used within the siren tribes.  But because it was the only thing he thought of as the swum within the merling barriers, they had named him ‘must love’.  Tongrak.

It was strange having a name.  But it felt nice too.  It made him feel more solid, more real, less of…a thing.

He had been given his own cavern under the human islands.  Danu lived under the second largest with her daughters.  The islands were riddles with corridors, halls, caverns and caves.  All filled with a soft glowing coral that bloomed all year round.

Rak had been riddled with anxiety for the first few years.  Quietly terrified he would find himself in a similar nightmare he;d grown up with.  But Danu and her daughters had doted on him.  Piling into their mother’s nest and pulling him in with them.  They snuggled together like nurse sharks in one big cuddle puddle.

But as each daughter grew older, they set off for adventure, or to breed and raise their own daughters down the corridors from their mother.  As each year passed, less and less of Danu’s daughters slept in her nest, and when Danu herself began a relationship with a neighboring merling, Rak began to sleep in his own cavern.  Giving Danu and her lover privacy.

Rak had never truly been lonely since living with the merlings.  There was always chatter, always daughters chasing each other or playing games.  Sometimes they would play chase with Rak, though he was always too fast for them.

Not once had he ever been scolded or hurt.  Not once had he been denied or excluded.  The merlings could be hard on each other at times but with him, they were always kind.  Never had he been so grateful for their offer of family.

But…everyone seemed to be coupled.  Whether they be family, friends or lovers.  Rak had a family now.  And with Vivi joining the tribe; he had friends.  But a lover…

Rak had to admit, he was curious about a lover.  Merlings only breed with humans but if they chose another merling for a lover, it was for the rest of their life.  Rak was cherished by the merlings, but they didn’t desire him in that way.

Humans weren’t truly an option.  He was scared of them.  Even the younger ones.  Though if he could bring himself to approach one…what would they do?  Hug?  Hugging was nice.  He liked hugging a lot.  

Would they kiss?  The concept of kissing confused him a little, but the merlings seemed to like it.

In the end there were no real viable options for him.…Rak had seen the breeding act between his sisters and cousins when they sent images to each other in the trench.  They sang the humans into a plaid state, pushing them onto their back so they could…well…

Within the first years of Rak living with the merlings, he’d been curious about their yearly moonlight breeding nights.  From the safety of the water, Rak watched as those that wished to enjoy themselves crawled onto the beach and pick a human male.

They could and sometimes did, spend all night on the beach, or in the forest behind it.  Taking one, two or even three lovers that night.  The merlings sounded like they really seemed to enjoy mating.  And the human’s did too.

Tongrak was sterile…all male sirens were.  It was why sirens disposed of their sons.  But whatever the species; be it human or merling…who would ever see him as a suitable mate?  He had nothing to give them.  Not protection; he was fast but weak in strength.  Not a nest; he lived with Danu and her family.  Not even the possibility of children.  There was nothing Rak could offer that was worthy of another’s affection.

So with that thought, Rak steered clear of the beaches and hugged a dugong or two whenever they would let him.  Vivi wasn’t a fan of being touched, but she liked him the most out of the tribe and he valued her friendship more than words could express.

Tongrak must’ve fallen asleep once more, waking with this face clear and the cord out of his throat and nose.  The child was sitting next to where he lay, a small black human device in his hand.  Rak reached over touching the soft tanned skin.

The child jumped in fright, causing Rak to pull his hands back to his chest.  Had he reverted to his true form somehow?  Lifting his hands, he wiggled his fingers to check they were still human-looking.

“Sorry…was just reading emails.  You surprised me.”

Rak felt himself smile as he floated on the sound of the child’s voice.  So smooth and deep.  The sweet boy stared at him for a moment before shaking his head and sighing.

“You are a day too late, I’m afraid.”

Rak tipped his head to the side.  Unsure of what the child meant.  Danu’s son sighed, looking at his hands.

“Do you know where you are?”

Rak looked around before shaking his head slowly.

“You’re in the hospital.  You were beaten badly.  The doctors kept you in an induced coma in hopes the bleeding in your brain would heal.  But that was a month ago...”

Rak tried to make heads and tails of what the child was saying.  

‘So his nightmare of the other humans had been real?’

“You’ve been sleeping for months now, slowly healing.  The doctors say your bones are mending well, and your lungs.  But…the merlings all went into hibernation for winter last night…”

Rak understood some of what he said, but ‘hibernation’?  Hibernation…for winter…

‘OH!  Ohhh no!  All the entries to home would be locked up…how was he going to get in?’

Lost in his anxious thoughts, Rak tried to think of where he could go for winter…back to the crack in the earth with his large friend?  It was possible.  He could sleep there but…

“...I’ve already spoken to Da and since I’m housesitting the main house while they visit Charity Gardens, you’ll be staying with me in my old room.”

Rak froze.  ‘With him?’   Blinking slowly, he looked into the child’s lovely black eyes and smiled brightly.

‘He could stay with him?’

Rak nodded excitedly, only to wince at the sharp pang of pain behind his ear.  The child quickly gripped Rak’s head, keeping it still as he scolded him.

“Watch your noggin, precious!  You’re still a little broken!”

Chapter Text

This wasn’t the first time Mahasamut had stayed home during the winter closure.  He loved going back to Charity Gardens, getting to hang out with Uncle Bulwark at the bar.  But Tam had just had another baby, and with all of his siblings, plus Uncle Sky and Prapai going, the large mansion was going to be cramped wall to wall with children and their horny parents.

Fort and Peat were borderlining an early heat ever since Palm found that bloody letter…

***

“Who’s Grumpy McGrumperson?”

“Hmmm?”

Mut looked away from the sea to look at Palm.  The young guy handed him a piece of paper.

Dear wife,

When you finally drag your tempting ass out of bed, pack a bag and eat something.  We will be flying to Gam-Gam’s this afternoon for an extended visit.  Movers will be here to pack the rest of your things.

I respectfully decline your offer to divorce and have filed the paperwork in the rubbish bin.

I will pick you up when it’s time to leave, DO NOT LEAVE THIS APARTMENT!!!  Failure to follow your alpha’s order will end with you chained naked in the dungeon.  I mean it Cream Puff, fuck around and find out.

I’ve taken your phone since you sent mine flying.

Your husband,

Mr. Grumpy McGrumperson

Mut snorted.

“Where did you find that?”

Palm lifted the laptop bag.  He was borrowing it while he visited his aunt and uncle.  There wasn’t much for him to do there but help on the farm, so he was taking some of Mut’s old papers and language books to study.  Mut’s old language books were Ma’s originally.

He’d learnt Korean via the computer at the resort, never needing to check those books, but there was no wifi where Palm was going, so he was studying ‘the old fashioned way.’

***

That night at dinner Mut had handed the letter to Peat.  Who, upon reading it, began to laugh, before going still…then bursting into tears.  Mut was shocked, there was nothing in that letter (he could see) that would cause such a strong reaction.

And when Da walked in to tell them dinner was ready, he froze for a moment before Ma ran into his arms.  Fort pulled the letter from Peat’s hands and read it, smiling when he saw what it was.

Pulling away, Da held Ma’s head within his hands and shook him gently.

“I told you I wrote you a letter…”

Peat laughed and nodded, giving Da a long lingering kiss.  Mut left them in the living room, heading to the dining room.  They always gave his younger siblings an early dinner.  Once the little ones were either in bed or having ‘quiet time’ in their rooms, the adults would have dinner.

Tonight though, with them leaving for the mainland, all his siblings were over at Art’s house for a sleepover.  They would all have breakfast one last time at the resort, before catching the barge to the city.

The back of Da’s truck was full of the kid’s luggage, while their own suitcases sat open on the floor of their bedroom, waiting for the last few items to go in.  Mut would meet them for breakfast and then drive the truck back to the house.  Where he would stay for the next three months.

Peat had tried to convince him to come, but Mut felt a little tired, both physically and mentally.  He had been throwing himself into his work.  With the early mornings and late into the afternoon shifts, he would stay up late studying and catching up on paperwork.

At the moment, Mut was doing a few tax and business related courses online.  If he was to own his own business in the future, he wanted to be confident in keeping his records, accounts and insurance up-to-date.

With the waters closed and three tourist free months, Mut was looking forward to the quiet.  He was caught up in his classes, and he had a handful of textbooks to finish reading.  But other than that; he planned to sleep in, clean out his bungalow, the shop and the upstairs supply room.

He was really looking forward to staying at the main house.  Mut loved his home and was incredibly grateful that his parents had allowed and given him the bungalow.  But their home was stunning.

When Da had first built it, he had to change the plans to accommodate the coming of children…Mut being included.  But when their family grew, so did the house.  Each set of twins had their one room to share, with a playroom room they all shared.  Fort was already in the midst of extending their house out once more.

The garage had been moved down the driveway so the house could be extended back.  Where once was a circular driveway to the back door was now a construction site of plumbing and concrete with steel posts drilled into the earth.

Inside the house still looked beautiful with its high ceilings and walls of windows.  It was bright and open but still felt comfortable and relaxing.  Mut was looking forward to soaking in the spa bath, laying in the sun on the outdoor patio couches, and raiding their fridge.

He wanted to spend a full day in bed doing nothing, just sleeping.

Mahasamut stepped down from the last step onto the bedrock.  Then onto the sand, heading straight home.  Dinner had been delicious as usual but lighter than normal, probably because they were traveling and Da got sick on the plane to the North.

Peat had talked about what he and his now pregnant twin brother were planning to do and see, while Fort was running through what Mut had planned to do while he was staying home.

“How is Tongrak?  Any change?”

Ma looked at Mut curiously.  It was becoming a habit now for Mut to walk from the main house after dinner, down the mountain to the hospital to visit ‘the precious one’.  It was only a 45 minute walk, and he always overate when Da cooked.  

Mut loved to eat, but heartburn made his mornings hard to start some days.  Causing him to be more irritable.  Though, ever since he started walking home ‘the long way,’ Mut had slept deeper, waking in the early mornings feeling refreshed.  There was no more heartburn either.  His head felt clearer too.

Who knew exercising was good for a person?

Although Mut always got to the hospital after visiting hours, the nurses and on-call doctor didn’t seem to mind him visiting his ‘cousin’.  Da hadn’t told them the precious one was a siren, so Mut had just gone with the story.

Tongrak was healing without issue, apart from him still sleeping.  It would take a while for his bones to fully heal, but at least he could breath on his own now.  Though the doctors kept the NRM over his face as a precaution.  

The doctors had him on heavy duty drugs to keep him comatose.  But after the bleeding in his brain stopped and the fracture to his skull started healing, Doctor Degani slowly lifted the drug doses until Tongrak was only on painkillers.

He should have woken by now…

Several feet from his bungalow’s stairs, pain exploded at the back of his leg.  Mut looked down to check his calf.  A wet black stone sitting in the white sand caught his attention immediately.  His calf muscle looked like there was already swelling from the hit.  Looking around disdainfully, Mut spotted the one that threw it.

She sat in the surf…he one he didn’t like.  Mut was tempted to just flip her off and go to bed.  But the waters would be closing tomorrow night… and the siren still hadn’t woken.

“What?”

He asked rudely when he got to the edge of the water.  She had crawled onto his boat last month, after he had dropped his clients off at another island for the night.  Mut didn’t have much love for merlings, but this one was the rudest he’d ever come across.

“I want to know about Tongrak of course!”

“He’s still sleeping, there isn’t much to tell.”

The merling huffed and rolled her eyes, looking around the beach as if she might see the siren.

“Winter is here and they are locking the doors tomorrow…  Half have already started to lock down and sleep.”

For a split second, Mut saw her face turn worried.  Then she went back to being annoyed.

“Look, if he wakes up before sunset tomorrow I’ll send out an alarm.  If he wakes during the winter sleep, then he can stay with me until you can come get him.”

“You?!”

Mut was a little offended by her tone.

“Yes, me.  Who else?”

She looked to be thinking.

“Hey!  I can look after him just fine!”

“So where will he sleep?  What will you feed him morning, noon and night?  Will you be kind to him?  Or continue to break his heart?”

Mut shook his head, giving her an ‘are you crazy?’ look.

“Continue?”

The merling rolled her eyes again.  Her attitude was starting to piss him off.

“Rak has adored you from the moment you were born, yet every time he’s gone to your aid, you’ve called him horrible names.”

Mut was taken back. One; from the noticeable hostility in her voice, and two…everything she just said.

“Sorry?”

“He’s a siren, stupid!  They can see thoughts!”

Mut stared at her, shocked.  Thinking back, he had never said anything bad…but he did vaguely remember thinking unkindly about the siren.  

‘Ah, crap on a cracker!’

One would think wrangling six small children onto a barge would be chaos, but his siblings were pretty well behaved…when they wanted to be.  They marched behind Da like ducklings, with Peat pushing the youngest set of twins (Sunny and Dawn) in a double stroller.  Four Sengngai soldiers had arrived on the barge as it came in, to help with luggage.

Mut hugged a teary Peat, who didn’t like leaving him, even though he was an adult now.  Fort hugged him too, whispering that if he changed his mind, they would send a helicopter to come get him.

He smiled, heart feeling like it could burst.  Da was stoic most of the time, and the stories Uncle Bulwark used to tell painted Da in a horrific, cold-blooded light.  But Mahasamut always appreciated the moments Fort reminded him that they were family.  He really was the best father.  And Peat…the amount of kindness and love he had in his heart could save the world if such a thing were possible.

They were perfect flesh and blood examples that even if you grew up in an abusive household, it didn’t define you.  That the disease of domestic abuse didn’t have to spread through the bloodline.  For years Mut was terrified of drinking.  Fearing he would be addicted just like Rungtiwa.

He was scared he would grow to lose his temper and hurt his siblings, but he was never inclined in that way.  Granted his siblings were sweet and cheerful most of the time.  Having Fort and Peat as parents, knowing how they grew up…and how different they are from their parents, calmed an anxiety in Mut that he had been carrying around in his heart since the first time Rungtiwa slapped him.

Da picked up little Sky and hugged him as they walked.  He was the sweetest little boy Mahasamut had ever met.  Quiet, and shy, he spent a good part of his day outside drawing.  It was hard not to adore Sky, he loved to be cuddled and wasn’t bothered by much.  He looked like a tiny version of Peat, and although Sky didn’t talk much, he did know how.

His twin sister; Pearl, was carrying a large book in one arm, while holding the hand of an elderly Sengngai soldier.  Mut recognized him, nodding at him when he glanced back.  The elderly soldier had the patience of a saint, and would listen to Pearl ramble on about sea creatures big and small, including (of course) merlings.  She’d been obsessed since the first time she spotted one on the beach, and still hadn’t quite forgiven their parents for not giving her the merling genes.

Night and Echo, were the middle twins.  They weren’t monsters per say…more like naughty little boys.  They were kind, and lovable, but they’d put googly eyes on every photo on the wall.  Change the salt for sugar, and paint themselves blue.  

They once put a tiny strip of duct tape on Da's computer mouse, so it wouldn’t work.  And somehow managed to swap the towels to the pots and pans cupboard and vice versa.  All harmless stuff, but it kept their parents on their toes.

One weekend, Art had all the kids watch Mary Poppins.  Night and Echo were the only ones to try and jump off the roof with umbrellas.  They got scratched up pretty bad when they landed in the bushes below.  And almost gave Art a heart attack when he saw them fall past his living room window.

When the boys decided to try and jump off a higher part of the roof, Da caught each of them, one at a time before they landed on the path below.  Art and his partner Charoen had been screaming up a storm, scared the twins would break their little necks.

When Peat and Mut came running, they sprinted around the corner in time to see Fort catch Echo.  Ma’s legs almost caved under him when he realized what they had been doing.

Mut was sure Fort was going to lose his temper…

***

“Explain yourselves!”

Da said abruptly.

The boys, completely unphased, explained that they were trying to fly like Mary Poppins.  Fort took a deep breath, it looked like he was counting to ten.  Then he turned to Echo.

“So when you saw your brother fail, why did you still jump?”

The young boy just shrugged his shoulders.

“I didn’t think he did it right.”

Fort shook his head.

“And where’s your umbrella?”

Echo grinned.

“Still up there.”

Fort just stared at him, but the boy grinned wider.

“Well…It didn’t help Night!”

Fort walked away before he burst into a fit of laughter, but it was Peat’s tears on almost losing his sons that had kept the twin’s feet on the ground since then.

***

Now…the twins hugged each of Mut’s legs and said goodbye, before running straight for a young soldier (in training) named Islay.  Who laughed when the boys tried to tackle him.  The rookie had met them all last year during Christmas.  He was only 16 but the twins seemed to gravitate towards him, so Fort put his name on the roster for pick up that day.  

The rookie was slim, pretty in looks, and showed late signs of the omega gene but Bulwark had said he was a dirty fighter and resourceful.  Islay had been working for a northern gang as a runner since he was five, before being busted by the police.  His gang had made him take the fall, then tried to kill him to tie up loose ends.  Bulwark had seen him at the courthouse and felt sorry for him.  So, he paid for a lawyer to get the teenager off and hired him as a trainee soldier.

From what Bulwark had told Mut, he was giving the teen a place to work, a place to live and forcing him to do online schooling in his free time.  Since the rookie seemed to be the only one that could control Night and Echo, he was on babysitting duties until future notice.

Mahasamut watched as the barge pulled away from the wharf.  Waving to his family as they hung over the top deck to wave back.  He knew they would call everyday, and his parents would text morning, noon and night to check up on him.  He felt his throat tighten a little at the thought of not seeing them for three months, but he would keep his days busy enough.

For the rest of the day Mut had cleaned out the storage room upstairs in the shop.  Carrying all the equipment to one side, to wash the walls and floor.  Before wiping down each piece of equipment, and storing it back to the other side before doing the same on the adjacent wall.  When he was done, he started putting together the new shelving unit that had arrived on this morning's barge.

With the shelves up and filled with new trays, Mut sighed in pleasure as all the small pieces of equipment had been now cleaned, sorted and placed in their own trays.  Instead of just thrown in old boxes to be rummaged through the night before a tour.

Spring cleaning the storage area had Mut find things he thought lost, plus he found a few things that were in desperate need of repair or replacement.  Going downstairs, he found the postage sleeves and bubble-wrap.  Looking up the address for their suppliers.  He emailed a new inventory order, as well as a repair request, before placing the packages next to the front door.  He would drop them off at the post office when it opened back up after winter.

Mut threw old bed sheets over the equipment to keep the dust at bay while the store was closed.  He worked his way downstairs, before realising it was sunset.  He locked up, running to the beach to meet the merling.  She was looking around for him from the water.  Mut hadn’t checked on the siren yet, but called the hospital’s front desk as he ran.

When the afternoon nurse answered the phone, Mut asked if Tongrak had woken.  Only hanging up when he got his answer.  Mut shook his head at the merling, who looked like she could possibly cry.

‘Were she and the siren an item?’

The merling punched the water and fell back into it, twisting her body until her tail flicked just under the surface.  Mut stood there for a moment, unsure of where to go from there.  Turning, he walked up the beach to his bungalow, packing a large bag of his clothes and books.

With his duffle bag and laptop side bag hanging off his shoulders, Mut closed the windows, turning off all the powerpoints before locking up the door.  He trudged back over to the shop where the truck still was and drove up to the main house.

His old room was already made up with fresh sheets and an extra warm blanket on the queen bed.  Mut unpacked his clothes back in his dresser and placed his toiletries in the main bathroom.  Tucking his empty duffle bag under the bed, Mut walked down the hall to the kitchen.  Placing his laptop bag on a spare stool at the kitchen counter, he checked the fridge and smiled.

Da had filled the fridge with containers of all his favorite dishes.  Each glass container labeled with what it was.  On the bottom shelf was a six pack of beer with a note.

Thank you for taking care of the house.  

Call us if you need anything, no matter the time.  

Have a great rest and love you.

P.S check the freezer. X

Opening the freezer, Mut felt his throat tighten once more.  It was stacked with more containers of soups, curries, fried rice and more of Mut’s favorite dishes from Da’s cooking and the resort's chef.  One draw was packed with Mut’s favorite flavor of ice creams and cake cups.

He closed the freezer, grabbing a beer and taking a quick sip.  He wiped away a stray tear before sending Fort and Peat a thank you.  Mut sat on the patio couch, sipping his beer while he watched the rest of the sunset.  Finally, feeling his body relax.

‘Three months of quiet time…’

Mahasamut slept in, for the first time in ages.  He made himself a pork and basil omelette with Da’s extra spicy dipping sauce, and microwaved the leftover jasmine rice from last night's dinner.  He ate outside on the patio, leaning back to sip his coffee while he admired the beautiful sunny day.  There was a storm warning heading over the mainland, but on the island, it was perfect weather.

Peat had called last night while Fort was settling the kids in.  They had made it to Charity Gardens before it started to rain.  Once Gam-Gam’s estate, now Bulwark’s, who was using it as a base camp for training new recruits.  There was a camp next door to the estate where the men lived and trained.

Mut’s parents had sent him a group text that morning, with a photo of the picture little Sky drew for him on the plane.  It was a crayon drawing of Mut in bed with…

Mut:  Who’s that with me?

Ma:  Tongrak!  Isn’t that cute.  Fort told the kids you were staying back to look after him.

***

Once Mut had washed his dishes and showered.  He drove Fort’s truck to the shop, getting a late start on spring cleaning the downstairs room.  He rebooted the computer while he was there and started backing up everything to the portable harddrive.  It would go in the safe once he was finished cleaning.

Palm and Gift had been keeping the office clean, but things like the dust in the air con or the skirting boards got missed.  The walls were washed and little nicks in the wall were touched up with white paint and a sponge.  He cleaned out the shop fridge, packing away the leftover drinks and snacks into boxes, before turning off the fridge.  

Mut rinsed out the mop and bucket. Placing them both in the backroom’s sink.  By late afternoon, Mut had taken all the boxes to the truck and headed to the hospital.  He walked through the sliding doors, leaving the boxes of drinks and unsold snacks on the front counter.

The receptionist and afternoon nurses all swooned when Mut told them they would be saving him if they could take the drinks and snacks off his hands.  He had already taken a few chocolate bars before coming in.  The hospital staff appreciated the gift, taking the box of iced coffees, energy drinks, water, soft drink and juice.  Along with the box of chocolate, jelly beans, potato chips, jerky and nuts.

Walking down the hallway, Mut found the precious one’s room.  The siren was still laying where he last saw him, the machines around the bed quietly buzzing.  Mut took a seat and watched Tongrak’s face.  He was sleeping soundly, chest moving up and down calmly.  Pulling out his phone, Mut read through his work emails, only lifting his eyes to stare at the siren once every five minutes…

Going through his spam folder, Mut deleted each email, one at a time.  Before going through his regular folder.  Some emails went to their own company folders, some into the Past Client folder.  Bank folder, Tax folder blah blah blah.

Mut found himself so lost in his task that he jumped out of his skin when his phone rang.  It was Aunsam.  He had planned to have his charter anchored in the bay, but changed his mind, asking Aunsam to haul it on land and park it in the warehouse on the island Sedna (the largest island of the three).  There, his boat would be cleaned, serviced and kept safe from the weather during winter.

Hanging up the phone, Mut turned, body freezing in shock as he saw the precious one sitting up in bed.  When the siren started pulling on the oxygen mask and IVF drip, Mut raced over, afraid he’d hurt himself.

“Hey, hey, hey!”

Mut automatically pinned the siren’s arms down, pushing his body on Tongrak to hold him still.

“Stop!  You’ll hurt yourself!”

The precious one continued to struggle, moving his body under Mut like an eel.  Mut tried to make soothing sounds but the siren’s body started to get stiff with fear.  His pretty brown eyes only widened in further alarm as the night team of doctors and nurses ran into the room, all trying to hold Tongrak down.

The siren’s fear was thick around him.  Mut needed everyone to leave so he could try and calm him, but before he could open his mouth, Tongrak stilled, taking a deep breath to dip his head back and scream…

Chapter Text

Rak grinned as the sweet child held his head.  Even as it throbbed with the aftershocks of pain, the warmth radiating from his skin was bliss.

“Now…I’m going to call the doctor to look you over.  To make sure you're ok.”

That soft, deep voice felt as warm as the child’s hands…but when the door opened, another human walked in, causing Rak to try to flee.

“Hey!”

Rak’s head was turned back to the sweet boy.  He held his head still, peering into his eyes.

“He isn’t going to hurt you.  He just wants to check your injuries.”

The other human moved closer.  But as he reached a few steps from him, a group of humans walked past the entryway, laughing and pushing each other.  Startled, Rak began to struggle in the boy's grip.

“Calm down, precious.  If you don’t relax and get looked over, you can’t come home with me.  You’ll have to stay here.”

THAT caught his attention.  He so badly wanted to get out of this place, away from the other humans.  And getting to spend more time with Danu’s child was what Rak had always wanted…

Peering over to the other human nervously, Rak bit his lip, but gave a quick nod.  The human was perhaps in the middle of his age, still young compared to Rak, but much older compared to Danu’s sweet boy.  The stranger smiled at Rak, closing the gap between them.

He felt his insides tightening when the stranger tried to reach up and touch him, but the sweet child let go of Rak’s face to hold his hand.  Looking down, Rak studied where their hands were joined.  A smile spread over his face.  He liked this young boy holding his hand.

“Hello Tongrak, how are you feeling?”

Rak looked at the stranger, blinking rapidly.  

Sending out his answer, he felt his reply glide over the other human like grains of sand cupped in one’s hand.  It just passed straight through.  Though Rak could feel the stranger’s thoughts like a school of fish twisting and moving in sync.

The human was calm, but tired…and missed his lover.  Rak caught the glimpse of something in the other human’s thoughts; a small rodent with a long body.  It was running around, jumping and playing with a colorful ball.  The stranger was remembering the way his lover laughed this morning as the small white rodent zoomed through a little tunnel and jumped into his lap.

‘His lap?’

Rak blinked at the stranger.  ‘His lover was…another man?’

The other human began asking him questions, then moving closer to touch him again.  Rak stiffened, but the warm hand wrapped around his, tightened, comforting him.  The stranger shined a light in his eyes, then made him watch a finger go back and forth in front of his face.

Rak was lost in thought.  It shouldn’t be any surprise to him that a human man could take another man as a lover…the merlings were all women and there were plenty of bonded couples.  Perhaps it was because he had always lived with women, that he had never thought about it?

“So…can I take him home?”

Rak was pulled from his thoughts at the sound of the child’s voice.  Looking over to the lovely boy before turning to the stranger.

“Well…I’d prefer him to stay here to be monitored for a few more weeks.  But technically he can be released, only on the conditions he rests in bed for at least two more weeks.  I’ll swing by and check up on him there if it’s easier?”

The child nodded.  

‘Was he going to be released?  Why did they need this human’s permission?’

Rak stopped listening as the two continued to speak.  Instead he turned to the child, looking at his sweet face.  Rak had grown tired and slowly began to curl around their joining hands.  Lifting his other hand, Rak gently touched the child’s arm, marveling at how truly warm his skin felt.  

He smelt nice too, now that Rak was inching closer.  He wanted to press himself up close to the boy, hoping his smell would blanket over him until his scent stained his skin.  A hand came up and covered his, the thumb moving back and forth over his fair skin.  Rak’s eyes focused on it, loving how wonderful the soothing caress felt.

“Ok.  Let’s start on the paperwork while someone gets Tongrak ready.”

Rak lifted his eyes to the child; who tilted his head side to side, thinking.

“Could we do that in here?  Now that he’s awake…”

“Ah.  I see, give me a moment.”

Rak felt the other human leave the room.  Now alone with the boy, he wriggled his body closer, hoping to siphon some of his warmth.

“You’re like a little kitten.”  

The sweet boy said softly.  Lifting his arm up to brush his hand over Rak’s hair.  He started with tucking strands behind his ears, before a thumb brushed over his forehead where his hair started to grow.  Rak felt the gentle caresses all the way down his body.  

It was such a pleasant feeling that it ran through his connection to his large sleeping friend, who in turn made that rhythmic vibrating sound of contentment.

“You’re purring!”

The boy’s gentle touch became more confident, rubbing over the top of his head, careful not to touch where the painful throbbing sat.  Rak stayed still, enjoying himself.  His large friend’s delight echoed through him, but Danu’s son seemed to like the sound, as he leant closer to listen.

The sound got louder, causing his throat to tickle as the vibrations rumbled up.

“That's adorable.”

Rak had been released from his room.  Danu’s lovely child had given him his coat, wrapping it around him tightly.  He tried to get him to stand on his new human feet, but when Rak fell forward, the boy caught him, lifting him up in his arms.  He was carried out of the room, only to be led out in the open with more humans.

Fear rose up fast, and Rak tucked his head against the child’s neck.  The boy squeezed him gently, and continued down the corridor.  When they got outside, he’d been sure leaving would calm him, but he’d been wrong.  

As the child carried him out into the open, a suffocation overtook him.  Rak curled his body into the boy’s, wrapping his arms around his shoulders tightly.  His stomach dropped and curled, while his new legs and toes tingled.  He felt like he was going to fall into an abyss; completely overwhelmed and helpless.

“Sshhh…I won’t drop you.”

The sweet child tried to sooth him, but Rak was starting to struggle to breath, he pressed his face into the boy's warm neck, whining softly as he heard a hollow click.  One arm left his body to reach out and soon the child was sitting him down.  Rak held onto him as the boy tried to pull away, but Rak whimpered, refusing to let go.

“Come on, precious.  Let me close the door so I can take you home…”

Rak didn’t let go, body shivering with that terrible feeling of being pulled down into the darkness too fast.

“Hey, hey…look at me…”

The child gripped Rak’s chin, pulling his head up to meet his eyes.

“I won’t let anything hurt you, but I need to close the door, so we can get you home.  Ok?”

Rak bit his lip as dark eyes bore into his.

“Everything will be ok.  I’m going to close the door, and drive you home…ok?”

He didn’t want to let the child go, but as those warm hands pulled from him, Rak reluctantly released him.  He watched, holding his breath as the door to the car was closed.  Watching intently as the boy walked around to the other side and opened that door.

Rak had learnt a few new things about humans and their world, the merlings seemed to be well informed.  Like how the water vessels were called ‘boats’, or ‘ships’.  And the land boats were really called ‘cars’, or ‘trucks’.  He knew that the large building on the beach was a place where humans visited to relax.  And that the child took the relaxing humans around the islands and under the water to see the coral.

What he hadn’t known was how sick the ‘car’ would make him feel.  His gut clenched as it rolled, mouth filling with saliva as the vessel rounded another steep incline.  When it turned again, he gagged but quickly swallowed, only to taste bile.

“You doing ok there, precious one?”

The vessel turned around another bend and Rak gagged again.  He closed his eyes, shaking his head when the vessel stopped abruptly.  He felt a sickening tingle in his lower body, rushing up quickly.  Rak tried to stop the vomit rising up but the constant swallowing only made his stomach clench harder.

His door opened wide.  The child gripped his shoulder in time to save the inside of his vessel but not himself, as Rak accidentally vomited over the boy's front and legs.

They reached the child’s home, finally.  Though there were many stops along the way.  Rak had nothing left in his system, but every time the car started to move, so did his stomach.  The sweet boy had taken his soiled clothes off, throwing them into the tray of the vessel…car.  He carried Rak inside the building that sat surrounded by forest.

The moment they walked inside, Rak felt immensely better.  Though this place was alien to him; it was still a place to escape the outside…

Rak was placed on the edge of a large white shell, before the child reached forward to make water run into the shell.  Rak leant over, slipping his fingers through the water, feeling it slowly change from cool to warm, and then hot.

“Da put a tempt gauge on the plumbing when Pearl and Sky were born.  So no matter how long they had the hot water tap going, it never scolded them.”

Rak listened, though he didn’t understand everything the boy was saying.  He watched as the child brought over a pile of cream colored cloth, before pulling on the soft cord of Rak’s robe.  It fell easily off his shoulders, and the boy threw it to the floor.  Then the child turned, taking off the only piece of clothing Rak hadn’t vomited on.

He stared.  The boy had no hair around his genitals, though Rak had been told young men his age would.  His backside was thick and rounded, with only a slight change in skin tone from lack of sunlight.  The boy's privates were soft, but longer and thicker than his own.  He had a quick study of his new appendage when the boy was trying to dress him back in the white room.

The thickness twitched, causing Rak’s eyes to widen as it began to grow in length.

“Ok, show’s over.  Eyes forward.”

Confused, Rak obeyed.  Looking at the forest outside the clear barrier.

The child climbed into the large shell and washed himself quickly with water before placing a stopper in the shell's hole at the bottom.  It caused the hot water to fill the large shell quickly.  The sweet boy stood, and once again Rak’s eyeline was directly on his privates.

They were strange, alien almost.  Rak had genitals in his siren form; kept hidden in a protective slit in the upper middle of his tail.  But he’d never seen reason to pull it out completely.  It served one purpose; to relieve himself.  

He’d never been so close to another male before, it was fascinating how it began to grow longer and thicker under his gaze.

“Stop staring at it you big creep…”

Rak’s eyes shot up in shock.  ‘He wasn’t supposed to be looking?’

Cold shame filled his chest instantly.  Dropping his gaze to the floor of the shell, he felt hot tears fill his eyes.  He hadn’t meant to offend.  Would the child send him back to the white room?

“Hey, hey, hey! Don’t cry!”

The child picked Rak up under his arms and lowered him into the hot water, pulling him into his arms as he rested his back against the shell.

‘How could he tell the boy he was sorry?  Would he really send him back?’

“I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to upset you.”

The boy held him against his chest as the hot water continued to rise.

“I shouldn’t have called you a creep, it was unkind.  I didn’t mean it.  It was just…”

Rak felt the boy squeeze his frame gently.

“...just…oh hell!  I’m really sorry.”

Rak kept his body still, letting his head rest on the boy's shoulder.  He watched as the child’s muscular leg lifted in the water, toes extending out to push down on the silver lever.  The water stopped flowing, before it was almost filled to the top.

Reluctant to move from the boy's arms, Rak couldn’t curb his curiosity after seeing those toes.  It made him want to look at his own.  Turning his body, he sat on the boy’s lap, wriggling until he was comfortable.  

He heard a soft groan behind him and worried he was too heavy for the boy.  Leaning back, Rak rested on a wide muscular chest, focusing on lifting his leg.  It was heavy, and he had dropped it a few times, but managed to wriggle his strange little toes before his leg muscles cramped up.

He’d been having so much fun trying to look at his legs and feet, he’d kept sliding off the sweet boy’s lap.  Rak would wiggle back on it, noticing the boy’s thick appendage under him grew large and rock hard.  But since he’d gotten a negative reaction from looking at it, he decided to ignore it completely.

Rak felt the boy’s hands gripping his shoulders, stilling him.  The thickness under him was throbbing against his backside.  Rak was lifted only slightly as the child opened his legs wide and placed Rak to sit on the smooth shell’s bottom while the boy rested his forehead against his back, breathing deeply.

‘Was he in some kind of pain?’

“Yeah…I’m in trouble…”

Rak tried to look behind him but the child held him still.  Instead, he took a few deep breaths and let go before grabbing a small cream cloth and dipping it in the water.  He placed it under a cylinder with a spout, and pushing down on the top, caused a shimmery white liquid to be pumped out onto the cloth.

The sweet boy rubbed the shimmery liquid into his neck and shoulders, then down his back.  He told him to lift his arms so he could wash over them.

“Lean back.”

Rak obeyed, leaning back so the child could wash over his neck and chest.  The two nubs on his chest must have been dirty, as they were washed over longer than the rest of his skin.  They peddled under the touch, spreading warmth over his chest and further down.

When that soapy cloth made its way down his stomach to his genitals, his appendage was already hard.  The boy washed around the area gently, only for Rak to tip his head back and gasped when that cloth ran over the sack under his appendage.

‘So sensitive!’

When that cloth wrapped around his hard length and pulled up gently, Rak whimpered, wriggling against the thick chest behind him.  Hot breath skittering over his neck and shoulder as the boy reached further down between his legs washing over his…his…

Rak kicked out his legs without thinking, making water splash out of the shell.  His fingers gripped onto the edge until his knuckles turned white.  That cloth continued to rub over his hole, causing an alien spike of pleasure and uncertainty.  When the cloth pressed against the centre, Rak’s legs fell apart quickly, causing him to lose balance and slip down, pushing against the cloth.

A loud *BANG!*   had them both jumping.  Rak held onto the edge of the shell as the boy dropped the cloth and maneuvered out of the shell.  Wrapping a large cream cloth around his hips, he left the room.  Rak’s heart was hammering inside his chest, his body shivered from the shock.

‘Was that normal?’

Danu’s child walked back in quickly.

“The garden umbrella fell down.  Looks like a storm’s coming.”

Rak was lifted from the shell quickly and placed back on the edge.  His appendage was still hard and twitching, but the boy wasn’t looking at him anymore.

‘Had he done something wrong?  Was his reaction wrong?  Was the boy uncomfortable with him now?’

He was dried quickly with one large cloth, while a medium sized cloth was wiped over his hair, being careful of his sore spot.  Rak was then carried into a large room with a big bed.  He was pushed to lay down and covered with soft, heavy blankets.

“I’ve got to go around and close up the house and bring in some furniture, so lay here for a little bit.  Ok?”

Nodding, Rak watched the boy remove the cream cloth around his hips and step into soft looking pants.  Then he was gone.  

Rak lay in the bed for a moment, pushing his toes up and down like he used to do with the bottom of his tail.  Turning his head to the side, he looked out the square opening in the wall.  Wind blew the trees outside, while the clouds in the sky grew a deep shade of grey.

A storm he’d said…

Lifting the covers, Rak looked at his appendage.  It had lost some of its stiffness, but as his mind wandered to the scene inside that shell, it hardened once more.  ‘How odd…’

A sound outside caught his attention.  It was raining!  Rak smiled, loving the rain.  He would float close to the surface and watch millions of tiny droplets hit the water.  Storms were tricky, the constant shifting of swells were fun to float in.  They spun him and the young merlings around, to and fro.  

They would all laugh as they bumped into each other, but when the lightning hit the surface, it was time to swim down to deeper levels or go home.  It was safe deeper down, but dangerous if you were accidentally stuck floating close to the surface.

Rak turned in the bed, watching the rain hit the clear barrier, before wind blew it in streaks.  Tucking himself under the soft blankets, Rak felt his eyes grow heavy, his muscles relaxed after soaking in the hot water…he flushed as he thought about it.

Sighing, he closed his eyes, listening to the rain falling outside.  His breathing became deeper, and before he knew it, sleep once again took him.

Chapter Text

‘Shit!  Shit!  Shit!  Shit!  What had he done?!’

Mahasamut lifted up the outdoor umbrella, only to roll it down and lay it flat near the patio.  He grabbed the cushions and threw them in the storage space under each couch, all the while, replaying what he’d just done in the house.

After being covered in vomit, all he wanted to do was wash off the smell quickly before helping the sickly one with his bath.  But his ‘patient’ had stared at his junk unabashedly, and Mut had snapped at him, seconds after realising he was getting hard under that bold gaze.

Instantly, he regretted it.  Tongrak looked like Mut had slapped him.  Looking straight to the bath’s floor, before tears began to fall.  Without thinking, Mut grabbed him and pulled him into the warm water, hugging him and apologizing.  His thoughtless words had hurt Tongrak once again.

Mut walked around the house slowly.  Starting from the top and walking his way down; he closed the windows and curtains, taking his time on purpose.  He felt like such a scumbag.

When he lifted his foot to shut off the bath tap, he’d come to a few surreal revelations…

Tongrak had caught sight of his foot like a kitten with a toy mouse, and spent a good while trying to look at his own feet.  It had been the cutest and most torturous thing Mut had ever experienced.

Rak had clearly never seen his toes before, which meant he’d probably never left the water before.  It would certainly explain why he couldn’t walk like the merlings or sirens a-like.  And watching how the precious one got excited when he managed to lift his foot to wriggle his toes was like a shock to Mut’s system.

Tongrak had squirmed in Mut’s lap, ignoring the raging boner under his butt.  Now thinking about it; he’d helped Rak’s change into a wrap-around rope before they left.  Tongrak’s head had shot straight to his own lap in surprise…that should have been Mut’s first clue.  But at the time, he’d been trying not to leer too much at the precious one’s naked body.

Looking around, Mut checked everything before checking the weather radar.  It was only a small storm, nothing like what was hitting the mainland now.  He sent a quick text to his parents.  No doubt they’d know he was home after the security camera’s sent footage of the driveway and front door to Da’s phone.

Mut looked into the fridge and closed it, leaning against the kitchen bench.  If Tongrak had never seen his feet and toes before, the chances that he’d never seen his more intimate parts were a possibility too.  Mut had simply assumed Rak would have seen them in his siren-form, but maybe they were different?  Or…

‘Ah…shit! Who was he kidding?’   

Tongrak wasn’t just a living, breathing wet-dream that shared his childhood trauma.  He was an innocent…possibly in every sense of the word.  The probability was high; that while living with only women, Rak’s had never seen a man naked before.  Which was why he stared.  

It hadn’t been boldness…only curiosity.  He hadn’t reacted to Mut’s hard-on, because Tongrak simply didn’t know what was happening.

Instead, Rak casually rubbed over Mut’s lap, sending him absolutely mental.  The moment he felt himself tip over ‘that’ edge, was the moment he picked Rak up and sat him on the bathtub’s bottom.  Taking several deep breaths to calm down.  His cock was throbbing angrily at him, knowing a few more slips against the soft crease of Rak’s backside would be enough to climax.

Mut had picked up the cloth instead, washing Rak quickly.  He planned to be ‘all business’.  Only for his hands to have a mind of their own, taking advantage of an innocent and trusting person.  Those soft sounds Rak made were erotic as hell.  The quick intakes of breath.  The soft sighs.  The little hitches in his throat.  Mut could have easily jerked off to the sound of Rak’s pleasure.

Those pretty nipples were so sensitive, causing Mut to pay more attention to them than he should’ve.  

Catching himself again, he moved the washcloth further down…

Mut leant over the kitchen counter, groaning as he thought about it.  He’d fucked up and let his libido take advantage of the situation.  And what was worse…there was a tiny voice in the back of his head saying ‘Do it!  Slip into bed naked with him and see what happens!’

He flicked himself in the forehead for his thoughts.

“Who's the creep now?”

Mahasamut had eventually gone in and checked on the precious one.  Tongrak was tucked under the thick blankets, somehow cocooning himself with a small nest of pillows.  All Mut could truly see of him was a head of black hair and a slither of fair skin, that led down to the cutest nose.

‘Snug as a bug...’

Sitting on the edge of the bed, he half hoped Tongrak would wake.  Brushing a lock of black hair from his forehead, Mut listened to the little snores coming from under the blankets.

When his stomach began to grumble, Mut reluctantly stood, closing the curtains and left the room.  He walked back to the kitchen and started dinner.  Everything was cooked already, thanks to Da, but rice was too easy not to make it himself.  So after washing the rice until the water ran clear, Mut turned on the cooker and silently walked back to check on Rak.

He didn’t think his patient would appreciate waking in another strange room, so as Mut waited for the rice, he tried to watch tv on low, only for the channels to play up due to the storm.  So he read his textbooks instead.

When the cooker dinged, he shut it off and checked on his patient, before sticking a container of curry in the microwave.  All throughout his meal, Mut kept hearing noises and got up to check on the sleepy one, only to find a little lump in the bed still and safe.

‘Perhaps he should put the twin’s baby monitor in there?’

After washing his dishes, Mut walked into Dawn and Sunny’s room and picked up the little camera, before heading upstairs to his parents room for the monitor.  Light filled the house for a split second before a deafening *CRACK!* had Mut jump in his skin.

‘Fuck that sounded close.’

Racing down the stairs, he ran to his room and turned on the light.  The little lump under the covers was moving, but only slightly.  He called out to Rak, and knelt next to the bed, lifting a corner of the blankets to reveal the precious one curled up in a ball, hands over his ears.

“Hey...”

He said in a soft voice.  Reaching out to lightly brush his fingers over a shaky wrist.

Rak looked up at him.  Those big brown eyes blinking at him in surprise and a little fear.  Another crack of lightning had his patient duck his head back under, wriggling further down the bed, making the most precious little mewls of displeasure.

Mut threw caution to the wind and slipped under the blankets.  He tucked his hands under Rak’s armpits and pulled his stiff body further up the bed, pressing him against his bare chest.  

With his head snuggly tucked under Mahasamut’s chin, Rak wrapped his arms around Mut’s body, rubbing his own naked body all over his.

It wasn’t sexual…more like a cat rubbing their body to leave a scent.  When almost every inch of his cooler skin was pressed against Mut’s, only then did the precious one sighed contently.  When a flash of lightning flickered through the curtains, followed by a distant crack, Rak stiffened.  Mut covered him head to toe in the blankets, before slipping his arm under Rak’s head.

He rested his other hand on the precious one’s smooth back, feeling his lungs breathe in and out under cool skin.  Rak’s hip was pressing snuggly against Mut’s groin.

‘Think unsexy thoughts.  Think unsexy thoughts!’

Mut tried to think of anything other than the naked wet-dream pressed against him like a second skin.  He replayed movies and tv ads in his mind.  Thought about the time he’d been kicked in the nuts by a resort guest, after she caught him feeling up her older brother the next night.

He thought about the hook that got caught under his fingernail and the doctors pulled off his torn nail to help it regrow normal.  He thought about the bridge.  THAT was a memory he would never forget.  The sounds of the bullets firing, the smoke.  The sound of Auntie Evie’s cries…

Emotions he’d tried to shove down deep began to bleed back up.  He still had nightmares about it.  The bridge, the boat, the dead bodies…Gam-Gam.

Under the blankets, Rak made a mournful sound.  Mut lifted the covers, looking down.

‘Gods he was precious!’

Rak had tears pooling in his eyes, his mouth turned down in sadness.  And as the storm raged outside, Rak crawled up the bed, tucking Mut’s head under his chin and wrapping his arms around his shoulders.  A leg wrapped around his middle, as if Tongrak was trying to protect Mut from his own thoughts.

It was sweet and strangely, something Mut hadn’t realized he needed.  When his nightmares plagued him at an early age, his parents tried to help.  Peat had tried to talk to him about it, then offered to bring in a professional to talk with him.  Fort had taken Mut to the gun range, then the gym, then to a boxing ring.

Ma wanted him to confront his fears, understanding them and dealing with them in a healthy way, but didn’t want to push him into it.  Da was as subtle as a freight train.  He wanted Mut to grow confident within himself physically, drowning his fear with exhaustion and new skills that would save him in the future.

Peat taught him it was ok to cry, that showing weakness didn’t make him weak, and being patient and kind to himself was just as important as to others.  Fort taught him that no matter how many times he failed; whether it be shooting the target, getting knocked on his ass, or simply failing a test.  What mattered was he kept going.  Kept practicing.  Kept working hard towards his goal.  

Not for others, but for himself.

He still had the nightmares, but they weren’t as bad as they used to be.  And in them, he was no longer that scared little boy, but a man, protecting his family.

Rak’s leg squeezed him, as one hand stoked his spine, and the other gently carded through his hair.

‘Fuck it…’

He didn’t care if he got hard now.  He just wanted this hug to never end…ever.

The buzzing of his phone in his back pocket woke him.  Reaching down, he saw three missed calls.  Two from Ma and the last from Da.  Looking to the side, Rak was curled facing away from him, being precious.

He had woken Mut up just after midnight, patting his shoulder and pointing to his groin.  Mut looked down at it, confused.  Until Rak did a little desperate jig.  Ah!

Getting up quickly, Mut picked Rak up and carried him to the main bathroom, sitting him on the toilet.

“Wait, wait!”

He instructed his ‘patient’ to tuck his cock down, before patting his thigh and giving him some space.  Rak didn’t bother waiting for him to leave before relieving himself, and the sigh of relief made Mut smile.

He instructed Rak to ‘shake it’ and then picked him up, placing him into a standing position at the sink.  Mut pressed his body against Rak’s back to hold him up.

“Ok.  So, every time you go to the bathroom, when you finish, you must wash your hands.”

Mut leant over, picking up Rak’s hand and guiding him on how to turn the tap on, how to change the temperature, how to use the soap dispenser and how long to wash them for.  He sang ‘Happy Birthday’ while showing Rak how to wash them and then turned off the tap.

“Now this small towel here is for hands and those big ones are for bodies.”

Rak looked everywhere Mut pointed, soaking in the new information like a sponge.

He helped dry the precious one’s hands before placing him on the bathtub edge.  He needed to go himself, after running his hands under the water.

“Now, when you know how to stand, this is how you pee.”

Mut shook off his embarrassment, pretending he was just teaching one of his siblings.  The moment he pulled himself out of his pants, Rak looked directly at the floor.

‘Damn...’

“Come on, precious.  I’m trying to teach you something important.”

Rak lifted his head cautiously, unsure of where to look, and settled his gaze on Mut’s belly button.

‘Good enough.’

He showed Rak how to aim, where to aim and roughly how to stand.  Then shook ‘it’.  Tucking himself back into his pants and washing his hands, singing the birthday song as he went.

He picked Rak up and walked back to bed.  Once they were snuggled back together Mut decided to bite the bullet early…so there were no miss understandings.

“I’m sorry I called you a creep before.  I hadn’t meant it, truly.  It’s just, ‘that’ area is pretty private and staring at someone's…genitals is…”

‘Shit…where did he go from there?!’

“Well, it’s considered rude.”

Rak made a ‘Ohhh!’ face.  

“Unless you are that person’s partner of course!”

He quickly added that, then questioned himself as to why?

Rak looked confused.

“A lover.  Partner means…well it means a lot of things.  But I meant lover.  That area is just for them.”

Rak nodded, still looking confused.  But Mut wasn’t getting into the how's and why's this late at night.

“I really hadn’t meant to chastise you.  I’m just not used to people that aren’t my lover looking at my…well, you know…for that long.  It was my problem, not yours.”

The precious one had been nodding slightly, before pausing.  Eyes wide in shock, then pointed to Mut, who smiled.

“Yes, I’ve had lovers.  I’m not that little boy that tried to kill himself all those years ago anymore.”

A gasp of horror escaped Rak’s lips.  He reached up too quickly for Mut to react, the moment he touched his temple, that night so long ago replayed in the forefront of his mind.  Rak stared into his eyes like he was staring into his soul, watching his memories as they replayed.

Mut had somehow found himself on his back with Rak straddling his front with two hands holding his head still.  His memories flicked like reels online, each childhood memory that led up to that night when he gave up on living and walked into the water.

When Rak was done looking into mind, Mut stared up at him.  He wanted to be angry at Rak.  He wanted to feel betrayed and violated.  But the precious one was hunched over Mut’s body, hands splayed on his chest.  Tears raining down on his chest.

Pulling the precious one against his body, Mut hugged him tightly while Rak’s body was overcome with heartbroken sobs.  It was hard to be angry at someone when they seemed more upset about your suicide attempt than he himself was.

It was nice that someone cried for him.  Was that wrong?  Logically, he knew that what Rungtiwa, Sun and his mother had done to him was wrong.  But having someone else know exactly what they did and how Mut felt in those moments…felt like a balm on some of his most painful memories.

“I’m ok now.  I will never do anything like that again.  I love my family too much to hurt them like that.  I promise.”

Mut turned them on their sides, rocking Rak gently until those little sniffles turned to soft snores.  He snorted, smiling to himself.  He wanted to squeeze Tongrak until his cute little head popped off.  

He kept his hands on the precious one’s back, refusing to let him run lower.  Instead he rested his chin on Rak’s head and closed his eyes.  Soon, his breathing echoed Rak’s and before he knew it, Mut was falling fast asleep.

Untangling himself, Mut walked down the hall and into the living room.  Pulling out his phone, he opened the screen before Da called again.

“Hello?”

“He’s fine.  Now go play with your brother!”

Mut heard Uncle Pai laughing in the background.  Clearly he was talking to Ma.

“Sorry, I was asleep.”

“Don’t be sorry.  We just wanted to check up on you, the storm is moving back to the bay, but the news says it will most likely join up with the one that hit you last night.  If that’s the case, it will be a big one…”

Mut nodded, then remembering Fort couldn’t see him.

“The boats are already in storage, but I’ll move the cars into the garage.”

“Good man.  The grill will need to go into the garage, and the patio furniture too.  If it doesn’t all fit, bring it inside the house.”

“Copy that.”

“If the storm comes to you, roll down the shutters but leave the back door unlocked.  If you lose power, I don’t want you two trapped in there.”

So he knew Tongrak was in the house then…

“And if you do lose power, there is enough fuel in the garage to power the generator to keep the fridges and freezers running.  So shut everything else off and fill all the tubs up with water.”

“Ok.”

“You know where the candles and supplies are.  If you’re unsure about staying in the house, the bunker is there too.”

Mut’s eyebrows rose, walking over to the remote on the coffee table.

“You think it will be that bad?”

He clicked the tv and found the weather channel, placing the tv on mute.

“Honestly, no.  The world’s cutest magic 8 ball seems to be chilling like a villain with his coloring book all morning, so I’m not worried.  But it doesn’t hurt to be ready.”

His little brother Sky, would be ‘the cutest magic 8 ball’ Da was referring too.  They all knew Sky was special.  He struggled to voice his thoughts, so Peat gave him crayons and paper.  Ever since then, what he couldn’t say, he drew.  

Sometimes he would draw something that was happening at that moment, but on another part of the island.  Sometimes he’d draw things that would happen days, or weeks in advance.  And sometimes, he just liked to draw forests, flowers and dragons.

Little Sky was treated no differently than the rest of his siblings.  Their parents treated it like any skill, like how Pearl could remember every word in a book, or how Echo and Night could get under Da’s last nerve and still survive…

“Understandable.  I’ll get on it after breakfast.”

“How’s your guest?”

“Fine.  I was vomited on the whole way home.  Then I taught him how to pee on the toilet and wash his hands at midnight.  I don’t know why you and Ma complain about toilet training so much...”

Fort didn’t laugh, but Mut knew he was smiling.

“I’ll remember that, smartass.”

The phone call ended on Fort’s side.  Mut grinned at his phone before placing it on the charger near the couch.  He went to his bedroom, waking a sleeping siren.

“Come on, precious.  Let’s go have a hot shower now just in case the power shuts off.”

Tongrak blinked sleepily at him, but let himself be pulled from the bed.  Mut placed him on the toilet, giving him time to use it before getting in the bath.  Turning on the taps, he quickly cleaned the sides of the bath with last night’s washcloth, before throwing it in the hamper in the corner.

Plugging up the bath, and with the rush of water in his ears, he almost didn’t hear the unmistakable sound of someone emptying their bowels.  Mut turned to look at Rak, who was watching his toes wriggle like a fascinated kitten.  

When he felt Mut looking at him, he looked up and smiled sweetly.  Like he hadn’t just pooped in the same room as him.

‘How was that even possible?  Did he not vomit all the hospital’s liquid formula onto him in the car?!’

Mut didn’t know how Fort managed to send karma his way so quickly, but it was here in the shape of the most precious, shameless creature on the planet.

Turning off the bath water, Mut leant over and opened the large window next to the bath.  He turned to Rak and sat on the tub corner across from him.

“Ok, so when you do ‘that’ on the toilet, ALWAYS sit.  Now flush like I showed you last night.”

Rak, turned, pushing down the lever with his thumb.  Smiling at Mut when it worked.

“Now see that silver hose there?”

Mut pointed to the extendable bidet sprayer.  Rak unhooked it and looked at it curiously.  It honestly looked like a mini shower head.

“There is a lever on the back that you turn until it stops.”

Rak pointed to the little lever and turned it when Mut nodded.  Mut leant forward, reaching out for the handle.  Showing Rak where to hold it and where to press before handing it back.

“You can either go back or front, depending on what is comfortable, but when you press that button, water is going to come out and wash ‘that’ area.  Got it?”

Rak nodded, before spreading his legs out to follow Mut’s instructions.  Jumping in surprise when water finally hit his skin.  Mut smiled and got up to start the bath again, only to freeze when he heard humming.

Turning around, he watched Rak humming the birthday song while he rocked side to side to the melody.  Bracing himself against the bath’s edge, Mut bit the side of his cheek hard, trying desperately not to laugh.

He knew he should correct Rak, but honestly, if you had to wash your hands for that long, why not your butt?

‘Fuck, he’s adorable…’

Turning on the bath taps, Mut left them going until the water was high enough.  He instructed Rak to put the hose back and flush again.  He showed him where the bathroom spray was and instructed him to use it after each time.  His parents had put the spray bottle up out of reach of short legs when Night and Echo tried to out-gas each other.

Mut helped his patient up to wash his hands in the sink, smiling as Rak hummed again.  He carried Rak into the bath, placing him down in the warm water gently.  Taking off his pants, Mut sat on the edge of the bath, legs in the water, with the precious one in the middle.  Mut bathed him properly this time.  Pretending he was doing it for his siblings.  It was the only way he was going to get through it and keep his sanity.

Handing Rak a clean washcloth, Mut told him to wet it and soap it up, just like he’d done last night.  Of course he had moments of weakness where he admired Rak’s naked form.  He wasn’t a saint after all.  And seeing all that fair skin get soaped up had Mut replay their more intimate moments last night.

That little voice in the back of his head was yelling “get in there and take over!”  His cock was standing at attention, ready for the order.  But Mut ignored both his mind and body, leaning over Rak, to gently tip his head back and to the side.

On the window sill next to the bath, was a ceramic duck.  No one was truly sure what its purpose had been, but Peat had seen it in a thrift store one winter trip to the north and bought it.  Now it was used to pour water over the kid’s hair during bath time.

Mut picked up the duck and slipped it under the water, lifting it to pour water over Rak’s black hair.  He was trying not to get the bandage behind his ear too wet, but after they were dry, he’d changed it.  

If the power went out, the only hot water they’d get would be the stuff they boiled themselves, and after months of sponge baths at the hospital, Rak needed his hair washed.

It took four goes, but eventually the precious one’s hair was squeaky clean.  Mut pumped the coconut scented conditioner into his hands and massaged it through Rak’s hair.  It wasn’t the first time he’d washed someone's hair, but they’d all been his siblings.  Normally he’d be done by now, but Mut found himself taking his time.

The groan Tongrak made caused Mut’s cock to harden within seconds, but he forced himself to behave.  It wasn’t long before Rak began to purr.  It was a deep sound.  Something he wouldn’t believe Rak could make if he hadn’t heard it first hand.  It was similar to pressing your head against a cat’s body while they purred.  Deep and echo-y.

Leaning over, Mut grabbed the extendable shower head and rinsed the conditioner out, before rinsing over Rak’s shoulders.  He stepped out of the bath carefully.  When he turned the precious one had already lifted his arms to be taken out.

“Not just yet.”

Mut pointed to the double headed shower at the end of the room.

“I’m going to have a quick shower first, then I’ll get you out.  Can you sit tight for a moment?”

Rak looked at where Mut was pointing and nodded.  Mut smiled and touched Rak’s hair gently before walking to the shower.  The precious one was watching him out of curiosity.  So he slowly opened the glass shower door and turned on the tap, so Rak could see.

Mut waited for the water to heat up before ducking under the water.  He washed his hair twice, before washing his body thoroughly.  When he rubbed the water out of his eyes to check on Rak, he was resting his chin on the edge of the bath, watching him.

Shutting off the water, Mut opened the shower door, and quickly grabbed a towel, wrapping it around his waist to hide the semi he was rocking.  He pulled the bath plug and grabbed the extendable shower head, rinsing the soapy bath water off Rak’s fair skin.

He placed it back on the bath’s hook, and lifted Rak to stand.  Mut wrapped his arms around a small waist, lifting the precious one out of the bath.  Blatantly ignoring the other’s rock hard length shamelessly poked him in the stomach.

‘This was certainly going to be a long ass winter…’

Chapter Text

Tongrak sat in the warm water of the ‘bath’.  He watched Danu’s child walk behind the glass barrier and turn a silver lever that made water rain from above.  Resting his fingers on the edge of the bath, and his chin on his fingers, he watched the child clean himself.

Child.  

Could he truly call him that now?  He’d had lovers.  Not A lover, but lovers.  He was so young!  But Rak supposed; as short as human lives were…still.  It was true that the boy had outgrown his youthful body into something more mature.  He was tall, heavily built with thick muscles that moved under beautiful sun-kissed skin.

Worrying his bottom lip, Rak suddenly felt sad.  The boy had grown up so quickly.  And he himself had missed all of it.  Did the boy have a lover now?  Was there someone he’d rather spend his time with than care for Rak?

The thought caused a hollow ache in his chest, moving to the pit of his stomach.  Danu’s child…son, was so kind and gentle.  There was no room for doubt that he would be the perfect lover.  And the female he was coupled with was a very lucky soul.

Rak’s mind flashed suddenly to the stranger’s memories; the one from the white room.  He had a male lover.  Could Danu’s son have a male lover too?

‘What would two men do together?’

Hugging…

Of course.  Rak had found out just how amazing hugging the boy was.  He was hotter than the water in the bath, his heat and scent soaking into Rak’s skin all the way to his bones.  He couldn’t wait to hug again…if the boy would let him.  Was it ok that they were hugging?  Did that mean he didn’t have a lover waiting for him?

Kissing… 

Rak had seen the merlings and humans kissing on the mating beach, and with each other as lovers out in the open water.  So that meant the boy would have kissed his lovers before.  With how soft his lips looked, his kiss had to be as lovely as his hugs.

What else did lovers do?  Mating, he supposed, if they were male and female.  The merlings had hinted that they ‘made love’ which was ‘like mating’.  Though they hadn’t gone into details, and Rak would float there in confusion as they all giggled at a joke he didn’t understand.

‘Maybe a male/male couple ‘made love’ too?’

His eyes trailed down the boy’s muscular body to his genitals.  The boy had said looking was only for lovers.  Rak looked down at his own privates.  Thinking about how it felt when the boy’s hand touched him there.  The hot, lightning he felt under his skin.

This time, the boy hadn’t washed him like last night and Rak could admit he’d been a little disappointed when he’d been given the cloth and told to wash himself.  Running the cloth over his own body hadn’t felt nearly as good.

Then a thought struck him…

‘Had his reaction been wrong?  Was that why the boy wouldn’t touch him there again?  Or…if looking was just for lover’s, touching had to be the same?  And Tongrak had crossed another line, like looking at the boy’s genitals for too long?’

Looking over at the boy.  Who had his head under the rain, scrubbing the soap from his hair.  Rak’s gaze drifted down quickly to where the boy’s privates were.  He knew he shouldn’t be looking, but…male parts were just…strange.  The boy’s was larger in size to his own, but that made sense, he was large in body too.

Rak looked down at his own.  It certainly got bigger last night when the boy touched it.  Even just thinking about that made it thicken.  

Turning his head, Rak looked back at the boy.  He watched as the water ran over all that lovely skin, how the muscles in his legs bunched and relaxed as he moved from foot to foot with the washcloth.

Rak shifted in the bath, rubbing his legs together awkwardly.  He found himself wanting to be behind that clear barrier with the boy.  He wanted to press their bodies together and hug for a really, really longer time.  

As he pictured it in his mind, his length grew in size and length under the warm water.

He ignored it, just like the sweet boy had ignored his own last night.  And when the water behind the glass barrier shut off, Rak watched as Danu’s son walked out, covering his lower half with a ‘towel’ and lifted him from the bath.

Inside those strong arms, Rak’s body was pressed snuggly against the larger one.  His hard length sandwiched between their body’s.  Rak wrapped his arms around the boy's shoulders, only to be lowered to the edge of the bath.

“Let go so I can get you a towel.”

Rak felt disappointed again.  But he obeyed, nonetheless, placing his hands in his lap while he watched the boy’s lovely face look everywhere but him.

“Ok, so… after we eat, I’m going to get the house ready for this storm that’s apparently coming.  You can either go back to bed or, I’ll set you up on the couch.”

The boy waited for his reply, he was standing near Rak with his fingers pointed in the direction of each option.  Rak pointed to the couch and the sweet boy nodded.

“Easy.”

Rak had been dried off and carried to the bedroom, where he was dressed in a large top and a thick knitted ‘cardigan’.  His feet were covered in a thick pair of ‘socks’ that kept his toes nice and warm.  Danu’s son wore a top and bottom, but no socks.

Once dressed, he was carried into another large room, where he was placed on a long wooden surface.  The sweet boy bustled around the room, opening and closing doors, pulling out items and putting them in different storage places that hummed and spun.

“This is a fridge, it’s where we keep our food cold.  This is a stove, it’s where we cook our food.  But we are lucky enough that Da has pre-cooked enough food for a small army.”

Rak watched the boy point to items around the room as he moved; “...bench, sink, bin, light switch, gas burner, rice cooker, microwave…”

He nodded, placing the names to memory.  He was told what each item did, and their purpose in the room.

“Now, while the rice is cooking, let's see if you remember what I just said.”

And with that, Danu’s son named things at random, and waited for Rak to point to them.  He smiled and gently squeezed Rak’s cheeks when he got everything right.  He felt strangely proud of himself even if it was a very simple task.  Or maybe it was the sweet boy’s warm smile and touch that seemed to spread light and comfort from his chest to his toes.

“How about the words?”

‘Words?’

“Can you say Mahasamut?”

The sweet boy pointed to his chest, but Rak was smiling ear to ear.

‘Did that mean he had permission to use the boy’s name?’

“Why are you smiling?  Do you like my name?”

Rak nodded quickly.  

“Does that mean you can say it?”

Rak opened his mouth but then pressed his lips together insecurely.  Mahasamut watched him, then smiled.

“I suppose it’s a mouthful for your first word.  How about Mut?  Can you say Mut?”

Mahasamut sounded out his shortened name slowly, letting Rak watch his soft lips move around it as he repeated it.  Rak moved his lips, pressing them together to make a “mmm” sound.  Mahasamut moved to stand between his legs where they hung from the bench, hands resting over his thighs.

The heat from them spread over his cool skin, causing Rak to shiver a little.

“Come on…Mmmmm-u-T.”

Rak wanted Mahasamut to smile at him again, but how could he tell him he couldn’t speak?  Even in human form, Sirens didn’t have the ability.  Rak could sing, he could hum and groan and scream, but he would never speak.  The shame of it had him lowering his head.

“Hey, hey!  No getting sad!  It’s ok if you can’t.  You will when you’re ready.  I have a little brother that doesn’t like to use his voice, and now an uncle that used to be mute.  Oh!  I have an idea-”

*DING!*

Mahasamut turned and pressed the top of the ‘rice cooker’, letting the top lift for clouds of steam to release.

“Now, we take out the containers we want from the fridge.  These are pork and basil stir fry with snow peas.  We lift the lids and place them in the microwave, hmmm maybe six minutes to start.  While that’s heating up, I’ll get the frying pan out.  And then the eggs.”

Rak moved his head from side to side, watching everything Mahasamut was showing him.  He pulled out four eggs from the ‘fridge’ and poured ‘oil’ into the pan, turning a black lever on the top of the bench until he he heard a *click click click*, then a small fire lit under the pan from the bench.

He hoped desperately that he wasn’t sitting on a part of the bench that lit up, what if he accidentally lit his backside on fire?!

Mahasamut cracked the four eggs into the pan, which began to hiss and pop frantically.  Rak watched everything the sweet boy did.  From cooking the eggs, to putting the food on separate plates and walking them to the bench behind him.  When he was done, he picked Rak up and placed him on a ‘stool’.  Only to catch him when he almost fell off.

“Hmmm, maybe we need something more toddler friendly…”

Mahasamut picked him up once more, taking him to a large wooden table, surrounded by chairs.  Rak was placed on one of the low chairs, unable to fall with its hard wooden back.  From his seat, he could see the ocean in all its glory.  The sky was clearing of the grey clouds from earlier, but the ground outside was still wet from rain.

He could hear birds sing and see little reptiles chasing bugs across the white stones outside.  Mahasamut walked in balancing a large wooden tray, piled with food.  He placed everything on the table and then walked back out the room, only to come back with the tray now holding clear holders with bright orange liquid.

“Ok, so you pile your plate with what you think you can eat.  If you are still hungry, help yourself to more.”

Rak looked down at his plate.  There was the ‘stir-fry’ steaming hot on his plate already, but in the middle of him and Mahasamut, there was a white bowl of ‘rice’ and a plate of eggs.  As well as several different little bowls with liquids and green leaves.

Mahasamut caught him looking at everything, and smiled, pointing to each item and saying their name.  Then he handed Rak utensils to use.  Tongrak watched how Mahasamut held his; a ‘fork’ in one hand, a ‘spoon’ in the other.  A large serving of rice was placed on his plate, topped with an egg.

Rak slowly scooped a spoonful of pork into his mouth, surprised by the taste.  It was salty, and sweet, with a…!!!

Heat filled his mouth instantly, making his eyes water.  He swallowed his mouthful, worried he would offend Mahasamut if he spat it out.  But the burning only got worse.

*Cough, cough, cough.*

Rak stuck his tongue out, trying to cool his mouth down, his eyes were still watering, but now his nose began to drip.

“Oh no…”

Mahasamut quickly stood and opened the draws of a long wooden box along the wall, before pulling out small white sheets.

“Napkins.”

He said, waving them at Rak.  He pulled one off the pile and gently wiped Rak’s eyes and nose.  Leaving the ‘napkins’ for him to reach.

“Taste this…”

Mahasamut held up his spoon with a little rice on it.  Rak obeyed, bracing himself for the burn, but nothing happened.  The rice was hot, soft and tasted good.

“Ok, now try this…”

The sweet boy scooped up some of the pork, but used his fork to remove all the little red vegetables.  Rak didn’t want to open his mouth, and yet he still obeyed.  There was a slight burn, but the salty and sweet overpowered it.

“Now, the moment of truth.  Eat this…”

On the tip of his spoon, was a slither of the red vegetable.  Rak automatically obeyed, biting into it.  The unpleasant burn filled his mouth and he shamefully stuck out his tongue with the vegetable still on it.  Mahasamut laughed under his breath and used a clean napkin to wipe Rak’s tongue.

“Here, drink this.”

He was handed a clear cup, filled with orange liquid.  

“Mango and orange juice.”  Mahasamut said.  

It was sweet and cold, and Rak drank the whole thing.

“Oh dear…”

The sweet boy tutted.

“Looks like you can’t handle spice.  What are we going to do?  Everything in the fridge is spicy.”

Rak looked worried, the last thing he wanted to do was disappoint this lovely boy.

“Hey…”

Mahasamut cupped Rak’s face.  A warm thumb stroking over his cheek gently.

“It’s not a big deal.  Most of my little siblings don’t like spice.  Sometimes it's an acquired taste, sometimes it's something you build a tolerance to.  As this is probably your first day of eating ‘human’ food, I won’t be upset if you don’t like something.”

Rak still felt guilty for possibly becoming a problem to feed.  But Mahasamut leant over the table, taking his plate and slowly removing the little red vegetables from his meal.  All those spicy little vegetables were moved to the boy’s plate instead.  Then he handed the plate back to Rak.

“Eat what you can, don’t force yourself if you don’t like it.  We will find milder foods for you, I promise.”

Rak nodded quickly, incredibly grateful for the consideration.  He ate his meal slowly.  When it got too spicy, he ate a spoonful of rice or egg, or downed another ‘glass’ of juice.  He’d almost finished the large pitcher when Mut took his glass and replaced it with a clean one, filled with cold water.

“I just had a thought and I seriously hope I’m wrong, but maybe we go easy on the juice.”

Rak paused, realising he’d almost drunk the whole thing.  Not leaving much for Mahasamut, but the sweet boy had been drinking out of a cream colored mug.  Only leaving the table to refill it once again with black-brown water.

“It’s coffee.”

Mahasamut said when he saw Rak looking.

“Did you want to try some?”

He nodded, unsure really if he wanted to drink something that color, but ‘milk’ and ‘sugar’ had been added and now it was a soft brown.  Mut handed him his cup to take a sip.  Smiling wider when Rak scrunched up his nose in distaste.  It was sweet but bitter.

“Another acquired taste.  At least you seem to like the eggs and rice.  And the peanut sauce.  I think that one was left over from Pearl's dinner.  She doesn’t like spice either.”

They sat in comfortable silence.  Well…Rak did.  Mahasamut talked throughout his entire meal.  He talked about what he needed to do around the house and why.  He talked about his family and where they were.  He talked about the island and what he did for a living.

He spoke about the things he had learnt and was still learning.  The foods he liked and didn’t like.  The drinks he liked and didn’t like.  What he did when he wasn’t working or learning.  And what his father was planning to do with the house now that their family was a lot bigger.

When Rak sat back, his stomach full, Mahasamut took his plate and continued to eat what was left over.  This small act made Rak somehow happy.  It was incredibly nice to spend time with this sweet boy.  And he had enjoyed every second of getting to know him better.

“Sorry.  I haven’t talked someone’s ear off in ages.”

Tongrak didn’t mind, Mahasamut's voice was beautiful…soothing.  Rak could’ve sat there for hours listening to him, but his backside was starting to get numb.

“Do you need to use the bathroom before I go clean up?”

He thought about it, then shook his head.  Mahasamut lifted him up, carrying Rak to yet another large room, this one was all dark until the lights turned on.

“This is the movie room.  The tv in the living room is hidden to look like a painting, but child-locked for only the news and weather channels.  Complements of having parents that aren’t a fan of every day tv and shows.  So Da built this room for movie nights.”

Mahasamut carried Rak to a massive soft looking couch, swimming in plush pillows.  Rak was placed down in the middle, and a soft knitted blanket was placed over his bare legs.

“When Uncle Sky was little, he couldn’t talk, so he learnt to use his hands to communicate.  Ma thought it might be useful for all their kids to learn for future use, and in the past even I’ve had a few deaf clients that most likely would have appreciated the tour more had I known how to use sign language.”

Mahasamut walked over to a short table along the wall, and picked up a long black object.  Pressing down on it, the wall in front of them filled with light, causing Rak to jump in fright and throw the blanket over his head.

“Sorry!  I should have warned you.”

The sweet boy knelt between Rak’s legs, slipping his hands under the blanket to touch his thighs with soothing circles.  Rak lowered the blanket, eyes focused on Mahasamut’s beautiful dark ones.

“I’m sorry.  I keep forgetting you are new to everything.  But I would never let anything hurt you here…ok?”

Rak nodded slowly.  Pleased when Mahasamut smiled at him and squeezed his thighs before letting go.  He sat next to Rak, running through what everything in the room was, focusing on the ‘television’ and what its purpose was.

“So I’m going to let this video play, and you pay attention to what the people show you.  I’ll be around the house getting it ready for the storm.”

Tongrak nodded again, and was rewarded with another big smile.  

“I’ll come check on you every half hour ok?  Just sit tight and watch the video.  Here’s the remote.  Press those little arrows to go to the next video once this one is done.  Those are for the volume…”

After showing him what most of the buttons did, the sweet boy ruffled his hair and closed the door behind him, leaving Rak to watch a squeaky voiced human make shapes with her hands and pair them with words.

The warmth of Mahasamut's hands on his thighs stained his skin, and Rak found himself relaxing against the softness of the couch.  He obeyed; listening to the human on the television, and made the shapes with his hands, simply because he wanted the boy to smile at him again.  

And maybe…touch his thighs…

Chapter Text

Slipping on his shoes, Mahasamut walked around the house, first checking to see if the garage needed to be tidied before the truck went in there.  But of course, it was immaculate.  Fort was a stickler for “everything has a place and everything in its place.”

He grabbed the dirty clothes from the bag of the truck, hosing and wringing them out, before kicking off his shoes and quickly tossing the clothes in the washing machine.  Setting his phone alarm for 45 minutes, Mut went back to rolling the BBQ and smoker into the back of the garage, then backed the truck up, giving him enough space on one side to get to the generator.

The garage had been moved when the plans to extend the house out was approved.  Now it was a short walk down the driveway, built half into a tall incline of the mountain.  Behind the garage, inside the mountain, was the massive bunker Fort had built.  The steel door to it was hidden behind a fake wall that looked like shelving for tools.

Mahasamut had no idea why he had it built, but keeping his family safe was what his Da seemed to live and breathe.  It was his purpose in life, side by side with loving his husband of course.

Closing the garage door, Mut took down all the hanging plants and lined them up along the side of the house.  Then moved the outdoor furniture into the shed.  He collected the windchimes and the spinning wheels the children had made for the garden and stored them in the shed before closing the door and bolting it.

Walking around each side of the house, Mut checked for shoes, plants, and anything that needed to be moved.  It had taken him most of the morning to get the house ‘storm’ ready, between checking on Tongrak every 30 minutes like he said he would.

The precious one had gotten through several kids sign language videos and was now watching the more advanced tutorials.  Mut went back to his task; checking the torches, checking the battery supplies, checking the matches and candles and then bringing over a couple of cartons of bottled water, just in case.

He ran through several loads of washing, placing them straight in the drier afterwards.  Mut walked the full washing baskets to the movie room to fold later.  Sending Da a text and a few photos of outside, Mut grabbed Peat’s shower chair from his parent’s bathroom upstairs and brought it downstairs to the main bathroom.  With the bathtub filled with water, the precious one was going to have to shower with him now.

There was always a point in each of Peat’s pregnancies where his belly just got too heavy for him, and halfway through his pregnancy with Night and Echo, Peat had ordered a special chair for the shower.  Not that Fort didn’t help him each time, but it got a little difficult to shower and watch infant twins.  Then eventually; twin toddlers and infant twins.

When Mahasamut returned to the movie room to bring Rak snacks and check on him, he found the little siren surrounded by plush pillows, blanket under his nose while he watched a popular tv show that had been finished for years.

How he had managed to work out the remote so quickly was impressive, as Mut still didn’t know what half the buttons did.  But Tongrak seemed to be pretty smart, or at least clued-on.  Mut hadn’t seen the show, but he recognized it from social media clips.

“Do you need the bathroom again?”

*No*  Rak signed.

Mut had taken him twice during the time he’d been tidying up.  

Tongrak accepted the bottle of water Mut had given him, watching how Mut opened and closed the lid before taking a sip and holding the bottle in his lap.  His eyes went back to the tv…glued.

Sitting on the floor in front of Rak, Mut pulled the long coffee table over to him and began folding all the washing.  Every so often glancing up at the tv, or at Rak.  When the monster of the episode got shot with a flare gun and burned alive, Rak threw the blanket over his head, causing his naked legs to be uncovered.

Mut had dressed Tongrak up in a large shirt of his, and a cardigan Uncle Prapai had left behind the last time he had visited.  It was light blue with little white clouds on it.  Not something you would think a muscle bound, tatted up police officer would wear, but even though his uncle was the size of a beast, and looked just as mean, he didn’t have that toxic masculinity one would assume.

With each passing day, it became clearer that Uncle Sky was the dominant one, in their relationship, though he was an omega.  But Uncle Pai embraced it happily.  Mahasamut had heard so many stories of alphas controlling, and hurting omegas…treating them like breeding slaves and pets.  But the only alphas he’d ever known were the Sengngai brothers.  

And Fort worshipped the ground Peat walked on.

The uber-dominant alpha stayed home and took care of the babies, while his omega husband went to work, because teaching was Peat’s passion.  It was no secret now who was the dominant and submissive during their intimate moments.  As Mahasamut had jumped to the worst conclusions when he was younger, seeing Ma with bruises on his body.  

He had broken into his parent’s ‘playroom’ and panicked.  At that age, to him; it had looked like a torture chamber.  But both his parents sat him down and walked him through their…dynamic.  It had taken him a few more years to understand fully, but he’d gone on sheer faith that his parent’s loved each other and Peat wasn’t in any danger.

Uncle Sky and Uncle Pai were similar, but it was Uncle Pai that sported the tell-tale signs of bruising…and scars.  It was something Mut had never thought about before.  He had always assumed omegas only ‘received’ in a relationship, but Pai was a terrible oversharer and enjoyed ‘receiving’ as much as ‘giving’.

Running his dark eyes over those fair hairless legs, Mut had purposely kept Tongrak from dressing in pants, though the cardigan reached just above his knees, Mahasamut just couldn’t bring himself to cover the precious one completely.

He had tossed around the idea of just letting Rak walk around naked, but the house did get a bit chilly, and there were security cameras along the outside of the house.  Hell, there were security cameras inside the house!

Mut placed the folded washing back into the basket, and moved to sit next Tongrak on the couch.  The precious one offered to share his blanket and Mut couldn’t bring himself to refuse.  When the boat in the lake flipped over on the tv screen, the cutest couch potato jumped in his seat.

Unable to help himself, Mahasamut curled himself around Rak, turning his body slightly, until those fair, smooth legs were draped over Mut’s lap.  Tongrak smiled and hugged his arm, laying his head against Mut’s shoulder while they watched the two brothers on the tv hunt down a killer ghost-boy.

Very casually, Mut shifted a little, pretending to move Rak’s legs slightly to get comfortable.  What he’d actually been trying to do, was find an excuse to touch those legs.  With his hand now on Tongrak’s soft, cool skin, Mut left them there for a moment, before gently making circles with his fingers.

The precious one sighed, pressing his body closer to Mut while the next episode started.  Seeing that light blue cardigan made Mut think of Uncle Pai again.  He and Da seemed to get along better than he did with his own brothers.  They just seemed to click.  

Uncle Sky had made a joke about the ‘monsters’ within them.  It was alien to see Da relaxed around anyone other than Ma, and yet he conversed with Uncle Pai like they were best-friends, sharing new recipes or new weaponry release dates.  Mahasamut had sat with them at the table outside once, trying to understand their interest in weaponry, especially when they started to debate about tanks…

“...I have no doubt, BUT the Soviet Object 279 was designed with an elliptical hull.  Which meant that bad boy could withstand a blast to the ass and walk it off.”

Da smirked at Uncle Pai’s description.

“Well, since you’re well versed in how to take a blast to the ass and walk it off, I’ll take your word on the 279.”

Pai laughed and raised his drink.

“It was a struggle up those stairs this morning, but well worth it.”

Fort snorted, rolling his eyes, then smirked when he caught Mahasamut's shocked expression.

“I think you’ve scared the teenager.”

Uncle Pai shrugged his shoulders.

“Ah young grasshopper, you have so much to learn!  Pleasure is pleasure, and there’s nothing wrong with receiving.  I’m sure your dad here would love it…if he ever manages to pull that massive stick out of his ass…”

Da had snorted again, and they’d gone back to debating tanks like nothing happened.

Mut had slept with plenty of people, but he’d always been the one to top them.  Topping came naturally to him.  But as his fingers began to slowly travel up Tongrak’s soft skin to his thighs, Mahasamut became curious.  After their bath where the precious one innocently rubbed over him into insanity, there wasn’t much doubt in Mut’s mind that he wanted to do.

But it also made him want to do other stuff, stuff he didn’t trust others with…and some stuff he’d wanted to try, only to be pushed away in disgust.  The precious one wouldn’t push him away.  Tongrak seemed to trust him unquestioningly.  And it was that fact alone that had Mut reign in his thoughts and desires.

‘How could he in good conscience take advantage of such a pure soul?’

*DING!*

Mut moved his hand from Rak’s thigh to his phone in his back pocket, lifting it up to see a message from Da.

DA: Oi!  Do you know how hard it is to clean cum off that couch?!

‘Huh?’

Mut looked around, then spotted the camera in the far right corner of the room.

‘Oh…’

He replied: Clean?  Just flip the cushion over!

DA: I will kill you!

MUT: It's not like that.

MUT: Too tired after doing it in your bed this morning...

DA: Suppose that's only fair when I bent my husband over yours while he was trying to make the bed.

Mahasamut groaned.  He'd been joking.  But Fort very rarely did...

Checking the time on his phone, Mut paused the show and pulled Rak to stand.  Lifting him up, Mut carried him to the kitchen and placed the precious one on the bench.  The sky outside was sunny and cheery, with only a dusting of white clouds.  Zero indication that there was a storm heading their way.

Mut heated up the leftover rice and pulled out some marinated beef strips.  Opening the freezer, he grabbed a bag of frozen vegetables and took everything to the stove.  Tongrak was watching him closely, every now and then signing something to him with his hands.

After three months of learning sign language, Mut still only knew the basics.  Whereas, it seemed like in those few short hours, and multiple videos, Rak had become fluent in it.  Halfway through making lunch, Mut heard the unmistakable gurgle of someone's upset stomach.

Looking over to the precious one, he noticed Rak’s beautiful face pinched in discomfort as he rubbed his lower stomach.  Out of sheer paranoia, Mut turned off the stove top and raced Rak to the toilet.  

It had almost been a near miss, but Mut had managed to get his ward on the seat and free of his shirt and cardigan before the juice from breakfast wreaked havoc on his guts.

Mahasamut opened the bathroom window wide, and turned on the fan, before placing the can of air-freshener within Rak’s reaching distance. He walked out of the bathroom, laughing under his breath as he slid down the wall in the hall. 

Then shot his dad a text message: Karma received!  Stop now!

Da simply wrote back: Never! 😈

Mahasamut checked his emails, then he checked his messages.  He checked the weather radar and even sent a few messages to Palm, Gift, Bulwark and Aunsam.  When he heard the toilet flush, then the bidet water running, followed by the humming of the ‘birthday’ song, and then another flush.  Mut gave Rak five more minutes, before checking on him.

By the time Rak was cleaned up, dressed and back on the bench watching Mut cook them lunch, Mut had explained the effects of too much juice, or fruit for that matter, and that it was a perfectly natural reaction.  When lunch was plated, he sat Rak on the stool at the kitchen counter to eat, turning sideways in his own stool to lock legs with the precious one.

The beef had been marinated in a spicy honey mixture, and after adding a can of coconut cream to it, the spiciness had been dulled down.  Tongrak had nibbled on a small piece of beef but discreetly pushed them to the side of his plate, eating the rest of the veggies and rice.  He sniffled a little from the spice, and drank plenty of the cold water sitting in front of him. 

‘Ok; no spice, and no beef.’

After lunch, Mut had given the precious one options on things to do around the house.  But Rak had wanted to snuggle on the couch and continue the spooky tv show.  Out of curiosity, Mut had held Rak up by the chest and made him stand on his own feet, waiting for the precious one to find his balance.

Those fair legs shook like a baby deer’s, but Rak planted his feet firmly against the plush carpeted floor of the movie room and patiently let Mut pull him back up each time he fell backwards against the couch.

There were two reasons why Mahasamut was doing this.  One; he wanted to see if Rak had the ability to stand on his own, and possibly walk.  As he could move his legs and toes around just fine.  And Two; every time Tongrak fell back against the couch, the hem of his shirt and cardigan slipped up, giving Mut a little peek of what was underneath.

Four episodes in and the lights began to flicker.  Mut patted Rak’s thigh before checking outside.  The house was dark, though it wasn’t that late in the afternoon.  The rain was already here, with heavy winds causing the rain to fall sideways.

He ran back to the movie room and paused the show, grabbing Rak and moving them to the kitchen.  The storm was roughly an hour out, and if the power was about to go out for the night, Mut wanted them to eat first.

He cooked a big batch of rice, then microwave a spicy chicken curry for himself, while he fried up a pork and spring onion omelette for the precious one.  They ate at the kitchen counter, and Mut silently celebrated when Tongrak ate his meal with gusto, helping himself to more rice and peanut sauce.

After dinner, Mut washed the dishes, and did one last check before moving Rak to the bathroom for a pee break.  He called his parents while he waited in the hallway.

“Lock down the house now, the media room is soundproof, and if you fall asleep there, you most likely won’t hear the storm overhead.”

Mut nodded, then remembered, once again, Da couldn’t see him.

“Copy that.”

Mut spoke to Peat and then to his siblings for a little bit, before saying goodbye and pocketing his phone.  He checked on the precious one, who was patiently waiting for him to return.

“Ready?”

*Yes.*  He signed.

Mut smiled at him warmly, and happily carried him back to the movie room.

“I’m just going to lock up the house, I’ll be right back ok?”

Tongrak nodded and smiled, tucking himself under the three mink blankets he had spotted hanging over the couch.  He looked so small now, surrounded by his nest of thick pillows.  Mut just wanted to pinch Rak’s cheeks.

‘So cute!’

Though the house itself was mostly windows, and tall pillars, Da had forked out a small fortune to have ‘vampire-grade’ steel roller shutters installed.  So, if and when a storm, cyclone, monsoon, or zombie apocalypse came upon the island; the house was well protected.

Da’s office was the only part of the house that had access to all of it, and Mut logged into his dad’s computer easily enough, clicking on the security program that was always open and then the icon for the rollers.  Mut used the computer mouse to click on each box, except the side door and pressed: OK.

From the security cameras outside, Mut could see the rollers slowly move down the long windows.  Leaving the office, he stood in the middle of the living room and watched as the world disappeared behind blackout steel walls.  

Sending one last text to his parents, Mut rejoined the precious one for what looked like a night of binge watching that ghost hunters show.

Mahasamut was floating in darkness, the pressure of the world around him was suffocating.  He tried to move, but his arms and legs were caught.  In the darkness, trapped, Mut felt his heart speed up.  He tried to breath but knew all too well what it felt like to be submerged under water.  With the pending suffocation, and his heart beating to break-neck speeds, Mut started to panic, then struggle.

In that black water, a deep sound of vibration grew around him.  A loud purring that had echoed from Tongrak’s throat.  Thinking of the precious one calmed him, and his subconscious followed the deep purr to consciousness, where Mut woke to a familiar darkness.

There was a soft glowing night-light in every room of the house that would grow bright when the sensor spotted movement.  Mahasamut could see the ceiling of the movie room above him, while he was turned towards the couch.  Jammed between him and the couch pillows was one little siren.

He vaguely remembered turning around to block out the tv light, but he couldn’t recall when Tongrak had wriggled his way against him.  They were buried deep under the blankets, with Rak’s head resting on Mut’s arm, and an arm and leg draped around Mut’s side.

As he shifted, the precious one hugged him even tighter, refusing to let him budge.

‘He’s such a snuggle bug.’

Mut rested a hand on Tongrak’s leg, then slowly moved it across.  When Rak tightened his leg around Mut’s body, he used it as an opportunity to rest his hand on Rak’s tailbone, pulling him even tighter against him.

There was no way his snuggle bug could possibly breathe like this, but as soon as Mut started moving his hand in slow circles against Rak’s tailbone, a loud deep purring began to rise from Rak.  It made him smile against that soft hair, kissing it gently before turning his cheek and resting his head back down.

His hand moved on its own, enjoying the soft skin under his fingertips.  When Rak lifted his leg higher to hug Mut tighter, his fingers slipped further down the crease of the precious one’s backside.  Mut paused, not only to question his clearly questionable morals in that moment, but also at how unbelievably hot that part of Rak was.

Tongrak seemed to run a little cooler, with chilled skin and always huddling himself under blankets, Mut had just assumed that ALL of Rak was cooler.  But as he moved his treacherous fingers closer to the centre of that hidden crease, Mut found that the precious one was feverishly hot at his centre.

Pressing the pad of his middle finger against Rak's centre, he felt the intense heat and tight resistance.  Mut was in the middle of an internal battle.  One half was yelling at himself to remove his hand and stop being a scumbag.  The other half was telling him to press in deeper.

‘Is he as hot inside as he was on the outside?...REMOVE YOUR HAND YOU GODDAMNED CREEPER!!!’

Rak jolted awake, breath catching in surprise.  The purring had stopped as both of them froze where they lay.  It was at that moment, Mut remembered that Rak could hear thoughts…

‘Ah crap!’

Mut carried Rak to the bathroom, and then to bed.  The storm was in full swing now.  Checking the time on his phone, it wasn’t even midnight yet.  The weather radar said the island was only getting an edge of the storm, and although outside sounded like a battlefield, the house was safe and dry.

Tidying up the movie room and the couch, Mut was secretly hoping the precious one would drift off to sleep before he got back to bed.  Hating himself for his serious lack of control.  

‘Who does that to a sleeping person? Honestly?’

And one question he had replaying over in his mind was; how often did Rak listen in to his thoughts?  Was it a constant play of his voice?  Was it only when he wanted to?  Or was it when Mut was projecting too hard?

What he did know, was Rak had woken up to Mahasamut’s hands on a very imitate place and now Mut had to own up to it and apologize for the unconsented touch.  If Mut couldn’t control his desires, the best he could do was be honest with Tongrak.

Who had every right to tell Mut to keep his hands to himself and he WOULD respect the precious one’s boundaries.  Like he should have been doing from the very start…

Walking back to his room, Mut changed into a pair of pjs and slipped under the covers.  The moment he was comfortable on his back, Tongrak rolled over, curling himself around Mut’s body.

He was completely naked.  Not how Mut had left him, and he hooked his leg over Mut’s body, as well as an arm, then buried his head deep into his side.  Sighing in contentment.  Mahasamut placed his hand on Tongrak’s arm, resting it there for the night.  But as began to drift off to sleep, he felt the cooler body next to him shift.

Rak slipped his arm out from under Mut’s grasp, and moved his hand to rest on one smooth butt-cheek.  Mut felt the little siren press his body against his own, with a hard length crushed between their bodies.  Turning to his side, he faced the precious one, and moved that lithe body so it was once again cradled in his arms.

This time, Mut kept his hand where it was.  Moving his fingers in soothing circles over one cheek, swearing up and down that he would talk to Rak in the morning and be honest with him.  But first, he needed to know what he wanted.

As the precious one lay in his arms, holding onto Mut like a security blanket, with the cutest little snores coming up from where his face was buried against Mut’s chest, he tried to switch off his mind and sleep for now.

He wasn’t interested in a relationship, nor did he think Tongrak would understand the concept of ‘friends with benefits’.  Though Mut’s actions had been questionable so far, he had enough heart to know that for an innocent like Rak; a one night stand, or a winter fling was off the table too.  Rak was too sweet a soul to use like.

So why, when the clear answer was to keep his hands to himself and stop confusing Tongrak, was Mut losing control and touching him?  Was it a siren seduction thing?  Or was that just a lazy excuse and Mut honestly desired him?

But he WAS a siren…and this perfect human form he took wasn’t real…

‘Right?’

Chapter Text

Tongrak woke to an empty bed.  Lifting himself to look around, in the corner of the room was a little light that gave just enough illumination to see around him.  In his human form, his eyes weren’t as good at seeing in the dark.

The house was shaking around him, though only so slightly, the walls still vibrated with effort to stand strong.  From the sounds of it; the storm was close or overhead…

“Oh good!  You’re awake!”

Rak smiled, shoulders relaxing as he saw Mahasamut walk through the doorway.

“You, me, bathroom, now.”

The blankets were pulled from his body as the sweet boy slipped his arm under Rak’s knees and behind his back, lifting him easily.  He was carried to the bathroom and placed on the toilet before Mahasamut turned the levers behind the clear barrier.

“The storm is here and it looks like a shit-fight.  I figured we should shower while we still have hot water.”

Rak nodded, trusting that Mahasamut knew best.

He was carried behind the clear barrier and placed down on a hard white chair.  Mahasamut undressed quickly and closed the door behind him.  A large shower head was pulled from above them, as Mahasamut covered Rak head to toe in toasty warm water, and then himself.

Rak was handed a wet washcloth, thick with soapy suds, and instructions to wash quickly.  He began with his face, then his neck, working his way down his body.  All the while peering over at the sweet boy as he washed himself roughly.  When it came time to wash his feet, Rak leant forward, only to tip over.

“I can’t turn my back on you for a second!”

Mahasamut was grinning at Rak, shaking his head in mirth.  Rak smiled back and lifted his foot to the boy, wiggling his toes.  Mahasamut took his foot by the ankle and went to wash it only for an electric shock to shoot up his leg.

On impulse he pulled his leg back, only for Mahasamut to hold him in a strong grip.

“Ohhhhh…don’t tell me…”

The sweet boy lifted Rak’s foot slightly higher and with one finger, dragged his nail down the centre of it.  Tongrak yelped, jumping in his skin from shock.  He tried to pull his foot back desperately.

“Well…look who's ticklish!  That’s gonna be fun!”

Rak felt torn about Mahasamut’s expression.  He loved it when the boy smiled at him, but this time, the cheeky grin on the boy’s beautiful face didn’t bode well for him.

“Come on, precious one.  Let me wash the rest of you quickly.  I promise I won’t tickle you on purpose while we’re washing.”

Tongrak noticed the “while we’re washing.”  As if to say he wasn’t safe from a ‘tickle’ attack later.  Biting his bottom lip, he braced himself as Mahasamut washed his feet, ankles and the back of his legs.

“Ok, time to stand.”

The sweet boy lifted him to his feet and helped turn him around.

“Hold on to the chair’s arms.”

Rak leant over slightly, gripping the ‘arms’ and held himself still as Mahasamut poured soap into his hands and rubbed them together.

“Normally you leave your feet for last, especially before bed, but I understand the chair is new for you.  There’s actually a large gap that lets you reach under as you sit.  But we need to be quick…so I’ll show you what to do next time.”

Mahasamut cupped Rak’s front with one warm hand, as the other moved between his butt-cheeks.  The sweet boy rubbed the soap over his privates gently but quickly, causing his length to jump and stiffen at the touch.

‘Maybe it was stimulation that made it harden?  How strange…’

When Rak felt fingers brush over his…well…there.  His breath caught, insides tightening.  How could that place feel so…sensitive?  Especially as its bodily function was…

‘Was this normal for human bodies?  Or was this wrong?’

As the sweet boy cleaned his front and backside thoroughly, Rak felt tingles of warmth building from his lower half; some moving up his spine, some spirally in his stomach, some seeping down his legs.

The strange build began to grow hotter, causing him to whimper, unsure if he wanted to push forward or backwards.  Rak’s hand slipped, forcing his hips back as he bent to catch himself.  The sharp movement sent one of Mahasamut’s fingers past the tight ring of muscle, into his body.

It wasn’t much, but Tongrak felt his toes try to curl on the slippery shower floor.  He closed his eyes, pushing back, only for Mahasamut to pull his hands away from him quickly.  Rak turned, his knees painfully hitting the floor of the shower.  His length was twitching agonizingly, while something deep inside him throbbed.

“I’m sorry!  I’m so sorry!  I shouldn’t…shit!”

Rak didn’t know what to do.  By the look on the sweet boy’s face, the reaction Rak had to being washed like that was wrong, and he’d made a mistake, or scared the boy.

*Sorry.  Rak’s sorry.*  He signed over and over again.  Hoping he would be forgiven.

Mahasamut slid down the wall of the shower, sitting on the floor.  Rak paused for a moment, but was unable to stop himself from crawling over to the sweet boy and cradling his face in his hands.

“I’m so sorry.  I knew it was wrong…”

‘So it was wrong…’

Rak felt his shoulders slowly slump.  He pushed his mind at Mahasamut, hoping that maybe he would hear him.  To hear that he didn’t mean to be this way.  But it passed through the boy like it had the stranger in the white room.

Those sad eyes looked at Rak, but inside his own mind, he saw flashes of himself being pushed down on the floor of the shower, while this sweet-faced boy thrust three of his fingers deep inside…THAT area.

The images physically shocked Rak, stilling his body as his eyes grew wide.  Mahasamut groaned.

“Pleeese don’t tell me you saw that?!”

Rak couldn’t stop replaying that image.  ‘Mahasamut wanted to…’

Groaning again, the sweet boy thumped his head against the wall, causing Rak to jump in fright.  Leaning forward, he covered the back of the Mahasamut’s head.  Now if he tried to hurt himself, Rak would stop him.

Dark eyes stared into his own.  Mahasamut sighed and shook his head.  A determined look now painting his beautiful face.

“Let’s get dressed and eat…I think you and I need to talk before I fuck up royally…again.”

Tongrak had been rinsed, dried and dressed.  This time in a long white top that brushed over his knees and the same soft knitted cardigan from yesterday.

“The pajama shirt is Ma’s, you both seem to be the same size.”

They sat across from each other while they shared their meal.  Mahasamut hadn’t placed him on the kitchen bench this time; leaving Rak at the dining table alone.  The sweet boy had been avoiding Rak’s gaze since finishing their shower.  It hurt his heart to know he had scared the boy, and he wondered if this may be grounds to ask Rak to leave the house?

The storm raged overhead.  Shaking the massive house each time lightning and thunder fought each other for dominance over the sky.  They had eaten, for the first time, in uncomfortable silence.  With Mahasamut eating his food quickly, before taking his plate back to the kitchen.

Rak ate everything.  He couldn’t imagine a boy as kind as Mahasamut banishing him outside into the storm.  But it was hard to hope when everything hung uneasily in the air.

His plate was taken once he was finished, and the table cleared before Rak was lifted and carried to the ‘movie’ room.  The warring storm hushed as Mahasamut closed the door behind them.

“Gods, that’s loud.”

Tongrak was placed gently in the middle of the couch like yesterday, and he reached over to pick up the remotes, only for Mahasamut to take them from his hands.

“We need to talk before you spend the day as a couch potato.”

His insides twisted with anxiety, but Rak let himself be covered in a thick fluffy blanket before Mahasamut took a seat next to him.  A pillow sitting in his lap.

“I…”

He paused.  His beautiful face twisting in…pain…or was it confusion?

“I’ve only ever had the ‘sex’ talk with my parents, and that honestly scared me for life.”

Mahasamut laughed under his breath, then sighed.

“Rak…I need to tell you that no one is allowed to touch you…not without your permission.  Even me.  And…since we met, I’ve been touching you in a way that I shouldn’t have been.  Because you trust me…and didn’t know that you had a choice.”

He nodded to the sweet boy.  ‘Of course he trusted him.’

“Ok…so, we need to lay out some laws…some boundaries.  You have the right to your own boundaries; who you allow to touch you.  And I’m sorry, that I didn’t tell you all this before I started touching you without your permission.  It was very, very wrong of me.  And I’m so sorry.  I have no excuse.”

*I like when you touch me.*  Rak signed.

Mahasamut watched his hands shift between them.  But took his hands in his own, thumbs rubbing over his skin.

“I have to be honest…I don’t know much sign language.  Only the basics.  But I’ll try harder to learn.  I promise.”

Rak smiled, squeezing his hands gently.

“Ok…here we go.”

Mahasamut took a deep breath, shaking his head slightly, as if shaking the words inside his head.

“Do you know the difference between…say, touching a friend and a touch between lovers?”

Rak stared at Mut, a little confused.

“I’m talking about sex, precious.  Between lovers.  Have you had a lover before?”

Rak snorted.  ‘Who would be his lover?’

Mahasamut stared at him for a long moment before Rak started to sign, slowly.

*Rak ugly.*

Mahasamut watched his hands.

“One more time.”

Tongrak pointed to himself.  Then signed it again, curling his finger under his nose and pulling it to the side.  The sweet boy watched him, thinking, before his broad shoulders dropped in dismay.

“Precious…I’m sorry.  I should never have called you that.  I was a scared, angry boy when we first met.  Unfortunately I haven’t grown up much since then.  But you aren’t ugly.”

Mahasamut pulled Rak into his arms, hugging him tightly.

“You aren’t ugly.  Your heart is so beautiful…I wish.  I wish I could have known you better when I was younger.  I wish I hadn’t let myself judge you so quickly.”

Rak let himself be pulled over Mahasamut’s lap.  It didn’t really matter what Mahasamut thought about him as a child.  Not now that this beautiful boy’s warm hand cradled his chin.  

Rak felt the sweet boy kiss his cheek.  Warmth spread from that single spot, heating his face.

“Please forgive this stupid boy.”

He turned Rak’s face to the side, kissing his other cheek softly.

“Please…forgive me…”

Rak felt a pressure build in the air between their bodies.  Mahasamut’s breath flitted over his face, across his mouth.  It was as if Rak could taste him.  Their eyes met.  Pools of black water pulled at his soul.

The sweet boy held him tight, face close, as a thumb brushed over his cheek.  Then his ear.

His breath seized with his heart, as he watched Mahasamut lean down, closing the gap between them.  Soft, warm lips pressed against his own…

With that one light touch, Rak’s whole body came alive.  It felt like every inch of his body jolted awake.

‘This was a kiss!’

Mahasamut pulled back, searching for some answer Rak didn’t know the question to, before his lips were taken in another kiss.  Those soft lips pressed harder, and Rak was pulled in closer.

He moved his hands up slowly, one holding on to the sweet boy’s shoulder, afraid he would fall into nothingness if he didn’t have something to hold on to.  Mahasamut’s tongue swept over the seam of his lips and Rak’s heart felt like it exploded inside his chest.

He gripped onto the back of Mahasamut’s neck, fingers tangling in his hair, pulling him in for more.

Complete silence suddenly engulfed the room, as the machines under the tv shut off.  The little corner light was gone, plunging the room into pure pitch black.  

Mahasamut pulled back from Rak, his pulse beating quickly under Rak’s fingertips.

“I think the power is out…I’ve got…fuck…I did it again.”

Mahasamut had left him in the black room, using his ‘phone’ to light his way out.  He returned a little later, damp and breathless.  The sweet boy went around the room, creating little flames that filled the room in a warm glow.

“Power is out but I’ve got the generator running, and the gas is still on.  It sounds like a warzone out there, so I suppose this room is the best spot for quiet.”

Rak watched as the boy avoided his eyes once again.

*More.*  He signed.

“Huh?”  Mahasamut walked closer and Rak signed again.

*More.*

“More what?”

The sweet boy was close, and Rak’s hand shot out, taking hold of the fabric of his top and pulling him until he lost his balance, landing over Rak’s body.

“Wait…I need to explain.  You don’t need to do this…”

Rak gripped the back of Mahasamut’s neck, pulling him closer until their lips touched.  And just like before, he was awake, alive.  He kissed those lips over and over, gently, softly.  Until Mahasamut laughed under his breath.

“Ok…ok, I get it.”

He leant back for a moment, thumb resting on Rak’s chin.

“Open your mouth, precious one.”  Rak obeyed.

Mahasamut’s mouth came down upon his own.  Warm lips pressed sweetly before his tongue swiped inside Rak’s mouth.  Caressing his tongue.

Moaning, Tongrak tangled his fingers in Mahasamut's hair, pulling him closer.  Internally he was chanting ‘more, more, more!’  That tongue moved over his as he pressed forward, tasting and exploring.  

Rak pushed his tongue into Mahasamut’s mouth, but instead of laying there like he had before, the sweet boy sucked on his tongue sharply.  Causing a small storm to gather inside Rak’s brain.

He moaned, and found if he tilted his head to an angle, their kiss became deeper, hotter.  Tongrak’s legs were forced to spread as Mahasamut pressed his weight down on him.  

It took his breath away as that strong body moved against him.  His length was crushed between them.  His sensitive skin was rubbed and pulled as the rough blue material of Mahasamut’s pants moved against him.

It hurt, but he wanted it harder, faster.  He wanted to sign to Mahasamut to give him more..but was unwilling to move his hands from the sweet boy's neck.

And he was sweet…

Mahasamut tasted like sunlight; bright and warm.  It filled Tongrak up, bleeding over to his sleeping friend that rested in the back over his mind.  

Shifting his hips, Rak began to lift them, grinding up so that the rough blue fabric of Mahasamut’s pants made his toes curl.

“Wait!  Wait!”

But Rak didn’t want to wait, he wanted more.

They fought for dominance; Mahasamut trying to pull away, and Rak wanting more.  With a loud *THUD!*  They fell to the floor, and Rak quickly straddled over Mahasamut’s lap.

Through the rough fabric he could feel the sweet boy’s hard length rub over his own, and if it felt this good for Rak, it had to feel good for Mahasamut.  If the boy’s groans and panting was anything to go by…

Curling his body over the boy, Rak kissed him.  Deeply, taking charge of the kiss, and moaning as he sucked on the tongue that was tangling with his own.  Rak moved his hips, grinding his length against Mahasamut’s own, gasping as the build grew hot at the base of his spine.

Mahasamut’s hands had been pressed into the floor, but his hips moved freely, rising in time with Rak’s as they got closer to something amazing.  Mahasamut tore his mouth away, pulling in big gulps of air.

“Fuck!  There!”

Rak ground down harder, crying out as lightning struck his entire body.  He felt Mahasamut convulse under him, and he pressed his weight down in his arms, pinning the boy down while he rode that internal lightning storm into ecstasy.

“Wait…woah, woah.  Prec-fuck!  Precious, stop.  Please…”

He didn’t want to stop!  Tongrak felt a recharge; wanting to move like they did once again.  It was the “please” that had him pause, pulling back just enough to ease off his hips.

Mahasamut tried to move but Rak pressed down, not ready to stop whatever this was.

“Oh shit.”  The sweet boy under him panted.  “Fuck…yeah…I’m in trouble…”

Chapter Text

Mahasamut felt dizzy, floating on a sea of bliss and panic.

He’d only meant to comfort Tongrak.  The guilt of causing the precious one to think he was ugly had driven a knife into Mut’s heart, twisting it as he gazed into those sad brown eyes.  

Maybe it was the candlelight surrounding them.  Maybe it was the scent of sweetness on Rak’s breath, or the way he clung to Mut like a lifeline…

Whatever the reason, reality had hit him like a ton of bricks, as Mahasamut found himself pinned under a siren, who had just ground on him like a fiend.  Their kisses, which had started sweet and slow, had become deep and lingering.  Rak didn’t seem to need to breathe as much as him, and the lack of air had Mut’s head spinning.

“Precious, I need to get up…we should clean up…”

Gods, he didn’t want to.  With the power out, if they wanted hot water, they have to boil it.  But Mut wasn’t keen on laying there with the mess in his pants quickly cooling.  He lifted his head to see Rak staring down at him, waiting.

Gone was the sweet, shy creature Mut had gotten to know in their short time together.  Replaced with something board-lining a predator...and Mut was his prey.

After Mahasamut had been, well…quite frankly; dry humped into the floor, Tongrak had continued to move, causing the denim of his pants to sand down his junk.  It had felt fantastic at the time, but now it seemed like Mut had been rubbing his bits against a stone.

“Please precious, I feel gross.”

Crystal brown eyes widen instantly, a look so crushing etched across Tongrak’s perfect face.  The change from desire to hurt was so quick, Mut didn’t have time to process it.  Instead, it’d only been when Rak crawled off him, and started rapidly signing *Rak, sorry* that Mahasamut could finally feel his foot in his own mouth.

“No! No! No!  I didn’t mean what we did was gross!”

He got onto his knees, noticing how they shook weaky under his weight.  Mut grabbed the precious one’s hands and prevented them from signing more apologies.

“I mean; I need to get cleaned up.  We both do…”

Tongrak still looked heartbreakingly sad, and Mut could do nothing but pull the little siren into his lap, grimacing at the cold wet patch in his pants.  He placed a chased kiss onto those pretty pink lips and slipped his hand up the white sleeping shirt.  Mut felt the wetness between Rak’s thighs.

“Feel that?  If we wait and let it dry, it will be yuck.  Both yours and mine.  So let’s go get cleaned up.  Ok?”

Rak nodded, staring at the pearly fluid coating Mut’s fingers.  It had a strange shimmer to it, thicker in texture and color.  Mut could have sworn it looked like liquid pearls.  Wiping his hands on his pants, Mut stood and pulled Rak to his feet.  He slowly carried the precious one to the bathroom, in the dark, while Rak held a camping torch to light the way.  

Mut had smiled to himself when Rak had taken the torch in his hands.  He’d been moving it around the house like a club light.  Learning the lesson of; not to look directly at the torch light.  

Something his little brothers; Echo and Night still hadn’t fully grasped.

Mut striped them both and sat Rak in the shower on the safety chair.  Turning on the hot water, he blasted Rak’s lap with the last of the warm water in the unit, using a new washcloth to clean off his thighs and privates before doing the same with himself.

“Wooooooo…that’s chilli!”

Mut made a long “BRRRRRRR” sound with his mouth and bounced lightly from foot to foot, making Rak laugh silently.

“I wonder why you can’t speak…can female siren’s speak?”

Tongrak shook his head.

Mut had pulled out a few board-games and a deck of cards.  Dragging the coffee table closer to the couch, he threw a few pillows and mink blankets onto the soft carpeted floor.  Mahasamut had dressed Rak in one of his white t-shirts and wrapped a mink blanket around his shoulders.

Yes, he had warmer clothes…but the idea of covering all that beautiful skin just seemed like a crime.

Beside them was a tray of snacks that was quickly disappearing with Rak’s newly discovered sweet tooth.  His favorite sweet so far; double stuffed oreos.

They played connect four, quickly getting bored when Rak won every game.  They moved onto jenga, and yet again Rak had that magic touch, winning every game.  When they moved on to Sequence, their games took a little longer, and it gave both of them time to talk.  Or, in Mut’s case, ask yes or no questions.

“Are you really over 100 years old?”

Rak nodded.

Shaking his head in disbelief, Mut took a handful of buttered popcorn, eyeing the 8 of spades.  He pretends to be interested in the corner numbers, as Rak’s blue chips covered more of the board than his red ones.

Tongrak placed a blue marker on the 8 of spades, blocking Mut’s move to win.

“Precious…you aren’t reading my mind to win are you?”

Rak was too busy licking the sugary stuffing from the oreo cookies to meet Mut’s eyes.

“Excuse me little siren…have you been cheating?”

Mut was given a ‘that’s a stupid question’ look as Rak put down another blue chip, blocking yet another move for Mut.

“Oi!”

Mut grabbed Tongrak’s ankles from under the table, pulling his thick socks off before tickling the sensitive arches of his feet.

Rak fell onto the pillows behind him so quickly it looked like he fell through the floor.  There was a quiet gasp and a muffled squeal as Rak turned his body into the pillows.

Those fair legs struggled in his grip, causing Mut to pull on them harder.  Rak slipped under the coffee table, laughing and squealing into the pillows.  His legs kicked out, trying to slip from Mut’s hands.

At this angle, Mut could see Rak’s pale naked thighs on his side of the table.  His t-shirt clearly bunched up Tongrak’s upper body.  Mahasamut fully admired those perfect smooth globes that peaked out from under the table, but it was too big of an advantage not to take now.

Mut shot out his hand, goose pinching the soft skin on the back of Rak’s upper thighs.  The precious one yelped, and gasped for breath between giggling and crying into the pillow for freedom…possibly.

Laughing, Mahasamut pulled Rak’s body further under the table.  He bent down, suctioning his mouth over those sensitive spots on Rak’s fair thighs and blew raspberries against the skin.  The sounds of shock and mild outrage, coupled with the feeling of Rak trying to crawl away from him has Mut laughing hysterically.

Every time he made those childish sounds on the back of Tongrak’s thighs, he broke into fits of laughter.  Mut’s grip slipped, accidentally freeing Rak.  The little siren sat up, hair sticking in every direction, face red and flushed.  He looked cross, like a grumpy little kitten.

Mahasamut tipped his head back and cackled.  That miffed kitty expression was too cute for words.  Rak didn’t like being laughed at, looking even more offended.  He huffed and began to crawl away from the coffee table.

Mut crawled behind him.

“Come here precious!  Don’t be cranky with me!”

Rak turned, pouting, face still flushed pink.  Mut couldn’t stop smiling as all that black hair stuck everywhere.  He raised a hand, reaching for the precious.

“Let me fix your hair.  Come here…oi!”

Rak kicked out his leg, knocking Mut’s hand out of the air.

“Don’t you kick me!  Come here, cranky-puss!”

Rak kicked out again, but Mut caught his leg, pulling him close, before pushing him on his back.  Climbing on top of Rak’s lap, he caught the precious one’s wrists, pinning them to either side of his head.

“What a cranky-puss!  I can’t believe it; not only did you cheat but you ran away and kicked me!”

Tongrak huffed, struggling under him.  

“Ohhhh no! Naughty sirens get punished…”

Those hands slipped free of his hold.  Curling and moving in front of his face.

“I…one more time.”

Rak moved and shaped his hands slowly.

“I…no…speak?..say?..no…hear.”

Mut thought about it for a second.

“I no say, no hear…oh!  You mean I didn’t say you couldn’t listen to my thoughts?”

*YES!*  Rak signed, slapping his hands together to get his point across.

‘Whoops…’

Mut grinned sheepishly as Tongrak’s breathing began to calm, a huffy expression still in place.

“Ok, ok.  You’re right.  I didn’t say you couldn’t, and I shouldn’t have assumed either.  Sorry…”

Perhaps his apology would have sounded more sincere had he not been grinning from ear to ear.  But Rak had crossed his arms over his chest, with the most adorably annoyed look on his face.  It was hard not to love it.

“I’ll make it up to you, want me to get you more oreos?  I’m pretty sure I saw the cinnamon roll flavored ones in the back of the cupboard…”

Rak watched him for a moment before leaning forward and tugging on his hand.

“What is it?  I could introduce you to ice-cream…”

The precious one crawled towards him, taking Mut’s hand only to lower it to…

Mahasamut's whole body flushed hot.  His fingers brushed over the outside of Rak’s little entrance while the siren held his hand firmly there.  Pretty pink lips kissed him sweetly, while his hand pressed harder against Mut’s.  Telling him with his body, what he wanted.

Before every drop of blood rushed from his brain to his cock, Mut pulled back enough to look into Tongrak’s beautiful brown eyes.

“You need to know that you don’t have to do this, we can just be friends.  I will still hug you and feed you and take care of you.  If you aren’t comfortable to touch like this, you can say no.  Please tell me you understand?”

Tongrak pressed forward, kissing him hotly, grinding his front against his own.

“Wait…just wait.  This can’t…I’m…I’m not really for a life-long lover…do you understand?  I don’t want to hurt your heart.  But I need you to understand that…”

‘...that what?  They’d be friends with benefits?  Casual lovers?’

The heat against his fingers distracted Mahasamut from his train of thought.  He rubbed over that delicate spot, as Tongrak’s chocolate and sugary breath skated over his face.

‘What was he walking about?’

Mut pulled Rak into his lap fully, letting the precious one wrap his legs around his waist.  He leant over, grabbing the mink blanket and covered Rak’s body, cocooning them both before leaning back against the couch.

A pleased sigh escaped Tongrak’s lips as he snuggled against Mut’s chest, he seemed to like being held, to the point of smothering.  Not that Mut minded.  Rak was too cute when he got all cuddly.

Tipping up the precious one’s chin, Mut leant down and placed a soft, lingering kiss on those sweet lips.  Rak sighed again, causing desire to spin like mini twisters through Mut’s system.  He leant down again, only for Rak to lift himself up onto his knees and take control of their kiss.

He had been clumsy and a little rough the first time they had made-out.  But Rak was a frighteningly fast learner; figuring out what felt the nicest and running with it like a forest fire in summertime.  

Mut had always taken the lead when it came to most things, unwilling to truly lose control.  But with Rak, it felt different.  The little siren’s unwavering trust in Mut seemed to settle something chaotic in him.  That part that needed everything to be the right way or the word would fall out from under him…

It felt freeing, in a way.  To just let go and float there.  It was why Mut loved the ocean so much.  That peace he felt as he just floated safely underwater.  When Rak held him down and took what he wanted from Mut’s mouth and body, he felt safe enough to let his mind and body relax, just as if he was back in his watery comfort zone. 

Tongrak tasted like chocolate and sugar, no doubt thanks to consuming a whole packet of oreos earlier.  His tongue moved over Mut’s, coaxing it out of his mouth until Rak could suck on it.  With fingers twisted in his hair, and a hand tightly holding the back of his neck still, Mut had no choice but to let the precious one do whatever he wanted.

A sharp nip at his bottom lip had his toes curl a little and Mut’s hands moved down from Tongrak’s slim waist to his smooth, rounded backside.  Squeezing those perfect globes, he pushed his tongue back against Rak’s.

“Grrrrrr…”

Mut froze, pulling back shocked.

“Did you just growl?”

The sound had been something between a purr and a warning.  And it had done something dangerously sinful to Mut’s twitching length.  

‘Could someone get off on a sound?’

Rak looked like he was thinking for a microsecond, before pulling Mut’s mouth back to his, diving in for one of the most searing kisses of Mahasamut’s life.  He gave up control to the precious one, who kissed him like he needed it to live.

Mut was getting dizzy.  He needed to breathe, but found himself blissfully lost in Rak’s takeover.  Instead, he let his fingers travel down the crease of the precious one’s backside, finding that hot opening quickly.

They needed lube if they were going to continue, but the house could fall down around them, and Mut still wouldn’t have moved.  Rubbing the pad of his middle finger over that tender spot, Mut smiled against Rak’s mouth.  The little siren started to press his hips back.

Squeezing one butt-cheek hard, Mahasamut pulled the soft flesh to the side slightly and pressed two fingers over Rak’s opening, marveling at the heat there.  A sharp gasp escaped Tongrak’s lips when those two fingers started rubbing quickly over his tender hole.

Fair-skinned hands moved to Mut’s shoulders, subconsciously kneading the muscles there while grinding his hips back, silently demanding more friction.  

Pressing a finger against that opening, Mut was met with tight resistance.

‘We need lube before I hurt him!’

Mut tried to pull back, but Rak was all over him, grinding his length against his stomach, while pressing his hips back.  Their kisses were growing deep and desperate, while all those needy little sounds Tongrak made, caused Mut’s brain to fizzle.

Grabbing hold of Tongrak around the middle, Mut turned his body, knees on the carpet, before standing up.  Rak clung to him like a horny koala bear.  

Mut carried him out of the tv room, walking blindly through the black hallway to his room.  When his legs hit his bed, he pulled the blankets back and untangled a clingy siren, pushing him onto the bed.

“If you want more, you have to let me get supplies or it will hurt.  Patience, precious, patience.”

Tongrak whined in the darkness, but let Mut light the large coconut candle on his desk and look for his bag in the closet.  Deep down in one of the inner pockets was a small tube of lube.  He had small packets in his wallet and several tubes stored under the sink in his bathroom in the bungalow, but he hadn’t seen any reason to pack extra in his bag.

‘Dumbass…’

Turning towards the bed, the sight before him was enthralling.  Tongrak’s pale skin seemed to glow in the candlelight.  And although the storm still raged outside, all Mut could hear was the sound of his own heartbeat.  

He stood there, wanting to capture every delicious inch of this image, storing it away for future lonely nights.

The precious one pointed to Mut, then the bed.  Causing him to grin from ear to ear.  He was a bossy little siren in bed.  

Obeying, Mut walked over to the side of the bed.  Instead of sitting on the bed like his precious all but demanded, he lowered himself to his knees, elbows resting on the mattress.

“This stuff here is a must when it comes to male lovers.  Unless you're an omega that can get wet naturally, the rest of humanity have to improvise.”

Rak’s hands had curled around Mut’s forearms, trying to pull him onto the bed.  But Mut was committed now.  He needed to know just how hot Rak was…

Placing the tube on the floor, and leaning over to pull his towel from the desk chair where it’d been drying, he left it on the bed before pushing at Rak’s chest, forcing him to fall back.  

Grabbing his ankles, Mut pulled the precious one to the edge of the bed until his backside was halfway off the edge.  Tucking his towel under Rak’s hips, Mut calmed the struggling siren by kissing the inside of his thighs.

‘Fuck his skin was soft!’

Mahasamut let his tongue travel further up, kissing and nibbling as he went.  Tongrak’s legs relaxed completely, falling to either side once he realized Mut wasn’t planning on tickling him.

“Lift your knees to your chest.”

Rak obeyed as quick as he could, he was still a little awkward with his legs, but getting more and more confident with moving them.  Mut used his hands to trail up those fair thighs, pressing them into Rak’s body until he was folded in half.

“Hug your legs.  Yeah, just like that…”

Rak’s arms wrapped around the backs of his knees, crossing over each other to lock.  Mut moved his hands back down, cupping that flawless backside before kissing each cheek.  

Pulling back, Mut stared down at Rak’s centre.  Though the candlelight lit the room, it didn’t give him enough light to fully see everything.

Mut suddenly imagined taking Rak to one of the outer islands, stripping him naked and getting a good look at every inch of his body under the sunlight.

A small gasp came from the bed.

“Were you listening in again?”

Mut nipped at the tender skin near Rak’s opening, fingers slowly gliding over that smooth sack that peeked out from where it was pressed between Rak’s thighs.  There was no reply, but the shivering body under his hands was more than enough of an answer.

“Fine, listen in to this…”

Leaning forward, Mut kissed the precious one’s soft, warm skin.  His lips and tongue slowly made their way to where it was hottest.  When his tongue brushed over the centre of Rak’s opening, there was a shocked, breathy catch, before he sent a fantasy of them on a brightly lit beach, as Mut pierced Rak deeply with his tongue.  He imagined using his thumbs to pull the skin tight, holding that tender place open as Mut forced more of his tongue inside.

Rak’s body quickly convulsed under him.  He released his legs, arching up as his pretty length covered his stomach in pearly ribbons.  Mut lifted his head, eyes watching closely as each ribbon glittered in the candlelight.  

‘It really does look like liquid pearls…’

The precious one lifted up on one elbow, hand reaching forward before tangling in Mut’s hair.

“...”

Tongrak; sweet, innocent, precious kitten Tongrak, had Mut’s hair in an iron grip, as he dragged him back to his centre.  Though he had climaxed only seconds before, Rak was still making needy, impatient sounds under his breath.

The way Mut was trapped there, pressing his tongue forward only to feel Rak grind his body over it, turned him on something fierce.  Suddenly, all he wanted to do was lay on the bed and let Rak do whatever he wanted with him.

Slipping a hand up between them, Mut let his saliva drip down, coating his fingers before pressing his middle finger against Rak's opening, alongside his tongue.  When the precious one rolled his hips, Mut’s finger pressed in, causing him to groan instantly at the blistering tempt he felt inside that tight space.

Tongrak’s body stilled, as if stunned.  The death grip on Mut’s hair relaxed, but he covered Rak’s hand, pressing down on those fingers tightly, silently telling him to continue his firm hold.

Mut’s middle finger slipped further inside Rak’s channel.  He moved his mouth to a soft inner thigh, sucking on the skin gently while watching his finger disappear under the soft candlelight.  He wanted to find that spot inside Rak.  That little bump that sent his other lovers crazy.

Pulling all the way out, Mut’s whole body flush hot as Rak made another purred growl, warning him to go back to where he was.  With his free hand, Mut picked up the tube of lube and flipped the cap, pouring the gel over his middle finger, rubbing it over Rak’s opening until it was completely coated.

“You ready?”

Tongrak’s free hand thumped the side of the mattress in impatience.  It made Mut grin and push his finger forward, letting only the tip rest inside the tight ring of muscle.  The precious one desperately tried to push his body down, but Mut had his other arm wrapped around one of Rak’s legs.

“GRrrrrrrrr…”

“Haha, so cranky…I like it…”

Mut stood up, turning to sit on the side of the bed.  Rak was forced to let go of his hair, and made to hold his legs apart, giving Mut full access.  At a snail's pace, Mahasamut pressed his finger back inside, watching as that perfect face twisted between pleasure and torment.

Curling his finger up, Mut searched for the magical spot, all the while, staring at Rak’s beautiful face.

He pushed deeper, twisting his finger until he found something.  It wasn’t a little bump, or bean, but a line of what felt like raised scar tissue.  Whatever it was, the moment Mut touched it, Rak’s whole body tensed.  Eyes growing wide.

Mut tested the ‘scar’, gauging Rak’s reactions.  He traced it gently with his finger, finding that it began about an inch and some more from his opening.  And continued to go up further than Mut could reach.

When he moved his finger across the line, Rak’s body tightened and shook.  When Mut pressed the pad of his finger against the line, rubbing up and down it; Rak’s legs fell open, back arching as his pretty length dripped continuously.

Leaning over, Mahasamut kept his eyes on Tongrak’s face.  He pressed another finger at his opening and pushed in slowly, letting the little siren get used to the stretch.  When both fingers were fully buried, Mut found the raised ‘scar’ inside Rak’s searing channel, and pumped his fingers quickly, pressing directly along the line.

Tongrak’s back arched painfully, heels digging into the mattress under him.  His insides were getting tighter and tighter, while those breathy little whimpers fluttered down to Mut’s rock hard length.

Mahasamut was mesmerized by Tongrak’s face.  He was just so beautiful.  Brown eyes met his own as tears began falling freely from both corners.

“More…or stop?”

Rak jerked his head to the side quickly.  A panicked look growing on his face.

“More?”

The precious one nodded, hips desperately trying to work over Mut’s fingers.  He pulled back, just enough to line up a third finger.  Rak rocked his hips downward, piercing himself on the thicker intrusion.

His perfect face pinched in discomfort before gasping as Mut’s fingers rubbed over that magical line.  Rak’s hands were back on him, one hand braced on Mut’s shoulder, while the other was in his hair, pulling him down for a kiss.

Fire consumed him when their lips touched.  Rak took control, pulling Mut’s tongue into his mouth, silently demanding he mimic what his fingers were doing to him lower.  Mahasamut felt like he was being consumed.  Rak’s channel was swollen, holding his pumping fingers in a sultry grip, while his lips and tongue sent Mut into a dizzy tail-spin.

Curling his body over Rak, he let his weight press down, before diving his fingers inside that torrid heat.  Working harder towards the precious one’s climax.

The feeling of the room changed suddenly; like blinking and realising the candlelight disappeared.  Leaving Mut surrounded by darkness.  Opening his eyes, he pulled his mouth away to see Rak’s beautiful brown eyes were glowing a dark red.

Pain pulled him back into reality, blinking again to find himself in his room, while the precious one’s blunt nails dug into his shoulder, head tipped back in a silent scream of ecstasy.  Rak’s insides were throbbing around his fingers, as his stomach and legs quaked.

Liquid pearls pooled over Rak’s chest and stomach, but that wasn't the biggest surprise.

Lifting up, Mut slowly pulled his fingers from Tongrak’s shivering body.  His palm, and fingers were soaked in a sticky fluid that shimmered in the candlelight.  It was clearer than the mother of pearl that was Tongrak’s…release.

Mahasamut peered at it closely.  Thin in texture but slipperier than cum, the fluid had a familiar sweet scent to it.  Curiously, Mut touched the pad of his soaked finger to his tongue, bracing himself for the worst.  Instead he was shocked to find that Tongrak’s…well, whatever it was, tasted like salt and sugar.  It reminded Mut of salted caramel, or salted toffee.

‘How is that even possible?!’

This 100 year old snuggle bug was simply perfect, in every way, shape and form, with a kind mind and beautiful soul.  But now, with that long magical line inside his heat, and tasting like Mut’s favorite sweet treat, the precious one was practically made for pleasure…

Chapter Text

Tongrak tucked himself under Mahasamut.  His mind and body relaxed and satiated.

‘So this was how male couples made love…’

He had to admit, he loved it.  That slow build to an all consuming release.  It was better than anything he could have ever imagined.

Mahasamut was under the covers.  

At first, Tongrak had tried to wriggle under the boy for warmth, but with their naked bodies pressed against each other, they soon began to move together.  Kissing and caressing at first, until Mahasamut pulled up the blankets over them.

His beautiful boy moved from his lips to neck, kissing and nipping his skin.  Each time Rak felt the boy’s hot breath grazing over ear, he shivered, feeling a warmth spread under his skin.

“If I do anything you don’t like, just pinch me and I’ll stop.  Ok?”

Rak nodded and pushed Mahasamut’s face back down to his neck, rolling his hips up when the boy began to suck on his skin.  Carding his fingers through soft black hair, Rak closed his eyes and lost himself to the pleasure of it.

Those devouring lips moved over his collarbone, then down the centre of his chest.  Mahasamut licked and kissed his skin until he reached one of the little nubs on Rak’s chest.  He’d studied them in the bath, and couldn’t possibly imagine what purpose they served, being that he was male; therefore didn’t need to feed his young.  Did all human males have them?

In his true form, he didn’t have them so why…Ohhhh!!!!

Rak’s fingers clenched around Mahasamut’s locks while a tongue flicked over his nub.  The feelings it awoke, traveled down his body…as there was a direct line to his privates.

“Is that ok?  You’re gripping my hair kinda hard there…”

Mahasamut’s head lifted up under the blankets to ask, but Tongrak curled his hand around the back of the boy’s neck and pulled him back against his chest.  Silently demanding he continue.

The boy groaned before taking his nub fully in his mouth and sucking on it hard.  Tongrak’s back arched instantly, pushing his chest at the boy’s hot mouth.  It was intense, and every lick, suck and bite, was felt much lower, creating a new and fervent build.

“This doesn’t bother you?”

Tongrak felt a ‘growl’ edging forward.  He wanted the lovely boy to devour him until there was nothing left.

“What if I do this?”

Mahasamut tucked his elbows in close to Rak’s ribs and placed his fingers over each pink nub.  Slowly, he began pinching them between his thumb and middle finger.  It caused light tingles to be felt under his skin, and when he began to roll them lightly, it created something different, but still delicious.

“What if we go harder?”

The lovely boy increased the pressure; rolling and pinching his nubs, before flicking and plucking at them.  Tongrak’s eyes rolled into the back of his head.  He lifted his hips, rubbing his hard length against Mahasamut’s body as the boy’s eyes flicked between his face and chest.

When that hot mouth descended once more, Rak panted, pulling at the lovely boy’s hair.  Mahasamut began sucking on Rak’s little nub harder while his other hand pinched and rolled the other roughly.

It caused the most delectable storm until his skin.  Rak started rutting up, pulling at Mahasamut’s hair as he twisted in pleasure.  The lovely boy groaned and sucked even harder.

Rak’s body shook, relishing in the euphoric build.  Mahasamut moved to his other nub, lavishing it with deletable attention, before pushing his hand between Rak’s thighs.

Thick fingers rub over his softened hole before two pushed inside, making his body shudder with pleasure.

“Fuuuuuck, you’re so wet here.  So hot.”

A third finger joined the others, before rubbing over that part inside him that caused starlight to bloom across his mind.  Whimpering, Rak was pulled closer to that blissful release.

Mahasamut lifted up his head to look at him.

“You can pull my hair as hard as you like, precious.”

Leaning back down, Mahasamut latched onto Rak’s swollen nub, sucking on it as if he was trying to feed.  Those fingers inside his channel were buried deep, brushing back and forth over that spot that forced him to fall quickly into dark, suffocating pleasure.

The first time he’d felt close to a release, Rak had accidently sent out all these new feelings to his large sleeping friend; who curiously slid further into Rak’s mind, wishing everything too.  His sleeping friend liked it…and liked Mahasamut for causing it.

Now, as he barreled towards another intoxicating release, Rak felt his large friend mentally embrace him, sharing in the pleasure Mahasamut was giving them.

“Mmmmmm…”  The beautiful boy moaned as he licked and sucked hard on Rak’s sensitive nub.  Those thick fingers began pumping inside his body wickedly, throwing Rak over that steep cliff into ecstasy.

“Fuck!”

Rak felt those fingers pull from his body, causing him to cry out silently at the emptiness he felt.  Mahasamut swore, turning him over to press Rak’s body into the mattress.  It wasn’t long before Rak felt that hard, heavy length pressing against his soaking crease.

Muscular arms wrapped around his waist, squeezing Rak tightly.

“Keep your legs together precious…”

Doing as he was told, Rak pulled his legs closed, but lifted his hips slightly, loving how the boy’s breathing became harsher.  That hot length slid between his cheeks, rubbing gloriously across Rak’s sensitive hole.

Mahasamut pressed over him, licking Rak’s ear hotly.  His brain fizzled, unable to focus on every feeling at once.

“You have no idea how badly I want to fuck you right now.”

Rak shivered.  He didn’t understand what the lovely boy meant, but the way he said it made him want it.  Pressing his knees into the mattress, Rak raised his backside a little more, needing that thickness to rub against him harder, faster.

With strong arms embracing him, Rak lifted his hand, reaching back to cup one of Mahasamut’s rounded butt-cheeks.  The lovely boy’s breath changed, only very slightly, but it made Rak suddenly clutch a handful of flesh and squeeze, digging his fingernails in to pull the boy even closer.

“Ngh, yessss…”

The warmth of Mahasamut’s panting breath was a sinful distraction as the boy’s arms squeezed around his chest tighter.  Rak loved being cuddled, though this was certainly a whole new level of cuddling…especially as that hard length rubbed almost frantically against his soft, tender hole.

“No! Fuckkkk!”

The boy above him shuddered, pressing his forehead against Rak’s shoulder as his hips began to jerk and slow.  Mahasamut’s hard length pulsed and twitched, coating his lower back with his desire.

“Shit…I think we need more towels.”

When the boy pulled away, Rak couldn’t contain his displeasure.

“Grrrrrrrr…”

“I know, stay still and let me get another towel.”

Rak obeyed, reluctantly, only because he planned to jump the boy the moment he got back.  When Mahasamut returned; he washed Rak’s back and between his legs with a wet cloth, drying him with a new fluffy towel, before slipping under the blankets.

The moment the boy laid on his back, Rak climbed up straddling his lap.

“Still hard, precious?”

The boy was about to speak, but Rak leant down, pressing their lips together.  They kissed; slow and softly, tongues tasting and twisting together.  Mahasamut’s hands moved up, caressing Rak’s back, his sides, travelling lower until they moved over his hips.

Rak let his mouth wander.  Now that he was allowed to touch the boy…to kiss him, he wanted to kiss him everywhere.  Resting his body over the warm one underneath, Rak worked his way down Mahasamut’s neck, kissing and sucking on the skin until he left little red marks.

Dark eyes watched him closing as he moved further down.  Rak kissed over Mahasamut’s shoulders and chest before studying the boy’s two little nubs.  They were slightly smaller in size to his, and a darker color…

He moved his mouth to one, kissing it gently at first, before licking at it experimentally.  Though it peddled under his tongue, Mahasamut’s breathing hadn’t changed.  Rak kissed and sucked on the little nub like the boy had done to him, and yet still, there was no indication that he was enjoying it.

Lifting his head, Rak looked up, double checking the boy hadn’t fallen asleep under him.

Mahasamut was watching him closely, raising a hand to tuck a loose strand of his hair behind his ear.

“My nipples aren’t that sensitive.  If you want a reaction out of me, you’ll have to be rougher.”

‘Rougher?’

Rak leant down, sucking on the little ‘nipple’ harder.  When there was no change in Mahasamut’s breathing, he sucked even harder and out of frustration for not being able to please the boy, he bit the little nub.

“Ssss…”

Mahasamut hissed under his breath, hands gripping Rak’s body tighter.  It emboldened him to try again, this time; suctioning his mouth over the nub, before pressing his teeth into the skin around it, testing how hard the boy would like it.

Seconds from breaking skin, Rak lifted his head, but Mahasamut patted his back.  A shaky voice reassuring him.

“It’s ok, it’s ok.  You can be rough with me, precious one.  I won’t break.”

Tongrak didn’t like the idea of hurting this lovely boy, but…if he wanted it…

Lowering his mouth back down, Rak moved to the other nub.  He closed his eyes for a moment in silent prayer; hoping he wasn’t about to make a massive mistake.  Rak licked over the nub until it was pebbled and wet, before worrying it sharply with his teeth.

Mahasamut gasped, only to let out a shuddered breath.  The hands that held Rak started to tighten, kneading his body.

“That’s it, more like that…”

Feeling encouraged, Rak raised his hand to the other nipple.  Using his finger and thumb to pinch and roll it harshly.  He bit and sucked cruelly, causing Mahasamut to flinch and twist under him.  Each time Rak thought he had been too hard, Mahasamut begged him to do it again.

The lovely boy’s thickness was hard once more, rubbing against his own deliciously, when Rak felt the heavy flesh jerk under him, Mahasamut cried out.

“Wait! Wait!”

Shocked, Rak pulled up, scared he’d gone too far when he’d broken the skin above his little nub.

“Will you…”

The lovely boy looked a little unsure in that moment, and Rak’s stomach was flipping around like playing dolphins as he waited for him to finish his sentence.

“Grab the lube.”

Pointing to the little tube on the small table next to the bed, Rak crawled over to it, picking it up while enjoying how Mahasamut kissed his body as he went.  When Rak moved back the lovely boy’s hand was shaking slightly.

“Ok…you’re gonna have to be gentle with me…I’ve never done this with anyone before.”

Rak let the lovely boy take that tube and applied the clear gel to his fingers.  He was a little confused, until Mahasamut leant back down.  Taking a deep calming breath, the lovely boy moved his legs out from under Rak and spread them.

‘Ohhhhhhhhh…’

Moving down the boy’s muscular body, Rak used his other hand to spread the rounded globes.  Gently, he rubbed the gel over Mahasamut’s little hole, marveling at how warm it felt under his fingers.

“Remember how I did it?  One at a time?”

Rak kissed the inside of Mahasamut’s thigh and nodded.

“Ok…ok…I can do this.”

Smiling at the sweet boy, Rak was surprised that someone who was so skilled at giving, had yet to receive.

‘Had his past lovers all been selfish?’

Just like Mahasamut had done to him earlier, Rak moved the tips of his fingers over that spot, rubbing it gently until the lovely boy underneath him got control of his breathing.  Slowly, Rak pressed the tip of his finger against the tight centre.

Mahasamut took another breath before nodding that he was ok.  Pushing forward, Rak felt his finger slip past the tight ring of muscle, the clenching heat around his digit was extraordinary.  Mahasamut had his eyes closed, head resting back against the pillows.

Rak pushed his finger in slowly until it could go no further.  Looking up when the lovely boy laughed nervously.

“Well…that wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.”

‘Ahhhh…so that’s why his lovers hadn’t done this with him.’

Rak smiled sweetly, letting his finger slowly turn and twist, enjoying how warm and delicate his insides felt.  Mahasamut’s breath caught, alerting Rak instantly.  He moved his finger back to where it had been touching, until the lovely boy jerked his hips.

“So…so that’s what that feels like…”

Feeling reassured by the way Mahasamut’s breath began to quicken, and how his length twitched and dripped; Rak continued to press against that curious spot.  The one that got the most thrilling reactions from the lovely boy.  It seemed to feel like a small raised knot underneath the channel’s silkin wall.   It was compressible, much like a muscle, but so much softer.

Rak poked at it, smiling wider when Mahasamut jolted in pleasure.  He rubbed over it gently, feeling the lovely boy’s toes curl next to him.

“I…I think I’m ready for another…just…gently, precious.”

Rak pulled his finger back, and pressed another finger next to it.  He twisted both fingers until they sat snuggly inside the edge of Mahasamut’s hole, before slowly pushing them both in.

“Gngh! Wait!”

Rak paused, feeling the discomfort and tension in his body.  He waited for Mahasamut to relax, turning his head to kiss and lick the inside of one muscular thigh.  He nipped at the flesh, feeling the lovely body shudder. 

If he liked him being rough with his nipples…

With his free hand, Rak pressed Mahasamut’s leg further out, biting him where the muscle was thickest.  The lovely boy under him jerked his hips, causing Rak’s fingers to spear deeper.

Pain edged the boy's moan, but his length began to weep copiously over his twitching stomach.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck…change of plans, precious.”

Rak lifted his head to see Mahasamut move his hands under the pillow above his head.

“I don’t think I can do it slowly.  I think…I just need to bite the bullet…”

His sweet, lovely boy looked rather scared.  It pulled at his heart, making Rak crawl up that beautiful strong body, and kiss Mahasamut gently.  He kissed him slowly and thoroughly, until the tightness around his fingers relaxed.  

Tongrak kissed and licked his way down to those now red, swollen nubs.  He dragged his teeth over it before taking the pebbled flesh into his mouth and biting down.  Mahasamut cried out in pained pleasure, panting as the walls of his channel crushed around Rak’s fingers.  

Sucking viciously, Rak pressed his fingers inside the boy's body further, before an idea struck him…

‘When his own nubs were teased and touched, the feelings went straight to his length.  So what if he…?’

Abandoning Mahasamut’s chest, Rak worked his way down the boy's beautiful body, to once again settle between his legs.  He pressed his fingers deeper inside that tightness, and when Mahasamut hissed in discomfort, Rak leant forward, licking a long line over the boy’s stiff length.

“Fuuuuuuuuck!”

Smiling triumphantly, Rak lifted the boy’s heavy length with his free hand, giving himself easier access.  Tilting his head, Rak licked over the twitching thickness, all the while; finally burying his two fingers as far as they would go.

“Mnghhhhh…”

Rak curled his fingers up, pressing against that spongy knot, pleased when the beautiful boy groaned and spread his legs out further.

“Yes, yes…whatever y-you’re doin-g…yes!”

A delicious thrill surged through him.  Though he didn’t like the idea of hurting his beautiful lover; the way his strong body shivered and jerk under his hand made Rak feel…responsible?  

It felt like a gift…that Mahasamut was trusting him with something he could never ask in another.

Rak felt both honored and blessed, refusing now to let his insecurities get the better of him in this moment.  He listened to Mahasamut, paying close attention to his breathing, to his cries, to the way his body tightened and shuddered.

He opened out his mind, embracing his beautiful boy’s consciousness.  Though they couldn’t speak to each other this way, Rak could understand how the boy was feeling; as colors rippled between them.  

If Rak went too far, the colors changed from a burning golden-orange of building desire, to a painful deep red.

When Rak saw the burning gold bleed to a deep cerulean-violet, he pulled his fingers back, adding another before pushing back in.

“Hhhhhnghh wait, wait…fuckkkkk…”

Tongrak didn’t wait.  The boy’s mind had lost its cooler colors, and although there was red, the vibrant golden oranges were slowly suffocating it.  Rak twisted his fingers inside his beautiful lover's body.  He’d felt the boy’s testicles move under the skin of his sack, and wanted to play.

Abandoning the thick twitching length, Rak wrapped his fingers at the base of Mahasamut’s sack.  The harder he gripped it, the tighter the delicate skin around them became.  Rak kissed the sensitive flesh, smiling when Mahasamut’s thighs began to quake.

They both knew what he was about to do…

Rak tried to suck both of them into his mouth, only to struggle.  Instead, he went back and forth between Mahasamut’s testicles, while golden-orange colors burnt brightly between them.  Rak pushed his three fingers deeper.

“Not…not yet…”

Again, he ignored the boy’s weak protests.  When Rak experimented by dragging his teeth over the sensitive flesh, the colors between them bleed into the violet-blue quickly.

“Pl-ahh…plea…fuckkkk!”

Rak loved the way Mahasamut's body was pushing down on his fingers, trying to make them rub over that soft knot inside him.  Now that the blues and purples were unavoidable, Rak curled his fingers upwards.

“Ngh…wha…gahhhhhhh!!!”

Tongrak squeezed the boy’s sack hard, forcing his tender testicles together until he could easily get his lips around them…then he sank his teeth in.  

Rak used every ounce of strength he had to pump his fingers hard inside Mahasamut’s tight channel, plundering that knot with each stroke.

His lovely boy tipped his head back and screamed, legs spread and trembling.  The thick length above him poured desire out at an alarming rate, shooting up to the boy’s chest and neck.

Mahasamut’s insides squeezed his fingers so tight they were almost pushed back out.

“Sto…st…wai….fuckkkk….nghhh wai….ahhh….”

Tongrak had witnessed the flashes of light and rainbow color inside the boy’s mind; the moment he found his release.  And although he’d reached it, the boy’s mind still flashed and fizzled with blue-violet.  His beautiful boy was still riding his pleasure.

If he kept hammering against that spot, Rak was pretty sure he could make Mahasamut see colors again.

“Wait…precious!  I just…I just…shit, shit, don’t press…”

Mahasamut was babbling, weakly trying to move out from under him.  Rak sat up slightly, pushing his hand down over where his fingers were hitting on the inside.  He figured if he could hit that spot harder…

“Don’t…wait…I just…mmmmmnnna…”

His beautiful boy’s mind was swirling with gold, blue and purple.  He’d given up on wriggling away, and was slowly lifting his knees to his chest.  Rak watched Mahasamut’s lovely face twist in pleasure and torment as a storm of lightning began to edge his mind.

There were no screams this time.  Instead, Mahasamut’s eyes rolled back before his body began to violently convulse.  His long length weaky poured ribbons over his soaked stomach.  All while his hot channel pulsed and contracted around Rak’s fingers.

It was a stunning sight; all that power and strength, shuddering and satiated under Rak’s hands.

*...again…*

The deep voice of his large sleeping friend whispered to him.  Rak lowered his body between Mahasamut's relaxed legs as they flopped to each side.  His beautiful boy lifted his head and beckoned him back up, but he would not budge.

Rather, he rested his head against Mahasamut’s muscular thigh and looked into his dark, sated eyes.  Rak’s arm went underneath the boy's thigh, reaching up just enough to pinch the closest nipple.

Mahasamut’s insides twitched and convulsed around his fingers, still buried deep inside his body.  He let out a shaky breath before speaking.

“I don’t think I have another orgasm in me, precious one.”

But he did.  

As Tongrak twisted and massaged his over-sensitized channel, his beautiful lover’s mind was stained with gold.  Rak wasn’t moving until that golden light burnt out.  

“If I tell you to stop…”

Rak plunged to his fingers inside wickedly, rubbing over that knot while he pinched Mahasamut’s nub hard.  His beautiful lover gasped, body arching and shuddering.  Rak leant forward, taking one of the boy’s testicles in his mouth, sucking and grazing it with his teeth.

Mahasamut's soft length wept a little as his pained cry turned into a pleasured sigh.

“Ok, precious one, do what you wish.  I’m all yours…”

Chapter Text

Mahasamut had passed out.  For the first time during sex, he had flat out blacked out.  He’d done it to others, sure, but he had the stamina for it.

He had fallen into a sweat-soaked, dizzying haze of pleasure and agony.  Begging the precious one to stop, to give him a break, all the while secretly hoping he would do whatever he wanted.  

And he did!  Gods, had he!

Tongrak had destroyed him, both mentally and physically, turning him into nothing but a bundle of over-sensitized nerves; shivering and convulsing on a piling of soaked towels and bedding.

Mut had climaxed until there was nothing left, and had the precious one stopped?  

NO!

Instead, the naughty siren pulled dry orgasms from his body until his consciousness had finally failed him.  Even in sleep, Mut found no freedom.  He’d dreamt he was back in that suffocating blackness, but this time, he could breathe…though he was tied and bound.

Mut’s body felt laxed and at ease.  He floated in the inky water, feeling his wrists and ankles bound outwards.  His insides felt strange; a confused feeling between sore, and an achy need to wake up and beg Rak for another round.

Lost in his lazy thoughts, Mahasamut felt something slowly wind around his leg, moving up and up until it rested between his butt-cheeks.  Somewhere deep in the recesses of his mind; alarm bells were at the ready, but mentally and physically, he felt like a melted marshmallow.

Mahasamut thought he should be panicking but he was sleeping, he knew it.  He was breathing underwater for god's sake!  Nothing could hurt him here…

When he felt the brush of what could only be described as a tentacle (the strong suction to his lower legs giving it away) against his centre, Mut felt the edges of fear, but was too relaxed to fight it.  Plus…he was a little curious.

It wasn’t like he hadn’t read manhwa with smutty tentacle monsters.  Or even seen online porn with incubi that could grow tails or extra parts.  It had never interested him before, but this was a dream…

The push inside him felt real, the stretch and burn had him blinking his eyes open to see bright red eyes glowing at him from the darkness.  They looked like Rak’s eyes; during that moment he had sworn he’d seen them glow…  Thinking of the precious one made him relax, the more he remembered this was a dream, the faster the discomfort and pain faded.  It was no surprise he was dreaming of sea monsters and sex, not after what he and Rak had just shared.

When the tentacle pushed further up inside him, he winced at the flare of fire up his spine.

‘Just a dream, it’s just a dream.’

The fire cooled rapidly, but without it, he could feel that thickness twist inside his channel, dragging over his sweet spot sinfully.  Mut jolted, body sparking to life once more.  He tried to push back in his restrants, bearing down on the intrusion for more friction.  As if reading his mind, the tentacle inside him zeroed in on that spot, twisting and grinding over his prostate until Mahasamut’s toes curled painfully.

He felt himself pull against the bonds.  His body was sore, exhausted…and yet, he still wanted to spread his legs out wider, still craved another soul-melting orgasm.  There were moments where he forgot he could breath and in his suffocation, the sheer pleasure and depravity of what was happening to him made this dream all the more intoxicating.

A sharp pain to his nipple pulled Mahasamut out of the blackness, blinking up at the candlelit ceiling of his bedroom.  Looking down his body, Mut could see Tongrak attacking his nipple with lips and teeth while three of his fingers were battering against his sweet spot like it owed him money.

Mut groaned, legs too tired to move.  Tongrak looked up to meet his eyes.  Two red glowing orbs pierced through his soul, and for a split second, Mahasamut was caught between reality and his dream; forced to take it from Rak and the creature hiding in the black water.

He felt his orgasm roll forward as he held onto both worlds, desperate to feel both Rak’s pumping fingers and that thick tentacle twisting inside him.  Arching his back harshly, Mut dug his heels into the mattress and kept his mind open, as the most intense orgasm stormed across his body.

His insides squeezed down, while his legs shook and tensed.  He was edging a cramp in both calves and still held on to the ecstasy as it consumed him completely.  He closed his eyes for only a moment, just for a second to breathe, but when he opened them he was back in his candle lit room…but this time, alone.

Jumping up out of bed was a struggle.  Mahasamut felt lethargic, not just in his mind but in every muscle in his body.  It was only the lack of one precious siren next to him that forced his body to move.  

Mut made it to the hallway before seeing a light coming from the bathroom down the hall.

Inside the bathroom, a torch sat on the side of the bathtub.  It faced upwards, illuminating the white ceiling while Rak sat on the toilet.  He wiggled a little before turning to flush it.  Using the side of the sink to lift himself, Rak lowered his body to the floor gently.  His legs were shaky, but he could move them enough to crawl and kneel in front of the sink, humming the birthday song as he washed his hands.

Mut smiled tiredly and sighed in relief, catching Rak’s attention.  The precious one turned in his direction; surprised.  When he realized it was only Mut, his face broke out into a beautiful smile.

The sight of it hit his heart hard.  Had it just skipped, or stopped completely?

Mahasamut hadn’t fully realized how worried he’d felt until his chest unclenched the moment his eyes found Rak.  He had always slept alone, and woke up alone.  But the moment he had opened his eyes to see Tongrak missing, Mut had felt a sickening fear take hold of him.  

For a split second, he feared it had all been a dream…and that…his precious one didn’t actually exist.

The gravity of his relief was too much for him to dissect at that moment.  He needed to mull over his reaction on another day, another week...  Right now, he just wanted to get clean and lay in bed all day with this sweet creature.

Rak pulled himself up to sit on the edge of the bath, and watched Mut as he took his turn using the toilet.

“We can either have a cold shower or I can boil some water on the stove, what would you rather?”

Mut watched as Rak shrugged his shoulders.

“You don’t mind?”

The precious one shook his head and smiled up at him.  Mut returned the smile and nodded, walking over to the cupboard for more towels, while Rak gently lowered himself to the floor and crawled to the shower door.

They showered quickly; both scrubbing themselves down with soapy washcloths before rinsing under frigid water.  Mahasamut lifted Rak to his feet, making him hold onto the sink as he dried him off, before sitting him on the bathtub’s edge.

When he started to dry himself, Mut could see in the torch light, every bite mark, every bruise and/or hickey decorating his skin.  Tongrak had done a number on his body…  He turned to look at the precious one, only to see him missing once again.

‘How did he sneak past?!’

Wrapping the towel around his hips and grabbing the torch, Mut made it as far as the hallway.  Tongrak was crawling like a big naked baby towards the bedroom door.  The sight of Rak on all fours stirred desire in him, only for his body to shoot an “out of service” signal his way.

He followed Rak into his bedroom.

“Hold up!”

Tongrak had been making a move to climb back onto the bed, but after the mess they’d made of it, the bedding needed to be replaced.  Sighing tiredly, Mut pulled out warm clothes for himself and Rak, before stripping the bedding and forcing himself to remake the bed with clean sheets and pillowcases.

Mut lifted Rak to his (now covered) feet.  The precious one was once again in one of Mut’s shirts and a hoodie this time, with thick socks pulled up to his calves.  Mut hadn’t bothered to find pants for Rak, for two reasons.  

One; Mut was too tired to walk upstairs to find something that would fit from Peat’s closet.  Two; although his dick was telling him it was ‘out of commission’, it didn’t stop Mahasamut from wanting to enjoy the view of Tongrak crawling across the floor with no pants on.

Was this morally wrong?  …Probably.  

But Mut was toeing the line between exhausted and horny.  If he was alone, he’d have climbed back in bed and slept until the end of winter.  But right now, he was currently responsible for one adorable siren, and forced himself to move them into the kitchen.

“Stay here for a sec, I’m just gonna check outside.”

Mut left Rak sitting at the kitchen counter before slipping out the unlocked door.  The storm looked like it had passed, but the heavy rain and dark clouds hid the fact that it was late morning already.  

His phone said 11.13am, but he could have sworn he’d only closed his eyes for a second in bed.  

‘Had he been that wrecked he’d slept straight through?’

Mut walked to Da’s office, then stopped.  He reached for the light switch, flicking it on and off.

‘Shit, still no power.’

Mut followed the glow of the torch light to the kitchen and used the lighter in his pocket to light several candles around the room.  He looked in the fridge and pulled out something that could be easily reheated on the gas stove.

“Bad news, the power is still out but I think I can get the shutters open after we eat.”

Rak simply nodded and smiled as he watched Mut stir the chicken and coconut soup.  When the soup started to simmer, Mut added cooked rice to a steaming basket and sat it over the pot, letting it heat up before serving.

While they waited, Mut handed Rak a mug of hot tea, letting him help himself to the sugar.  Five teaspoons later, the precious one was swinging his legs happily while he sipped on sugar water and tea.  It reminded him of Fort.  The amount of sugar that man added in his tea and coffee could rot teeth!

Mut sent several texts to his parents.  Who were glad he and Tongrak were ok.  The family were having a relaxing day today, after going out the day before to shop.  Fort had said to try and switch over the breaker later in the day, but if the power didn’t switch back on, not to stress.  The generator would hold until he got back.

FORT:  The weather radar says 10 days of rain.  Once the sun comes out, the solar system will kick in.  Let me know if you need something flown in.

Mut grinned.  He loved his family…

He and Tongrak ate quietly, while Mut found himself turned in his seat; legs locked with the precious one’s.  The hard stool under his butt wasn’t the most comfortable, reminding him every time he moved; what they did last night.

To say it was a peculiar feeling was putting it lightly.  In the past, he’d had lovers that tried to touch him ‘there’, but each time, he’d just pushed their hands away.  Honestly, the idea of nails scratching his insides had given him the instant ick.

Mahasamut had taken a chance with Tongrak, and it had been the most erotic thing he’d ever experienced.  Not just letting another touch him in such a vulnerable place, but truly letting go of his control for a moment and enjoying someone taking care of his pleasure for once.

He had felt safe with Rak.  And though he’d begged to stop, Mut had truly relished the denial even more, falling back without a thread of power, only for Rak to take him to a place beyond heaven.

His insides still left the effects.  The skin around his entrance was soft, and tender.  He felt the difference in his body each time he walked or sat.  He couldn’t know for sure, but Mut swore his prostate was swollen from overuse.  There was a low pleasant throbbing in that area.

By the time he’d gotten the bench clear, Rak was blinking at him sleepily.  He yawned wide, scrunching his face adorably.  Mut understood completely, the idea of going back to bed to snooze and cuddle for the rest of the day sounded amazing.

He held up one finger in front of the sleepy siren.

“Option one; I go switch over the power and open the shutters.”

He held up two fingers…

“Option two; we go back to bed and snuggle for…hahaha ok.”

Rak’s hands had shot up in the air, two fingers on either hand waving his excitement at the idea of being lazy for the day.

‘And why shouldn’t they?  Wasn’t that on Mut’s list of things to do during the break?  Wouldn’t Rak be sleeping in the caves under the islands if he hadn’t been injured?’

Mut pulled Rak to his feet, only to throw the precious one over his shoulder.  He blew out the candles as he walked around the room, torch in one hand…Rak’s soft thigh gripped in the other.

The moment they walked into the bedroom, Mut dropped Tongrak on the bed like a sack of couch potatoes.  The little siren snorted, and laughed silently.  Mut undressed himself quickly, only to start laughing when he spotted the precious one trying to awkwardly twist around to remove his socks.  The rest of his clothes lay thrown on the floor.  

The pretty siren truly had no shame, it reminded Mut of a cat trying to twist out of a costume its owner forced it to wear.

“Come here.”

Mahasamut held his hand out and Rak lifted his foot.  He took his time pulling off those socks, admiring the bright, smooth skin that was revealed.  This was why he didn’t want to put pants on Rak, he simply loved seeing his legs every chance he got.

With Rak’s foot still in hand, Mut sat on the bed, bending the precious one’s other leg up and over his lap.  There was a soft sigh under him as the little siren got comfortable and relaxed, letting his legs go floppy.

This.  This right here, was one of the many reasons he adored Tongrak.  There was so much trust in that perfect face.  Turning his head, Mut kissed along the inside of Rak’s ankle.  He traveled up one fair skinned leg slowly, leaving hot, soft kisses in his wake.  

When he got to the top of Rak’s luscious thigh, Mut rubbed his cheek over Tongrak’s privates, smiling wickedly as a string of quiet hiccups and breathy catches were heard above him.

The precious one’s length was hard, laying flat against his stomach.  It wasn’t as thick or as long as his own, but it wasn’t small by any means.  He was a lot larger than anyone he’d been with before.

Rubbing his lips over the length of Tongrak’s cock, he went down, rubbing his nose over the delicate skin of the sack underneath, before shifting up and over to nip at Rak’s hip.  Fingers began tapping him on the shoulder lightly, making him look up.

Tongrak’s face was flushed, desire swimming in those pretty brown eyes.

“What is it, precious?”

Rak pointed to his length and signed *Again*.

“You want me to do it again?”

The little siren smiled, nodding his head in that same excited way he did when Mut told him the option to go back to bed.

“Ok, I suppose I can do that…”

Mut sat back, only to pick up Tongrak’s other foot.  He kissed the inside of the ankle and inwardly laughed when realization dawned on Rak’s perfect face.  Mut was going to start from the very beginning.

He kissed every inch of the Rak’s foot, before licking a slow line from ankle to calf.  Mut trailed hot lingering kissing up until he reached the inside of Rak’s fair thighs.  There, he sucked a zig-zag line up towards the junction, leaving dark hickeys behind.

Rak’s chest was moving quickly, his body was shivering, while his hips lifted to hump the air above.  It was a delicious sight.  One day soon, he was going to ask Rak to touch himself while he watched…

Again, Mut buried his face against the precious one’s privates, purposely breathing hotly over the sensitive skin.  Rak was pushing his hips up against Mut’s face for more friction.

“Hips down.”

The precious one pouted, but lowered his hips.  Mahasamut rewarded him by licking his length from the base to tip, lapping up the mother of pearl that dripped at his slit.  The tension in those fair thighs were tight enough to break, as Mut swirled his tongue around the crown of him.  Rak tasted like sugar, like the salted caramel ice-cream they had eaten after lunch.

Lifting his eyes, they stared at each other, before pained pleasure forced the precious one’s eyes to roll back into his skull.  Mut had taken that hard length into his mouth, sucking in his cheeks as he sank down it.

Mut’s cock twitched, half hard, half tender as hell.  He wasn’t planning to do anything but worship the precious one, how could he not?

Resting on his stomach, Mut settled himself between Tongrak’s shaky thighs.  He tucked his arms under those fair thighs and stretched them up, catching pretty pink nipples between his fingers.

Rak gasped, rubbing his backside into the mattress as he tried hard not to lift his hips.  Mut smiled around the width of him and lifted up to suck and lick the tip, cleaning away any sweetness that tried to escape.

He gently rolled Rak’s nipples, while lapping his tongue over the slit of his length.  Mut sank down again, swallowing around him while his fingers became crueler; pinching and flicking those pretty pink nubs.

Hot, sweetness hit the back of his throat, and like a shot, he swallowed it quickly, refusing to spill a single drop.  Mut lifted up the pulsing length, sucking in his cheeks as he went.  Tears of pleasure streamed down Tongrak’s perfect face while his body shuddered and jerked.  

It was a stunning sight.

Mut crawled up the bed, and turned Rak towards him.  He tucked one arm under his body, as the other came around to hug him.  The precious one sighed contently, one weak leg coming around Mut’s waist to hold him.

Rak’s arms hugged his head, fingers trailing down Mut’s neck and shoulders.  Mut pulled the blankets over his head and buried his face between Rak’s chest, hugging him tighter as they lay there.

He’d never thought of himself as a cuddly person.  He’d never cuddled any of his other lovers before.  Of course he certainly hugged his family.  But when it came to sexual partners; he usually made the “got to get up early” excuse to evict them out of his room.  

As he enjoyed rubbing his lips over the soft skin between Rak’s chest, Mut thought perhaps it was simply because they were forced together that he was suddenly indulging…maybe?

If he were to pick Rak up at the bar, would he feel the same way?  Would he act differently?

Playing the scenario in his head, he imagined telling the precious one that he needed to ‘get up early, so leave.’

It didn’t take a genius to know the sweet siren would be hurt, and in hurting him (even inside his head) Mut felt an uncomfortable tightness in the centre of his gut.  He couldn’t bring himself to make Tongrak sad.  What the hell was he going to do after winter when Rak went back into the water?

Did he really want this little siren to disappear under the waves and never see him again?  Would he be open to being lovers on a casual basis?  

Mut needed to get these answers before they went even further.

Kisses, heavy petting and blow jobs were one thing.  Sex was something altogether different.  He hadn’t thought to pack condoms, he hadn’t honestly thought he’d need them.  His parents didn’t use them, so it wasn’t like Mut could raid their room.  Not that he was willing to venture into that part of the house.  

Mahasamut loved his parents, but their sexual appetites were downright scary.

He liked a little rough play; mostly hair pulling and biting, but Mut had googled some of the heavy duty machines in his parent’s ‘play-room’.  It took him a long time before he could look at Peat in the eyes without blushing!

Mahasamut sighed tiredly, but smiled instantly when Rak’s leg tightened around him.  He knew he was overthinking.  They were stuck in the house for the next few months, there was plenty of time for long talks and mutual understandings.

Squeezing his eyes shut and mentally shaking his head, Mut hugged the precious one closer, loving the content sigh that floated above him.  Rak truly was the biggest snuggle bug, plus he ran cooler than anyone Mut knew.  

Instead of the hot, smothering feeling he got when someone tried to hold him, Rak was soft, smooth and pleasantly cooling.  Mut liked rubbing his hot skin against the precious one’s, who didn’t seem to mind being smothered, or even partially crushed under Mut’s weight.

Rubbing his flushed face against Rak’s cool chest, Mut’s lips accidentally brushed over one soft nipple.  Distracted from his overthinking, he absentmindedly ran his lips back and forth over the nub until it pebbled between them.

Unable to resist, he licked at it, before suctioning his lips over the little nub.  Rak’s breath caught, but he didn’t protest, instead he carded his fingers through Mut’s hair.  It was such a tender, comforting gesture.

Mut sucked, grazing his teeth lightly every now and then.  It was no real secret that he had a nipple fetish.  Uncle Bulwark had been teasing him since he hit puberty.  When he was young, and new to the Sengngai family, he’d been shocked when he first saw Uncle Tam breastfeeding at the dining table.

Pink, swollen nipples had plagued his young wet dreams.  And ever since, Mut had never been able to sit still when Peat lifted his shirt to feed any of the twins.  He had always found something to do, somewhere to go, just to avoid the red hot flush in his cheeks.  

When Mut started masturbating, all he fantasized about was playing with pink, puffy nipples; sucking them, feeding on them, and tormenting them.  Man or woman, it didn’t matter.

Nothing had changed much.

There had been lovers that let him play…for a small while, then gently pushed him away or told him to stop.  There were others that didn’t like it or simply felt nothing.  But with Tongrak; the idea of seeing how long Mut could get away with touch and tasting brushed over his dirty mind like a feather.

If Mut wanted to suck, and pinch them until he fell asleep, would Rak allow it?

The hand that had been combing through his hair slowly cupped the back of his head, using gentle pressure to push his mouth harder against Rak’s chest.  Looking up, Mut had to ask…

“Did you hear that?”

The precious one nodded.  Kissing Mut’s forehead.

“You don’t mind?  If I do that to you?  You can say no…”

Rak pulled back slightly, moving and shaping his hands where Mut could see them.

*Rak is yours.*  He signed.

A thrill ran through Mut’s body.  It took his breath away, spearing his heart and stiffening his length.  Rak was his… 

Leaning up, he kissed those soft pink lips, before lowering his mouth back to the little nub in front of him.  He started off gentle and teasing, before taking as much flesh in his mouth as possible and sucking hard, pressing his teeth down until Rak began to rub his front against Mut’s stomach.

Crawling down, he took that twitching length between his lips, sinking down on the flesh until it brushed the back of his throat.  The angle was a little awkward, but it didn’t stop Mut from bobbing his head until Rak climaxed, filling his mouth with salty sweetness.

He licked the precious one clean, and moved back up, taking his position once again, to suck on the other nipple.  Laving it with gentle, patient attention, until the naughty siren within his arms pulled his hair hard, creating sharp electric tingles that raced over his scalp and down the sides of his neck.

Tongrak was pushing his chest against Mut’s open mouth, hips rubbing frantically over his stomach.  Mahasamut felt like tormenting his precious one just a little more, but his plans were foiled when he was pushed onto his back.

His chest was straddled by fair thighs, before his hair was taken roughly once more.  Rak yanked his head forward by his hair, causing strong wicked currents to spark down his neck and chest.  The sweet, yet not so innocent siren rubbed his hard length against Mut’s face, grinding over him in the most sinful way.

Mahasamut opened his mouth and let that pulsating length sink inside.  He lifted his hands.  First to trace teasingly over Rak’s tense calves, then up to cup his luscious backside.  He squeezed and kneaded both cheeks before slipping his hands down, under his own hips.  Pinning them there.

His cock ached and throbbed as Rak rutted freely inside his mouth.  The precious one rocked his hips back and forth, fucking his mouth shallowly, letting Mut bathe his tip and sides with his tongue.

The grip around his locks tightened as Rak flicked his hips forward roughly, pinning Mut’s head still as the siren took his pleasure.  There was a shuddered hiccup from above, before Tongrak flooded his mouth once more.

Mut didn’t give Rak time to calm down before pushing his body back to the mattress.  Taking a swollen nipple into his mouth, he lifted a hand to play with the other.  There was no more gentleness in his touch this time, his cock was hard and heavy between them.  He needed to work Rak up again, he needed this perfect creature to sit on his chest and take control, fucking his mouth until it hurt to swallow.

He sucked and worried one pretty nub between teeth and tongue, while his thumb and middle finger pinched and rolled the other nub sharply.  The precious one gasped, mewled and clawed at the mattress.  The second Mahasamut felt Tongrak grow hard against him, he lifted the fair body above him, turning his body around so his knees rested against Mut’s shoulders.

Savagely he took Rak’s length into his mouth, devouring the tender flesh like he needed it to live.  At this angle, Mut could finally take it to the root, and the moment the precious one felt his entire length sink in, he made the most animalistic sound.  It was deep, and vibrating.  Caught between a groan and a warning.

Mut took hold of those shaky hips above him, palming smooth globes before pulling Rak’s hips back.  He pulled him down hard, only to lift him back again.  The little siren took his lead, pumping his hips until his was fucking Mut’s throat roughly.

Rak took control, and Mut slipped his hands back under his hips, reveling in the feeling of Rak’s panting whines.  When the precious one’s hips sped up, Mut felt his cock throb with desire, loving how Rak practically rutted down his throat in wanton abandonment.

Starlight blinded his vision as Mut felt heaven in the form of Tongrak’s mouth taking in the tip of his cock.  There was no finesse, no technique…just pure unadulterated hunger as the precious one devoured him from tip to root.

A strangled groan escaped him when he felt Rak’s throat swallow around him, it felt different; hot, tight but there was just something ‘other’ about it.  The muscles in his legs strained under the pressure of holding back as he kept his hips pressed firmly to the mattress.

He was dying to thrust up into that glorious heat.

Mut pulled his hands out from under his back and grabbed Rak’s backside, pulling him down to bury himself completely.  It happened again…that deep rumbling ‘other-worldly’ sound.  It vibrated over Mut’s length, straight down into his sack and attacked his sweet spot.

‘That’s not fucking possible!!!’

He pulled Rak’s hips up to catch his breath, holding the last of his mind by a thread as the siren clawed at his thighs and tried to push his hips down.  Mut lapped that at the slit, letting his fingers move towards Tongrak’s opening.  Groaning when he found that heated centre wet and slippery.

Mut let Rak go, only to brutally shoved two fingers inside his opening.

Rak let out another deep rumbling, causing Mut’s buried length to throb under the vibrations, his eyes rolled back as his prostate was attacked once more.

‘Like fuck was he losing this game!’

Mut pressed forward and twisted his fingers until he found that raised line inside Rak.  He pulled the perfect creature down to the root, and rubbed over that scar viciously, smiling to himself when the precious one made desperate, obscene sounds.

Lifting up those hips to catch his breath.  The little devil took it as his turn to drive Mut insane; bobbing his head over his length and humming wickedly, until he saw heaven once more.

Rak rested one arm, bent over Mut’s thigh, while his other hand reached down between their bodies to cruelly play with one of Mut’s nipples.  Lightning shot straight from his tormented nub to his cock, making him go dizzy.

The precious one sank down, taking Mut in deep before releasing another monstrous grumble.

There was nothing Mut could do.  He was completely helpless as the sound vibrated down his length, inside his sack and pressed heavily against his prostate.  It shouldn’t be possible, it wasn’t normal, but it was heaven made flesh as Tongrak forced his climax to rip his soul apart.

Mut vaguely noticed as Rak’s hips went back to thrusting wildly as he screamed his release.  Everything hurt, but it felt like ecstasy.  His orgasm wrecked him, causing his body to convulse and buck under the precious one, who was mewling through his own climax.

Swallowing the best he could, Mut forgot how to breathe, the world around him was nothing but darkness and shooting stars.  The precious one, lifted up gently, turning to cover Mut with his body and the blanket.  

Rak held him tight as darkness and weightlessness took him.  The last thing Mut could hear was the sound of deep, happy purring as Tongrak snuggled even closer.  He closed his eyes once more to blissful darkness, floating there, safe and content under the watchful gaze of those red glowing eyes.

Chapter Text

Now, Tongrak fully understood why the merlings enjoyed sex; whether it be with the humans or their merling lovers.  It was wonderful.  More than wonderful.  Everything he had experienced with his sweet boy had been magical.  The sounds he made, the way his body moved and squeezed him, even the taste of him was divine.  

Rak couldn’t get enough, and had exhausted Mahasamut out.  It was clear in his mind that every move the poor boy made tired him out even more.  He’d been so kind to wash and feed Rak, even though he was almost dead on his feet.

When given the options, Rak picked bed.  He didn’t care about ‘opening the shutters’, the dark never bothered him.  But seeing the relief in Mahasamut's face when Rak picked snoozing for the day, was worth it tenfold.

Rak would have been sleeping in the caves if he was home…to a point.  He slept during the merling winter lock down, but he couldn’t hibernate like they did.  Once tucked up in their nests, the merlings closed their eyes and wouldn’t wake until the waters grew warm again.

Each entrance to the caves and halls were barred over with ancient coral and whale bones.  Rak was forced to stay inside for three months; sleeping, and singing to himself, but mostly being bored.  

Though, boredom beats danger outside the caves any day!

Rak curled around the sleeping boy, pulling the blankets over them further.  Mahasamut was a quiet sleeper, he didn’t snore or fidget, he slept like a merling.  Silent and unmoving.  Tongrak couldn’t stop touching him.  He gently carded his fingers through the sweet boy’s hair, kissing his forehead whenever he could.

He smoothed his hands down Mahasamut’s warm back, soothing him while he slept.  Rak was a little tired, but couldn’t bring himself to close his eyes just yet.  He had caught the boy’s earlier thoughts unintentionally…

Mahasamut was ill at ease; not wanting to hurt Rak’s feelings.  He didn’t want a forever mate, but Rak couldn’t help but think Mahasamut simply didn’t want HIM as his mate.  The sweet boy thought their desires were due to forced proximity, and he wanted to lay out ‘rules’ before they went further.  But, just didn’t know how to start the conversation.

To say it hurt Rak was an understatement.  It wasn’t Mahasamut’s fault that he didn’t see Tongrak worthy of being a lifelong lover.  If anything, it only solidified what Rak already knew; Mahasamut was kind, sweet and caring…and Rak was just…an ugly siren.

Nothing had changed since waking up in the white room.  Tongrak didn’t have anything to offer the boy.  He couldn’t protect him, or give him gifts, or even produce children for him.  But if the sweet boy was willing to be his lover even for such a small time, Rak wasn’t planning to waste it.

He stared down at Mahasamut’s beautiful face, memorizing how soft his hair felt, how warm his skin was against his, so one day, when he was back sleeping in Danu’s cave, Rak could close his eyes and remember everything.

His large friend, sleeping under the earth, whispered to Rak *steal away their sweet boy* .  He would find them an island that was just theirs, where no one could find them, and Mahasamut had nowhere to escape.  But Rak let each dark whisper in one ear and out the other.

He would not take Mahasamut away from his family.  He would not trap him.  Yes, Tongrak wanted the sweet boy just to himself.  And he wished so badly to be his ‘forever mate’, to the point where his longing made him breathless.

But Mahasamut’s happiness was more important than his own.  As a human, he had such a short lifespan.  How could Rak ever cause a single second of sadness, let alone rip him from his family, and chain him to someone he doesn’t want?  

No… 

Tongrak would take whatever Mahasamut was willing to give him and be forever grateful for it.

He dismissed his large friends whispering words.  Making the decision; that when Mahasamut finally told him to go, he would walk back into the sea and watch from afar as his beautiful boy found a lover worthy to spend his life with.

Rak would love his sweet boy from a distance and wait under the waves.  Incase Mahasamut changed his mind one day and called for him…

Even if it was for a single night…a single hour…

He would wait…

They had slept all day, and into the late afternoon.  Rak had gotten up to use the bathroom, crawling over the hard floor and using his arms to lift himself up and down.  He’d even grabbed a washcloth, filling the sink with clean water to wipe over his body.

When Rak crawled back onto the bed, he pressed his body against Mahasamut’s, sighing in delight at the heat that radiated from him.

“Ughhh!!!  Why are you so cold!”

Rak froze, feeling instantly guilty before scooching away.  Mahasamut turned around only to grab Rak from behind.

“Come here my frosty snuggle-bug!”

Rak let himself be easily pulled back to the middle of the bed, where the sweet boy pressed every inch of his feverish skin against his own. 

“Ughhhhh…you're like a big cooling pad!  Only soft and smooth…”

Mahasamut moved his hot hands down Rak’s sides until he cupped his backside.  His leg was lifted up to curl around the sweet boy’s waist, while he rubbed his body against him.

The sound of quiet buzzing caught their attention and Mahasamut pulled away to grab his phone from the table.

“Hello…hi mama!  Whatcha doing?”

Rak lay his head on the boy’s chest, enjoying his hair being played with, while Mahasamut spoke to his…other mother?  It was common for merling sons to be raised by another, and Danu didn’t seem to mind anymore.  She liked the humans he called Ma and Da.

“Oh dear…what happened?  That little moo!  Da didn’t bury her in the garden?  Shit!  Seriously?!  Well good on her!  I’m sure Da’s proud….no, we just rested today…yep, still raining.  Hmmm…probably tomorrow.  Ok…yep…will do…love you too….bye!”

Mahasamut sighed and kissed the top of Rak’s head, turning to put his phone away.

“My little cousin Sarai is a menace.  Not like Echo and Night.  But like, a little brat.  She and her little sister Achara are raised differently to my siblings and it always causes drama when my family visits…”

Rak snuggled closed, enjoying the sound of Mahasamut's warm, calming voice as it rolled over him.  Warm fingers were brushing over his skin as he spoke.

“Da looks after them mostly, where his brother Bastion runs a massive empire.  Sarai lost her mother when she was two so she doesn’t get told ‘no’ very often, which has made her behavior even worse.

They have Uncle Tam, but he only started to remember things a few years ago.  And he can’t control Sarai.  So it’s mostly nannies raising them…  Anyway, Achara is pretty quiet and likes to color in with my brother Sky.

So today, during ‘quiet time’ which is usually an hour after lunch.  The babies are taken for a nap and the older kids find something quiet to do; reading, drawing, puzzles, stuff like that.  But Sarai and Achara don’t have that routine.

And when Echo and Night told Sarai to shush because it was ‘quiet time’, she flipped it.  Threw one of her tantrums and broke little Sky’s colored pencils, making him cry.  I’d say she was lucky Da was in the kitchen, cause he would have dragged her by her ears back to her room.”

Mahasamut started laughing.  Kissing the top of Rak’s hair again.

“My sister Pearl; little miss proper, smashed Sarai in the face with one of her merling books and broke her nose.  Wasn’t one hit either!  Apparently when everyone ran into the dining room, Pearl was sitting on Sarai and clobbering her with her book.  Fuck…I would have loved to have seen that!  So the little witch went to hospital and awaits punishment.”

The sweet boy traced swirls over Rak’s shoulder and down his arm.

“So it’s all drama-drama, Uncle Tam and Achara are staying at Gam-Gam’s for a few more weeks while Uncle Bastion and the nannies take Sarai straight back home.  I know Tam moved out of the mansion last year with Achara and the twins for about six months.  Sarai had been bullying her sister really badly and one day Tam moved them out.  That was the first time I’ve heard Uncle Bastion lose it with Sarai.

He took all her things out of her room and donated them to the homeless shelters.  Told her, her mother would be ashamed of her behavior, and said he was glad she wasn’t there to see her beloved daughter act like a hateful, wicked animal…”

Mahasamut’s voice dropped, thoughtful.

“I don’t think I’ve either heard of Uncle Bastion hitting his children.  I know Da never has, though Echo and Night love to test his patience.  But Uncle Bulwark said the look on Sarai’s stricken face seemed like she would have preferred a beating over hearing her father say that…apparently she’d been getting better, but I suppose…she still has a lot of rage in her.”

Rak was pulled up to rest to head on the pillow next to Mahasamut.  The sweet boy tucked his hair behind his ear before kissing the tip of his nose.  

“Little Sky is such a gentle soul, it’s hard to believe anyone would be mean to him…  Like you, it’s hard to believe anyone could be mean to you.”

Tongrak snorted, smiling at his words.

“I’m sorry you were hurt by those men.  That must have been very scary.”

Rak nodded and worried his lip a little.  He could see Mahasamut was edging towards another question.

“Your friend…the merling that came for you.  She said…she said you suffered when you lived with your family…”

Rak stared at Mahasamut’s chest waiting for his next words.

“Could you…show me…what it was like.  I mean, you’ve seen how crappy my childhood was before meeting Peat and Fort.”

Rak was unable to look up and meet those beautiful dark eyes.  His memories were nothing short of a nightmare…

“How about just one memory?”

Mahasamut tipped Rak’s chin up to look at him.

“Hmm?  You don’t have to if you are uncomfortable with retelling it.  I just…I’m just curious about you…about your life.”

Rak tried to think about just one.  There were so many…too many.  He gently pushed Mahasamut to his back and straddled his waist.  The sweet boy sighed, rubbing his warm hands up and down Rak’s spread thighs.

Leaning down, Rak rested his forehead against the boy’s, elbows pressing into the mattress while his hands tangled in Mahasamut’s black hair.  The sweet boy’s hands went tightly around his waist.  

He could hear his thoughts clearly; Mut was planning to ask Rak to share a memory every night that they were stuck inside the house.

Rak couldn’t bear that.  He didn’t want each night to be stained with his horribly memories.  He didn’t want to waste a single moment with this beautiful boy thinking about his mother and sisters.  

But…he would deny Mahasamut nothing…

Opening his mind completely, Tongrak sorted out his thoughts, placing them in order of his earliest memories to when he finally met Danu.  He let each one slip from his mind and flow into the beautiful one under him.

He would never forget the fear, the starvation, the isolation and cold blackness…

Each memory he shared of him hiding, being hunted, being punished, being cut, clawed, dragged and eventually swimming for his life.  By the time he got to the coral near his friend’s trench, Mahasamut was pushing him off.

“Stop…please…”

He whispered, voice strained and thick with emotion.  Tongrak’s stomach dropped as he looked down at his beautiful boy.  He’d been so focused on separating his feelings from each memory, that he hadn’t been following Mahasamut’s state of mind.  Seeing the nightmare, and feeling what he felt was too much for the sweet boy to handle…or so he’d thought.

Mahasamut had covered his face with his hands, so overcome with emotion that his body was shaking with it.  Tears were slipping past his fingers to soak into the pillow below him.  Nausea twisted inside Rak’s gut, breathless suddenly with the uncertainty that he had gone too far and shared too much.

‘Did he not like him now that he knew?’

“Of course not!  I would never think that!”

Mahasamut moved his hands from his face to grip Rak’s arms, shaking his body as he looked at him angrily.  Rak felt ashamed under that livid gaze.

‘He hadn’t meant to make him angry.’

“I’m not…!”  The sweet boy paused to control his breathing.  Tears streamed down his cheeks as he sniffled.

“I’m not angry at you.  I’m angry at them!  How could…how could they do that to you?”

His voice cracked, before bursting into heartbroken sobs.

“How…how could they?!”

Rak pulled Mahasamut into his arms, cradling him to his body.  He rocked his sweet boy as he wept, humming gently to soothe him.

‘It happened a long time ago, sweet boy.’

“That’s not…not the point…”

‘No.  But I am free and I am safe.  And I meet you…”

Mahasamut blinked up at him with tear soaked eyelashes, realization hitting him.

“I can hear you!”

Rak smiled.  ‘Finally.’

His sweet boy stared in shock.

“Why?!  How?!”

‘Possibly the long connection.  I’m not sure how long it will last…’

Mahasamut suddenly looked slightly panicked, sitting up but still keeping their bodies touching.

“The merling that came to check on you.  Is she your…friend?  Lover?”

Rak burst into silent laughter.

‘No, sweet boy.  I am not desired amongst the merlings, so it would have been a friend.  Most likely Vivi.’

“Have you…have you met my mother?”

‘Yes, Danu.  She claimed me as her own when I brought your sister back.’

“What is she like?”

Rak smiled, carding his fingers through Mahasamut’s hair.

‘Quiet and reserved, but strong and fearsome.  She no longer comes on land because her ‘forever mate’ is from another tribe.  But your sisters all have daughters of their own.  All strong and happy.’

“My mother has a forever mate?”

Rak nodded.  ‘She does.  They were rivals once, but hunted together and came back lovers.’

“Does she…did she ever mention me?”

He nodded again.

‘Of course.  You are her only son.  Her little prince.’

Mahasamut’s eyebrows drew into a frown, confused.

“Huh?  My mother?”

Rak nodded.

‘Yes, up until you grew of age, she would check on you weekly.’

“Huh?  MY mother?  The merling that gave birth to me?  I’ve never met her, precious, not once.”

‘Merling mothers normally don’t come up on land to meet their sons, it is too painful to come and go.  But they do visit them in their dreams.’

Mahasamut just stared at Rak like he had grown two tails.

“What?!”

‘Merling mothers visit their sons in their dreams.  Your mother visited you weekly, when you were a baby, she visited you nightly.’

“I never had dreams…”

Mahasamut paused.  Rak could see inside the sweet boy's mind.  He was remembering every ocean dream he had as a child.  Of swimming and being cradled by a faceless merling.  Of always feeling safe and loved under the waves.  It was why he loved the ocean so much.  It was his comfort zone.

“No…no…”

Cupping the sweet boy’s face within his hands, Rak lifted his chin up to meet his eyes.

‘I was there for your birth, I know that Danu loves you very, very much.  It broke her heart to leave you on that beach, but all merling mothers can not help their sons.  It's not their way.’

Mahasamut’s shoulders slumped, a sad look slipping over his face.

“Were you there when she abandoned me too?”

Rak kissed his cheek, tucking a lock of black hair behind his ear.

‘I was there when Danu placed you on the beach with the other babies, yes.’

Tongrak felt a distance between them begin to grow.  Mahasamut didn’t like that he’d been there, and subconsciously rubbed his little scar.  Sighing, Rak pressed his forehead against his sweet boy’s and gave him the memory of his birth…

Danu had been almost bored during the birth.  After 18, she was done with breeding, marking this child to be her last.  When Mahasamut had been pushed from her body, she had used a single sharp claw to rip open the birthing sack.

Gasping in surprise when a little baby boy floated there.  Her dark eyes had been wide with wonder, touching him everywhere, counting his fingers and toes, touching his face.  Even Mahasamut’s sisters and little nieces fluttered around him, holding him and cooing over his perfect little face.

When Danu had turned her back on her son later that morning, she had swam to the next tribe, resting there before going on a hunt.  She filled her time, kept herself busy, but came back almost every night to visit her little prince in his dreams.

Tongrak shared the memory of him moving a baby Mahasamut out of the sun.  Of getting rid of the crabs that cut his skin.  Of holding him and falling in love with him instantly.  Of singing for anything close by to come and find him.  And finally, of watching a little old man take Mahasamut away.

Once Rak pulled back, Mahasamut had fresh tears trailing down his cheeks, though his body was still.

“Did she know?  What my father did to me?”

Tongrak sat there, thinking of the green beast that sat behind the dark skin of the man Mahasamut called ‘Da’.

‘She has meet your Da-’

“No!  My father, the one…Danu mated with.  The asshole I had to live with when I was younger.”

Rak was confused.

“You saw him on the boat!  The short, thin guy!  He stood there while the others beat you up.”

Shaking his head, Rak was still confused.

‘That’s not possible, sweet boy.’

The hand around Rak’s wrist pulled tight.  A half frightened, half hopeful look bloomed in Mahasamut’s dark eyes.

“Why?  Why; not possible?”

Rak searched his sweet boy’s face.  Finding himself suddenly trapped within his own words.  But it was no secret under the waves…

‘Well, because Danu has only ever had one human lover.  They’d spent every breeding moon together for 19 years, but…a few days after you had been conceived, there was a storm and his fishing boat capsized…’

Mahasamut’s eyes grew wide, his hand tightened painfully around Tongrak’s wrist now.

‘I’m sorry, my sweet boy.  He drowned before Danu and your sister’s could reach him…’

Chapter Text

Mut had been in a panic when the precious one told him he didn’t know how long the communications were open for, and he had a million questions for him, but somehow found himself stuck on the subject of his mother, and now…his father.

His father; who apparently wasn’t the asshole that had collected him, starved him, beaten him and humiliated him for most of his young life.  Mut had always wished they hadn’t been related…but wishing it with all his being, and having it confirmed, were two very, very different things.

All that built up guilt.  Of being the bad son…the bad brother.  Spending years never understanding why he had been treated the way he had.  It all made sense now.  Mahasamut felt the heaviness of it lift from his shoulders, freeing him.

Time with Fort and Peat had shown him that one didn’t have to be blood to be family, and that Mut was neither a bad son, nor a bad brother, nor even a bad person.  But his mental scars were thick and unmoving.  No matter how much unconditional love he had now, there was still a broken little boy inside him, who had always wondered why his mother had abandoned him, and why his father hated him.

Now, this little siren was telling him none of it was true.  His mother had been sad to leave him on that beach, but had visited him in his dreams more than any of the other merling mothers because she cared.  And his father…his father hadn’t collected him because…he had died.

“What…”

Mahasamut wanted to say ‘what was he like’  but the words failed him.  The precious one held him close and pulled the blankets around them, kissing his temple.

‘His name was Vichai.  I was never brave enough to meet him, but he was a fisherman living on Sedna.  Your sisters would sometimes follow his boat, scaring fish into his net.  And on his days off, he would jump into the water and play with them and their daughters.

I remember he used to pick up your little nieces and throw them as far as he could, and they would zoom back to him for another turn.  They said he laughed a lot and smiled easily.  He was a good man, kind, and was willing to help anyone, human or not.’

Mahasamut felt hot tears pool and fall as he imagined a sunburnt man laughing and swimming amongst young merlings.

‘Danu said that when your father was younger, he had lost his forever mate to a human sickness.  He had traveled to Sedna because it was where they had always planned to holiday…but his mate died before they could go.  

His and Danu’s relationship was based on friendship and he loved each one of his daughters.  It was why he chose to stay.  To be close to his children.  And grandchildren.  I know he would have loved you very much, my sweet boy.  How could he not?’

That was all Mahasamut could deal with.  His tears were flowing too quickly to stop, his body shook as he tried to control the sobs that were threatening to burst out.  Mut buried his face in the crook of Rak’s neck and wept.

He felt the loss of this stranger deeper than he could explain.  Like being shown a part of himself that had always been missing, only to have to be thrown out of reach.  He mourned the loss of life.  He mourned for his sisters and nieces losing their father and grandfather.  He mourned his own loss, of never being able to know the man, and selfishly; of the life Mut could have had…  

Had he not died, his father would have been there at that beach to collect him that morning.  He would have raised Mut with laughter and kindness.  They would have fished together and swam together with his sisters.

Would Mut have ever met Rak in that life?  Would the little siren ever have been brave enough to break the surface of the water to say hello?  Would they have swum together, and played together?  Would they have been each other's first kiss?  First crush?  

First lo…

It was ten minutes to midnight when Mut finally dragged himself out of bed.  He washed his body and face with cold water in the sink, grimacing at his red puffy face.  He and Rak dressed in the clothes from the floor and raided the kitchen for something to eat.

They sat at the kitchen counter, snacking on potato chips, salted caramel ice-cream and cinnamon roll oreos.  Mut quietly listened to Rak talk about his mother Danu, about her warrior ‘forever mate’, about each one of his sisters and his nieces.

His mother was the first of her line to produce a son.  His sisters all had daughters.  He had lost one sister, who had left the safety of their territory too young, and had died from her injuries.  Rak had rushed her back to her family moments before she’d died.

Mut sat in silence, sometimes staring at the table, thinking about the things Tongrak told him.  Sometimes staring at the little siren, wondering where he found his kindness, and courage…after the life he’d suffered.

Rak was sweet, child-like, in a way.  Yet over a century old, with decades of history being tortured by his own kind.  It would have driven anyone insane.  So how could Rak be this precious?

‘I wish I could have met your father…so I could share the memories with you…but humans have always scared me.’

Mut reached over and patted Rak’s hand.  He couldn’t imagine how humans would be scarier than sirens, but everyone had something they were afraid of.  Personally, he was scared of birds.  A fear that Fort had abused whenever Mahasamut teased his Da by calling Peat ‘mummy’.

Once, his room had been filled with chickens while he slept.  Another time, Fort had pushed him into the pond at Gam-Gam’s and dumped a bag of peas on him.  The ducks had swarmed him, but he’d made it out of the pond by the skin of his teeth before the geese raced over.  

The worst one was the last one.  Mut had called Peat a MILF.  He’d been waiting for Fort’s punishment but it never came.  Three months later Fort paid for Mut’s entire class to visit the zoo on the mainland.  Then Mut’s MILF comment came to bite him in the ass.

Literally.

Somewhere in the matrix that is Fort’s computer, is a video of a teenage Mahasamut running for his life as big-ass dino-birds from hell chased him around the emu enclosure that he was unfortunately locked inside.

His classmates had been off getting ice-cream, so they hadn’t seen it.  But Fort’s contact photo for Mut’s mobile number, is of Mahasamut balling his eyes out, with a wet patch on the front of his jeans and dino-bird poo in his hair.  It was safe to say, Mut had never called Peat a MILF since…at least not in Da’s hearing distance…

“It’s ok.  Honestly.  What you’ve shared is more than enough for me.  Just knowing that he existed…and that I’m not related to that other moron helps a lot.”

The precious one smiled sweetly.

“Can I ask you something?”

Rak nodded.  ‘You can ask me anything, sweet boy.’

“Are male sirens rare?  Is that why there aren’t many?”

Tongrak snorted but there was no humor behind it.

‘No…sweet one.  Males are not rare.  Where Merlings place their sons on a beach to be collected by their fathers, Sirens just eat theirs.’

Mut felt himself stop breathing.

“What?”

Rak nodded.  The light in his eyes started to dim.

‘Male sirens are sterile, therefore; we are useless.  If we are kept by our mothers, it is to serve until we break and die.  But most mothers just eat their sons straight after birth, like it never happened.’

A sick feeling curled in his stomach. 

“Serve until you break?”

Rak nodded again, his finger swiping inside the empty carton of ice-cream, cleaning the sides before sucking his finger clean.

‘We are slaves; to obey until our mother or sisters cause so much damage to our bodies we can not move, or live.  There was a young male whose mind snapped well before his body broke.  His sisters and cousins ripped him apart while he just stared off into nothing.  It gave me nightmares for years.’

The junk-food Mut had eaten was starting to curl up in his guts.  He couldn’t imagine the horror, and had he not seen Rak’s memories, he would never have believed it.

The little siren tapped his hand for his attention.

‘I would tell you anything you wish to hear.  But my life before coming here is in the past.  My nightmares no longer haunt me.  I am safe in this territory.  The merlings are kind to me.  I will never starve.  I will always have a safe cave to sleep in.  Let us talk about the good things, and leave my nightmares in the darkness where they belong.’

It was Mut’s turn to nod.  He had his own nightmares he didn’t want to relive by talking about them.  He stood and cleaned up their mess, lifting the precious one into his arms and carrying him back to bed.

Though he had slept all day and most of the afternoon, Mut was mentally exhausted.  All he wanted to do was curl up behind the precious one and hug him tight.  Whatsmore, Rak seemed happy to be carried back to bed, purring loudly the moment Mut pulled him against his body and buried his face into the back of his neck.

All that new information he’d learnt tonight seemed surreal, and Mut wasn’t mentally prepared to process it at that moment.  All he wanted to do was sleep and hold his precious one.

Mahasamut had woken with a gasp.  Cold sweats had him sit up, his heart beating a million miles an hour as anxiety and suffocation slowly ebbed the moment he turned to the sleeping siren.

Tongrak was curled in the covers, head slightly tilted up, causing him to snore adorably.  Mut’s nightmare was still playing in the background of his mind.  He had dreamt of Rak’s torment, of the horror he suffered but instead of getting away, like he had.  The precious one’s mind had snapped.

Mut could only watch as long, thin, monstrous sirens ripped at Tongrak’s fair skin, blood clouding around them while his precious one did nothing but stare lifelessly at him.  He couldn’t stop picturing it.  The blank stare…Rak’s body being ripped apart until there was nothing left.

He lay beside him, safe and sound.  But Mut couldn’t shake the horror, the loss.  He needed to see Rak’s eyes, he needed to hear him, to see his body was whole.  He needed to know he was truly ok.

Pulling the blankets down, Mut smiled when the precious one made a little grumble, eyebrows coming together in displeasure.  Mut moved him into the middle of the bed, grinning when he noticed Tongrak blinking at him sleepily.  He silently huffed at Mut.  It was fucking adorable! 

“Awww who’s a cranky puss?”

Rak lifted his head, looking around him at the little glowing light, plugged into the power socket.  It was only then that Mut realized the power was back on.  He’d been so used to the candles burning, he hadn’t noticed the change.

‘Thank the gods he didn’t have to go out in the rain to mess around with the breaker!’

Tongrak tried to turn over, reaching down to grab the blankets, but Mut wasn’t having it.  Instead, he pushed Rak down into the mattress, before running his hands over all that soft fair skin.

There was a delighted shiver through Rak’s body before he relaxed, letting his legs flop open as Mut moved between them.  He ran his hands everywhere, from Rak’s elegant neck to his unblemished feet.  Grinning when Rak squeaked.  He was very ticklish, especially down the arches of his feet.

Mut grabbed both ankles and pinned them together, grinning down evilly as realization bloomed in those pretty brown eyes.  This was what Mut wanted; to see the life in them.  He trailed one fingernail up the arch of Rak’s foot and rejoiced as his precious one jerked and gasped, struggling to pull his feet out of Mahasamut’s grip.

Rak grabbed the bed frame to pull himself away but Mut yanked his body back down.  The angle was wrong, and Tongrak’s feet found themselves pressed against Mut’s privates.  They both stilled the moment Mut’s cock twitched, thickening quickly as his sack dragged over the tops of Rak’s feet.

The tension in his fair legs were close to breaking point.  It was obvious the little siren wanted to kick out, but he didn’t want to risk hurting Mut.  A mischievous thought crossed his mind and the half panicked, half surprised look on Tongrak's perfect face showed he’d read Mut’s mind.

Gripping Rak’s ankles, Mut forced them together, slowly rubbing his sack up and down the insides of the little siren's smooth feet.  Rak gasped and panted, trying to gently pull his legs away.

Seeing Tongrak struggle and claw the bed caused Mahasamut to harden instantly.  He wasn’t sure if it was the look of lust and torment on that perfect face, or his lush naked body flailing under him.  But just seeing Tongrak in this state washed the darkness from his mind.  The nightmare was a distant and fading thing, compared to the beauty that lay before him.

Pressing Rak’s feet together, Mut rubbed his hard length between them, shivering as a delicious thrill skimmed over his skin.  He’d never done this before.  To be honest, feet weren’t his ‘thing’.  

But he loved Rak’s legs, they caught his attention every time they moved.  He loved the sound they made when they rubbed together and he loved the way they shook with pleasure.  He loved how sinful they were when they spread apart, and he loved the view from the back when they were pinned.  Mut loved that he could hold both Rak’s ankles in one hand.  And he loved how the little siren wriggled his toes randomly when he was relaxed.

Mut pressed Rak’s arches together, creating a vice.  He held them still, tentatively moving his hips.  Tongrak was stuck, gasping and shivering below him.  He didn’t like his feet being tickled, his thighs and calves were tensing rhythmically.  But his pretty cock thickened quickly, unable to deny that he was turned on nonetheless.

Mut pumped his hips, watching in sinful fascination as Rak’s toes were forced to spread when his length pushed past them.  The sight of those cute little toes, dragging over the tip of him, caused his sack to tighten.  Pearlescent dripped from his slit, wetting those little toes as Mut continued to rub himself.

It was an alien feeling.  Rak’s feet were soft, smooth, without dryness or hard calluses.  The ankles he gripped tight were delicate, leading up to shapely calves and quivering thighs.  It was a wickedly delicious sight, and the mixture of entrapment on Tongrak’s perfect face had Mahasamut dripping.

It felt naughty.  Like they were two horny teenagers experimenting together.  A flash of Rak in a disheveled school uniform, had Mut flicking his hips harder.  He had a fantasy of Tongrak coming over after school, of them studying only to find themselves in this position.  He imagined they needed to stay quiet, overwise his parents would come check on them…

“Ugh!  Fuuuuckkkk!”

Mut shuddered as his desire shot out, coating the precious one’s feet.  Unable to help himself, Mut rubbed the wetness into Rak’s skin, wishing he could stain him with his scent forever.

Tongrak’s chest was rising and falling quickly, his stomach twitching.  His perfect face was flush, eyes dark with desire.  And Mut drank it all in.

‘What a sight!’

The little siren lifted one leg, wriggling his freed toes and smiling as he looked at the mess Mut rubbed over his lower legs.  As his lust began to cool, Mahasamut had started to feel like a bit of a deviant, but there was no judgement in the precious one.  Only trust and desire.

‘Perhaps he didn’t have a foot fetish, but a Tongrak fetish?’

Mut wanted to kiss, lick, bite, suck, rub and cum over every inch of his little siren’s body.

Rak stilled.  Most likely catching Mut’s deviant thoughts.  He’d been quiet inside his mind, so whatever connection they shared before, had faded now.

Mut leant over.  Pressing his head against Rak’s.

“Share some memories…anything…I want to hear you think again.”

Tongrak shifted his head, kissing Mut breathlessly before rubbing his forehead against him.  This time, his memories were of exploring sunken ships and schools of fish.  Of clown fish playing in the coral and of baby dugongs zooming through the fields of seagrass.

Rak shared memories of Mahasamut’s sisters, of his nieces.  Of the merling caves and the coral that glowed in the darkness.  It was beautiful, breathtaking in fact.  There weren’t just caves and halls but markets, towers, play areas for the little ones and large shapes for games of chase.

It was nothing like Mut had expected.  He knew there were caves under the islands, but he didn’t know there was a whole other layer under the ancient coral that grew in the centre of the three main islands.  He didn’t know there was coral that glowed bright with a rainbow of color, filling the halls and corridors with pretty light.

Mahasamut moved down, taking Rak’s lips in a gentle, lingering kiss.  Everything Tongrak had shared with him was beautiful, lifting the last of the darkness that had stained his mind after that horrific nightmare.

A glimpse of it flashed in his mind and he knew instantly that the precious one caught it.

‘I should never have told you about that, I’m so sorry.’

Rak made the strangest cooing sound, somewhere between a bird twittering and a cat’s purr.  Mut was about to say ‘it’s ok.’  But Rak pulled him into his arms, rocking him as he cooed and kissed his forehead.  As if to kiss the bad dreams away.

Uncle Bulwark always teased him about having a mummy fetish…maybe he wasn’t too far from the truth?  His precious one was trying to comfort him, but Mahasamut cock was growing harder by the minute.

“I think I’d feel better if you fed me…”

‘Fed you?’

Mahasamut tilted his face in towards Rak’s chest, latching onto a pretty pink nipple.  The arms around him froze for a second before a hand went under his head to cradle him.  The precious one sighed indulgently, laying back against the pillows while Mut took his time ‘feeding’.

He lapped at the little nub, enjoying how it peddled under his tongue.  He sucked on it gently, raising a hand to catch the other little nub with his fingers.  Mut circled his tongue around the sensitive flesh, loving the quiet sounds of pleasure from his precious little siren.

The hand on his shoulder moved to pull the blankets over them.  Mahasamut smiled, suddenly thinking of the fantasy from earlier.  Had he known Rak in his teens, could he have convinced him to come to school with him?  Would they have been best-friends like Uncle Sky and Uncle Pai?

Would Mut have invited Rak to his house for sleepovers?  And in the darkness of the night, when everyone was sleeping, would he and his best-friend touch each other?

Mut moved his hand down Rak’s side, lifting his leg to curl over his waist.  He rubbed his hand up and down those smooth inner thighs, while flicking his tongue back and forth over one perfect swollen nipple.

‘Does my age bother you, sweet boy?’

Mahasamut froze, looking up.  Tongrak’s face was flushed, but there was a touch of uncertainty in his eyes.

“Not at all!  I like it.  You are just my type; older with a young face.”

He smiled, leaning up to kiss those pretty lips.

‘Oh…’

“I’m sorry.  I’m weird.  My uncle says I like certain things…sexually because I never had them growing up.  Like a best-friend.”

‘What is fetish?  You thought about it earlier…’

Mut groaned, blushing before rolling them over onto their sides so they were face to face.

“A fetish is…gods, I can’t believe I’m saying this…a fetish is an object or activity that someone finds sexually arousing.  And is their preferred form of sexual gratification.  I know this because my parents sat me down for one of the most scarring and embarrassing talks of my life!”

Mahasamut scrunched his face in distaste.  He’d been forced to sit there while Fort very bluntly told him everything, all the while Peat sat next to him, blushing bright red.  Slapping his husband on the odd occasion when he over-shared.

“My uncle teases me about having a ‘mummy’ fetish, but I googled it and it doesn’t really describe what I like.  I just…like nipples.  And…yes, I liked it when you babied me just then…but…ughh!  Crap that sounds so weird.”

Tongrak lay there listening, no judgement in those beautiful brown eyes.  It made Mut feel less of a freak.  

“I’ve never had a best-friend.  So I suppose, the fantasy of having one and experimenting together excites me too.”

Tongrak just blinked at him.

‘You seem embarrassed and I don’t know why.’

Mut could see the little siren really didn’t.  It was both strange and freeing to be around.

“There are people that judge others for being different.  Things like fetishes can be seen as deviant or wrong.  So I suppose years of living around those sorts can make a person hide how they feel.  To avoid being judged.”

The precious one blinked, eyebrows coming together as he frowned.

‘Your family judge you?’

“No! No, no, no!  I mean people outside my family.  No!  My family has never judged me.  In fact they have their own fetishes.  Uncle Bulwark is the one with a mummy fetish.  All his lovers are older women.  Ma likes pain, and Da likes causing it.  They have this ‘playroom’ in the house that looks like a sex dungeon.  

Hmmm…I suppose Uncle Pai likes pain too, and Uncle Sky likes being scared.  I honestly don’t know how that works with sex, but it seems to work for them because Uncle Pai hints that they have sex when he’s in animal form.  And that sounds fucking terrifying.  Uncle Tam likes being humiliated and Uncle Bastion…well I don’t really know.

I don’t ask these things, but my family are really big on oversharing.  I used to be so embarrassed by it, but it’s sort of their weird way of bonding.  Hahaha.”

Tongrak was smiling, his pretty brown eyes sparkling as Mahasamut talked about his family.

“So no.  Your age doesn’t bother me.  Sorry if my mind drifts like that.”

His hand encircled the little siren’s fingers, kissing them gently.

‘What is a best-friend?’

Mut smiled.

“It’s exactly as it sounds.  We can have many friends, but some have that one they are closest to.  That one person they can always call on for help.  The one person that knows the most about them.  They are your most cherished, and most trusted friend.”

‘Oh…can anyone be one?’

“Of course, though it usually happens over time with shared experiences and bonding.  My parents are best-friends, and my Uncles were best-friends in high school, before adding mates and lovers into the mix.”

‘Best-friends can become forever mates?’

Mahasamut smiled and nodded.

“Some can.  Though, I think my parents were mates before they became best-friends…”

‘So…friends can become best-friends, best-friends can become lovers and forever mates?’

Mut nodded again.

“Sometimes.”

Tongrak was suddenly filled with an excited energy, it was contagious.  Mut couldn’t help but grin.  He was unbelievably adorable.

‘Could…could we be friends?’

Mahasamut nodded, caught up in Rak’s excitement, but he suddenly paused, putting two and two together; ‘friends to best-friends, to lovers and then mates…’ His brain did a 3-60, suddenly realising he still hadn’t had ‘that talk’ with Rak.  Mut was thinking a million miles an hour on how he could explain it to a siren.

But the moment he thought it, he saw the light fade in those pretty brown eyes.  Rak’s beautiful smile slipped from his perfect face.  And his hands began to pull away.

‘I…’

Rak looked down.  His hands were curling in, pressing against his own chest.

‘I’m sorry…I didn’t mean...’

Rak’s bottom lip began to quiver.

‘I know…I’m not deserving to be anyone’s forever mate.  I know… And…and I…I’m grateful I can be your lover for the winter.  It…it is more than I could have ever hoped for.’

Rak smiled, though tears were now falling down his face, soaking into the pillow under him.

‘I’d be so happy if we could be friends…and..and when you want me to go…I’ll go.  But…if…if you ever want me…even for a little while.  I usually sit in the seagrass field behind Melusine during the day…and I’ll rest near the rocks by your beach home…so…I can…hear you…’

The precious one began to weep.  He buried his face inside his hands and cried silently.  Mahasamut’s insides plummeted to the floor.  His heart pulled painfully as he watched Tongrak’s shoulders begin to shake.

He pulled the little siren into his arms and hugged him tight.  Never in his life had he felt so guilty.  Never in his life had he felt like this big of an asshole.

The last thing he had ever wanted to do was hurt this precious soul, and yet he had, royally.  Mut cursed at himself.  He should have kept his damned hands to himself!

‘I’m not deserving to be anyone’s forever mate...’

Rak’s words rang inside his head.  Gods…what had he done?

Chapter Text

Tongrak couldn’t control his emotions.  He had been so excited about the aspect of becoming a friend and then possibly working towards being a mate, that he had forgotten his place.

What made it worse was the guilt and regret he could feel swimming around inside the sweet boy’s mind.  Unable to stand it, Rak shut off their connection.  Mahasamut held him tight, rocking him as he wept.  

He had just wanted a chance, no matter how small.  To hope of having one soul that could be all his.  And he could be all theirs too.

But he was a siren.  He wasn’t supposed to be loved.  He was supposed to die in the darkest of waters.  All he could hope for now, was that this sweet boy didn’t push him away too far before the end of winter.

They both froze at the sound of hollow buzzing coming from the side of the bed.  The sweet boy sighed and pulled back a little to reach over.  Untangling his body from Tongrak’s, he whispered that he would be back soon, before grabbing his pants and shirt, leaving Rak alone in bed.

Rolling over, Tongrak closed his eyes, and buried himself under a mountain of blankets.  He wanted to hide.  Disappointed in himself for ruining everything.

He’d been listening out the best he could, for any sound that indicated the sweet boy was coming back.  How long would he leave him alone?  It had been well over an hour…

“...”

Sitting up in fright, Tongrak heard a heavy vibrating sound, before the black covers over the windows began to slowly pull up.  First it was only slivers of light, before a large panel slowly pulled up, relieving early morning light through grey rain clouds.

Rak threw himself back under the blankets, suddenly feeling vulnerable and exposed.  How safe were these ‘windows’?  With the house covered in darkness, Rak had felt safe, and comfortable.  With the house uncovered, Rak feared he’d be sucked out of the window any minute.

There were a few bangs throughout the house, before he heard Mahasamut walk up the hallway.  Anxiety twisted in his guts as he heard the sweet boy getting closer.

“Ok, precious one.  Power is back on and shutters are up.”

He sat on the bed and laid his hand on Rak’s covered foot.

“First, we need to have a blistering hot shower, then I’ll put on a load of laundry, then we go have breakfast.  You have a full day of learning in front of the tv, while I do more laundry.  Sound good?”

Tongrak nodded, but it didn’t sound good.  It sounded like Mahasamut was going to leave him for the day.  He had guessed it might happen, but it made Rak wish he could go back in time and control his thoughts better.  

Then maybe they’d be spending another day in bed…

“Good.  Time to get up!”

The blankets were pulled away, and Mahasamut grabbed Tongrak’s ankles, pulling him almost off the bed.  He gasped in surprise, before being pulled to his feet and thrown over one muscular shoulder.

Rak was placed on the toilet before Mahasamut leant over the bathtub to open the window.  A clean, chilled breeze drifted through, making Tongrak’s skin rise up in tiny bumps.

“Gonna use the bathwater to water the inside plants, then most likely the ones I pulled off their hangers outside.  It would be such a waste to drain it.”

Mahasamut said as he moved around the room.  Clean towels were pulled out of the cupboard, before the shower was turned out.

Tongrak used the toilet while he was there. He’d been tempted to see inside Mahasamut’s mind, but feared what he’d find.  Once he’d been moved from the toilet to the white chair in the shower, Rak sighed, enjoying the feeling of hot water raining over his back.  Even despite his worries.

He lifted his hand to take the soapy washcloth from Mahasamut but the sweet boy reached up, moving the showerhead to rain over Rak’s feet, before walking around the white chair.  Mahasamut began to gently wash over Rak’s neck and shoulders, surprising him.

“I spoke to my parents.  They made me realize I’ve been jumping the gun on too many things.”

Mahasamut nudged Tongrak forward so he could wash his back and sides.

“The truth is, I have this goal.  I’ve always felt dumb, so I study hard.  I’ve always felt poor, so I save my money.  I’ve always felt like I had no purpose in life, so when Da built the diving and touring business for me, it gave my life purpose.  It gave me a goal to work towards.  I want to one day run it…successfully.  I want to make my parents proud.  But also, to have something that I’m proud of.”

Mahasamut moved around to the front of him, and washed over Rak’s arms and chest, before kneeling to wash his thighs.

“All my lovers have been one-nighters, because I’m busy trying to work towards this goal.  I normally don’t have time for dates or romance.  I’m up early and home late and that’s not fair for anyone to have to wait on me.”

Rak was pulled to his feet.  Shivering as Mahasamut cleaned his backside and privates gently.  Lowering Rak back down to the chair, the sweet boy rinsed the washcloth before more liquid soap was poured onto the washcloth.  Rak’s legs and feet were next to clean.

“Earlier, when I thought about not wanting a…‘forever mate’, it wasn’t because I found you lacking.  It was about me being too young and still too busy to commit my time to someone.  I never want you to think I don’t care for you because you’re a siren.  It has nothing to do with who or what you are.”

Rak was rinsed thoroughly, before the showerhead was moved to rain over most of his body, keeping him toastie warm.  Mahasamut rinsed the washcloth and hung it over a silver tap, before grabbing the bottle of soap for hair.

Walking back around his chair, the sweet boy tipped Rak’s head back and started to wash it.  Tongrak couldn’t stop his eyelashes from fluttering as his scalp was gently scrubbed.  Making him feel lazy and relaxed.

“You are beautiful, precious one.  Inside and out.  And I’m so happy I get to spend this time with you.”

The soap in Rak’s hair was rinsed out, before more soap was added.  This time, instead of soft scrubbing, the sweet boy’s fingers massaged his scalp, being careful not to touch the bandage still stuck near his ear.

Losing the will to lift his head, Rak let it drop back, only for Mahasamut to cradle it.  The sweet boy lent over and kissed him softly.  It was a little strange; kissing upside down, but Rak would take anything given to him by this boy.

When their mouths opened and tongues began to taste and explore, Mahasamut pulled back, taking the showerhead off the hook to rinse Rak’s hair.  His face was washed with soap from a small white bottle on a high shelf, before his whole body was rinsed again.

“What I’m trying to say is…I want to be your friend.  And I want to be your lover.  But when the waters grow warm, I will be back at work and I won’t have time to play anymore.  I can’t commit to a relationship right now, and I don’t want to hurt you by promising, or even implying we could be anything more than friends.”

Rak’s heart was in his throat.  He wasn’t being pushed away?  Mahasamut wanted to be his friend?  And his lover?  Even if it was for a short time…he could live with that!

“I like you so much, snuggle bug.  I just can’t bear to think that I might hurt you.  So…I’ll be honest with you.  And you be honest with me.  Ok?”

Rak nodded, tears pooling in his eyes.  Of course it was ok!  They were going to be friends!  It didn’t matter that they may not be lovers when the waters warmed.  All that mattered now, was that his sweet boy liked him, and that they were friends.

“Hey, hey…why are you crying?”

Shaking his head, he wiped his face quickly and smiled, reaching up for Mahasamut.  The boy smiled beautifully and pulled him up for a hug.  They stood under the hot rain, enjoying the feeling of skin on skin, before their hands began to wander.

“Ahh…as much as I would love to continue this.  And I really want to continue this…we should make a move on the day.”

Rak pouted but nodded.  He was standing on Mahasamut’s feet, their bodies pressed so close together that their hard lengths found each other, rubbing deliciously.  Rak waited for Mahasamut to place him down but the sweet boy had begun sucking the water off his neck.

The hands on his body were becoming rougher as they moved and kneed his skin.  Mahasamut’s breath was deepening as he moved their bodies against each other.

“I want to be rough with you…can I?”

Rak simply nodded.  He didn’t care what they did, and long as it was together.

He was turned to face the shower wall.  With hips pulled backwards, Rak was forced to hold on to the tiled shelf that held the smaller bottles of soaps.  He watched as Mahasamut poured soap into his hand, only to reach down between Rak’s thighs.  

The sweet boy’s thick length pushed between Tongrak’s thighs.

“Press your legs together, precious one.”

He obeyed, pressing them together tightly as Mahasamut’s cock rubbed between that tight space, the soap making everything smooth and slippery.  That thickness rubbed under his sack and Rak reached a hand down, cupping the length so each time it thrust up, it would rub over his own sinfully.

“That’s it…hold it tighter.”

He did, and was rewarded with a bite to his shoulder.  In fact, Mahasamut started to bite along his shoulder, up to his neck, creating little lightning strikes with each nip.  Strong hands moved from his hips to his chest.  Fingers found his nipples, and gone were the gentle touches of before.  Replaced with something quick and painful, it heightened the pleasure he felt when Mahasamut’s hips started to snap forward.

His nipples were pinched and pulled, making Tongrak squirm.  His fingers were slipping from their task, as his sweet boy pumped his length between his pressed thighs.  One cruel hand left his nipple to wrap around his hand, helping Rak hold both their throbbing lengths, before pumping them roughly.

There was nothing Tongrak could do but take it as his orgasm hit him like an orca.  He screamed silently, convulsing as Mahasamut’s hand continued to milk him roughly.  It hurt, but his release felt dangerously good.

Legs caving under him, Rak was lifted and placed in the white chair.  Mahasamut’s hand flew over his own cock, eyes zeroed in on Rak’s sore, swollen nipples.  Tongrak pulled him down to his knees, and moved forward, cradling Mahasamut's head so he could press one sensitive nipple to his sweet boy’s open mouth.

There was a delighted groan before Rak felt the most intense suction.  Mahasamut’s teeth dragged over his tender nub, worrying it painful between sucking.  It stung terribly, but there was something pleasing about it.  As if all his nerves were confused.

Rak was squirming in his seat, he wanted to stop, but buried his fingers in Mahasamut’s hair, twisting the black locks tight to keep his mouth right where it was.  His sweet boy groaned, moving to Rak’s other nipple.  The sharp contact had Rak shivering.  He wanted something more, but didn’t know what or why, and whined when Mahasamut’s fingers latched onto his sore nipple.

The pain glowed red in his mind, but pooled directly to his groin, swirling and throbbing a bright golden-orange.  It felt like everything Mahasamut was doing to his chest was being felt deep inside him where only his sweet boy’s fingers could reach.

Rak pushed at Mahasamut, who fell back against the shower floor in surprise.

“What happened?  Was that too much?”

Lifting himself out of the chair, Rak, with the help of his lover, lowered himself down to crawl over Mahasamut.  Water rained down his back and neck, as he straddled his sweet boy’s middle.  Rak cradled Mahasamut’s head again, pressing his nipple into that waiting mouth, wincing when sharp teeth grazed over his little nub.

He took Mahasamut’s hand placing it over his other nipple and squeezed the hand before reaching for the other to place lower.

“Mmmmm…”

Mahasamut groaned around his flesh.

His sweet boy shifted, man-handling him until Rak was the one with his back to the floor.  Mahasamut lifted his hand to turn off the shower, mumbling about wasting hot water before attacking Rak’s nipples.  

He mauled them, moving back and forth over his chest while using his knees to spread Rak’s thighs.

“If it becomes too much, pinch me hard and I’ll stop ok?”

Rak’s reply was simple, he buried his hands in Mahasamut’s black hair, pulling it tight and forcing his sweet boy back down.  The moment he felt the harsh suction take in his sore nub, Rak winced yet his hips shot up, desperate for that inner part of his to be touched.

Impatient, he grabbed Mahasamut’s hand again, forcing it to move lower.  His sack was cupped and massaged, but Rak slapped that gentle hand, pushing it down, until thick fingers found his entrance.

The moment he felt those fingers begin to breach his body, Tongrak’s body went completely slack.  Mahasamut was laughing against his chest, but Rak didn’t care, as two fingers pushed inside his tight channel.  He lifted his hips, gasping as that spot inside his body was finally (FINALLY) touched.

His large friend floated up into his mind, happy that their sweet boy was pleasuring them.

“Are you purring, precious one?  Do you like it when I rub this line?”

Adding to his enquiry, those fingers pushed in as far as they could reach, before dragging directly down that magic line.

Tongrak pulled at Mahasamut’s hair, hips shaking as he tried to move them over those fingers.

“Want me to add another?”

He whined and mewled, the deep rumble of his ‘purrs’ getting louder.  It wasn’t him exactly.  It was the sound his large friend made when he was happy or content.  He hitchhiked inside Tongrak’s mind more and more, enjoying the pleasures and tastes of the young man they adored.

Another finger was added, stretching his insides deliciously.  He shuddered as the discomfort added to his pleasure, pushing him off the edge into his pending climax.  Mahasamut only moved faster, rubbing his fingers mercilessly over that ‘line’ while Rak convulsed through his release.

“You cum so prettily.  Your face goes all pink, and you look like you're about to cry.  You claw around you, like you're gonna fall through the floor.  And your legs…fuck…your legs…you’re so sexy.”

Mahasamut crawled up Rak’s body, kissing him deeply.  He was too relaxed to battle for control, letting his sweet boy suck on his tongue all he liked.  When they parted, Mahasamut straddled just under his chest, rubbing his dripping length over his skin.

“Fuck…”

His lover was rubbing the tip of his cock over Rak’s sore nipples, coating them in the pearlescent that wept from the slit.

“Give me your hands…”

He obeyed.  Watching as his hands were placed on each side of his chest.

“Push your chest together, precious…fuck yes…just like that…”

Tongrak pressed his chest together, creating a sort of crease.  Mahasamut pressed his hard length between the crease and began to rub back and forth.

“Don’t move, precious one.  Stay just like that.  F-fuck…so good.”

Mahasamut moved his hips slowly, his hands moved, fingers finding Rak’s sore nipples.  Eyelashes fluttered when his nipples were both pinched, only to have short nails drag back and forth over them.

It stung, but Rak felt his insides instantly craving to be touched again.  He peered down to watch as that hot thickness slipped between his pressed chest, droplets of pearl dripped on his chest, giving Mahasamut a slippery surface to rut against.

The tip was so close to Rak’s mouth, all he’d have to do was stick out his tongue…

“Fuck…yes…”

Mahasamut’s hips moved faster, pressing harder against him.  Each time his hips flicked forward, the tip of his length would press against Rak’s tongue.  Tongrak raised his eyes, wanting to see the muscular body of his sweet boy move over him.

Dark eyes locked onto his.  For a moment, he felt like lightning zapped him.  He stared into those beautiful dark eyes, finding himself lost.

“Put the tip in your mouth, precious, suck it hard.”

Tongrak did, loving how the soft skin felt against his tongue.

“Harder, please, please...”

Sucking in his cheeks, Rak flicked his tongue over the slit, bathing it clean before sucking hard.  Mahasamut had taken the middle of his length in his hand and was rapidly pumping it while his other hand palmed Rak’s chest.

Mahasamut suddenly pulled from Rak’s mouth, jerking his twitching length wildly before his desire rained down over Tongrak’s panting chest.  His sweet boy wasted no time, rubbing the pearly ribbons into his skin, making sure he took longer to coat each puffy nub.

“Turn over, precious one.”

Smiling, Rak turned over.  Being careful not to rub any of Mahasamut’s desire off his chest, he got onto his hands and knees.  His sweet boy palmed his backside, then pressed his thumbs against his opening, pulling his cheeks apart.

“You have the prettiest hole.  Pink and soft. And so hot in the centre.  I can’t help but want to kiss you…”

Mahasamut leant forward, placing hot, lingering kisses around the edge of his opening, before licking a long line across the centre of him.  Tongrak’s eyes grew wide, mouth opened in a silent cry as his sweet boy kissed the centre of him, flicking his tongue in and out before nipping at the delicate skin around it.

“Soooo sweet.  I could kiss you for hours.  Hmmm…maybe later.”

Rak felt his body violently jolt forward as Mahasamut pressed three thick fingers against his twitching opening and rammed them home.  Had there not been a hand already gripping his thigh, Rak would have fallen forward.

“You are burning up inside…so soft…so wet…fuck!”

Tongrak felt his eyes roll up, legs spreading out, as Mahasamut began to thrust those fingers inside his body, dragging them over that spot inside him that made his mind melt.

“Precious…I want you to read my mind.  I want you to see what I’m seeing…”

He shook his head, but obeyed, opening his mind and brushing over his sweet boy’s.  He could see his body bent over, those thick fingers stretching his pink, glistening hole.  It was a strange, and somewhat thrilling sight.

Rak could feel Mahasamut’s desire.  Gone were his chaotic thoughts from earlier.  Replaced with a peaceful decision.  Something that his parents had said changed Mahasamut’s perspective.

“...!!!...”

The image of his body had changed.  Mahasamut was thinking about something else, a fantasy like before.  But this time, Tongrak was clawing white glittering sand under a full moon, while his sweet boy squatted behind him.

In Mahasamut’s fantasy, he was pulling Tongrak’s cheeks apart, studying every inch of his centre, before….!!!!

Rak’s eyes flew open, turning to look at his sweet boy behind his shoulder.  Mahasamut was pumping his fingers viciously over his magical line, all the while, thinking about sinking his cock inside Rak’s body!

Dark eyes lifted to meet his.  Tongrak fought off his climax, desperate to stay inside his lover’s mind.  Though Mahasamut was pummeling his channel with his fingers, what they were both seeing was his lover’s thick length, taking his tight channel roughly.  Making Rak shake and shiver with surprise, confusion and blistering desire.

Unable to hold off any longer, Rak’s eyes rolled up once more, as his climax ripped him apart.

“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!”

Lost in his pleasure, Rak held onto Mahasamut’s mind too hard.  He pulled his lover’s mind in deep, right where his large friend rested, and held them there in a death grip.  He hadn’t meant too.  He just wanted to keep watching Mahasamut’s fantasy.  But, in doing so, it caused both his large friend AND his lover to share in the violent lightning storm that was Rak’s climax.

“What…what the hell was that?  You can telepathically share orgasms?!  Precious!"

Rak couldn’t think.  Something was off, but his brain was just too frayed.  Mahasamut lay on the cold, wet shower floor next to him, panting and smiling as he kissed Rak’s shoulder.  

Then he saw it.  The red.

Mahasamut’s mind wasn’t retracting from his, and neither was his large friend.  

Rak lay there, trying to calm his heart and the breathing.  He waited for the mental retraction, but all three of them stayed connected.  When his sweet boy turned his head to give him a light, and lingering kiss.  

When he pulled back, he smiled beautifully at Tongrak, but all Rak could see was the pin pricks of red, glowing inside Mahasamut’s eyes…

Chapter Text

After rewashing a rather satisfied siren, and quickly washing himself.  Mahasamut dried them off and got them dressed.  This time running upstairs to grab a warm pair of track pants for the precious one.

Mut felt energized, and mentally lighter.  They had talked, and he’d been as honest as he could be.  But his desire for Rak was just too damn strong and their hands and mouths had wandered.  He’d never been that rough with anyone before, and all those breathy, quiet sounds his delicious little siren made, only egged him on more.

He wasn’t just attracted to Tongrak, Mahasamut was comfortable with him.  He’d never told anyone about his thing with nipples, ashamed he’d be teased or judged or even told he was sick.  And if he was being completely honest, Mut had a very hidden thing for breeding.  Not that he’d ever tried.  He’d always used protection with every lover, no exceptions.

During their intimate moments.  Mahasamut had indulged in looking at Tongrak’s centre.  He was simply fascinated by how pretty it was.  How hot and tight it was.  How sweet it tasted, and how convenient it was to be self-lubricating.  

Mut was fast becoming addicted to watching Rak’s little hole stretch around his fingers.  He was captivated by that long raised line inside Tongrak’s channel, and was curious about how far it went in.  He wondered if rubbing a long vibrator over it would work.  Then he imagined spending hours pulling climaxes out of Rak like he had Mut.

A more deviant part of him wanted to watch as his thick cock stretched Rak’s hole even wider.  He wanted to fill Rak’s insides with his cum, only to watch as he cleaned him out with his fingers.  Mut wanted to see it dripping down Tongrak’s perfect legs.  He wanted to fill his bedrooms with the sounds of his precious one’s pleasure…aswell as the obscenely wet sounds that their bodies could make together.

With all his passed lovers, it just about fucking.  A transaction on getting off and expelling some pent up energy.  But with Rak, Mahasamut found himself enjoying things he’d always wanted to indulge in, and somethings he never ever knew he liked!

Since the power was back on, the security system would have rebooted automatically, and although his parents now knew he and Tongrak had been intimate, Mut would never hear the end of it if they knew he was letting Rak crawl around on the floor with no pants on.

It was almost heartbreaking to see those perfect legs covered in the light grey material, but Mut had to admit, his precious one looked adorable all rugged up in warm clothes and thick socks.

Mahasamut made them fried rice with the leftover rice and eggs.  Then carried Rak to the media room and placed him on the couch, leaving the remotes in reaching distance and a large bottle of water.