Cursed [malexmale]

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen

Kallisto couldn't walk.

We found out the hard way after I had put him to bed and fell asleep by the bed, only to wake up to glass shattering and a frustrated snarl, more smashing, this time a wooden chair on the floor. My eyes flew open, heart ramming up my chest into my throat as I expected to see Atlan or some demonic entity he'd sent in to do his dirty work.

Instead, Kallisto was slumped on the floor, raking his claws into the carpet, ripping it up and casting it aside. His breathing was heavy, and he hyperventilated at least three times since we'd dragged him from the pool house yesterday. Even after his momentary shock of almost drowning, the Atlantean pleaded to be put back in the water.

Apparently he didn't comprehend the idea of not living in the water, even with legs.

I wanted to get up and help him, but last night, he'd bitten me and told me not to touch him. He was humiliated, frustrated, hurt, in pain. He didn't want to be coddled and while every fiber of my being wanted to cradle him again, I understood how he felt and instead pretended to be asleep again.

Watching him suffer, though, broke my heart. I felt tiny pieces of me breaking up and even more guilt squished my insides and clung to my shoulders like the weight of the world. It was my fault Kallisto had gotten dragged into this. It was bad enough that, because of his attack on me, Apollo felt the need to punish him and his anger led him to sending the merman to Zeus. Then come to find out Kallisto's family would kill him if he returned, because in their culture, Kallisto had become a liability. Not to mention, he could lead more predators to their pod.

Now, Kallisto couldn't walk and couldn't talk. He could still speak telepathically, but when I tried to get him to speak vocally, he just growled and hissed at me, cursing my physical language and mouth movements, telling me I looked stupid.

I didn't take his words to heart, though. I knew he was hurt, and honestly, I deserved his scorn. If I had just left him alone, he'd still be with his pod, safe on Atlantis.

Have a pity party later when you're dying. Now you have to focus on Kallisto.

And Teslius. I still had to make sure Teslius was recovering well, or at least trying to. When I checked with Ares, he said Teslius currently refused to eat or leave his bedroom. I would've gone in the morning to check on him, but I'd stayed up all night with Kallisto and had fallen asleep. Now it was just past noon and I felt awful, both about Teslius and Kallisto as well as the strange sleeping schedule.

Rubbing at my eyes that felt like they were sinking back into my skull, I yawned and feigned just waking up, pausing to see Kallisto was still sitting on the floor, glaring hatefully at the floor, as if it was to blame for all his problems.

"Kallisto, are you alright?" I asked. Kallisto glared.

Kallisto is not! Kallisto have strange heavy feeling in lower regions! Kallisto have to piss! He snarled at me. I nodded and held my hand out to him to make sure he wouldn't mind my touching him. He turned his head away for a moment before he realized that if he didn't let me help him to the bathroom, he'd pee on the floor. Deciding he'd suffered enough embarrassment, he took my hand.

I stooped down and let him put his arms around me as I pulled him into my arms and carried him to the bathroom, leaving him there with at least a shred of dignity to use the bathroom on his own. And then there was indignant cry from the bathroom.

"Kallisto, what's wrong?" I asked, pressing my ear to the door.

Kallisto is confused! I grimaced at that. Yeah, I wouldn't doubt it. Merpeople anatomy, while mostly similar to human anatomy, they did have one major difference, and that was their reproductive organs. Mermaids had vaginal openings in the front where the groin became part of the tail. Mermen had an opening in the same spot, except it was from there where the penis emerged as a thick tentacle.