What The Ocean Has To Offer

Scales

Kevin grabbed Alix's hand and moved him so he could sit up on the coral, letting his tail hang over the edge. "...I'm sorry...." He murmured quietly, looking away and scratching his head. "...you were going to die....it was the only way to save you...."

Alix watched him, a bit bewildered before realizing Kevin thought he was upset. He wondered why and then realized his freak out probably did it. "...I'm not mad...I was just a little....shocked...." He chuckled loosely. "....I wasn't expecting to suddenly be able to breathe and have a tail....but thank you...." Kevin smiled and Alix returned the action, looking back down again. "So tell me about this thing...."

Kevin laughed. "Well I wanna look at it, as no two of us have the same design...we're like snowflakes..." He grinned, swimming down and gently grabbing the thinner part of Alix's tailfin. "It's not quite as big as mine, or as flowy. You have more structure, it's a little stiffer. It's also a bit more opaque I think, but that could be the color...." He swam up a bit, moving to focus on his tail itself. "Your scales are really pretty...they're like three or four shades of red...it blends together really well. You have two fins on your sides as opposed to the one I have on the back...they're flowy like mine though, which is cool. Hmm...what are these....." He mumbled to himself, reaching down and feeling as well as seeing rows of thin, almost needle-like objects that were lying flat against his tail. "Close your eyes." Alix did as he requested and Kevin swam around him a few times before suddenly stopping, grabbing his shoulders and shouting loudly. Alix clamped his hands over his ears and jumped, slowly opening an eye and looking at Kevin's now awestruck face. "...they're for defense..." He murmured, running his fingers carefully across the tips of the spines that were now standing on end. "...when you get scared, your instincts kick in and these go up. Cool." He looked up at Alix and he smiled back, watching his spines slowly come back down with his heart rate.

"So...." He murmured a bit uncomfortably. "...How do I swim?..."

Kevin laughed, forgetting he'd have to show him. "Well, how about I teach you? I'll fulfill both my promises in one day." Alix looked at him, a bit confused before it came back to him. He watched as Kevin sang a few specific notes and did a bit of a backflip. He watched his mate's legs turn into his tail and how it flowed beautifully as he came to a floating rest. "Well?" He asked, smiling shyly. "What do you think?"

Alix was staring, awestruck. The way the light through the water hit his scales made them look even glossier and brighter than when Alix had first met him. His tailfin was huge, at least five feet across when he kicked it and a very sheer blue. It matched the color of the fin on the back of his tail and the small yet still flowy ones on the back of his forearms. He was literally a masterpiece. "...you're gorgeous...." Alix breathed, blinking quickly. "...like...you cannot be real...." Kevin laughed and his face reddened, swimming forward and carefully grabbing Alix's waist. He gripped at his biceps in fear, not sure what he was doing as he lifted him off the coral bed and into open water.

"You're holding me, so I'm real, I promise..." He leaned forward and kissed the tip of his nose before letting go of him and backing up. Alix tried to hold on but couldn't, just being left in the open water. He started to sink and started moving his arms as if he still had legs, but his lower half was too heavy now and it didn't quite work. "Alix, move your tail." Kevin instructed, laughing at his struggles to stay afloat. He tried, but did it more erratically than anything and Kevin laughed again. "In a rhythm, Alix. Stop for a sec and try again." He sighed and took a relaxing breath before focusing more on the movements he was making. He felt himself starting to move through the water and grinned, pushing himself over to Kevin who opened his arms to catch him. When he made it to him, he wrapped his arms around his partner's back and laughed.

"I did it! It's tiring though holy shit...these things are not light..."

"They aren't. But it makes your legs strong though. Once you get swimming down, we can work on floating. It looks easier because you're just flicking your tailfin, but it's not."

"Alright, one thing at a time fish boy." He chuckled.

"Hey! You're a fish boy now, too! You can't make fun of me!" He laughed again. "I have something to show you though. It's one of my favorite things. Stay close to my chest and hold on tightly to me."

Alix nodded and held him a bit tighter, accidentally digging his nails into his back a bit when he rolled over onto his stomach, leaving Alix upside down. He felt the water rush by him as they sped up and Kevin glanced down, smiling at how tightly he was pressed up against him. Alix tipped his head back so he could see where they were going, feeling his face flush at the sight of a massive rock in the near distance. Sure, there was a hole in it, but there was no way they were going to hit that, right? "Uh...Kev?..." He asked quietly, starting to get nervous the closer they got with no sign of moving. He heard and felt him laugh quietly and moved a hand to his chest. Alix could feel him start to kick his tail more rapidly and felt their speed continue to increase as Kevin stretched is arms out at his sides. "Kevin..." He said again, much more urgently as they were getting dangerously close. There would be to no time to turn away at this rate and he felt his heart rate pick up incrementally.

"Arms around my back." He ordered, smirking still over how scared he was. Alix listened, moving his arm back and pressing tighter still to him. The rock was way too close for comfort now and Alix brought his head back to rest against the middle of his chest. He felt their speed increase and squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the impact that didn't come. At the last second, Kevin pulled his arms in quickly and tightly wrapped them around Alix. He flicked his tail at the same time and they rapidly started spinning, bolting right through the center of the hole and out the other side. They slowed down and eventually stopped, Kevin letting him go and Alix hesitating to do the same. "God, I've missed that!" He shouted with laughter, spinning a bit as he cut up through the water. Alix was managing to float there, seemingly having picked that up without realizing it. He was a natural.

"You could have warned me!" He shouted, still trying to recover from the stress of that whole endeavor. "I thought we were gonna die!"

Kevin swam back over and draped his arms around his neck. Alix glared a bit at him, crossing his arms against his chest. "Hey. I told you I was a show off..." He chuckled, moving closer until their foreheads were touching and they were gazing intently into each other's eyes. Alix shook his head a bit and sighed, moving his arms back around his waist and pulling him tighter against him.

"I'll get you back..." He murmured, breathing across his face. "...that's a promise." Alix slowly started to lean in for his mouth and this time, Kevin didn't pull away. He did the same and as their lips touched, they each felt their hearts jump and their breath catch in their throats. Even though they had both been dying for this, it was as if they were nervous anyway. So they simply brushed their lips together for a moment before finally kissing each other softly. Alix pushed first and at the feeling of Kevin pushing back, his body almost tingled warmly at finally being able to kiss his mate. They kissed again and Kevin moved his hands slowly to the back of his head and neck at the same time Alix moved his into the small of his back. Their lips parted and Kevin very quickly flicked his tongue across his lower lip and felt Alix sigh before he pulled at it gently with his teeth and they went back in for more. It was another minute of slow kisses before they slowly pulled back a bit for air, eyes closed and simply floating in each other's presence.

"....I'm so glad I met you...." Alix whispered, finally opening his eyes.

"....I'm glad I met you too...." Kevin replied, leaning forward and carefully resting his head against his chest. "...so fucking glad...."

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