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"Fairies," Rowan said and plopped onto the sand next to Kaerius. "Have you heard of them?"
"You're not supposed to be here for another two hours," Kaerius thought, wiggling his strange human toes in the sand.
"I'm leaving early." Rowan stared at Kaerius's mouth when his lips hinted a smile.
"Good," Kaerius said out loud. The boys were still getting used to letting their feelings in, rather than blocking them out. Kaerius was a little bolder when expressing affection.
"Anyway," Rowan cleared his throat and buried his feet. The sand underneath was cold. It felt good on such a hot day. "Have you heard of fairies?"
Kaerius shook his head. "fa-rey?" he tried to repeat.
Rowan chuckled. "When I think of a fairy, I think of a tiny little human with wings. When I say tiny, I mean about the size of my hand."
Kaerius's face scrunched up like Rowan had said something utterly stupid. He shook his head and dismissed the myth. "No way," he thought.
"Why? You exist. Vampires and werewolves exist. Why can't fairies?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Apparently fairies exist, and they can do spells and stuff, and maybe they could do curses too."
"Did you find that on your... lap... top?" Kaerius asked, only just remembering what it was called.
"No. Jack told me."
"Who?" Kaerius asked out loud.
"Jack. He's in my group for uni. I was working on the project for him last night, remember?"
Kaerius nodded. "How does Jack know? Do you talk to him a lot?"
"I found out today that he's somewhat obsessed with the supernatural."
"What else do you talk about with this Jack? Does he know about me?"
Rowan tilted his head. "Are you jealous?"
"Yes," Kaerius was honest, seeing no point in lying, not when Rowan could feel his emotions.
"There's no need to be. Jack's not my type at all," Rowan chuckled. "Don't be jealous," he said, nudging Kaerius until his brows lifted from pushing deep into his eyes. "Isn't having a bond enough for you to trust me?"
Kaerius nudged Rowan back. "Yes. I'm just very aware of how good-looking you are, and how others see you too."
Rowan tried to take the compliment and not blush like crazy, but Kaerius almost smiled for the second time in five minutes. He felt the heat swarming his face. Rowan hated blushing. Instead of going a cute pink colour, deep red blotches covered his neck and cheeks and nose. He looked like he was allergic to embarrassment.
"Still," Rowan said, looking out into the horizon, hoping the breeze would cool him. "You can trust me."
"And you can trust me too." Kaerius found himself staring into Rowan's eyes. They were more vibrant than the green apple Rowan had for breakfast and the grass in Michael's garden. Rowan's eyes were untouched pools with emeralds for a floor; beautiful in the sunlight, magical in the moon's glow.
"We find fa-rey?" he asked out loud.
"The vampires have them."
"So?"
"So, we'll need my dad's help. He said he was born into a family of hunters. He would've dealt with Vampires, surely."
"Rowan ask?"
Rowan nodded. "Did you find Jaiker?"
"No. He was out finding fish. I asked Laiken, but he has a head as hollow as the caves."
Rowan chuckled and felt the sea breeze rustle his hair. "Do you want to go swimming?"
"Who are you talking to?" a voice asked, and Rowan's head whipped round to see Jack standing behind them.
"What are you doing here?" Rowan asked, avoiding Jack's question.
"I wanted to sit on the beach for a bit, and saw you talking to yourself." Jack looked amused as he sat in front of Rowan on the sand.
"Is that Jack?" Kaerius thought. Rowan didn't even glance at him, so Kaerius nipped his side, and Rowan jolted. Kaerius sniggered at Jack's frown.
"Anyway, we should work on the assignment later. I can come to yours," Jack said and pushed his glasses up his nose.
"I can't today." Rowan wanted to talk to his dad about fairies and spend time with Kaerius. The Thalassic Mortal had been targeted and beaten, and blamed for the crumbling of Rowan's family. It wasn't fair. "I'm too busy. I can come in early tomorrow if you tell me everything you know about fairies?"
Jack raised a brow and looked around at the other people enjoying the sun. His eyes briefly moved over Kaerius, but just like the rest of the humans, he didn't seem to see the purple-eyed man sharing Rowan's company.
"All right, that's a fair deal. We should get the rest of the group members in too. They've done nothing so far."
Rowan agreed. He glanced at Kaerius, who scowled at Jack. Rowan was quite thankful that Jack couldn't see him. "I'm going swimming. I'll talk to you later." Rowan tried to stand, but Kaerius grabbed his leg, and Rowan plumped back down. While Kaerius laughed, Jack looked oddly at his leg.
"Careful in the sea. Remember the mermen and mermaids," Jack said, and walked back up the sand.
"Oh, they're actually called Thalassic Mortals, the- the mermen and mermaids," Rowan said, slapping Kaerius's hand away when he tried to tug him back down.
Jack walked backwards, nodding thoughtfully. "Well, they're poisonous, so be careful. I need your brains for the assignment."
When Jack was gone, Rowan's head slowly turned until he was looking at Kaerius. The Thalassic Mortal's eyes were full of mischief, and he suddenly sprinted towards the waves. Rowan ran after him, feeling the sand hardening under his feet as he neared the water. Rowan caught up to Kaerius quickly, and Kaerius turned to kick freezing water at Rowan.
As soon as Kaerius was deep enough to swim, he distanced the gap between them unnaturally fast. He had muscular and strong arms from swimming all his life.
Rowan struggled to get through the waves; the cold took his breath away. Kaerius had dipped under the water and didn't surface. Rowan kept swimming until he couldn't touch the bottom, and the breaking waves were twenty metres behind him.
The sun twinkled the surface of the water like a blanket made of stars. As Rowan turned in the water, hoping to see Kaerius, he felt suddenly alone, like how he used to feel when he went swimming. Rowan had always loved the ocean. He used to swim every day. His mum used to say that the ocean could be the most powerful thing in the world. The sheer size was enough to leave humans scared to even step on a boat. Rowan loved how small it made him feel, and how it engulfed the worries he left behind on the sand. His mum used to say that the sea wasn't a place to panic. If you panicked, you'd drown, just like in your head if you let your troubles immerse you.
Something suddenly latched around Rowan's ankle. Rowan's gasp was the last air he managed to breathe before he was pulled underwater.
Kaerius dragged him a few metres down before he pushed their faces together. He had watched Rowan swim. Rowan looked as natural in the water as the fish. The way Rowan relaxed in the sea really intrigued Kaerius; no human had ever looked so at home.
They kissed until Kaerius felt their tails wrap around each other. "You know, earlier, when I yanked you back onto the sand, I accidentally scratched you," Kaerius thought, pulling up Rowan's lip to look at his sharp teeth. "Your veins started turning black, but then they stopped and dissolved like you were fighting off the poison."
"Really?" Rowan said, and only bubbles came out of his mouth. He looked down to see for himself, but his white tail with rainbow flecks had returned. "That's interesting."
Kaerius nodded. "I need to teach you the Thalassic Tongue."
Rowan agreed, and they sank until they reached the ocean floor. Fish swam around them, and Kaerius watched them with narrowed eyes. "Are you hungry?" he thought and reached out to a codfish. It swerved away from his fingers and hurried down the reef.
* * * * *
Rowan's phone was right next to Kaerius's head when the alarm went off. Kaerius was pulled from his dreams viciously fast. Rowan scrambled over him to turn the alarm off and Kaerius practically kicked him out of bed, muttering, "Away, away."
"Sorry," Rowan whispered, watching Kaerius roll himself up in the blanket. Sometimes Kaerius slept in the fish tank in the basement, though they preferred to sleep closer together. Kaerius had gotten up at 4 in the morning to dip in a salt bath quickly, so his skin didn't feel so dry. Now, two hours later, Kaerius was cranky to be woken up again. "I finish uni at noon. I'll hurry back."
Kaerius grunted a response and Rowan hurried to get dressed. His dad was in the kitchen when Rowan ran into the kitchen, so he had time to make toast. "You're up early," he said to his dad who sat at the kitchen table. When Michael looked up, the bags under his eyes were deep. His light green eyes had darkened by the sleep deprivation. "Oh, you haven't slept at all. I'll make you a coffee."
"I've been searching endlessly about fairies and vampires. There's very little about vampires keeping them captive online, almost as if nobody knows about it. Weird how your friend Jack knew about it. It took me hours of digging."
"He said his dad believes in them, so maybe his dad told him. I think his dad's a hunter or something."
"I'll do some digging on his family," Michael said and shut his laptop when Rowan handed him a mug of strong coffee. "Where's Kaerius?"
"Sleeping. He wasn't pleased that my alarm woke him up."
"The air makes them grumpy. I bet he's a lot happier in the ocean," Michael said as his son's eyes gloss over with a gooey fondness. They did every time Rowan thought about the Thalassic Mortal.
"Not really. Kaerius doesn't smile that often. I don't think he's used to having something to smile about. He talked a lot about enjoying the adventure of being on land. He loves his life in the ocean, but I guess he didn't realise how repetitive it was until he could go on land."
"Do you not think the same, now that you can go in the ocean?" Michael asked.
"Yeah, though land and the ocean are like two different worlds. I don't know if I'll ever get used to living in both."
"Neither will he." Michael had been through it all with Mandy, and nothing would have worked out unless they compromised. He gulped his coffee, already feeling it kicking in. "We sleep tonight, then our 48hrs of no sleep can start, then we can question some vampires. Are you okay with that?"
Rowan nodded. "I'm okay with anything that might get us closer to breaking the curse."