Aquata Cove

Chapter 5: Smells Like Fish

Adam sighed as he looked up at the black ceiling, resting his head on his hands. For the 7th night in the row, he hasn't been able to sleep. He didn't need to check his cellphone to know it must be after 5am by now.

The first week is always the hardest to deal with. He keeps thinking about Merrick, how long it's going to be before he can see him again, trying to plan what to do next time. Just like always, he feels like the month just rolled by, and he didn't make as much as he could out of it. There are several things he wanted to do with Merrick this time, but he got too distracted with the sex, cuddling, play, trying to come up with reasons as to why he's gone for nights.

"I swear," He mumbled, "I had less trouble when I was in the closet."

Adam took a deep breath, and groaned. He heard some light pitter-patter, before his bed's weight shifted, followed by a pair of soft, furry pads pressing onto him.

"Rrrowrrr." Through the darkness, Adam saw the fluffy cat hop onto his chest. He chuckled as he ran his fingers through the soft fur.

"Hey there, Roxas," He said as he scratched behind the purring feline's ears, "What're you doing in HERE? Shouldn't you be bothering Yuri right about now?"

"Rrrooowwr." The cat mewed as it purred, and lightly patted Adam's stubbly chin.

Adam huffed before he slowly got up, "Alright alright, c'mon," Roxas quickly stepped off his body, and hopped off his bed, and ran out before he could get out of bed.

Wearing only his boxers, the man made his way through the dark, with the light of an electric Harry Potter wand. He looked to Yuri's room, to find that her door is closed. Must be a test tomorrow. There's only one reason why Roxas would go into Adam's room in the middle of the night.

Adam changed direction, and headed for the kitchen. As soon as he set foot onto the cool tile, he felt a brush of soft fur pass onto his shin.

"Rrowrr! Eerrrorr! Rrowrrr!" Roxas meowed persistently as he kept rubbing himself between Adam's legs. He chuckled as he bent over to pick up the cat's dish, and reached up on top of the refrigerator to grab a can of FancyFeast Turkey Dinner. He pulled at the tab, thus peeling the metal lid off of the stout can. Taking a spoon, he cooped the gravy-soaked meat cubes into the bowl, before placing it at its usual spot. Roxas immediately ceased his mewing and rubbing, and ducked his head in to start eating. This is usually Yuri's job, as Roxas is her cat, but Roxas usually gets HER up to feed him, but once in a while, he paws at Adam when Yuri's door is closed.

Adam sighed as he tossed the gravy-covered spoon into the sink, but picking up another one from the drawer. He then opened the freezer door, and took out his box of marshmallow swirl chocolate ice cream, and closed it behind him before sitting on a chair at the table. He opened the ice cream box, and scooped up a dab of icy chocolate with a white swirl. He held it out for a sec.

"Here's to late night meals, little buddy." Adam then slurped up the ice cream from the spoon.

Suddenly, a light switched on, followed by a sleepy groan. He looked to see a naked man walk drearily into the living room. Someone Adam has never met before. Dark tan skin, slightly spiky black hair, tiny gold cross and chain around his neck, tribal tattoos along his left thigh and right arm, got a nice set on him between the legs, looks like a Latino pretty boy. Heck, Adam has to admit, he'd sleep with him if he wasn't with Merrick, and Adam isn't really into guys with tatts.

"Morning." Adam said. The guy looked up, and jumped in surprise.

"WHOA! Haahh!!" He jumbled, and toppled onto the couch. He grabbed a nearby couch pillow, and pressed it over his crotch, "Wh-Who the hell are you?!"

"I live here."

"Ah s-shit, man, I'm sorry!" The guy said, clasping the pillow against his junk, "I swear, I'm not a burglar!"

"Yeah, I kinda figured from the lack of ski-mask. Either that, or you're an eccentric burglar." Adam said as he scooped up some ice cream and took it into his lips.

"Dude, I'm not!"

"Dude, relax, you'll wake up the whole island."

"Fuck, sorry man. Jamal said I could raid the fridge if I got hungry." Adam nudged his spoon towards the fridge.

"Sure, help yourself," Adam chuckled, "And you can lose the pillow, you got a nice pair on you."

"Oh, uh... Ok." The guy then got up from the couch, and tossed the pillow aside. As he walked over, Roxas turned his head, and then abandoned his food when he came in, "I'm Nicolas, by the way." He said, offering a hand, which Adam casually shook.

"Adam." Nicolas then went to the fridge, and dug around for a few items, and got a couple of slices of bread. Adam TRIED not to ogle him, but it's hard not to check out a hot naked man in person. He couldn't help but look at Nicolas's tan backside, the tribal red rose tattoo that went from his hip to his back, and especially at his ample butt. Damn, his skin is as flawless as Merrick's. Jamal REALLY has good taste in men, AND women, sometimes at the same time.

Soon, Nicolas finished making a sandwich, and took a bite out of it. His brown eyes glanced over Adam, shifting up and down, as if checking him out. "... So... S'long's we're both awake... You wanna..." He pointed at himself, then at Adam, "I mean, I always got an extra rubber, jus'in case." Adam scoffed, and smiled.

"I would, actually, but I already got a pretty boy of my own"

"Aw, a hopeless romatic, huh?" Nicolas said with a grin, "Me, I'm not really lookin for romance. I'm just in for the sex." He said as he then took out one of my cans of raspberry cream soda, and took a sip "... Just out of curiosity, you and Jamal are roommates, right? You guys ever...?" Adam chuckled.

"I thought about it once or twice, but it'd just get too weird." He chuckled again, as the naked Latino guy walked to the table, and sat his bare rump down.

"So tell me about yo boyfriend. He hot?"

Adam smirked, "Oh yeah, he is. You look a lot like him, actually." Nicolas smiled, as if flattered. Fuck, even his smile is as cute as Merrick's.

"Heh, Really?"

"Yeah. 'Cept he's white, blonde hair, and blue eyes." Nicolas giggled as he ate his sandwich.

"Damn, for a second, I thought you were cumin on to me."

Adam snickered at him, "Yeah, sorry. Got the same ass though. You're a bit bigger than him though. No, I mean, BIGGER, you know." Nicolas looked down, and chuckled. For a slender build, he does have a thick package on him.

"Well," The nude guy said as he walked out of the kitchen with his sandwich, "I won't get between you and him, but uh..." He gave a sexy grin, and nodded his head, "You two ever split, look me up, hot shot~" Adam grinned and chuckled.

"Ah, get out of here," He said to the laughing dude, being sure to give him a playful spank on the bottom as he went. Nicolas stopped in his tracks, and then turned his head with a playful grin.

"Well, NOW you're giving mixed signals~ Ya wanna drill me or not?" He said, laughing before continuing on his way.

When Nicolas was back in Jamal's room, Roxas cautiously crept back into the kitchen, and returned to his meal. This isn't the first time Adam ran into one of Jamal's 'dates'. It doesn't happen often – usually Jamal is discrete about his dates, as this house have thick walls – but it's always nice to see a guy, but sometimes it's a woman, which Adam can do without seeing nude.

Adam finished off the rest of the ice cream that was left in the box, threw it away, and went back into his room, where he crawled into bed, and soon dozed off.

---

*EHHH EHHH EHHH EHHH*

Came the obnoxious ring of the alarm clock. Adam's hand came and aggressively meshed his fingers onto the button to shut it off. He groaned as he groggily pulled himself out of bed, and dug his drawers for some clothes.

Soon, Adam pulled the zipper to his thin jacket up, just as he walked in, and snickered. At the open door, Jamal and Nicolas are kissing slow and deep. Nicolas is wearing a stripped blue and white shirt with a red leather vest, and tight jeans that really complimented his figure, while Jamal is wearing only some loose-fitting basketball shorts. Nicolas broke the kiss, smiling, "Thanks for the awesome night, man. AND the awesome morning~"

"Yeah, you know it, lil' Nicky." Jamal said, in his low, deep, charismatic, tone.

"Lets meet up again sometime~" Nicolas said as he held up a paper card, which Jamal took.

"Anytime, anywhere, Nick." Nicolas chuckled as he looked aside.

"Hey Adam!"

"Hi." Nicolas then turned, and walked out the door, but not before the black guy swooped his hand in, and gave him a quick slap on the ass, which Nicolas jump at, and giggled some more. Adam chuckled as he went into the kitchen to grab a couple of poptarts, which he would not bother to put them in the toaster.

"You and Nick know each other?" Jamal asked.

"Yeah, bumped into him last night. He's got a nice ass, by the way."

"Yaw, man, ya'll ain't got ta tell me!" Jamal said with a grin and laugh, "He gotta nice mouth too! Boy loves dick!" Jamal ran up to the kitchen counter, "Yo, so Yuri told me ya got sum picthas of yo bo."

"I showed her a week ago, where were you?"

"Kept forgettin', man. So can I see 'um? So I know he ain't imaginary?"

"Lemme see..."Adam checked his phone, and then put back in his pocket before striding towards the door. "That'll have to wait. Right now, I gotta get to work."

"Aight, man," Jamal said as he went to get something to eat, "Ya know you the only gay I know who actually likes the smell of fish, right??" Adam laughed out loud as he walked out the door.

He walked onto the gravel, and picked up his black motorbike that was lying against the wall of driftwood. After mounting his bike, it gave a turn of a key into the ignition, and charged up after a few rumbles, and he moved off of the property, and onto the sandy/dirt road. Some people prefer cars, Adam found it more manageable to learn to ride a motorcycle, or motorbike, more like, as he does not have the accessories for a cycle, just as leather, helmet, or creepy tattoos.

He rode the bike along the road, until he rode onto his destination: lined with boats on many posts, several tall docks, clusters of small-town shops and restaurants, a few old men throwing lines into the steep water below. The entrance gate is depicted with two large, tall, ornate seahorses that have seen much rain and age from the discoloration of the copper, and a metal, blue banner at the top that reads:

The Kele-Kolika Pier.

Adam loves this place. Back when he lived in California as a little boy, his parents used to take him to Redondo Beach Pier. This place doesn't exactly have a mini indoor carnival like Redondo does, but Adam's out-grown it at least... Well, he wouldn't mind if Kele-Kolika got a Tilt-A-Whirl.

Soon, Adam drove over to the Ocean Fish-House, where he works – a large, blue building with fish designs painted along the walls, and a logo depicted as a fish-symbol in a bubble-like circle. He chained up his bike, and turned on the electric current onto a few of the selected links (a trick Merrick taught him), and went to clock in. He put on his black logo cap, a pair of tight, thick, elastic, puncture-proof rubber gloves with rough yet supple hand prints on the underside, tall rubber boots, and an apron/vest jacket with the logo on the back of it.

"Hey, Adam!" Said Captain, calling out in his gruff voice. Old, thick with a pot-belly, and burly, with a scraggily black and grey beard, wearing an eye patch with a few scars on his face and arms, wearing a hat and trench coat, he could be described as a modern pirate – hence the nickname – by appearance, that is. Professionally, he is by the book, punctual, and a stickler for directions.

"Captain," Adam replied.

"Yur workin a cart today – you and all the other fishboys. We got an over shipment of lobsters, and we need to get rid of 'em!"

"And the bad news?" Adam said, picking up the assigned clipboard.

"No breaks, one lunch, and no fishin till we get rid of these red claws, and that'll take a day and a half!" The seemingly grump old man said.

"Jeez, how many lobsters did we get???"

"Enough tah keep the hippies bitchin about over-fishin'. I'm gonna need to call in a few contacts outside the pier to unload some of them. Now git drivin'! I gotta keep bandin' more of those red bastards!" He said with a grumble as he picked up a bag of rubber bands to put on the lobster claws. Rough around the edges, but he rarely gets grouchy.

Adam then went over to one of the lined up Fish-House carts – which resembles a golf cart that's been spray-painted deep blue and green, with the logo put on the hood, and a 350 gallon, square glass tank on the back - and drove it to the outside dock, where there was a ramp that connected the warehouse to the dock, and onto the pier. Adam drove it up to the large ship that was docked onto the warehouse. He hopped out, and walked onto the ship, and looked down onto six, huge tanks, that are crawling with dark red, crustasious creatures.

"Holy SHIT!" Adam said.

"Holy shit is right," Said Captain, "Now git goin'. I like that ya come early, but I ain't expectin' ya to wait around for the other fishboys."

"Yes, Captain." He said as he took a vacuum hose from the back of the cart, and connected it to a mechanism to the tank, and clicked it into place. He then threw the other end into the ocean, and turned on the machine. Whirling into life, the water started to pour into the tank from the vacuum. He waited for the water to fill the tank halfway, before shutting it off, sealing off the tube to the machine, and put the hose away.

Adam then walked back up to the ship, and picked up a long, metal pole with a caged, box-like structure at one end of it, and a handle and trigger at the other end. With the large tool, he dipped it into the tank. Carefully, he scooped the lobsters into the crate pole, and went back to the cart. He dipped the writing crated into the smaller tank, and opened it to let the lobsters drift down.

He repeated until the cart's tank is at capacity, and he hopped back into the cart, and drove away, slowly. "Hey, Phil." He said as he waved at a coworker, who is also driving one of the carts.

At most, the carts go up to 10 miles an hour, but the fishboys, as Captain calls his employees, have to be careful about just how fast they go, as to not splash the water around or disturb the fish or crustatians he's delivering.

As he drove down the road towards the Claws & Hammers restaurant, Adam started to think about talking about the pier with Merrick. He's always wanted to take Merrick here, but Merrick refuses to go anywhere where there are humans.

'Do merfolk REALLY think humans are THAT bad?' Adam pondered, 'He did say contact with life on land is strictly forbidden, but I wonder why merfolk are so afraid of humans. Gotta wonder, what happened between them.' He chuckled as he pulled in at the small hub, 'Guess that just mean I'm that special to him.'

Adam hopped out of the cart, with his clipboard, and knocked on the glass door. In minutes, the manager of the eatery answered him, "Good morning, I have one shipment out five of lobsters."

"Oh, good! We're fresh out since last night!" He said as he took the clipboard, and signed it below his shipment order.

"Alright," After putting the form aside, Adam drove the cart to the back side of the restaurant, and unloaded the lobsters. The next hour was spent going back and forth the Claws & Hammers and the warehouse until all five orders were delivered. Adam received a $5 tip, and drove back to get the next shipment.

-5 Hours Later-

"Good work, fishboys!" The grouchy manager said, as the other employees were undressing their uniforms and storing their equipment into their lockers, "Didn't sink as hard I thought. But we didn't get out as much as we should've. Tomorrow, the trucks are comin' in to take up some lobsters, so I expect the same routine tomorra, while I handle the trucks." He then adjusted his hat, "Now, I'm probably wastin $300 here, but go a head and take home 3 lobsters each if yur interested. Buckets are next to the tanks, and heaven help ya if they ain't returned by next week. Otherwise, good night, good luck, and good riddance. See ya'all tomorrow, fishboys!" With that, the pirate man walked off.

Adam blinked, and shrugged, "Cool," He said. Adam smirked, remembering the first time Captain said those three terms at the end of the day, 'Good night, good luck, and good riddance'. He personally thought that Captain hated him, or everyone else from that matter. But seeing as he says that EVERY day, he eventually came to the conclusion that it's part of Captain's persona.

Soon, Adam is securing his bucket of 3 lobsters to his bike, and went riding back home.

---

"I brought dinner!" Adam called out as he entered the house.

"Oh sweet! What is it?" Yuri said as she paused her game on the PS3.

"Lobster!" Adam said as he put the Ocean FishHouse bucket on the counter.

"... Wha?!" Yuri said as she got up, and looked. "When can we afford lobster???"

"The FishHouse got an over-shipment. Wall-to-Wall lobsters!"

"Awesome. I'll make my biscuits." Yuri said as she got her apron on.

"Cool. I'll get make the water," Yuri laughed as Adam got out the pot. Nothing like cooking with Yuri for a nice, surprise dinner. This is one of Adam's favorite things since she moved in with him. It reminds him of... Well, it just reminds him.

---

"Mmm-MM!" Jamal said as he set down a disembodied, bright red claw, "Yo, man, THIS is why you work at a fish place." He had gotten home from his job as a barkeep at a local danceclub that host exotic dancers, both male and female, right in the middle of the dinner preparation. It's not like they were strippers, but they DO dance on poles, but they wear strange, artistic costumes, in hopes of training for different dancing careers. Jamal mostly likes the job because half the time, he gets lucky with one of the dancers or customers.

"Lucky break your boss let you take home some of the inventory."

"Yeah, but he probably wasn't supposed to," Adam said as he wiped the melted butter off his mouth with a napkin, "So, please don't say anything."

"I won't say nuthin if you won't, man."

*Bleep bleep bleep* The dark male dug into his pocket, and checked his pager. "Ah, dat's me. I gotta go."

"Whaat?" Yuri asked, "Jamal, you just got here."

"I'm taking double shifts this week, Yuri," Jamal said as he put on his leather jacket, "Besides, there's this one honey with a pink flamingo costume, and I think she digs me." He said with a grin. Yuri huffed and rolled her eyes.

"Got it. See you tomorrow."

"See ya, Yuri! Later, Adam! Awesome Lobster, y'all, I'M OUT!" He said as he grabbed his keys, and went out the door.

"Good lord, he just got laid last night." Adam said as he popped a piece biscuit in his mouth. Yuri turned her head, and scoffed.

"He did? I was in my room all day yesterday, when did he bring someone over?"

"Beats me. Must've been when I was in the shower; yesterday at work, we received a shipment of salmon. Thing is, all of them were dead. And evidently, almost 3 weeks old."

"Oh god..." Yuri placed a hand over her thin brow, as she smirked,

"Yeah, we pretty much had to carry them to the dumpsters, but we couldn't use the carts, so we had to carry them in cardboard boxes. Now, I carry heavy stuff over my shoulder, and the bottom of the third box I was carrying was already moist-"

"Oh my gosh, here we go..." Yuri said with a chuckle, "I can already see it."

"And I JUST got to the dumpster, I lifted the box UP," Yuri's eyes widened as she covered her mouth, "And the box caved on me, and spilt rotting fish guts and juice ALL over me!" Yuri laughed out loud, crouching a bit as she muffled her laughs, "All over my hair, got in my shirt, pants, just about everywhere." Yuri huffed and giggled, trying to calm herself, "Yeah... And then Captain comes along..."