Aquata Cove

Chapter 75: Miscellaneous

Yuri's car drives around the corner, into the parking lot of an apartment complex. She parks into a vacant space, and quickly steps out. She runs up the stairs until she reaches Ryo's door. She knocks hard, and waited until Ryojin opens from the other side.

"Where is he?" Yuri asked, "Is he ok??"

"He still asleep..." Ryo said in a hushed tone as he lets her in, and walks her to the dimly lit living room. She looks with pity at the small tan boy, tucked under a blanket with an ice pack on his forehead, still unconscious.

"Ah no..." Yuri said softly. She kneels down by his side, and feels her hand onto his cheek. It's a little too warm. She opens his mouth, and examined closely, before pressing two of her fingers onto his neck to feel his pulse.

"I came home from taking Fumiko to the airport, and he was lying face-down on the grass," Ryo explained.

"... I think he's just dehydrated." Yuri said, "He has a delicate constitution that makes it easy for his health to take a dive like this. This happens to Merrick from time to time too. He's going to be fine."

"Ok..." Ryo took a seat next to the couch, "I brought him up here to help, and then I see someone broke in here!" He said, "They took my television and a few lamps, and they broke a few of my dishes."

"What do you think happened to him?" She asked softly.

"I don't know..." Ryojin shook his head, "Maybe they hurt and rob him too."

'What were you doing, Arnaav?' Yuri thought, before sighing, "Last time I saw him, he said he had something really important to do." They both silenced as the boy groans, and turns in his sleep, facing the back-cushions of the couch.

"Did he say what he was doing?" Ryo whispered.

"No. He just took off... With Adam's friends, Harold and Belinda, that is," She lied, "I should have asked him what he was up to." Withholding the fact that Arnaav had to go into the ocean, "I'm sorry this happened."

"It is alright." Ryo said softly.

Moments pass by as the two of them sat in silence, letting the boy sleep as they monitored is situation. Yuri looks in sorrow at the bundled boy, feeling she is completely responsible for this; this has definitely got something to do with Fumiko, the way he went running off like that. Was he hoping to catch her at Ryo's place just to try and talk to her?

How much trouble did Arnaav go to just to try and speak with her? A wild guess tells her that maybe Arnaav was the one who broke into the apartment -- but how? He's just a small kid. And besides, some of Ryo's possessions are gone, and there's no way Arnaav can carry a TV and a few items on his own. At the very least, it seems Ryojin doesn't suspect that Arnaav's done anything wrong...

Arnaav remains silent as his half-lidded eyes stare at the colored fabric of the cushion, with small tears running along and down his eyes, as he can pick up Yuri's scent, and someone else's... His eyes close as he keeps himself quiet...

Yuri's train of thought snapped back as she feels something on her hand. She looks to see Ryojin actually holding her hand, tenderly.

"Ryo, what are you doing?" She asks as she takes her hand away.

"Wh- Yuri..." Ryojin looks at her with a hurt expression, "I just... I been thinking... Of you lately."

"Ryo, don't you remember what I said? We're done, I told you." Yuri stated firmly, "You hurt me, Ryo. You crossed several lines when we fought." She shook her head, "And I once told you that I would not even think of giving you another chance until you apologized."

"Apologize for what?" Ryo asked a little defensively.

"You're joking, right, Ryo?" Yuri said lowly to keep her voice down, "For all of the things you said. What you tried to get away with, what you insinuated, and what you caused."

"What are you even saying?? Are you still angry about that?"

"Yes," Yuri said, shaking her head, "You honestly think you've done no wrong here?"

"I thought you knew this kid," Ryo said, "I called you and he-"

"I'm not talking about that." Yuri said as she got up and walked a few paces away from him, "You still think I'M the one at fault here..." She growled. As old-fashioned as her family is, Ryojin's clan is twice as archaic as hers.

"Yuri, why will you not let this go??" Ryo asked as he gets up, "Why do you hold on to so much hate for me??"

"Oh my God, I really, REALLY want to refuse that you're this stupid." Yuri said as she drops her shoulders, "I did NOT want to move in with you! That didn't mean that I didn't love you! It meant that I wasn't ready! And the more you pushed, the more YOU despised ME!"

"I never despise you," Ryo said defensively as he gets up, "You would not give me a real enough answer!"

"And so you turned into a complete jerk." Yuri replied, glaring at him, "Insinuating that I've slept with Jamal, among other men, even asking if me and Adam were an item at some point. And the more I protested, the worse you got!" Yuri shook her head, "I really had feelings for you, Ryojin. You have no idea how much you hurt me."

"And you do not think I am hurt too??"

"And you don't even get how bad it was." Yuri leers at him, "Do you know when we broke up, my grandparents were actually MAD at me??" She told him, "They blamed ME. They didn't care what I said, it was all my fault that you insulted me and pressured me into taking a huge step in my life that I wasn't ready to take!"

"Why were you not ready??" Ryo asked, "I still do not understand why you didn't want to be with me."

"..." Yuri glares at him, "Because I just didn't want to, and you wouldn't accept that."

"Yeah." Ryo shook his head at her, "You can't even give me your own reasons."

"..." A pause goes by as they just stood there and glared at each other, "... You know what, I don't have to justify myself to you. You were raised to have a trophy wife of your very own, and I will never be her." She told him.

"What?" Ryo gave her a weird look, "What does that mean-"

"We both come from very traditional clans. But at least my parents taught me to be anything I want, not just something my grandparents can have to reminisce about times gone by."

"Wha- Yuri-"

"Thank you." She interrupted him, bowing to him in formality, "For calling me about Arnaav. I appreciate you taking care of him before he got hurt." She walked back to the couch, and took the blanket off of the boy, to find him bundled in a white sheet. She sighs as she closes her eyes, "I will bring the sheet back tomorrow. As you can imagine, I don't have any clothes for him right now."

"... Fine." Ryo walks away from her as Yuri carefully picks up Arnaav, and carries him away. Ryo holds open the door for her in eerie silence as she walks by, and closes the door behind her.

()()()

Arnaav whimpers as he looks up to the large polar bear, next to the Noita otter, along with an orca mermaid with several wraps of seaweed around her body. The black and white whale maid gently strokes the boy's head as she takes a loop of kelp away from his neck. He reaches his little arms out as she drifts away from him.

"No, please no." He pleaded weakly as his soul feels an abrupt feeling of rejection and loneliness as soon as the seaweed was removed. "I cannot understand, no..."

The mighty white bear man weeps as pieces of a broken weapon drift down from his large paws. He bows his head and looks to the side, clenching his eyes shut as he hears the cub's little cries.

"But why..." Arnaav cries, shaking all over his body as he looks to the three elders of the pod, "Why is it so wrong???" He pleads, "I did not say anything!" A mid-sized, cream-colored bear with white swirls on her body holds her face as she sobs, behind the three leaders amidst the pod.

"Son... You needed to listen..." The Triton sobbed, "Why did you not listen..."

"I do not understand! I did not touch or-or-or... No, please, no..." Arnaav cries as he sees his mother's palm glowing with light, "Mother no, please do not do this!" He cries with terror as she comes closer, "I am sorry! I will not do it again! No!"

"I love you, my child..." The otter said with deep remorse, her eyes clouded with glittering mist, "If I do not do this... They will come..."

"Who! Please, Mother, no!" Arnaav begs as his furry back pushes into the sand and reef rock, almost screaming with hysteria, "I am sorry! I am sorry!"

Arnaav glances, and sees the cream-colored bear mermaid beside him. He whines and cries as she takes his paw into hers, as she too cries with him. He squeaks as his tiny paw squeezes her tightly.

"We are out of time..." The Noita wept, "I can sense one of them coming... If I do not mark you, you will end..."

"MOTHER NO!" Arnaav screams. The Noita's hand pushes onto the left side of the Adra's chest. "EEHHHEEEEAAAA" The boy shrieks with agony as searing pain pours onto the spot, slowly ripping into his flesh as she pushes her energy onto him.

"STOP!! PLEASE STOP!!! IT IS BURNING MEEE!!" Arnaav cries out, thrashing into the sand as his sister reaches around his torso.

A pair of thick, strong, furry arms scoop around the three of them, gruffing with heavy sobs as one mermaid tearfully brands the flesh of her baby, the other mermaid holding as tight as she can, and the meryin shrieking with despair and agony. The Triton holds all of them close, desiring with all of his heart to rob his son of every ounce of pain and fear that he is spiraling right now... And as well as that of which is to come, after his poor one is forced to leave...

Everything suddenly illuminates in a flash of yellow and white.

()()()

Twinkling drops roll and drip from under Arnaav's eyelids, as he slowly started to awaken again.

Yuri's car zooms along the freeway, with Arnaav safely buckled on the passenger's seat, wrapped up in the thin sheet. She glances to him as she hears some quiet sniffling beside her.

"Nh... Ffnh... I'm sorry, Yuri..." Comes a soft whimper, "I'm sorry..."

"For what, honey?" Yuri asked softly.

"I made you so mad... You had to be with someone you hated..." Arnaav whines.

"Oh..." She winces, "You heard all of that?"

"Mhm..." Arnaav sniffles, "You had to fight because of me..."

"That's not true, Arnaav." Yuri turns a curve, "Ryo and I had problems long before this. They have nothing to do with you, it's not your fault."

"I still ended up there... You had to come and find me..."

"Don't think about it," Yuri said softly, "Just get some sleep, ok?" The car turn along the wide curve of the road, right next to the coast, "I have to go back to the hospital, where I work. I can set up a little cot for you and give you some water in my office, ok?"

"Mnnhh..."

Arnaav rustles in his sheet, and fumbles a little. Yuri's peripheral vision catches a colorful flicker, so she turns her head to the kid. Her eyes widen as she sees a jeweled butterfly trinket in Arnaav's fingers, glittering from the orange flashes from the passing highway light posts.

"Where did you get that?" Yuri asked with a slight touch of suspicion, remembering exactly where she's seen that small accessory before.

"It belongs to that girl... The one I want to... Talk to..." Arnaav answered weakly, "I found it on the day we played those games with the eggs and rabbits..." His eyes remain moist as he tilts the butterfly slightly to make it sparkle.

"Why were you keeping it?"

"It's... Beautiful..." Arnaav said, "And it carries her scent... I really like her... Having it made me feel she liked me, after I was told she loved Merrick..." The boy whimpers, "And then Merrick made her cry... She doesn't like him anymore..."

"Oh no..." Yuri can already see where this is going.

"I was trying to find her... I looked everywhere... Belinda showed me where she belonged..." Arnaav sniffled as the butterfly shimmered, "And she wasn't there..." He closes his eyes as he curls up tighter in the sheet, "She wasn't there, and I fell..."

"Oh no... Dammit..." Yuri sighed as the car came to a stop at a traffic light. "Dammit... Dammit..." She softly hits her head onto the steering wheel a few times. "Arnaav, I am so sorry..."

"For... For what?"

"There's something I REALLY should have told you..." Yuri sighs as she turns her head to the child, "Arnaav, Fumiko lives on the other side of the world."

Arnaav looks up at her with eyes of horror and despair, "Wh... Whaaat?"

"She only comes to these islands a couple of times a year to see her brother..." Yuri ignores the green traffic light above, "And I don't even know exactly where she is..."

"I... I..." Arnaav's chest swells and deflates as he starts to cry. All of this... Every ounce of hope he put into this night... All of his excitement and joy... It was all for nothing...

"A-Arnaav, it's ok," Yuri hastily said, "M-Maybe we can talk to-" She gasped as the passenger door opens as the small boy leaves the blanket, "Wait, what're you doing?!"

Arnaav cries as he stumbles out of the car, and runs away as fast as he can.

"Arnaav! Wait!!" Yuri springs out of her car, and whips after him, "Stop! Where are you going?!" She jogs after him, "You're going to collapse again! Come back!!" But he won't listen. She can hear the poor boy sob loudly as he sprints away from her, towards the ocean.

"ARNAAV!!" It's too late. Arnaav dives into the ocean before she can even reach him. "Dammit, what happened..." She groans as she shakes her head and gently rubs her forehead, "No, no, no, this isn't good..." She tells herself as she retreats back to her car.

Her eyes catch a twinkle as she comes to the unfurled sheet, "Ohhh..." Yuri squats down, and delicately picks up the butterfly, "What the hell... Here I thought I was a little better than you, Ryo..."

~~~

"Mnnghh" Adam moans as he writhes on his bed, his eyes feeling almost as heavy as his own body, and gravity seems to have increased on him to begin with. He feels a soft, furry ball against his neck, which he can already deduce that it's little Skyler curled up next to him.

"Morning, baby." Merrick said from beside him, leaning on his elbow on his side.

"Ohhhrrrr..." Adam whines as he tries to roll over, "My head feels like a rock." He wriggled around on the bed... His anus feels weird, and his package feels painfully pressed. He looked down and scoffed in exhaustion.

His penis and ballsac is barely being contained by a shiny gold and sapphire blue thong that clings tightly to his manhood, that is also giving a bitch of a skinny wedgie, "Fuck, I don't even want to know where I got this..."

Merrick giggles as Adam pulls the thong off of him, and kicks it off the bed, somehow without snapping it. Skyler wakes up and stretches on the bed, before hopping onto the windowsill. "I think we may have gotten carried away last night at King Tut's."

"Ah fuck..." Adam huffed, "What went down..." He tries to remember.

"You had a bunch of shots," Merrick smirked, "Off of a guy's body. He was some hot Italian guy, he had some really thick muscles."

"Think I have bits and pieces of that..." Adam rubs his eyebrows, "I can't remember much... Bunch of blurs and music, I think I remember holding onto a hard metal pole."

"Hehheeh," Merrick grins, "You got so drunk, you actually got naked for about a minute!"

"Oh my freaking God." Adam covers his eyes, his face feeling hot and prickly.

"You got spanked so many times, your butt was glowing pink and red~" Merrick snickered, "You were so sexy and funny! By the time we put something on you, you had a throbbing hard-on."

"Oh fuck..." Adam rolls onto his front, and stuffs his face onto a pillow. "I can't ever go back there again." He said, muffled by the pillow.

"Oh why not??" Merrick gives Adam's butt a spank before climbing onto him and sitting himself onto Adam's bottom, "Everyone loved you last night!"

"RRRRrrrr!" Adam grabs the pillows from both ends and covers his head with it, not even paying attention to his naked lover's genitals rubbing on his rump.

"Oh cheer up, Adam." Merrick gnaws on Adam's hair playfully, "At least I didn't tell you about the part where you thought Nick was me, and you started making out with him while squeezing his package. That's why you were wearing his thong just now."

"OH MY GOD, STOP!" Adam yelled into the pillow as bits and pieces started to resurface.

"Whaaat? It was hot!" He kisses and nibbles on Adam's neck, "Thinking about it... Kinda makes ME a little hot~" He said as he started to grind his soft member into Adam's warm, fuzzy crack, "I REALLY wanted to fuck you right there in the bar~ Pound your ass while Nick sucks your cock..." Merrick bites his lip as his own dick is starting to get hard, "But apparently, we can't fuck in public."

Adam grunts pitifully as he turns his head to breathe, while Merrick wraps his arms around and under him as he continues to dry-hump against Adam, "Ffffuck, I wanna ram you so bad..."

"I am not in the mood." Adam groaned, "I have enough pounding in my head right now..."

"Awww, come on~!" Merrick bites Adam's ear and tugs on it, his dick fully hard now. Adam whimpers as he just WISHES his head wasn't weighing the same as a ton of bricks. Adam shivers as Merrick's tongue licks over Adam's earlobe and groves his pelvis in rolling motions, "You were so freakin on last night~"

"At the moment," Adam responds, "I am down right off." He can only groan as his fiancé plays around with his limb body.

"Awwoo..." Merrick pouted. "How about you just lay there and I can have my way with you like this?"

"No."

"I can eat your ass or suck your balls?"

"No."

"How about I flip you over and suck you off? Come on, Adam," Merrick slaps Adam's butt a few times.

"If I get turned on, I'm just going to get a bigger headache than I already have." Adam moaned, "How about we just take a shower?"

"... With the suction-cup fleshlight or dildo?" Merrick quipped.

"Oh for God's sake." Adam muffled again as he buries his face into the pillow.

"Ghhh, I'm kidding, Adam." Merrick giggled as he climbs off of Adam, and spanks him again, "C'mon, let's go wash up. Your musk is driving me nuts if you want me to stay off you."

"Mmmgghhh..." Adam whines as he drags himself out of bed and slumps along the side, feeling dizzier than before. Without even thinking, he just walks ahead without thinking of grabbing some shorts to cover himself like usual, and just drones out of the door and to the bathroom.

Merrick holds onto Adam's shoulders to keep him from flopping over as they go. "Oh, shh..." Merrick hushes lowly, looking at the living room, and seeing Arnaav wrapped up in the blankets on the couch, "Arnaav's still asleep." He whispered. Adam only sighs as they make it to inside the restroom.

Merrick turns on the shower for a hot temperature, and takes Adam in. Adam presses his forehead onto the glass wall of the shower as he keeps his eyes closed, letting his arms dangle from his shoulders as Merrick closes the glass door.

"Hahahah, are you REALLY that blown out?"

"Aren't you?" Adam asked.

"Not at all. I don't know what humans find so big and trying about alcohol." Merrick said as he lets the hot water pour down on Adam's back.

Adam groans as he waits for Merrick to do whatever, hardly caring one way or another what comes next -- not while his head is still swimming with concrete. Merrick hugs him from behind as holds him tight. "Mmmnnnhhh..."

Merrick holds him from behind and rests his face on the back of Adam's neck, pushing his lap onto Adam's bottom as they both get soaked and wet. Merrick loads two large scrub pads with soap, and starts to knead Adam's shoulders. He circles the broad shoulder bones along his back.

He pushes against the small dip just above the waist, before Merrick grins as he scrubs Adam's ass. Adam chuckled as his lover gets thorough with cleaning his butt, using just one of the pads to circle around one cheek, dipping into his crack and sliding over to the other. Merrick kneels down and firmly scrubs onto the back of Adam's thighs, and down to hid calves, down to his feet.