Deep Water

This story contains characters from a previous story of mine, 'A New Kind of Love', though it's not necessary to read that first, it might help you understand and appreciate the appearance of these two boys.

Reposting all of my older stuff back on here, and will (hopefully) be writing some new stuff soon. If you want to read all the stuff I've ever written so far, go to my blog (Just google 'The Inner Workings of Gweall') or wait for them to be posted here in the next few weeks.

Enjoy :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Devin cleaned the last of the debris off his lawn and looked up and down the street. Many people stood on their lawns or roofs or on the street, picking up things that the flood had brought to them. Finally the waters had subsided and people were starting to get back to their routine lives. Devin was glad, his house had hardly been touched by the flood and other then some over watered grass, his house was fine.

"Hi, Devin!" He heard his neighbor call.

"Stoph, how is Steve?" Devin asked. His neighbors had moved in a few years ago from the city, Steve was a cop and had become well known in the town for being fair.

"He's good, how are you? Any damage?" Stoph nodded to his house.

"Nope, I'm okay here." Devin said, Stoph smiled and nodded.

"Good, Don't think you and Steve will be fishing for awhile though, the whole lake was flooded and theres dead fish all over the place, I doubt there are any left in the lake."

"Damn, what a shame." Devin sighed. Fishing was one of his favorite things to do. On weekends he and Steve would go down and fish for hours. They were two of the few openly gay men in the small town and for the most part they had no problems.

"I need to get inside, Steve is wandering around helping people with the property damages and he should be home soon. You're welcome to come over for dinner." Stoph said.

"I would be glad to." Devin smiled.

"See you then." They waved goodbye and he watched Stoph leave.

'Maybe I should go check out the lake.' Devin thought to himself. He would have time before dinner and wanted to see how bad the damage was. He got in his truck and as he drove by the rows of waterlogged yards and houses he thought about how amazing it is that something as peaceful and natural as water could be so devastating.

He arrived at the lake and saw that Stoph was right. Fish lined the shore, which was much smaller then it had been before. The lake looked dirtier and the once clear water was now muddy and stirred up. He stood at the edge of the water and looked inside. He couldn't see anything other then the green brown water and a few fallen trees that floated around, or sat there half underwater. He heard a loud splash and looked over. Ripples spread from a single spot on the otherwise smooth lake. He watched the spot and when nothing else happened he turned to leave.

'I guess there are still a few fish left, better let them repopulate though.' He thought to himself as he drove off. If he had turned around he could have seen the blue green eyes staring at him from the water.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stoph prepared a delicious dinner of chicken, peas, and rice. Devin was already there and was helping to set the table when Steve walked in.

"Hey, love." He greeted Stoph and kissed the smaller man. Stoph had a large scar across his face and several other scars across his body that Devin had seen while they were swimming or if he reached for something high up and his shirt was to short. He never asked what happened and Stoph never mentioned it, eventually he had forgotten about it entirely and only rarely remembered that they were there.

"Babe, that was delicious." Steve said, when they had finished eating.

"Glad you appreciate it, I'm not a housewife you know." Stoph joked.

"I know, and I'm glad that you aren't. I like you with a dick." Steve smiled and kissed Stoph.

"Come on guys, I just ate!" Devin laughed. They joked around and ended up sitting down to watch TV but soon enough they just muted it and talked. Steve and Devin watched a ball game while they talked.

"So I went by the lake today." Devin said.

"Oh yeah I was by there earlier, doesn't look like there will be much fishing going on. But I think we can get it repopulated in awhile, will have to get some scientists or something to ship some fish in." Steve shrugged.

"That might not be necessary, I heard some pretty large splashes today, must be some huge fucking fish."

"Well that's good, the strongest survive right?" Steve sipped his beer.

"Bigger fish to catch." Devin laughed. Stoph whispered something in Steve's ear and stood.

"I'm going to bed, night Devin." Stoph said, and walked into their room shutting the door behind him.

"He's a sweet guy." Devin said.

"Yeah, I got lucky. If a certain someone had his way we would have never been together." Steve whispered the last part to himself, but Devin heard.

"Who?" He asked, Steve looked at him.

"Uh, you know, those assholes who are against gay couples and all that." Steve took another sip of his beer. Devin knew it was a lie, but if Steve didn't want to talk about it he wouldn't make him.

"I should be heading home, and you have a cute little man waiting for you." Devin gestured to the bedroom.

"Oh, boy!" Steve jumped up like a little kid on Christmas and skipped into the room, he saw him land on the bed before the door closed.

"Bye!" He called out, he heard the two giggling and rolled his eyes before letting himself out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Devin stood on the beach, throwing a football back and forth with Steve and Stoph sat in the shade, he never liked going out in the sun and kept hidden behind his sunglasses.

"Come on, babe come play with us." Steve begged.

"Boys." Stoph rolled his eyes. Steve chucked the football at him and it bounced off his chest and onto the sound.

"Ow." Stoph rubbed the spot on his chest. He picked up the ball and threw it back, aiming for Steves head.

"Asshole." He swore.

"You're not allergic to the sun, Stoph, I promise."

"You don't know that." Stoph smiled.

"Oh but I do." Steve walked over to him and dragged him out into the sunlight.

"Ooooh, it burns. The pain." Stoph said with no enthusiasm.

"I know what will cool you off." Steve picked him up and headed towards the water.

"Dont you dare Steve. Steven!" Stoph began to kick and fight. Devin couldn't stop laughing. "Steven James Bernard you put me down, this minute!" Stoph struggled but Steve was stronger, he threw him into the water and watched him come up coughing and spitting. He took off his sunglasses and glared at Steve as the waves pushed and pulled him. Devin and Steve were crying they were laughing so hard.

"Someone is sleeping on the couch." Devin said when he saw the evil look in Stoph's eyes. Steve bent to help him out of the water and was surprised when Stoph pulled him in. He whispered something to him and Devin could have sworn he heard Stoph say,

"I should have stayed in hell, at least I would be safe from you!"

Devin shook his head, why would Stoph say something like that? He helped both of them out of the water and they decided to call it a day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Devin arrived home after dinner with Steve and Stoph again and he realized it was already midnight, he didn't think they had spent that long talking. He crawled into bed alone and thought about Steve and Stoph. They got along so well and had been in love for years. Steve told him they had met in high school. They took a short break when Stoph had to leave for something, but then they got together again. He was amazed that after five years they still had the love for each other that they had in high school.

He wanted that, more than anything. He just wanted someone to be there for him that he could love and who would love him back. He wanted what they had. He sighed and crawled out of bed, he couldn't sleep when he would think like this. He got dressed and got into his truck, heading out to the lake. He stood near the water and looked for any signs of fish. But there were none. He heard a sudden extremely loud cracking sound and turned to see a huge, old, tree fall into the water. He covered his ears as it crashed into the lake.

"Damn." The tree was old already and the recent flood had weakened it to the point of breaking. It now sat in the water, roots in the air, and the top of it was dipped into the deeper water. He heard large splashes and saw that in the middle of the fallen tree, underwater, something was stuck. It splashed frantically and He ran to the tree as quickly as he could.

"Shit! Hold on I'll get you help." Devin said. He went around to the other side but the pinned man or animal was submerged completely. A hand flailed around in the air and behind him his legs kicked, trying to free himself of the obviously heavy tree. Devin knew he had no hope of lifting it but he tried anyways, and as he expected he had no success. He knew the man wouldn't last much longer and knew he probably couldn't save him. He ran to his truck and broke nearly every driving law created to get to Steve's house. He bursted in and found them sleeping peacefully in bed. He woke them up and told them what had happened.

"What do you mean someone's stuck?" Steve asked as he pulled on pants.

"I don't know, I was out by the lake and the tree fell. I heard splashing and someone was crushed by it. I couldn't lift it by myself, I tried." Devin sighed. Steve and Stoph stood silently.

"Theres no way he's still alive." Steve said, Devin nodded.

"I know. But we have to get him out of there still." He said.

"I know I know, come on." Steve drove there with Devin following him. They got to the lake and Devin saw splashing still.

"No way, it's not possible!" Devin ran over and saw the man under the tree still squirming, trying to free himself.

"I got help, don't worry." Devin called out to him. He put his hand under the murky water and it landed on a head. He stroked the hair gently, trying to calm him down. Steve tied a chain around the tree and attached it to his truck. He called out to Devin to be ready and Devin took the man's hand in his. Steve started the truck and put the pedal to the metal. The tree began to roll and finally it moved, Devin pulled and finally he saw the man's face. It was pale and he had beautiful blue green eyes. His hair was a sandy blonde color and almost reached his shoulders. His hair was braided into cornrows and beaded at the end. The beads obviously weren't plastic but made out of, what looked like, whale bones. That wasn't what attracted Devin's attention.

Instead of a pair of legs he had a long blue tail. Much like a fish but much larger. His hands were webbed and had blue claws and patches of scales on them. And on the side of his neck were gills. His mouth was open and Devin saw gleaming white teeth. Sharper than a human's but not as sharp as something like a shark. Steve and Stoph climbed out of the car and they stopped when they saw the younger man.

"Merrow." Stoph said, the creature looked up at him.

"Demon." He hissed in a soft voice. It was beautiful and sounded like a well practiced song.

"Ex-Demon." Stoph said. Suddenly the young man gasped and nearly passed out.

"Put him back in the water!" Stoph raised a foot and rolled the boy into the water. He turned and dived deeper into the lake, his long blue tail behind him.

"Stoph!" Steve slapped him on the arm for his rough treatment.

"Oh, he's fine." He waved a hand and looked back at the water.

"Welcome to the world of demons, angels, and mythological creatures." Steve smiled at him and slapped him on the shoulder.

"Huh?" Devin looked pale.

"Merrow's are... I guess you would call them mermaids." Stoph said.

"Merpeople." The man poked his head out of the water. He used his hands to tread water and Devin could see his tail through the murky water.

"Right, sorry." He apologized.

"Okay what the fuck is going on here?" Devin asked.

"I guess he washed in during the flood from the ocean." Stoph shrugged. "Wait, I thought Merrow's were fresh water only?" Stoph asked.

"Common misconception, males are also supposed to be ugly. What do you think?" The creature swam up to Devin and pushed himself up on the muddy shore, using his arms. He giggled and began humming, swimming away teasingly.

"DON'T listen to him sing." Stoph covered one ear for each of the men and pushed them down so their other ear was against his chest.

"Why not?" Devin asked. The fish man pouted.

"They're famous for luring men to their death." Stoph said. Steve and Stoph nodded.

"Oh." They both said.

"It's not their fault, they forget humans can't breathe under water." Stoph smiled.

"Thank you for the help." The small fish man said.

"You're welcome. What's your name?" Devin asked.

"Levi."

"Nice to meet you, Levi. I'm Devin."

"Hi." Levi waved and rolled onto his back and used his tail to paddle backwards. He floated on the water and watched the three men, every thirty seconds or so he would dive under water or dip his head under to breathe before coming back up.

"Do you have anything to eat? I mean I didn't think there were any fish left." Devin asked when he saw Levi's ribs poking out from his skin.

"No, theres no food here. A few small fish but nothing that will keep me going." Levi twirled and dived under water, coming back up a minute later.

"Can you hold out until tomorrow? I'll bring you something to eat." Devin promised. Levi swam up to the mud again and sat up like a seal.

"I only eat fish." Levi said.

"I figured, any requests?" Devin asked. Levi thought for a minute.

"No, preferably nothing canned." Levi said, Devin nodded.

"When you come, splash the water three times." Levi swam off before diving into deeper waters and disappearing from sight. Devin turned to Steve and Stoph.

"You two have some explaining to do." He dragged them off towards the cars.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Actually I didn't know that mermaids existed." Steve said, after telling Devin about how he met Stoph and what happened.

"Merpeople." Stoph corrected.

"Whatever."

"So we are on the same page now, right? Ex-demon, now human, merman swimming around, no secrets, yeah?"

"Nope, secret free." Stoph said.

"Good, now, anything else we should discuss about Levi?" Devin asked. Stoph thought for a moment.

"Merrow's are usually peaceful. Most of the malevolent stuff they do is unintentional." Stoph explained.

"Okay, That's good, I think..." Devin furrowed his brow.

"By malevolent you mean..."

"Luring sailors and other men into the ocean, drowning people they love, hypnotizing people with their singing, ruining fishing spots by feeding there, they're also very venomous." Stoph counted the things on his fingers. The two other men had a look of confusion and terror on their face.

"But really, they're said to be very very kind and good people. They care about nature more than anything else and are careful to not upset the balance, they try and leave nature to itself. That's probably why he hasn't been eating the few fish in the lake. He wants to let them repopulate.

"Huh..." Devin had a strange look on his face.

"You like him!" Stoph exclaimed.

"I do not!" Devin shouted.

"Oh yes you do!" Steve joined in.

"He's a fish!"

"Stoph was full blooded demon when I met him, and I love him."

"That's different."

"Why?" Stoph asked.

"I don't know, it just is. You don't have gills!"

"Nope, just a tail and some horns." Stoph laughed. Devin glared at him.

"Are you going to be okay until tomorrow? I'll bring you some food, any preferences?" Steve said in a high pitched voice, mimicking a love struck girl. Devin threw a pillow at him.

"I need to go shopping." Devin grabbed his keys from off the table.

"For fish?" Stoph called out as he opened the door.

"Shut up." He called without turning around, shutting the door behind him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Devin arrived the next day with a shopping bag full of fish. He had gotten several different kinds, he didn't know what kind Levi would like. He squatted near the waters edge and splashed three times like Levi had told him. Suddenly the stillness of lake was broken by a pair of eyes peering up at him from the middle of the lake. Suddenly the eyes were gone, followed by a blue tail. Moments later Levi appeared at the waters edge.

"You came back." He smiled.

"I told you I would, and I brought you something." He held up the bag of fish. Levi gave a happy cry and did a backflip and disappeared under water again. He came back to the surface and began singing with happiness. Suddenly Devin felt a strange foggy feeling come over him and he couldn't focus on anything. The bag of fish was forgotten in the mud and he had to chase after that beautiful voice. He Stepped into the water, shoes still on, and followed the singing merman. Levi was oblivious to what he was doing and only noticed when Devin reached the deep part of the lake and, unprepared, took that final step and plunged into the dark waters.

"Oops." Levi dived under and pulled him back to the surface. "I'm so sorry, Mephistopheles was right, Our kind do forget about what we can do." He dragged him back to the shore and pushed him up. By now Devin was coming out of his trance and looked around.

"Why am I wet?" He sighed.

"I forgot, I was singing and you followed me. I'm sorry." Levi apologized over and over.

"It's fine." Devin laughed. He reached over and picked up the bag of fish he dropped. And pulled out a fresh salmon.

"Hungry?" He unwrapped the fish and gave it to Levi, who stripped it clean of any meat in seconds. When he finished picking the meat off the bones he swallowed the head and bones hole.

"Okay, well that was disgusting." Devin said with a chipper smile. Levi blushed and wiped his mouth off.

"I know you said no canned fish but I thought you might like them, it's something you can save for later." Devin handed him a can of sardines. He grimaced but opened the can and popped one in his mouth. He chewed for a second before he shrugged and began nibbling on them.

"So if you don't want to be here, and theres no food. Why don't you just go back to the ocean?" Devin asked.

"And how do you suppose I do that?" Levi asked.

"Stoph was talking about how merpeople can turn into humans. So couldn't you literally get up and walk back?"

"Mephistopheles is correct, we have that and other abilities. But... honestly... I'm scared. I've never been outside the ocean before, everything I know about humans is from others of my kind or what i've heard from men on boats." Levi shrugged.

"I can take you." Devin offered. Levi still looked scared and shook his head.

"Come on." Devin prodded. Levi shook his head again, and dipped underwater until only his eyes were visible. Devin chuckled. He sat with Levi for awhile longer before standing and handing him the bag of fish.

"That should last you a few days, I'll come back and check on you." Devin said.

"Tomorrow?" Levi raised himself out of the water and onto the mud. Devin smiled silently.

"Sure." Levi gave a chirp that sounded identical to a dolphin and threw himself backwards. He disappeared under the water for a second before he burst from the water and flipped in the air. He landed with a large splash and sprayed Devin with water. Devin laughed and wiped the water from his eyes before Levi came back to the surface smiling.

"I'll see you later."Devin smiled and walked to his truck. He arrived at home before deciding to stop by at Steve and Stoph's place. He crossed the lawn between them and knocked before letting himself in. They had been friends for a long time and had an open door policy.

"Stoph you here?"

"In the kitchen." Devin followed the voice into the kitchen and found Stoph making a homemade pizza.