ᅠᅠ𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐄𝐌𝐒.

♤ ー Hi! I'm still around. Life is just a little stressful at the moment... I'm doing my best to be back properly soon.

ー with him down there... but as far as he was concerned, they've said all that had to be said.

No other words were needed anymore.

ー face so carefully. "I gave you a taste of what it's like to live as a man... and now... I want you to show me what it's like to live as one of yours."

Without warning, he submerged himself anew, pulling Caelus down with him this time around. He may not have been capable of communicating ー

ー it for hours.

Caelus's words were like a promise to his ears, honeyed and sweet and luring him in like an unsuspecting sailor that wanted nothing more than for them to be true.

"It sounds like everything I've ever wanted," he told him, leaning into those hands that cupped his ー

ー very same merman's wrists and knew that he'd found so much more than a potential cure in him.

"You really have a way with words. It's poetic," Aventurine laughed, the subtle but telling hiss in his voice returning now that he's revealed himself.

He could've listened to ー

ー to eat. He was as lost and vulnerable in the water as Caelus had been in his room before he'd brought him the tank.

...They've really come a long way since then, haven't they? He could recall sleeping with... well, his one eye open out of fear, but now he was holding onto the ー

ー scales on them, he would've marked himself as preyーeasy prey on top of it, because while he was capable of defending himself on land if he needed to, Aventurine's lack of experience in the water led to clumsy movements and no knowledge on how to hunt for something ー

"You know as well as I how people tend to react upon seeing these," he replied, looking down at his scales. "Pretending to be human was my only chance of survival... I couldn't go anywhere else."

With his legs that remained as they were except for the ー

ー transformation never came easily to him. Aventurine stared at his companion with wide eyes, his mouth parting, revealing sharp teeth and a forked tongue... but he didn't make a sound.

ー sharper and less elegant-looking than the merman's. The scales that were covering a good portion of his body were a lot more pleasant to look at. Glimmering in purple and blue hues, they were complimented by the colorful spectacle that already surrounded the two of them.

Adjusting to his ー

ー water.

What had been hidden beneath his clothes and eye-catching accessories during their first time underwater became much more apparent now that he wasn't wearing any of it.

Fins were starting to show on his head as well as his back, not unlike the ones Caelus had on his body, albeit ー

ー encouragement, he would've turned around and pretended that nothing ever happened... but he wanted to commit to what he's started. Aventurine was known for his boldness, after all.

Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and leaned forward, offering all of himself to the ー

ー least.

"Easy now," he told him. "I'm glad you're enjoying yourself, but I'm not nearly as home in the water as you are."

It showed itself in how tense his muscles wereー Aventurine's initial boldness was slowly but surely leaving him.

If it hadn't been for Caelus's presence and his ー

ー of his pain... and he wanted to keep it that way. Though there were signs that Aventurine wasn't of a sound mind, such as him hiding as soon as there was a possibility of rain, there was no point in divulging his every scar or the stories behind them.

...That's what he believed, at ー

ー this was whatーwhoーhe'd been born as.

"I couldn't think of anyone I'd rather share this with, either," Aventurine said with a smile, knowing it to be the understatement of the century.

Caelus was the first he's ever willingly shared this secret with. The merman didn't know the depth ー

ー and welcomed him... at least that's how he'd interpreted it in the past. With no one to confide in, he'd had to come to his own conclusions about many things concerning his... well... he really didn't want to think of it as a condition.

Conditions were something to be treated whereas ー

Caelus was right.

As Aventurine's form began to shift, so did the water temperature... or rather his perception of it.

The shivers that ran through his body soon ceased, replaced by a warm sensation. The water was recognizing him as one of its own ー

ー what all of this is really about...

Good for her, really. He's meeting people that are deserving of a well-aimed punch on a regular basis... but alas, professionalism and all that.

The soda is her last chance to get him something cursed. Better make it count.

He'll be waiting at one of the corner tables, still wondering ー

A challenger has arrived.

"Ooh. I'm partial to spicy foods... may I try one of these?"

ー that the merman cared much about these things, unbothered as he was about being seen without clothes, but...

...

"Cold," he uttered as he stepped into the water, feeling the familiar prickling sensation of his scales as they became visible on his legs.

ー it, the more he felt at ease with it, so he began to undress, starting with his shoes and his overcoat that he left on a nearby rock.

As his fingers moved to unbuckle his belt, he hesitated for a moment, realizing that Caelus's hadn't seen him nude before. Aventurine doubted ー

ー were feeding his paranoia.

But...

Why not? Why shouldn't he indulge in this chance to reconnect to a part of himself he's suppressed for so long? To willingly choose to shed his humanity rather than it happening due to something out of his control?

The more he thought about ー

ー widening. The colors that surrounded them were a beautiful sight, he could admit as much, but to lose his clothes and submerge himself...?

Without meaning to, he looked over his shoulder. It was highly unlikely that anyone followed them here, but even the slightest possibilities ー

ー while he was falling asleep. The offer to accompany him was taken with a nod of his head, so the two of them walked for a while, leaving behind the lights of their camp and the snoring of the sleeping crew.

"You want me to swim...? Here?" Aventurine repeated after him, his eye ー

"Can't seem to fall asleep," he agreed. "Or perhaps I was curious about your whereabouts."

It was the closest he'd get to admitting that he got used to Caelus's presence in his bed to the point of feeling like something was lacking when he wasn't holding him ー

ー in their temporary refuge aside from the occasional snoring, his thoughts were drifting here and there, ultimately causing him to get up with the intention to stretch his legs a little.

ー on his lips. He could've told them anything and they would've believed it, he was certain.

Aventurine knew it was time to sleep when he caught himself nodding off whilst staring into the fire.

...

As fate would have it, he couldn't fall asleep after that. Though it was silent ー

ー with no clouds to obfuscate it, it was an even more spectacular sight than before as they sat around their campfires and exchanged stories of past adventures.

The captain occasionally contributed something without going into too much detail, smiling at the way they were hanging ー

ー here," he said in a loud voice. His crew, as relieved about the opportunity to rest as he was, mobilized the rest of their strength to do so in record time.

The sun's disappearance didn't lessen the cenote's beauty anyー replaced with moonlight that shone down on the water's surface ー