3 comments/ 14817 views/ 22 favorites Deep Water Ch.01 By: Gweall 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. Deep Water Ch.01 "Sweet, did I mention I'm coming over for dinner tonight?" Devin smiled. Stoph laughed and nodded his head. "You know you're always welcome. So did you go see Levi today?" He asked as he threw on more cheese. "Yeah, he really is a sweet heart. He was so happy to see me. You should have seen him, he was doing flips when I said I was coming back tomorrow. Literal flips, like a dolphin." Devin laughed and stole a piece of cheese. He reached for another pinch of cheese but Stoph slapped his hand. "Ow." He sucked on his fingers. "Mermaids are really friendly. They get their bad rep from old legends and stuff. Back in the 1800's they were going extinct. They had to reproduce and they had no choice but to steal humans from ships to mate with. Unfortunately, because of the way they did such, the humans wouldn't survive." Stoph explained. "They could just mate with each other?" Devin asked. Stoph shook his head. "Mermaids can't reproduce with each other. Human's are their usual choice. They can also mate with dolphins and such but... yeah That's kind of creepy." Stoph laughed. "Agreed." Devin had a distant look in his eyes. "So you want some pizza?" Stoph asked. "Yeah." Devin said with little interest. "So you're NOT going to be here for dinner then?" Stoph smiled. "Yeah." "Good, because I was going to take Steve down to the seventh level of hell to have some caviar and guacamole." Stoph said. "Sounds good." Devin said absentmindedly. Stoph chuckled. "What?" Devin asked, coming out of his own little world. "Nothing, you weren't paying attention." Stoph giggled. "No, I'm sorry." "It's alright." Stoph looked at him out of the corner of his eyes. "I thought I should tell you, Merpeople don't discriminate. Male and female, its all the same to them. They believe in loving who you love. Not what makes the most babies." Devin looked up. "Thanks for the tip." He rolled his eyes. "And Levi was single." Stoph smiled. "How do you know?" "Merpeople are tattooed when they're mated." Stoph explained. "Isn't that a little... permanent?" Devin asked. "They know when they've met their mate. As soon as they've consummated their coupling they get tattoos of their mates name and such in their own language. They're quiet beautiful actually." Stoph said. "You know a lot about this kind of stuff." "I was the devil's right hand man for thousands of years. What did you expect? I know stuff." Stoph shrugged as he tasted the sauce of the pizza before putting it in the oven. "True." Devin shrugged and cracked open a beer. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Devin!" Levi chirped before Devin even splashed the water. "Hi." Devin smiled. Levi smiled before turning on his back and doing the backstroke up to the edge of the water, beaching himself in the mud. "How are you?" Levi asked. "Good, do you need more food?" Devin asked. Levi shook his head. "Come swim with me, Devin." Levi smiled. The water had cleared up fast and was almost as clear as it was before. "I don't know... I don't have trunks or anything." Levi gave a sad pur and splashed back into the water. "Besides, I don't really want to get we-" He was interrupted when Levi appeared at the surface again. This time on his back facing away from him, he used his large tail to splash Devin with lake water. Devin sighed. "Well now you've issued a challenge." Devin laughed and pulled his shoes off. Levi let out a scream and flipped back and splashed into deeper water. Devin chased him in and dived into the water. He opened his eyes underwater and quickly adjusted. He wondered if Levi could see clear underwater but not out. As soon as he thought this he saw the flowing body of Levi come chirping up to him. His voice was just as clear out of water as in it, even though it seemed he could only make the familiar clicks and chirps as a dolphin. Devin smiled and Levi turned, swimming into deeper water. Devin followed him but had to come up for air. "Oh yeah..." Levi said when he surfaced. "What?" Devin asked, pushing the hair out of his eyes. "Forget humans can't hold breath underwater." Levi smiled. "No we can't, but I can hold my breath for a decent amount of time." Devin dived back underwater. Levi followed him. Devin had been on the swim team in high school and college and still had the slim body and swimming skills. Levi spoke underwater and although he couldn't understand the foreign language he was astonished at its beauty. Like a whale and a dolphin combined. The sing song voice could drag any man from his home into the deep sea. Devin surfaced and Levi followed him. "Your language. It's beautiful." Devin smiled. "Thank you." Levi smiled. The gaze was broken when Levi swam backwards, splashing Devin with his tail. "Stop that!" Devin laughed and swam after him. Levi dived underwater and that's when Devin noticed the purpose of the beads at the end of his hair. They weighed down the hair so it didn't float every which way and get in his eyes. It kept his hair as neat as it was while on the surface. Devin chased after Levi but he was much faster than Devin was, and ever would be. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Devin, how is Levi?" Steve asked, as he was walking in from checking the mail. "And why are you all wet?" He stopped in the middle of his lawn. "He started it." Devin said with a straight face. Steve raised an eyebrow. "Uh huh... Well. You coming over for dinner?" Steve smiled. "Not tonight, I'm tired." Devin rubbed the back of his neck. "Alright well I'll see you later." "Night." Devin closed the door behind him and immediately showered and climbed into bed. His dreams were filled with the beautiful sound of Levi's voice. He dreamed about the shimmering blue green scales of his tail and how beautiful he looked underwater. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Devin was woken by a loud banging on his door. "What what what, Jesus." Devin rubbed his eyes. "Devin, come on quick." Steve ran towards his truck, where Stoph was already waiting. "What?" Devin squinted at the bright sunlight. "They're draining the lake." Steven shouted, without turning around. Devin was awake instantly. He grabbed his boots and ran after Steve barefoot. He put his shoes on in the car. They arrived at the lake to see it almost entirely empty. It was only noon, they must have been draining for hours. Steve walked up and addressed the guy who looked like he was in charge. "What's going on here?" "Because of the flood there was a lot of wreckage. We have to drain the lake and clean it up." The guy said hardly looking up from his clipboard. "I'm the sheriff here, and I'm going to need you to call this whole thing off." Steven said. "I'm afraid you don't have any authority on this matter." The scientist smiled. Steve cursed and nodded and Stoph and Devin, who raced off around the lake to find Levi. While Steve tried to stall the men. They ran around to the back of the lake where they couldn't be seen by the men draining the lake. And found Levi quickly. There was only a fraction of lake water left and it was obvious he was struggling. He barely fit in the small puddle that had been sectioned off from the main part of the lake. His gills moved quickly, struggling to take in oxygen from the more mud that water substance. "Levi." Devin gasped. He reached down and stroked his smooth skin. "We'll get you out of here." Stoph whispered. He looked up towards Devin. "We need to get him out of the water and dry him off. That will make him lose the tail and grow a pair of legs." Stoph explained. "Uh, okay here. My jacket." Stoph followed Devin and took off his jacket as well. They dragged a very heavy Levi out of the mud and onto the drier ground. They quickly wiped the mud and water off of him and within no time his tail was gone and a two long legs took their place. He lost the fins on his arms and legs and his gills had disappeared. And when he blinked you couldn't see the second pair of eyelids that reminded Devin oh so much of a shark. It became all too apparent that the new legs were all he was wearing. Devin quickly covered him up with a jacket around his waist and used Stoph's jacket to cover his shoulders. "Come on." He tried to pull Devin up but he only fell back down. "He's never had legs before Devin. He doesn't know how to stand or walk." Stoph explained. Devin looked down at the frightened helpless merman and bent down, he scooped him up and carried him around the lake. Without being noticed they slipped back into the truck, with Levi sitting against Devin. "Stay here." Stoph said and jogged over to Steve. "Steve, come on we can go fishing another time." He shrugged. Steve looked at him like he was insane and Stoph smiled, blinking innocently, nodding towards the truck. Steve looked at the truck and saw the wide eyed frightened face of Levi. "Bye." He said to the man with the clipboard before running off with Stoph. They climbed into the truck and drove towards home quickly. They got home and had a second of hesitation before Devin started towards his house. Steve and Stoph followed him inside where he laid the quivering merman down on his bed. He immediately grabbed a pillow and clutched it to him. "I'll be right back, okay?" Devin said. Levi looked like a frightened animal. Devin stood and left the room. "What the hell am I supposed to do with him?" Devin asked. "I don't know! Take him back to the ocean? I mean he was afraid to come to the human world right? Land? But now he is already here. So does it matter?" Stoph shrugged. "Please don't send me back." Levi appeared at the doorway. The three men shared a look. "Why not?" Steve asked. Levi seemed hesitant. "You can talk to us, Levi. We're your friends." Devin took his hands. Every time Levi moved his head the beads on the end of his hair would click together making a delightful sound. "I cannot go back." Tears fell down his face slowly. Devin's heart broke and he took the small man in his arms. "I wont make you go back." He whispered lovingly. Levi sobbed into his chest and wrapped his arms around him. Devin glanced at Stoph who just shrugged. After Devin finally got Levi to sleep, he Stoph and Steve sat in the kitchen sipping coffee. "I don't know why he would be scared to go back. As far as I know Merrow's are very peaceful creatures. They're all very loving and kind." Stoph shrugged. "He is obviously terrified of whatever is going on there." Steve said. "But what is it?" Devin wondered. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Good morning." Devin smiled when he saw Levi's beautiful blue eyes open. "Good morning." Levi said in his silky soft voice. "How are you feeling?" Levi shrugged in reply. "I think you need to tell me what's going on, why don't you want to go home? And why did you lie to me?" Devin asked. Levi lowered his head, it was obvious he felt bad about lying to Devin. "I just cant go back." Levi said simply. "Why not? I want details." Devin wouldn't back down. Levi seemed hesitant but gave in. "I have been banished by my people. If I return they'll kill me. Or the ocean will. Without a family I'll starve. Among other threats." Levi said. Devin thought for a moment, not looking away from Levi's eyes. "Why?" Levi sighed, like he knew the question would come up but was hoping it didn't. "I had an arranged marriage. I refused to marry him and shamed my family." Levi said. "Wait, Stoph said that your people value free love and all that jazz." Devin tried to understand. "We do. For the most part. I'm not a usual case." Levi said vaguely. Devin gave him a look to continue. "I'm royalty." Levi sighed. "Now was that so hard?" Devin smiled. Levi glared at him and played with the sheets. "Like pulling teeth." Devin laughed. "So is there anything that is actually keeping you in the water? Can't you just live up here?" Devin asked seriously. Levi looked up at him with a face that said the thought had never occurred to him. "Well, no. I guess not. It's just... The ocean is my home. I've never left it. I don't even know how to walk, how am I to survive in this world? When it's so different from my own." Levi asked. "That's what friends are for. Come on, swing your legs over to the side of the bed." Devin stood up from the bed. "Why?" "We're going to teach you how to walk." Devin smiled. Levi looked like he was going to be sick but did as he was told. After some struggling he managed to get his long legs over the side of the bed. Devin moved so he was on his side of the bed and, with hands under his arms, lifted Levi so he was leaning on Devin. "Whoa." Levi held onto Devin like his life depended on it. "I've got you." Devin promise. Their eyes met and Levi blushed and looked away. "Now," Devin started. "Walking is almost nothing like swimming, so this should be fun." He laughed, and Levi giggled. "Stand up straight, I've got you don't worry about falling." Devin promised again. Levi attempted to stand up straight but teetered back and forth ominously. "Now, remember to stay up straight or you're going to fall. Just one foot at a time okay? Lets start with the right." Devin moved behind him, hands still under his arms, and used his right foot to nudge Levi's. Levi slid the foot forward and looked like he was having balance issues. "When you move one foot, put your weight on the one that isn't moving. Okay?" Levi nodded. "Next foot now." Devin nudged his other foot and Levi moved it up to his right one. "No, no. Move the next foot further than your first foot." Devin smiled, trying not to giggle. When Levi had taken a few steps with Devin supporting his weight, Devin moved on to the more difficult subject. "Now, lets try some balance. Just stand up straight. With your feet apart." Levi did as he was told and looked up at Devin, who had moved in front of him, for approval. "Good. Now, I'm going to let you go just a little bit, try and stay balanced. I'm here to catch you if you need me." Levi looked worried, but trusted Devin, who slowly let him go. He balanced for a moment on his own and then nearly fell, but was caught by the vigilant Devin. "Good! Now, lets try this." Devin taught him how to catch himself with his feet if he were to tip forward or backwards. And soon, Levi was able to take a few tentative steps around the room. "You're a fast learner." Devin smiled. Levi smiled, standing on his own, before he began to fall. He tried to catch himself with his foot but only threw himself farther forward. Devin jumped out to catch him and barely made it. They both fell to the ground with a heavy thud. "I don't care what you say. Gravity sucks." Levi cursed. Devin giggled and soon the two had a laughing fit on the floor. "Good morning you two." Steve said, watching the two giggle and tickle each other. They looked up, blushing and Devin helped Levi, who still hadn't learned how to stand up after falling. "You've been learning!" Steve smiled when he saw Levi standing on his own. He nodded and beamed. "I brought food." Steve walked into the kitchen. The smell of breakfast floated through the house from a covered plate. "Levi do you know if you can eat things other than fish?" Devin asked. Levi shrugged. "I've never tried." "You seriously mean to tell me that you have NEVER had anything other than fish?" Steve grimaced when Levi nodded. "You poor deprived child, let me feed you." Steve pulled out more covered plates from a bag. "I don't know, what if it makes him sick or something." Devin worried. "Stoph said it should be fine, just as long as he doesn't eat too much." Steve nodded. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Steve's statement was soon forgotten as Levi got his first taste of food other than fish. The boy went mad. Stuffing every edible (And some not) item into his mouth. He moaned his approval whenever shoving a new piece of food into his mouth. Steve and Devin watched the young man dash around the kitchen, mixing different foods to the point of being just wrong. "Should we... stop him?" Steve asked, as Levi shoved sausage and bread into his mouth. "Have you see the teeth he has? Let him eat. Maybe getting sick will teach him a lesson." Devin shrugged. "Doesn't that seem a little cruel?" Steve asked, neither of them had removed their eyes from the tornado in the kitchen. "Eh, he has to learn some how right?" Devin shrugged. Steve nodded silently. An hour later, most of the kitchen was devoid of anything remotely consumable. The entire contents of the kitchen now sat before Levi in the white porcelain toilet bowl. "Ooh, it hurts." he groaned for the eighth time. Devin was starting to feel bad for letting him eat so much. "I know, it will get better, I promise." He held back the beads of Levi's hair and rubbed his back as he vomited again. "My mouth tastes gross." He whimpered. Devin reached over and grabbed a bottle of mouth wash. "Here." He raised Levi up and put him over the sink. "Swish some of this around in your mouth. But don't swallow it." He warned. Levi nodded and did as he was told. "Better?" He gave a weak nod. "Good." Devin picked him up and carried him into the bedroom. He laid him down on the bed. Levi immediately curled up and hugged a pillow. Devin disappeared for a moment before returning with a bowl, just in case. He set the bowl by Levi's bedside and told him if he was going to be sick again, to use the bowl. Levi nodded quietly and Devin crawled in beside him. He spooned against him carefully, rubbing his back and stomach trying to soothe the cramps that plagued the thin man. Deep Water Ch.02 "Seems like someone learned how to eat in moderation." Steve laughed as he walked through the door. Levi smiled at him and put another spoonful of cereal into his mouth. "Ah, yes, and we've also discovered silverware." Devin laughed as he came in from the bedroom, his hair was wet and it was obvious he had taken a shower. Levi stood up and walked over to Devin, standing on his tip toes he proceeded to smell Devin's hair. "We are still working on his addiction to shampoo. We've gone through four bottles in the past week. I keep telling him more isn't always better but the boy won't listen." Devin fake scowled. Levi blushed and moved away from Devin. "How are you adjusting?" Steve asked Levi, as he sat back down to eat again. "Good, Devin has been really nice." Levi smiled. "I'm sure he has." Steve eyed Devin. Devin blushed and Levi looked confused. "He means I'm sleeping with you." Devin smiled. Levi blushed and ducked his head down. "Are you?" Steve chuckled. "No." Both men said at once. "Thats a shame, you guys are cute together." Steve laughed. Levi and Devin glanced at each other blushing. Levi finished his food and rinsed the plate off in the sink. "What do you have planned today?" Devin asked Steve. "Finding out what you have planned today." Steve laughed. "Levi and I were going to go for a swim. You and Stoph should come." Devin said. "Sure. Meet you out front in like 10 minutes?" Steve said. Devin nodded and ran back into the room to grab his swim trunks. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Come on Stoph, get in the water." Steve begged. Levi splashed Devin playfully with his tail. "Stop that." Devin growled. "No." Stoph said from the shore. Splashing could be heard behind Steve again. "You wouldn't have gotten your trunks if you didn't want to swim. Come one what's better than swimming with a mermaid?" Steve laughed. "Merperson." Stoph, Devin, and Levi reminded him. "Whatever." Steve rolled his eyes. "Fine." Stoph caved. He put his book down and began walking towards the water. Levi chirped like a dolphin and splashed Stoph before he could even get in. "Damn that tail of yours!" Stoph shouted and jumped into the water. Steve swam up to him and gave him a firm kiss on the lips before swimming off. Levi swam up to Devin while Steve and Stoph played together. "Why did they do that?" Levi asked. "Do what?" "This." Levi said, and kissed Devin firmly on the lips. Devin stared at him and touched his lips. "Thats a kiss." Devin said. "Kiss..." Levi tested the word on his tongue. He swam backwards slowly, thinking. "Yeah." "My people call it-" He gave a short series of clicks and chirps. "What does that mean?" Devin laughed. "You do it when someone is sick. To help them breathe." Levi explained. Suddenly he pulled Devin underwater. Devin gasped and had no time to take in air before Levi pulled him under. He felt panic rise in his throat and tried to kick to the surface. Levi held him down and held him still. Devin only panicked more the more Levi tried to hold him still. Suddenly Levi's lips met his and he felt Levi's tongue spread his own lips apart. Water rushed into his mouth before Levi's lips sealed the gap. Levi managed to get rid of the water in Devin's mouth and breathe fresh air in. Devin inhaled and felt the burn in his lungs vanish. Levi continued to provide him with oxygenated air and Devin found himself breathing underwater. Albeit, with Levi's help, but it was still the coolest thing he had ever done. After a few minutes he began swimming back up and only then realized how deep they had gone. Eventually Levi helped him up to the surface, making the swim upwards a lot faster. "That was amazing!" Devin shouted once they reached the surface. Levi chirped and flipped backwards in the water. "So you do that when your people are sick and can't breathe as well underwater?" Devin asked. Levi nodded and spit water in his face. Devin glared at him and wiped it off. "What does it do for humans?" Levi asked. "A kiss? Oh its uh..." Devin tried to find the words for it. "It means you love him." Stoph chipped in. "Love? This is like mating for humans?" Levi asked. "You've heard the word before haven't you?" Devin asked. "Yes. But I never understood what you meant." Levi said. "You should have asked, but yeah it's like mating." Devin said. "But humans don't mate for life." Levi was swimming circles around Devin. Who was getting tired from treading water. "No, we don't. Usually, anyways." Devin said. "It's a shame more human's don't." Steve said. "You two are mated, yes?" Levi turned to Stoph and Steve. "Yeah." Steve laughed. "Why don't you have a mate?" Levi asked Devin. "I just haven't found the right person yet." Devin began swimming towards shore. "Yes you have." Steve coughed. "Quiet." Devin glared at him. "Man, swimming makes me tired." Devin said once he reached the shore. "Walking makes me tired. Everything is so heavy on land." Levi chirped. "I guess it would make sense for all merpeople to be as thin as you. Less muscle tone then us land walkers huh?" Devin laughed. Levi nodded much like a dolphin, splashing the water. "Tell me more about your home." Devin said. Levi swam up to the bank and beached himself in the sand. "Merpeople live in Atlantis." Levi said simply. "What? That's real?" Devin sat up, interested. Levi nodded his head and played with the sand. "Yes, centuries ago, it was a battle ground for a war between Mephistopheles and Michael." Levi said. "Mephistopheles is Stoph right?" Devin questioned Levi nodded. "The war lasted many years. The city was in ruins, but we rebuilt. At the end of the war, Mephistopheles used dark magic to curse the city. It sunk, and we were caught in its spell." "Stoph turned you into merpeople?" Devin asked. "Yes, Many angels died. They cannot swim." Levi explained. "Wow. So don't merpeople hate Stoph or something, then?" "For a little while we did, but now now. No, we thank him." "What, why?" Devin asked. "Above the water is bad. People are cruel and there is much war. In the ocean, it's just us. There's almost no fighting, no wars, our people focus on art, music, and magic." Levi pushed himself back into the water. "It's a beautiful place." Levi had a strange look on his face. "You miss it don't you." Devin said. Levi let out a soft gurgle of sadness and longing. "Yes, I miss my home. But I know I will never return." Levi said, sadness gone and only cruel acceptance in its place. "Levi I've been thinking. I want you to stay here. With me." Devin said, reaching for Levi's hands. "I thought I was staying with you?" "I mean more permanently." Devin said. "Forever?" Levi questioned. "I guess. I can't say for sure, for all I know you'll meet your mate and leave but... until then... yes, forever." Devin said. Levi smiled. "I'll stay forever." Levi said. "You cant say that for sure, what if you meet your mate?" Devin said. "I have met my mate." Levi used his arms to push himself up and kiss Devin, he giggled and rolled back into the water, diving under the surface. "Whoa whoa whoa whoa, I'm not your mate." Devin said, blushing from the kiss that tingled his lips. "Yes you are, I know." Levi appeared at the surface again. "How do you know?" Devin asked. "I just do. You always know when you meet your mate." Levi swam backwards. "But... I mean you don't even know me." Devin stood up, watching him from the shore. "I know you. You're Devin, you're human, you're nice, you-" "I meant really know me. You're just stating facts that any stranger could see." Devin laughed. "Maybe, but I know." Levi repeated. "But I don't know you. It doesn't work like that for humans, you have to get to know each other, go on dates-" "What's a date?" Levi swam back up to the shore. "What?" Devin asked, still lost in his rant. "A date, what is that?" Levi turned his head to the side. "A date is something humans do to get to know each other. You go out for dinner or a movie or something fun." Devin threw his hands up, not really caring. "Oh, we don't have that." Levi said. "I know!" Devin shouted. Levi ducked part of his head underwater, leaving only his eyes above. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell." Devin took a deep breath. "That's okay, I know you're confused. I'm confused about human customs." Levi said, he pulled himself up to the shore, sitting on the sand with his tail curled up, like one of the old mermaid pictures you see, all he needed was a hairbrush. "It's just that you're saying I'm supposed to be your mate. Like forever, and I don't even really know you." Devin sat down in the sand. "We have time." Levi smiled. ~~~~~~~~~~~ "He said he was your mate?" Stoph raised his eyebrows. "Yeah, I have no clue how I'm supposed to react to that." Devin sighed. Levi had fallen asleep earlier and Devin decided to let him sleep. The thin man tired easily, he wasn't used to the constant weight of the surface. "This is serious, Devin." Stoph said. "I know!" Devin sipped his soda nervously. "Well, congrats." Stoph said, toasting him with his own soda can. "What? You can't honestly believe I'm his mate." Devin said. "I do, They're never wrong about this sort of thing Devin. If he says you two are mates, you're mates." Stoph said. "What if it's just puppy love or something, I saved him and let him stay in my house." Devin said. "Nope, Merpeople aren't like humans. They mate once, and only once. Ever. The End." Stoph said. "Maybe he got it wrong, or he's just playing a joke or something." "They're never wrong. And this isn't something to joke about, not for them. Finding your mate is the biggest day of their lives. They spend their whole lives praying to find their other half. It's a huge deal. I cant imagine how he contained his excitement." Stoph laughed. "But... but..." "You're mates, Devin. Accept it." Stoph said. Devin sighed. He reached for another soda and found the box empty. "I didn't want soda anyways, I'm going down to the store to get a case of beer. I'll be back in five, make yourself comfortable." Devin said, grabbing his keys. As soon as the door closed a pale Levi stepped out from the doorway of the bedroom. "He doesn't want to mate with me." Levi made that sad cooing sound that his species does. "That's not it, Levi. He just doesn't understand. Humans are very set in their ways and are frightened by anything different." Stoph moved a pillow so Levi could sit. He walked unsteadily over to the couch and sat. He nuzzled his head into Stoph's neck and Stoph remembered how touchy Levi's people are. "He doesn't like me." Levi cooed louder. "He does, he just doesn't know it yet. I know you aren't wrong about the mating and I know he'll have the same feelings for you. In time." Stoph hugged him to his side. "Do you really think so?" Levi looked up at him. "I do." Stoph nodded. "Mephistopheles, will you help me with something?" Levi asked, suddenly. "What?" Stoph stared at him, confused in the sudden change of mood. "I need to make a date." ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Devin returned home to find the house empty, Stoph and Levi were both no where to be seen. 'What are they up to...' Devin wondered. He set his keys down and searched the house. On the couch where Stoph had been sitting. Something came up, had to go. Will talk to you later. ~Stoph "Alright then..." Devin threw away the note and sat down on the couch with nothing to do. ~~~~~~~~~~ "What do dates have?" Levi asked. "What?" "Devin listed some things but I've forgotten them." Levi explained. "Oh, you mean what do you do on a date. Well, it's basically just two people getting to know each other, spending time together. You can go to a movie, or out to dinner, or do anything really." Stoph said. "As long as you are with the other person?" Levi asked. "Yup." "Does mating count?" Levi asked, Stoph laughed. "That usually comes after the date." Levi looked disappointed. "What does Devin like to do on dates? I must make it a good one. So that he will agree to be my mate." Levi said. "It doesn't exactly work like that Levi. It could take awhile." Stoph said, they were walking down the street with Stoph leading the way. "I'll make it work. Where are we going?" Levi asked. "To pick out a place for your date." Stoph said. "Where should we go?" Levi stumbled and Stoph caught him by his arm. "Thank you." "No problem, I was thinking you two should go out to dinner, but you still don't handle yourself to well around food." Stoph laughed. "I've gotten better." Levi said defensively. "You have, but still not good enough to be around mortals." Stoph said. "Oh, well then where should we go?" Levi stepped carefully, trying not to fall. "I'm not sure, I was thinking maybe staying in. Have a movie night, you could cook something." Stoph suggested. "We don't cook our food, I don't know how." Levi said. "That makes sense, water and all." Stoph gestured with his hands. "You can order in, I'm sure you'll like Chinese food." Stoph laughed. "What's Chinese food?" Levi asked. "It's just a type of food we have up here." Stoph explained. "Oh." Levi seemed thoughtful. "What do we do?" "Well, you order in. Maybe curl up on the couch together, watch a movie, something that you two really like but have seen before, so you can talk during the movie if you wanted." Stoph shrugged. "What movie?" Levi asked. Stoph's eyes lit up. "I know just the one." He gave a wicked grin that almost scared Levi. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "What's going on here?" Devin hung his jacket up as he looked through the door. "A date." Levi smiled. "He means between you and him." Stoph laughed, at Devin's shocked face. "Oh..." Devin seemed cautious. "Well, I'll leave you two to it." Stoph smiled and skirted his way around Devin, out the door. "Did he help you plan this?" Devin pointed to the Chinese food containers scattered around the coffee table. Levi nodded his head with a smile. "He said you and I had to... get to know each other. It's not the way my people do it, but if it makes you happy..." Levi trailed off. Devin smiled and sat down. "It does, thank you." He grabbed a pair of chopsticks. "What are we watching?" Devin asked. "I don't know, Stoph said you would like it." Levi shrugged. Levi pushed a button on the remote and a Disney logo came up. "He didn't..." Devin shook his head. "What?" Levi asked, confused. Devin giggled as the movie started. Levi looked back and forth between him and the television. "It's the little mermaid." Devin laughed. "Huh?" Levi turned his head, still confused. "It's a movie, about merpeople." Devin laughed. Levi smiled and grabbed his own box of food. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ "So they throw me in the water." "No!" Levi laughed. The movie had finished over an hour ago and the food was long gone, but they still sat talking. "Yes! Now listen. So they throw me in the water- my swim trunks disappear. I had to run home, four blocks away, with nothing on at all." Devin laughed. Halfway through the movie they had grabbed a bottle of wine, and then another, and they were halfway through their third. Both of them were completely drunk now and having the time of their lives. "Your turn." Devin laughed and pointed at him. "Uhm, okay." Levi thought for a second, his eyes were glazed over and he wobbled slightly. "When I was five, my father grounded me for sneaking out." Levi began. "Wait wait wait, why were you sneaking out?" Devin asked. "We party under the sea too, didn't you see the thing? The... the the... movie! didn't you see the movie?" Levi asked, pointing to the TV. "Okay okay, go on." Devin took another sip of wine. "So I'm grounded, right?" Levi slurred. "Uh huh." Devin mumbled while sipping from the bottle. "And It's really late at night. And my friends come over, they had to sneak through my whole house." Levi giggled. "And they get inside, and we completely trash the place!" Levi laughed harder. "Your own house?" Devin chuckled. "Uh huh." Levi giggled and nodded his head. "And the next morning, my parents woke up. They asked me what happened and we blamed it all on dolphins." Levi burst into laughter. "And he believed that?" Devin giggled and rolled around on the floor. "Yeah. I was always the perfect son. He believed almost everything I said." Levi shrugged. "You lucky bastard." Devin chuckled. They sat silently for a moment and Levi rolled over to Devin on the soft carpet. "Will you kiss me?" He asked. "We shouldn't..." Devin shook his head. "Please?" Levi pouted. Devin shook his head slowly as their lips got closer. Their lips met and Devin's tongue brushed across Levi's lips. Levi opened his mouth and allowed Devin access. Finally they pulled apart due to the necessity of breathing "I could get used to human customs if all of them are that nice." Levi moaned. "We're drunk." Devin groaned. "Only a lot." Levi giggled. "We shouldn't have... what did we do?" Devin laughed. "We kissed." Levi smiled into Devin's chest. "Yeah, we shouldn't have done that." Devin giggled. "I'm sorry." "It's okay, it was nice." Devin smiled at him. "I'm tired." Levi sighed. "Me too." Devin purred. Soon both of the men had fallen asleep on the soft carpet of Devin's living room floor. ~~~~~~~~~~ "Oh man, I'm getting too old for this shit." Devin opened one eye and saw Stoph looking down at them. He rolled over and hugged a snoring Levi to his chest. "On the floor you two? Really? I'm NOT cleaning the carpet." Stoph crossed his arms over his chest. "Nothing happened Stoph." Devin groaned and nuzzled into Levi's hair, it smelled like the ocean. "Uh huh." Stoph said, rolling his eyes and picking up the empty Chinese food boxes. "It doesn't look like nothing." Steve came walking in, a large smile on his face. "Well it is nothing." Devin whined, wanting to sleep longer. "Hangovers a bitch I bet." Steve laughed. "Soooo glad I can't get drunk." Stoph laughed harder. "You can't get drunk?" "Nope, something left over from my demon days I guess." Stoph shrugged. "Believe me, I've tried." Steve winked. Levi moaned and buried his face in Devin's neck. "You two are a cute mated pair." Stoph smiled. "We're not mates, it was just a date." Devin shoved Levi away suddenly. The smaller man woke up suddenly and looked around confused. "Devin..." Stoph looked at him angrily. "We're not mates!" Devin shouted and stood, walking into his bedroom and slamming the door behind him. Levi looked down at his hands and tears began to fall down his face. "He'll come around, fishboy. Just give him time." Steve said, sitting down with Levi and stroking his hair while he cried. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Devin?" Levi knocked softly on his bedroom door. It was almost midnight and Levi wanted to go to bed. He was too scared to sleep alone and Devin hadn't come out of his room since that morning. Not even when Levi brought him food. He knew he was still awake because of the light that came through under the door. "What?" Devin said through the door, his voice was muffled but held a hint of something. "It's getting late... and I'm tired I was wondering if I could-" "Sleep on the couch." Devin interrupted him, he sounded tired and annoyed. "Okay..." Levi whispered. He walked over to the couch and sat down. He was too scared to ask for a pillow or blanket and instead just curled up on the uncomfortable sofa. He laid there in the cold for a few hours, unable to sleep, when he heard Devin's door open. He kept his eyes closed and was surprised when he felt a thick warm blanket cover his shivering form. Devin tucked the comforter around Levi and brushed a lock of hair away from his face. Deep Water Ch.02 "I'm sorry." He whispered to the, so he thought, sleeping Levi. He felt Devin's warm lips on his temple and then he was gone, his bedroom door shut again and Levi was able to fall asleep. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Morning." Devin said, when Levi stepped into the kitchen. He was making Levi's favorite breakfast, french toast. "Good morning..." Levi said quietly. "I made breakfast." Devin set down a plate of food. "Thank you..." Levi sat down cautiously. Devin looked at him and turned off the stove, sitting down across from him. "I'm sorry about how I reacted." He started, "This is all just happening so fast and to be honest I'm scared." Devin admitted. "Scared?" Levi questioned. "Yeah, I'm supposed to be your... mate." Devin swallowed nervously, "And I don't even know how to be a good boyfriend. What if I can't take care of you or make you happy. What if you got it wrong and I'm not that guy you thought I was?" Devin was close to tears. Levi reached a hand across the table and placed it on Devin's. "But I'm not wrong, and you are the guy I know you are. We're never wrong when it comes to mating. That's what you don't understand," Levi started, "You don't have to be a good boyfriend, or take care of me or make me any happier than I am now. I'm mated to you, just you." Levi said. Devin looked up at him nervously. "But-" "Just you." Levi repeated. "You don't have to change or be something you're not. Whatever plays out, it was meant to be and I'll love you just the same." Levi said. He stood up and walked around the table. He sat down in Devin's lap and kissed him tenderly. Devin returned the kiss and soon the two had forgotten breakfast and were on their way to the bedroom. "We cant go back after this, Devin. Once we consummate the mating, you can't ever leave me." Levi said when they landed on the bed. "I know." Devin said, and began kissing Levi again. He pulled his shirt off quickly and stripped Levi and his. Devin pushed him onto his back and pulled his pants and underwear off at the same time. Levi unbuttoned Devin's pants and pulled out his hard cock. "I should probably tell you," Levi fondled Devin's cock playfully. "I've never done this before." Devin looked up at him suddenly. "You're a virgin?" Devin's eyes widened. "Yes. I wanted to wait for my mate." Levi smiled. "Well you don't have to wait anymore." Devin kissed him and began stroking the smaller mans cock. "That feels good." Levi moaned. "Ditto." Devin kissed him again.' "I want you." Levi begged. "I know babe, I know." Devin rolled Levi over onto his stomach and place a hand on the small of his back. Levi arched back and tried to coax Devin to him. "Shh, hold on I have to get you ready." Devin kissed the back of his neck and massaged his ass. "Please." Levi moaned. Devin spit onto his ass and pressed a finger in. Levi moaned louder and pressed back onto the digit. "This wont be good enough for everything, love. I have to get some lube." Devin got off the bed and returned a minute later with a tube of lube and a pack of condoms. "Do we really need those? I can't get human diseases, and you can't get mine." Levi reasoned. Devin threw the box of condoms behind him onto the floor. "Then hell no we don't need them." Devin climbed on the bed. He poured a large amount of lube onto Levi's asshole and worked the lube inside with a finger. "Please, more." Levi said after a moment. "Hold on sweetheart." Devin pushed in another finger. Levi moaned and bucked his ass against Devin's fingers. "Please, put it in me please!" Levi begged and purred. Devin pulled out his fingers and lined his cock up with Levi's tiny hole. "Just relax babe, and let me do all the work." Devin kissed the back of his neck. He began slowly working his cock into the tight hole and Levi grunted as he was filled with Devin's hot cock. "Are you okay?" Devin asked, once he was about halfway inside. "It hurts, but don't stop." Levi begged. Devin pushed in again, this time slower, giving Levi time to adjust. Soon he was all the way in. "Oh gods. I never knew it could feel like this." Levi whimpered. He moved his ass slowly, adjusting to the cock in his ass. "Just hold still love, let yourself get used to it." Devin kissed the back of his neck. "Look at your chest." Levi said. Devin looked down and sat the strange tattoo forming on his chest. The strange foreign language crawled around his shoulder across his chest and up his neck slowly. "What does it say?" Devin asked. "In short, It's saying you're mated." Levi said. "I could get used to being mated if it's like this." Devin kissed his shoulder blade and began moving. He slowly thrusted his cock in and out of Levi's ass. "It feels so good." Levi grunted. "Feels good for me too, baby." Devin began pounding his ass harder. Soon their pace was matched and Devin was close to filling his ass. "I'm gonna cum." Levi whimpered. "Me too babe, cum with me." Devin whispered in his ear. Levi grunted once more and sprayed the bed with his release. Devin felt Levi's already tight hole get tighter. He couldn't hold back anymore and his own release filled Levi's ass. The two men collapsed and Devin rolled off of Levi so he wouldn't crush him. Levi turned onto his side and curled up with Devin. Both of them now had matching tattoo's. Levi's right arm was covered in the black script and it crawled up his arm over his shoulder and halfway up his neck. Devin had the same tattoo but his ran up his left arm and neck. "We match." Devin muttered, beginning to fall asleep. "We always have, and always will. It's just that other people can see it now." Levi mumbled, his eyes already closed. "I'm glad. I want everyone to know." Devin whispered. "I'm glad you're glad." Levi laughed. "I love you." Devin whispered, almost completely asleep. "I love you too, my mate." Levi drifted off, snoring softly next to his mate. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I'm coming, I'm coming." The knocking had dragged Devin out of bed and away from Levi. He was still groggy and he was walking out to the door in nothing but his night pants. "What?" he growled as soon as he pulled the door open. A shocked Stoph stood there. He looked up and down his chest, examining his new tattoo's. "No... fucking... way!" He shouted and ran off towards his house. "Stoph! God damn it." he left the door open behind him and ran after the retired demon. "Oh my god! Steve, guess what!" Stoph ran through his house and found Steve sitting at the kitchen table, drinking coffee and reading the paper. "What is i- ... Oh my god!" a large smile spread across Steve's face. Levi appeared in the doorway behind Devin. He too was wearing only night pants and his tattoo was clearly shown. "News spreads like wildfire." Devin grumbled. "I thought you wanted people to know?" Levi seemed worried. "I do want people to know, just not through that big mouth." Devin glared at Stoph. He hugged Levi to his chest. "What were you doing over at our place anyways? You usually just walk in." Devin laughed, keeping his arm around Levi. "Something is going on." Stoph got serious. "What?" "An old friend of mine is visiting." He explained. "How old?" Levi questioned. "Very old. A couple of thousands of years old." Stoph looked at him with serious eyes. "Oh... that old." Devin sighed. "What do we have to worry about?" Levi asked. "Doesn't he know you're human now?" "No, he doesn't. News travels fast in the demon world, but The higher ups and I managed to keep it on the down low. I was very powerful, famous even, if they found out what I did... everything would go to hell in a handbasket in less than a fortnight." Stoph shrugged. "Hell in a handbasket? A fortnight? Damn you are old." Steve scoffed while sipping his coffee. He stopped laughing when Stoph met him with a wicked glare. "So who is he?" Devin asked. "An old friend from back in the day. he's the one who helped me fight the arc angels. Back in the plague days." Stoph had a slight smile. "Hey, remember we talked about this. Plagues bad, living good." Steve sipped his coffee again. "Shut up." Stoph stuck his tongue out at his partner. "You still haven't said who he is." Levi said. "He's an Incubus." Stoph said. "What's an Inc-" "I'm an Incubus." A beautiful man appeared at the open door. "Can we at least get dressed before we start having brunch with demonic friends from Stophs mysterious past?" Devin said bitterly. "I don't know, it's kind of nice." The stranger gave a wicked smile. "Boto!" Stoph hugged the gorgeous man. "Mephistopheles!" The man returned the hug. "Boto? Boto the siren?"Levi asked. "The one and only." Boto smiled. "He was created when a Siren and a Incubus mated. He's half of both." Stoph explained. "Mephistopheles I must ask, what in Lucifers name are you doing here?" Boto laughed. "With a bunch of mortals? Disgusting really." He muttered the last part. He wiped his hands on his tight shirt as if trying to remove the filth from his hands. "He's a charmer..." Steve rolled his eyes. "It's a long story, how long are you staying?" "We'll if all the human men look like this I will be staying here awhile." Boto stepped close to Devin, placing a hand on his bare chest. "He's mated." Levi growled. "Of course." Boto pointed at his inscriptions. He ran his finger along the scrolling text and toyed with his nipple. Devin stood there shocked. "You would think with someone part Siren in them, you would be able to read merish." Levi stepped forward and pushed Boto's hand away. "Levi, don't be rude." Devin said, not taking his eyes away from Boto. "Devin-" "Come on, we should go get dressed." Devin pulled Levi out of the house, never breaking eye contact with Boto. ~~~~~~~~~~~ "What the hell was that?" Levi asked, once they were together in their room. "What?" "You were into him." Levi fumed. "I was not! I'm with you Levi. I told you last night, we're mated and I'm glad for that." Devin said, he seemed sincere enough and Levi nodded. "I'm probably just freaking out over nothing, I'm sorry. I'm just worried I guess." Levi said. "Why?" "I'm worried that I wont be enough for you. That you'll find someone else..." Levi said. "Don't you remember what you told me last night? I love you for you, not for what you can give me." Devin said. Levi nodded and kissed his mate. "We're mated and inseparable." Devin kissed him again and soon they were reaching for the bed. "We can't get into this." Levi giggled. "I just want to make sure we consummate our mating completely. Don't want to be half consummated." Devin said between kisses. "Devin..." Levi warned. "Pretty please?" Devin began tugging Levi's shirt off. "I just put that on." "Well I'll take it off." Devin laughed into his neck. "Devin!" Levi stood up, he ran from the room and Devin chased him, following his giggles through the house. "I'm gonna find you..." Devin played. "Nuh uh." Levi said from his hiding spot. "Devin." Boto let himself into the house. "Boto, what are you doing here?" Devin asked. "Just wanted to come talk to you." He slinked his way into the room. "Uh... why?" Devin questioned. "You're gorgeous." Boto said simply. "I have to have you." Boto pressed his lips to Devin's and forced his tongue inside his mouth. His bare chest touched the tight shirt that Boto wore and he could feel his tattoo changing. His tattoo began to fade and the script became blurred and the spirals and designs began to fade completely. "Devin?" Levi's voice brought Devin back to reality. "Levi..." He pushed Boto away quickly. "I thought you said... You told me... I was a fool to come to this world." He said suddenly. Devin watched Levi's tattoo fade until it was gone completely. He ran out of the room quickly, slamming the front door of the house behind him. "He wasn't that great looking anyway." Boto shrugged. "He's my mate, don't talk about him like that." Devin snapped. "Not anymore." Boto traced his hand where his tattoo bonding him to Levi used to be. Deep Water Ch.03 Levi wandered the streets aimlessly, people stared but he didn't notice. He wished he had never left his home. He wished he had never met Devin or Stoph. He wished he had never been born. He wished he had never fallen in love. The last thought cut into his mind like a hot knife and he let out another sob. He should have let Devin make love to him again. The more the sealed their bond the more impossible it would have been to break. The freshly made pairing was like a cut that had just scabbed over. It was strong enough to hold together, but the slightest friction would have broken it apart, now all that was left was an ugly scar. Levi brushed his side where his tattoo used to mark him as Devin's, now he wished it had never been there in the first place. You can't miss what you never had. But he had had it, and it had been wonderful. Even when Devin was mad at him, just to be near him made him feel whole. Now, as the distance between them got larger, so did the newly ripped open wound. ~~~~~~~~~~ "Stoph!" Devin crashed into his friends house. "Devin?" Stoph raised an eyebrow. "Are you okay?" He set down his cup of coffee. "Of course he is!" Boto came from behind him and put a loose arm over his shoulder, across his chest. "Get off me!" Devin threw his hand off. Boto rolled his eyes and put his hands up in an 'I surrender' gesture. "Is Levi here?" Devin asked, searching the room with his eyes for any sign of his broken mate. "No... he was just with you. What happened? Where's your tattoo?" Stoph stood up when he noticed the blank spot on Devin's chest. "It wasn't my fault, I swear!" Tears brimmed Devin's eyes. "Devin... what happened?" Stoph demand. "Just a little lovers spat." Boto laughed and ran a hand through Devin's hair. "Get off of me!" Devin shouted at the demon. "Stop get your friend out of here!" Devin turned towards Stoph. "Boto, I think you better leave." Stoph said, sensing what had happened. "You've changed, Mephistopheles." Boto's brow ruffled. "Get out." Stoph said firmly. Boto stared at him for a moment before turning and leaving the home. "Sit down Devin, now tell me what happened." Stoph pulled Devin down to the kitchen table as Steve walked in. "What happened?" He asked, mouth full of donut. "Levi's gone. We were just playing, you know... he was getting dressed and I didn't want him to... we were playing hide and seek and Boto showed up. He started coming on to me and he kissed me right when Levi came out of hiding. He saw us... God the look on his face!" Devin was sobbing now. "It's alright, Devin. We'll find him." Stoph stroked his hair and looked at Steve. "You don't understand, Stoph. I kissed him back! I wanted it..." Devin covered his mouth. "No, Devin, YOU don't understand." Stoph made Devin look at him. "Boto is an incubus. He's like a walking ball of pheromones. You didn't want to kiss him, he made you want to kiss him." Stoph explained. "Can I fix it? Can I get Levi back and... I don't know! Just help me fix it!" Devin sobbed. "We will, Dev." Steve put a hand on his back. He rubbed his back for a second before disappearing and coming back a moment later, dressed with keys in his hand. "I'll go look for him. Stoph you and Devin take his truck and see if you can find him." Steve said. "Devin, why don't you go lie down. Let Steve and I look for him." Stoph said. "No, I have to find him. I have to-" "No, Devin. Levi knows that it wasn't your fault, he's just upset right now. Let me talk some sense into him." "Will that fix it?" Devin touched his side. "I don't know." Stoph answered honestly. ~~~~~~~~~~~ Stoph drove down the road slowly, stopping to ask anyone if they had seen Levi. He had been following a trail of sightings and ended up at the lake. He climbed out of the truck, slamming the door behind him and walking to the shore. "Levi?" He called. "It's Stoph." He searched the water for any sign of movement. 'Go away, Stoph." Levi's soothing voice appeared in his head. For a moment Stoph had forgotten that Levi's kind could speak using telepathy. They didn't do it often, only when they didn't want to come to the surface. They could speak to each other underwater. "No, Levi. You know it wasn't Devin, it was Boto." Stoph stood at the shore, he kicked off his shoes and waded in knee deep. "Come on, Levi." Stoph begged. He saw the ripples in the water coming towards him. He sighed and smiled, he didn't want to go swimming. "Just one thing, Stoph." The voice in his head said. A chill began creeping up his spine and he shook it off. "What?" "I'm not Levi." A webbed and wrapped around his ankle and pulled him into the water. ~~~~~~~~~~~ "Devin?" Steve called out, putting his keys on the table. "In here." Devin sat on the couch, he wasn't crying but his eyes were puffy and red. "Hey, is Stoph with you?" Steve asked. "No, he went out to find... him." Devin didn't want to say his name, he felt dirty saying his name. "It's been hours. I tried to call him but he won't pick up his phone." "You didn't find him?" Devin's eyes began watering again. Steve looked up and sighed. He sat down on the couch and wrapped an arm around Devin. "No, but we will. Maybe Stoph found him and they're just talking things out." Steve said, knowing it was a lie. Stoph would have at least texted him. "Maybe." Devin didn't seem like he believed it, but was trying to anyways. "Come on, lets go see if we can't find them." Steve and Devin climbed into his truck and drove off. "What about the lake?" Devin said, once they had been searching for awhile. "You're right, I don't know why we didn't think there first." Steve rolled his eyes and turned the truck around. Devin's truck sat by the side of the lake, keys still in the ignition. "There, see," Steve said, climbing out of his own car. "They've got to be around here somewhere." He followed the footprints in the mud to the shore. "Thats weird, Stoph hates swimming." Steve said. "But Levi doesn't. He probably went in so that he wouldn't have to come all the way out." Devin nearly choked on his lovers name. "I guess. But that still doesn't seem like Stoph. Maybe up to his knees, but not all the way in. He can't swim very well." Steve said to Devin. "Figures, the guy who created Atlantis can't swim." Devin had his arms crossed against his chest, he felt small and weak without Levi. He wondered if he would always feel like this if things didn't get better. 'No, they have to get better.' He told himself. "Stoph? Levi?" Steve cupped his hands around his mouth and called for his mate and his friend's lost mate. 'Steve, find Levi.' A quick thought flashed through Steves head. He put a hand to his head. "What the hell?" "What?" "I don't know... I just got a flash of something, weird." Steve shook his head and stepped closer to the lake. 'No!' The voice shouted. "No!" Steve screamed, he held his head and stumbled back several feet. "Steve? What's wrong, man?" Devin shouted, he caught Steve as he almost fell. Steve leaned against Devin's truck and panted, holding his head. "Somethings wrong." "What?" "Stoph didn't find Levi." Steve shook his head. "Then where is he?" Devin asked, looking around for his mate. "The real question is, where are they?" Steve scrunched his brow, and headed back towards his truck with Devin in tow. "Something bad happened to Stoph. He sent me some weird telepathy thingy." Steve waved his hand around. "I thought he lost all his demon powers?" Devin asked. "Most of them, he still has a little bit leftover. Like a dead battery still has a tiny bit of juice left, but eventually it will be gone." Steve explained. "So he didn't find Levi, and he's in trouble." Devin thought outloud. "Yep." Steve said as they drove. "How is he in trouble? What the hell fucks with a demon?" Devin asked, and then blushed. "No pun intended." He smiled. Steve rolled his eyes. "Someone who knows he isn't a demon anymore..." Steve said. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ "It's Boto, I know it." Devin said. "You don't know that." Steve rolled his eyes. "Yes I do! The guy's a sleaze." Devin said. "can't argue with you there." Steve sighed. "Steve, look!" Devin shouted, pointing out the windshield. A small figure stumbled down the road. His beaded hair swung from side to side as he walked and his arms were crossed. "Levi!" Steve shouted, and pulled alongside the merman. "Leave me alone." Levi's melodic voice was filled with pain. Devin jumped out of the still slowly moving car and ran over to his mate, grabbing his shoulders. "Please, baby," he begged. "I'm so sorry, I never meant to hurt you. He kissed me I didn't want it!" Devin begged. Levi shrugged his hands off his shoulders and kept walking. "I just want to be alone." Tears fell from his eyes slowly. "Please, don't cry." Devin sighed. "Why shouldn't I?" Levi turned and yelled at him suddenly. "You hurt me, Devin..." Levi's voice got quiet and wavered with tears. "I know, sweetheart, and I'm so sorry!" Devin stepped in front of him to keep him from walking away. "Stoph said that you just needed time to think, and I know I should give you that but there's other things happening right now!" Devin hoped he could put off the hatred in Levi's eyes. "Like what?" Levi asked, completely uninterested. "Stoph is missing, we think Boto has done something to him." Steve said, climbing out of the truck. "Why would he?" Levi asked. "We think he figured out Stoph is human now. Stoph said it could get dangerous if anyone from his past found out. A lot of people have grudges against him, and the only reason they haven't acted on them is because when he was a demon he could have kicked their asses. But now..." Steve trailed off. "Now he's vulnerable, and he needs our help." Devin said. Levi looked at him for a long time. "This doesn't mean you're forgiven." Levi said quietly, and climbed into Steve's car. "I know..." Devin said silently to himself as he watch Levi walk away from him. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Boto, release me!" Stoph shouted. "You don't scare me anymore Mephistopheles. But I guess I really shouldn't call you that now, should I?" Boto walked around the ex-Demon tied to the chair he had dragged down to the cave, deep under the lake. "I swear to god, Boto if you don't-" "You swear to Him now, do you?" Boto glared at him. "That's not what I meant, you fool!" Stoph shouted. "Yelling will get you nowhere... Stoph." Boto said. Stoph glared at him and Boto laughed. "You're human, I can't believe this. There's been rumors on why you haven't been wreaking havoc and now I know." Boto stepped back from Stoph and starred at him for a long time. "Pathetic, really. I should do you a favor and kill you now." Boto muttered. "It's not like that, Boto. I'm happy." Stoph said. "With being human? Impossible, you're one of the greatest demons to have ever lived!" He shouted. "Was, I was one of the greatest demons. I'm not anymore, and That's how I want it." Stoph said. "You've gone mad. Probably that soul you have floating around in there." Boto poked his chest hard. "Steve won't stop hunting for you, neither will Devin or Levi." Stoph said. "Two humans and a merman, scary stuff." Boto rolled his eyes. "It's not what they are, that you should be scared of, it's what they'll do to get me back." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Are you sure it's safe?" Steve asked. "No." Levi said, staring at the lake. "But if he is down there, we can't just leave him." Levi said. "And you know where the cave is?" "Yes, I used to stay there when I was trapped in the lake." Levi explained. "Good luck, and be safe." Steve hugged him. "Levi." Devin grabbed his arm, as he started to walk off. Levi turned to face him and blinked, knowing what he was going to say. "I-" "Don't." Levi said. Devin looked hurt and Levi looked at the ground for a split second before speaking again. "Save it for when I get back." Levi said. Devin smiled and pulled Levi close to him, in a hug. "Again, this doesn't mean you're forgiven." Levi said, completely serious. "I know, but it means I have a chance to be forgiven." Devin gave a sad smile and let him go. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The water was a welcoming shock to Levi's quickly changing body. His legs fused together to form the powerful tail that would steer and propel him through the murky water. His eyes glazed over like a sharks to keep the cootie infested water out of them. His hands became webbed and were used to steer and pull himself through the lake and his spine and wrists grew the scaly blue green crests. He could heard Steve and Devin talking on the surface, but turned towards more important matters. He propelled himself forward and deeper into the darkening lake water. Once he got to the bottom of the lake an average person would hardly be able to see. His pupils widened and made nearly his entire eye black so he could see in the dark water. He searched for the underwater cave he had found his first day here and found it with in a few minutes. The gills on his neck opened and closed as he removed the rich oxygen from the water. He swam inside the opening of the cave and brought himself close to the surface. It was clear there was a fire in the cave, it should have been pitch black but he could definitly see light on the surface. He poked his eyes above water, staying as silent as possible. "I can't believe you would choose this, Mephistopheles." Boto spoke, his back to Levi. Levi treaded water quietly. Stoph glanced over and made eye contact with Levi, but kept his face the same, showing no emotion to Boto. "You wouldn't understand a thing about me." Stoph spoke. "Right, I know you. I've known you for hundreds of years, much longer than these humans." Boto gestured behind him blindly. "No, you know Mephistopheles. You don't know Stoph." Stoph said, quietly. "I found love, and friends, and family." Stoph said. "Your only love is for slaughter, your friend is death and your family is pain!" Boto shouted. "You're wrong." Stoph said quietly. "You can't honestly say you don't miss it." "No, I can't. I do miss it, every day. There will forever be that darkness inside of me. But I'm happy where I am." Stoph said, without hesitating. "You're mad." Boto shook his head. "I won't go back to what I was, Boto. As long as I have my friends and family, I'm staying right here." Stoph nodded. Boto's eyes lit up. "I can fix that." He smiled, he began to change, growing the crest on his bare back and arms, fingers becoming webbing. Levi knew what was happening and swam quickly and silently to the farthest wall. Boto dived into the water and swam out of the cave. Stoph sighed and watch Levi surface. "I knew you'd find me." He smiled. Levi cut the ropes holding Stoph with one of his hardly even shown claws. "We have to go, he's going to hurt Steve and Devin." Stoph said, stepping towards the water and looking in. He swallowed and licked his lips nervously. "Just hold your breath, Stoph. I'll do all the swimming." Levi said, Stoph jumped into the water and surfaced, he wrapped his arms around Levi's neck, making sure to stay away from his gills, and nodded he was ready. Levi bobbed up once, before diving down. Stoph shut his eyes and let Levi glide through the water with him on his back. He felt his lungs burn and began panicking. He opened his eyes and looked back and saw they were already to far from the cave to go up, and to far from the surface. He held his breath longer before his chest screamed to let it out. He breathed out, letting several bubbles rise far above them to the surface. Levi looked back and saw the drowning ex-demon. He turned and as his gills opened to collect the oxygen, he breathed into Stoph mouth, giving him enough oxygen to last till the surface. "Stay here." Levi said, once they were at the top. "No, take me, it's my job to protect Steve too." Stoph said. "It just means more swimming." Levi warned. "If That's what it takes." Stoph said, not backing down. Levi dived again, staying relativly close to the surface. He didn't know what Boto was, but knew where he was going to be. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Look." Devin stood from the bank of the lake. "You think it's them, or Boto?" Steve frowned and turned to look at the ripples swimming directly towards them. "I don't know..." Devin hadn't thought of that. Their question was answered when Boto surfaced. "Well, this makes things a lot easier." Boto smiled as he stood up with human legs. "Not as much walking, I do really hate walking." He frowned. "Where is he." Steve stepped forward. "I wouldn't worry so much about him, more about you two." Boto smiled. He took a step back into the water and began singing. His voice was low and dark, like molasses. He stood at ankle deep water and Steve and Devin stepped towards him. His voice coaxed them to him in the foreign language that belonged to the Merpeople. They couldn't understand the words, but they were well aware it was a love song. Their emotions boiled, and their minds drew blank as they stepped into the cold water. Boto backed up as he sang, until he was knee deep in water. He stood at the drop off of the lake, where it went from shallow, to at least twelve feet deep in less than a foot. He was prepared to change when the two men got close enough. His hands twitched in anticipation of pulling the two young humans down into the depths of the lake, forever. He had a sly smile and as confident with himself, That's why he didn't see the quickly approaching V of ripples in the water. Stoph was swimming around to his right, off to where Boto couldn't see him, and he crawled up onto the bank, hiding behind a tree until Levi was ready. Boto reached a hand out and Devin followed, their hands were centimeteres away and the arrow of ripples grew closer and closer. Boto grabbed his hand violently and Devin snapped out of the trance, Boto smiled and ceased his singing. Devin opened his mouth to protest, and Levi shot out of the water, wrapping his left arm over his left shoulder and his right arm under his right arm. He pulled Boto back into the lake, taking Devin with them. The three fell into the lake with a splash and Stoph raced to check on Steve. "Are you alright?" "Yeah, I don't know what happened. My head is all fuzzy, everything is a blur... where'd the music go?" Steve looked around. "Levi is taking care of that tool of a musician." Stoph glared at the water, where no sign of the three men showed. "Devin fell in with them." Steve said. "We have to do something!" He stood up from where he had collapsed when Boto had stopped his song. "There's nothing we can do..." Stoph said, staring at the calm water of the lake. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Levi swam down as fast as he could, pushing Boto in front of him. Boto thrashed from side to side, trying to get free of Levi's grip. His mouth was open, showing jagged shark teeth and his eyes were completely black,. Whether they were black with anger, or because of his enlarged pupils, Levi didn't know. He let his own teeth grow, and his claws on his webbed hands. The spines on his back grew longer and sharper, sharp enough to serve as a knife if need be, and they would serve as a knife then. Boto clawed at Levi's chest and Levi bit at his hands, letting his teeth sink an inch or more deep into the webbed flesh. Boto cried out under the water and managed to splash away from Levi. Levi shook his head and waited for the bubbles to clear, and when they did, he saw a furious Boto swimming towards him. He moved to make a defense but was to slow and Boto's hands landed firmly on his chest. He was pushed back into a large boulder under the water and he felt his head crack against it. Boto drew his arm back and clawed at Levi's face, Levi moved just in time to avoid taking four razor sharp claws, that resembled a cats, in the face. Instead, the four claw marks were added to the collection on his chest. He hissed and used his tail to smack Boto away from him. Deep Water Ch.03 Using Boto's own trick against him, he used the time Boto was dazed, to charge the other Merman. His teeth sunk into his shoulder and he tossed his head back and forth like a furious shark tearing its prey. Boto clawed at his back, trying to get away from the rows of pointed teeth. Finally Levi pulled away. The water was swirling with blood and Boto turned to retreat. Anger filled Levi and he chased after him, he was catching up quickly and with one final push of his tail, his teeth sunk into the soft, thin flesh of Boto's golden tail. He pulled back and his teeth raked the scaled flesh, tearing many long lines down and filling the water with more blood. Boto cried out and spun around to check the damage. He looked down at his tail and Levi attacked him again with even more ferocity. His head hit his chest as he drove him deeper still into the lake. They reached a point where they could hardly see, a human would be completely blind down there, and they continued the fight, though Boto was losing badly. He swam at a quarter of the speed he was swimming at before, and was almost hobbling along in the water. He struggled and sqirmed, trying to flee from the viscious Levi, to no avail. Levi sunk his teeth into his side one last time, and blood filled the already black water. Boto was lifeless in the water and Levi realized what he had done. His claws and his teeth vanished, the crests on his back and his arms shrunk back to their normal size and he turned away from the corpse of the half merman. He sat there for a moment, frozen with the realization that he had just killed someone. He swam slowly up to the surface and stopped, halfway up. Devin floated in the water, as still as Boto had been. His leg was tangled in the long pieces of kelp at the bottom on the lake. He was pale and his eyes were shut. "No..." Levi spoke, words garbled by the water. He swam as fast as he could towards his lover, biting the kelp free and grabbing him around the waist with one arm, he swam back to the surface. He splashed his way towards the bank and put Devin on the beach. "No! Please, no..." Levi touched Devin's chest. "Please, wake up, Devin... Please." Levi cried. "What happened?" Stoph and Steve knelt down by Devin, Steve began performing CPR and ignoring the talking men. "I was so angry, I didn't see Devin... I just..." Levi couldn't speak. "Where's Boto?" Stoph asked. Levi was silent. He swallowed and without looking up, mumbled "He's gone." Stoph stared at him a second and nodded. Before turning back to Devin. Steve stopped CPR for a second to catch his breath. "Don't stop!" Levi begged. "It's not working, Levi. I'm sorry." Steve shook his head. "No! It has to!" Levi put his lips to Devin and filled his lungs with air, before using his hands to pump his chest. He did this a few more times, Steve and Stoph looking at him sadly, knowing Devin was lost. Suddenly, Devin rolled onto his side and coughed up water. He gasped for breath and looked around him at his friends. "What happened?" He choked. "Devin!" Levi attacked him, holding his waist tightly and burying his face in his chest. Devin frowned, confused, but held the smaller man. "Where's Boto? Did we win?" Devin gave a sideways smile. Levi leaned up and kissed his face repeatedly, finally landing on his lips. The two kissed passionately, holding each other in each others arms. "I got him started you know." Steve crossed his arms. "I know you did." Stoph hugged Steve and the two kissed.