The Merman Boxset: Gay Merman Romance

by Aratare, X.

  “You’re naked, Gabe!” Corey giggled, shocked out of his silence by Casillus’ actions. “He stripped you—whoa, where is he taking you? Hey, Gabe doesn’t like to go in the water!” Corey grasped Casillus’ arm as the Mer began to draw Gabriel into the waves.

  Gabriel, tell Corey to release me! I must get you into the water now! Casillus cried.

  Casillus actually looked like he meant to push Corey away physically. The Mer clearly perceived Corey’s actions as a threat to Gabriel. However, his gentle best friend wasn’t trying to hurt either of them, but to save Gabriel. Corey knew the ironic truth that Gabriel had been afraid of water since his parents had drowned in that terrible storm.

  Casillus, it’s all right! Be calm. He doesn’t understand. He’s just trying to protect me, Gabriel mentally soothed the Mer before he turned physically back to Corey.

  “It’s okay, Corey. I need to get in the water. I’ll be much better when I do.” Once again he found himself yearning for the buoyant weightlessness of the ocean.

  “Gabe, I don’t get this. Why would you get better in the water?” Corey had kicked off his sandals and was walking into the surf with them. “You hate the water. You normally have panic attacks at the thought of just walking on the beach. So what’s going on?”

  You can tell him, Gabriel. I know he will understand. He guesses already, Casillus said as he studied Corey’s face intently.

  “I -- I have some things to tell you,” Gabriel stammered out.

  “So you’ve been saying.” Corey gestured to Casillus. “He’s obviously not all of it. So? What more do you have to say, and will my jaw literally unhinge and fall into the ocean when I hear it?”

  “Uhm.” Now that Corey could talk, Gabriel could not.

  “Gabe!”

  The surf splashed up over his knees. He swallowed. It was going to be hard enough to tell his best friend he wasn’t human, but he realized then that the far harder thing would be telling Corey he had to go into the water permanently in two and a half days or die. Having to go into the sea meant that all his and Corey’s plans for college next year, like the apartment they intended to share, and all their plans for a future together were going to be ruined, or, at least, drastically changed. How could he tell Corey that everything that both of them were looking forward to simply wasn’t going to happen? Corey’s worry-eyes were in, and Gabriel knew that while his best friend’s fear for his health would go away once he learned about the transition, other concerns would not. After all, how long would it take before Corey realized that everything had changed, and maybe not for the better?

  He will mourn, Gabriel, but not in front of you. That is not his way, Casillus said. The Mer knew that about Corey already because he shared all of Gabriel’s memories of his best friend. He was clearly plucking out the things that Gabriel already knew, but was too anxious to see clearly. Casillus continued, He will find only the positive things in this change. He will embrace it, and you. Do not be afraid.

  Gabriel reached back mentally for the Mer over their bond, and it felt like their souls interlocked for a moment. That gave him strength. He took in a shuddering breath. He could do this. He would do this. Corey would accept it. And he knew that the perfect way to tell his friend he was a Mer was by simply showing him.

  “Gabe?” Corey asked tentatively when Gabriel’s silence stretched on too long.

  “I’m going to get better in the water because of this, Corey.” Gabriel reached down and scooped up several handfuls of water and splashed them along his sides. Immediately, four slits appeared on each side of his ribcage. There was only the briefest hot sensation as they opened, whereas before it had felt like his skin was unzipping. The gills immediately started to flutter. He looked up at his best friend’s face to gauge Corey’s reaction. “The water will make me feel better, because I’m a merman, too.”

  Corey’s mouth was open in an “O” of awe. There was no disgust, just complete and utter amazement on his face. “You’re a—a merman?”

  “I am. Or well, more like I’m becoming one. The story that Greta told us about the Gods of the Sea mating with people along the coast? Well, they didn’t just mate with the Native American tribe at the settlement. They mated with the Europeans who came here, too, including my ancestors. Tabatha Braven, the wife of the guy whose journal I found in the basement, you know, the woman he killed? She had a Mer lover and had a baby with him,” Gabriel explained.

  “Greta” was Greta Anderson, one of the Miskatonic students Johnson had brought along to the dig site. She had translated an inscription etched on one of the temple’s walls for Gabriel and Corey during their visit to the settlement. The inscription told how the human tribe and the Mer had become enemies and described the tribe’s ultimate demise. But though she was Johnson’s prized student, she appeared to be working against him. She had been appalled by his obsessive behavior towards Gabriel and though it appeared that she, too, knew that Gabriel was a Mer, she had hidden that fact from Johnson.

  As for Tabatha Braven, she was an ancestor of Gabriel’s from a long time ago on his father’s side who had been killed by her husband Samuel after he caught her having an affair with a Mer named Aemrys Liseas. Samuel had tried to kill both her and the child, and, he had, unfortunately, succeeded in slaying his wife, but not the half-Mer baby. Aemrys had taken his revenge by killing Samuel.

  Gabriel continued, “My mom’s family must have had Mer ancestors, too. Because between the two of them, there was enough merman DNA to change me when I finally went into the sea.”

  “Holy smokes, all this time I was joking about finding you a merman soul mate and merman loving and all that and it was true?” Corey shook his head, still stunned.

  “It was, though I didn’t believe it until recently.” Gabriel cast a glance over at Casillus and knew his love was written large on his face. “Casillus seemed too perfect to be real. But my body wouldn’t let my mind convince me it was all a dream.” He gestured down to the quivering gills on his sides. “These are sort of hard to explain away.”

  Corey reached forward with one of his pudgy hands to touch the moving gills, but he stopped himself before actually doing so. “Can I? Can I touch them?”

  “Yeah, go ahead. They feel pretty weird,” Gabriel said, a flicker of excitement mixed with anxiety floating through him. Corey touching his gills would make them somehow more real than before.

  His best friend was so gentle as he lightly brushed the top of one of the gills with his chubby fingers. The purple villi inside fluttered and showed their tips along the edge of the gill, causing Corey to make a little gasp followed by a “tee hee” of delight. He touched the villi with his fingertips and Gabriel laughed, too.

  “That tickles, Corey!”

  “Oh, your gills are so cute,” Corey said and touched one again.

  “Cute? You think they’re cute?” Gabriel had not expected Corey to say that.

  “They are! They’re like shy little creatures that want to be petted.” Corey was leaning over now to study them with rapt appreciation.

  Casillus then placed a hand on Gabriel’s shoulder. You need to be submerged at least up to your chest now. Corey may observe your very cute gills underwater.

  Very cute? Well, then yours are the cutest ever. Gabriel flashed him a smile, but Casillus was right. Though his breathing was better than it had been at the settlement, it was still hard to get his lungs full of air.

  “Corey, I’ve got to go further in and get wet, okay?” Gabriel said.

  Corey’s head bobbed up and down in agreement. “Absolutely. Can I come into the water with you guys?”

  “Of course!” Gabriel said. “I have so much more to tell you.”

  “You bet you do! I can’t believe you found out you were a merman and fell in love with another merman without telling me!” Corey whipped off his shirt and shorts, only leaving on his neon-pink boxers.

  “You wore pink under orange?” Gabriel’s eyebrows rose up.

  “I li
ke color,” his best friend said with a wink. “Now let’s get you wet.”

  Corey drew one of Gabriel’s arms over his shoulders while Casillus did the same with Gabriel’s other arm. The two of them practically carried him over the rest of the sand bar and then finally into water that was chest deep. As soon as Gabriel’s gills were completely submerged he started to feel better and let out a sigh of relief. Some strength surged back into his limbs again, and the heavy feeling, like his body was weighted down by leaden bars, was relieved.

  “Gabe, I noticed that Casillus doesn’t say a lot, at least not that I’m hearing,” Corey said.

  “Mers don’t speak with their mouths. He talks to me telepathically,” Gabriel explained.

  “Telepathy, too? Whoa! That is so cool! But I guess it makes sense. It would be hard to talk underwater,” Corey said sagely.

  I can speak with Corey directly, but I must be in physical contact with him to do so. Once you are further recovered, I will touch Corey’s mind and he and I will know one another. If he wishes it, that is, Casillus offered.

  “Casillus can speak to you telepathically, too, if you would like that?” Gabriel told Corey.

  “Like that? Hell, yeah!” Corey immediately perked up and looked over at the Mer with big eyes and a happy grin. Casillus smiled back.

  He is such a happy, positive person, Gabriel. It is like being bathed in warmth when one is in his presence, Casillus said.

  I knew you would love him, Gabriel said, but then he dug his heels into the soft, sandy bottom as both Casillus and Corey tried to take him into water that was over his head. His fear of the sea suddenly slammed back into place.

  “No farther! Please!” Gabriel cried out.

  “Gabe, you all right?” Corey asked.

  Casillus asked almost at the same time, Gabriel? What is the matter? But the Mer had access to his thoughts and feelings and quickly amended to, Ah, you fear the deeper water.

  “This is far enough for—for now,” Gabriel concurred. His chest was tight again, not from lack of air, but with fear. He clutched onto both men. “I want to stay right here. I don’t want to move.”

  “But don’t you want to swim a little, Gabe? Or maybe float? You looked like death warmed over in the van and you only look a little bit better now. Maybe if you moved around in the water you’d recover faster,” Corey said with a playful splash of his fingers in the water. “I bet it would be easier on you if you were at least floating.”

  “Uhm, maybe I’ll float in a little bit. I just want to stand here for now.” Gabriel attempted to stand still even as the waves tried to sweep him off his feet and have him float against his will. But floating meant being at the mercy of the ocean. Floating meant danger. His legs though were trembling beneath him and he really needed to rest. If only he could just relax!

  I have to get over this! Gabriel’s thoughts tumbled over one another frantically, I only have two and a half days before I have to go into the water forever! What am I going to do? Clutch onto Casillus? Have a panic attack if we leave the beach? I can’t stay here like this!

  The Mer immediately tightened his grip on Gabriel. Do not think of the future yet. Think only of the now. And right now, I will hold you, Gabriel. That will allow you to enjoy the feeling of weightlessness while also feeling secure.

  O-okay. Maybe that will work. Gabriel remembered his recent dreams of swimming and how wonderful it had felt. He also flashed back to being in Casillus’ mind while the Mer swam. He had loved the sensations he had experienced through the Mer’s body. Maybe somehow he could love swimming by himself again. That seemed impossible at the moment, but he had to believe there was at least a scintilla of hope for him.

  “Casillus is going to hold on to me, Corey, so I can float without having a panic attack,” Gabriel explained.

  “Okay, sure.” Corey gently drew Gabriel’s arm from around his shoulders and swam a small distance away and watched them.

  Casillus pulled Gabriel’s back against his front and wrapped his arms around Gabriel’s chest just under the young man’s arms. Lay your head back against my shoulder, Gabriel. Let yourself relax. I will let nothing happen to you.

  Gabriel knew that the moment he laid his head back his feet would leave the sand. He would be floating in the ocean. Panicky tendrils of fear wormed their way through him. Sweat broke out on his upper lip and his heart trip-hammered in his chest. But his legs were also trembling, not with fear or not just with fear, but with exhaustion. He needed to rest.

  I want to feel the freedom of being weightless again. I miss it. I miss it so much, Casillus, Gabriel said.

  I know, Gabriel. It shall be yours again. This is the first step for you to regain your love of the water. I will take it with you, the Mer assured him.

  Gabriel swallowed back the sour taste of fear mixed with excitement as he forced himself to lean back. He rested his head on Casillus’ broad shoulder and let his feet rise up off the bottom of the sea floor. At first, every muscle in his body was tense. But with Casillus’ arms around him the waves did not buffet him and the current could not pull him out to sea. He floated in place. He rode up and down on the gentle swells easily. Casillus held firm. He was safe. His body relaxed into the Mer’s powerful embrace.

  Oh, this feels so good, Gabriel murmured as he let his eyelids slide shut. The golden sun shone down from above and he saw brilliant reds and oranges behind his lids.

  This is how it should be, Gabriel. Let yourself relax. Let yourself float, Casillus urged.

  “You’re doing great, Gabe,” Corey cheered.

  “Floating on my back is doing great?” Gabriel asked with a quirked smile. He didn’t have to open his eyes to know that his best friend was beaming at him like a proud parent.

  You are doing very well, Casillus assured him. He kissed the top of Gabriel’s head.

  “You voluntarily entered the water without someone’s life being at stake. I would say that’s pretty darn good,” Corey enthused.

  Gabriel heard his best friend paddle back over to them. He cracked his eyelids open and saw that the bottom of Corey’s luxuriant red, curly beard was getting wet, which made him look like a pudgy Poseidon.

  “Well, it’s not exactly voluntary,” Gabriel confessed. He swallowed and his gills fluttered anxiously.

  “Well, Casillus and I did carry you part of the way,” Corey agreed good-naturedly. “But you wanted to get in the water.”

  “I wanted to get into the water, because I -- I need to be in the water. And that need is only going to grow greater until …” Gabriel let his voice peter off.

  “Until what?” Corey asked, his forehead furrowing.

  “In about two days, I have to get into the water permanently or I will die,” Gabriel said. His lips felt numb as he uttered those words. He looked up at the sky rather than over at his best friend.

  Silence fell.

  I can’t look at his face, Casillus. I can’t see his anguish over this.

  “You would d-die?” Corey asked, shocked and grieved instantly by Gabriel’s words.

  “You remember what Greta told us about the last chieftain’s daughter at the settlement?” Gabriel asked.

  “She died because of a disease or something, didn’t she?” Corey asked. “I mean I know the tribe blamed the Mer for her death, but it seemed like natural causes.”

  “It wasn’t natural causes at all. The Mer mated with the tribe and she was one of the children born as a result. She was transitioning into a Mer just like I am, but her lover took her far away from the water. She couldn’t breathe on land. She -- she suffocated,” Gabriel said. He glanced over at Corey. His best friend was biting his lower lip and his brown eyes were filled with sadness.

  “Her lover thought he was saving her, though didn’t he?” Corey asked. “He thought she would be fine.”

  “Maybe.” Gabriel could not speak of the tribe without bitterness.

  While Corey had just heard the tale of what had occurred between the Mer an
d the tribe, he had actually experienced it. Gabriel had started having visions of the settlement’s past. In these visions, he had seen the Mer come to the tribe’s aid in their time of need. He had seen them mate and watched as some of the resulting offspring left their grief-stricken human parents to go into the sea with their Mer ones. He had understood how the human parents would have been angry with the Mer, but he also knew it was the bargain the tribe had struck.

  And then Gabriel had watched helplessly as a young, transitioning tribeswoman had taken her last ragged breath and died, because her human lover could not let her go into the sea. Gabriel had then seen that human lover incite the tribe to terrible violence against the Mer. He couldn’t get the images of death and destruction out of his mind. He feared he would forever see one of the tribe members bludgeoning a Mer child to death, her blood flying into the air like rubies. But the tribe had paid a heavy price for that slaughter. Cthulhu had made landfall and destroyed every single one of them, erasing them from history. Until now.

  The visions he had seen at the settlement started to flood over him again, and he had to thrust them away so the grief wouldn’t overwhelm him once more. He felt Casillus’ arms tighten around him in sympathy.

  “So what does ‘go into the water’ mean exactly?” Corey finally asked. “I noticed that Casillus got out of the water just fine. Can’t you do that? Like we can live on the beach and you can spend some time in the ocean and the rest of the time on land?”

  Gabriel opened his mouth to say “no” and explain that when a Mer first transitioned they needed to be under the water for a long time. He wasn’t sure on the exact amount of time, but it had seemed like years from what Casillus had described. Yet time wasn’t the same for a Mer as it was for a human so for all he knew it could be a hundred years. What it came down to was that he would not be able to be on land at all for likely a very long time. But before Gabriel could say any of it, Casillus spoke.