Another day dawned, the sea birds crying loudly outside to the sound of the surf beating the sands.
Aizawa's wounds were scabbed over in a day but it took several weeks for his wounded eye to heal. Thankfully he kept his sight, but in addition to the scar from the moray and a few sucker marks, he now had a rough crescent underneath his eye. He was doubly lucky this didn't bother him, since he never worried about his physical appearance, only fitness.
He yawned and began a careful stretching routine, testing his body for any sign of pain or weakness. The exercises he'd been doing kept him relatively fit and most of the pain was gone, save for a twinge in his badly-scarred elbow that came and went.
Elly slept every night in the aquarium now and brought a small air mattress for that purpose with a pump she could store during the day. She joked with her colleagues that she was saving so much money on utilities at her house because she barely set foot in it anymore. He pulled himself up out of the water to watch her sleep, his tail dangling in the pool while his stomach lay on the cold concrete. She murmured under her breath and rolled over facing him, frowning as her hair got caught in her mouth.
Aizawa reached over and brushed it lightly back out of the way. Her eyes opened, and the soft smile on her lips caused his heart to beat faster.
"Good morning."
"It's super early," she yawned, glancing up at the display on one of the computer screens.
"Yes."
"Do you mind if I come for a swim with you?" She sat up and crossed her legs, stretching her arms over her head with a mild grimace. She slept every night in a pair of loose pants and shirt after showering at home, but she always brought a change of dry clothing. Everyone on her staff - including her -- also kept wetsuits and a couple singlets at work. He nodded and sat back to wait as she left to change.
Elly came out still yawning, but she dove cleanly into the pool from the far end and swam to Aizawa. When she surfaced he did too and he smiled without a show of teeth, beckoning to her. "Come sit with me."
Elly swam near but was unable to sit since he had no lap. She paused, uncertain, but then he reached out and grasped her legs, guiding them around his waist to curl while her rear rested on his belly-up tail. The spotted shark tail undulated through the water and keep their upper bodies above.
"Your tail is so strong," she marveled quietly. Aizawa caught his breath, and she realized a compliment like that was likely to be important to him. "And so handsome. The pattern is gorgeous." She was right; his breathing had definitely picked up.
"Thank you." His voice was rough with emotion, his eyes warm as his ears slowly fluttered up and down.
She sighed and touched his long, dark hair, stroking the wet locks and stopping when she got to the webbed flaps. He purred deep in his throat when she traced them with a careful fingertip.
"I absolutely love that," Elly smiled. "It's so <i>cute</i>, especially since you're so - so built and, I don't know how to say this..."
"Scruffy? Scarred and beaten-up looking?" He laughed softly without any rancor.
"I like how you look," she insisted, her hands wandering lower but skirting past the closed gills on his neck. "And when you make that sound, it's like a big, wild kitten and it's <i>adorable</i>."
"Do you want to touch here?" He held her wrist and guided her to his neck. "You skipped that part."
"I - well, isn't it dangerous?"
"And extremely sensitive," he agreed with a low, sensual hum. "<i>No one</i> touches a mer's gills without consent."
"I - I can move in a downward motion, right?"
He nodded. "Don't go against the ridges, and don't pick at them. But you can gently pet down."
Elly swallowed nervously and stroked as lightly as she could, once. "It's firm on the outside," she said as if this surprised her.
He shuddered and his grasp on her waist grew tighter at the forbidden touch. "<i>I want to kiss you</i>," he gasped all at once, snapping at the air in frustration. "I want to kiss you so <i>badly</i>, but I'll hurt you."
"By kissing me?" She sounded perplexed, so he demonstrated on his arm, feeling only a little foolish.
"That's <i>biting</i>!" Her eyes went wide.
"Do you - how do humans kiss, then?"
"Like this." She held his face in both hands and pressed her lips to his.
Aizawa remained very still throughout, his eyes wide at first in total shock. She was a shark specialist that <i>knew</i> how dangerous his teeth were, yet she got this close! The kiss was a different sensation than anything he'd experienced and he closed his eyes to better feel when she licked his mouth lightly.
And then it was over.
"It's a bit more than that," she panted, out of breath, "for us, but you have razor-sharp teeth. That's as far as we can take it."
"I - if I didn't? How far..?"
"Um." The pretty blush on her cheeks deepened. "We could open our mouths and touch tongues."
"Hmm." Aizawa rubbed at the back of his neck, pulling his tail down to hide the bulge forming underneath. She slipped her legs off from his waist and floated freely. <i>Human kissing like that sounds even more erotic</i>. "I like it." He pulled her closer, his hands sliding low on her back. "Can I try?"
She swallowed hard and nodded. He eagerly set his mouth on hers and resisted the urge to do anything other than stay still. It was better to be safe than sorry, though he was plenty sorry he couldn't deepen the kiss.
"I never told you, but your hair is beautiful. And it's even better underwater," he murmured. "Colorful and short, waving around like a pretty anemone. I knew I would fall in love with you the first time I saw you."
"Oh, Aizawa." Her voice broke and she sank further into his arms.
They heard an embarrassed cough a few feet away and turned to find the only other woman on her special staff standing there with her hands awkwardly held behind her back.
Elly got her feet under her and walked out of the pool while he swam around to meet them. "What's up?"
"Word got out about your necklace," she said timidly. "I'm afraid I posted some images. I only wanted to know what wreck it had come from!"
"Uh oh."
"We might get a visit from the government about it. I think the local maritime facility was interested."
"Oh, geez. Not <i>that</i> guy."
"I'm sorry, it's all my fault!" She wrung her hands together.
Elly shook her head. "I filed the paperwork for it like I was supposed to. It's not your fault."
"Yeah, but -"
"It's <i>not</i> your fault, Jolene. Honestly."
The woman sighed. "You'd better get the rest of the team solid on the story of how you found it."
"Oh, dear."
Aizawa interrupted. "Can't you say your - ahhh. I don't know the word, that I found it..."
"Boyfriend?" The woman smiled slyly at the odd couple.
"Is that right?" He looked over at Elly.
"To you, probably not. You'd mean more like -" It was her turn to stop, a bashful blush staining her cheeks. "Oh. Oh, dear."
"What? Ches? Are you okay?" Aizawa was immediately concerned.
"<i>Fiance</i>?" Jolene whispered, one eyebrow raised.
Elly nodded, her hands pressed to her now-flaming cheeks. "<i>That's it.</i>" Yagi had told her, but saying it herself drove it home.
Aizawa heard, of course. He recognized her distress, though, and didn't press further. He filed away the unknown word to ask Yagi or Hizashi the next time he saw them.
"I'm okay," she said when she came back to the pool. "I knew what it meant, I did, but this necklace means more to me than that. Now I'm kind of upset."
"Why?" He kept his tone as neutral as he could.
"We have to report any treasure found. I may have to give it up, and after you got so - so hurt, you got so ..." She shook her head and wiped at her eyes. "I don't wanna. It's mine."
He frowned. <i>What kind of monster would make someone give up their Gift</i>?
"But that's neither here nor there. If the government says I need to relinquish it, I have to."
<i>We'll see about that</i>, he thought with a frown.
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