Powerful C.E.O. Arthur Griffin spread out a map across his desk, a bright, red X contrasting against the nitty gritty of the old, graying paper. With a devious smirk, he picked up the receiver of his office phone, quickly dialed a familiar number.
"Gustavo," he greeted, smiling only growing when the man in response let out a gasp of nervousness. Without missing a beat, Griffin continued cheerfully, "Great news!"
James smiled brightly as he slipped into his wetsuit, so used to the abnormal feeling of water and dish soap and the waterproof material sticking to every inch of his body, it felt like a second skin. This was the absolute best part of the job, being able to dive deep beneath the waves and see everything marine biology had to offer.
"DOG! Are you ready yet? Hurry up and get in the water!" the small communicator hanging on his waist sounded.
…And that was probably the worst part, James thought with an eye roll. Dealing with his boss, the highly tempered Gustavo Rocque was always such a joy! And by joy, he meant pain in the ass, but, whatever. He'd deal with it as long as he got to do what he loved.
"Yeah, Gustavo," he replied, fastening the tank of oxygen to his back and putting goggles over his hazel eyes. "I'm going in now." His last comment, something along the lines of asshole, was muffled by the mouthpiece currently held between his lips.
Careful, as so he wouldn't fall over in his flippers, James crossed the rest of the distance of the wooden dock, and jumped into the water, immersing himself with a cool rush that always followed when he was in the sea. He took two deep breaths of the pressurized air, just to make sure everything was in working order.
"Hurry up! You're wasting my time which means you're wasting my money!"
But not even Gustavo's insensate yelling couldn't ruin James' good mood; the brunette just smiled and slipped farther beneath the surface, his smile widening at every small fish and animal that passed him on his way.
It didn't make sense Gustavo was so impatient, anyway. This was just a run of the mill dive, merely for observation, making sure the waters were fresh and clean enough for all the organisms to live. The man seriously needed a chill pill.
Oh, well. James never really spent enough time actually listening to Gustavo to give him a correct diagnosis for all his problems, and he was not going to start now.
He'd leave that to any doctors or therapists who dared.
Besides, he was too busy enjoying the view.
Going under the sea was always breathtakingly beautiful. Somehow, giving everything a blue tint made the whole world clearer, gave James a new sense of security and wisdom as if everything he'd ever want or need to know was here with the starfish and coral reefs.
Every Nemo and Dory that passed seemed to have a smile and little bubbles of hello, which James happily returned with a nod of his own. It was so much more peaceful down here than up there with crime and liars and pedophiles and whatever else bad people. The worse down here were tiger sharks and James was pretty sure he'd rather deal with that than Gustavo everyday.
As far as James was concerned, the ocean was perfect. If he could, he'd certainly pack up and live here. He settled for second best, getting a nice condo that overlooked the coast of California where the beach was his front lawn.
Luckily, when he moved, he was quickly able to find a nice job with good pay that allowed him to use his love of the sea for good. Made some friends of the other employees, like an overly hyper intern named Carlos and Gustavo's helpful assistant Kelly. He was sure he was on the fast tract to making all his dreams (a big house, bags of money everywhere, being surrounded with beautiful people, just like him) come true. All in all, James couldn't complain about his life.
James started to tread water, stopping at the ledge of what seemed to be a colossal rock, right before the land dipped into a large circular fissure. The water there was cooler and darker because of the lack of light managing to reflect in the seemingly bottomless sinkhole. The water there was a magnificent dark blue, standing out from the lighter, shallower shades of blue around it. Even the other fish and crabs seemed to stay clear of the blue hole, so James, smartly, did the same thing.
Taking a couple bags out from his belt, the scuba diver quickly collected a couple samples of different corals, rocks, and bacteria. In the corner of his eye, James could just make out something weird. As his gloved fingers moved away other pieces of stone and gravel, five fish scales came into view.
But they weren't like any scales James had ever seen before.
They… they were shining.
Brilliant colors and shades seemed to mix together magically to make up theses scales. A couple of them were almost pink with different dots of purple and streaks red, like magenta. The others were green. Or blue. Maybe both, 'cause when James held them up to get a better look, they changed colors as if they were merely holographic images or just a simple mirage.
"Whoa," the brunette tried say, bubbles coming out and sticking to his goggles, blocking his view. He quickly brought a hand up to smear away the obstruction. When he could see again, he froze.
Right in front of him was a—James couldn't believe his eyes—but a man? That was what was swimming before his goggled eyes. A man with a strong jaw, big nose, and an even larger mouth stretched into something like a smile. His eyes were green—blue—aquamarine? James wasn't sure, but whatever they were, they were beautiful, glowing literally with curiosity and mischief.
But the thing that made James do a double take was not the man's face, but his body. Muscled, toned, with faint lines separating distinct abs and a "V" leading down to his… tail. His giant fish tail.
What?
But it was true; the man had a freaking tail instead of legs. Just like his eyes, the tail was beautifully colored some tint of blue-green-aquamarine-turquoise and shimmered so brightly, it made everything else seem plain and insignificant in comparison—the once stunning ocean was left looking murky and dark next to this gorgeous man.
Slowly, James looked down at the scales in his right hand then back to the man's tail. This must be where the scales came from, the diver thought. The scales came from a mermaid? Or maybe the correct term was merman… but he wouldn't know, 'cause, you know, James wasn't exactly educated in the culture between fish men!
The merman's smile transformed into an impish smirk at James' obvious wonder and shock. With two graceful swishes of his tail, the merman was right before James. He arched a dirty blonde eyebrow as if asking a question, but then shrugged when James did nothing but stare at him.
Although, James had a hard time staring when the merman began circling him with outstretched arms to lightly trail his fingers curiously up and down the brunette's statuesque body, his already sluggish movements slowing even more when his hands were running along the diver's legs and flipper-covered feet.
When the blonde's interest with James' legs were satisfied, he brought his hands back up to the diver's shoulders, trailed them leisurely down James' bicep and tricep, down his forearm, around his wrist, and let his fingers dance around the diver's open palm.
The merman met James' astonished gaze and offered another smile before collecting the glowing scales and swimming quickly away. Within one blink of the human's eyes, the merman was already at least twenty feet away.
Only then did James get his senses back, finally able to move. He called out a quick, "Wait!" to the creature, flailing one arm to get rid of the annoying bubbles. He wasn't even sure why he called out, why he didn't want the mythological being to leave him out there.
Thinking never was his strong suit.
The merman turned back once more, amusement shining in those haunting eyes. With a quick wink and a little wave of departure, the creature turned around again and swam away.
James stared until the magical glow of the merman was completely gone. He blinked once, twice, four times. Did that really happen? Was it possible that mermaids and merman existed? Did James really just see—
"Dog! Get back up here right now!" his communicator rang out, breaking the diver's thoughts. "What's taking you so long?"
If only you knew… James thought, beginning his ascent to the surface. But then he couldn't help but think If only I knew.
Okay, so that's the new story :) I know there are a couple other stories about mermen for BTR, but I've never seen a Kames one; only some Cargan, so I thought I'd try my hand at it. How'd I do? I probably won't update this again until Satisfaction is done, that has about four chapters to go beofre it's finished. Hope you all enjoyed :)