"Dad! I'm home!," I swam into the main room.
"Kaia?! That you?," he called out from somewhere else.
"Who else," I muttered and Reque let out a short laugh.
My dad swam into view and he looked relieved, I took after my dad more then my mother. I got his dark brown hair and green eyes, we almost looked liked twins. Except my dad had a dark sapphire blue fin and mine was a blinding white. He had started to grow a sort of beard, but it was just scruff now. My dad's eyes darted to Reque. "Oh... Hello Reque."
"Hello sir," he nodded his head, it was the customary way to address a member of the royal guard. My dad always admired the respect that Reque gave him.
My father turned to me," I'm glad you made it home... Thank you for escorting her, Reque."
"My pleasure, sir," Reque smiled then winked at me.
I turned away quickly, "Dad! Don't be so weird about it!"
"It's not... I just... I want you home safe," he looked at me and I saw in his eyes.
"Someone else is missing... isn't there?" I felt a lump form in my throat.
He glanced away, he couldn't deny it, I could see it all over his face.
"Yes."
The room rang with silence before I spoke again.
"Any word from mom?"
My dad still wouldn't look at me," No... not yet." My dad was very typical, he didn't like discussing heavy topics like this in front of guests, so he tried to move the conversation to a new topic. "Reque... are you staying for dinner."
"Oh... I don't think so, sir. Thank you for the offer."
I rolled my eyes, Reque was always so formal with my father, he knew that out of the two of parents, my dad was the one that liked him.
"Well, we've got studying to do," I grabbed Reque's hand and tugged him out of the room.
"Oh... yeah. I'll see you kids later," my dad waved awkwardly.
In my room, I immediately flopped onto my clam bed, burring my face into the pillow. I didn't really want to graduate and have to be a part of 'adult' society, it was such a mess right now. Disappearances. Tension with humans.
"You shouldn't worry," I felt Reque sit on the edge of my bed.
I sighed deeply," I'm not."
"You can't fool me," he joked.
I sighed again and peeked out at him, he was peering down at me and I saw the concern clouding his dark eyes. I rolled over onto my back," I just... I just don't want things to be so complicated."
"I know," he gave me a small smile.
"I just want humans to stay on land and merfolk to stay in the sea, everyone minding their own business."
"That's be nice," he agreed.
"But... so delusional...", he shrugged and I continued. "I mean, another merp is missing. What is that? Like 3 this month! And that girl, on the poster... she was from here."
"Kaia...," Reque looked down, he didn't know what to say.
"Why can't humans just leave us alone!," I sat up angrily. "Every since the old ages, the hunt us and kill us! Why!? We've never done anything to them!"
"You can't make sense of the their actions, Kaia. Humans don't make sense. They move on impulse... they don't think."
I fell back onto my pillows," I know," I rubbed my face, trying to stop thinking about it.
"Besides, we have other things to worry about."
"Like what," I parted my fingers to see him and he smirked.
"Like our quiz tomorrow."
It was such a stupid thing to say, so stupid it made me laugh. Reque had hat effect, he could always make me laugh.
"So soul bonding...," Reque left his sentence open.
"Yeah?"
"Any thoughts about it...?," he said casually.
I shrugged," It doesn't really interest me," I played it off.
"Oh really," Reque cocked his eyebrow, intrigued in the ongoing fib.
"Yeah, I'm more of a loner, you know? I think after graduation I'll just become a hermit, live in an old cove, scare children."
"A classic lifestyle choice," Reque agreed.
"What about you?"
"Well, after graduation, I'm going to join the Royal guard and then...," he shrugged," Who knows? The ocean is full of opportunities."
"You might even meet a your soul partner," I giggled.
"I've met my soul partner," he leaned over me with a playful grin and then his slowly changed. "But seriously, what are you going to do after graduation, Kaia. You've never told me."
I don't know," I shrugged. "I'll probably just become an Upper Reef socialite, be like my mom."
"Come on, Kaia."
"I don't know, Reque. I don't really care what I do..."
"There are a lot of bad jobs."
"I know that."
"You want to be a Scum Scrubber?"
"What? No!," I sat up quickly.
"Then you better find something... and soon," Reque said is sternly, and he was rarely serious.
"Don't pressure me like that! It's not like I've never thought about it!," I defended myself.
"Well... what do you like?"
My mind went blank," I... I don't know. I always admired people who did migration work."
"You do have an unhealthy obsession with turtles," he noted.
"No, I don't!"
He chuckled," Okay fine, a normal obsession."
"Reque."
"Okay, okay. Migration, huh?... that's a tough job."
"I'm not saying it's what I'll do. I'm just saying it's an option, there are so many other things I could do too. It's kind of hard to decide."
"I get that," he nodded. "I just imagine what I want in my life and I knew I wanted to do something important."
"Remember what Mr. Dicetzer says, 'There are no unworthy jobs'," I joked
"I'm not saying being a Scum Scrubber or a Current Guard is unworthy, I just have a preference... unlike you."
"I'm working on it," I said it to display I was done with the topic.
"What else do you imagine for you're life?," Reque asked laying down now, his head resting on my tail.
Instinctive I ran my fingers through his thick black hair, "I don't know... maybe move away from the Reef..."
"Really?," he looked up to me.
"Yeah, maybe."
"I could live in the deep ocean," Reque smiled.
"Oh, is that so?," I grinned.
"Yeah, the deep ocean is peaceful and calm."
"And who said you were invited to live with me" I smirked.
"I invited myself," he winked.
I chuckled," And you would commit to swim into work everyday? That's far."
He shrugged," A lot of people work on the Reef and swim in."
"That's true, " I acknowledged as my fingers caught in his curls.
Reque gave me a devious grin," And what about other things in your future...?"
"Such as?"
He shrugged," Such as a soul pairing?"
I played it off cooly," I don't know. Maybe I'll find the right merp to settle down with, only time will tell."
"Is that so?"
"Yes."
"Well," Reque sat up and faced me. "What are you looking for in a soul pairing?"
I felt a grin press against my lips but I suppressed it," Someone kind, who is gentle and sweet. Hopefully someone who can handle my attitude."
Reque nodded," All good points."
I stretched out on my bed,"I imagine they are dedicated and smart. In my head they are... tall and handsome. Preferably dark black curls and piercing eyes. I've always had a preference for a green tail, but who knows where that comes from."
Reque stretched out beside me," Seems like you may have someone in mind," he eyes were bright and excited.
The smile was too hard to force down," Maybe... I think I know when the right merp swims along."
"Oh, is that so?," Reque gave a throaty chuckle and leaned closer to me, brushing his lips against mine. It was slow an sweet, I felt his passion and love for me, something he was very good at showing. Reque brought his hand up and brushed the hair from my face and pulled me closer to him and his kissed me deeply. I wrapped my arms around his neck and intertwined my fingers at the tips and my tongue glided against his in a peaceful confrontation.
It was Reque who pulled away first, hsi eyes were wide and sincere, so beautiful and pure.
"You know I love, Kaia, right?"
"Of course I know that, Reque."
"And that I want to be with you, forever."
I didn't like it when our conversations got deep and serious, I loved happy, fun, light Reque. I had tried to steer the conversation away from topics like this, but now that graduation was approaching, Reque had been more persistent to discuss them. I bit my lip and looked down, fiddling with my hands. Reque noticed my nervousness, he took my hands in his and kissed my fingers, causing me to give a small smile and a deep blush.
"I don't want to rush you," Reque said once his was finished. "I just want you to know that I am committed to us. I know what I want, Kaia and it's you."
He was always a romantic, so sweet and meaningful, his words felt like miniature poems specialized just for me.
"I love you, Reque," I assured him to which he gave a small content smile.
This was my go to answer, my way to comfort him without actually saying anything. I did love him, I really did, but I hated thinking about the future. I just wanted to be with him in the here and now.
