HELLO MY LOVELIES~! CHAPTER TWO~~~
Arthur scanned the beach, looking through every rock formation he came across, sliding in each just to be sure Kiku hadn't fallen asleep within them and Arthur just hadn't seen him."Kiku? Kiku are you in here?" Arthur called into the small formation. It was big enough for Arthur to fit into but only barely as he searched for his oceanic friend. He was about to leave when he heard a familiar sleepy moan. Arthur chuckled to himself as he continued on in the formation until he found the culprit of the sound, the merman fast asleep with his crimson tail submerged in water. Kiku was leaning against a rock with his head lolling to the side as he slept peacefully, reminding Arthur of a Greek exchange student he knew. Quietly laughing once more Arthur approached his friend. Kneeling down beside him he nudged his shoulder gently.
"Kiku. Kiku wake up." Arthur tried, only to have Kiku roll over, taking Arthur with him. Seeing their faces so close together Arthur turned beet red, and certainly DID NOT shriek at the temperature of the water. Arthur would never admit that he wanted nothing more than to stay curled up in Kiku's arms(aside from the cold water of course), but he also knew that they had to go and Arthur was afraid of how Kiku would react to such close contact. The LAST thing Arthur wanted to do was to ruin his relationship with Kiku.
"K-KIKU! Kiku wake up!" the sleepy merman reluctantly opened his eyes, but it took him a moment to register how close he and Arthur had become. Jolting in surprise and blushing from ear to ear Kiku promptly let go of his land dwelling friend.
"I-I'm sorry!" Kiku stammered embarrassedly, wanting so bad to just hide away and pretend he hadn't just been cuddling his best friend.
"I-it's okay… I just,*clears throat* it was my fault for waking you, I should have let you sleep…" Arthur said, trying and failing to appear calm. Kiku shook his head.
"N-no, it's fine…" he stated shyly as he started to slip out of the cave like formation and out into the open. Arthur followed suit, stretching out as soon as he was able as his spine hadn't taken too kindly to hunching over for so long. Looking out to the ocean Arthur scanned for Kiku once more, finding him quickly after the merman surfaced the water a little ways out.
"There you are." Arthur chuckled as he twisted himself to crack his aching back before treading the water.
"Here I am~" Kiku cooed, turning over in the water as he swam between Arthur's legs and making him fall towards the drop-off point where Kiku quickly caught him.
"Whoa! K-Kiku!" Arthur cried as he fell into Kiku's arms. The sly merman quickly covered his smirk as he swam Arthur closer to shore again.
"Thank you, but please don't do that again." Arthur complained as he stood in the shallows, fiddling with his soaked clothes. Kiku nodded in reply with an almost smug smile as he started to swim around Arthur again playfully. Arthur couldn't help but smile again as he watched. He had so many questions for Kiku but hadn't the foggiest about how to ask. Deciding not to fret over it he began to play with Kiku and as the time passed he couldn't remember ever having so much fun! The two played in the water for hours, hardly noticing the time flying past as they simply enjoyed the other's company.
"Kiku… what's it like? Being a merperson and all? What's it like where you live?" Arthur asked as he lay in the sand of the shallows beside Kiku. Kiku gave Arthur a look.
"Well… It's quite boring. Almost everything is the same in the oceans… I don't really see why humans make such a big fuss over it… I think the human world would be so much more exciting." Arthur rolled onto his side to look at Kiku.
"We make such a big fuss because we've never seen anything like it, and we can't really see it all the time for ourselves. But as far as I'm concerned the human world isn't that great. I mean sure there's a lot to see and do, but not a lot of good people, and even fewer who can see creatures like you." Kiku nodded, looking to the sky.
"… I'll have to go soon… I wish I didn't have to leave…" Arthur paused, coming up with a crazy idea "Th-there's a lake behind my house, if, you know you ever want to take a break from the sea water or whatever, I mean, if you can that is…" Kiku offered Arthur a warm smile.
"Arigato… maybe sometime I will… I sometimes would journey up a river to a lake, but I haven't in quite some time." Arthur looked at him
"R-really? There was a pass from the lake to the ocean but they filled it up a while back and turned it into houses.
"I see…" Kiku said, obviously a little disheartened by this.
"Well, maybe I can borrow my little brother's truck, and if I line the bed of it I should be able to drive you to the lake if you'd like." this had Kiku smiling bright as ever again.
"Hai... That sounds fine." Arthur smiled in return, happy to have not been turned down.
"Great, I'll talk to him tonight about borrowing the truck though I doubt he'll say no. When would you want to leave?" Arthur asked, making Kiku think for a moment.
"Would tomorrow be alright?" he asked almost timidly, "I would really only need t collect a few things for the stay." Arthur nodded.
"Alright, tomorrow then." he declared as he rose to his feet, "Do you want me to help you back out?" Kiku shook his head,
"No, I'll b fine. Farwell Arthur-san." he called as he began crawling deeper into the water again and started swimming off.
"By..." Arthur called back weakly to Kiu as he dove beneath the waves. Lingering for a few moments ore before turning to leave as well, bracing himself to face Alfred.