Chapter 3 – Home

The first thing Damien saw as green. An entire lush, green, and vibrant forest lay before him, above him, all around him. He sat up, his palms squishing slightly into the soft green grass below him. Above the forest was a cloudless blue sky and he could hear and feel wind running through the trees. There were no sounds of birds chirping though, making it seem eerily silent.

Holy shit.

He quickly scrambled to his feet and looked around, barely noting that he was wearing the black tunic again.

How had be gotten back here? He was so sure he'd never wake here again. It looked just the same though. He could even hear the faint voices of The Noise.

"Six were killed in a collision today on icy roads."

It was muffled, making it a little hard to make out completely what was being said, but he was positive that had to be the News.

"Pip!" He yelled as he began walking quickly the same way he had the previous day. Maybe the other would be by the river again. He tried not to get his hopes up, for fear that they'd be crushed, but he just couldn't seem to help it. He made it there in record time and nearly fell over when someone collided with him.

"Oh I thought you'd gone for good!" Pip's melodic voice filled his ears, "I'm so happy you're back!" He hugged him tightly, nuzzling his chest.

Damien grinned and wrapped his arms around the smaller boy's frame, "Me too. It's good to see you." He was surprised to find how happy he felt. He'd never really gotten so attached to someone before that he was actually happy to see them again.

Two big blue eyes looked up at him joyfully, "Don't ever leave again, okay?"

"Ah, well…" Damien's face fell, "I kind of have to. This is just a dream, remember? I'll wake up." Fuck, that was right. This would end again. What if he didn't make it back next time?

"Oh…" The boy seemed to wilt, "Is that why you left?"

"Yeah. I had to go to school and stuff."

"School…?" He asked, "What's that?"

"It's where kids go to learn stuff."

"Oh…" Pip's eyes narrowed and for a brief second he seemed to flicker, but it was gone just as quickly, leaving a sad boy looking up at him, "Will you at least promise you'll come back?"

"I don't know if I can, but I'll try my hardest." Damien smirked again and leaned down, "I like it here with you." Their lips brushed and he was taken by surprise when it was the blonde who pressed their lips firmly together. He moaned softly into the kiss and let one hand trail south, slipping under the tunic to grope Pip's ass.

They parted and the boy giggled, "You're still wanting to fuck me then?"

"Hell yes." Damien growled, squeezing his rump. It was obvious by his demeanor that the boy still had no idea what it meant. That was fine, he'd just have to show him.

"Okay." Pip chirped, "I guess I'll let you."

"Good. Lay down in the grass and take our clothes off."


Damien lay in the cool grass, a smirk on his lips and body thoroughly satisfied. Pip nuzzled his chest and hummed happily, prompting Damien to hug him a little tighter. He felt oddly at ease here, completely complacent under Pip's soft touches.

"That was fun!" Pip giggled, "What do you wanna do now?"

"Rest." Damien announced, though he noted that he wasn't really tired. His body hadn't seemed to have become worn from the strenuous activity. Strange. Then again, this was a dream.

Just a fucking dream.

"Oh, okay. How long?"

"Jeez, you're impatient aren't you?" He grinned, chuckling some. Pip's enthusiasm was cute.

"Well…" He sat up, cocking his head, "I just wanna do as much as I can with you while you're here. What if you leave and never come back?"

Damien sighed, "Yeah… I guess that's a good point." A good, unfortunate point. He sat up as well and stretched. He felt the familiar tingle of clothing and looked down to find his black tunic.

Pip jumped up, white tunic swaying, "What do you wanna do?" He seemed very excited.

Damien pushed himself to his feet and brushed himself off out of habit. "I dunno. What is there to do around here?" He looked around some, then smiled slightly at the blonde, finding his excitement a little contagious.

"Anything we want!" The blonde announced excitedly, "We could slay a dragon or explore Atlantis or-"

"Wait, wait, wait." Damien cut him off, "How?"

Pip paused, looking adorably confused, "What?"

"How can we possibly- Nevermind." He shook his head. He'd nearly forgotten this wasn't real. It was just a dream, and they could do whatever they wanted in a dream.

Just a dream…

Why did that realization make his chest hurt so much?

Pip smiled and grabbed his hand in a delicate grip. Damien stared down at them and laced their fingers together. An odd feeling washed over him when he looked again at the blonde, but it wasn't the usual lust he knew so well.

Did he have a crush on dream boy?

"Let's be mermaids." Pip announced, "We can explore the ocean. It'll be fun!"

"Uh, okay." Damien hesitantly agreed. Try as he might, it was still tough for him to grasp that Pip's abilities in this dream might be completely endless.

The world flickered and grew dimmer. It wasn't until the blonde's hair began floating that he realized they were underwater. He held his breath out of instinct and the blonde laughed and cupped his face, "There's no need for that. Just breathe."

It took a moment, but Damien eventually sucked in a large breath. He hadn't felt like he'd ever been holding it though.

This kept getting stranger.

"Come on!" Pip grabbed his hand again, "We've got lots to explore." He headed deeper, which finally prompted Damien to check out what exactly their lower portions looked like.

Neither were wearing their tunics anymore, but Pip was wearing some sort of thin, transparent shawl. For someone with such a nice body, he certainly seemed at least a little self-conscious about it. Their legs disappeared into scales and long, flowing fins came off from the front, back, and sides. At the very end of their tails was one very large fin. Pip's consisted of blues and whites, whereas Damien's was red and black.

All in all, very fucking cool.

Damien found that it was almost second nature to move the tail to swim. There was no urge to kick two separate feet, just gently wave the single appendage.

The bottom of the ocean lay before them. The ruins of an ancient, massive, and intricate city lay there, crumbling but still somehow majestic. Pip led them through archways and down open, pillared halls. There were artifacts laying everywhere, remains of street venders and homes, and many walls were painted with amazing artworks or covered in murals of gems and colored glass. Impressive statues lined the streets, many of them headless or armless.

"Isn't it gorgeous?" Pip asked, stopping and smiling at him.

"Yeah… Wow." Damien looked around, taking in the amazing sights. This place was truly breath-taking, but… Something was off. It seemed eerily empty. Obviously, there would be no people here, but…

"Where are all the fish?"

"Fish?" Pip tilted his head, "What do you mean?"

"You know, the fish. The colorful ones you find in the ocean. There should be sharks too and octopi and squid and all sorts of crazy stuff."

"Um…" Pip looked around, seemingly distressed, "Fish?" He paused and lifted a hand to his mouth in a thoughtful gesture, "Fish…?"

The entire world flickered, flashing an empty white for just a moment. Then, pixels seemed to run down it, distorting it momentarily before going back to their original place, making the world temporarily look like a globe. The same happened to Pip. Starting at his head and running quickly down to his feet, pixels distorted him inch by inch for merely a fraction of a second each. Once it was all over, taking merely moments, and everything was back in its place, Pip perked up and snapped his fingers, "Oh, fish!"

Damien stared with wide-eyes, unsure of what to say. Should he ask what that was about…?

The moment quickly moved on when Pip threw his hands out and fish began popping up all around them. Bright, colorful, an array of species. They swam in a panic, as though startled by their sudden existence.

Pip giggled, "How's that?"

"Um…" Damien looked around and noted that many other creatures had also appeared. There were a couple sharks in the distance, as were whales, and several smaller creatures like octopi and anemones clung to walls and statues.

The place was now teeming with life.

"It looks great." He finally smiled, "Good job."

"Thanks!" Pip giggled, grabbing his hand again, "You're so much fun, Damien!"


They spent what felt like hours swimming around and exploring the vast, sunken city. Despite the depth, there was plenty of light. Gems and glass shined brightly, making the entire structure glow. Truly a breath-taking sight.

Eventually, they found themselves laying on their stomach's on a large, flattened wall, overlooking a coliseum. Damien rested his chin on his arms while Pip nuzzled against his shoulder. After several seconds of staring into space, he looked down at the blonde affectionately and merely watched him for a moment before speaking, "You're really beautiful, you know that?"

Pip looked at him in slight surprise, then smiled, "Oh, thank you!" He giggled, "That's very sweet." He kissed his cheek, "I think you're quite handsome too." He chuckled and rested his head back on Damien's shoulder.

Damien went back to staring into space. Sea creatures swam around them, bringing life to the dead city. He could still hear The Noise in the distance. Music this time, as it had been for several hours now. A soft, rhythmic tune. It was calming.

"Is The Noise always there?" He asked.

Pip nodded, his hair tickling his shoulder, "Always. It'll be music for a long time more, then that stops and other sounds start. Talking, laughter, stories."

TV. It had to be a TV. Maybe a radio too. Where was it coming from though?

"Do you know where it comes from?"

Pip shrugged, "The sky? Everywhere. I've never found the source. It's just always there." He hummed and nuzzled Damien's shoulder, "I wish you were always here."

"Yeah, me too…" This was certainly better than real life. They could do whatever they wanted here… Not to mention there was no one else to make drama or stir up trouble. Just the two of them.

Paradise.

Pip's lips caressed his cheek, prompting Damien to turn his head and catch them in a sloppy kiss. He deepened it and easily pushed the boy onto his back. It wasn't much work to lay atop him, pressing their bodies close together. Pip moaned softly into the kiss and soon his hands were tangled in black hair, silently asking for more.

Damien's hands wandered south, sliding between them. He was more than a little surprised to find two growing buds there, but that gave way to a smirk.

"You want it, don't you?" He purred in Pip's ear, earning a sigh.

"Yes…" The blonde purred right back, nuzzling the side of his head and sliding his hands down to grip his broad shoulders.

Damien chuckled softly and kissed Pip's neck as he gripped and stroked both of their erect members. They felt different from human penis', slimier for one, but they also had more ridges. Interesting.

He released them and rubbed around the area, searching. Pip lent a hand, gently guiding Damien's fingers to an area just a few inches below his cock. There was a soft spot in the hard scales. Damien pressed a finger there and smirked when it slipped inside, forcing a sharp gasp from the body below him. He sank his finger in to the knuckle and wiggled it around in the tight, hot hole, making Pip whimper and wreath.

What a sight.

"You like that, don't you?" Damien chuckled, thrusting the finger. Pip lightly bit his lip and nodded, face flushed. The reaction fueled Damien's behavior, prompting him to add a second finger and bury it deep.

"Please!" The blonde gasped, "Please, I want it…"

"Mm, well, since you asked so nicely." Damien teased as he removed his finger. He wasted no time in lining up his throbbing cock with the tiny hole and burying himself inside in one harsh thrust.