Jake made it to the familiar rocky ledge in record time. He nearly fell to his death sprinting down the stone stairs and nearly falling on hi face in the darkness of the tunnel. He immediately plopped himself down, gasping for air by the ledge. He yanked off his boots just to dip his feet, which felt as if they had been roasting in an oven, in the refreshing sea water. Catching his breath, he kept an eye out for any movement underwater.
"I'm sure he said to wait here...although he didn't really give me an exact time," Jake sighed, staring out at the horizon lazily. After about half an hour of waiting around, boredom began to overtake the dark haired boy's mind.
"Well, Dirk has to be around this cove somewhere. I'll just go look for him myself," he thought as he began stripping himself of his clothes.
Leaving them in a shadowy spot in the rock tunnel, he lowered himself into the refreshing sea water from the rock ledge. He felt the nice cool water wash over his skin as he submerged himself. It was a rather deep cove with the sandy bottom a few feet below where Jake was treading on the surface. He could spot a kelp forest a little ways down swaying with the gentle waves. Jake allowed his exhausted body to relax as he floated on his back, letting the gentle currents push him wherever. His pulsating muscles that were aching from the morning's work with Caliborn finally began to unwind. Jake had decided to keep his glasses on. His eyesight was horrible without them. After a while, he could feel the ends of a few stray kelp glide across his skin. He still wondered where Dirk was in the back of his mind, but he let the water and sunshine relax him. Then, out of nowhere, he felt two hands grab him, one holding onto his right shoulder, the other wrapped over his stomach, suddenly pulling him under a bit.
"Ack, unhand me!" Jake managed to shout before receiving a mouthful of sea water.
He began to panic as he felt the stray kelp wrap around his legs until he shifted his gaze down to see an alabaster toned arm around him. He heard light laughter as his head was lifted back out of the water. Dirk's face was right by his. He could feel his face turning hot as he felt the siren's arms holding him up.
"Woah, there! It's just me. Sorry if I gave you a scare," Dirk laughed as Jake was still spitting out sea water.
"D-dirk?!" Jake gasped as he began to calm down.
He nearly screamed as he realized he was in the arms of a siren completely naked. "Wait! Let go of me! I'm not decent!" Jake squirmed out of Dirk's arms nearly sinking in the water again.
"So what? It's not like I'm a human. I just have a fish tail."
Dirk tried his best to get Jake to calm down, but the dark haired human kept backing up and covering himself with his hands while keeping his head above water.
"Alright, calm down! Look, I have a pair of swimming shorts right here," the siren help up a pair of short black swimming shorts. Jake immediately grabbed them. "Where did you get these? I hardly think a siren would be in need of something like this," he was already slipping them on underwater.
"The other sirens tend to hoard a shit ton of stuff at their cove. I dug through it and found those for ya. Since I can sense people when they're in the water when I'm nearby, I sensed you, saw you all 'indecent,' and thought you could use something to cover your human private parts," Dirk smirked at him as he gracefully swam around Jake in circles, emphasizing the word indecent with a grin. Jake finally managed to slip the shorts on and tighten the waist line to his. "Heh, thanks. I feel much more comfortable now."
Dirk swam up close to him. "So, did you have anything planned for us to do? And geez, you look like you've been through hell."
"Wait, how did you know? I mean, I do feel rather worn out, been through the ringer and all, but I didn't tell you," Jake inquired.
The orange siren chuckled. "It's your aura. It feels worn out and a bit angry. It's a sort of siren thing."
Dirk swam up in front of Jake. "Dirk? What are you-"
The siren had two fingers to the sailor's forehead. "Shh, I'm calming your aura with mine."
Almost immediately, Jake felt a sudden calmness and relaxation radiate into his body from his forehead. His tense muscles began to unwind. Once he felt completely relaxed, he opened his eyes again.
"Better?" Dirk moved away from him a bit.
"Yeah..wow! All that bloody tension is gone...woah!" Jake had stopped kicking his legs and sank a bit.
Dirk caught him by his arms and held him up. "Woah there, sailor. Gotta keep kicking those legs."
Jake laughed while he steadied himself.
"That was quite a bit of tension. What exactly were you doing this morning?" Dirk asked, looking right at Jake.
"Hmph. Well, I had to help this obscene man named Caliborn. He had me haul netfuls of fish onto his boat to sell at the market. Since I don't have money, I have to do that as a way to pay for my room and board at the inn. However, his sister is lovely. She's so nice, the exact opposite of her brother."
Dirk smiled, "Ah, Caliborn. I know that name all too well. He's the one who's been after my tail for a while now ever since he spotted me by the port."
"Aren't you afraid he's going to catch you? Lord help you if he ever successfully captures you, Dirk. I mean, if he ever did, he'd have to engage in fisticuffs with me before he could take you away!" Jake said with a serious look on his face, the dark freckles practically popping off his face.
"Bahaha! Ohh, Jake! I mean, I appreciate that, but what in the hell is fisticuffs?" Dirk nearly sank underwater from laughing, creating multiple ripples in the still water.
"What? You don't know? Well, it's basically, you know, engaging in a duel or fight of sorts, to defend you of course!" Jake pouted.
Dirk began to regain composure. "Ah, I see. How valiant of you, my knight. I apologize for laughing so hard. I"ve just never heard that word before. Phew, I'm learning so many new phrases from you, Britanian. Ah, alright, back to the original subject. So, what is it you wanna do?"
Jake's eyes were immediately drawn to the kelp below and around them. "Well, this kelp forest here has been peeking my curiosity for a while now. I mean, you've most likely explored it before, but if you don't mind, I'd very much like to explore it with you," Jake said trying not to blush too much at the "with you" part.
"Hmm, it is pretty dang awesome. Let's go..but first.." Dirk suddenly slid his hands up to Jake's face. "I'll need you to close your eyes for a bit."
Jake went along with it, feeling Dirk's oddly warm fingers gently slide over his eyelids. Then, soft singing filled the air. It sounded a lot like the women siren, though a bit lower. He tried to listen for any words, but the singing was in a language he had never heard before. Dirk paused, now sliding his hands down to the sides of Jake's throat and resumed his song. He gently let go at the last note.
Jake gazed at the siren in awe. "Blimey! Your singing is beautiful! But, what exactly did you do?"
"Just a small spell that'll last as long as you're in the water. Now, your eyes will be able to see clearly underwater without the salt stinging them. Also, your glasses won't fly off your face, and you'll be able to breathe underwater. And thanks, man. I wouldn't be a siren if I couldn't sing a haunting melody or two." Dirk beamed at him. "Alright, now let's go!"
Dirk gave the sailor no warning, dragging him down to the bottom of the cove. At first, Jake struggled at the sudden loss of air, kicking around and tugging for the surface.
"It's okay. Just relax," Dirk's voice reverberated through the water.
Jake tried his best to calm himself, opening his eyes and letting his body go limp. Taking a deep breath in, he let the water enter his throat.
"Woah!" a group of bubbles erupted from his mouth. "I-I can breath underwater! This is really happening!" Jake was ecstatic as he swam around the border of the kelp forest. Dirk gracefully swam next to him, watching the young human swim around laughing with bubbles streaming out of his mouth. Jake stopped, peering directly at Dirk. The siren's orange and black speckled tail was fully fanned out, allowing Dirk to stay upright in the water.
Jake stared at him in awe. "Say, Dirk. I don't think I've ever seen you underwater before. I must say..you look quite beautiful," the sailor smiled, gazing up at the siren.
It was hard to discern, but something like a blush flushed over Dirk's face in an orange hue. He quickly broke the silence. "Ah, well...thanks...you know, no one's ever told me I was beautiful before. I suppose people look at us sirens more like monsters but..yeah...thanks," he said with a smile.
Swimming up to Dirk, Jake immediately held his hand. "Come on, we were going to explore this kelp forest. Better go while we still have daylight," the dark haired boy began tugging Dirk.
"Alright, alright," the siren chuckled, pulling Jake along with one flick of his tail.
"Yowza! You sure can swim fast with that tail of yours," Jake exclaimed.
Dirk only chuckled, looking on ahead as they entered the forest. The kelp swayed lazily from the gentle current made by Dirk's tail. It felt soft as it brushed against Jake's cheeks. He reached his right arm out, feeling the kelp move past his hand. After a while, Jake could see that they were approaching a clearing of some sort. As they entered the clearing with a small sand dune overlooking the forest, Jake gasped, "Wait, this is like the scene in my dream..exactly."
"Your dream?" Dirk asked as they stopped at the top of the underwater dune. A cloud of sand swooped up as the siren steadied himself with his tail.
"Oh, yeah! I haven't told you yet. I recently had a dream with you in it. We were right smack dab in this exact location, and you were about to sing your siren song to me, but then that dreadful Caliborn woke me up. And here we are," Jake's words drifted of as he was right up next to Dirk. The sun was lower in the sky, now casting blazing orange rays down into the water. Dirk's scales glimmered and shone brilliantly. Their eyes met with a sort of tension between them.
Jake immediately tore his eyes away, "Er, I apologize if it seems like I'm in your personal space, Dirk. I-"
Dirk's lips cut Jake off mid sentence as the siren pulled him in in an embrace. At first, it had taken Jake by surprise, but in a few seconds, he had melted into Dirk's kiss, letting his hands rest on the blonde's shoulders. Even after their lips parted, they still lingered close to each other.
"Well, that was quite unexpected, but.."
"But?" Dirk teased with a widening grin.
"But rather...nice," Jake giggled as they pulled their faces away.
"Hmph. To be honest, I was half expecting you to push me away or punch or slap me for pulling a move like that," Dirk stated.
Jake gave him a surprised glance, "Well, even though I haven't known you for too long, I feel like I'm drawn to you. I suppose part of me was hoping for a kiss like that."
"Hey, not to suddenly change the subject, the kiss was wonderful, but that sun's getting pretty low in the sky. I should probably get you back to our meeting place before it's dark." The siren took Jake by the hand and both began to swim back over to the rocky outcrop. Jake couldn't stop smiling and giggling the whole way back.
Dirk helped boost Jake up onto the ledge. "You sure it's okay that I keep these swimming trousers?" the sailor asked as he stripped and put his dry clothes back on.
"Please, the other sirens have so much stuff. I don't think they'll care," Dirk smirked.
Jake leaned down to the siren's level, "So, tomorrow? Same time, same place?"
Dirk slid a webbed hand up from Jake's face to the back of his head, pulling him to his face. Their lips came together tenderly, molding into each other, pulling apart, and melding together again. Jake tasted the sea salt on Dirk's lips, letting the siren deepen the kiss a bit. When it was done, Jake rested his forehead against Dirk's.
"See you tomorrow," he whispered. Dirk nodded, "Stay safe out there, English." He waved before plunging into the sunset hued water, his tail smacking against the surface before disappearing. Jake gazed back once more at the sea before making his way to the inn.