Jack was undoubtedly strong both mentally and physically, but water was his element, not land. He could have outswam the fasted ships around if he were alone, but pulling himself and Crutchie up onto the dock was harder than it looked because he was out of breath and out of water. He was a literal fish out of water, well he was part fish.
Fortunately Crutchie was able to pull himself onto the dock. Crutchie had very strong arms, something most would never notice. Once he was on the dock Crutchie laid down and extended his newly-freed hands towards the water. Jack took his hands and was lifted from the water and onto the dock.
Once on dry land they laid on the dock taking deep breaths. "That was the wildest thing that's ever happened to me," Crutchie gasped.
"Did you have fun?"
"At first I thought you were trying to drown me, then I thought you were trying to feed me to sharks."
"Don't be silly, Race and Spot are sweethearts. They eat fish, not humans."
"Are they friends of your's?"
"They is actually, they'se like brothers to me."
The two simply smiled and breathed before Crutchie's teeth started to chatter in the crisp night air. "Are you cold?" Jack asked innocently.
Crutchie spoke, "not all of us were made to tolerate cold water Jack."
"Let's back to Davey's so that we can get you warm." Jack reached for his wheelchair and pulled himself into the seat. He rolled over to Crutchie who used it to help him stand tried and failed to gently lower himself onto Jack's lap, instead losing his balance and balance and falling onto him. Jack chuckled before leaning in and putting a lukewarm kiss onto Crutchie's jaw. Crutchie leaned back, content to study the transition from Jack's beige human skin to the grey dolphin skin of his tail.
Crutchie touched the beginnings of Jack's tail, right on his hip, gently with his shaking fingers. Jack wrapped his own fingers around Crutchie's. "You impress me," Crutchie whispered. "You simply amaze me."
Jack finally decided to familiarize himself with the texture of Crutchie's lips above water. The sun rose in the distance, warming the kissing pair's skin while their hearts were warmed by each other.