A/N: Okay, so this chapter is rather awkward and long winded and has a lot of dialogue and explanation. Hopefully I've covered everything, but if you're still confused, just ask.


RL's hands wrapped around RS' bare torso, the weight and sudden shock of the merman on top of him making him fall back. RS went right with him, one hand cupping his face while the other supported himself, keeping most of his weight off of RL.

RL kissed back, his mind completely blown.

He didn't even have enough rational thought to have a rational thought.

RS' tail ended up between his legs, flicked completely out of the water, but before RL could do anything, RS went rigid. His eyes went wide and he scrambled off RL, pushing himself back into the water.

"I'm sorry." RS blushed, and RL let out a compressed breath.

"Wow…" he said dumbly, sitting back up.

"I shouldn't have done that…" RS groaned to himself.

"Wow…"

"I should go…" RS muttered

"I don't want you to…"

RS glared up at him. "You don't understand!"

"I want to understand!" RL protested, reaching toward to try and pull the merman back.

RS groaned, jerking away from him.

"I…I like you okay."

RL stared at him with wide, happy eyes, practically grinning his face off. "Really?"

"No. I'm fucking joking, and hey, I'm also not really a merman either." RS snapped. "Of course fucking really."

RL recoiled. "Jeez, you-"

RS sighed, cutting him off. "I'm sorry…it's just…it's not supposed to work like this." He ran his hand through his hair agitatedly.

RL's face fell. Obviously there was some stupid complication in which for some ridiculous reason, RS was bonded to him too. "I didn't think the…addiction worked both ways…"

"It doesn't." RS mumbled.

RL stared at him a little hopefully.

"I like you, in a 'I don't want to throw myself at you but I could want to have a relationship someday' way. I like you a whole lot, as much as I don't want to admit it."

"I like you too." RL grinned, marvelling at how easy this was.

"No you don't." RS sighed. "You like me because you're forced to like me."

"No-" RL protested.

"Yes."

"RS…that's not the-"

"How long have you known about merfolk?" RS practically growled. "Two days. How long have I known? Since I was born. I know what the bond does, and I know that you're addicted to me, therefore you automatically want me."

"But I don't want you!" RL exclaimed. "I just…like…you."

"There's a difference?"

RL watched him carefully. "Yes…of course there's a difference." He shook his head. "RS, how many times, in your life, have you seen a merperson bond with a human?"

"…none…"

"Exactly. Everything is new. It's not going to be exactly the same as merpeople bonding." RL sighed.

RS growled to himself. "Why are we trying to look at this like a relationship anyway? God, you have my hair – just go back to your civilisation and I'll go back to mine. We can forget about each other."

RL's stomach dropped. "No…" he shook his head firmly. "I don't want to forget about you."

RS sighed. "It'd be easier."

"Since when have you ever chosen the easier path?" a voice said, and RS whipped around, scowling.

"I told you to go back to CS!" RS howled at his sister.

"Since when have I ever listened to you?" RYS grinned.

"Erm…how long have you been there?" RL asked nervously.

RYS grinned. "Long enough to see you guys sucking face." She laughed as both boys blushed.

"What are you doing here?" RS growled.

"Trying to stop you from making the wrong decision."

"And what makes you think you know the right decision?" RS glared at her.

She gave him a pointed look and RS sighed.

"What do you suggest then?"

She shrugged. "Stay with him."

RL raised an eyebrow.

"Oh yeah. Because I'll casually stroll along the beach with him, and then later, maybe he can come and meet your girlfriend."

RYS scowled. "Shut up. Just because you can't be together all the time, doesn't mean you can't be together some of the time. And besides," she grinned. "I can always bring CS up here to meet him."

RS rolled his eyes. "And what if it's not…what he thinks it is? What if it is the addiction…?"

"Still here guys…" RL said softly, and RYS shot an amused glance at him.

"Then you have at least a month to convince him that he likes you just as much as you like him." She smiled fondly at him.

"What?" RL tilted his head to the side, horribly confused.

RS sighed, turning back to RL and leaning on the side of the lagoon to address him properly. "When two merfolk bond, they have an instant attraction to each other – complete head-over-heels love. They have a month to 'procreate' before their feelings stop being so developed for each other. That's why you've got to be completely sure you're in love with someone before bonding. Once the feelings wear off, you'll always have a certain pull towards that person, but your feelings before the bond will return."

RL closed his eyes, trying to figure it out.

"So…what about me?"

RYS stifled a laugh. "Do you have the urge to take RS into a dark room and ravish him with kisses until he agrees to have your kids?"

Both of them blushed and looked away from each other.

"No!" RL said quickly,

"Then obviously the bond doesn't work the same way."

RS sighed. "I wish we knew how it worked…"

RYS shrugged. "So what are you guys going to do?"

RL looked over at RS with a small smile, before turning to RYS. "Can we…talk this out…without you here this time?"

RYS looked disappointed, but she nodded. "Fine. I'll be back home…see you then?"

RS nodded and she dived into the water, swimming under the rocks. RS stared at the ocean until she resurfaced, giving them a brief wave before diving back under.

"Finally."

"She's not that bad…" RL sympathised.

"You haven't been living with her for the whole of your life." RS chuckled, pushing up and hoisting himself to the rock face, sitting next to RL.

His tail remained in the water, gently flicking out and sending drops of water everywhere.

"Talk to me then." RS prompted, and RL sighed.

"You like me, right?"

RS sighed. "Yes. I thought we covered this?"

RL groaned impatiently. "Well, I like you too. What's more to discuss?"

"The fact that you have legs and I have a tail." RS said quietly.

RL covered his face with his hands. "We could secretly meet here every night?"

"Would you go to all that trouble, just for me?"

RL lay on his back, supporting his head with his arms. "Of course. I really like you RS. You seem doubtful of this fact…"

"It's because I don't believe you." He flicked his tail up, sending a spray of water straight onto RL's face.

He spluttered, wiping the water from his face with a dignified glare. "You should."

"We'll see." RL looked over at him. "A month. Then we'll see how you really feel."

"A lot of the elements of merfolk bonding have been different. Why can't you accept that this one is too?"

"I don't trust people easily." RS admitted, dipping a hand into the water and running it over his face.

He then lay down, and RL rolled onto his stomach, facing him.

"What can I do to make you trust me? I mean, come on, you just kissed me…"

RS rolled his eyes, looking at the overhang. "I may have had a moment of weakness in which my self-control wore thin."

RL stared at him with wide eyes, raising an eyebrow. "You mean, you couldn't help yourself?"

"Something like that."

RL sighed and rolled onto his back too, cringing when RS flicked his tail again, sending water falling on his torso.

"Talk to me then. Tell me about merfolk and your customs and who you are and what you're like. And then you can ask about me!"

RS shot him an amused glance, before his eyes flicked back to the overhang.

"What do you want to know?"

"Everything!"

RS sighed. "Where do you want to start?"

RL was silent, pondering his first question. "How long can you be out of water for…and what happens if you're out for too long?"

"Our tails act as a lifeline. Without water, we dry out in a matter of minutes. As long as our tails are in the water though, we'll be fine – even if it's just a tiny puddle."

"You keep splashing yourself though…"

He shrugged. "Our skin does dry out quickly, and it's just dry and uncomfortable, but not life-threatening…"

"And if you run out of water?"

RS shrugged. "We die."

RL was silent, thinking over another question. "What's your family like? What's their opinion on humans?"

"We're not allowed to go near the surface." RS explained patiently, still gazing at the overhang. "I think it's ridiculous. Secretly, they're all afraid of what humans would do to us."

RL sighed. "I think your family has a pretty good reason to be afraid."

RS looked at him curiously. "What do you mean?"

"There are a lot of bad people in the world…probably more evil than the ones that force you merfolk to hide. They all want nothing more than to get ahead…" he sighed. "There's a lot wrong with this world, RS."

"In what ways?"

"They hunt and kill whales for food...they kill animals for their pelts. They'd probably kill merfolk for your pretty tails."

RS frowned, a little disturbed. "What else?"

RL tried to think of a good example. "This is just one example…but the LGBT community still aren't accepted as equals."

RS frowned. "The 'what' community."

"Gays…people who are different." He clarified, but RS' confused face still blinked at him. "Uhh…people who like people of the same gender."

"Wait, what?"

"Guys who like guys, and chicks who like chicks!" he put it in the plainest way he knew how.

RS still looked confused. "Why…is that a problem?"

"Religion…people who won't accept change, and the general hard-assed dickheads who like to stir people up." RS looked concerned.

"But…what?" RS shook his head. "What does it matter that you like people of the same gender?"

RL chuckled. "It's a good question." He then realised that it was a legitimate question and scratched the back of his head. "I think it has something to do with the objective of being in a relationship is to have children…and if there's a same gender couple, particularly two guys, that can't happen."

"Guys can't have kids?"

"Not on their own…" RL chewed on his lower lip. "Can mermen?"

RS nodded, his eyebrows furrowing.

"How do you…?" RL blushed. "'Procreate'?"

RS chuckled. "We have spawning pads. Merfolk grow from shed scales that get fertilized when left in a spawning pad. Anyone can shed them, anyone can fertilise them, regardless of their gender."

"So…there's a lot of merfolk then."

"Billions."

RL let out a miffed grunt, lying back down properly.

"So…" RL muttered. "How do you guys procreate then?"