Chapter Three- Crush and Love

"You actually met a merman?" Shiro said excitedly on the phone.

"Yeah. His name's Lance and he's fascinated by humans. He collects things that fall into the water and all merpeople can take human form but Lance is the only one who actually walks among us."

"Wow. He sounds interesting."

"Yeah," Keith agreed with a sigh. "And rather handsome, too."

"Keith! Are you possibly falling for him?"

"I…could be. Anyway, Lance mentioned he dreams of staying on land longer than one day, but can't as he wouldn't have a place to say. I told him he could as we believe in merpeople."

"Yes. I see where you're going. I'd be happy to have Lance stay with me."

"I knew you'd say yes. Lance will be where we met at noon the day after tomorrow."

"Sounds good. I'll see you at the docks at ten that day."

"Great. See you then." Keith hung up and laid back on his bed, staring up at the ceiling that was painted a robin's egg blue. His carpet was a deep blue and the walls were painted to match it. Decals of sea creatures dotted the walls. Keith loved his room as it made him feel as if he was either underwater or on the surface of the ocean. He closed his eyes and an image of Lance appeared in his mind. I think I am in love with Lance. We both have a love of the other's home and can answer the other's questions and present gifts to each other. I look forward to having Lance stay for an extended visit.

Lance hummed to himself as he polished a necklace, removing algae and barnacles from it. He smiled as he recalled Pidge remarking that a human wasn't going to come up to him and answer his questions.

Well, surprise. Someone did answer my questions. Keith Kogane. That's such a cool name and it suits him. Lance paused in his cleaning and gazed dreamily into the water. The human was friendly, warm, caring, and very curious about the sea. His curiosity was matched only by Lance's curiosity toward humans. He pictured Keith's black hair and mesmerizing purple eyes and he sighed softly. I think I'm in love. Problem is that I can't tell anyone. Well, I can tell Keith. Oh, I hope his friend says yes. I would love to go on a date with Keith.

"Little brother! Hello, anyone home?"

Lance jerked back to reality to see Veronica in his doorway. "Sorry, sis. I was daydreaming."

"Oh? What about?"

Lance lowered his eyes to the necklace in his hands. He started working on it again, trying to fight the blush that threatened to come as he could already feel the heat in his cheeks.

"Ooo, Lance, you're blushing. Do we have a crush?" she teased. "Well, come on, who is it?" she added when Lance didn't answer.

Lance's fins twitched as he looked up at her. "Do you promise not to tell?"

"I solemnly promise not to breathe a word," she said which Lance knew she only said when she intended to take the secret to the grave.

"I think I'm in love with a guy.'

"Really? What's his name?"

"Keith Kogane."

Veronica frowned. "I don't know that name and as the apprentice shaman I know practically everyone."

"Yeah well Keith doesn't live around here. You see…he's human."

Veronica's jaw dropped. "Human?"

"You promised not to tell," he reminded her.

She sighed in defeat. "Fine. So, how did you meet?"

"He was diving in something that helps him breathe underwater. He happened to look down on his way to the surface and spotted me. We locked eyes before he went up. He soon ducked back down and gestured for me to come up and talk.

"Turns out he loves the sea and likes to protect those that live in it. he also said he's always believed in our existence."

"He has? Lance, you found a very special person."

"Don't I know it. He has another friend who believes in us and I'm going to stay with him for a few days, staring the day after tomorrow if he says yes."

"You're going to walk among the humans?"

"Yeah. I'm curious about their world and I'll have two guides to show me around," he lied.

Veronica sighed again before giving Lance a hug. "Just be careful and tell this Keith how you feel about him."

"I will and hopefully we'll go on a date during my time there." Lance returned to his polishing as Veronica left. He returned the gleaming piece to the box and his eyes fell on the ring with the sapphire and ruby in it. He plucked it out and examined it. It looked like a man's ring as the band was wide. He rubbed his cloth over it to bring it to a shine. He smiled at it. Hmm, I might give this to Keith if he loves me back.

Veronica shook her head as she swam away from Lance's room. Her brother met and fell for a human. She wasn't exactly in love with the idea of Lance loving a human much less mingling with them. It wasn't illegal to be around humans, but it could be risky. All it took was for a suspicious human to follow a merperson and see them changed to threaten their safety. Those that choose to change to sunbathe gather on a secluded island that was unknown to the human race and lay on the warm sand.

Our safety is our number one priority with happiness following close behind it. Lance risked that safety by following a human, but he got lucky as Keith has always believed we existed. He has never persuaded others to believe otherwise humans would be swarming all over the ocean to capture us.

It is clear to me that Keith makes Lance happy and I will not attempt to keep them apart. As an apprentice shaman, my responsibilities are preparing me to perform marriages, officiate births and deaths, offer up prayers, and do rituals. I will soon be taking a written test on my responsibilities and actually perform a couple of them to prove that I am ready to be the kingdom's shaman. I can hardly wait.

Shiro stood at the docks near the boat that Keith and he both owned. He was excited to meet Lance who apparently had stolen Keith's heart and have this merman room with him for a little while. He intended to speak to Lance to determine how he felt about Keith for he saw Keith as a kind of brother.

I want to make sure that he won't get hurt. After all, merpeople are like humans in terms of feeling and instincts such as self-preservation. Lance could be stringing us along in order to see our city for longer than a day and if we were to ask for a favor, he could deny us.

He came out of his thoughts when he saw Keith jogging up to him, a big smile on his face. "Hi, Shiro. I'm so glad you agreed to let Lance stay with you."

"Sure. I just hope he treats you right if he loves you back. I'm speaking as a good friend who's concerned about you and doesn't want you to be hurt."

"I know. I appreciate that and I hope he loves me back. I think I'll ask him out to dinner one night and tell him."

"Sounds like a plan." Shiro unhooked the boat as Keith got in. He jumped in himself and soon Keith was driving them across the water toward the spot where Keith and Lance met. Keith knew the next few days were going to be anything but boring as Lance was bound to have lots of questions.