Chapter Four- Extended Trip Begins

Lance shouldered a bag as he left home and headed for where he met his new friend and possible lover. His bag contained a couple sets of clothes, all his money, and the gold ring he hoped to give to Keith. If his friend said no, I'll visit the city anyway and maybe I'll run into Keith there. He swam to the spot and looked up to see a boat parked on the surface and a human appeared at the side: Keith! Lance grinned as he headed up. I guess he said yes. he broke the surface and smiled up at Keith as he came closer and saw another human with black and white hair and a slash across his nose. That must be Shiro.

Keith smiled as Lance came closer and held up a bag for him to take. He did so and helped Lance up into the boat. For a couple of minutes, Lance was laid out on the deck like a fish before his tail split into legs. Keith and Shiro turned their backs to give Lance privacy to dress.

Lance was amused by their desire to give him privacy, but he understood thanks to Keith's explanation the other day. He got to his feet, grabbed his bag, and pulled on socks, jeans, shoes, a shirt, and a jacket before saying, "Okay, I'm dressed."

The humans turned back and the older one came over, hand outstretched. "Hi, I'm Shiro. Keith's told me a little about you and I like the idea of having you stay with me."

Lance took the hand. "I'm happy to meet another human who believes we exist. Thanks for letting me stay with you." He turned to Keith and smiled at him, once again struck by Keith's looks. Oh, yeah. Definitely in love with him. I have to tell him, but not here. Later; I have a few days to spend on land.

Keith couldn't help but return Lance's smile. The merman looked amazing in his clothes, even though they were wet. I am definitely in love with Lance. I will be asking him out, but not today. I have plenty of time for that. He headed for the driver's seat and turned the boat on. Lance settled in the seat beside him while Shiro sat on the deck behind the seats.

Lance watched Keith's hands as they steered the boat and also at how the boat moved across the water. It moved far faster than he swam underwater, but he loved it. The wind blowing in his face and through his hair was just divine. "This is so cool!" he yelled and he barely heard the laughs of the humans as the boat sped toward the docks.

"Wow. I've never ridden in a boat before," Lance said as they climbed out.

"Stick with us, Lance. We'll introduce you to a range of new experiences," Shiro told him.

"Sounds good. So, where to?" he asked, hitching up his bag.

"My place so you can drop off your bag."

"Great. I haven't seen a human's home or at least the inside of one."

"I imagine it's not too different from your homes."

Lance stood in the doorway of the guest room. "You're right. It's not too different from the guest rooms back home." He went to the bed, put the bag there, and pulled out a wallet he had once found, and put it in his back jeans pocket like he had seen men do. He put his clothes in the closet so they could dry, adding, "But we don't have closets."

"Of course not. So," Shiro said as he went over to the desk chair, pulled it closer to the bed, sat down, and gestured to the bed. "Have a seat, Lance. I want to talk to you while Keith's at home getting his wallet."

"What about?" Lance sat.

"About you. I hope you're not taking advantage of our belief of your race's existence just to get an extended stay on land."

"What!? No! I just mentioned I dreamed about it and Keith said I could. If you had said no, I would have come to land anyway and stay the usual one day. I…would have hoped to run into Keith," he mumbled, feeling his face grow hot.

Shiro stared at Lance. "You okay? You're…blushing."

Lance blushed harder. "Shiro, can you keep a secret?"

"Yes. I never betray a friend's trust."

Lance smiled. "I'm glad you consider me a friend. Okay. I'm in love with Keith. I mean, deeply. I want to tell him, maybe on a date or something."

"Really?" Shiro's face was neutral, but inside he was elated and amused. Keith and Lance loved each other and were hoping to tell the other on a type of date.

"Really. I even have a ring to give him if he loves me back." He went to his bag, pulled it out, and showed him.

"Oh, that's lovely," Shiro breathed. "So, it's a token of affection or does it have a special meaning to merpeople?"

"Actually, it does. A ring signifies that they're married and just need a shaman to make it official."

"Aren't you a little young to get married?"

Lance shook his head. "Not really. Merpeople could wed at sixteen, sometimes fifteen. Some never marry at all, and others are betrothed at an early age to marry later."

"If Keith agrees to be your husband, how would you convince the shaman to make it official?"

"Oh, that will be easy. The current one is retiring real soon and my sister who is the apprentice will take a test to become the new shaman before my visit is over. I told her about loving Keith so she would have no problem officially wedding us."

"You told her?"

"I did, but only because she gave her word that she'll keep it secret."

"Suppose your sister wasn't the apprentice and the current shaman wasn't retiring, what then?"

"We would still be married, but I would probably stay human more often than merman and probably wed Keith in a human ceremony to make it legal."

"Humans don't necessarily have to have a wedding. Some simply fill out a marriage license and certificated and leave it at that."

Lance perked up at that. "Yeah, we could do that."

Shiro shook his head. "His parents will insist on a ceremony. You can do a small private one with just family and me present."

Lance nodded. "Yeah, okay. Veronica will officially wed us and then we'll hold a private human ceremony."

"That's assuming Keith will agree to being wedded."

"True and I'm not ready to ask."

They heard a doorbell ring and both left the room. Shiro opened the door to reveal Keith on the other side. Shiro and Lance joined him, the former locking the door behind them. They set off down the sidewalk and Shiro asked. "Lance, what would you like to see?"

"A clothing store, I think it's called? I've never been in one for obvious reasons."

Both men nodded in understanding as they led the way to one. Lance was discreetly looking around as they walked. The city was smaller as cities went and it was definitely smaller than the kingdom where he lived. Yes, despite that, he found the city a more exciting place than home was. Well, of course I do, he thought. I'm essentially a tourist, someone who doesn't live here.

Keith glanced over at Lance whenever the brunette was looking around. He just couldn't stop looking at him. His fascination with humans was charming and made him charming overall. I want to know more about him. Of course I will have to tell him more about myself. Once I know more about him, I will ask him out to dinner where I will confess that I love him. I only hope he returns my feelings.