Chapter 4 - Reliving the Past
"Come on," Cody said, talking to Jess but looking at the water. "Why don't we go somewhere a bit safer. I don't trust him not to do something like that again."
He and Jess began to move away from the dock, but Cody cast a last look back at the retreating tail. We'll talk about this later, he thought at the swiftly-diminishing figure.
They walked in relative silence, Cody not wanting to say anything and Jess too unsure. Though they had not consciously picked a direction, they found themselves in Jess' barn. They seated themselves on a few old wooden crates among the mermaid paraphanalia, trying to find as comfortable a position as possible under the circumstances. It was beginning to get dark, and the barn lights had already turned on automatically.
"So," said Jess, adjusting his box, "spill."
Cody sighed deeply and rubbed his face with his hands. "It's... it's really hard to explain. I guess... you know what it's like to move to a new area?" Jess nodded. "Well, imagine moving to a new area, and being a different species."
"But you're not a different species!" Jess interjected. "You're a sea person, just like them."
"I know that. But you have to understand; while every sea person is capable of spending their first thirteen years as a human, very few actually do. It was as though I had spent my childhood on another planet. As you can imagine, it didn't go over well with my peers."
Jess nodded, and Cody realized that he thought he understood. But it was impossible. There was no way that Jess could possibly know the horrors that he had faced.
"Hey merboy! I hear your mother cries at night because of what she let happen to you!"
"Yeah. Is it true what they say about Overworlders? That they kill everything? Did they make you barbaric like them? Is it true that your mom has to lock you up every night to keep you from going on a rampage?"
"I can't wait until you get a lover. I bet there'll be a string of them leading away from you, all bloody and beaten. I bet you won't be able to keep one more than a week."
Cody shook his head, banishing the memory. "Anyway, things were pretty hard for me. There weren't very many of the elders who were prejudiced, and even those that were were okay about it, only because my mom is kind of important. But she couldn't do anything about my peers and they were merciless."
Cody looked up at the ceiling, the memories catching him up once more. "And then I met Kelhan. I don't know why he was different. Probably he knew what it was like to be on the outside. But he accepted me. And Kelhan is one of those people who everyone loves, so he was able to introduce me to the right friends, and even gain me some level of acceptance."
"What do you mean, he was on the outside?" asked Jess, his tone holding nothing but interested curiosity.
"Well, he's... you don't have a word for it. You know how me and my mom have the same coloring? Sort of a light silver-blue with pastels?"
Again Jess nodded.
"Well," continued Cody, "the color schemes actually tell a bit about the specific powers that that race of sea people have. For me and my mom it's the electricity thing. Those who have mottled pinks and purples can shoot ink like squids. Greens and browns are camouflage, like an octopus. Now that's a creepy thing to watch. They can even change the color of their eyes. Their entire eyes. Kelhan is black, with mottled fire-colored webbing."
"What's that?" asked Jess, leaning forward, eyes wide and attention rapt.
"Well, you know the guide fins on my forearms?" Cody gestured to the space where they normally would have been. "While most races have those fins stiff for manuevering, the black-and-fire like Kelhan have fins that can lie flat against their skin or be extended outward. The spines are hollow and filled with poison, and they have barbed tips. It makes them wonderful showfighters. But anyway, his race isn't very common in this area of Undersea. So he gets a lot of prejudice."
"Wow." Jess blinked. "That's amazing."
Cody nodded absentmindedly, not really listening to what Jess was saying. "Anyway, we became really close really fast. We were Best Friends for a while. And then..." Cody hesitated, stopping to gauge Jess' reaction. "Then he started to take it further."
When Jess seemed only interested in hearing the rest of the story, Cody hurried on. "It's not as uncommon in Undersea. Having a lover of the same gender, I mean. In fact, breeding, or at least having large amounts of offspring is sort of looked on as... almost cowardly. It comes from the fact that prey fish travel in large schools, I think. But that's not really important. Once I started to understand how the Undersea culture worked, it seemed more and more natural. And Kelhan is also, well, like that."
"Wait, wait," said Jess, holding up a hand. "Back up a moment. Did you just refer to him as your lover?"
Cody blushed. "Sea people reach sexual maturity quite a bit younger than humans do. Age ten is relatively common. When I got there, I was one of the very few of my peers who was still a virgin. So to answer your question: Yes. Kelhan is my lover."
"Huh." Jess sat back, looking thoughtful. "I guess that explains why you have to break up with Sam."
Cody nodded miserably. "I'm not exactly relishing the idea though. She's such a wonderful person; I don't want to hurt her."
"Sorry buddy, but I can't help you there." Jess grinned. "You know me, not exactly Don Juan. Can I ask you a favor though?"
"Hm?" asked Cody.
Jess grinned impishly. "Could you ask your boyfriend not to try and kill me again?"
Cody smiled. "You bet."
Please sir, I'd like some more.
or
Take a risk and feed the tiger.