Fish Out of Water

Chapter 3: A Bold Move From Both

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Mmkay, so, seems like you guys have some questions about Ryou. I thought I explained some of these things in the story and I usually don't do this, but I'll get into it a little more just for you, cuz I like this story:

- I'm not sure where I'm going with Malik and Leia yet. You'll just have to wait… just like me.

-Bakura and Ryou is the main pairing… I doubt there will be any other pairings… maybe I'll mention one somewhere… no idea yet.

-Bakura's a human. A normal, teenage human. With… Bakura-like traits. : )

-Uhm… the, 'gametes' of a merperson… the only way I can think of answering that is to think of how a dog's works o.O

-I heard mermen eat lots of meat and love beer.

-Ryou can breathe under and above water. It's kinda like in the movie Waterworld… he's got gills behind his ears to breath underwater and breaths like normal human above.

Okay… I think that was all of them. I hope I cleared up that stuff and I'm glad you guys found the 'split' scene so amusing, I did too… well, enjoy the next chapter.

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The warmth of the sun was what woke Bakura the next morning, making a face as he was temporarily blinded by the light, until he lifted a hand to block it. Groaning, he lowered his hand after a moment, covering his closed eyes and yawning. Moving his hand, he opened his eyes again as they adjusted to the light above him, finding himself on his back. Figuring that he had been shifting around through the night on the stairs of the pool, he let the thought slip away as he noticed a weight on his body.

Tilting his head to look without sitting up, he found the weight to be Ryou lying on his chest, still asleep. His fish – like body was curled next to him, long tail submerged in the turquoise water of the pool. Smirking tiredly, he lowered his hand into the soft, white hair that was so much like his own. He watched as the smaller boy shifted at the touch, wrinkling his nose slightly and cuddling more against the warm body underneath him.

Making an attempt to sit up, Bakura carefully slid the male down into his lap, hearing him grumble his protests at being jostled around. Rolling onto his back, Ryou continued to sleep, his head turned away from the human.

Bakura yawned again, studying the boy for the umpteenth time. He ran his fingers lightly down the stretched out torso across his legs, moving down onto the smooth, red scales where his legs should have been. A warm substance caught his attention, making him turned his hand over to gaze at his palm. He brought his hand closer to examine the clear liquid, finding it to be a bit thicker than water.

Becoming more curious, he brought his hand to his nose, sniffing lightly and finding it to have no smell. Glancing back down at the younger male's body, Bakura washed his hand quickly in the water, before running his hand down the flesh again, only slower. Finding the thick substance again, he stopped, hearing the other make a small noise and shift slightly. His curiosity becoming more intrigued by the second, Bakura gently pressed the tip of his index finger down, surprised to find the skin split under him.

He pulled away, thinking he had cut the boy for a moment, before finding that it was just a hidden slit. Blinking, his brows furrowed slightly as he began to poke around a bit more, carefully pushing his finger back into the slit. He found the channel to be warm and full of the thick liquid he had gotten on his palm… a sudden realization dawning upon him of where his finger actually was.

The thought made him jump in embarrassment and he could feel his face gaining color. Bakura glanced quickly up at Ryou, seeing that the boy's expression had changed; his mouth opened slightly and his head tilted back further over his leg, a red flush dusting across his cheeks. He let out a soft sound, tail shifting in the water and causing ripples against the human's legs.

Bakura felt his breath hitch at the thought of what he was doing, finding his fingers to be innocently exploring as the younger boy had done earlier, and yet, silently molesting him all at the same time.

Carefully pulling his fingers away, he watched as the slit closed itself, blending back in with the rest of the merboy's creamy skin. Pressing his palm back down against the flesh, he moved it back up the other's body, wondering if their anatomy was the same. Sure enough, as he moved his hand a bit higher, he felt the muscle underneath harden, giving away the secret location of his manhood.

At the sound of the smaller boy's intake of breath and movement, Bakura removed his hand completely from the other's body, looking down as emerald eyes opened and immediately locked on his own.

Gasping again, Ryou could feel his face burning a bright red and for a moment, he didn't know why. He sat up quickly, unable to place the strange feelings coursing through his body until he glanced down briefly, his mind freezing in horror.

"I didn't… I wasn't… just trying… I mean…!" Bakura's sputtering drew his gaze up again. Ryou's thoughts were a jumble of his own, trying to figure out just what had happened while he had been asleep. Unable to focus while still in the human's lap, the merboy went through with the only clear thing he could think of: slipping into the water.

"Wait – Ryou!" Bakura made a grab for the long tail as it slid off his lap, catching the fin for a moment, before he lost his hold and it disappeared around the bend of the pool.

Making a cross between an aggravated and disappointed sound, the elder male got to his feet, quickly walking the edge of the pavement and trying to spot any sign of the boy below the surface. Letting out a sigh, he held back smacking himself for allowing his curiosity to go so far. He wouldn't have wanted to be touched like that by some strange creature he barely knew, especially if it had been while he was sleeping… how degrading!

Running a clean hand over his eyes and into his hair, Bakura made his way back into the summer house, deciding to give the kid some space.

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Ryou leaned against the hard wall of the pool, curling his tail close as he sat in the deepest end. He wrapped his arms around himself, gripping each slim bicep, staring down at the red-shadowed strip of scales on his body, though not really seeing them. Emerald green eyes were glazed over slightly as the mind behind them thought deeply, trying to sort through all of the thoughts rushing through his head.

He had been touched; he had gathered that by the way his body had felt when he had awoken and Bakura's rush for excuses. It was new, those sensations… he had never actually engaged in any sexual activity, though he had heard much about them from Malik. He hadn't questioned his best friend about how he knew such things, but knowledge was knowledge.

The face of his mother surfaced in his mind, making his stomach turn.

She and Malik must be so worried…

And then his father… the thought made him frown slightly. He wouldn't care… not as much as his mother…

He only wanted to mate his heir off so he could be ensured a strong survival of his bloodline after he was gone. He had gravely misjudged the thought of his only son's life revolving around his wants…

…But he had been absolutely correct on one thing…

Their mating season was extremely close… close enough for him to feel his emotions changing… he cringed.

That had already made itself clear only moments ago…

Shifting his tail away from his body, Ryou drifted a few feet through the water, keeping his arms folded as he landed gently on his side, staring blankly down at the concrete bottom.

Hugging himself a bit tighter, he tried to picture how his mother might react if she was told that he had mated with a human. He laughed slightly at the thought, seeing a shocked face. But, maybe… because she had been accepting of his personal tastes on genders, maybe… she would accept a male human…

What was he thinking!

He shook his head, frowning again as he uncurled his arms and rolled onto his back, staring up at the shifting surface and the light glinting off the water. He had only been… well, captured was a harsh word to think, however true it might have been… acquainted with Bakura for a day and already he was having inappropriate thoughts about him!

Breathing in deeply through his small gills, Ryou let the heavy breath out through his nose, watching as a few bubbles escaped towards the surface.

What was he supposed to do now…?

He rolled onto his stomach, folding his arms under his head.

Attracted to a human… it was wrong by his people, but it was the conclusion he came to.

Maybe he should see how things go…

No… maybe he should just stay down in the water for the rest of his days…

The thought made him frown further and bury his head into his arms, not quite liking the idea. His stomach didn't either, apparently, as it rumbled its protests, making him groan.

Shifting again onto his back, Ryou covered his eyes with his arm, the other coming to rest on his stomach, trying to make it stop grumbling. The idea of staying underwater was shot, seeing as how he needed to eat somehow…

His thoughts were interrupted as the merboy felt something else in the water with him. Thinking that maybe it was Bakura, his stomach turned and his heart began beating faster, removing his arm and looking up. Furrowing his brows slightly, green eyes stared up at the object drifting down through the water a few feet from him.

Sitting up, he moved towards the dark item, circling it once as he studied the small, round ball. Holding out his hand, Ryou watched as it landed in his palm, before looking up again and seeing two more of the things floating towards him. Sniffing them lightly, he found the smell to be soft and hardly there, but perhaps that was just because of the water. Picking the other two objects from the water, he glanced up for a third time, seeing a familiar figure leaning over the side, before disappearing.

Sighing softly again, he took another breath to calm his heart, starting slowly for the surface.

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Taking a seat at the deepest end of the pool, Bakura sat back, crossing his legs under his body as he pulled the plate he had brought out closer to him. He hasn't been too sure on what a merman's diet was, so he had brought a bit of a variety. Figuring that the boy would be in the darkest portion of the pool, he flicked a grape into the water, watching as it sunk out of sight. Dropping two more pieces of the fruit in as well, he leaned forward slightly, trying to see if Ryou had noticed the food or not, but was unable to see to the bottom. Deciding to give it a few more minutes, he sat back again, eating a few grapes himself.

A few bubbles bursting on the surface of the water drew his attention back, green eyes soon following. Bakura could tell that he was still shy about what had happened earlier, for he had only emerged himself up to his nose, and he couldn't blame him. Giving the boy a friendly grin, he offered Ryou another purple grape; only to have something hit him on the cheek. Blinking, he looked down, finding a wet piece of the fruit in his lap.

Ryou cracked a grin back, throwing a second round ball at the human, only to miss as he leaned slightly to the left.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you not to play with your food?" Bakura laughed slightly, watching as the merboy sunk slightly in the water.

He moved forward until he was up against the side, hand on the concrete for support, "She told me never to talk to strange creatures, especially humans and sharks."

Bakura looked down at the smaller boy, a smirk on his lips, "I see you don't always do as mother says."

Ryou wrinkled his nose, ignoring the statement, holding up the last bit of fruit in his hand, "What's this?"

"A grape, eat it."

Looking suspiciously at the small fruit, he hesitated for a moment, before chewing and swallowing.

"I didn't know what you guys eat, so… I just grabbed a bunch of things." Bakura pushed the plate forward, watching as the younger male looked over the contents.

"What's this?" Ryou poked at a pale – looking item, pulling a piece over to himself curiously.

"Left over chicken from my lunch yesterday."

Ryou chewed on it thoughtfully, before smiling, "More!"

The human laughed again, gesturing towards the plate, "It's all yours, kiddo."

As he munched on the meat with a full mouth, green eyes looked up into mahogany, "You eaht too?"

Bakura nodded in response, reaching down to take a few pretzels from the corner of the plate. He continued to watch Ryou devour the chicken, feeling better about not having the boy hate him. Deciding not to bring up the subject again, the elder male instead pointed to the other's hair.

"What's that?"

Ryou lifted a hand and swallowed, feeling the coral in his hair.

"I guess it stayed on through everything. Mother gave it to me yesterday."

"Does it represent something?"

Ryou snorted and looked up at the human, "Of course it does. I'm a prince."

Bakura's eyes widened slightly and he nearly choked on the pretzel in his mouth, "I kidnapped a prince?"

"Kidnapped?" The younger boy's tone was becoming more impish as he continued, "More like you got lucky. I wanted to leave anyways."

He raised a silver brow in question, "Really now… what for?"

A frown came across pale lips as he leaned forward on his arms beside the human, "They were going to make me mate today, with a girl I didn't have any feelings for. I just made her tell my parents that she was my mate so they would get off my back about mating season coming up." A strange look suddenly came over the soft features, his eyes widening as if he had said more than he intended.

Bakura internally smirked at this new information, his devious side immediately forming plans for the future. Out loud, he said, "When's your mating season?'

Ryou began to slide back into the water, trying to avoid answering the question, when a hand placed itself on top of his, causing his eyes to dart up.

"C'mon, don't go anywhere again. It's alright to talk about it. When is it?" Dark eyes looked at his curiously, causing the smaller to look away and sigh softly, feeling the hand remove itself.

"Soon…" He murmured, "There's never an exact time set… I just know it's soon."

"Oh…" Bakura thought of his next question, "Why didn't you want to mate with the girl? Not your type or something?"

Ryou scoffed softly, still avoiding eye contact, "I guess… I just don't really take a strong liking to females as more than friends."

Bakura laughed, making Ryou jump and look up again, "Yeah, me neither… they get too bitchy about such little things. They all seem to be the same to me, too, you know… not very interesting."

The merboy smiled slightly, dropping his gaze down to the half – empty plate, feeling that he was sated enough for now.

"But you…"

He glanced back up, only to find that the human had shifted his position around so that he was lying on his side. Ryou could feel his face turning red at the close distance between them now and he looked away, sinking lower again. His body was reacting and he wasn't sure if he liked it or not…

A hand grabbed a hold of his chin suddenly, the gentle pressure turning his gaze back onto the human's face.

"But you…" Mahogany eyes bore into his, "You're one hell of an interesting creature."

Ryou gasped as Bakura leaned forward, closing the distance and pulling him into a soft, yet heated kiss.

His mind was suddenly blank, his body falling numb under the other's touch and his body temperature rising. He could feel his lower half begging for more attention, remembering when he had first awoken and wondering just what the other had really done. Images filled his mind at once and he felt his body harden, his waist jerking forward against the wall and making him groan into the human's lips.

Taking this as a sign to continue, Bakura leaned in further, using one hand to pull the other boy closer to him. Ryou pressed his lower half against the wall again, trying to relieve the pressure that was quickly building and failing, before flicking his tail sharply. This gave him enough of a push to propel himself up into the older human, wrapping his arms around his shoulders as he pushed him onto his back with his weight.

Bakura quickly found himself pinned down by the merboy, soft lips feverishly moving against his own. 'Mating season's closer than we both expected, huh…'

Ryou finally broke away a few moments later, burrowing his head against Bakura's shoulder and trying to catch his breath.

"I'm sorry…I shouldn't have…" He whispered, trailing off.

The weight was suddenly gone from his bare chest and Bakura sat up quickly, looking at where the water was rippling and indicating Ryou's disappearance. Smirking to himself, he licked his bottom lip, tasting chicken. Standing up, he grabbed the plate by his feet, before walking as quickly as he could into the house, his mind set on relieving the ache between his legs as soon as he dropped the food off in the kitchen.

Two could play this game.

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To Be Continued

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Cloaked Vampire: Dun dun duunnn… I think Ryou's getting bold… teehee. Reviews get him even bolder! XD