There came a time when Rhys felt as if his time in the Pandorian ocean was a dream. There was nothing to be scared of here. No skags or predators within the water. Nothing getting ready to drag them out of the water and… well kill them. The water was always the perfect temperature, sliding over his skin in a smooth manner. He never had to try and find warm spots in the water. He just got to relax, enjoying the sensation of the warm, perfect water.

Not to mention the food. Fresh fish he'd never even seen before. Easy to catch and he never had to put in too much effort. The fish also never had the weird, nasty after taste that everything on Pandora seemed to have.

How could Rhys ever want anything else? He swam close to the edge of the tank. Watching Jack in his office… sometimes he thought about how life would be if he went back to the sea. Hell, Rhys didn't know what he'd do if he had to go back. It wouldn't be the… the same. Not after all of this.

...Not after Jack.

Granted, there was parts he missed. He longed for his friends, wondering quietly if they were okay. He wondered how Vaughn was doing without him. The two had stuck together for a long time, and being separated for so long was… new.

Rhys had known Vaughn so long, what felt like his whole life… It had gotten to the point where he figured that would be his life forever. Just him and Vaughn in their school, just floating through the days. Hell, it had almost gotten to the point where… well mermaids have a few social behaviors they usually follow. Ones that have branded into their genetic cold with hot fire. Things Rhys couldn't avoid no matter how hard he tried. Mermaids were known to mate with other species. They would lure people by the water, maybe using these new spread of genes for breeding. This helped avoid too much overlapping in the genes and kept them from ever becoming too closely related. But within the school, mermaids always picked one mate for life. One other mermaid they'd always have in there life, a strong, emotional bond forming between the two… and he'd always figured he'd end up bonding with Vaughn…

Hell, he'd always figures that's what would happen. That people had just over exaggerated the feelings of it all. That there wasn't something he had been missing, he'd just been expecting too much.

Yet here… he knew he felt this way with Jack. Being apart from him was hard. He wanted to be with him every second. A warm feeling spreading through his chest just when he saw him. Rhys almost lost his head when Jack would touch him. Skin tingling as his whole body was writhing for more. He KNEW this was what everyone had talked about. He KNEW he'd bonded with Jack. That he needed the CEO in every second of his life. That he needed every moment of his company.

Jack was everything now.

There was a soft click in the back of the tank. Excitement bubbling in his chest. He didn't even pause to think about how late it was. Jack would usually be back in his house at this hour. Maybe he had gotten lucky? That was what went through Rhys' mind as he swam back towards the entrance.

It was weirdly dark when Rhys entered the pool. Rhys could see just fine, being used to the dark depths of the water, but it was still unusual. He knew Jack couldn't see in the dark. Plus, Jack usually turned on dim lights, not wanting to trip and fall anywhere inside of the room.

So the fact that it was so dark was… fairly strange. But hell, that had to be Jack. The silhouette seemed thinner than usual, but it was definitely Jack. He could hear him tossing off his shoes, putting them to the side as he drew closer the the edge of the pool.

Rhys felt as the water moved as Jack slipped into the water. His body distilling the water as he splashed down into it. There was a moment of silence before Rhys heard Jack's voice in the tank.

"C'mon pumpkin, I'm really not in the mood for games here."

Rhys took that response to heart before swimming up close. Moving to swim in circles around Jack. Usually Jack would just sit on the edge of the pool so the fact he'd actually climbed inside was also fairly strange. Everything felt… off about the situation. Tension seemed to fill the water. It wasn't something Rhys had really expected.

"There you are." Jack grumbled under his breath, moving to scoop Rhys up closer, keeping the mermaid's tail in the water. "For a moment I didn't think you were gonna come."

Rhys huffed before snuggling into Jack. The contact feeling warm and inviting. Pulling him in by a string as he wrapped his body around Jack. Glad to have the full body embrace from the man. He'd never been able to get so close.

"You know what kiddo? You're the only one I can trust around here." Jack remarked, running a hand up the center of Rhys' back.

Rhys shuddered from the touch. Curling closer and enjoying the warmth. The smell of blood lingered over Jack, but Rhys didn't really care about that right now. He just cared about the contact.

"Though I wish I didn't have to get soaked to the bone just to spend some time with you. " Jack remarked, tracing his thumb up Rhys' spine. It caused a shiver to go through Rhys' whole body, ending in a soft purr before he gently kissed Jack's neck.

"That's always a possibility. " Rhys whispered back, moving to nip the lobe of Jack's hear softly. Making sure his sharp teeth didn't hurt the soft flesh of the weird human ear. He was fairly fascinated by those weird fleshy things. Mermaids didn't have ears like that. The-

"What do you mean, Kitten?" Jack pulled Rhys a bit away from him. Mainly so he could look into the eyes of this fish person. Rhys was sad he couldn't keep playing with Jack's cute little ears. But the look on Jack's face was… serious.

Rhys sighed. Right, of course he didn't know the legends of mermaids. Rhys really wasn't used to creatures who didn't know how this worked. He could feel his eyes roll before his mouth opened to explain. "There's plenty of ways a Mermaid can grow legs. Many of those are too complex…. But there's some simple ones too."

Jack grunted, but a smirk started to form on his lips. "Well, go on."

Rhys nodded before trying to cuddle close to Jack. "The easiest one is that if a Mermaid falls in love with a human, they can become one so they can live their life with the one they love. "

Jack snorted a short laugh, but loosened his grip. Finally letting Rhys curl up closer to Jack. The mermaid's face pressing into the soft skin of his neck. "That's it? No other catches?"

Rhys let off a soft sigh. "only that if the human dies, the mermaid perishes as well... " Rhys felt the vibration of Jack's body as he began to laugh. "That's it? That makes it even better? It means that you'll only be with me, and when I die, you follow me in."

Rhys nodded before softly kissing Jack's jaw. The idea sounded nice. Then he wouldn't have to wait extended periods of time to get to Jack. He'd be with him at all moments of the day. Every second. It would be wonderful. The idea made Rhy's heart flutter.

"So, how about we work on that tomorrow morning?" Jack started, moving to plant a kiss on Rhy's lips. "That way we can get this done as soon as possible."

Rhys nodded as he pressed his head closer to Jack. The night seemed to go so well. And tomorrow. things would he even better. This was what he wantes. To spend ever second with Jack. To sleep with him and hold him. To never be alone in his entire life. That was what he wanted. That's what he needed.

And that's what he was going to get.