Atem swam around in a lazy circle, feeling oddly worn out.

He'd never gone this long without seeing the sun or breathing fresh air.

The air seemed fine here, but he was indoors.

I don't want to die here, even if it is fun to play with the human, Atem thought wearily, flipping over onto his stomach and swimming to the edge.

He laid his head down on the marble surface and sighed, wondering if he should pray again. No, praying was stupid and useless, especially when no god could hear him this far away from the water.

This was exactly how his mother had perished.

Here, he was comfortably fed and watered, but was still feeling the effects.
His mother might have been in a smaller pool and had probably suffered in her last hours.

There was no human container that could sustain his needs, especially when open water and open air were what he really needed.

Sighing, Atem closed his eyes and willed for sleep to come, feeling tears pooling annoyingly underneath his lids. The human would be angry if he was offered more gemstones.

It seemed that Seto Kaiba was irked by the gems, instead of appreciative, like all other humans he had encountered in his life, and that was the single most startling thing about this man.

Atem lolled his head to the other side and breathed deeply. Sleep…. Sleep….

Kaiba stood beside three of the scientists who were grouped around him at his elbows.

He stared at the results they had presented him, unable to believe his eyes and ears.

The saliva was useless. It tested as plain, human saliva.
The venom was also useless. It was potent, but there were other snakes in the world whose bite proved deadlier.

But the scale, the singular scale was the saving grace! It had regenerative properties!

"So you're telling me…" Kaiba said hoarsely, holding the electronic pad closer to his face, reading the notes on the side. "It healed your papercut."

"It healed my childhood scar, Mr. Kaiba!" A scientist piped up, sounding positively ecstatic. "Cut off a sliver, and just placed it on my skin. Waited several hours, and it was like magic!"

"We can refine this and make it into a serum," another scientist added nervously, swiping her finger on the screen and showing Kaiba a chart. "If we can extract the blood and skin cells out of it, it would make an amazing liquid. Where did you find this? It's positively miraculous!"

"We wanted to do more tests on it," the third scientist spoke up, nodding in agreement with her coworker. "But there wasn't enough of it left to do a test spin in the centrifuge. Do you have more of this strange…epidermis?"

"It is quite like human skin," the first scientist said unhelpfully. "But when enlarged…" he reached for the pad and tapped on it, showing Kaiba a magnified image of Atem's scale. "Frightening, isn't it?"

"Yeah, terrifying," Kaiba replied, his mind spinning with excitement and renewed vigor. The merman had an endless supply of scales. He could obtain more very easily.

"May we ask where you got it from?"

And all three of his scientists looked at him hopefully for an answer.

"This may surprise you," Kaiba said blandly, and he quickly decide to partially lie. "I got it from a man. He's got a large supply, so I'll go relieve him of it."

"Amazing!" the second scientist cried, clapping her hands together with joy. "Buy him out! Think about all the sick children or battle-worn soldiers we could help with this!"

"And if your supplier runs out stock, we'll have enough to find a way to replicate it," the third scientist added, smiling warmly.

The other technicians in the lab raised their heads to stare at them and began applauding.

Kaiba's ears rang tinny with the sounds of their applause and his knees grew weak.

If what they were saying was true, then he had happened across something miraculous.

"Thank you." Kaiba held his hand up shakily and the applause faded. "Another project. This takes priority until I can get more of that regenerative film."

He handed the nearest lab technician the signet ring in a sealed plastic bag, and she bowed after accepting it with both hands.

"Run tests on the stone in the middle. Avoid melting it down if you can."

"Thank you Mr. Kaiba," one technician said, bowing deeply to him as he made his way to the door. "Working for you is such an honor."

There was a murmur of agreement echoing behind him, and Kaiba found himself speechless.

Walking quickly into the elevators, he folded his arms tightly across his chest and waited for the doors to slide shut, seeing his technicians waving at him with friendly goodbyes.

It was getting hard to breathe.

Kaiba loosened his tie and leaned against the elevator, extremely lightheaded.

Time to pay the merman a visit tonight.

Atem perked his ears up, hearing footsteps approaching the door, and he kept his eyes closed, still half-asleep.

It had to be Seto Kaiba.
The old human had already come in twice today.

Kaiba stepped into the basement and closed the door gently behind him after seeing the merman fast asleep, with his head propped up under his arms on the marble edge.

"Atem…" Kaiba spoke quietly, approaching the edge and standing a few feet away. "I have something for you."

The merman did not react, and Kaiba gazed around the basement, seeing no new changes other than another small pile of glittering gemstones in the far corner of the pool, sitting beside stacks of golden armbands.

Had he been crying…again? Damn.

Guilt bubbled low in his stomach and Kaiba shoved the feeling away roughly, calling out to the merman again.

"Atem, wake up and tell me who Mahad is."

Atem's eyes shot open and he blinked, gazing up at the human. His breath caught slightly in his throat when he realized he had forgotten how handsome this human was up close.

"Mahad?" Atem repeated hoarsely, wondering how Kaiba had managed to discover the name of his bodyguard. "How do you know that name?"

"First tell me who he is," Kaiba replied impatiently, fully ready to play the merman's give-and-take questioning game. "And then I'll tell you how I know him."

"You know him?!" Atem cried, raising his head up off his arms to stare incredulously at Seto Kaiba. "Well I suppose that's not unheard of. Mahad is a strong warrior and my right-hand man. He protects and advises me on matters happening in the kingdom."

"So I was right," Kaiba said to himself. "A royal bodyguard."

"Now how do you know him?" Atem demanded, flicking his tail nervously behind himself, creating thick waves which caused the water to splash over the edge. "Go on, speak!"

"He walked into my office," Kaiba said gleefully, reaching into his blazer pocket and pulling out the sketch. "To give me a present."

Atem pulled himself out of the water and sat nervously on the edge, holding his hand out for the paper, "Let me see it!"
He felt a rush of intense gratitude towards his protector.
Mahad had visited this human? How did Mahad know?!
That was his Mahad after all, always close at his heels as his most loyal guard.

"First, you tell me how he sprouted legs," Kaiba said lazily, keeping the paper folded and sticking back into his pocket. "Then you can see the message."

Atem took light shallow breaths, his ears ringing with incredulity. So many questions were churning around in his mind, he could barely think straight.

Mahad had sent a message?
Seto Kaiba had seen Mahad with legs?

Then it meant Mahad must have done something terribly forbidden in order to walk on land. But he had gotten close, and had given Seto Kaiba a paper message!

"Well?" Kaiba pressed, wondering if Atem growing legs had anything to do with his regenerative scales. "Come on. If you tell me, I'll give you the message. I'll even tell you everything about our meeting."

Atem held his breath and stared intently at the shiny watch sitting on Kaiba's wrist.

Fine. Fine! He would tell Seto Kaiba anything if it meant he could see a message from Mahad.

"Mahad probably committed a crime," Atem said weakly, his head spinning sick at the thought. "Or he bribed someone to let him into the Chrysalis."

"What the fuck are those words?" Kaiba rolled his eyes. "Explain."

"Different regions call it different things." Atem fumed, curling his fists at his sides. "Some call it a Moon Pod, or a Gene Pool, but my kingdom calls it the Chrysalis."

"Right, and?" Kaiba pressed, now interested. He walked over to the table and dragged the plastic chair noisily across the floor, placing it directly in front of Atem before sitting down in it. "Keep talking."

"You soak in the pool and grow legs," Atem continued, thinking that this was obvious already. "Many warriors used it to war with humans long ago, but those days are over, and access to the Chrysalis has been forbidden for many centuries."

"You were at war with us on land?" Kaiba said, wondering how the fuck merpeople even began to manage that. "War between us is stupid. You don't need anything from land to survive underwater."

"That is true," Atem raged, now passionate about educating Kaiba on their cause. "It was a war to defend ourselves. Humans wanted our riches, which we gladly gave, but it was never enough. Human greed is terrifying and never-ending."

"Right, because you all cry gold and silver." Kaiba rolled his eyes, and he was corrected vehemently by the merman.

"Precious stones. Gold and silver are metals that our bodies can't produce. Everyone knows that."

Kaiba stared at Atem for a long moment before bursting out into laughter.
Sure! Everyone knew that!

Now thoroughly worried, Atem watched the human laugh and laugh, the sounds echoing pleasantly in the large chamber.

"Okay…okay," Kaiba breathed, his sides aching while he composed himself with a great effort. "Anyway, back to this…Gene Pool, this Chrysalis—"

"Mahad is a warrior, so of course he knows the location of a Chrysalis," Atem interrupted, eager to please the human with information. "Similar to how hunters will never reveal the locations of the demon's caves, it's all secret."

"Wow," Kaiba said, tucking a hand under his chin and leaning forward. "Cool."
His hunch had been correct.
Regenerative scales held the ability grow legs. It made a lot of sense.
Very cool.

Atem gave the human a strange look. Cool? He had just divulged ancient knowledge, and all the human had to say for it was 'wow, cool'?!

"Now let me see the message," Atem said readily, holding out his hand which was now dry. He had been sitting on this edge storytelling long enough.

Kaiba nodded happily and slipped the paper out, handing it quickly to Atem and watching him unfold it.

Atem stared at the drawing of his own face, his throat closing up at the familiar stokes.

Priestess Isis had drawn this with extreme care.
And it was dry, with not a speck of water on it, which meant Isis was also on land, or Mahad had asked her to surface long enough to draw this.

The thought made his stomach churn so hard, he grew nauseous.

Everyone in the kingdom was looking for him.
Everyone…was putting their lives at stake to find him.

"You better release me soon," Atem said shakily, feeling a horrible pressure building behind his eyes again, but he held strong. "Everyone is looking for me."

"You lied to me," Kaiba snickered, completely oblivious to Atem's distress. "You said you could communicate with your men. You clearly can't if he's walking around handing flyers out with your face on it."

"Yes, I lied about that!" Atem cried, losing all semblance of his front and deciding to be completely honest. "My people are in danger the longer they keep looking for me. Please, Seto Kaiba, release me. I know you are kind man—"

"Oh shut up, I know you don't think that," Kaiba growled, rising to his feet and spotting the silver tray sitting at the corner of the pool.

Stray scales!

He rushed to it excitedly and was dismayed to discover that it had all dried out.

The shoe brush he had provided was right beside the tray, so he picked it up to tentatively poke at the pile of dried scales, seeing them flake at a single touch.

Oh fucking shit.
These needed to be kept damp, as he had suspected.

"What are you doing?" Atem asked, horrified to see the human poking at his dead scales on the tray. "That's disgusting. Toss it out before it begins to mold."

The human turned to give him a blank look before his face split into a handsome, boyish grin.

"I'll make you another deal, merman. Are you interested in hearing my offer?"

Atem narrowed his eyes at the human, attempting to read his thoughts, but there were none, so he nodded stiffly. Whatever it was, this human wasn't after riches, so it ought to be safe.

"I will come down here to brush you as often as you need it." Kaiba held up the shoe brush and wiggled it playfully in his hand, unable to stop smiling. "In return, you let me keep the scales you shed."

"You're offering to do me two services, human," Atem smirked, quite pleased with this deal. "Why do you want my dead scales?"

"I'm collecting them," Kaiba answered truthfully, knowing the merman wouldn't care for this answer, and he was right. Atem lost interest and gazed intently at his necktie.

"What is that? You always wear it, and it is loose today," Atem said, pointing at Kaiba's silk tie. "That rope around your neck."

"I wear it because I like the way it feels," Kaiba said, giving the flaky scales another poke before picking up the tray and moving to dump the contents messily onto the table. He could sample and pick those up later. Right now, he needed fresh ones to test on.

"Need help?" he asked, holding up the shoe brush and giving Atem a tentative smile.

"If you wish to do such a demeaning and mundane act," Atem said pleasantly, flipping his tail happily up and down on the damp marble surface. "I won't stop a man who wants to throw away his own dignity."

"Right," Kaiba muttered under his breath, walking to the edge and kneeling at the end of Atem's tail. "Is there a …certain way to do it?"

"Logically, you brush in the direction from which the scale grows out," Atem replied smugly, folding his arms across his chest and enjoying the human's interest. "Downwards, and never against the folds. Its uncomfortable."

"Got it," Kaiba breathed, bracing himself.

Gripping the brush in his palm, he gave merman's tail a long stroke downwards. When nothing happened, he did it again, and again, seeing several clear oval films catch on the edge of the brush and follow him down to the ends of Atem's fins.

Perfect.

He carefully lifted the brush and laid the shining scale flat across the silver tray.

Atem watched with rising curiosity as Kaiba peeled apart each one with his fingers and arranged them in a neat row on the tray, slightly overlapping. He rolled his eyes.

"Why are you being so careful? You can discard it carelessly," he said, waving his hand across his nose. This human was ridiculous!

"I want them…neatly organized," Kaiba replied through gritted teeth, knowing he was being laughed at, but he didn't care. This stuff should be treated with care because it was more valuable than liquid gold.

"What?" Atem cried, laughing heartily as he caught a thread of Kaiba's thoughts. "My dead skin is like liquid gold? Wouldn't you rather have real liquid gold?"

"Shut up," Kaiba replied, his ears burning as the merman's laugh rang pleasantly around him.

He continued brushing Atem's tail in smooth downward strokes, feeling his shoulders beginning to ache. Damn, this was hard work. But it would be worth it…not to have a scale stick on his skin after sex.

Atem froze with surprise when he heard this thought, and he gave the ends of his tail a playful wiggle, watching the human carefully place another stack of wet scales onto the silver tray and duck his head down, continuing to brush him with care.

The human didn't like the scale sticking to him after…sex. So, the human wanted to play with him after all!

"Tell me," Atem said warmly, enjoying the way his lower body tingled every time Kaiba gave him a particularly strong downward stroke, "Did you miss me? How long were you gone?"

"Several days," Kaiba answered emptily, his stomach once again churning with guilt when he realized the merman had no way of telling time in this room. "Yeah, sure, I missed you."

"Oh good, I missed you too." Atem smiled, feeling relieved. It would be bad if the human lost interest and forgot about him. That wouldn't happen, right?

"Forgive me for asking again," the merman spoke up again, and Kaiba peeled another stack of scales off the brush, running his hand along the freshly brushed patch and enjoying the warm, smooth feel.

Beautiful….

"What?" Kaiba said absently, his mind wandering sinfully.

The sheen of the merman's tail really was mesmerizing. There were also many layers to the scales, so he had to go over the same spot many times, but the result was a luscious red color with gold veins threading through the upper scales.

The tail waved slowly in his vision, narrowly missing the tip of his nose, and Kaiba jerked back awkwardly, glancing up to meet Atem's heated glare, his cheeks wonderfully pink.

"Yes, I know my tail is pretty," Atem said, his heart fluttering wildly at the compliments raining down on him from Kaiba's thoughts. "Now tell me, when are you planning to release me?"

Kaiba swallowed thinly and resumed brushing the other side of Atem's tail, his heart pounding loudly in his ears. Soon. Possibly after the stone came back from testing.

"Good, 'soon' it is then," Atem said mildly, giving his tail a happy wave while his skin tingled pleasantly. "It's been a while since someone has brushed me. The last person to do it was—"

Atem stopped talking abruptly and Kaiba glanced up nervously, seeing a pained expression on his face.

Ah shit…what was it now?

"Just say it, and turn over," Kaiba growled, slipping another couple of transparent scales off the brush and admiring the healthy stack sitting on the silver tray.

Atem eased himself onto his side, letting Kaiba graze the brush over his hip and all the way down to the middle of his tail.

There was a brief silence before Atem managed to compose himself and say, "My mother."

"You miss mommy?" Kaiba answered playfully, hoping to lighten Atem's mood, but to his dismay, the merman's face continued to darken.

"If you continue to keep me here, I'll die the same way she did," Atem said, his voice trembling with denial. "But I know you'll let me go before that happens."

Kaiba said nothing and kept brushing Atem's hip, hating how the atmosphere had grown heavy with sorrow when it had been mildly romantic only a minute ago.
So the merman's mother had died after being captured.
Unsurprising.
If she had been captured before humans had access to good technology….

Kaiba shook the thought out of his mind and ran his hand down Atem's smooth hip, pleased with his work.

"Other side, turn over."

Atem obliged, staring at the human's hands and at his slender fingers. They were thin and long, almost like a siren's.

The strokes down his hip were long and even, sending warmth traveling down to the tips of his tail, and Atem dared himself to enjoy it.

The silence in the chamber was comfortable, with only the slicking of the brush filling the air between them, and the occasional pause when Kaiba would pull away to discard the scales onto the tray.

"Your sides are finished. Turn over again," Kaiba said simply, his arms aching.
This was going to be so worth it. He couldn't wait to see the faces of his scientists when he presented them with the stack of scales.

Atem rolled over onto his stomach and allowed the human to stroke the ends of his tail with heavy precision.
He couldn't deny that this felt nice.
The last time a mermaid offered to clean his tail, she had done it half-heartedly and in a rush, only because she had been expecting sex afterwards.
It was similar here, wasn't it?
Was this human expecting playtime after the grooming session?

"Tell me what you do for a living, human," Atem said kindly, and he heard Kaiba's thought as an immediate answer.

How the fuck do I explain it to him in a way that he'll understand?

"I'm not a child you know," Atem bristled, throwing Kaiba a look over his shoulder, growing warmer the higher the brush traveled up his backside. "If you're eloquent enough, I'll understand."

Kaiba nodded, nervous as his brush grazed over where he thought the merman's ass would be. "I make and sell technology. You know, computers and phones...?"

"I see," Atem replied pleasantly, tucking his hands under his chin and closing his eyes. "And what does your Mokuba do for a living?"

"He's a kid, he goes to school," Kaiba answered stiffly, discarding another stack of scales onto the tray and dipping his hands into the water to lightly splash them, making sure they wouldn't dry out.

"Oh, school! We have those," Atem nodded, pleased to hear a topic he was familiar with. "I've learned about human schools—"

"Do you have an asshole?" Kaiba interrupted, running his hands up and down Atem's curved backside, wondering if he could find a hole the same way he found the slit.

Atem bit his tongue so hard, his eyes watered.
Well, yes, but he wasn't going to tell the human that.
What if the human wanted to stick something in it to take a sample?
How humiliating.

"No," Atem lied, his ears burning with a strange heat while Kaiba poked and prodded at him, dangerously near his asshole. "Don't bother. I don't have one."

"Okay," the human replied, sounding oddly disappointed, and the gentle, even brushing resumed.

"Do the front now," Atem insisted, turning around heavily and leaning against Kaiba's arm, making sure it was trapped underneath him. "Hurry up, this is getting boring."

Kaiba grit his teeth and nodded. Spoiled royal brat.

"I heard that," Atem said haughtily, his angular eyes flashing dangerously at Kaiba. "Keep calling me names, human, and see where it gets you."

Kaiba smiled to himself and continued brushing, travelling higher and higher. He realized the closer he got to the top, the less loose scales there were.

"It's tiring to do the bottom half," Atem said lazily, eyeing the brush that grazed suggestively over his hip again. "It's strenuous, isn't it? You've already done that spot."

I know, Kaiba thought darkly, and a tanned hand reached out to grab him by the tie, pulling him close, their noses almost touching.

"We're finished. Now we play," Atem said happily, aching for some entertainment. "Go on, take off your protective layers and let me watch."

"Give me a fucking second," Kaiba breathed, his heart thundering rapidly in his chest, and he jerked back forcefully out of the merman's grasp. "I need to preserve these."

He dropped the brush on the ground and swept the scale-laden tray up in his arms before hurrying out of the basement, slamming the door behind himself with a loud bang.

Atem blinked, his heart sinking when he found himself alone in the room again.

His tail felt wonderfully light and refreshed, but the human had just…run away.

Growing angry and impatient, he crossed his arms firmly. He would stay dry on the edge until the human came back.

Upstairs, Kaiba ran into the kitchen and hastily poured the scales into a large plastic bag. He sealed the top and loudly called for Isono.

Footsteps came pattering into the kitchen and Mokuba came running, throwing his arms around his waist in a tight hug, almost toppling him over.

"Seto! You're home—ick, you're wet!" Mokuba cried, pulling away from his brother and gazing down at his shirt. "Now I'm wet! Ugh."

"Look at this," Kaiba said triumphantly, showing Mokuba the plastic bag filled with scales, and his brother wrinkled his nose. "Ew, what is that? They smell."

"Dead scales from his tail," Kaiba said readily, and his manservant appeared in the doorway, bowing deeply.

"Master Kaiba, welcome back."

"Deliver these to the lab," Kaiba ordered, placing the wet bag of scales on the kitchen counter and shivering from the cold. "Now. Before the temperature changes. They need them fresh for best results."

"Can I go? Please, please?" Mokuba begged, his eyes shining with hope. "I wanna see what else you've been doing!"

"Sure, but be good," Kaiba said shakily, wondering if he really was dismissing his own brother so he could peacefully fuck the merman downstairs without being heard or disturbed…not that they'd ever find out he was doing such a thing.

Mokuba cheered and followed Isono to the front door. Kaiba listened until he heard the door slam before he headed back down to his basement lab.

Atem listened intently, hearing footsteps approaching the door, and he breathed a sigh of relief. Good, the human was coming back to keep him company.

Even if there was going to be no playtime, his company was welcome. Everything was terribly boring when there was nothing to do.

Kaiba stepped into the basement and shut the door quietly, noticing that the merman was still sitting on the edge, waiting for him expectantly.
Seeing him there felt really weird.

The merman smiled handsomely at him, flashing a row of brilliant white teeth, "I'm bored."

"You say that a lot," Kaiba said under his breath, slowly shrugging his blazer off and draping it over the chair, cursing internally when he saw he had forgotten the dried scales on the table.

"You're really hard to distract," Atem frowned, "Stop thinking about those disgusting scales and look at me."

Kaiba gazed listlessly at the merman, wondering if he was walking himself towards his doom. Atem was charming and pretty. Two of his main weaknesses.

"I want to see you take off your layers," Atem declared, thinking that would be a fun sight to see. "Right now. Do it right now."

"You're fucking demanding, you know that?" Kaiba shot back, throwing his tie down on top of his blazer defiantly.

"Watching humans disrobe has always been a favorite pastime of mine," Atem answered playfully, "It's fascinating to watch. Each human does it differently depending on the garment."

"Yeah, that's kind of how clothes work," Kaiba rolled his eyes, unbuttoning his shirt and wondering if he had gone crazy. Was he really giving this merman a free strip show?

"A new phrase!" Atem crowed, his violet eyes gleaming with mischief. "Strip show! Explain what that is."

Kaiba stared at the merman, dumbfounded. S-Seriously?!

"Yes, yes," Atem said absently, leaning back on his elbows and throwing Kaiba an alluring smile. "You get to sample all of my things, my scales, my venom…so you must teach me human phrases in return. This way we both learn, and I love learning."

Kaiba stared at the merman and didn't move. This was ridiculous. He was not participating in this.

"I won't ask about it anymore," Atem said hastily to keep Kaiba from running away again. "I was just teasing. Come, sit here with me. I've sorely missed a good conversation."

Kaiba swallowed thinly, fully aware what the ramifications of "sit with me" entailed.

His phone buzzed in his pocket, saving him, and he quickly dug it out to answer it, turning away from the merman, his cheeks burning hot.

Atem glared at the human's back and curled his fists in frustration.

"Mr. Kaiba, we've received the second batch of skin samples," said one of his female lab technicians. "And calling to report our findings about the rock. We can't do much with it. But it is quite pretty. We can give you a more comprehensive overview when you come in tomorrow."

"Send the ring back with the stone attached," Kaiba said stiffly, and he hung up, his stomach churning with nervousness.

The stones with the blue cores were useless.

"Bad news?" Atem asked lightly, seeing Kaiba's aura darken visibly with every passing second. He had heard the passing thought about the dragon's gems being useless, and it made his spirits soar.
This meant the human no longer sought the rare stones. Crisis averted.

Kaiba nodded stiffly, tossing his phone onto the chair along with his blazer and tie, his eyes burning strangely.

He had almost gone bankrupt for a stupid rock!
But on the bright side….

Kaiba gazed restlessly at the merman, whose upper body was now completely dry from having been sitting on the edge for the past hour.

He had netted himself a beautiful merman who shed extraordinary scales.

Atem narrowed his eyes at the human, hearing another compliment from the man's thoughts.

"I don't understand you, Seto Kaiba," Atem said finally, thinking he would give up on playtime and roll himself back into the water for a nap. "You refuse to play with me, even though you intend on releasing me soon. Do you know how to have fun?"

Kaiba grit his teeth, feeling himself sweat.
He was still waiting on the semen results from the other lab, because he wasn't sure if the merman's semen would be harmful—

"You're doing it again," Atem rolled his eyes and slipped the end of his tail back into the water languidly. "We're done here. You may leave."

"I know how to have fun," Kaiba answered heatedly, hearing the merman laugh at him and throw him a condescending look.

"Then why are you still standing there?" Atem asked ruefully, giving his tale a sensual wave. "Come on."

Kaiba felt his head rush strangely and his ears rang sharply while his legs moved on their own, walking to the merman and kneeling beside him, pulling him into a deep kiss.

Pleased and excited, Atem threw his arms around Kaiba's neck and held on tightly, enjoying the way his hands slid roughly up and down the sides of his body.

Kaiba winced slightly the moment his knees hit the wet floor beside Atem's tail, and he could feel the cold water seeping quickly up through his pants, but he ignored it. Atem's heated lips on his own became the only sensation he could focus on and his head swam with arousal.
This merman was a skilled kisser.

Atem strained upwards, his neck aching, wishing the human would come closer, so he snuck his hands through the back of Kaiba's luscious brown hair and gave it a demanding tug.

Kaiba pulled away breathlessly, gazing deeply into Atem's fiery violet eyes before throwing caution to the wind and deciding to straddle the merman. The air was knocked from Atem's lungs as the human climbed nimbly on top of him and sat down heavily on his tail, leaning forward to continue kissing him, his hot tongue sending a warm shiver of pleasure down his chest.
Excited, Kaiba grazed his knuckles against Atem's toned abdomen, deeply enjoying every muscled ridge he passed before stopping at a familiar spot below his navel.

This time, Atem's length had emerged without coaxing and Kaiba's stomach still churned with unease the moment he felt the heated wetness curling underneath his palm.

He glanced down at it bravely, his throat tightening with a mixture of arousal and fear at the way the sharp tentacle curled upwards and downwards.
That still took some getting used to.

Tanned arms shot forward and tugged insistently at his belt, and Atem threw him a mischievous smile. "Just like before. Take it out so we can feel good together."

Blinking rapidly, Kaiba obeyed with numb fingers, hastily unbuckling his belt and sliding his pants down across his hips, his skin burning from the merman's erotic gaze.

Atem's angular eyes widened with glee when he realized there was no second protective layer, and he found himself staring at a neat patch of pubic hair peeking out underneath the strange V-shaped slit.

"This is fascinating." Atem grinned, gently sifting his fingers through the hair and catching a heated stream of embarrassed thoughts from the human sitting above him.

Christ, can he stop touching it like that?
Fucking embarrassing as shit.
I should've shaved it completely if I had known he was going to make comments about it—

"I like this," Atem said feverishly, slipping his hand dangerously lower, and his fingertips grazed something hard and warm. "I haven't seen you up close yet."

Kaiba swallowed thinly and inched his pants all the way down to his knees, his cheeks burning hotter than ever at the expression Atem wore when he stared intently at his erection.

Atem reached for it and wrapped his hand around the heated length, breathless with excitement, and he glanced down at his own member, feeling a rush of desire. He gave Kaiba's dick a nice long stroke and gave the end a playful downward tug to meet his own.

Holding his breath, Kaiba watched with rising horror and incredulity as Atem's tentacle came rising up to meet his, the tip giving his own tip a wonderfully lewd swirl, sending a violent jolt of electricity running up and down his legs.

H-Holy shit.

Nervous but excited, Kaiba wedged himself down lower, inching forward and hearing Atem's breaths grow shallow while his tentacle found his stiff shaft and wrapped thickly around it in a happy greeting. It began coiling around him, tightening with arousing force while giving him encouraging up and down pumps.

Amazing, Kaiba thought faintly to himself, feeling lightheaded and dizzy with happiness. It was like a tongue and a hand had merged together and was continuously pleasuring his lower body without pause, sometimes moving lower along his shaft to give his balls a playful prod before loosening its grasp and giving his entire shaft a heated upwards stroke.

Wet at the tip, Kaiba's knees were trembling in an effort to stay upright, and Atem paid this no mind. The merman stared intently at his own tentacle, watching it uncurl from around the human's cock and slide sensually lower, giving the testicles a vicious rub, and the texture sent a wonderful jolt of fire searing up his body, causing him to shiver happily and close his eyes.

Kaiba tensed, panicking slightly when the tentacle seemed unsatisfied with his front.

It was beginning to travel lower and lower, farther up along his backside, and he leaned forward anxiously, no longer able to think straight when Atem's arms came curling around his shoulders and a warm tongue shoved thickly through the fronts of his teeth, giving the roof of his mouth a ticklish swirl while the heated tentacle underneath him gave him another violently pleasurable rub and slid roughly over his hole before retracting quickly to prod messily at the space underneath his balls.

Kaiba grit his teeth so hard, he saw green, and warm hands cupped his face. Atem's eyes were dark with lust and his lips shining wet with their saliva barely moved when he spoke, "Is it true? I can put myself somewhere inside you?"

Blinking rapidly, Kaiba could barely hear his own thoughts through the waves of searing fire assaulting his body every time the tentacle made a rough up and down the entire length of his groin.
W-What a feeling!
A giant tongue was eating him out from underneath, snaking around his dick and curling around it tightly to give it a tight squeeze before licking down his entire crack, leaving him shaking and shuddering for more.

"Seto Kaiba, answer me," Atem said weakly, unsure if he could hold out any longer. The human's thoughts were wandering so far, hearing them almost made him want to wet himself with joy. The human was enjoying it very much it seemed!

Kaiba grimaced as another wave of heat threatened to consume him, and he held his breath, forcing himself to calm down while he reached a hand down to guide Atem's length towards his hole, feeling his hand slipping strangely on the odd lubricant that was coming from the base of the tentacle.

Atem blinked and felt the human sit upright higher along his body, causing his confusion to rise. Before long, the tip of his arousal found a tight, clenching hole, and Atem reached up to grip Kaiba by the arms, holding him down in place on top of him, gazing intently up into his eyes, amazed at the expression the human was currently making.

His pale cheeks were tinted cherry red, and his eyes were closed with his mouth slightly parted while he panted shallowly, his elbows trembling with enormous effort as he spoke, "It-It goes in…there."

Gleeful and triumphant, Atem curled himself forward and pressed his lips tightly against the human's neck, giving him a playful bite before shoving himself upwards directly into the delightful heat, feeling the hole clench deliciously down around him with such tightness, it made his head spin.
This was…the inside of a human!
It was hot, and impossibly supple, almost as if the hole was sucking him in willingly.
Lost in the alien sensations of pleasure, Atem pulled Kaiba close against his chest and began to fuck him in earnest.

Kaiba let out a strangled gasp the moment Atem entered him with extreme ease, and his mind went blank, his vision turning white as the tentacle began thrusting into him violently, stretching him warmly the deeper it went, curling up against his stomach, sending him into a blind frenzy.
Amazing. This was purely amazing.

He was dimly aware of his own lewd gasps echoing around in the basement every time Atem stayed deep inside of him, hitting a strange, high point below is navel, the hot length filling him up to the brim and wrenching an orgasm from his core, his body shaking uncontrollably when the tentacle extracted itself to thud heavily along his rim to give his balls another rough knead.
It caused a sharp jolt of pain which shocked him to his senses.

Clenching emptily around nothing, Kaiba gripped Atem's shoulders furiously and shuddered pleasurably, hating that the length was no longer inside.

"Put it…back," Kaiba growled, his head swimming with a dull haze, and warm lips pressed tightly up against his own, silencing him effectively while Atem's hands wrapped warmly around his dick to give the sensitive tip another rub.

"But we've already finished," Atem protested, wondering if the human really was demented. He grazed his hand down Kaiba's muscular chest, enjoying the smooth curves. "You want to go a second time right now? I was trying to be gentle."

No, you idiot, Kaiba breathed heavily, at a loss for words. He thunked his head down on Atem's shoulder, his heart pounding thickly in his ears while the blood came rushing back to his head in a sudden wave, making him dizzy.

If that was tame sex, Kaiba didn't want to know what rough sex would be like with Atem.

Fading in and out of consciousness, Kaiba shivered from the cold, half-aware that he was somehow fully naked, still straddling the merman's tail.

"Human…are you alright?" Atem cried, giving Kaiba's shoulder a rough shake. "…Kaiba!"

Kaiba pried his eyes open with an enormous effort and leaned heavily forwards to kiss the merman, pushing him down onto the marble tiles and gazing lustfully down at him.

"That was amazing," Kaiba said seriously, and Atem smiled charmingly up at him, his violet eyes sparkling mysteriously.
Fucking unreal and pretty.

"Then recover, and we'll try a different way," Atem replied, his heart leaping for joy inside his chest.
The gods had somehow answered his prayers. This human was marvelous.

Author's note:

another lewd chapter. Kaiba realizes how much fun it is to fuck w a tentacle dick and lets off steam. Atem is happy and aware of the situation knowing mahad is near, and kaiba's thoughts say he's going to be released soon anyway, so he's having some fun.

edited by setokaibaes

leave a review! lmk your thoughts on where this story is going uwu :D

hugs,
Ugli