Atem laid back onto the pillows and gazed up into Seto's handsome face hovering above him.
The light blond hair was difficult to adjust to, but in the semi-darkness, Seto looked enough like himself for Atem to relax and throw his arms around Seto's neck to pull him into a passionate kiss.
Cool hands circling his waist and pressing him down into the bed, making his skin burn with excitement while his mouth was engulfed in a warm, languid kiss, appreciating how Seto moved against him with loving familiarity.
There was a quiet shuffle as Seto tossed his clothes aside, and Atem sat up slightly to inch his pants off from around his waist, instantly feeling a tight fist come slamming down onto his hardness, making him curl and gasp with joy while his body convulsed at the sudden pang of fire that raked down his chest, and he reached down between his legs to grab Seto's wrist, trying to still his motions while the naughty hand kept tightening around his base while another hand snuck underneath his ass, gave the cheek a firm knead, and then knuckles coated with a thick layer of lube grazed his hole teasingly, making him clench and let out a hiss, "….I'm going to finish!"
"Already?" Seto breathed as he leaned down to nip the top of Atem's ear, biting back a laugh. "Has it been a while?"
"No, it feels strange," Atem admitted guiltily, his legs trembling while another wave of hot pleasure washed down his body, and he curled into Seto's hand to cum thinly, his mind humming for a moment before he relaxed and let his breath out in a huff.
"You just forced yourself to cum." Seto snickered as he nudged Atem's legs further apart to make room for himself. "I'm coming in here…"
Atem lifted one shoulder in a half-shrug, and Seto felt a surge of something odd rise up in his chest at that reaction. Land sex…bored Atem. Could he make it less obvious?
Gritting his teeth, Seto pushed his doubts aside and threw himself down into Atem's warm embrace, reaching down between his legs to stroke himself with his lube-coated hand and then slowly guided his tip into Atem's heated entrance, easing himself in with a slow, steady motion while Atem's breath merely hitched, and he didn't react further.
Now determined to make the king react, Seto thrust himself in as far as he could go and felt Atem freeze and stare up at the ceiling with his adam's apple jumping in his throat while he sorted out his feelings, so Seto didn't give him time to recover before he picked up the pace and thrust into him viciously, enjoying the heated thrum of pleasure raking down his legs while Atem's chest heaved with excited breaths and his tanned knuckles whitened over the sheets, giving Seto a solid head rush when he saw Atem close his eyes and part his lips. It gave him the perfect chance to dip down and capture them in a tight kiss, savoring the taste of Atem's breath lingering in the back of his tongue before he angled his hips upwards and continued pounding into the tight heat, hearing Atem cry out in his thoughts, "…f-fine, it feels good now…! Y-You can stop…"
Why would I stop if it feels good? Seto growled, his heart humming in his ears while his own orgasm was staved off by the odd request, so he bared his teeth to land a bite on Atem's exposed collarbone, stilling in his motions to glance down at Atem's stomach to see it covered in his own semen…from having orgasmed again.
"I don't know, it feels good, but still strange," Atem whispered, his heart thundering in his ears while he tried to catch his breath. "It's not…as high… The feeling is lower…"
"Yeah, it's all in your dick," Seto said with a laugh, reaching down to give Atem's foreskin a pinch and receiving a nervous shiver and an awkward glance to the left.
Atem swallowed thinly and kept his gaze averted while he replied in his thoughts, "we've done it often enough for me to think…that…I might not like this kind of mating…at all… I'm sorry, Seto. A-Are you upset with me?"
Seto blinked and shook his head stiffly, gently easing out to sit back on his heels, reaching a hand around his front to grab himself so he could masturbate while Atem propped himself up on his elbows to watch with wide eyes.
Biting the inside of his cheek to focus on an orgasm, Seto followed the thin thread of pressure building up in his chest that accompanied the familiar burst of an orgasm, and he came thinly in his hand with additional rough strokes, not receiving a buzz or even a change in his heart rate.
Splaying his semen-covered fingers out in mild disgust, he swung his legs over the edge of the bed to clean himself up, feeling Atem follow him nervously on unsteady feet and apologize repeatedly.
"I'm sorry, Seto. Have I upset you? I know you really enjoy mating with legs. I'm sorry for not saying I didn't like it sooner, because I thought if we did it a few more times, I would come to like it—"
"It's fine," Seto lifted his head to stare at Atem's reflection in the mirror while he ran his hand under warm water. "Here." He handed the king a small hand towel and stepped past him, giving his tanned ass a squeeze before he leaned down to press a kiss on Atem's cheek as he walked up the shallow steps leading back into the bedroom.
He laid down on the sheets and stared at the small patch of wetness where Atem had just been laying, and dissected his own feelings.
He wasn't disappointed.
He wasn't even angry, or upset in any way.
He understood completely, that Atem grew up with fins, was used to having sex with fins, so fucking with a dick-only feeling was probably very disappointing when their mer-form allowed multiple orgasms without the pain of feeling overstimulated.
Hell, if he hadn't had sex as much as he'd had in human form, he might not enjoy the dick-only feeling either, and even then, it was almost mechanical to cum so emptily without their usual, intense connection.
Atem came racing back to the bed, his legs damp from the shower while he threw himself onto the bed and grabbed Seto's hand with a clammy grip, peering into his handsome face with an imploring look, "Are you angry with me? …Seto…?"
I'm not angry, Seto replied firmly as he placed his hand over Atem's smaller one and gave his fingers a warm squeeze. Try to get some rest. I'm going to check on the chocolate.
Atem blinked anxiously and nodded, trying to feel less guilty about it. But he had felt Seto's warmth from his words which held the truth, but it still didn't make him feel better.
He stuck his legs under the sheets and watched Seto pull on his shirt and pants before walking out of the room, sparing him a gentle smile over his shoulder before disappearing down the hall.
Sinking underneath the sheets, Atem tried to stem the curling waves of self-doubt that kept rising up.
Seto was so understanding. Their lovemaking underwater was unrivaled by any other physical and emotional connection he'd ever had, it was almost hard to believe sometimes.
Mating with their legs was almost like a chore—they were both rarely on land together with legs, it almost felt like a formality. He preferred it more when Seto was in his mer-form.
I'll make it up to him… Atem thought darkly as he turned over and pressed his face deeper into the soft pillows. I'll give him my mouth and hole when we return, and he'll lose his mind…
Comforted by this thought, Atem closed his eyes and quickly drifted off.
Downstairs, Seto stuck his head into the fridge to tap the chocolate molds, seeing them all firmed up, so he slid them out and placed them on the counter, digging in the grocery bags for the gift-wrap snack bags while his mind churned in the background.
He knew he shouldn't be fazed by this one incident of bad, awkward sex.
Atem was just admitting his true feelings about mating on land.
He flipped the molds over and tapped it onto the stone cutting board, seeing beautiful heart-shaped chocolates emerge underneath, and he smiled triumphantly.
Their sex underwater was a beautiful, mind-blowing, full-body, emotional connection.
It was almost unfair to compare it to sex with legs, where Atem was distracted by the mere sight of the wrinkly foreskin and then hyper-focusing on it, waiting for it to 'feel good', then chasing a shallow orgasm, and then stopping there.
It's better under the sea, Seto mused as he arranged the hearts together in a four leaf clover, and then slid all four pieces into the pastel pink bag, tying the top with the silver strip and making sure to hang a heart-shaped paper tag off the side.
Done.
Adina's love-chocolate for some stupid human boy.
You better return her feelings, Shore Boy-Kun, or I'm going to fucking find you, Seto growled as he walked up the stairs to place the chocolates into her school bag. With love, from me. That boy wouldn't eat it if he knew I'd made them.
He threw a loving glance at the rolled up lump on the bed before he eased the door shut behind himself and jogged down the stairs back into the kitchen to pack a second bag of chocolates.
He'd make one for Atem.
Picking up the frosting bag, he dotted the top of the chocolate heart with icing before placing the small chocolate chip on top and frowned at it.
Ugly. He'd try another combination.
He set that aside and was about to squeeze the bag again when he heard footsteps approaching from down the hall. Keeping his head lowered, he iced the entire top of the chocolate with horizontal stripes while he waited for the person to walk by.
The footsteps stopped, so Seto lifted his head cautiously to see Kalim standing nervously before him, attempting a smile but the corners of his mouth were twitching so much, he looked almost comical.
"What? I can't be up making chocolates at…" Seto turned around to check the time on the digital glass clock mounted on the wall behind him. "2:25 in the morning? Happy hour for High Priests start at 2:30. You're just in time."
Kalim relaxed after hearing the warrior attempt a joke, and he sank shakily in the bar seat, staring at the odd, brown lumps of food while he struggled to put his feelings into words.
Where to start? What kingdom or queendom did this man serve?
Was it safe to discuss…politics?
Clasping his hands together, he took a deep breath and tried to speak, but instead, a glass of fizzy water was slid across the counter, along with the brown lump on a paper napkin, and Kalim merely stared at the two items while his heart skipped a nervous beat.
"Try my creation," Seto encouraged, popping one into his mouth, wincing at the sweetness that coated his tongue as he talked with it pouched in his cheek. "I…didfn't poishon it….. Least, I don't f'hink sho…"
He covered his mouth to let out a weak cough and scrambled to get himself a glass of water too, keeping his body language unrefined on purpose, since he'd heard the priest comparing him to Warrior Jounouchi, and wanting to disclose something about politics.
It was in his best interest to learn that information while not being treated like a royal.
Kalim curiously picked up the brown lump and took a hesitant bite, unprepared for the thin, buttery sweetness to come rushing across his tongue, so he instantly grabbed the fizzy water and cleared the taste, trying to maintain a nice expression, but the warrior grinned at him knowingly.
"Too sweet right? It's supposed to be the taste of love," Seto rolled his eyes and waved a hand over his shoulder. "Humans give sweets to each other while declaring love, so I'm making a bag for Atem. Want one for your girlfriend?"
Seto began emptying the other mold with a practiced clack! And he began packing four more heart-shaped chocolates into the pink bag, tying the top with an elegant twist and shoving the bag across the counter. "There. Just say, 'love chocolates, for you, made fresh at 2:30 am,' and she'll be happy. She'll know they're from Adina's batch of boy chocolates."
"Th-Thank you…" Kalim closed his tanned hand around the bag and his heart swelled with warmth. How nice…
This warrior's main endeavor was love, clearly.
Then it was safe to talk about politics, a little…
"Say…Warrior—" he began nervously, and his hand was pushed away from the chocolates with a flick of a casual finger from the blond warrior who said brashly, "don't touch it like that. They'll melt. Keep them cold, or room temperature."
"Apologies," Kalim mumbled as he jerked his hand away from the bag, blurting his worries out in a rush. "How do you think we are doing as a species this decade? And do you think the influx of royal children from the Kingdoms of Muran and Helios will change anything?"
Seto blinked and kept his mind blank.
Nice. A classic, 'how do you feel about the world climate' question.
"Well, if you want to talk about royal pains, Princess Adina is a little terror. I'd be scared," Seto answered truthfully, rolling his eyes again. "The royal twins are hibernating, I don't even know their names yet, but I count on them to be three handfuls and a half, meanwhile Prince Noah is a non-threat. Kid just likes throwing spears and eating. You know who's annoying though? Prince Seto—wait no, King Seto."
He flashed Kalim a grin and watched the color drain from the merman's face, and that made his heart sink. W-Why that reaction?!
"I-I heard…things about….K-King Seto…" Kalim stammered, and the blond merman shrugged carelessly, taking another swig of fizzy water, talking into the cup instead of to his face.
"Elaborate and I'll try to care."
Kalim dared to relax a bit more as he divulged the scary gossip from Anzu, "he's lived six lifetimes worth of trauma, even winning this house from a horrible human, and still managed to return to mer-society to raise a queen. His actions directly improved my life and I …don't know how to thank him."
"Say, "thank you," and then…walk away—swim away," Seto corrected himself clumsily on purpose, lifting his index finger off his water glass and taking another sip, secretly thanking himself for remembering most of Joey's stupid mannerisms enough to copy some of them.
Kalim chuckled and he gripped the glass with his large hands, turning it over in his palms while his fingertips whitened, and he added, "…I asked Miss Anzu for advice, but could I ask you too…? "
Seto gave Kalim his full attention and nodded. Sure. What was it?
Startled by the sudden attentiveness, Kalim took a deep breath and said, "I would like stronger pillars for my shrine, since I'm seeing praying visitation triple, maybe even quadruple since Helios is our neighboring kingdom. Those vacationing merpeople come to my temple to pray. I'd like it to be…safe. Safer."
"I've never been to your shine. Can I take a look?" Seto asked excitedly, thumping his hand down on the counter to receive a visual memory, his heart racing with a rare spark of inspiration. "New pillars? Sounds like a Helios craftsperson's specialty."
"Indeed! The art-glass pillars in Muran are stunning!" Kalim agreed readily as he gently placed his hand into the blond merman's much paler one. "Here is my colony's shrine which I built myself with the help of other students…"
Seto felt the warm hand close around his palm, and he was thrown in to a vivid vision of crystal clear waters, beautiful colorful reefs, and a small line of merpeople floating alongside a curving wall of rock where stalks of dark red seaweed burst from the sandy floor, flanking a wide, arching entrance into a large cavern. Kalim's vision took him past the line of people, straight ahead into a worship area where the cavern's 'pillars' were merely part of the cave where erosion happened and there were gaps wide enough to swim through.
Gifts of shells and gems were left beside each pillar and attempts to decorate the thinning rock with colorful strips of kelp was making Seto's skin crawl. That place was on the verge of collapse and people lined up to go in—
"And that's all," Kalim said hastily, withdrawing when he felt the merman stiffen and go eerily silent. "Thank you for looking."
"I know an architect," Seto smiled widely, aware that his silence had made the priest nervous, but he pushed past it with the brash stupidness he often saw Joey display. "Let me call him—her. It's a girl." He said, giving the priest a nod and then digging his phone out to swipe down the screen, wondering if Seth was even going to pick up.
He'd better. He'd saved that damn hunter's egg-bearing ass.
Pressing the phone to his ear, Seto gave Kalim a confident wink before turning his back around and hearing the tones ring twice before Seth picked up breathlessly, "oh hey, Se—"
"Totally thought you weren't going to pick up, my dude!" Seto enunciated coldly, hearing Seth go deathly silent on the other end with serious understanding. "Remember that Thessalian maiden who did the library? Where's she at? Oh, better yet, anyone free to make some cool shrine pillars? Pretty please, I'm-asking-as-a-favor on top?"
The cold silence extended for a few more seconds before Seth replied flatly, "there's a merperson beside you who can hear the phone?"
"Yep." Seto replied in the same, flat tone, his ears burning. Could Seth just answer his question without making his life hard?
"Why are you still working? What poor merperson are you deceiving now?" Seth dropped his tone warningly, and Seto gripped the phone furiously and replied with a forced smile to keep his words light, "because reasons, and also this is important to me, so can it happen or not?"
"You know, Atem and Adina shouted at me about your behavior on land," Seth continued coldly, and Seto ground his teeth furiously, on the verge of hanging up. "But I can hear your desperation so, fine. Yes. I can find some people available to craft. Where, when, and who should they report to for design approval?"
"They should report to me, duh," Seto huffed, hating how he understood where Adina's sassy 'give stuff to me now!' voice came from. "Have them meet us at the Queendom of Helimai two sunlit days from now. High priest, Kalim of Helimai is a good friend of mine—yes, I made a friend. Do I hear praise? Are you going to praise me? Praise me. Praise me now."
Kalim bit back a laugh and stared at the merman's slender shoulders, his chest tightening with an odd feeling of kinship towards the warrior. It was…endearing, how this man instantly regarded them as good friends when they'd only just met. He'd learned the warrior term 'Camaraderie' only yesterday from Miss Mai. Now he was on the receiving end of it. How nice….! And his heart sank when he could hear a voice warbling from the other end of the phone.
"Yes, good job making friends with other god-loving freaks—!"
Seto hung up in a flash, and turned around to beam triumphantly, his spirits falling when he noticed Kalim's eyes wide with anxiety while he wore a tense smile.
"God-loving freaks, huh?" Kalim said conversationally, glancing down into his empty glass of water and understanding this was why it was hard for him to make friends outside of the temple.
"He can insult us all he wants," Seto said casually as he walked back to the fridge to grab more water along with a small box of salt. "He's paying for it, so I'll take his verbal abuse and then pray for his demise."
Kalim let out a bark of laughter and clutched the edge of the kitchen counter.
This merman was hilarious! People usually didn't dare make jokes in his presence, for fear that 'gods would hear them through his ears', but this merman was different in a refreshing way!
"He thinks I'm funny," Seto muttered, trying not to feel pleased with himself as he dumped a bunch of salt messily into the cup and then ran it under water, tossing it back with a light swallow. He saw movement out of the corner of his eye and turned around to stare at the darkened hallway, noticing Kemo emerging from the shadows with a bow and then drifting aside to stand at attention by the kitchen entryway.
Loud warrior drunks…will wake the Princess… Kemo grunted in his mind, so Kalim quieted down instantly, eyeing the guard with a guilty chuckle and turning back to the blond warrior, receiving a toast from a glass full of salt water, and the man rounded the drink off with a satisfied sigh.
"If you're having trouble getting to bed, a glass of this helps," Seto pushed the box of salt closer to his new friend and gave the priest a smile. "Cheer up. I got some craftsmen from Helios to come by. Those pillars will look awesome. You can pay me back with eternal servitude as my personal priest, and by that, I mean my friend."
God, it was hard not to sound sarcastic.
"Done, my good man," Kalim chuckled, grabbing the box of salt and giving the warrior a grateful nod. "You must know some people in high places. I appreciate your help. You have a friend in me for life, Warrior…?"
"I'm sleepy. Goodnight," Seto said lightly as he walked past Kemo and gave him a silent command. Updates about my kid, and show me her latest homework results.
Kemo bobbed his head nervously and followed behind Seto, making a great effort to keep his thoughts silent while they marched up the staircase together up to Adina's room.
He must be as important as Warrior Mahad, Kalim thought apprehensively as he watched the way the human servant followed the warrior up the stairs with a respectful bow.
Anzu had warned him that everyone in this house was 'not who they seemed'.
After all, that blond warrior, Jounouchi was a Pod Commander of five-hundred men! And that man could barely string a sentence together without putting something in his mouth to chew. Apparently he was King Atem's right-hand commander. It made him question Muran's security measures until he met Warrior Mahad, who terrified him to the core.
Now with added knowledge about how King Seto was also a seasoned serviceman, he wasn't sure what to think of anyone he met now.
Be glad you made a friend, idiot, he thought to himself as he grabbed the wrapped chocolates for Anzu, eager to share what he'd learned about chocolate and human love traditions.
Back inside his study, Seto was staring at the stack of completed homework from last month, where bright yellow flyers were pinned in between each week's papers, creating a horrible pattern of white and yellow.
Adina was in trouble.
Notices for a parent teacher conference had been missed, because Adina didn't care to show Atem, Atem wasn't present enough to ask about her homework since she was getting A's anyway, and Mai didn't check her backpack—Anzu did, and she only checked it to make sure Adina wasn't bringing diamonds or kelp to school.
There was probably a digital notice that had gone ignored too…
The second warning detailed that they'd missed a mandatory wellness check, and the third notice came a week after, alerting them of an 'empty residence'…where their address was listed for the beachfront property.
Well, fuck.
No one lived there currently.
It was a stash house and a shower-room for warriors, and for Noah and Adina when they played on that beach, and it was a make-shift land treasury which Mahad was in charge of.
In the yellow note, it said the teacher had gone and knocked on the door of an empty house, and since no one answered the door, so predictably, a fourth notice was handed to Adina, detailing that the consequences of missing all three home-checks were grounds for expulsion if no immediate action was taken.
Expulsion. For being 'delinquent with mandatory wellness check' were the bolded words, and Seto's ears hummed so much, he could barely hear himself think.
Seto gripped the topmost yellow flyer and scanned it while hating Kemo for telling him about this news in such an untimely manner.
The teacher had written a short note at the bottom of the page in neat handwriting, "Mr. & Mrs. Nakamura, Parents of Adina, please come to my office hours in #21-B at the time of 6 – 7 AM before homeroom so we can have a face-to-face meeting. Please call this number if you plan to come on a certain day. I will make time to discuss your child's behavior in my class. Thank you.
000-000-000-000"
Perfect. Great.
Seto glanced at the time on the nightstand and then at the giant stack of Adina's homework.
He could get two hours of sleep before he had to show his face for a parent-teacher conference. Better deal with it and not tell Atem.
Biting back a sigh, he dismissed Kemo with a wave of his hand and wearily climbed into bed beside Atem and curled himself into the warmth, burying his nose into the base of Atem's tanned neck and breathing deeply, forcing himself to relax.
He'd get the stupid conference over with and then head back underwater to take a nap in a healing pod to regulate his sleep again, maybe hold the twins too while he was at it.
Author's note:
seriously adina doesn't get it, or gets it and doesn't care…