Chapter 30
Keld
“Are there going to be any other Mer there, or is it just going to be me, getting grilled by all your friends?” Keld lay sprawled across Grayson’s bed, watching him inspect his outfit in the mirror. “Do I have to wear clothes?”
“Yes, there will be other Mer, yes you should probably wear clothes.”
Keld groaned and flung himself onto his back. “Humans are weird and clothes are dumb.”
“Don’t be a baby.”
“I’m a Mer, I have never been a baby.”
“Don’t be a nuaia.”
Keld sat up. “Your accent is sexy. Say something else.”
Grayson went red under his freckles. “Yai zafnei laemsao.”
Keld burst out laughing. “ ‘I’m trying to help?’ Let me guess, you yell that phrase at angry Alphas at the birthing center.”
“I don’t yell at them, I speak very firmly. Now put clothes on.”
Keld grumbled under his breath but tensed his retraction muscles all the same.
His tail pulled in toward his torso, cinching his vertebrae tighter and tighter until the limb disappeared entirely.
His scales were already closed against the arid climate of his human Omega’s apartment, sealing moisture underneath.
His reflection showed a humanoid version of himself, with the light refracting new wavelengths of color.
Keld might have passed for a pale human, if it weren’t for his ears. The fins were shrunken against his head, but the shape was markedly wrong. He reached up and removed the thick tie that held his hair in a bun. The strands sprang free and fell around his shoulder in a sheet of coppery brown.
Grayson watched him, a small smile playing on his lips. “You know you don’t have to go full human mode.”
“If I’m being forced to wear clothes, I might as well.” Keld went for the drawer that held an ever-growing collection of his things. He picked out linen shorts and a white t-shirt, and donned them under Grayson’s close supervision.
When he was done, Keld stuck out his arms and performed a slow spin. “Acceptable?”
“Eh, you’ll do.”
Grinning, Keld pounced on the Omega and crushed him into a suffocating hug.
“Why are you so heavy?!” Grayson panted. He struggled to free himself, with the success one might expect to see if a grasshopper grappled a bear. “Let me go!”
“Tell me I’m pretty first,” Keld teased.
“You’re pretty.”
Keld released him and swung an arm around his shoulders. “Shall we?”
The pair made their way to building C, where Tara was gleefully preparing a bad horror movie night.
Grayson rapped at Tara’s door with his knuckles.
She threw it open, beaming. “Come in! Get a drink! I have canned gose,” she added to Keld.
“And something called hongeo is on the way? No idea what that is, but Eksal ordered it.”
“Eksal?” Keld’s gaze snapped over Tara’s shoulder.
Sure enough, sitting on the couch like he owned the place, was Eksal.
His scales and fins were retracted, like Keld’s, leaving him a deep shade of human brown.
His eyes were still entirely black—there was nothing to be done about that—but long, black hair concealed his spiny facial fins from view.
Keld and Grayson followed Tara into her apartment. Though it was at least as big as Grayson’s, the four Mer and five human occupants left it feeling cramped.
Eksal’s jaw dropped. “What are you doing here?”
“I could ask you the same thing,” Keld shot back.
The deep sea Mer grinned and tipped his head toward Jaeyong. The small, dark haired man was curled into Eksal’s side, dead asleep.
“He picked up a night shift,” Eksal explained.
From Grayson’s expression, he was just as stunned by the sight. “When did Jaeyong start dating? He didn’t tell us anything.”
Jenna leaned around the polar Mer at her right. “I was offended too. Apparently he was worried we’d think he was weird for being into deep sea Mer.” She rolled her eyes.
“It is a little weird,” Keld agreed.
Eksal laughed and swatted at him.
Jaeyong jolted awake. “Wha—Oh, hi Grayson.”
Grayson folded his arms. “So, you have something you want to tell me?”
The other man colored. “Um. This is Eksal. We’ve been seeing each other for a while—”
“For months,” Jenna interrupted. “They’ve been dating for months and he didn’t tell us.”
“I said I was sorry!”
Keld glanced at the white-haired Mer next to Jenna. She was a female Alpha, with scales like a frozen sea. Polar Mer were rare this close to the equator.
“Hi,” he said in Loaish. “I’m Keld Vihinu, and this is Grayson Miller.”
The polar Mer inclined her head. “Eiru Onoi. Nice to meet you. Seems like you already know my date.”
“We’ve had our run-ins,” he said with a laugh. “She’s not shy.”
“No,” Eiru said, casting an appreciative look at the Omega. “She isn’t.”
“Keld!” A rich, familiar voice came from the kitchen.
“Malukti? You too?”
The female Alpha chuckled, coming to join the others in the living room.
“It’s been an unexpected reunion. I was half-expecting Zasia to burst through the door next.
Actually…” She eyed the blonde, Tara, flitting around her kitchen plating snacks and gathering drinks.
“I may call her anyway. It seems Tara is the only Omega here without a partner.”
“Did you consult Tara about that?”
Malukti smirked. “Why should I?”
“What are you saying about me?” Tara demanded, leveling a pair of tongs at them. “Grayson, what are they saying about me?”
Grayson’s brows shot up. “You think I know?”
“We were commenting on how lovely this gathering is,” Malukti said, switching back to English. “And how kind it was of you to invite us.
“Oh, well, I guess that’s okay. Beer?” She offered Keld and Malukti a can each.
Aureli appeared from the bathroom as Keld took his first sip. “Hey, Keld. It’s been a while since I saw you. Hearing you on the other hand…”
“Shut up, Aureli,” Grayson hissed, but Keld just winked.
“You’re welcome to listen anytime.”
Grayson punched him in the arm.
“Okay, everyone to the living room!” Tara called. “Assume the bad-movie-viewing positions.”
“Can you explain to me again why we are watching poorly made films?” Malukti muttered to Aureli.
“Because it’s amusing, luae,” he said, snatching a handful of chips.
“Tara doesn’t have a partner coming?” Keld whispered. He pulled Grayson into his lap and sat up against the sofa.
Grayson shook his head. “She’s dated around a bit, but no one’s clicked yet. Why, you have someone in mind?”
Eksal kicked Keld’s back. “Are you thinking of Zasia?”
Keld twisted to look back at the other Alpha. “Yeah, what do you think?”
“I have been thinking the same thing.”
“Tara?” Jenna called. “You need help?”
“I’m good!” A crash sounded from the kitchen. “Okay, I’m not good.”
Jenna laughed and got to her feet, tousling Eiru’s white curls as she passed by. The polar Mer glanced back over at Keld.
“So, are you two dating?” she asked, in English this time.
Keld felt Grayson stiffen in his arms.
“Yep,” Keld answered. “This is my boyfriend, Grayson.”
Grayson glowed a rosy red. “We’re telling people, huh?” he muttered.
Keld kissed his nose. “Yep. I have to broadcast that you’re taken.”
The smile that split Grayson’s face was so wide it hurt Keld’s heart to look at. What had he ever done to deserve an Omega like this?
Tara and Jenna returned with a platter of seemingly Mer-safe food and a delivery bag radiating ammonia.
“Hey, uh, Eksal? I think you may have accidentally ordered rat poison,” Tara said, dropping the bag in his lap.
“It’s hongeo!” Jaeyong said. “It’s actually really good.”
Tara shook her head. “Sorry Jaeyong, I think I’m too white for that.” She studied the guests scattered around her coffee table and sofa. “This isn’t going to work. Everyone up!”
Confused, the group shuffled off in the direction Tara shooed them.
“Grayson, can you grab the other side of the table?” she asked. Together the Omegas moved the heavy thing toward the kitchen island, leaving a wide, open space behind.
“Okay.” Tara straightened up and blew a short strand of hair from her eyes. “We’re getting every blanket I own and turning the living room into a giant bed. Omegas, with me. Alphas, plate up some snacks and get drinks.”
The Mer hastened to obey the tiny blonde while the Omegas disappeared into the bedroom at the end of the hall.
“Definitely Zasia,” Eksal muttered in Loaish. “They’d be unstoppable together.”
“Should I text her?” Malukti asked.
“Who’s Zasia?” Eiru whispered.
“Female Alpha we all know very well,” Keld said, casting a glance down the hallway. “She usually goes for males, though, doesn’t she?”
Malukti huffed a laugh. “She likes playing with males. But her longest relationships have always been with females.”
“Can’t blame her,” Eiru said. “It is fun to play with males.”
Keld and Eksal nodded dutifully.
“But won’t it scare her if some random Mer shows up at her door?” Keld pointed out.
Malukti’s fins sank. “That’s a fair point.”
All four Alphas eyed one another.
“Fuck it, I’m sending her Tara’s number.” Malukti pulled her phone from the pocket of her loose dress just as the Omegas emerged, weighed down by a mountain of blankets.
“Hey!” Tara yelled. “I don’t see a single plate!”
Aureli heaved a dramatic sigh as he dropped his armload of bedding. “Alphas are helpless without us.”
“I am not helpless! We were simply talking,” Malukti protested.
“Sure, sure.” Aureli squeezed past her and started piling snacks onto a paper plate. “Do me a favor darlin’ and get me a hard seltzer.”
“You know I cannot understand you when you speak with that accent.”
The other four humans spread blanket after blanket on the ground, until the living room looked fit for an orgy.
The old Keld would have loved that, Keld reflected. But as the couples settled in, arms around each other and scales to skin, all Keld wanted to do was hold his Omega close.
Tara flicked through a seemingly endless list of titles before selecting something called “Nightmares of Blood.” A flood of red corn syrup washed over the screen and a waterphone trilled its spine-tingling melody.
“This one is terrible,” Tara announced. She sat back against the couch, phone in hand. Keld’s attention darted to Malukti, who was surreptitiously watching the single Omega frown at her screen.
Tara whipped her head around and stabbed an accusatory finger at the orange-scaled Mer. “You gave my number to some random Alpha? Without asking?”
“No! She is my friend, not a random Alpha.” Malukti’s fins wavered uncertainly. “You are the only one here without an Alpha. I believe you and Zasia would be a good match. Keld and Eksal know her well, too.”
Tara fell back against the couch and grinned. “Thanks.” She returned to her phone, thumbs flying across the screen.
Grayson craned his neck to look up at Keld from his position in the Mer’s lap. “Was that what you were all whispering about?”
“Maybe.” Keld kissed his forehead. “Now let’s watch this terrible movie.”