Kaerius airdried once again, and found himself, once again, looking at a pair of human legs that attached to his body. Kaerius stared until his eyes stung. He couldn't move. The sight of the legs was so surreal, he froze with shock.

"Disgusting," he said, watching the toes wiggle.

After ten minutes, Kaerius touched his chest and his neck tightened from the pain his soul felt as it screamed for Rowan. Kaerius sighed, but then he saw his hands and flinched. They were no longer webbed, but his nails were black and still full of poison.

Kaerius breathed deeply to calm himself. He wanted to run back into his ocean because being in the sea was all he had ever known. He would never usually visit the air so often, but he had to if he wanted to be close to Rowan.

Kaerius bent his legs, and the bottom of his feet touched the rock. The skin was tender and hurt against the sharp parts. He wondered how Rowan was able to walk around so much with his feet bare.

The sea creature tried to stand, but his legs wobbled, and the muscles in his thighs felt too strange. Kaerius moved to rocks he could use as support and managed to haul himself up. He looked like a baby who was only just discovering how to walk.

Kaerius started with his left foot and dragged it in front of him. As he gripped the rock for dear life, he put pressure on that foot and pulled his right foot forward too. His heels hurt, and the manoeuvre was so bizarre, Kaerius almost convinced himself that he was dreaming.

Minutes passed until the Thalassic Mortal reached the end of the rock. His legs were not wobbling as much, and he was getting used to the action of putting one foot in front of the other. Kaerius's confidence was building until he stepped onto the sand and toppled over.

Kaerius got to his knees and stared at the skin that folded over his bent bones. He crawled for a few feet, but that used too much energy. He didn't understand how humans walked so fast without tripping over the other foot.

He tried to get to his feet, and only managed a few steps until he toppled over again. This happened twice more before Kaerius got to his feet and didn't fall until he reached the sand dune. He could crawl up it, and his arms were powerful and helped.

When Kaerius reached the grassy path, he found it much easier to walk because It was flat ground. The grass tickled his toes but felt lovely and soft on the bottom of his feet.

Rowan's house had been in front of Kaerius since he reached the top of the sand dune. There was a light on from the bottom window on the right. Kaerius stuck to the left to stay out of sight. He stumbled to the porch and almost jumped out of his skin when a woman coughed right in front of him.

Kaerius froze as if he tried to blend into the wooden beam. A human who kind of looked like Rowan sat on a bench by the front door. She stared into the darkness with the most emotionless face Kaerius had ever seen. He was only a few feet away from her, but she didn't see him.

She looked exhausted. Kaerius thanked the Goddess that she wasn't tired enough to see the naked sea creature who was trying to sneak through the front door.

The wood creaked underneath Kaerius feet, and he froze when the woman's eyes glanced around. She didn't react too much, and when Kaerius was out of her sight, he hurried his search and looked in every room, not stopping to comment on the weird stuff humans hoarded. His legs were getting used to moving now, but as he stopped by the stairs, Kaerius almost wailed with annoyance.

Just like on the rocks, he placed his left foot first, gripped the bannister, and dragged himself onto the first step. He couldn't do this action fast because he would get confused and trip. As he climbed the stairs, the scent of Rowan travelled to Kaerius in stronger fragrances. He was getting closer to the human, so his motivation to reach the first floor fuelled his legs.

Kaerius thanked the Goddess again when he opened the door to the closest room and his nostrils filled with the beautiful and addicting smell of Rowan. Kaerius could see exceptionally well in the dark, so he didn't have to turn on the light to see the lump curled underneath a turquoise blanket.

Kaerius shut the door and slowly moved to the other end of the room. As he neared the soul his soul craved, the pain in his chest intensified until Kaerius had no choice but to touch Rowan's skin. He was gasping for it by the time he reached the bed. His legs collapsed onto the wooden floor and Kaerius's hand slotted underneath the blanked until his finger connected with human skin.

The Thalassic Mortal's hand found Rowan's arm, and he wrapped his fingers around it, dropping his head onto the blanket and relaxing. He inhaled deeply, loving how warm Rowan's skin felt against his own. Kaerius wanted to crawl onto the bed beside him and snuggle up against him.

Kaerius even considered it until Rowan moved and the sea creature froze. His hand didn't want to let go as Rowan rolled around, so he was facing Kaerius.

Rowan frowned with his eyes closed as he tried to move his arm, but he couldn't. Something was telling him to wake up. His body was telling him to be excited about something.

Kaerius glanced towards the exit, wondering how fast his legs would carry him before he tripped. When they darted back to Rowan, the human's eyes had opened and were squinting at him like he wasn't sure what he was seeing. Then, the moonlight shone through the window, and Kaerius was revealed.

Rowan gasped and tore his arm away. He kicked at Kaerius and jumped out of bed, sprinting to the light and turning it on. Kaerius winced at the light as Rowan picked up his skateboard and charged towards the intruder.

"Stop human! Stop!" Kaerius cried and crawled to the window, pressing his back to the wall. "Me, Kaerius!"

Rowan stopped when he was only a foot away with his skateboard above his head. Rowan blinked with confusion, still half asleep. The longer he stared at Kaerius, the more his face changed from panic to a muddled frown.

"Kaerius?" he croaked and lowered the board. "What the hell?" His eyes looked to the legs attached to his body, and even Rowan thought they looked odd when he was so used to a tail. His eyes then trailed up, and he soon realised that he was looking at a naked man. Everything was exposed.

Rowan's entire body jolted, and he dropped his skateboard. "Oh god!" he said and covered his eyes. He spun on his heels, frantically searching for something that would cover him.

Kaerius's hand touched his heart while Rowan darted to his cupboard. For a moment, Kaerius really thought Rowan would hit him with the strange wood thing with wheels.

Rowan's cheeks were extremely hot as he found a pair of shorts and threw them at Kaerius. They hit him in the chest.

Kaerius didn't move. He stared at the fabric, then at Rowan. His eyebrow raised at the familiar redness that returned to the human's face. "Oh," he said, looking down and inspecting what Rowan was scared to look at. "Hmm." He went to poke it, but Rowan yelled at him to put the shorts on.

Kaerius lifted the fabric. There was one hole, then two smaller holes and he had no idea what to do.

Rowan's eyes glued to the wall as the Thalassic Mortal turned the shorts around. He was embarrassed because Kaerius was exceptionally attractive. His body was perfection. It was like Kaerius had been sculpted by angels.

"Please don't tell me you don't know how to dress yourself," Rowan sighed, then felt incredibly stupid. "Right, you're a sea creature. Why would you know?"

Kaerius realised that Rowan was wearing the same thing, so he started slotting his feet through the holes until it worked. He stood up and pulled the fabric around himself until it sat comfortably on his hips.

Rowan then allowed himself to look and he could focus on why there was a Thalassic Mortal with legs in his bedroom. "What are you doing here?" he asked, stepping closer without his control. "How did you get in?"

"Hurt," Kaerius said and pointed at his chest. "No sleep. Only sleep by human."

Rowan was getting better at understanding. Maybe it was because he could feel Kaerius's emotions, and right now, Kaerius felt desperate and tired. "You couldn't sleep without being near me," Rowan said, and the man in his room nodded. "It's really dangerous for you to be here. My mums going on a hunt later. She's close to reaching the limit. She'll see you if you're not gone by sunrise."

Kaerius wanted to say that he only wanted to sleep in peace, and he would definitely be gone before the sun was entirely over the horizon, but he could only nod and say, "Gone, soon. Just sleep."

Rowan rubbed his eyes and scratched the back of his neck. He looked around the room and couldn't exactly tell Kaerius to sleep on the floor after he went through so much to get to him. Rowan felt Kaerius's lingering panic and stress. If Rowan had to give himself a tail to get to Kaerius, he knew how horrifying it would be.

Rowan, before giving Kaerius the option of lying next to him, searching through a small drawer and pulled out a pair of black leather gloves. Instead of throwing them at Kaerius, he walked up to him just be even closer. "Put these on so you don't accidentally poison me in your sleep."

Kaerius unrolled the gloves, and he soon looked like Rowan had given him the worlds hardest puzzle.

Rowan, very carefully, helped Kaerius slot his fingers into the gloves, careful not to touch him. Kaerius clenched and unclenched his fingers with fascination. He didn't seem to mind wearing the gloves. "I'm going to keep the light on because I don't want to wake up and freak out again," Rowan said and crawled back under the blanket.

Kaerius stood awkwardly next to his bed.

"You can lie down, just don't touch me," Rowan said and gestured at the empty space to his left.

Kaerius hoped he would say that. He climbed over him and threw himself onto the bed, copying Rowan by resting his head on the pillow. The bed was the most comfortable thing Kaerius had ever retired on.

Rowan offered him the blanket, and the men settled next to each other, both feeling better to be so close, but both not liking each other enough to make sure there was more than a foot between them.