Aquata Cove Ch. 69

"Ok, Arnaav," Merrick began, "I have to leave now." Arnaav jerked up with a look of shock on his young face.

"Wait, what?!" He drops his fork on the nearly empty plate, and toppled off the chair, "Where are you going?!" He asked hastily.

"I'm going to work, and I can't take you with me," Merrick said, "The nature of my job is very inappropriate for someone as young as you."

"W-What??" Arnaav looks, his chest pounding with sudden fear, "I don't understand! What are you talking about?!" Merrick kneels down to the boy.

"Humans have to work and earn money in order to live where they are - some work all day, and others work for half a day. I am no exception since I live here."

"But... B-But, why?" Arnaav sniffled.

"Hey, it's ok, Arnaav, it's alright," Merrick pats him softly, "You'll see me again later today, but for now, I need to leave. And also, I'm afraid you're too young to be in this house on your own, you can't stay here either."

"Th-Th-Then, what am I supposed to do??" He asked, trembling all over.

"You'll be coming with me," Adam answered. Arnaav looks at him with uncertainty, murring sadly as he looks at him like an elephant might look at a giant.

"Remember that place we went to, Arnaav?" Merrick asked, "With all those fish?" Arnaav turns his head back to him, and nodded. "That's where you'll be going for today." His eyes brightened from the report.

"I'll need you to stick close to me, and not get lost," Adam said, "Don't worry, kid, I'll look after you." He says with a smile.

"O-Ok..."

"Alright," Merrick pats Arnaav's shoulder, "So get dressed, you and Adam are off in a few minutes." Arnaav nods, before Merrick stands back up, and turns to Adam, "Ok, gotta go, sweetie. Have a nice day at work." He kisses Adam affectionately, and walked around him to leave.

"You too, babe!" He called out. Adam looks to the boy, and raises a brow as he sees him only wearing a shirt that covers down to his thighs, "Do you need help getting dressed?"

"I... Think so?" Arnaav quirked his head.

"Ahahahah," Adam chuckles as he walks around, "Come on, I'll help you."

~~~

With his leather jacket zipped up, Adam walks to his motorcycle, with Arnaav following behind, wearing the clothes he wore yesterday. He looks ahead, and cooed in awe as he sees Adam's ride, noting that it looks bigger and more complex than Merrick's vehicle.

"Wooow" Arnaav looks onto the motorbike as he walks right beside it.

"You might want to be careful with this baby, kid." Adam says as he pats the seat, "It has a much harder kick than Merrick's ride."

"What's it called?" Arnaav asked.

"Motorcycle." He answered as he picks up the guest helmet, as well as his own, "May not be as safe as a car, but a lot more flexible." He carefully equips the helmet unto the boy, chuckling as Arnaav swerves a little, before retaining his balance while holding the large shell on his head, "And what you are wearing is called a 'Helmet'. It protects your head in case anything happens."

"If you say so..." Arnaav says. He meeps as Adam grabs him on his sides, and picked him up to place him on the seat of the motorcycle.

"Also, this thing is very, VERY loud, so try not to get to scared when it starts to roar." Adam warned him.

"I-It's gonna roar?"

"Don't worry, you'll be fine, as long as you hold onto me tightly." Adam says as he mounts his bike, "Just hold onto me as tight as you can."

"Like this?" Arnaav puts his little arms around Adam's torso.

"Little tighter." He says, feeling the kid grasp him a little more, "Ok, now brace yourself." Adam puts on his own helmet, put the keys into the ignition, and rumbled the vehicle to life!

VRRRMMMM!

"EEE!" Arnaav squeals as his arms clamped down on Adam's sides. Adam chuckled a little as he kicks the kickstand side, and drove off the property.

~~~

"You actually look a lot better than Merrick did the first time he rode on my motorcycle." Adam comments as he removes his helmet from the shaken kid, chuckling as he groomed Arnaav's hair a little, swiftly catching him before he toppled over from his legs getting too weak. "Woop, easy there." He helps the poor kid back to his feet, and locked up his motorcycle.

"Y-Y-You ride th-that all the time?" Arnaav trembles terribly as everything seems to blur around him.

"Yeah. Gets me from A-to-B." He nods in response. He holds Arnaav's hand as the dizzy kid groans in his steps, "Ok, nice and slow, Arnaav. Take your time." He said as he slowly walks to Arnaav's pace, allowing the kid to try and remember how to walk properly.

~~~

"You sure you're ok now?" Adam asked as he and Arnaav walk into the men's locker-room of the Fish House.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine..." He takes deep breaths, while Adam takes out a long piece of cloth, "What's that?"

"Blindfold. I'm gonna need you to wear this over your eyes while we're in here."

"Ugh, whhyyy?" Arnaav rolls his eyes. Another human idiosyncrasy that he has to abide by?

"This is where men change and shower here. You're too young to be seeing that kind of stuff."

"What, as in seeing humans in with the bodies exposed?" Arnaav crosses his arms, "It's not like I know nothing of what humans are supposed to look like - when the Kenovani go on our walking lessons, we're all in human form. I don't get why you humans are so desperate to keep yourselves a secret, if you already know what you look like anyway."

"Doesn't matter," Adam says as he ties the cloth over Arnaav's eyes.

"Hey! Stop- Ah! Get off me!" He growls.

"It's just how some things are," Adam says as he secures the knot of the fold, "If you're gonna live with us for a while, there are few things you need to remember to do."

"That dark human told me so." Arnaav pouts with his arms still crossed.

"Ah, quit pouting, buddy," Adam smiles as he ruffles that patch of brown hair, "It's not that bad. Just don't take that thing off until I say, ok?"

"Fine." Arnaav growled.

"Thank you." Adam takes off his jacket, just as a naked, dripping coworker walks by, "Case in point..." He mutters to himself.

"Hey, who's the kid?" The man asks as he puts his towel around his waist.

"He's my boyfriend's brother." Adam answers, "His name's Arnaav."

"Oook?" He looks at the boy, nothing that his skin is tanner than usual, and his hair is chocolate brown, "Wait, ain't your boyfriend white and blonde?"

"He's adopted," Adam answered, "And we couldn't find a babysitter, so he's with me today." The guy shrugs before walking off, while Adam steps out of his pants.

"I don't like this..." Arnaav says as he stares at the fabric of his blindfold.

"Don't like what, buddy?" Adam asked as he buttons up his uniform shirt.

"Saying that Merrick is my brother." He said, "I only have one Sister. I don't understand why he keeps lying about that. We are not brothers, why do you and he keep saying it?"

"It's a simple enough answer for people to hear when they ask about you." Adam pulls up on his rubber overalls, "Humans have ties to everything and everyone. And seeing as how Merrick is the only one here on land that actually knows you personally, just saying that you two are brothers is just easier to say."

"But why 'Brothers'?" Arnaav asked, "I don't know how it is with you humans, but family is not something merfolk are prepared to lie about..."

"Hm..." Adam clicks the buttons of his overalls, "Well... I guess another reason for why Merrick says that is because, well... He thinks of YOU as his brother."

Arnaav's head lifts up, "What?"

"Not that he actually BELIEVES that you two are related as siblings, no," Adam explained, as he puts on his Fish House cap, "But the way Merrick talks about you when he comes home, the stories he has to tell, how close you two are to each other."

"Hnnhh..."

"As to actually referring you to as his 'brother'? It's a sentiment he's picked up during his time as a human." Adam sits down on the bench next to the boy.

"Sentiment?" Arnaav turns in his seat, hearing Adam's voice next to him.

"Yeah. Kind of like... A state of mind that sort of stuck in his mind that he associates certain feelings that humans tend to share."

"I... Always felt like me and Merrick are close... He's really protective of me, and he provides for me, both in the ocean, and yesterday when we came here..."

"From what Merrick says, that's how he is," Adam sits down next to the kid, "He says you're just a few years younger than his sister, so I guess you could say that you fill a void that was left there when he was exiled."

Arnaav tugs the blindfold up to look at Adam, before the human gets up, "Come on, time to get to work."

~~~

"Oook, that's gonna be $18.76" Adam says as he rings the register up on the desk, after a customer purchased an order of various fish, "Out of $20..." He calculates the change, and hands it back, "Thank you, and have a nice day." He says with a smile.

"Thank you!" Says the customer before leaving. Adam looks down and chuckles as he sees Arnaav gnawing on the octopus-flavored ice chunk as he watches the handful of humans walking and wandering about this small market place full of fresh sea prey, purchasing and trading.

Arnaav wonders how humans are able to accumulate so much fish, crabs, and all that, and sell them off as if it was nothing! He doesn't know whether to call it gluttony or thrift. Still, he does see a lot of humans around, so he supposes that it's necessary for when they need to eat.

"Hey, Adam," Comes another human, female, "My turn to work the stand."

"Alright, gotcha." Adam takes off the uniform apron and hangs it up on the wall, "C'mon, Arnaav, lets go." Arnaav gets up, and Adam takes his hand as they leave.

"Oooh," Arnaav watches as the tank upon the cart fills with seawater from the shore itself. He turns and beams as Adam comes around, and starts loading the half-full tank with live lobsters. He tilts his head as he sees a bright line on each of the lobsters' bulky claws as they float down to the tank, "Adam, what are those things on their claws?" Arnaav asks as he presses a finger onto the glass, "They look like rings."

"Those are rubber bands," Adam answers as he puts the crustatians into the tank, two-by-two, "They keep the claws closed so they don't snap pinch and hurt anyone."

"Oh I see!" Arnaav looks with astonishment, "WE should try using... Rubber bands?"

"I don't really think that'll really work," Adam said, "See, rubber eventually falls apart in water - I'm no expert, and I don't know how long rubber would last in the sea, but I'd say it would take about two weeks before the band kind of... Breaks down? It gets weaker until it just stops working."

Adam turns off the machine that fills the tank, and seals off the tank to detach the hose. Arnaav giggles as a small splash of water hits his nose, transforming it before Adam quickly dries it off.

The boy looks around in awe as he rides in the front seat besides Adam in the delivery cart, seeing the various shops all around as he stops at one of the shops, and start to fish out the lobsters, with special tongs. Arnaav pouts when the tank is empty, before the both of them return to the Fish House.

"Hey FISHBOY!" Comes a salty, graggly call. Adam turns to see the Captain coming up over to him.

"Yes, Captain?" Adam says as he gets up from his cart, while the boy watches.

"Where's that damn catch of yours??" He growled, "I only got 2 days to git a huge-ass fish before I lose a bet - I'm talkin $200 here!"

"He's at his own job, sir." Adam reported, "He's got a lot of catching up to do."

"Gah, fuck it." Captain snarled. He's always got great results when he goes fishing when Merrick's around, that he's considered him good luck. This time, Captain got too cocky, and time's almost up, "Fine, you," He snapped his fingers at Adam, "Fishing. Now. Lets go."

"O-Ok," Adam followed him, and signaled Arnaav to follow.

~~~

"... Ghhhh..." Captain stews in his seat as he glares at his rod, the long, long line hidden into the wavering sea over the tall docks. Not a single twitch within a whole hour. And it doesn't help that Adam has caught and released 4 fish within that time frame.

"Maybe it's just bad luck?" Adam said frettingly.

"I'm supposeta be better at this than you, ya little fuck-ass." Captain snarled.

"Awwwwllll..." Arnaav groans as he sits on the wood planks, "Adam?" He said lowly as he tugs on Adam's sleeve, "How long are we gonna be here?"

"Dunno," Adam turns to his boss, "How long we gonna be here, Cap'n?"

"Shut yer damn trap." Captain stubbornly grumbled.

"But there's nothing out heeerrree." Arnaav whines as he slumped back down, "There isn't anything to hunt..." He mumbled, "Might as well just go swimming around and actually look..."

"Hmmmm..." Adam pondered, before leaning down, "Hey, Arnaav, I'm sorry, but bare with me."

"Wha?"

"You know, Captain," Adam started, "Arnaav here happens to be related to Merrick."

That caught his attention, "Ah yeah?"

"Yeah. They're brothers. I dunno, maybe the kid here has the same kinda mojo Merrick has. Ah, maybe not, he's just a kid."

"No no no, now wait a minute," Captain turns in his seat, and looks to the bored boy, "Yeah, you're the guy's lil brother, ain't ya?"

"Mmmnnnn" Arnaav frowns, feeling as bitter about the lie as his least favorite food, "I don't feel anything here, if that is what you mean." Arnaav answered, "Can we go now?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure, kiddo!" Captain's mood seems elevated as he gets up and reels in his rod, "Lets git goin here." He grabs his bucket, and starts to go, just as Adam prepares his rod.

"Just help him get a big fish, and we can get back to work." Adam mutters as he helps Arnaav to his feet.

"And how am I supposed to do that? I'm not a Noita, you know." Arnaav retorts stubbornly.

"Intuition," Adam walks, "Merrick's a Triton, like you, right? Just, lead Captain to where you think a big fish is gonna be."

"Can't he just pick up a spear and swim in the ocean himself?" Arnaav stumbled a bit on the dock, "This is boring and pointless."

"I know, this is just how most humans hunt for fish." Adam said, "Please, just do what comes naturally... Just, up on air, ya know?"

"Rrrggghhh..." Arnaav growls irritably.

"Heheh," Adam chuckles, "If you do this for him, I can buy you the biggest crab in the market."

Arnaav's head lifts up and beams at Adam, "Really?!"

"I'll let you pick out whichever one you want." Adam nods.

"O-kay!"

"What the fuck's keepin ya?!" Captain yelled, "Come on already!! Move your asses! I weigh 400 pounds, and I'm ahead'ya!"

"Coming!" Adam takes Araav's hand, and they run over.

~~~

"Hangh hnngg hrrnngg," Arnaav crunches away into the large crab, slurping and sucking into the meat ravenously while sitting on the bench on the beach. Adam smirks as he watches the kid eat.

"Don't you even want to cook it before eating?" He asked after swallowing the second to last bite of his sandwich.

"Harrmmff, mmmfff, hm?" Arnaav looks up with his mouth full of food, chewing and swallowing the delicious crustatian flesh.

"Nevermind." He said before tossing the last corner of bread and turkey and bacon into his mouth, and crumbling up the wrapper, and throwing it into a nearby bin, "Alright, I gotta take care of a couple of things, when we'll be ready to head home, alright?"

"Ok." Arnaav nods while finishing up his own meal. Adam looks, and chuckles as he sees Arnaav's messy face.

"Jeez, kid, you're a mess," Adam pulls out his handkerchief, squats down, and wipes around Arnaav's mouth.

"Amph- Ah, hey!"

"Juuust a second..." Adam grooms him a little more, and he backs off, "There, nice and clean." He stands back up and stretches, "Ok, just wait here, I'll be right back."

"Alright." Arnaav nods before Adam walks away. The boy licks the spiny legs of the crab, before looking, and sniffing the air. A faint smell of shrimp wafts in the breeze. Being a curious lad, Arnaav scoots off the bench, and walks along the scent.

His nose eventually leads him under the very tall stalks beneath the docks. He explores a little further until the smell gets slightly stronger. His walking leads him to what appears to be a narrow, dark cavern. Arnaav puts his little hands onto the rocks, and sniffs a little more.

Arnaav's nose picks up a combination of scents - a lot of human-touched smells, a stain of shrimp and anchovy smell. He gulps before he puts a foot on the rock.

"Careful, young boy."

"AHH!" He screams as he scrambles away, toppling on the sand, to see Adam standing there.

"Bewarey all ye enter here, for you tread upon the lair of the Latolcus." Adam said in a foreboding voice.

"HHH!" Arnaav gasps as he quickly moves away, "A L-L-Latolcus??!" He whimpers out, "There's a Latolcus here?!"

"Well, not anymore." Adam said, "You can relax now." Arnaav breathes easier before he stands himself up, "She hasn't been here in months."

"W-When will this... Latolcus come back?" Arnaav asked timidly.

"Maybe in another month or so." Adam said, "She and her husband moved out of Hawaii about a year ago. They only come here during the Fall and Winter seasons now."

"Huh?" Arnaav looks confused.

"Her name is Belinda. She's a Holsien mermaid of the Coral Snake merfolk." He said, "And she happens to be a good friend of mine."

"What?!" He gives Adam an estranged look, "Do you even know what a Latolcus is?!"

"A merfolk who killed a Noita and drank her blood, thus gaining powers and abilities that aren't hers to have. Otherwise known as a Blood Thief."

"So..." Arnaav blinked at him, "Why would you ever be her friend? After what she did?"

"I didn't used to know when I first met her, I found out a few years ago when Merrick nearly ripped her apart."

"Good." Arnaav frowned, "I-I mean... I don't understand why anyone would want to kill a Noita..." He looks down.

"I know what she did was terrible, even as far as Coshitons go." Adam said, "But this Latolcus has been my friend for years. Without her, Merrick would be dead." The boy looks up at him, "When Merrick was in the oil- er, Blood of the Earth - Belinda showed me where to find the Forbidden Ancient to cure him. And when me and Merrick were kidnapped, she helped free us."

"If she's so good, why kill a Noita at all." Arnaav stubbornly growled.

"From what she tells," Adam answered, "The Noita of her pod raised her like a daughter, but wouldn't make her her Adra, a sort of relation that she wouldn't or couldn't allow. Merrick tells me that her species in particular are borderline savage, so in a fit of rage, Belinda struck a lethal blow in a sudden urge of a tantrum, and Belinda happened to inhale the blood that ensued. So in a way, she didn't know what she was doing."

"That still doesn't excuse what she did... Even if her mind was too stupid to realize what she was doing."

"Arnaav," Adam said, and then sighed before kneeling down to Arnaav's level, eye-to-eye, "We all make mistakes, some little, some huge. Some mistakes get us in a little bit of trouble, while others change our lives forever. Regardless though, we always get another chance to make things right in one light or another." Arnaav's face started to tense, and he started to breathe deeper.

"People change, Arnaav." Adam said softly, "Sometimes we do terrible things, but it doesn't always mean that we're bad or evil. As a Coshiton, you of all people should know this." Arnaav looked a little more... Disgruntled at all of this, "Just because we make a mistake, it doesn't mean we always have to keep paying for it the rest of our lives."

Arnaav sniffled before he struggled with his shirt. Adam looked curiously before the boy stripped off his upper garment, before Adam saw the intricate symbol on the left side of Arnaav's chest.