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He’s been watching him for a while.
He sees him sitting at the edge of the water, balancing on the rocks lining the bank's edge. The human man watches The Sea, and lets the wind tousle his blond hair. He shivers on occasion and wraps his arms around himself for warmth, but does not move from where he sits. The human man watches The Sea, and does nothing but that.
Veritas has been watching him for a while.
This human man is beautiful, as far as humans go. While the human man cannot see him, Veritas can see him quite well; well enough to know that the human has unique violet and blue eyes, unlike anything he has seen before under The Sea.
Veritas has been watching him for a while, and he wishes to get closer.
And so he does.
He knows very well that humans do not know much about sirens like Veritas. After all, Veritas’ people have been keeping themselves out of the human’s sight, for why would sirens such as himself bother themselves with creatures as foolish as their legged counterparts?
(Still, this one was different.)
The day they finally meet is windy, and The Sea sloshes loudly against the rocks the human is sitting on, so he does not hear nor see Veritas approach. And when he finally does, he does not see Veritas’ tail beneath the tumultuous water and mistakes him for another two-legged one with only his head above water.
“Hey, friend!” The human shouts, baring his teeth and turning the edges of his lips up. Veritas believes that to be a friendly facial gesture amongst fellow humans. “This is a no-swim zone.”
The absolute audacity. Veritas is certain he must get closer.
The human’s eyebrows tilt down. “Do you need help?”
Ah, the human’s concern is endearing, but misplaced. Veritas splashes his tail behind him on the water's surface, but the human does not seem to understand. He only tilts his head down further and narrows his eyes to slits.
“What…?” Veritas hears him whisper under his breath. So Veritas splashes his tail again, as he swims even closer, making sure the length of his beautiful tail is floating on the surface. Yes, it would do good for the human to see how radiant his iridescent scales are. Surely unlike anything that he may find in his ugly land-dweller world.
The human man’s eyes widen, and his lips part once more to speak –
– only for him to lose his balance, and fall straight into the water with an undignified, disgraceful splash. Veritas expects the human to shout profanities, as that is often what he hears escape their ugly mouths when such things happen to them, and at first, that is what happens.
Once the human has broken the water’s surface, arms flailing about until he steadies himself in an even tread that still looks as though he is struggling.
“Fuck!” He exclaims – but it is said with a smile, one with dull teeth that are not at all ugly, and then a laugh. It's such a pretty sound, almost akin to the singing many of his kind are blessed with to lure people into the waters of The Sea so that She may be able to feed.
She. The sea. They are one. Her waves are like arms wrapping around him and Her crashing waves are what carry Her voice. Humans are drawn to The Sea, Veritas has noticed, but if only they knew what She said, how She felt, that although She sinks their ships and drowns their people, She calms Her waves after a meal as an act of respect for those who have fallen because She loves humans just as they love Her. It is a pity, Veritas believes, that humans can only hear Her waves and not the words behind them.
The sea will devour this man if Veritas does not intervene. She always gives humans a chance when they fall into Her waters as She does not find join in killing, but after a while, She grows tired of their flailing and takes matters into Her own hands. Her waves have already started to rock aggressively, and the man is struggling to keep his head above them.
Veritas acts fast. He dives beneath the waves and propels himself forward with his tail, swimming effortlessly toward the man. Just as the waves consume him, pull him down, Veritas’ arms are around him. He’s forcing the human's head above the surface so She does enter his lungs, and all at once, as if on queue, the waves calm to a gentle rock.
I thought you might let him drown.
Her voice fills his head like a fond memory.
You’ve never so much as looked twice at humans. What is it you call them? Foolish land-dwellers? Ugly two-legged beasts?
She laughs, Her waters rippling, and Veritas ignores her as he guides the flailing human to an empty shore.
He flops the man onto the sand the moment it's his tail and lets him drag himself the rest of the way. White fabric clings to the human’s chest, see-through and revealing, and Veritas makes an effort not to openly stare, yet he cannot help but steal glances when he’s able. The first several buttons lining the center of the shirt are undone, better revealing the glistening skin underneath. His hair, golden like The Sun, is heavy with water and sticking to his face, his neck, collecting sand as he lays on his back, catching his breath with closed eyes.
Up close he is far more lovely than Veritas thought possible for a human.
Veritas watches The Sunlight dance across the human’s fine features long enough for time to push The Sun across the sky. The human suddenly coughs, spitting out salt water, and it’s only then that the human’s eyelids twitch and flutter open, revealing his brilliant eyes once more. Slowly, the man’s gaze focuses, and seemingly sensing Veritas’ presence, turns his head to look over at the siren.
The human’s eyes briefly widen in surprise, but he does not move from where he lies. Instead, he presses the palm of his hand against his head. “What…what happened? Did you save me?”
The Sea’s words ring in Veritas’ mind. Perhaps he should place his prejudice for the land dwellers aside for a brief moment, if not to please the human before him.
And so he mimics the motion the human had met when he had first spotted him, and pulls the muscles of his cheek back and up, revealing his own, far sharper, far whiter teeth in a gesture of friendship.
Veritas is not well versed in human customs, but he is quite certain in the way the human yelps, shoots to his strange feet, and suddenly scrambles back onto a nearby pile of rocks is not a symbol of camaraderie. The human’s gaze darts from between Veritas’ face, and his tail, swishing back and forth in annoyance. “Sh…shit, you’re actually a…a…”
“A siren,” Veritas completes. As if to make his point, he makes a sharp motion with his tail and splashes the man with water.
“You understand me?” The human gasps, his eyes widening even further. If he hadn’t taken a moment to rub the water off of his face, Veritas would’ve thought that the human hadn’t noticed he’d been sprayed with water.
The Sea’s words, chiding him for looking down on humans are as distant to him as ever. Still, he bites his tongue, hoping the dryness of his tone would communicate his distaste. “Of course.”
Perhaps it was his fault for assuming creatures as limited as humans would not be completely surprised and awestruck by the existence of sirens. Especially one as magnificent as him.
To his credit, at least the human seems to be conscious of Veritas’ own appeal; a faint pink blush begins to bloom on his cheeks as he continues to gape at Veritas. “You’re…you’re beautiful. Ah, apologies if this is out of line for sirens, but –”
“For a human, you’re not so bad yourself.” Veritas interrupts, propping himself up into a half-sitting position using his elbows. The Sea laps at Veritas’ tail with each wave, clearly pleased with him. The human seems pleased with him too, as a moment later he climbs down from the pile of rocks he had taken refuge on, and settles onto the warm sand next to Veritas, curling his strange legs up to his chest.
There is a comfortable silence between them. The Sea sings happily, rhythmically crashing into the shore. She is happy, and thus, any residual regret Veritas might’ve had regarding approaching this human washes away.
“So, can you sing?” The human man finally says, looking over at him. Veritas meets his gaze, and the human continues speaking. “I’ve heard sirens have poisonous voices.”
“I cannot. But others can,” Veritas states simply.
“Oh.” Is the human man’s brisk reply. “Well, I guess that makes two of us.”
“Are you jesting?”
“Not if you’re going to put it like that.” However, despite his words, the human laughs lightly, gracing Veritas’ ears with the song of his voice once more. What a fascinating creature. “What’s it like, being a siren?”
This is a simple question but the answer is far more complex than the man’s mind could ever begin to imagine. Just as with being human, there are many brilliant aspects he adores and many he detests. He does not know where he should begin.
“Being a siren to me is what being a human is to you,” Veritas decides. “I don’t see The Sun to this degree often. Where we tend to reside is just above what humans call the Twilight Zone. We get some sunlight, but it's nothing like being up here.”
The man blinks slowly, soaking in the information that is no doubt rocking his world and turning it upside down. “Why so far down?”
“It is largely out of reach for humans. We do not wish to be found by you.”
A look of knowing crosses the man’s face and he nods, understanding. “Yet you’re here.”
“I am.”
“That’s strange.”
“I told you I don’t see The Sun often,” Veritas says, staring out Her. Her waves lap his tail, keeping his scales and skin wet enough to keep him out of discomfort’s way. “But I’m quite fond of it. I try to visit the surface regularly.”
“For The Sun,” the man muses.
“Certainly not for you land-dwellers.”
“Is that an insult?”
“It would have been an insult if I called you unsightly. Which you are not.” Veritas pauses. “As for the general human masses, well, the same cannot be said.”
The man huffs and, as if offended, flings a fist full of sand at Veritas’ side. “I am sure not every one of your kind is as beautiful as you.”
The Sea would stuff Veritas’ head into the sand if he admitted that some of his kin are not as beautiful as she tends to believe. “She says beauty can manifest in a variety of ways.”
“She?”
“The Sea.”
“The Sea is a She?”
“Yes, and She’s quite lovely.”
The man is staring intently at Veritas now, eyes wide with wonder and mouth slightly ajar. “And She talks.”
“All the time. In ripples and waves but only Her children can hear Her.”
“Sirens,” the man says and at Veritas’ nod, he asks, “How are you born, then?”
“Biologically speaking, we have parents. Two are required to lay and fertilize eggs, but after we hatch we are raised by Her, in a sense. She guides and teaches us.”
Veritas does not know the two who created him and it has never occurred to him that he might want to一She was perfect and caring, kind in ways one might not expect from something that regularly ruins ships and takes lives by the hundreds. It is the cycle of life, my child. It is sad and cruel, but sometimes that is how life is.
“This is far more interesting than life on land,” the man says, laughing again. He rakes a hand through his hair, shaking out the grains of sand that did not fall out when he ran away in fear.
“I’ve always thought the same.”
This earns him a glare. “I will have you know that we have our good qualities.”
“Tell me about them.”
And the man does. He does not tell Veritas something he does not already know.
Save for one thing.
“We’re desperate to find other intelligent life on other worlds,” the man says, drawing shapes into the sand with his fingers, “because we are terrified of being alone.”
“You have each other.”
“It's not enough.”
Veritas almost asks why but the question dies in his throat as the man gets to his feet and brushes off the sand clinging to his clothes. “I have to go, but will you be here tomorrow? I’d like to see you again.”
“I can be.”
That same smile. “I’m Aventurine, by the way.”
“Veritas,” he offers in return.
And he tries tugging the muscles of his cheeks back and bares his teeth in that friendly-seeming gesture he’s seen Aventurine perform several times now, hoping for better results now that the two of them were more acquainted. Aventurine seems to mimic him, exhaling sharply through his nose as if amused. “Are you trying to smile?”
Aventurine reaches forward to gently place his hands on either side of Veritas’ face, and Veritas lets Aventurine press his thumbs against his skin to adjust his facial muscles until his ‘smile’ feels easier to hold in place. “That’s how you smile. You’re handsome like this, Veritas.”
Veritas enjoys the way his name sounds on the human tongue. She would tease him for this if She ever found him to be fond of it, and so he vows to keep this one secret from Her.
Finally, Aventurine rises to his feet, dusting the sand off of the backside of his pants. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
As he goes, Aventurine waves and then turns his attention to the world before him, soon disappearing around the corner of some rocks.
Veritas turns back to The Sea and suddenly understands why She speaks of The Sun with a kind of longing that is both fond and tragic.
***
The Sea often tells Veritas stories of The Sun, how She relishes in the rays it casts upon Her, how no matter the direction the earth is facing, it is always there.
There.
Watching Her. Warming Her. High in the sky and so many words away that She, in all Her infinite expansiveness, cannot begin to comprehend the distance.
She always starts from the beginning. Slowly, as the sky stopped raining rocks and fire, as the earth cooled, She was born. And the first thing that graced Her life was The Sun. Bright and warm.
She tells Veritas of Her love for The Sun, and how She would sooner vaporize before The Sun would ever know.
***
Veritas watches Aventurine climb onto his regular spot atop the rocks where he had first seen him, no other humans in sight. The man stares out at The Sea, but unlike the days before where he’d unfocus his gaze somewhere around the horizon, he seems to be looking for something.
He was looking for him.
Aventurine’s eyes light up as his gaze catches on Veritas, who had just barely brought his head above water; still underwater from the ears down. The human smiles that smile of his again, and gives a little wave, and just like that, the Sun shines brighter, as if celebrating their reunion.
Veritas dips beneath the surface of The Sea, and swims to where the human was sitting before emerging again and resting his elbows on the edge of the rock. Aventurine leans down, still smiling. “Didn’t think you’d come back, if I’m being honest.”
“Foolish of you to think that.”
Aventurine gives an amused huff. “Come on, do you really think that little of us humans?”
Veritas doesn’t deign that with an answer, lest he upset The Sea and the human in one go. “Dive in. I’ll take you to where we went yesterday.”
The human seems to hesitate for the briefest of moments, before he nods to himself, takes off his shoes and swings his legs over the edge of the rock, letting the water lap at his feet. He scoots forward, slowly submerging himself bit by bit.
“Hurry now, we don’t have all day.” Veritas sighs, swimming back just far enough to make more room for the human. Aventurine gives him an exasperated look. “We don’t all breathe underwater, Veritas.”
“And that’s why I’m here. Are all humans this coy when it comes to Her?”
“Her – oh. The Sea.”
“Yes The Sea, and if you don’t hurry up, even She will get impatient.” Veritas snaps. She agrees with him, crashing a relatively harsher wave against the rocks. Aventurine acquiesces, and with a deep breath, he pushes off the rock and fully surrenders to Her.
Veritas is there to catch him before he sinks, and he wraps his arms around Aventurine’s torso and holds him close. He swims up and with a couple of strong swishes of his tail, both their heads were above the surface of The Sea.
“That wasn’t so bad.” Aventurine breathes, almost gingerly wrapping his arms around Veritas’ neck and shoulders. The siren can feel the heat radiating off of him, and from this close distance, it’s quite hard not to spot the red dusting his cheeks.
“Hold your breath and hold tight.”
Veritas waits until Aventurine has inhaled deeply before dipping underwater again. Veritas swims as fast as he dares, keeping his grip tight on Aventurine. Periodically, he breaks the surface again so Aventurine can catch his breath, before continuing on their way.
They reach their destination一a secluded island off the coast of the mainland, one too small to inhabit and lacking anything of value to visit一and Veritas lets go of Aventurine once the water is shallow enough for him to stand. Aventurine gasps and splutters as he drags himself to shore, clawing at The Sea for a purchase that was not there.
“Are you alright?” Veritas inquires, slowly following him as far as he can.
“Yeah…yeah…I just…” Aventurine pants, crawling up to the bank's edge and flopping onto his back. His chest heaves with each deep breath. “That was intense.”
“Was it?”
“Not…not built for The Sea.” Aventurine gestures vaguely at himself before letting his hand fall to the sand again.
“Well, I can see that.” Veritas squirms his way up the beach to the very edge of The Sea, settling next to Aventurine. He lets Aventurine lie there until he finally catches his breath. Aventurine props himself up by his arms and suddenly winces. The acrid scent of iron and blood hits Veritas’ nose.
“I think you cut me,” Aventurine murmurs, peeling up the bottom of his shirt to reveal the small half-moon shaped wounds littering his torso. Blood mixes with water, red and pink blooming against his smooth skin. “You’ve got sharp claws there.”
Veritas spares the briefest of glances at his own sharp nails before turning his attention back to the human. “It would be a shame if you were to get lost in Her.”
Aventurine does not reply, and only gingerly swipes at one of the cuts with another wince with a finger. Veritas reaches forward and gently wraps a hand around Aventurine’s wrist. “Let me help.”
“Is this where you tell me sirens have magical healing powers too?” Aventurine chuckles. Veritas exhales sharply, and shifts in the sand to lean close enough for his nose to nearly graze his skin, and for him to notice how Aventurine’s breathing has picked up again. “Hey, what are you doing?”
Veritas’ tongue darts out and laps at the deepest wound, wiping the blood away. Aventurine’s blood is salty and earthy. He smells like the land, but tastes of The Sea, and is intoxicating in ways that not even Veritas can quite understand.
Veritas continues to tend to Aventurine's wounds, taking care to clean every cut. Once he's done with one side, he leans over Aventurine’s lap and begins on the other side. Something is pressing against Veritas’ side from within Aventurine's wet pants and he knows what it is一desire一but pays no mind to it in favor of continuing to take care of the human,
That is until he accidentally brushes his torso over the growing tent and freezes at Aventurine’s sudden intake of breath.
“Are you alright?” Veritas asks, breath fanning over Aventurine’s goosebump riddled skin.
Aventurine is quick to nod, a deep flush creeping across the bridge of his nose. “I’m fine. Perfect, even.”
Perfect, indeed, Veritas thinks, and disengages from Aventurine. The wounds have clotted and though some of it smeared, the blood that had spilled from them has been cleaned. He’s always enjoyed blood, whether it's from fish or other, but he always thought human blood would taste as foul as they looked, especially with the kind of awful things he heard they consume from fellow sirens and Her. So it's quite alarming to Veritas as he swipes his tongue over his teeth to remove any lingering blood and, with great disappointment, discovers there is nothing left for him to taste, that he is still chasing the aftertaste at all is more than enough to raise alarm bells in his head.
Aventurine’s blood is good and he craves more. Needs more, but unless he is willing to sink his teeth into the flesh or bury his nails hard enough to puncture skin, he is not going to get any, and he supposes it would be quite strange to ask for more.
Your blood is exquisite. Mind if I bite you for another taste?
And it becomes very apparent to Veritas, then, that Aventurine must’ve liked it too. Perhaps not the actual creation of the wounds, but the bulge at the front of his pants paints a story unreliant on words. It aroused him. That much is true, however, whether or not it is something he truly enjoyed is another matter entirely.
Veritas, very gently, places a hand on the front of Aventurine’s pants. “Did that excite you?”
He half expects Aventurine to fumble his words or not reply at all, but instead, he says, “An incredibly hot fish man just licked blood from my torso. How else would I react?” He says it like Veritas is the fool for thinking it wouldn’t.
Veritas is more than aware that he is more beastly than he is human with his eyes, nearly completely black, the claws he uses to kill, and the teeth he uses to rip flesh from bone. His tail is scaly and his skin is less fleshy than it is rough, like sand, and he has a set of gills on either side of his ribcage. Sirens with poison for voices are the ones who are often bestowed with beauty, as they need to be able to lure humans into The Sea so that She may feed, so it comes as a great surprise to find that Veritas, the kind of siren that most might regard with terror, is instead seen as hot, as Aventurine put it.
“You find me to be good looking, then?”
This is what he decides to focus on.
“As a person with a working pair of eyes, yes. Definitely.”
“I do not scare you?”
“You scare the fuck out of me,” Aventurine explains and Veritas is only a little confused with how human minds work, “but that is why you’re hot. And it helps that your body’s build would have gym bros on their knees.”
Gym bros. Veritas has heard the term referred to men who take an above average interest in building their bodies’ muscles. He takes this as a compliment. “I see.”
“Your face is nice, too. I like it.”
“I like your face as well.”
Aventurine smiles and then shifts, tugging at the front of his pants.
“Are you uncomfortable?” Veritas asks, knowing some humans complain about how their erections, if not taken care of, can be uncomfortable. “Do you need my assistance一”
“Definitely not. It’ll go away on its own.”
But for the rest of their time at Veritas’ secret hideout一or rather, their secret hideout一Aventurine continues to shift and tug at the front of his pants.
***
Veritas is late today.
Veritas is late today and he knows Aventurine is waiting for him at the beach where they first meet before making the journey to what has become their own private little island. And he hopes that when he finally makes it to the beach, Aventurine is still there because this is something that cannot be rushed.
This:
Clutched tightly in Veritas’ hand with a deadly grip is a small white pearl freshly harvested from the nicest clam. It took hours to find and even longer to coax the thing open. With the help of Her, though, the time was cut in half. Still, Veritas knows he took too long and that Aventurine has been waiting for him.
Hopefully, he still is.
Veritas swims as fast as his tail can take him, and he is able to reach the shore where he had first seen Aventurine. He spots him from a distance – too far for the human to see him, but Veritas can see quite clearly how he is perched at the edge of a rock with his legs tucked up to his chest. He rests his chin on his knees, looking out in The Sea, clearly looking for him.
The Sea pushes him forward with a strong wave.
Go, she says, what holds you back, my child? Your sun is waiting for you.
Veritas holds the pearl even tighter, feeling the tips of his nails begin to poke and pierce the skin of his palm and he dips beneath the surface once more. He does not emerge until Aventurine’s rock is arm’s reach away.
Aventurine jumps with a gasp as Veritas splashes to the surface, and scrambles onto his knees. “Veritas! Where –”
Veritas doesn’t answer him. Instead, he pushes himself up and out of the water until he latches his free hand around Aventurine’s arm, and drags him into the water. The human’s instincts kick in, and he flails underwater, struggling to swim to the surface for air. It makes it quite difficult for Veritas to hook an arm around Aventurine’s waist with the other hand tightly gripping the pearl, but he manages.
Aventurine twists in his grip underwater until he’s turned to face him and Veritas is pleased with how the human tightly wraps his arms around his shoulders and meets his gaze. Veritas moves above the surface just long enough for Aventurine to inhale deeply, and he swims away, heart thudding with anticipation.
The Sea is pleased, and she calms her waters, allowing Veritas to reach their island quickly.
Like yesterday, Aventurine coughs and splutters as he crawls onto the sandy bank, but he seems unharmed, thankfully. He watches Veritas slither his way up next to him as gracefully as he can manage on wet sand with a faint smile on his face. “What took you so long? I almost thought you wouldn’t show up.”
The pearl weighs heavy in Veritas’ hand, and his heart thrums harder. The Sea laps at the bottom of his tail, coaxing him on and encouraging him.
”Give your hand to me.” Veritas says. Aventurine looks mildly confused, but he does as Veritas commands, and brings his hand forward with his palm facing up.
Veritas places his fist over Aventurine’s outstretched hand, and slowly unfurls his fingers, letting the pearl plop onto the human’s palm before moving back.
Aventurine’s expression is unreadable as he studies the pearl, rolling it around on his palm with his thumb.
“It’s yours, if you wish.” Veritas says. A small smile grows on Aventurine’s lips as he holds the pearl up to The Sun. The iridescent white reflects a million different colors every time he twists and turns it this way and that.
“Thank you. It’s…it’s beautiful.”
”So you want it?” Veritas asks carefully.
Aventurine huffs, amused. “Of course I do.”
Veritas jerks his chin down in a nod, feeling quite pleased. Warmth unfurls in his chest, and when his human smiles at him, he believes he finally understands how The Sea feels when the Sun shines down on her.
***
The Sea often tells Veritas stories of The Sun, how She relishes in the rays it casts upon Her, how no matter the direction the earth is facing, it is always there.
There.
Above this world She is forever confined to.
She tells Veritas of Her love for The Sun, and how Her love transcends all limitations, even the incomprehensible distance between her and the Sun. She is cold and dark during the night, but come day, the Sun returns, and how the Sun encompasses Her with warmth and light.
She tells Veritas that She is glad that he, Her child, has begun to understand Her love.
***
“You want to mate me?”
The question catches Veritas off guard, but he absorbs the question with practiced calm. Beside him, Aventurine casually lies on a towel on his back, arms folded behind his head and legs crossed at the ankles. Sunglasses shield his brilliant eyes from The Sun and his shirt is completely unbuttoned and thrown open, revealing his beautifully sculpted body that Veritas keeps staring at.
“Can I ask where this is coming from?” Veritas knows where. Humans are natrually curious and derive theories from this curiosity, and because Aventurine lives in a world where any and all information is within his grasp, Veritas knows his human did a little digging.
“I went home and did some research on sirens,” Aventurine begins and props himself up on his elbows, “but obviously, your existence isn’t confirmed so most of what I was reading was theories and folklore. That’s beside the point, though, because I read something that suggests sirens give pearls to potential mates, kind of like how penguins give each other pebbles.”
“Yes, it's something like that,” Veritas says, tail lightly splashing the water as waves lap at him, like a kiss from Her.
Aventurine fishes the pearl out of his short’s pockets and holds it up to the sky, against a brilliant blue backdrop. “It's quite a beautiful pearl, too. Expensive I bet.”
“I hope you aren’t considering selling it.”
Smiling, Aventurine says, “Would you blame me if I did? The cost of living is horrendous these days.”
Veritas cannot tell if he’s joking or not, but the smile splitting his face certainly suggests the latter. “What you choose to do with it does not concern me, I suppose.”
The peal is now rolling in Aventurine’s hands before he stuffs it back into the confines of his pocket. “It's too priceless to sell.” Though his eyes are covered by sunglasses, Veritas knows Aventurine is looking at him, can feel his eyes drilling holes into him. “What would saying yes mean for me?”
“It would make you mine.”
“Yours,” Aventurine repeats and lays flat on the sand again. “That doesn’t sound half bad. Okay.”
“Okay?”
“As in yes, Veritas.”
Oh. Oh.
Aventurine extends an arm and drags the tips of his fingers over Veritas’ side, just barely grazing his gills, and the touch alone is enough to send a shiver through him. Fingers seek out his own and then their fingers are intertwining, resting on the sand between them.
Veritas stares out at Her and hears Her approval, Her pride, as She kisses his tail.
This human belongs to Veritas now, and he doesn’t think this is something Aventurine fully grasps. It means so much more than he could understand and Veritas intends to show him. He intends to introduce Aventurine to the true meaning of the word, mine.
But.
There’s a soft snore coming from beside Veritas, and when he turns to look at Aventurine, his head has lulled to the side and his chest is rising slowly, slowly falling. The once tight grip of his hand has gone lax and his sunglasses have slipped off his face, now laying on the sand.
He’s fallen asleep.
He’s fallen asleep and this fact should detour Veritas’ thoughts away from less innocent things, but this has only kicked his brain into overdrive.
Aventurine, completely pliant beneath his touch, blissfully unaware of all the filthy things Veritas wants to do to him.
Aventurine, hair thrown askew on the sand, trembling because of Veritas.
Aventurine, begging for more, Veritas’ name falling from his mouth in a series of moans.
Veritas’ mind only spirals further. So much so that when he glances down at his tail, he sees his cock protruding from his slit, fully erect. He inches closer to Aventurine’s sleeping body and trails the tip of one of his claws down the center of his torso, starting at the hollow of his throat and stopping where skin gives way to the waistband of his shorts.
Goosebumps instantly appear on Aventurine’s skin and he shifts, groaning with the effort. The sound goes straight to Veritas’ cock and he’s hovering over his human now, lips following the same path as his claw. It's inconvenient to be moving on the sand like this, especially without proper legs, but the muscles in his tail are strong enough to help him shuffle down Aventurine’s body.
His fingers slip between Aventurine’s hips and the waistband, then in one swift tug, the shorts are discarded on the sand behind them. Veritas smooths his hands over the expanse of Aventurine’s exposed legs and runs his fingers along the edge of his boxer briefs before those are off too, joining his shorts to collect sand. He, with some effort, maneuvers himself between Aventurine’s legs, marveling at just how good his human looks beneath him. The sight is nothing short of stunning, as he often thought it would be, but the images he once conjured in his mind do not even begin to rival the real thing.
There’s no beating this.
Starting with the head, Veritas trails the tip of a claw down the length of Aventurine’s cock and then takes it into his hand, giving it several languid strokes until it hardens. He sticks his tongue out of his mouth, a long and forked, and licks at the head before taking it into his mouth.
Teeth. Suddenly, he remembers the true sharpness of his teeth and pulls off of Aventurine’s cock with a quickness that almost has him toppling over. Every single one of his teeth is pointed and razor-sharp, the kind of teeth that are meant for ripping through flesh, bone, and muscle, and while he’s taken a liking to the idea of Aventurine covered in his bite marks, he’d rather not run the risk of slicing sensitive places.
No matter, though, because Veritas is excellent with his tongue.
Carefully, Veritas works to roll Aventurine onto his stomach, and surprisingly, Aventurine goes easily. Still asleep, he folds his arms and rests his cheek on them, tongue quickly swiping over his bottom lip. He drops down to an elbow and uses his free to spread Aventurine’s asscheeks apart, revealing his hole, and licks a long stripe over it. At this, Aventurine shivers. Wiggles. Stills.
Again, Veritas laps at Aventurine’s hole and watches his human’s face scrunch, brows furrowing and lips pressing together. This time, his tongue dips just beyond the rim and witnesses Aventurine’s mouth drop open with the sound of a pant tumbling out. Veritas indulges completely now, pushing in his tongue as far as it can go, and flicks it up, then down.
When he takes a breath all he can smell is salt and sea.
All he can taste is Aventurine.
All he can see is Aventurine.
All he wants is Aventurine, and nothing more.
Veritas pulls Aventurine open more, desperate to have his fingers join his tongue in all the fun but he knows his claws would cause harm and the last thing he wants to do is injure his precious human. He kneads at the flesh instead, his nails leaving shallow half-moon marks behind and for a moment he feels a sliver of guilt before remembering the way Aventurine grew aroused when Veritas licked away the blood from the last time he held him too tightly. He figures if Aventurine did not mind such shallow and harmless wounds then, he won’t mind these so long as Veritas cleans them up later.
Once sated, he kisses his way up Aventurine’s spine and pauses at his nape long enough to sink his teeth into the flesh, hard enough to break and bleed but not enough to truly tear. At this, Aventurine stirs and his lashes flutter. Gradually, he comes to and turns his head back to look at Veritas groggily.
“Veritas…?” he mumbles, still half asleep. He blinks slowly, his eyes still glazed over with drowsiness. His gaze focuses as he takes in the scene before him; how he’s lying on his stomach with Veritas hovering over him, lapping almost lovingly at where he had been bit, Veritas’ arousal pressing against his backside. Veritas feels the shiver that runs down Aventurine’s back as he fully wakes.
Veritas feels Aventurine writhe beneath him, and he reluctantly pushes against the ground and gives Aventurine enough room to wiggle around. What Veritas doesn’t expect though is his human planting both his hands on his shoulder and pressing against him. Veritas lets himself be pushed onto his back, having barely collided with the soft sand before Aventurine climbs on top of him, settling right below Veritas’ hips, on his tail.
Aventurine leans forward, propping himself up by the hands he’s planted on Veritas’ torso. He’s got a faint smile playing on his lips, but still, he tilts his chin down and stares straight at him. “Might I ask what you were doing while I was asleep?”
Veritas reaches up to gently grip the back of either of Aventurine’s thighs. His skin is warm, grains of sand sticking to his smooth skin, and he idly kneads the soft flesh beneath his hands as he stares straight back. “Adoring you.”
Something in Aventurine’s gaze shifts and softens, and he leans down further to press a chaste kiss at the edge of Veritas’ mouth. “Quite a shame I wasn’t awake to appreciate it.”
Veritas’ lips part to say something, but he’s interrupted by Aventurine shifting, just barely rubbing their arousals together. Aventurine gives a little gasp at the friction. He moves his hips again, almost experimentally, and the soft hum of pleasure he gives makes Veritas tighten his grip on his human’s soft thighs.
He wants to tell Aventurine to lay back, and for Veritas to mate him properly, but he can't quite look away from his human as he slowly slides their bodies against each other over and over. The erratic moans Aventurine gives are quiet, breathy and they are like music to Veritas’ ears, reverberating through the very depths of his soul.
The legs straddling Veritas tense as Aventurine moves faster, and the friction between their lengths begins to become more easy and slick with precum. Aventurine writhes on top of him, sliding his hands down the siren's body until they were firmly grasping Veritas's hips, a bit below where his skin fades to scales. With each rut, Aventurine tightens and loosens his grip, his nails occasionally hooking underneath the iridescent scales.
The sharp pain of his scales being pulled out is barely felt; Veritas’ whole world has been reduced to his beloved moving against him and the heat of his skin against his own. Aventurine groans, bowing his head down to rest his forehead against Veritas’ chest as his movements grow erratic and his legs clench onto the siren even tighter – clearly approaching his climax. “Veritas –”
This must be torture, Veritas thinks, his tail beneath Aventurine whipping back and forth with frustration. If Aventurine were another siren, they’d be under The Sea right now, and Veritas would’ve been free to wrap his tail around his mate, constricting him and holding him in place as he bred him to his heart’s content. Neither can he quite bring himself to stop his human as he coaxes them both to their respective climaxes – Aventurine looks so terribly beautiful on top of him, so much so that Veritas finally understands the desperation The Sea might feel, staring up at Her sun every day, rendered powerless by the Sun’s sheer brilliance.
But The Sea and Sun are far apart, and Aventurine is right here, close enough to make Veritas feel as if he were being burnt alive.
No. No, Aventurine deserved to be bred as he ought to be.
A low growl rumbles from deep inside Veritas’ chest, causing Aventurine to falter. He looks down at the siren, mild surprise and amusement twisting the corners of his lips up. “I didn’t know sirens could make that sound.”
Veritas’ tail continues to lash side to side in frustration as he furrows his brows. “This isn’t what I had in mind when I gave you that pearl, human.”
“And here I was, thinking that sirens were boring when it came to…mating rituals.” Aventurine gives a light, breathy laugh. The bright red pink flush on his face darkens, “Let me show you how us humans do it, Veritas.”
Veritas watches Aventurine as he sits back on his heels and reaches forward to wrap his fingers around the siren’s darkening erection in his hands oh-so-lovingly. Aventurine meets Veritas’ gaze, a small mischievous smile curving the edge of his lips, and a dark look in his eyes that makes Veritas throb in his human’s gentle grip.
Aventurine shuffles forward on his knees until his hips are positioned right over Veritas’ leaking cock, before slowly sinking down. His breath audibly hitches as Veritas feels the head slowly push inside him, bit by bit. He’s agonizingly slow, with the siren’s cock being far, far larger than what he was used to, and given the lack of proper preparation to loosen himself up, he’s even slower, only moving once every handful of seconds.
Veritas slides his hands up Aventurine’s thighs until they’re resting at his hips, and he holds on tight, supporting his human as he struggles to take his length. He watches him writhe and suffer, and Aventurine gives a soft cry as he finally bottoms out.
Reaching back to lean against the siren’s tail behind him, Aventurine tosses his head back and arcs his back, his chest heaving with exertion. Veritas’ eyes are drawn to the prominent cylindrical bump in the base of Aventurine’s torso and he finds himself purring happily at the sight of how deeply he was sheathed inside his human.
“Allow me to take care of you. Let me take control.” Veritas says, rubbing small circles with his thumbs near where he had planted his hands on Aventurine’s hips.
Aventurine rolls his head forward and gives a toothy smile, still panting. “Ah, ah, ah, this isn’t The Sea. I get to be in control here.”
Veritas’ grip on Aventurine tightens, but he silently acquiesces. He’ll have plenty of time to breed his mate to his heart’s content in the future.
Aventurine’s breath stutters as he slouches forward again, now resting his palms against Veritas’ abdomen for support as he prepares himself to move. His legs tense around Veritas as he gingerly slides up half an inch, before moving back down again with a wince. Veritas’ erection throbs as Aventurine tightens almost painfully around him.
It takes every iota of willpower in Veritas’ body to not rut up into Aventurine and accidentally hurt him as he repeats this motion once, twice, thrice, getting used to the siren’s length and feel inside him. Slowly but surely though, Aventurine seems to loosen up and settles into a comfortable, but slow pace of shifting up on his knees until only the tip was inside, before sliding back down again.
Aventurine groans, his jaw working as he presumably grinds his teeth against each other. He moves one hand away from where it was leaning on Veritas’ abdomen to place it on one of Veritas’ hands on his side, slotting his fingers between the siren’s.
“Fuck –” Aventurine hisses, squeezing his eyes shut as he begins to speed up, holding his hips at a certain angle each time he drives himself down on Veritas’ cock. Over and over and over, until his thighs are trembling by Veritas’ sides, and the swearing under his breath melts into nonsensical moans, growing more and more desperate.
It’s not enough, it’s too much, and nonetheless, Veritas is not yet satisfied. He waits until the next time Aventurine slides up, and just as he moves himself down, Veritas lets himself go, and ruts up and into his human. Aventurine cries out sharply, his hand still on Veritas’ torso curling, leaving scratches in its wake. Another growl escapes Veritas’ chest.
“Is this what you call taking control?”
Veritas doesn’t give Aventurine a chance to reply. He simply pushes Aventurine up and off his cock and with one strong motion, flips them both over.
Veritas hears the air whoosh out of Aventurine’s lungs as his back hits the sand beneath him, but he wastes no time letting him recover; capturing his lips in a kiss that’s all tongue and teeth. The smell of iron and the taste of salt flood Veritas’ senses as his fangs scratch and cut his mate’s lips. It’s not until Veritas feels Aventurine pound on his chest does he pull back, and finds his human’s cheeks flushed and eyes wide as he gasps for breath.
Veritas is quick to adjust his position between Aventurine’s legs until he is comfortably slotted between them. He quickly reaches down with one hand to line himself up with his human’s entrance and he hears Aventurine’s breath hitch as he slowly slides inside again, bit by bit, until he's fully sheathed inside his mate once more.
“Dearest mate,” Veritas begins lowly, burying his face in the junction between Aventurine’s neck and shoulder. He pulls out slowly, before suddenly thrusting inside again, making the man beneath him whine and writhe against him, “that was not control.”
Another harsh thrust, and Aventurine cries out. This too, is a wonderful sound, Veritas decides. Hands are on his back, nails digging into the rouch flesh, as he begins to fuck into Aventurine in earnest and tries, desperately, to coax more delicious sounds out of him. He wants everything Aventurine has and more, so much more.
But for now, he can settle for this.
Aventurine’s legs are wrapped around the part of Veritas’ hips where tough skin gives away to scales and he locks them at the ankles, locking Veritas in place, forcing him to stay completely buried inside him.
He devotes himself now to kissing Aventurine’s neck, his throat, the underside of his jaw, anywhere and everywhere his lips can reach. And beneath him, his human is nothing but unmasked vulnerability, a mess of bite marks and blood and, now, tears. Veritas smells their salt and moves to lick them before they can drop to the sand. His body trembles under Veritas’ ruthless thrusts, the siren’s attention focused on his lips on his skin, and he cries out. The sound nearly drives Veritas to the edge and he’s barely able to reel himself in.
Not yet.
“Veritas,” Aventurine gasps.
One hand drops between them, reaching to wrap a hand around himself, but Veritas is quick to stop him and instead presses closer so that his cock is pressed against both of their torsos. It grinds against Veritas’ abdomen, smearing precum along the plains of his abs, and Aventurine watches for a moment, a deep shade of scarlet dusting his cheeks and neck.
“Please,” he says breathlessly.
It's almost enough to make Veritas give him and grant Aventurine what he wants. Almost. Still, he manages to fight against himself to win, and still, he thrusts into Aventurine, now with reckless and wild abandon as his own desires and pleasure pool in the pit of his stomach.
“Veritas.”
Aventurine’s face is flush and tear stricken, eyes half-lidded and pleading, begging, for something more. For anything more. Veritas slips a wandering hand down the length of Aventurine’s torso and presses, very gently, on the bulge in his stomach. His breathing grows fast and shallow as his desperation peaks, and, with an unbound cry, Aventurine spills onto his stomach, some of his spend splattering onto Veritas’ abs.
Suddenly一urgently一Veritas hooks his hands under the back of Aventurine’s knees and removes them from around his waist, instead pressing them in close to his chest. Aventurine complains about the stretch, the burn in his thighs, but he does not tell Veritas to stop and so he doesn’t. He fucks into Aventurine with enough force to have him scoot over the sand in small incremental inches and digs his claws into the supple flesh and blood is drawn, freely flowing down the length of his legs.
Veritas, with his eyes glued to the ethereal art that is Aventurine laid out before him, bloody and fucked beyond coherent thought, cums deep inside his human with a stifled groan and does not stop the brutal pace of his hips until he’s spent. Until every last drop is buried inside Aventurine, until he feels it slowly spilling out of him.
He drops Aventurine’s legs so that he may bend down and kiss away the few tears that are still trailing down his face.
“Aventurine,” Veritas whispers, pressing a kiss to the corner of his mouth. “Are you still with me?”
Weakly, Aventurine nods and gives a small smile. “Mhm.”
“Is that a yes?”
Again, Aventurine nods.
Careful to keep himself still inside Aventurine, Veritas rolls onto his back and tugs Aventurine on top of his body. Almost instantly, he tucks his head underneath the point of Veritas’ chin and lets his entire body fully slack against the strong support of another.
“I didn’t take you as the type to be so rough,” Aventurine says after several long moments of silence, once he found his breath.
“Was it unsatisfactory?”
“God, no. If anything, we should’ve done that sooner. If I would’ve known sirens were as big as this I might’ve been the one to pounce on you.”
“You jest.”
“Maybe a little, but there’s some truth to it.”
Aventurine lays his hands overtop one another on Veritas’ chest and rests his chin on the, gazing up at the siren. His hair is a mess of sand and knots, and many of the bite marks have stopped bleeding, bruises the deepest shades of purple and blue blooming instead.
Veritas realizes, then, that he loves Aventurine. All of him: the taste of his lips, the feel of his body, the enchanting shade of his eyes, and the single freckle on the underside of his jaw. He’s never seen the freckle before, but he wants to kiss that freckle a thousand times, wants to spend countless
hours learning him, loving him, discovering things about himself he never knew.
He wants to Aventurine to know of this love.
And when the earth is finally swallowed by The Sun, She, too, will finally know that, after all this time, The Sun has loved Her all along.