ADRIEN MORGAN
My brother Azrael,like the sweet darling he was,offered to drive us to the resort. It was a long distance away from the main capital. It took a total of five hours to get to the east coast, and regarding the fact that he must have been tired from his flight earlier,I had tried to object, but he refused.
I let him do as he wished,afterall my skin was already itching to be by Julian's side as soon as possible,so it was a win-win. He gets to be by his lover, and I get to be by mine.
I knew how Azrael felt right now. He was experiencing the call of the sea.
Merfolk and the sea are one,we can't stay away from the sea for long.
The call of the sea gives us an intense urge to return home and transform into our true form. It's like home sickness for the humans,it makes us long for that feeling of belonging.
The moment you make over ten days without being in your true form,you start feeling offish. You can start having dry throat,severe body heat, and weak limbs, among other symptoms.
So right now,Azrael had to do whatever he could to get home and transform. I'm sure he felt like I was driving slowly and delaying him. That's why he offered to drive.
At sunset,we had arrived at the resort. We checked in and went to our rooms for a change of clothes. Julian decided to lay down a bit and rest for a while. I joined him in bed,not feeling exhausted as his human body felt, but I could use some cuddles. I want to share body heat with him at all times and smear his sweet scent all over me.
After an hour or so,I got up and covered Julian in more sheets and let him rest some more. Of course, I showered him in kisses before I left.
I made sure to write him a note telling him to join us at the beach when he woke up.
I made my way out of the resort and went to join my brother and his lover. I found Luciano sprawled on a towel by the shore scrollingthrough his phone,Azrael nowhere in sight.
"Hey man,where's your husband?" I asked Luciano,who sprung up at the sound of my voice.
"He went swimming the moment we got here,I think he's at a distance now." He replied and then returned to his previous task.
"Why didn't you join him? He could give you a lesson or two about your merman side. " I inquired. I realized that he's part of the family now that my brother is going to marry him soon. I should let loose around him more.
"He looked like he wanted to shed off his skin on the drive here,I didn't want to impose any more."
"Right. I'll go join him if you don't mind."
"Nuh,I don't mind,at all. Go ahead and have some fun with your brother." Luciano waved me off, and that was my cue to leave.
I ran up to the sea and dove in the moment my knees were covered. I willed myself to transform into my true form and swam even deeper. I felt my hind limbs conjoin to be replaced by a glimmering tail,scales covered my fore limbs and my sight became clearer,I felt my gills open up and settled my senses to finding traces of my baby brother.
Not long after,I felt his movements about a few feet away from where I was. So I swam through different sea creatures to where he was. We raced to see who got to our coral reef faster,and of course, he won.
"You're rusty as usual, old man. Thought you could win this time,huh!" He teased while we swam through the colourful embodiment of beauty.
"I'm not old, you brat!" I fired back,but aware of the fact that I was indeed old. But I couldn't say that outlander for him to hear.
"You're old,"
"I'm not."
"Are so"
He stuck his tongue out at me, and I just gave up. He can be a kid sometimes.
"So how was your stay at your father in law's?"
"Well, it was better than we had anticipated. He is actually a cool guy,just that finding him was a bit hectic."
We swam back up to the surface and sat at the rock boulder.
"He had put up a barrier that wasn't easy to notice was present. It was more like an illusion of snow. We had trouble finding him, but Lucie somehow managed to lead us to him."
"How?"
"Lucie says that he just followed his heart. He says that he felt a pull calling him to its source. That's how we found one cave, and he put his hand out on the barrier. It glowed blue and pulled us in."
"Wow,I wonder what would've happened had it not been for Luciano and his connection to his father." I mused,more of an observation.
"Yeah,it was good that there was a bond between them. Otherwise, we would've spent longer than we did. Or even leave without meeting with the man himself." Azrael let out a sigh and slumped back against the rock.
"Well,Lukka was shocked to see us,to say the least. We afterall weren't expected at all, but it's a good thing he let us explain to him how we ended up there in the first place. Lucie and I introduced ourselves and told him about everything from his son to our relationship. He was rather accepting of us and obviously overwhelmed by the prospect of him having an heir."
"He told us to spare some time and visit him after we're officially married so that he can get to training his son the how's of being a dragon. He told us that Lucie may have it different since he is a hybrid but rather prepared than not. He says that he needs to take him away from me for at least a year to awaken his dragon and to tame it. So yeah,it's all a lot. We have yet to figure it all out as of now."
I can feel the sadness Azrael is oozing. I know it won't be easy on him figuring this whole thing out. And even if he ignores this whole thing,it might backfire.
"I know you will handle it well. But how about you use this time you have with Luciano to love and dot on him!" I tried to lighten the mood, and he let out a sigh of resignation.
"I'm not telling you to be strong because I know very well that staying away from your mate is close to impossible. I know you guys love each other. Right now, what I'm requesting of you is to rely on Luciano as well. Share this burden with him, and allow yourself to rely on him for moral support. I'm sure he'd be glad if you did."
Azrael hugged me and started sobbing,letting all the pent-up sorrow and sadness out. He cried until he was sated, and his breath was back to normal.
"I'll try that, brother. Thank you for your wise advice." He spoke with a broken voice,probably from crying while wiping away the stray tears.
"We are given mates by the gods so that we can share with them everything. You don't have to carry the burden on your own when you have a mate. Let yourself be vulnerable with him the same way you are with me. I know it's not easy, but you gotta put in some effort,okay!"
"Okay,I understand." He inclined himself against the rock once again,letting himself relax some more.
I joined him and let the both of us bask in the thrill of being out in the sea,in the company of the cool sea breeze and sounds of water splashing against the rock boulder. Only until the sky was entirely dark,no tresses of the different hues it was covered in when we got here, and that was my cue to get going.
"I think we've stayed out here for quite long enough,my baby must he awake right now." I tapped on Azrael's tail to wake him up.
He did not make an effort to move,acting to be asleep, and that's when I thought of a great idea to break him out of his stupor.
"Bad boy,Adrien!!! Very bad!" Azrael shouted when he felt me tickling his fins. We both know that fins are extremely sensitive ,so there was no way he would stay still.
"Oh,it's awake!" I feigned surprise. Covering my mouth with one hand and another on my chest,"It moves!" I shouted,sarcasm clear as day.
"Oh, you want to play,huh!" Azrael wiggled his eyebrows at me,moving closer to grab me.
I jumped into the water and swam away,knowing better that if I let Azrael have his payback,he wouldn't stop until I was begging. His fins were sensitive, but mine were worse.
I felt him swim towards me and didn't even bother looking back,I just had to concentrate on getting away from him before he caught me and made me regret.
Suddenly,we were swimming in shallow waters, and I shifted back to my human form as I got closer to the beach, and so did Azrael.
When we got to the beach,our lovers were sitted around a bornfire,smoking corn and marshmallows.
"Seems like the wives are already getting along." Azrael commented,right behind me.
"Indeed." I replied,nodding my head in delight.
We dried up our bodies and damp hair,then changed into clean clothes before making our presence known to our lovers.
I walked to my Jules,who was covered in a blanket, and hugged him from behind,nuzzling my head in his neck and peppering light kisses wherever I could access.