Fins | A Klance Mermaid AU

2.

"Do you think he'll be alright?"

"I'm not sure, being thrown into the sea as a fireling isn't exactly healthy."

"Wait, look! He's waking up!"

"Oh good, I'll go get the vial."

Keith cracked open his eyes at the sound of the voices around him, oddly distorted as if coming to him across a lake. As his view came into focus, he saw a tall, tan boy hovering above him. With a blush that he couldn't control, Keith realized that the boy was squeezing his hand, and, even worse, that the boy was shirtless. "Let go of me!" Keith insisted, pushing the startled boy away, or at least trying to, before realizing that he was under water and could not move as quickly as he could have had be been above water. With the realization that he was under water, came the realization that Keith was not dead and, even weirder that he was breathing. Keith gasped, and looked down at his legs, but where they should have been sat a glimmering red tail attached to his body. He gave a double take, realizing that, since he was topless as well, his breasts should be exposed seeing as he didn't feel the right press of his binder. However, looking down at himself, Keith found that he had the flat chest of a man, causing elation to flare up inside of him. "Who are you?" Keith sputtered dizzy with happiness, sitting up forcefully, causing his head to throb.

The tall boy laughed, flicking Keith playfully with his long, blue tail, although a hint of concern still glinted in his eyes. "Easy there buddy. I'm Lance, and, in case you somehow don't get this, I saved your life, so you may want to be thanking me instead of attempting to attack me."

Keith was indignant. "You saved me? Excuse me sir, but I'll have you know that I have fire in my blood that puts me in excruciating pain for being under water."

Lance laughed. "You don't seem to be in any pain right now, fireling, so why don't you stop throwing insults at me and consider why." He leaned back with a satisfied smirk.

Keith gasped, searching inside himself for the fire that usually burned white hot under his skin, now seemingly gone. He finally located the tiniest flame still burning in his heart, but the fire that usually roared wildly through his veins seemed all but gone. Keith snarled furiously at the loss of connection to his brother. "You took it from me," he growled, throwing himself through the water at Lance, still not used to how much harder it was to move through.

Lance laughed, used to the water, and caught Keith easily in his arms. "Whoa there buddy, calm down."

Keith struggled in Lance's grasp, furious at being held like a damsel in distress. "Let. Go. Of. Me," Keith punctuated each word with a punch to Lance's chest, beating him with oddly webbed fingers. "You can't steal my fire and then expect me to be calm about it," his eyes shot daggers at Lance, but Lance didn't even look uncomfortable.

Lance playfully squeezed Keith tighter. "Sorry, fireling. I didn't take your fire-"

"I did," a sweet, melodic voice tinkled into the room through a curtain of seaweed on the opposite wall. Soon after the voice, followed a woman with sparkling turquoise eyes, skin the color of cocoa and a shiny curtain of long silvery white hair that fanned out in the water behind her. Surprisingly, the woman had legs, no tail, gills or fins, just two crescent shaped scales around her eyes to indicate that she wasn't human. She had a kind of ageless beauty and when she took in Keith's position cradled in Lance's arms, the laugh lines around her eyes crinkled in a well practiced position that caused her eye scales to almost disappear. "Lance," she admonished. "Please put the boy down."

Lance mocked a pout, but did as he was told. "But I do so enjoy contact with a warm body," he winked at Keith which, much to Keith's chagrin caused Keith to blush profusely.