Under the Ocean Waves

"Where have you been going?"

The question caught Vic off guard as he slipped his vans on, holding on to the counter for support by the door of their modest apartment. "Uh, no where. Why, whats up Mike?" asked the older of the two, not meeting his eyes but staring at the backpack he'd thrown a spare change of clothing in to for the person he was going to pick up.

"You're just barely home. And you get in late at night, I thought I'd ask. Meet a girl?" asked Mike, leaning against the other counter with his arms crossed. The sun was still rising on what was sure to be a bright day; it was surprising he was even up that early to greet his brother in their small kitchen. It opened up to the living room that branched in to a hall that led to the bedrooms and bathroom.

"You could say that," Vic answered without meeting his eyes. It was a little true, although Kellin was a boy. But hey, gender couldn't possibly mean any less at this point to Vic. He wasn't even going to deny how he was starting to feel about the siren he'd been visiting. "I'm actually going out now, Mike," he said, picking up the bag and slinging it over his shoulder.

Mike nodded his head, stepping over to the fridge to pull out the orange juice. "Where you headed?" he asked curiously.

"The beach," said Vic, opening the door and slipping outside before Mike could say anything more.

The drive to the beach was longer than Vic thought it would be and he was happy he wasn't walking this time, even though it really was so close by. They were lucky in that aspect but Vic was just really excited for his plans he had made today. When the sand dunes came in to view he slowed his vehicle and looked for a place to park. He grabbed the backpack off the front seat and scampered across the sand to wait for Kellin, hoping that his timing was right. It was a little complicated; Kellin not having a watch or time at all, really. But Vic would make it work.

As he walked closer to the water's edge he saw a figure appear and rise out of the waves a few feet away, a bright smile already etched across his face. "Vic!" he called.

"Kellin," said Vic once Kellin was in ear shot. "Hey, how are you?" he asked.

"Good," said Kellin, not saying much but giving Vic that grin he always gave him to show he was happy and excited to see him. Vic nodded towards the bag and his car, wondering if he was going to have to help this boy dress himself as well.

"There are some public bathrooms on the edge of the beach; you can change there. Get stoked, this is gonna be so fun," giggled Vic.

Kellin stared blankly, but followed closely behind as Vic led the way. "Uh, Vic," he said quietly. "Whats a pubic bathroom, or whatever it was you said?" And suddenly, Vic just burst out laughing at him. Kellin's eyes went wide and he was suddenly afraid that he'd already done or said something wrong, when the day had barely even begun.

"Pubic! PUBIC bathroom!" Vic laughed, cackling at Kellin's mistake. "Oh God, sorry, I don't mean to laugh. That's just... oh man. I'll tell you when you're older. 'Public' restroom, Kellin. Its uh... well, don't worry about what humans do there. Its private, that's what matters." Kellin didn't say anything more, and he let Vic lead him to a strange structure. As his eyes traveled to places he'd never been brave enough to go before they went wide with overwhelmed shock. Buildings were everywhere; so colorful and bustling and loud compared to the ocean he was used to. "In here," said Vic, opening one of the structures. There was no one else inside the weird, cool building.

"How-what? Are there smaller suns inside the ceiling?" asked Kellin, staring at the fluorescent lights.

Vic chuckled and shook his head again as he unzipped his bag. "Electricity. There's lots of stuff humans have figured out. Here, a change of clothes. Should fit you fine... uh, if you need any like... help... feel free to ask," said Vic, not looking him in the eye as he handed him the borrowed clothes. Kellin took them curiously and retreated in to one of the stalls that Vic pointed to. There was a weird, basin like thing half-filled with water. It was white and dirty looking so he draped the articles of clothing over the side of the stall.

The shorts that just sort of magically appeared on Kellin's legs disappeared just as suddenly, leaving the pale boy standing there naked. When he saw himself like that for the first time, he was honestly confused. What exactly was that thing sort of... hanging off him and why was it so ugly? He thought of asking the other boy standing outside, but wanted to avoid being laughed again for something that was probably silly anyways. Vic had actually taken the liberty to buy him a pair or two of boxers, although Kellin wasn't really sure where to put them at first. He managed to put two and two together, though, since they looked like the shorts. He easily slid them up his legs one by one. The jeans, however, were a bit more challenging. "Hey, Vic? The dark blue things go on my legs right?"

The sound of the tan boy chuckling quietly was unmistakable from where he leaned against the wall. "Yeah. I knew you'd have a couple issues with those." Kellin bit his lip and started to slide them on, frowning at how tight they were. He had no way of knowing that they actually fit him perfectly - he was just used to constantly being surrounded by water. Now the last thing, Kellin was pretty sure it was called a 'shirt'. How in the world it worked, he had no idea.

"Vic..." he said, opening the door of the stall that he'd never bothered to lock. He held the shirt up with one hand and frowned, and Vic couldn't help but laugh again.

"Let me help you." He stepped closer and took the plaid button-up shirt out of Kellin's hands. "Put your arm out," he instructed, and Kellin did as told. Vic slipped his arm through the first hole and then did the same with the second, then started to button it up. Kellin looked down, watching his fingers at work curiously. "All set," said Vic, leaving the last button on top undone. "You look great!"

Kellin turned at looked in to the mirror in the bathroom. They had those down in the ocean, but not quite so large or clear, and suddenly he became aware of how much he stood out next to Vic. He looked even stranger than he was used to with human clothes on, and Kellin didn't think he looked nearly as nice as Vic did. "These feel weird," he said quietly.

"Well yeah, but you'll get used to it. Here, I brought you some shoes too. I figured toms would be easiest for you." Vic handed him a pair of weird, wrappy looking shoes he'd had in his bag as well and Kellin slipped them on to his feet. They were comfortable, for the most part. Vic smiled at him and then together they walked out of the public restroom, Kellin walking closely behind his friend while they went to his car. "I gotchu," said Vic, opening the passenger side door for him.

The siren awkwardly got in to the car, nearly falling out when he reached to shut the door after watching Vic do the same on the other side. "Where are we going?" he asked, looking all around at all the buildings. Suddenly his hand latched on to Vic's arm and the handle on the car door, and he gasped and nearly cried out in fear as the engine roared to life. "What - what was that?!"

"Oh God, sorry, I should have warned you," chuckled Vic, trying to stifle his laughter. "Its just the car. Humans use these to get around, you know?"

"No, I don't know, actually," Kellin whimpered, frowning and gripping Vic's arm even tighter as the car started to move.

Vic smiled at him, using his free hand to tentatively place over Kellin's. It felt so natural and right to do that he didn't stop and think that it might be awkward, and Kellin might even be confused by the action. He wondered how sirens showed affection for each other, if that was even possible. The pale boy moved his own hand to grab on to Vic's, letting him know that yes, it was okay. The Mexican gave him a little comforting squeeze just to show him that everything was going to be alright. "I'm gonna bring you around to my place first. No one will be home there for now," said Vic, turning the car around a corner.

Kellin just nodded his head, looking around nervously. There were so many people out on the streets and driving other 'cars', some going so fast and awkwardly it made Kellin feel a little frightened. None of the people walking along the side of the road stuck out to the siren as much as Vic did, though. He seemed so much more attractive and nice looking compared to them and Kellin could practically feel himself shying away from them. His hand was still tightly holding Vic's, making him feel a little more secure, which is what he needed in such a strange place. The drive wasn't very long, but Kellin had already seen enough to make him miss the beach. At the same time, however, he was curious to see what else would come of this little outing.

"You okay?" asked Vic, shifting the car in to park. Kellin looked at him and nodded, wondering where they were. He couldn't see the ocean anywhere, so they must be pretty far inland, right? "Come on, then," said Vic. "Uh, to open the door you pull that little handle..."

"You live here?" asked Kellin, getting out of the car on shaky legs. He nearly slipped and fell as Vic led him to the front door, unlocking it with the key left under the mat by Jaime, who was typically the last to leave in the morning for his job. "Its so... strange... and large compared to where I sleep..."

"I'll show you my room," said Vic, closing the door behind Kellin. They walked down the hall way slowly as Kellin stared at every thing he could lay his eyes on. Light switches, doorways, pictures, decorations - everything in the apartment intrigued the foreigner. Finally Vic stopped in the last room on the left and the end of the hall and opened the door to his neat bedroom, stepping in and motioning for Kellin to follow him. "This is where I sleep at night," he said, pointing to the queen-size bed.

"That looks so... strange," admitted Kellin, poking the soft covers. "Its so squishy..."

"Its supposed to be! You have to comfortable in order to sleep. Don't you guys like, sleep down there?" asked Vic.

Kellin nodded, still curiously poking the blankets. "Yeah, but not on something like this. This is.. so strange! How do you sleep on this? Its so soft I'd be scared of falling in..."

"See for yourself!" said Vic loudly, placing his hands on Kellin's shoulders and pushing him on to his bed. He cried out only a little and rolled on to his back with his eyes wide, but once he realized he wasn't actually in any danger he started to relax.

"Oh, it is comfortable," he said, stretching his arms out.

Vic crawled up next to him and sat with his legs crossed. "You're so silly, Kellin," he teased gently. And the pale boy, not knowing what to say, just offered up a warm smile, stroking Vic's blanket. He almost wanted to try out sleeping on a... 'bed'.

"Humans are weird," said Kellin, sitting up like Vic was. "But, I'm learning. Okay, so beds are for sleeping. This place is an apartment, and its where you live with your friends?"

"And my brother," said Vic, nodding his head. "And well, I guess beds are used for more than just sleeping, but we'll get to that later." Honestly, not even Vic knew what he meant by that, and he almost regretted saying it when he saw Kellin tilt his head to the side in confusion. "Alright well, okay. Hmm. How exactly do I word this? Well, when two humans like each other they uh... they sleep in the same bed, together. And I guess they get up to other things too."

Kellin stared at Vic, hopelessly baffled by his words. What other things did he mean? He and Matty sometimes slept beside each other, what did that mean for them? Well, things must just be different about that on the surface. "What other things?" he asked, not sure if he even wanted the answer.

Vic cleared his throat, stalling for time. Where exactly did sirens come from? "Well.. they get... uh... intimate... I guess..."

"Intimate like how? Like... like mating?" said Kellin as it finally clicked in his head what Vic was trying to get at. The Mexican nodded, wondering how to ask him how sirens 'mated'. Luckily Kellin didn't even require the question. "Oh. When sirens mate we don't sleep together, we sing together. Then I guess the rest is kind of instinct but um, you want to get really close to the other person that you're mating with and your tails get all tangly and then you kind of like, I don't know, press your mouths together. And they stay like that for a while, till I guess they feel they've had enough? Then boom, the female is pregnant and in a year she'll have a baby."

Now that. That was strange. And Vic's eye was twitching just thinking about how poorly an explanation that was, considering the amount of questions that it raised. But, I guess it was one of those things where he'd have to be a siren to understand. "So.. so like... do sirens um..." he stammered, was it rude to ask what he was thinking? "Do they like, fall in love with each other first?"

Luckily, a faint smile appeared on Kellin's face and he nodded happily. "Of course. Why would you want to be so close to someone if you didn't feel anything for them?"

"Dunno. Wanna hear an interesting tidbit about humans? I don't know if it applies to sirens..." said Vic, shrugging his shoulders. Kellin nodded eagerly. "Sometimes its not always a boy and a girl that fall in love. Sometimes its a girl and a girl, or a boy and a boy." There, that was in the open. And Vic had thrown it out there purely for a reaction.

"I guess its whats on the inside that makes two souls fall in love, right? That's how my mom always told me to look at it," said Kellin, purposefully using 'souls' instead of people or instead of sirens. Cause honestly, he didn't want it to be wrong for him to feel something for the other boy like he'd felt for any of the girl sirens under the sea.