Aquata Cove Chapter 99: Happy Halloween
The water of the sea splashes on a rock as seagulls screech in the distance, flying overhead at the break of noon. On the small rock, a small otter breaks out of the surface, and climbs onto it, standing on his hind legs. He wears a gleaming brass collar scribed with kanji, along with a marble dangling from the base, besides his scallop wristbands on and his belt containing his items and weapons, and the headband fangs strung horizontally around his head.
Arnaav sniffs the air as he turns his head, peering his eyes around, and then spotting the very distant human establishments ahead. The strip of wooden land held up above the shore by thick, barren logs, way in the distance. Scents of sweetness, harvested fish, and the tasty products of fiery water also meet his senses.
"That is the human place of the docks! The land made out of wood." Arnaav concluded with zeal, "I'm almost there!"
"Awrrp Awrrp..." Barks a sea lion coming up onto the rock as well. Arnaav looks at the animal curiously, and pets its head. He takes a mackerel from his ration pouch, and leaves it on the rock. The young otter turns around and swerves off the rock, and dives down into the water.
Adam smiles as he hangs a garland of silver and white sequin spider webs along the upper corners of the house, with a tasteful jewel spider hanging from a hook between each dip between the half-circle arches of the webs. "I STILL feel uneasy about being here." Jacob says as he untangles a string of orange lights. "Dude. For the last time, that's ancient history." Adam tells him. "But from what you told me about Merrick..." "Look, if it was that bad, we wouldn't bother inviting you to our wedding. Heck, I'm still a little bummed out when we weren't invited to yours." "I asked about it, but he didn't want to get into it." Daniel says as he carries in the bigger boxes. "But Merrick STILL doesn't know what my research has been about, right?" Jacob asked, "Would he be ok with me doing extensive development from his tears??" "Uh..." Adam paused, "... Yeah, better not bring that up, it's a bit iffy." "Exactly..." Jacob says. Just then, the door opens to Merrick walking in. "Oh hi, babe!" Adam says with a smile. "Speak of the devil." Daniel says. "Hi," Merrick says before a quick kiss from Adam, looking at Jacob and Daniel, "What's going on here?" "Everyone is busy, and I wanted to decorate." Adam says. "Oh another, human holiday is coming up, right? What's it called again?" "Halloween." Jacob answered. "Right, right. Though, it still confuses me. It's only for children, right?" "Ugghh, yeah, that's what EVERYONE thinks!" Adam says as he throws his arms up. "Isn't it, though?" Daniel asked, "It's just some old candy party." "Every time it comes around, Adam always gets defensive about it. Honestly thought, I usually hear and see little kids running around and getting excited about it." "That's because no body knows about the real history about it." Adam explains, "All Hallows Eve used to be about getting the one day of the year were the worlds of the living and the dead are closest together, and the living would honor and celebrate them, but at the same time, it was believe that evil spirits would be around at the same time. So while giving each other the goods of their harvests, everyone would wear costumes and disguises so the demons would get confused and not attack." "Now it's just a big evening kiddie-fest full of noisy little kids running around dressed like cartoon characters demanding candy from strangers, while their parents are paranoid as hell about drugs and razorblades being hidden in the candy, and God knows just what kind of politically correct movement they'll try and set up NEXT year. Fucking Trunk-or-Treat..." "Jeez, Adam. You never get this passionate about the other holidays." Merrick remarked. "I never seen anyone but my gothic brother get this defensive about something like this..." Jacob remarked. "Halloween is just my favorite, I don't know why." Adam says, "It's not like I'm into the dark, death, spider and rat stuff, I'm not into horror." "Hah, yeah. You can barely get through The Grudge, even with the Rifftrax in it." Daniel comments. "I just hate how some traditions are just rearranged to be non-threatening to the jaded public." "That's the thing about human history, isn't it?" Merrick asked, "You people always seem to forget your own past, don't you?" "Yeah..." "Hahah... So are we still going to the Halloween Block Party at the gay neighborhood?" "Merrick, the place is called `Wahine Square', and yes, we'll be going there too." "Awww, no Trick-or-Treating for the 30-year-old patron?" Merrick teased as he rubs Adam's ears. "I'm 28, dammit!" Adam says as he slaps his arm away while Jacob snickers "Awww, whose my big hairy babyyyy?" "Staahhp!" "Heh. Now. About your costume..." "Oh for God's sake- No, Merrick, for the last time, I am NOT going as a werewolf." "Why not? What's the problem?" Daniel asked, "Cat person?" "No. Merrick just wants me to be a Halloween slut like half of America." "Oh come on! I got that harness made just for that idea, and you never wear it!" "That's because I don't want to walk around bare-assed in the middle of everywhere." "Wait, like, naked??" Jacob asked with his eyebrows raised. "No, he wants me to wear a jockstrap." Adam answers, "Look, underwear is the most I'll do, and that's just during gay pride!" "What's the big deal?! Half the town is practically in the nude on Halloween night." "Merrick, no one is allowed to go completely all-natural, it doesn't work like that." "And you're hardly one to talk, Merrick. You practically go streaking there every year." "Oh come on, I was a vampire last year." Despite merfolk's great aversion to drinking blood, a vampire does portray a good horror-themed disguise for Merrick, at least once. "You showed up with a black cape, small bat wings, a ruby medallion, fake fangs, and a red thong that practically bounced with every step you took! You're lucky everyone's kid is in bed by the time we arrive!" "Ohhh yeah, I remember that." Daniel pondered. "Hahaha, you make it sound like a bad thing~" Merrick smirked as he reached down, and grabs at Adam bottom, "Think of it -- come spank the wolf on the butt, and he'll at the moon, for hitting HIS moon~" "Oh my God." Adam digs his fingers in his hair while he walks away while Merrick remains, giggling. "Come on, pleeeeaaaasse??" "No!" "Do it, Adam!" Daniel called after him, "My sister works at Petco, I'll take you to the groomers for free!" "Shut up, shut up, shut UP!" "Lay off, Daniel," Jacob tells him, "Adam already goes there twice a week for a haircut." "I will kill you all!!" "That's the spirit, but sound more wolf-ish!" "For fuck's sake!" "Hahahaha... Huh?" Jacob looks at the glass sliding door that leads to the back porch. He blinked, and took a moment to clean his glasses to look again, and sees there's an otter with a bunch of stuff hanging on his body, standing and pawing at glass, "Uh... Guys?" "Yeah?" "There's an otter at the door." Jacob says, slightly weird out. They look, and Adam and Merrick raise their eyebrows in surprise. "Oh, it's Arnaav!" "Who?" Jacob asks as he gets up. "He's from Merrick's pod." Adam tells him as he goes to the door. He unlocks the door, and pulls it open. "Adam!" Arnaav beams up as the small otter hugs Adam's waist. "Hehehey, kiddo!" Adam says as he hugs and picks him up. Arnaav chippers as he hugs him tight, before he looks to Merrick. "Ooh! Merrick!" He twists and turns while Adam laughs and hands him over. The otter hugs him close as Merrick carries him into the house. "Jacob, Daniel, this is Arnaav." Merrick introduces the boy to the two men, "He's an Amnien merman, and one of my closest friends." "Oh, he's a merman?? He is so cute!" Daniel coos as he cups and brushes the purring otter's cheek fur. "Whoa, I didn't know your people can be anything other than fish and such." "Of course we are. There's more than one animal in the ocean, isn't there?" Arnaav sniffs the air, and immediately becomes entranced with the bowl on the table, containing what appears to be orange and black shiny sea foam in countless clusters, "Oooohh, what is this??" Arnaav says once he's put down, putting his paws on the bowl's edge, and sniffing the food. "It's called `Kettle Corn'," Jacob answers for him, taking some pieces of the caramelized popcorn for the boy to sniff, "I made it myself." Arnaav starts to nibble on the crispy candy, nomming from the human's fingers of the salted sweetness. "Awwwwmygosh, he's cuter than my dog." Daniel chuckled as he pets Arnaav. "Hey, what's this?" Adam asked as he tugs on Arnaav's shiny collar, "Did your Noita make this?" "Hm?" Arnaav breaks away from the momentary addiction of the snack, and puts his paws on his metal item, "Oh, Fumiko gave it to me!" He said with glee, "It has some markings on it, do you know what it says??" "Hm..." Adam looks at the kanji and Hirogana letters engraved in the brass, "I know this one means `Water', then there's... I THINK this says `heart'? I don't know, you'd have to ask Yuri." "Ok! Where's Sensei?" He asked up. "Hahaha `Sensei'?" Daniel asked with a chuckle. "Yuri says she's teaching me a language that she speaks, so I have to call her `Sensei'." "Do merfolk have teachers like that?" Jacob asked, "Just curious." "Not really." Arnaav shook his head, "We mostly learn from our Mothers and Fathers. We only have someone teach others if they are extremely skilled with a certain action. We call them a `Theros'." "Oh?" "My old pod has a Theros that teaches hunting." Merrick commented, "My best friend, Brishen. Which is saying something, because he totally sucked when I was still around." "Interesting, but... This sort of looks like a collar." Jacob says as he looks at the kid. "I like it! Fumiko brings me food every sun, she brushes and washes my fur, and sometimes she brings other young humans to come play with me!" "Heh, kinda sounds like you're her pet." Daniel noted. "Whatever she thinks of me, I like it!" Arnaav beams cutely. "I just need to stay like this when I'm with her." He says as he gestures to himself. His eyes catch one of the seasonal decorations in the boxes, "So what are these things?" Arnaav asked as he picks up an ornately designed orange pumpkin with dangling black jewels here and there around it. "Another human event is coming." Merrick tells him, "You remember the last time you were here, and we played with all those colorful eggs, flowers, and all that?" "I think so... What is it again?" "A holiday," Adam said, "When humans celebrate something from history. This holiday is called `Halloween'." "Ooookay?" Arnaav quirked, having little clue what any of this means, "So what does THIS one mean?" "Well... In the old days, humans kind of believe that Halloween -- or All Hallows Eve, as it used to be called -- was the one day of year where the world of the living is closest to the living of the dead. This was also during the same time humans would harvest their crops, so decades ago, humans would give each other food and goods made from their vegetables in tribute to their loved ones who have passed on." "Um..." Arnaav merely tilts his head to the side as absolutely nothing Adam said made ANY kind of sense. "I don't get it." "Just nod pretend you understand. That's how I get by." Merrick tells him, as he takes the bowl of kettle corn, and easily gains the otter's attention with it, "Besides, humans change their traditions every half a century or so, so I wouldn't bother." "Hey, come on." Adam lightly smacks his arm. "What, am I wrong??" "Uh..." "Exactly." "Anyway, it's getting late." Daniel said as he checks his phone, smiling as the little merman munches away at the black and orange popcorn sweets, "We should probably get going." "Alright, babe." Jacob says as he gets up. "Is Sensei coming back soon?" Arnaav asks, still chewing the last bit of crunchy caramelized corn, "I wanna go with her to that human place that is open all night again." "She's probably coming back in about half an hour." Adam says as he takes a towel to the kid, "We should probably clean you up and... The trail you brought into the house." Arnaav looks, and gasps as his little paws cover his mouth as he sees a trail of wet sand and dirt all over the carpet where he walked. "=Use thy voice, Sarah!=" Echoes a voice from the TV. "Hm?" Arnaav turns to the screen, his young mind easily distracted. "=Fill the sky! Bring the little brats to die! Ahahahahaha!=" He tilts his head curiously at the three witches fly over the dark night. "Oooooh..." Arnaav waddles gradually to face the TV. "Uhhh, Arnaav?" Adam says, "You ok there?" Arnaav becomes entranced by the calm-flowing music that waves and drifts from the blonde witch in purple robes flying on her broomstick and gracefully moving her arms about. "=~Come, little children ~I'll take thee awaaaay~ Into a land of enchaaaannnntmeeennnnnnt~=" "Wooow" Arnaav beams as his tail sways idly behind him. He slumps down to sit, his paws on the floor as he watches with vast fascination. "=~Come, little children ~The time's come to play ~Here, in my garden of maaaaa~aaaaagiiic~=" "Adam, I'm starting to get a little nervous..." Merrick says honestly, knowing how this movie goes and what that song does to children. "Relax, babe." Adam chuckles. "That's more or less how all kids act in front of the TV." Arnaav perks his ears as he watches on, his orb-like eyes glued to the screen.All Merrick can see is darkness. He grunts as he tries to move, his hands are bound away from him, chained on ether side of him as he struggles. He can still move his legs as he tries to strain his ears, not knowing just what the hell is going to happen.
SLAP!
"Ahh!" Merrick cries out as his ass is harshly spanked.
"HHhyeah." Adam growls as he harshly grips Merrick's naked buttcheek, before giving it another hard SMACK!
"Ahh~!" Merrick moans out as his wrists pull at his Velcro cuffs, unable to move his arms any more than the metal links will allow.
"Ffffffuck." Adam grits his teeth very hard as he digs his fingers into Merrick's white soft buns, seeing how easy they jiggle with each move. Merrick recently tried this potent muscle relaxant Lovers is selling, guaranteed to completely loosen and unwind wherever it's applied. He used up half of the container just on his ass alone. "Fucking A, Merrick, your ass is like freakin jello."
SPANK! SPANK!
"Ahh! E-Easy, I-" BAM! "Haahh!" Merrick's bouncy butt glows pink as Adam abuses that wonderful bubble butt. Merrick put that lotion on his rump almost an hour ago, and not even washing it will wear it off for at least a long while yet.
It's been over a month and a half since Adam got his memories back, and even after THIS long, the sex is still driving him crazy, as if mentality of virginity is as beastly as Jamal's average sex drive.
Blinded by eye-cover, and bound on his front side, Merrick bites his lip as he feels his ass grabbed and spread. "Nnnhhh~" Merrick's dick throbs beneath him as Adam's thumbs and rubs into his pucker.
"Hhhhyeah..." Adam sighs hungrily as he ducks down.
"O-Ohh!" Merrick moans as the hot breath quickly turns into a wet lick into his inner region. His toes curl as Adam's thin beard grins into his pristine crevice as those lips push and rub into Merrick's pink ring. "A-Ahhh, oh my God, aaahhh"
Adam digs his face into Merrick's wobbly bottom, snarling and shaking his head into him as he licks and makes out with Merrick's anus. Always the perk of merfolk, they are constantly clean.
"Oh! Ohhh, hohh, ohh!" Merrick's back arches as Adam digs deeper into him, a third of his tongue diving into that spotless tunnels and slurping in and out. Adam huffs as he backs out, gripping those loose cheeks, making them jiggle and giving them another hard SPANK! Merrick moans as Adam dives again, biting onto the right mound, and slapping the left one. It's been a LONG time since Adam went all animalistic like this, and that was BEFORE the bashing.
Adam gnaws down into Merrick's smooth crack as his fingers thoroughly dig and squeeze into Merrick's supple ass, huffing as he strokes dick and gives that rump a few more spanks, and licks into that tight pink hole, giving it firm, broad licks, holding both mounds with his hands and mushing his face into that hot anus. "Fuck, you've got a sweet ass." Adam huffs as he slaps that butt again and pushing his tongue into that rear again.
Merrick moans as he lays there, still unable to see a thing, his wrists yanking at the metal links connect to his cuffs from the bed posts as Adam eats out his ass. The way he digs his mouth into his sensitive pucker, his facial hair brushing into the innermost flesh, and being unable to move his arms anywhere makes him so horny.
"Nnhhh, yeah..." Adam slaps his dick between Merrick's wet mounds, rubbing the underside of his cock into Merrick's moist crack. Merrick moans as he pushes his bottom onto Adam's member.
"Nnnn fuck me..." Merrick groans. Adam smirks as he gets a new toy of his -- a length-enhancing penis sleeve. Adam's member is adequate for the job, but he wants to see if Merrick can take a HUGE cock.
"Yeah, you want it, don't ya, boy." Adam says as he grabs at the jiggly cheeks and slaps it again. SPANK!
"ENnh! I want it, I want it..." Merrick begs. Adam puts a small drop of lube on his own penis, and slides the flexible, rubber attachment onto his pole. He grins as he tucks the rubber ring under his balls to keep it attached on him. Once equipped, it looks as though he exchanged his own penis for a dark gray transparent manhood. Longer and thicker, its weight makes his dick feel heavier.
"Ohhh yeah~" Adam says as he takes the fat tool, and slaps Merrick's crack with is, hot dogging it between those cheeks as he pours the lube over it.
"HoH! Ohhh!" Merrick jumps as he feels the cold slick slide into and upon his rump, even the dribbles along onto his tender sack.
"Mmnnhhh..." Adam scoots his knees along as he lines the massive member into Merrick's crack. The merman doesn't even notice the different texture of the squeezable rod rubbing into his moist anus.
"Nnhh... Hhhnnhh..." Merrick waits as he feels Adam start to push the lubed head into his asshole, "A-Ahhh! Ohh!" Merrick's back arches as his sphincter is forced open wider than usual, "AhhhHHH!" He has to spread his legs as his rear feels a slow-pushing monster dig into his tunnel, "Oh my GAAHH!" Merrick's arms yank at his cuffs as he feels the large cock push deeper and deeper, "Holy fucking A, h-h-how are you s- AHH!" Merrick grimaces as that almost enormous manhood goes inside him, "F-Fuck, you're huge!"
"Hohhh yeah~" Adam grins as he pushes balls-deep into Merrick. His twink under him squirms and wails out as he slides his enlarged cock out, and back in.
"A-AHH~!" Merrick moans out as Adam pins him down, and starts to pump his dick into him up and down, "Oh fuck! Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck!" Merrick buries his forehead into the pillow as Adam nearly bounces himself down on him.
"Nnnh! Fuck yeah," Adam growls as he shoves his dick down into Merrick's ass. The tightness squeezes and pulls at every inch of his dick from the gel-like rubber apparatus. His hand fumbles for a small remote that came with the toy, and took it up, pressing the only button on the thing.
RNNNNNHHHH!
"OOooHHH!" Merrick yelps out as his insides start to hum with an intense vibration. "Ohhh FUCK!" Merrick's rod throbs and leaks continuously as his burning asshole feels that enormous dick push and blur inside him.
"Hoh shit, whoa!" Adam nearly falls, dropping the tiny remote and grabbing onto the bed. The buzzing drills everyone on his dick, as well as the electric vibration reach all the way to the backside of his nutsack because of the strap to keep it on.
"WhAAAAt the fuck are you using?!" Merrick asked before that huge log pushed deep into him, "AhhHHH!"
"Holy fucking hell, ssshhhit!" Adam grits his teeth as the vibration totally electrifies his genitals. He can only bury his fattened meat into Merrick's ass for moments at a time, "Holy fuck, oh my God!"
"AAAhhHH!" Merrick pulls at his restrains as Adam rolls his hips to push and dive back and forth into Merrick for at least 5 minutes. The electric buzzing shakes into Merrick's muscles, his buttcheeks bouncing each time Adam rails him, Adam dropping his head back and clenching his eyes and teeth as he pummels into Merrick's hole. His dick is squished and squeezed everywhere in the toy, his balls locked in a tight grip in the rubber loop.
"Fffuck." Adam pulls out of Merrick's hot tunnel, turning off the toy and removing it promptly. He pants as he pushes his cock in between Merrick's heavenly buns, and rolled his hips into him to rub his pole between Merrick's slick cheeks. Merrick moans as he pushes his rear back to feel the exposed meat massage his crevice.
"HOhhhhh fffuck..." Adam pants as he rubs his hand onto his dick as he slides his dick along Merrick's wet cheeks, "H-Hohh! Ohhh, hohhh, awwhhh," Adam's cock spits up several streaks of white paint onto Merrick's back, groaning in exhausted bliss as he glazes Merrick's skin with his cum. Sweaty and tired, Adam crawls onto the side, and flops next to Merrick, who is still bound by his hands. Adam lazily tugs the blindfold up, and kisses Merrick's lips.
"Fuck..." Merrick pants, "My ass is going to be sore all week..."
"Heh... Ahah... You love it."
"Mnnhh..." Merrick groans as lets his head rests. Adam smirks as he reaches down, and starts to massage Merrick's lube-soaked sphincter with his middle and index, "Ohhh... Oh that feels good..." He groans. Adam presses his fingers around the hole and rubbed deeper down below, "Ohhhhh... I've had such a long day too..."
"I know, babe." Adam says as he plays with Merrick's anus. He kisses his mouth as he draws firm circles around Merrick's abused entrance.
"I still need to get off, you know." Merrick huffs. Adam giggles as he kisses him again, and then unlatched one of the cuffs. Merrick grunts as he turned himself around, his semi-solid member flopping onto his side. Adam moves to the side, and took Merrick's soft dick into his mouth, slowly. "Ohhhhhhh yeahhh..." He closes his eyes as he feels Adam's warm wet mouth envelop his dick.
Adam easily digs his face into Merrick's smooth crotch, pulling back with his lips sucking Merrick's dick backward, and going down, licking around the partially limb meat and pressing around the head of the cock.
"A-Awwwllll..." Merrick shifts his head to the side, one arm still strong up and tired, and the other one resting on his flawless stomach. His cock soon reaches full erection in the tender care of Adam's mouth. "UHHHhhh... Merrick's pelvis rises and arches his back as Adam presses his lips harshly around his shaft, "So good... Oh yes..." Merrick relaxes and moans as Adam sucks and nurses on his cock.
Adam bobs his head up and down, push his mouth into Merrick's base so his pole teases the back of his throat, and rises up again. He lets that dick go with a wet pop, stroking it as he kisses and licks the head of Merrick's meat, before ducking down, and gluing his tongue to Merrick's loose balls.
"Ohh! Hohhh!" Merrick squirms as he feels that tongue push and roll his sensitive orbs around, before he replaced Adam's hand with his as he begins to masturbate, "Oh suck on my balls..." Merrick moaned as his hand goes up and down rapidly, "Suck on my balls..."
Adam slurps to Merrick's sack slobbered one into his mouth, and then the other. Merrick moans as he jerks off harder and harder. "Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, ohhhhhh," Merrick pants and groans as his rod starts to erupt with his spunk, blotting onto his front, slowing his jerking off and sighs in fatigue. Adam climbs back up, and unlatched the other cuff to let his arm down. "Mnnnhhh..." Adam slides in, and puts his head onto Merrick's shoulder and puts his arm over his torso.
"So... Where do you think we should have the honeymoon?" Adam asked.
"Honeymoon?" Merrick responded tiredly, "What's that? Some human thing?"
"Yeah... It's kinda like a sexual and romantic vacation that married couples go on after the wedding. It's typically about a week long."
"Hm... How about Giraso Springs? You said you wanted to go there, right?"
"Eh, honeymoons are supposed to be romantic, I don't want it all to be about sex. Besides, they don't cater to anything longer than a weekend, I checked."
"Ok, well... After watching Longhorns, I'm kinda curious about a cowboy theme. How about going to that place called Texas?"
"Pffhh! Heh..."
"What?"
"Babe, Texas isn't exactly a gay-friendly state. And it's hot and dusty there, I'm not interested."
"Ok, what other cowboy-themed places are there? ...California? Nevada? Mexico?"
"Merrick, keep in mind, we can't really afford plane tickets." Adam tells him.
"How bout a ferry? Maybe one of the other islands will have something?"
"Maybe, we'll have to check, see if there's a gay community with any Western-themed areas."
"Well, I still stay Giraso Springs sounds more promising."
"Hah, I want this to be special. Honestly, the LGBT Cruise would have been a good honeymoon idea."
"Ok, so lets go for that then. The trip was 2 weeks long, right?"
"We can't, it's too expensive, both in time AND money. And besides, it's something we've already done."
"Ugh, you humans are so tedious." Merrick says as he lazily kicks Adam's leg.
"Hahahah, yeah, but we're worth it." Adam says as he gives a playful pinch to one of Merrick's nipples.
"What about somewhere MY turf? Somewhere Arctic?"
"Merrick. We can't afford to fly." Adam said firmly, "And now, there isn't any ice-themed places in Hawaii."
"It already snows here, what's the deal?"
"Heh, I don't know, babe." Adam snuggles up to him, "Lets figure this out later, I'm tired."
"Mnnhhh, ok..." Merrick wipes the cum off his stomach, ignoring the wet jizz still on his back, and resolved to take a shower in the morning.
"O-Ow!" Adam suddenly flinches.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing, the back of my neck is still tender."
"The back of your neck?"
"Yeah," Adam smiled as he gets up, and shows him. Merrick sits right up, his eyes looking in shock at what Adam is pointing to.
Right there, between the shoulders and at the base of his neck, is a black heart-shaped symbol. This one is designed with curved wings, and reminiscent of the icon from Kingdom Hearts. Merrick's face feels a wave of numb heat as he looks at it.
"I've always thought about getting this, and I finally did, just today." Adam turns back around, "Now you and I c..." He immediately notices Merrick's face does not look pleased at all, "... Babe?"
Without talking, Merrick gets up, and takes off the Velcro cuffs from his wrists, "Merrick, wait, what's wrong??" Adam watches as Merrick throws them on the floor, and walks to the door, "Merrick! I'm sorry! Where are you going-"
SLAM!
Adam jumps as Merrick storms out the door, the loud slam making an item fall from the nearby shelf. He stands there, completely confused and guilty as he sighs and bows his head, "Fffffuck..."
Adam slowly wakes up in bed, his insides still feeling heavy with regret. Merrick just disappeared. He just up and left... Adam groans as he gets up out of bed and got dressed. On leaving his door, he sees Jamal just stepping out of his. "Oh, Jamal, hey." "Hey, man." Jamal said casually. "Have you seen Merrick at all?" "Nope. I got a text from him though. He says he's sleepin in the ocean." Jamal raises a brow, "You two git into it?" "Sort of... I uh, I did something I thought he would like, but... I think I just royally pissed him off." "Ah shyit, what'dyou do?" "I don't want to talk about it... I'd rather just fix things up with him." "Aight." Jamal says as he and Sally walk off. Adam walks into the living room, and sees the coffee table has been moved to the side. He blinks as he sees both Yuri and Arnaav sitting on a bamboo floor mat, both of them wearing kimonos. Yuri is mixing green tea with a cup and a whisk before Yuri serves the tea to Arnaav. "Uhhh, hi." "Ohayougozaimasu." Arnaav says as he bows his head. "Oh, is he getting better at speaking Japanese now?" "Yes. Now that he's back and energized from the sea, he's a very quick learner -- it's only been a couple of days, and he couldn't be faster with the learning. He's also picked up most of the pronunciation skills from his time with Fumiko." "O-Oh, I see." Adam says as he goes and sits down with him. "Anata no kimono wa dokodesu ka?" Arnaav asked immediately, "Watashi wa anata ga shōtai sa reta koto o shiranakatta." "A-Ah, what?" "This is a tea ceremony, Adam. He's wondering why you're not in a kimono, and if you were invited," Yuri tells him, "Practice or not, it's kind of a formal procedure. No offense, but could you maybe sit in a chair?" "Oh, sorry..." Adam says, feeling a little rejected. "Haha, no, I'm sorry, Adam. I just want Arnaav to get the exact idea on Japanese etiquette and conduct. Authentic, you know?" "Watashi wa Nihongo!" Arnaav says cheerfully. "Heheh, I see it's going good." "I've also been having him watch a few old Japanese films and animes. He's really getting into it." "How much Japanese does he know?" "[Cease, enemy!]" Arnaav says out offensively as he props one leg to kneel up, "[You have insulted my family and ancestors!]" He puts his hand on a banded handle on his right hip, "[I will avenge my brethren in combat!]" He says as he draws a short katana out, holding it horizontally before him. "What the- Is that a REAL sword?!" "[Feel my wrath!]" Arnaav yells in his cute voice as he swings his katana in front of him, and held it at the ready. "[Stop, student.]" Yuri says calmly as she holds an open fan in front of him, "[This foreigner does not know of our ways.]" "Hai." Arnaav says while still leering lowly at Adam and putting the tip of the blade to his sheath, "[He is not worthy of my weapon.]" His sword slides down until the hilt hits the top. "Thanks." Adam says unpleasantly. "What is wrong, Adam?" Arnaav asked, "Did... Did I make you upset?" "No, it's not you. It's Merrick." "Oh yeah, he woke me up last night when he almost broke the glass wall." Arnaav nodded, "And then he came back a while ago before you woke. I tried talking to him, but he ignored me and left out the wood wall." He said as he points to the front door. "Did you two have a fight?" "Not... Exactly." Adam sighed, "I did something that I thought he'd like, but I ended up pissing him off..." "What did you do?" "I uh... I got a tattoo." "Oh you did?" Yuri asked with her eyebrows raised, "Where is it?" "Ah, well..." Adam huffs before he gets up, and turns around, pulling the back of his shirt up to his neck. "Oh snap..." Yuri notes. "HHH!" Arnaav gasps out loud, "Oh no, you were banished?!" "Aheheheh..." "I-I thought every one liked you and Merrick! Why did this happen?!" "Relax, Arnaav, Adam hasn't been banished from anywhere." "B-But he has the mark on his skin!" "It's called a tattoo." Adam says as he lets his shirt down and turns around, "Lots of humans like to get symbols, images, pictures permanently on their skin." "But... Buy why?" Arnaav asked, "It hurts! I would NEVER get another symbol on my body." "It's just something some humans do. It's like decorating the body." Yuri explained. "But it even looks like the mark Merrick has!" "It does not, I specifically made it different from his." "So why would he be so mad about it?" Yuri asked as she took a sip from her tea. "We merfolk don't have tattoos, Sensei." Arnaav answered, "It represents something horrible we did that we are no longer able to stay with our pods. But... How can Merrick be angry? Wasn't he confused like me?" "I don't think that would have been his reaction if having tattoos is as bad as you say, given how long Merrick has lived with us..." Yuri notes. "It was a good idea at the time..." Adam said as he looked aside."Thank you for your purchase, all sales are final," Merrick says, "If you come back with a friend, you can use your coupon to take 40% off of your next purchase."
"Thanks." The customer says before he turns to leave. Merrick huffs as he leans down on the counter. He's been in an unpleasant mood all day... Hell, ever since Adam showed him his tattoo. Why the hell would he do that??
"H-Hey, babe..." Adam says as he approaches him. Merrick looks up, seeing Adam still in his Fish House uniform, and holding a bouquet of flowers.
"Hello." Merrick replied coldly as he tends to a few things on and around the counter.
"Um... I brought you some flowers."
"They're nice." He tells him without looking. Adam lets a pause goes by, placing the bouquet on the counter as Merrick walks across the store and places a few things here and there as well as correctly arranging some of the merchandise.
"... Merrick, are we going to talk about this?"
"I'd rather not." He said as he gives him a rather distasteful glare, "I would think you'd know better by now."
"Merrick, it's not that simple." Adam says defensively, "Don't make this like at the cruise and shut me out, that's not fair. We need to talk these things through."
Merrick sighs in frustration, getting impatient a little too quickly. "Fine. I'll be at the east docks when I get off."
"Right, thanks." Adam says as he walks out, leaving the flowers on the table.
Several hours later, Adam walks along the docks to his waiting fiancé, staring out into the ocean as he ignores Adam's approach as he settles in right next to him. The two of them stay there, not saying a word for several minutes, until Adam finally lets his head down with a sigh.
"Alright, I get that... Getting a tattoo doesn't mean the same to you as it does for us, and you're irked about it. And I understand what it must've felt like when you saw something on me that usually means bad news to your people..." Merrick says nothing, still frowning with a scorned look in his eyes at the wavering surface. "Hhhh... Look, if you hate it that much... I can have it removed as soon as I have enough money..."
"You realize that this isn't a badge of honor, Adam." Merrick says as he points to his symbol.
"I know..."
"And I can assure you, it's not for decoration."
"I know."
"What made you think it was a good idea to get a symbol on the back of your neck? You KNOW how I'd feel about that."
"Evidently not..."
"Oh Adaaam." Merrick says with a disgusted scowl, "You didn't give it a single thought??"
"I did, but I didn't think it'd have THIS much of an impact on you."
"Adam, I told you. This symbol was burned on my flesh by my MOTHER as a permanent reminder of something I did that was never supposed to happen. As far as my people are concerned, I don't even exist."
"I know all that, Merrick."
"Then why?? Why did you go and get yourself a symbol of a similar shape, and RIGHT where I have mine??"
"Because what about ME, Merrick??" Adam speaks up as he takes a few steps around, "You think I don't know what that thing on your neck means?? I'm reminded every time I look at it!" Adam huffs as he rubs his forehead, before looking at him, "Every time I look at your symbol, I remember you curled up on my porch, and crying your eyes out as soon as you saw me. And then all that time you were so damn scared of the Capricorn that you nearly died out on land, and just everything..."
"So you should know just how hurtful it would be if YOU were to get one, the same shape and the same place?? What part of that did you miss?"
"No, I made a different heart than yours." Adam shook his head, "But that's part of the reason why I got it. You- You're always making yourself feel like it's all your fault for what happened."
"No, I don't. If you think that, you're sort of behind, Adam."
"But that's what I see every time I look at that mark." Adam says, "That you've had to go through so much, and that symbol is basically telling the whole story on what you've had to sacrifice just to be with me..." Adam sniffed as he coughed a little, "I keep thinking that you feel alone in this..."
"You're way off, Adam. I got over those feelings a long time ago. If that's supposed to be an excuse, it's not even a decent one."
"Fine... But that's not the only reason I got this tattoo..."
"So what's the other reason?"
"Because... When I woke up from the coma, I didn't have a damn clue who anyone is." Adam looked at Merrick, "My Mom wouldn't let anyone tell me anything, and it screwed me up -- she didn't even let you near me without almost constant supervision."
"Your point?"
"Merrick, I didn't know ANYthing... You know what Jessica did to me." He explains, "It's been a couple of months, but I still remember that she made me take my clothes off while she grabbed my junk and kissed me constantly." Merrick gives him a hurting look, having to drudge up that disgusting mental image, "She was able to get away with so much with me. She lied to me completely, and I had no way of telling otherwise. And with my Mom keeping my own life hidden from me, I didn't have ANYTHING or ANYONE to tell me who was what to me. She made me believe you were the worst thing in my life."
"So Merrick, I..." Adam huffs and tensed a little, trying not to get emotional, "If anything like that ever happens to me again, I need to know you and I have something that connects us besides a curious urge when I look at you." Merrick's eyes rim with moisture, "I need to know there's a reason why we both have a heart tattoo on the exact same spot, and that's something only you could tell me, regardless of what anyone tells me."
"Ok, Adam..." Merrick nodded, still feeling reluctant, "I understand what you did..."
"I'm sorry, Merrick... Babe, I'm so sorry..." Adam comes closer and the two of them stay close on the dock. After a few seconds Merrick sighs.
"Is there actually a way to remove a mark on the flesh like that...?"
"Yes... But it's expensive, and it'll probably leave an ugly scar..."
"Right... So much for hiding my sin then..." Merrick says without averting his gaze on the sea. Adam turns to him with a strange look. "I hear some humans try to get rid of the evidence of something they're ashamed of... Then again, why not leave bad enough alone, right?"
"... So do you want me to have it removed?"
"No. I'll live with it... At least your mark comes with hopeful precaution."
"Ok..." Adam wipes under his eyes before he holds Merrick closer.
"What exactly are we doing again?" Arnaav asked as he tugs at the neck of the costume he's wearing. He wears a white velvet one-piece plush-like outfit with a mane of fluffy fur around the chest, shoulders, and back with purple bat wings on his back, along with a hood that hangs behind his neck. "This feels stuffy." "No no no no, don't rub at the make-up" Yuri corrected him by taking his hands from his face. She is dressed as Yuna from Final Fantasy X, with the only difference his her long black hair. "Ack, Senseeeii" He whines. "We are going Trick-Or-Treating." She tells him, "It's something people and children do on Halloween. Remember, we all have to wear costumes." "These things feel hot though." Arnaav complains. "It's going to be cold tonight, you'll thank me later." Yuri says as he brushes some blush on his cheeks. "Alright, now the thing you need to remember about Halloween is that it's all about fear and surprise." "Fear and surprise?" "Yes. For this time of year, humans set up a lot of scary items and displays to frighten all of us, but I'm letting you know right now, that you're not in danger, nothing is going to hurt you, you are going to see some very creepy creatures tonight, but I assure you, everything is either a human or fake." "You mean, you humans can transform into horrifying things just for a night like this?" "Aheheh, not quite." "Alright, I'm already." Adam says as he walks in, wearing a black and red robe with a gold and ruby lion heralding shield patch on the left side of his chest, wearing fake circular glasses and a rub-on tattoo of a lightning bolt on the center of his forehead. "And what the heck is Merrick going as? A slutty snow owl?" Yuri asked snidely. "Ha ha." Adam responded as he puts in the AA batteries in his wand flashlight. "Just from the dusty side of the country." Merrick says as his boots clinks from their silver spurs, wearing cowhide chaps, and shirtless with a denim vest and a red handkerchief around his neck that covers the center of his chest, and a classic cowboy hat with a glittered gold seashell mounted on the center. "Hah, wow. There's a combo I never would've guessed." Yuri smirked. "Yall ready to go??" Jamal says as he stands at the doorway, wearing an accurate Deadpool costume -- formfitting and equipped with fake weapons. "Awwww, you lookin cute, lil man!" Jamal says as he reaches down, and ruffled an agitated Arnaav's head. "Grrrrr!" Arnaav growls adorably as he rushes his hands into his brown hair, "You humans are so bizarre." "Hey, don't hate." Jamal stuck his tongue out as he gets his keys. "You have your flashlight, Jamal?" Yuri asked as she attaches a few LED bulbs on her FFX staff. "Yep! Gott'em right here." Jamal says as he holds up one of the fake guns, and turns on a red laser pointer. "JAMAL, for God's sake!" "Hahahaha, relax, girl, damn!" Jamal takes out a regular torch and switched it on and off. "Ok, lets get going then." Merrick says as he gets his own light with him. "Hey, babe..." "Yeah?" "Are you um... Ok?" Adam asked. It's been a couple of weeks since their conflict with Adam's tattoo. Merrick has been fairly neutral and distant ever since. "I'm fine, Adam, why?" "Just... Never mind." Adam says as he goes, sighing as they leave.Arnaav peers through the window, his hands glued to the glass as the car drive, observing the many small humans traveling with all sorts of strange and colorful disguises, like a cat watching people moving into the house next door.
"Ok, lets out." Yuri says as she gets up, adjusting Yuna's outfit of her long and wide sleeves, and allowing Arnaav to get out. She then pulls the white hood/mask of woolen fabric over his face, featuring a pair of cat ears on his head, , the semi-transparent black screening for the closed-eyes look, a shiny red gem-like nose in the middle, and a shiny red orb hovering above his head on a wire rod. As usual, he is once again at the Kele-Kolika peir, but besides the residential area before the docks.
"What do I do again?" Arnaav asked as he walks with the adult humans and Merrick.
"Easy. You just go to any door, knock on their door, and say `Trick or Treat'." Adam explains, "And they give you small delicious foods. Then we go to another house and do it again."
"Huh..." Arnaav ponders as he looks at the round, vertically ribbed, hallow orange container with the weird black shapes on the front. They come to a lawn with a few tombstones and a low, graceful mist billowing over a few bones. He beams as he sees some flickering pumpkins with glowing yellow faces. He gulps as he sees he door being guarded by a huge bat glaring down on him.
The Moogle-dressed kid even starts to shake as he steps onto the porch, and knocks on the door. Moments later, he calms down when he sees a man in normal clothing opening the door and smiling at him.
"H-Hi." Arnaav greeted, "Trick or treat?"
"Hahaha, alright, that's a very cute costume kiddo." He says before he takes a small handful of Starbursts and Reese's Cups, and clunked them into the bucket.
"Oh!"
"Happy Halloween." The man tells him, before Arnaav turns and leaves, fascinated by the shiny and colorful wrapped treats. He irks as a few other kids rush by him and he returns to the others.
"Aight, lets see what chu got." Jamal says, muffled in his Deadpool mask, and looking in there, "Hah, niiiiice!"
"Lets go, lets go!" Arnaav says before he rushes to the house next door.
The kid timidly makes his way around a few obstacles, jumping and squeaking when a head suddenly jumps up and falls down. "It's all fake... It's all fake... It's all fake..." He repeats before a few kids pass him by. He perks as he sees the door open, before he follows them.
"Trick or Treeeaaat!" The kids chorused as they held up their buckets. They leave shortly after getting a handful of candies. Arnaav giggles as he hustles over, and walks by Yuri's side.
On another stop, they go to a porch with no decorations whatsoever. Curious, Arnaav raps his plushed hand onto the door, and waited. A minute passes by before he knocks again. No answer.
"I don't think we're going to get anything out of this one, Arnaav." Merrick says.
"Awwrrr..." They turn and go, but notice a few teenagers in hoodies pick up a few eggs from cartons, and get ready to bombard the place, "Huh? What are they doing?"
"Ugh. Jackasses." Adam comments, "Just ignore them, buddy." He says as they herd the boy away from vandals.
Soon, they come to a garage that is completely arranged and built with blacklights, grotesque decorations, loud noises, and other such displays. "W-Wait!" Arnaav shook, "A-Are we going in there??"
"Yeah! It's called a Haunted Walkway." Yuri tells him, "We go in there, look at the decorations, and we get candy after we leave."
"I-I, I still don't understand." Arnaav says as he turns to look up at them, "Why are all these humans trying to scare each other? It didn't make sense."
"Heh, I know it's weird, kiddo." Adam says as he squats down, "This time of year, humans like to get scared for fun. For the most part, no one gets hurt, and we laugh about it."
"B-But what if I DO get hurt in there??"
"We're all going in, Arnaav." Merrick assures him, "Nothing in there is going to get you."
"O-Ok..." Arnaav clings onto Yuri's staff as they walk in. The loud sound effects surround them, as does the odd-smelling smoke drifting around them as everything is bathed in an eerie purple light.
"BWUAH!" Yells a fake, spring-loaded mummy.
"EEEAAH!" Arnaav screams as he holds harder onto Yuri. This place is like fabricated nightmare. These things don't even look like they belong in this world! There are half decayed creatures all over, horrendous clown faces and grizzly wolves snarling all over.
Arnaav whines as they finally made it out, with an elderly woman giving him a couple of Butterfingers before they move on, with the poor kid shaking from head to toe. "Happy Halloween, everyone." She says.
"Hhhuuuhhhuuuhhhh..." Arnaav chatters and shivers.
"Huh." The boy looks at a huge, glowing pumpkin inflated with an air pump on a lawn, and only a few illuminating skulls strung up on the gutters of another house. "Sort of unimpressive compared to some of the other places.
"Yeah, some guys get too lazy to do that shit." Jamal's muffled voice responds.
"Jamal!" Yuri hits his masked head with the gold flower top of her staff.
"Ow!"
"Language!"
Arnaav travels up the porch steps, and knocks on the door. In seconds, a stout man with a bald cap with a swirling line across the forehead, wearing a yellow shirt with a black jagged line across the middle, and sporting black shorts comes smiling to the kid.
"Trick-or-Treat!"
"Haha, wow, I never seen a Moogle outfit before, nice!" The man then tosses a jagged object into the pumpkin bucket. Estranged, Arnaav takes himself back to the four people.
"What'd you get this time?" Merrick asked with a smile.
Arnaav riffles his doll-like arm into the plastic pumpkin, and picked up the misshapen, solid object. "... I got a rock."
"Oh- PFFFNNHH!" Jamal snickers.
"My God..." Adam sighs as he rubs the bridge of his glasses.
"What? What?" Arnaav asked as even Yuri tries not to laugh, "What does it mean?"
"I don't know, Arnaav, rocks just seem to be weird topic in Halloween." Merrick says, almost as confused as Arnaav.
"Urrggg... Ennhh..." Arnaav grunts as he carries his heavy bucket, a mound of candy coming from the opening as the five of them arrive at the docks for their festivities. "Here, I'll hold that for you." Adam says as he takes the loaded pumpkin from the boy. "Thank you." The Moogle says. He giggles as he looks at the exciting activities and parties going about the pier, adorned with all kinds of spooky merchandise. Arnaav rushes over to the Pelican candy story, seeing that heavy-set woman in a witche's hat and a black dress, stirring a bubbling cauldron full of caramel, "What's it here?" The cute boy asked. "Happy Halloween, sweetie!" Bertha says, "Who's that under there?" She asks the rounded helmet-like hood. Arnaav fumbles with it before making it move backward, "Oh, I remember you! Merrick's boy, right?" "Brother." Merrick says as he walks with him. "What's this?" Arnaav inquired at the gold-coated, almost pawing at them. "And keep in mind," Merrick says with a smile, "This is Arnaav's very first Halloween." "Oh really??? Oohoho, these are a classic Halloween treat: caramel apples." She says as she shows the boy a bright red apple impaled with a stick. Arnaav watches while she dips it into the bubbling potion of thick sweetness, and brings it back up. She puts it in line with the others. She takes up a semi-fresh one, and moves it towards the boy, "Here you go, darling~" "Ooooh, thank you..." Arnaav takes it with caution and sniffs at it, before nibbling and taking a bite of it, "Omnom, mmnnum," "Gosh darn it, he is the cutest little thing!" Bertha laughs as Arnaav devours at the treat, "He's got quite an appetite on him." "Yeah, he's really into crunchy stuff." Adam says leaning on the table, "I'm guessing he's going to be a chef when he grows up." Within not much time at all, Arnaav picks and nibbles at the core, licking his lips almost ferally as he looks around, "Ooh! What's over there?!" He then dashes away. "A-Arnaav! Wait!" Yuri says as she starts to run with him. Arnaav goes over to one of the shops with another decorated display set-up -- a large metal basin with white wisps and fibers blowing around it, with "Ah good evening, little boy." Says a person in a fortune-teller costume. "What's this, what's this?" He asks as he observes the table next to the machine, holding paper cones attached round, fluffy objects -- some of them yellow with bat candies on them, another orange with a green rice crispy treat on the top, white ones with three round black things on to resemble some sort of face. "Tis my Ghost Posts." She says with a smile, taking a paper cone, and draws it into the blowing bowl. Arnaav beams with wonder as she draws the cone in circles around the middle, seeing the tangible wind gather and grow around it, a white cotton-like substance gathering around. "Oooooh!" Arnaav watches eagerly as he soon sees it as the woman produce a white ball of cotton candy before heating and attaching 3 black wafers onto it to resemble a ghost. "Happy All Hallows Eve, little man." She said with a smile as she gives him the cotton candy. "Amazing!" Arnaav says with an energetic smile. He giggles as he attempts to nom on the cotton candy, growling a little as the sweet fibers just seem to vanish into sugary traces as soon as he eats them, before absent-mindedly walking away. "Arnaav, you better take it easy with all this sugary stuff." Yuri warns as they just get a few black cat cookies from another stand. "Huh?" "Eating too much sugar will make you sick." "Not exactly." Merrick says as they walk, "Our bodies aren't the same when it comes to digestion, Yuri. We absorb any kind of food, and it's rearranged to keep us alive. It's a lot more productive and less finicky than human bodies in that aspect." "Oh, really?" Moments later, they go to Arnaav's favorite place -- the Fish House. "Wooooooowwww." Arnaav beams with awe as they walk through the very decorated fishery, with all sorts of stands giving away candy and offering games -- Arnaav already has a cauldron bucket to hold more candy he's getting from the local Trick-Or-Treat on the docks. "Captain really goes all out on this." Yuri says as they go. "Eh, he has a couple of contacts that send in professionals to make the Fish House a bit of a fun house." "Oooh! What's this??" Arnaav looks to a large barrel filled with water and apples floating up. "It's called Bobbing For Apples." Adam answers, you stick your head in there, and grab an apple with your teeth." "Oh... Like this?" Arnaav says as he puts his plush hands on the rim, and prepares to dive. "No no! Nononono, not here." Merrick stops him, backing him away, "You don't have a water-guard, you'll, you know..." "Oh, ok." "Here, I'll show ya." Merrick says as he gets on his knees and let his cowboy hat slip to his back, "This is the way to do it-" "Yeah, Merrick. You should be good at this, you have the perfect MOUTH for it." Jamal comments through his mask. Merrick gives him a sour look before diving down. Arnaav giggles as Merrick's head bobs and moves around, trying to catch a fruit in his mouth, before his dripping soaked face resurfaces with a green apple. Coming to what seems like a potions stand, they see Harold and Belinda working and making different kinds of drinks in round plastic bottles. Belinda pours a cold orange/lemon smoothie into a chilled bottle, wearing royal Egyptian clothing as Cleopatra. "Oh hey, guys!" Harold greeted, dressed as Ezio from Assassin's Creed in white and blue clothing. Their baby son, Theodore, on the other hand, is dressed as a simple pumpkin. "Hahaha, Captain's got you doing drinks?" Adam chuckled as he notes several of cauldrons overflowing with calm white dry ice mist. "Yeah, kind of a penalty for accidentally breaking a Jack Daniels he was saving last week." "I think it is fascinating!" Belinda says as she goes to decide what beverage to brew, "Something about creating a different sort of drink with different things and foods makes it feel so creative!" "Bubble bubble, toil and trouble, eh?" "Egh, you got any booze here?" Jamal asked while leaning on the counter. "Uh... There are kids here, Jamal." Harold answered. "... So you have any or not?" "What's this now??" Arnaav asked while pawing at one of the darker drinks. "Root Beer, kiddo." He says while picking it up and handing it to him, "Homemade in advance." "Urgh, is there a place we can sit at least?" Jamal whines, "I need to rearrange a few things." "Oh my God." Yuri says as she covers her forehead. "Captains got the carts set up over there." He pointed out. The group turns, and goes to the carts where several of the fishboys are taking kids and adults for little rides from the garage, "What's this about?" Jamal asked. "It's something recent the Captain decided to do." Adam explains, "Since he practically owns the pier, he's trying this thing where the carts are being used to do little tours or rides around the docks and the beach, kind of hiring or enlisting some people to do a haunted ride, so to speak. For the most part, it's just something to give Trick-Or-Treaters and their parents about half an hour off their feet, unless they want to get off somewhere." "That can't be cheap." Yuri says snidely with her arms crossed. "It is not." Adam nodded, "As it stands, if he wants to do this again next year, he's probably going to have to charge admission." "Can we go on it? Please please please?" Arnaav asks as he looks up at them eagerly. "Hahaha, don't see why not." Adam says as he takes them around. "Yay!" Arnaav cheers as he pulls the fabric hood/mask over his head and zips it around the neck. "My feet are gonna fuckin fall off anyway." Jamal groans as they go, "I'm starting to chaff, too." "Jamal!" Yuri whacks him again with her staff, "And I told you that Deadpool outfit wasn't a good idea." She nags as Adam gets behind the wheel of one of the decorated carts, Merrick sits next to him, and Arnaav perches himself between Yuri and Jamal, kicking his little legs as the cart drives off to the spooky lane.Arnaav sleeps in the back seat of the car with all sorts of goods, including 3 different buckets overflowing with candy, a handful of other neat and creative treats and keepsakes from the docks. His energy has finally got the best of him, and he is rendered completely exhausted.
Yuri huffs as she ducks down, and picks up the boy, while Merrick and Adam unload the loot. "So you and Merrick going to the block party on Wahine Square?"
"Yeah, we'll probably be home at around 1 or 2. Don't wait up for us."
"Ok..." Yuri glances at Merrick, looking a bit... Off, really, "And did Jamal mention where he was going?"
"He's going to catch up with Nick and his family, said he wanted to watch a couple of scary movies when the kids are all done." Adam chuckles, "Though if you ask me, I think it's just an excuse for-"
"Shh!" Yuri nods her head to a drowsy Arnaav in her arms.
"Uh... Extra tricks, yeah."
"Ok. Have fun, guys."
"Later."
Just the two of them, still in their costumes, Adam and Merrick spend a rather awkward and relatively quiet drive through the night, sighting the occasional cluster of children here and there, with only Adam's iPhone playing themed songs as they go. Eventually, they reach a more active area, where they entered a fence covered in a tarp, and they had to show their I.D.s to a couple of security guards before driving in. Merrick chuckles as he sees the sexy LGBT partiers mingling about, before Adam goes to park the car. "Merrick." Adam says, before Merrick undoes his seatbelt. "Yeah?" "... Look, Merrick. Are we ok?" He asks. Merrick gives a slight frown as he pauses, "I mean... It's just... We've hardly spoken to each other in a while, and..." Adam huffs in quick hesitance, "Look, if you're still, you know, not happy with me about the tattoo, I told you I can have it removed-" "Adam. Just, stop it, ok?" Merrick says, "Yes, I'm still not happy about it, but it's done. I'll get used to it, and I'm just thankful it's not EXACTLY like mine. Just stop asking me about it, alright?" "Merrick..." Adam says, feeling a little hurt. "I'm fine, Adam. Just drop it." "Look... Isn't there ANYTHING I can do to make it up to you?" "Just... Don't think about it, ok?" Merrick says, before leaning in, and giving an obligatory kiss on his cheek. He gets up out of the car, and then adjusts his costume. He removes the denim pants and chaps, revealing a blue jean-like thong, and some skin-tight fabric chap shorts that exposes the naked part of his butt, while also removing the vest, and keeping on the handkerchief and the hat. He looks to his lover, and nods to him, "You coming?" "Yeah, I just..." Adam's chest pounds before he looks up, "I just have to text Jamal real quick." He lied. "Ok... I'll be at the fountain." Merrick then walks off, his boots clinking with their metal bits. Adam gets out of the car, his face already feeling hot. He looks at Merrick's partially nude bottom as he goes... Putting his hands on the roof of the car, Adam gives a hard, long, rough groan/growl as he ducks his head, before he moves his head back, slapping the car, before giving a huff. "Fuck, ok, ok... Ok..." He blushes as he takes off his Harry Potter robe... "Oh, my, God, you look fanTASTIC." Sasha says, dressed as slutty queen bee, with a gold tiara with black jewels, shiny yellow bikini and sky-blue fairy wings. It's almost midnight, and the entire park is illuminated with Jack-O-Lanterns; some of them with normal candles, bright lightbulbs, and others are flaring with blue/green/purple fire all around. Almost everybody there is wearing some skimpy costume, others are wearing normal costumes, while some people are flat-out naked with their bodies completely painted over. Merrick laughs as he whips about a lasso, playfully tossing at a naked man with his body painted in blue and black and glitter, resembling outer space. "And how many puns have YOU gotten, Cody?" "Only a few, actually." He said, some of the stars on his nude bod glowing in the dark. "So, Merrick..." Says another woman, wearing nurse outfit, "Sasha tells me you're a... Well... Not from around here?" "How do you mean?" "Well, like, you're kinda from... Over seas?" "Over? That doesn't really make sense." "I'll have to explain," Sasha says, "And, she doesn't want much, she just studies cryptozoology as a hobby." "What's cryptozoology?" Adam feels his face prickle with heat, feeling the breeze brush past his own exposed fuzzy butt. His package is cradled in a tight fabric as he walks, adjusting the fake ears on his head with one of his hands, both of which have a tuft of brown fake curly fur around his wrists. He clears his throat awkwardly as he tugs at the black leather collar with metal spikes around his neck, the tag reading `Bad Dog' clinking on his furry chest. "Oooh, woof!" A buzzed guy in a slutty Captain America costume gives a light spank on Adam's rump. Adam grunts in embarrassment as he walks on. "H-Hi, Merrick..." Adam says. Merrick turns, and his jaw drops right there. "Oh my God..." Merrick looks him up and down. Adam wears an X-harness with glowing moons embedded in them -- small metal and glass lamps with moon screens and shapes, each one of them a different following phase of the moon, with the middle on his torso and on his back a glowing full moon, with a crescent moon clip placed on the back of the white and black jockstrap, lit up right above his buttcrack. "Wow, elaborate set-up." The naked nebula guy comments as he tugs at Adam's electrically lit harness, "Where'd you have this made?" "Some company, oh my God!" Merrick says as he grabs at Adam's sides, "Rrrgggghhh, yaaaas! I got my sexy werewolf!" "Merrick, t-take it easy." Adam says, blushing like heck. "Haha, we're gonna fuck tonight." Merrick jests as he tugs at the harness. "Hoh my gawd, hahaha!" Sasha says, "Come on, howl, Adam. Howl." "Fuuuuck, noooo!" Adam whines, almost wanting to cover his crotch. "Come on, start a howl-up." Sasha's nurse friend turns around, "Hey! You, the leather puppy! Howl up!" "Oh my God, no," Adam shakes his head. The guy in the puppy play fetish gear laughs before he tilts his head up, "OoooooOOOO!" He encourages a couple of other people to start exclaiming in a feral-like manner -- not everyone, just a handful in an area. Merrick gives Adam a few pats and tugs his harness. Adam sheepishly clears his throat, hesitating quite a bit, "A-A-Ah... Ahooooooooo..." "Oh for fuck's sake," Merrick smirks before he gives a hard spank to Adam's butt. "O-Ow!" He rubs the cheek, and blushes hard, "AwwooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" He obliges, joining in the howl-off for the time being, before the crowd continues to party. "See, that wasn't so bad, was it?" Merrick says as he gives a pet-like scratch into Adam's hair. "Mnnlllll," "Oy! You should go up and do This Is Halloween!" Sasha says as she slaps Adam's muscular arm. "What, I-" Adam looks at the free-style stage lit up, where some people can sign up for performances -- originally, a band was scheduled to play for the party, but they canceled. "Oh nonononononono, no, no way." "Oh come on!" Sasha begs playfully, "You'll be great!" "I am not dancing around like a wild sex dog in front of everybody." Adam shakes his head. "Pleeeaaase, Adam~?" Merrick says, "I might let you off the hook if you go up there~" "Fuuuuuck." Adam whines. "Look, I know a few guys around here who can sing," The naked night sky guy says, "I'll see if they'd be into it." "That would be brilliant!" Sasha says, "I'll go book it!" "Wai- Heeey! I didn't say I'd actually do it..." Adam says, drooping his arms down. "What is it you humans say?" Merrick grins, "Break a leg, stud!" He swings his arm up, and gives another harsh SPANK onto Adam's ass. "OW! S-Stop that!" Adam says as he rubs the stinging cheek."Agh, I can't believe I'm doing this..." Adam groans as he rolls his fidgets with his microphobe, as he and a handful of guys go up on stage -- a tan hunk in a spiderweb lingerie; a thong with a black sequin spider on the groin, and the silver straps stretch and connect around his body in a very suggestive way. A cute guy is wearing a series of cream-colored bandages around his arms, legs, and head, and also wearing snug boxerbriefs. Twin brothers, one of them wearing angel wings, a halo, and white briefs, and his brother wears bat wings, horns, and black briefs. To Adam's relief, the man naked with his body painted like the night sky is here too. And of course, there's this slightly chubby bear who is sporting a rag-doll look with a red heart painting on his left chest with looks like stitches around it, just like on his limbs, face, and body with different colored patches, and has what looks like a novelty sewing needle as a sort of baton, and also wearing a few exotic beads and feathers around himself.
They walk on stage, as Marilyn Manson's hard rock music begins to pound from the speakers on either side of the stage, as well as the metal guitar music ringing out. The seven men stop around, dancing badass-like around, all of them with microphones at the ready as the spooky tones wire through the music, and the nebula guy takes it from there.
"~Boys and girls of every age ~Wouldn't you like to see something strange?~"
"~Come with us and you will see~" Adam sings as he undulates his body, "~This, our town of Hallowee~een~"
"~This is Halloween, this is Halloween~" They sing together, "~Pumpkins scream in the dead of night~"
"~This is Halloween, everybody make a scene~" They stomp here and there "~Trick or treat till the neighbors gonna die of fright ~It's our town, everybody scream ~In this town of Halloween~"
"~I am the one hiding under your bed~!" The guy in the mummy apparel says out, pointing outward and thrusting his hips, "~Teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing RED~!"
"~I am the one hiding under your stairs~" The man with the silver spiderweb thong says as he gives a half-twirl to the middle, "~Fingers like snakes and spiders in my haIRR~"
"~This is Halloween ~This is Halloween ~Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!" The men give a very sensual rotation respectively as the music, "~In this town ~We call home ~Everyone hail to the pumpkin song~"
"~In this town, don't we love it now? ~Everybody's waiting for the next surprIIIIse~"
"~'Round that corner, man hiding in the trash can~" Adam sings as he strolls across the stage, "~Something's waiting no to pounce, and how you'll SCREAM!~"
"~This is Halloween~!"
"~Red 'n' black~"
"~Slimy green~"
"~Aren't you SCARED~?!"
"~Well, that's just fine~" The twins swing in, angel and demon, "~Say it once, say it twice ~Take a chance and roll the dice ~Ride with the moon in the dead of night~"
"~Everybody SCREAM~" They all shouted in on that part, "~Everybody SCREAM ~In our town of Halloween!"
"~I am the clown with the tear-away face~" The voodoo doll guy sings as he mimes clenching his face off with his hand, "~HERE in a FLASH and gone without a TRACE~"
"~I am the "who" when you call, "Who's there?~" Adam sighs sensually as he shows off his ass a bit and dancing sexually, "~I am the wind blowing through your hair~" He sings as he brings his arm around his face.
"~I am the shadow on the moon at night~" The nebula guy continues with a deep, alluring voice, "~Filling your dreams to the brim with fright~"
"~This is Halloween ~This is Halloween ~Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!~"
"~Tender lumplings everywhere ~Life's no fun without a good scare ~That's our job ~But we're not mean ~In our town of Halloween~"
"~In this town ~Don't we love it now? ~Everybody's waiting for the next surPRISE~!"
"~Skeleton Jack might catch you in the back~" A midnight-clock ring hymns in the music as they go, "~And scream like a banshee ~Make you jump out of your skin ~This is Halloween, everybody scream ~Won't ya please make way for a very special guy~" The background of the stage lights up in an orange Jack-O-Lantern face.
"~Our man Jack is King of the Pumpkin patch ~Everyone hail to the Pumpkin King, now!~"
"~This is Halloween ~This is Halloween Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!~" The music goes into another quieting spiral as the men give another winding twirl. "~In this town we call home ~Everyone hail to the pumpkin song~"
"~La la la la la (Halloween!) ~La la la la la (Halloween!) ~La la la la la (Halloween!) ~La la la la la (Halloween!)~ EEEEEEE~"
The music reaches a catchy and dulling conclusion and a few metal ringing choruses as the music dies down. The nearby watches clap as they wave off, and they quickly leave off the stage, as three ladies take their place, when the music takes on a different theme.
"Thank you, Max~" Says one of the women, wearing a green robe dress, and red curled hair.
"I put a SPELL on you~!" Says a lady wearing purple robes and long blonde hair.
"~And now, you're miiiiine~" Sings a chubby chick in red robes and curved horn-shaped black hair.
"You can't stop the things I do..." The green robed witch sings, "~I ain't lyyyyy~yyiinnn~"
Adam huffs as he goes to find a giggling Merrick, biting his lip as Adam approaches him, "Am I good now??"
"No, you're still a bad, bad dog~" Merrick flirts as he playfully pulls at Adam's jockstrap waist. Adam smirks as he kisses him, and they go hit some of the other exciting spots of the party.
At 1:47AM, the full yellow moon is shining in the sky. In the semi-empty parking lot, the car rocks back and forth. The windows are slightly fogged as the inner mechanics squeak a little from the internal movement. "Oh fuck, oh fuck, give it to me, give it to me." Merrick moans out as his hand repositions his cowboy hat, slightly arched on the back seat, his legs forced backward to expose his ass, while Adam, still wearing his werewolf ensemble, forces his hips back and forth into Merrick's oiled up hole. "Rrrhhh fuck yeah!" Adam growls as he nails Merrick harshly, the only difference is his cock out of his jockstrap while his balls stay tucked into his jockie. "Fuckin breed your fuckin ass!" "Nnnhh! Hnnn, I'm close, FFFFuck!" Merrick pants and squirms, "Wanna ride you." "Yeah, ride me." Adam says as he backs off, and adjusts. Merrick climbs up, and pushes his ass down to sit on Adam's dick, "Ohhhh yeah, fuckin ride that wolf! HNN!" SPANK! "AHhh yes!" Merrick moans out as he rolls his ass around on his sweaty, sexy beast of a man as his ass his spanked again. He groans as he masturbates quickly with tropical-flavored lube all over his dick -- this is Jamal's car, it's always packing. "Fuckin gonna ride your ass haaaarrrd!" Adam hisses as he grips Merrick's hips, giving consistent spanks onto Merrick's ass. "Ride the fuckin WOLF!" "AHhh! Spank me harder" SPANK! SPANK! SPANK! "Ahhh... Ahhh! NNhhhH!" Merrick jerks off until he moans out as his hand becomes soaked in his thick white spunk. "OOoooooh yeeeaaahh~" Adam dips is cock deep into Merrick, with his anus relaxing all around his rod, "Yeah, hug that dick, hug that dick. Yeeeeessss." "Mnnhhh, yeah~" Merrick grins as he grabs onto the safety bars of the car, letting Adam roll his hips up into him, his softening penis flopping lazily around. Adam's hands squeeze and knead Merrick's supple buttcheeks as the spent and naked cowboy moans longingly as his insides squish and massage Adam's throbbing meat. "SSSSSSS" Adam hisses as his climax rises in his member, "AwwOOOOOOOO!" He howls out as he feels his ass buck right into Merrick, exploding deep into his fiance. "Awwhh" "Hhhh... Hhh hhh" Both of them pant as Merrick lets Adam's cock slide out, and flop from his anus, and just lays on top of Adam's sweaty body, and the bothersome bright harness on him. "Hoohhhh..." Adam huffs, taking in what was arguably the best Make-Up sex they've had yet, "I love Halloween."