Royce

When we came into the coordinates, the water around us was calm, and there was only one other boat in the area. I’d never been on it, but I’d seen pictures. The “Guardian” was floating serenely in all its slightly less than sixteen meters glory. 

It made Pete’s boat, “First Draft,” look like a river raft. I pulled the cruiser next to the yacht, and Troller threw the fenders over the side. We gently bumped into the “Guardian” as Ben and Leo worked with Troller to secure the boats. 

Leo, Ben, and Troller were introducing themselves across the gap as I powered down the cruiser. Both of my parents stopped and smiled at me as I went to the starboard side of the tiny aft deck. 

I had Ben’s dark hair and tan skin tone. He often said it was a family trait. I also had more of his build, though I was larger than him. From Leo, I had my disposition, a quiet demeanor, green eyes, but not his red-brown hair or freckled skin. Ben had light blue eyes and an engaging personality that got on my nerves at times but charmed Leo to no end.

When I put a hand on Troller’s shoulder, he looked back at me and smiled. My parents caught it, and Leo gave me a knowing smile. There would be questions, but that wouldn’t be until someone poured the wine. 

Troller and I transferred to the Guardian, and I shouldn’t have been surprised that Leo had a perfectly catered meal ready for us. All they had to do was heat it. We found out that they had come alone like we had. Ben had driven the boat while Leo navigated. 

“This was a great idea, Royce. I don’t know why we didn’t think of it before. We should have,” Leo said.

“It was Troller’s idea. He’s pretty remarkable like that. He wanted to meet you both,” I said. I took a bite of the bacon wrapped asparagus appetizers. One of them remembered that it was my favorite. 

“How did the two of you meet anyway?” Ben asked as he poured wine for everyone. 

“Ben,” Leo shook his head. “Too soon,” he whispered. 

“Honestly, it’s a bit of a long story, and I won’t be surprised if it takes most of the evening to explain it,” I offered. Ben shot Leo a smile and sat down. Leo brought over the main course of lasagna, and I knew Troller would be in heaven from the first bite. Troller and I explained how we’d first met and who Troller was between bites of lasagna. 

“Are you serious? You’re a merman?” Leo asked. 

“That’s not what we call ourselves, but for lack of a better way of translating it, yes,” Troller said. 

“I need more wine,” Ben smiled and poured himself another glass. “I heard stories growing up on the coast around the isles, but no one ever had proof.”

“A lot of our pods swam with the boats or were on them when they came to these lands. Our histories talk about it. Back then, we bartered pretty heavily with land dwellers.”

“So why reveal yourself to Royce?” Leo asked.

“I had my reasons,” Troller said. He shot me a smile, and it warmed my heart. Leo looked between Troller and me, then smiled. 

“Then it took nearly a year before he found me again. We’ve been together for about six weeks,” I said, then took a drink of my wine. 

“I’m happy for you, son,” Ben said. “No offense to Troller, but we’re a little surprised. Where’s Pete?”

“You mean the Pete you secretly hired to spy-slash-protect me? That Pete?” I tried to keep my tone playful, but I was still annoyed with them for interfering and being overly protective.

“I told you that wasn’t a good idea,” Leo said to Ben. 

I got the sudden impression that maybe Ben had picked Pete for other reasons besides protection. That was pretty typical of my father Ben, always thinking five steps ahead. The fact that he’d managed to find someone to guard me that I had a good rapport with and found attractive told me how much he knew about me. 

If Pete and I had any kind of chemistry, he would have had something to crow about for years. Even if half the reason I was on my own boat in the middle of the ocean was so I could have my own life. For Ben’s sake, I’m glad it didn’t work. I don’t know what that would have done to our relationship. The fact that Leo hadn’t liked it but went along with it meant that he was more worried about me than my love life, which I could grudgingly accept.

“He’s dating a lovely woman named Marcy. She owns a coffee shop not far from the port in Galveston,” I explained.

“She makes wonderful pastries. Pete thinks so too,” Troller said, and Ben almost did a spit take. After that, we all started laughing. It was good to laugh with my parents. I hadn’t seen them face to face in a long time. They were older but still healthy and doing well. I was happy to see that in person rather than over a holo screen.

We talked about the trip, the weather, my plans for the next season, and Troller’s ambition to be a deckhand. Troller ate his third helping of lasagna, and we had a lemon custard for dessert. Even though it wasn’t formal, it reminded me of the more formal dinners of my childhood. 

I hadn’t resented the time we spent entertaining people. I knew of the work my fathers did for the royal family. Even though they were retired, it was important. They organized charities, projects, and general samaritan concerns that covered everything from multi-specie healthcare to space missions. I was expected to learn the whole routine and follow them one day. The fishing boat hadn’t been part of their plan, but they warmed up to it. I wondered how much of that was Pete’s doing, rather than my weekly conversations with them. 

Ben poured himself and Troller another glass of wine and offered to show him around the Guardian while Leo and I cleaned up. After we had everything put away, he poured us both a single finger of whiskey. 

“He seems nice. Is everything going alright?” Leo asked.

“Yes, Pop, everything is going pretty well, actually. We’re happy.” At that moment, Leo did something I hadn’t expected. He opened his arms and pulled me into a hug. 

“I’m happy for you, son, really happy.” He gave me a squeeze and let go. I saw him wipe at his face, then I pulled him in for another hug. 

“Don’t cry. Dad will rearrange my face if he thinks I made you cry.” I pat Leo on the back and let him lean against me. 

“No, he won’t. Not if he knows what’s good for him.” He finished his drink, and I finished mine.

I laughed. “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that. It’s something for the two of you to figure out.”

“What do we need to figure out? Royce? Leo?” Ben asked, and I saw Troller behind him with a smile on his face. Ben caught sight of Leo’s face and shot me a look. “You didn’t make your Pop cry did you?”

“Dad, he did it all on his own. Promise.” There was some soft laughter as things settled down. 

“I showed Troller where the two of you can sleep if you’d like. It’s a bit bigger than the cabin on the cruiser, so you can stretch out. Then in the morning, I can fix everyone some breakfast, and we can go for a swim after.” Ben walked over to Leo and looped an arm around his waist.

Troller’s eyes pleaded with me, and I couldn’t say no. I nodded to Ben. “Alright, sounds good.”

Leo clapped his hands together. “Perfect!” He grabbed another bottle of wine and motioned for us to follow. “Let’s sit out on the deck for a while and catch up some more.”

My parents talked about sports and various charities they were involved in. We spoke of the remodel we were finishing up on the “Aire Apparent.” Troller talked about optimizing the space and having ideas for the crew bunks to make them more efficient. After we finished the bottle, all of us sat in silence, watching the water and the stars. Ben finally made excuses for the both of them as Leo dozed on his shoulder. Dad helped maneuver Pop into a standing position, then they wandered off to bed.  I sat up with Troller for a bit longer.

“Your parents are nice.” He leaned his head on my shoulder, and I moved my arm to wrap around his shoulders so I could pull him closer to me. 

“They aren’t bad people. They aren’t even stuck-up. I sometimes wonder what it might be like instead if they were allowed to be just a couple with a kid. 

“How so?”

“When their relationship became public, Leo being gay wasn’t the issue, not even for the royal family. Things had advanced enough that having a genetically related child with a same-sex partner was commonplace.” I played with Troller’s hair as I talked. I usually didn’t have to explain who they were; people knew. It was one more thing I appreciated about Troller. I got a chance to tell what I knew about my parent’s story before someone made up their mind about it.

“What had stirred the pot was the fact that Ben was Leo’s primary guard. Ben’s former lovers were all too happy to talk about his several failed relationships with the press. When Ben was summarily dismissed from service, even though Leo had taken the blame, Leo left his life as a royal to be with Ben. While Leo's family was upset, Ben's family was livid." Troller caressed my chest as I spoke. It calmed me.  

"Ben is from a family of an elite group of guards that have a long history of protecting royal families. They are rumored to be able to take down dragons, but royal families haven't been attacked by dragons in centuries, so who knows.  As for the royal family, Ben being pansexual wasn't the issue, it was that he broke protocol so badly with Leo that he tarnished the family's name and the stature of the bodyguard group. Or so they thought, which is why Ben's family disowned him. Really all it did was resurrect their organization from the ashes. Having a Saint George Knight as a bodyguard came back into fashion, and anyone with clout, fame, or royal lineage clamored to hire any capable member of the family if only to project the idea that they might be swept off their feet by some dashing icon of bygone days ."  

"Did Ben's family ever change their mind or apologize to him?" Troller's voice was full of concern. 

"No, they didn't. But when they married a year later and had me, the royal family was a bit more accepting. They were invited back, but Leo turned them down and offered the current arrangement instead.”

Troller nodded. “With all of the challenges you and your fathers had to deal with, I'm not surprised you've kept to yourself for so long, my love.”

I narrowed my eyes. “My love?”

“Yes?”

I laughed. “You’re drunk.”

“So? Why does that matter.”

“It doesn’t. But we’ll see if you call me that in the morning.” I grinned at him.

“My love, I’ll call you that whenever I please. Unless you really don’t like it.” Troller got up from his side of the bench and settled into my lap, facing me. 

“I never said I didn’t like it.” I reached up to touch his face. “I like it a lot, actually. My love.”

He leaned down and gave me a kiss, and I couldn’t help but kiss him back. We were pretty heavy into a makeout session when someone made a noise behind us. Ben stood there, realized he'd been caught watching, then turned to the cooling unit and pulled out a water bottle.

“For your Pop.” He grinned, then turned back toward the main suite. “Please, carry on.”

When Ben was out of sight, Troller and I laughed softly. 

“Should we go to bed?”

“Probably.”

“Should we sleep in the cruiser?”

“Nah. This tub has more soundproofing than that cabin.  Which reminds me, we should look for a sound dampening spell right before the season starts. We don’t need the whole crew hearing us.”

“Aye, captain.”

“Now that was hot.” I grabbed Troller by the ass, stood, and carried him back to the other large suite on the starboard side of the “Guardian.” I was ready to find out what other words I could entice him to say to me.