Ash laughed and moved closer, only sitting next to him once the nurses were done bandaging Coby up. He had to fight to pull him against his side, to nuzzle his face in Coby’s hair. He settled for bumping his arm with his own, his jacket rough against Coby’s smooth skin.

“It was definitely a surprise,” he said. “A really nice one, too.”

Coby blushed but he didn’t look away, the light in his eyes making them sparkle like ripples on the ocean.

“I can help you too, if you want,” he said, his lips curving in the crooked grin that set Coby’s heart to racing. “I don’t want to miss a minute of this.”

Coby’s smile lit up the room and the nurses backed out, closing the door behind them. When the boys were sure they were completely alone, Coby dropped his forehead to Ash’s shoulder, rolling his head back and forth before taking his arm in both hands. Ash smiled into his hair, burying his face in the softness.

“You smell nice,” he said softly. “Like flowers.”

“It’s the body wash they had available,” Coby chuckled. “Nurse Aubrey apologized that they couldn’t find anything more masculine.”

“It’s fine,” Ash said. “I like it.”

“You do?” 

“Mhm.” He chuckled softly. “Your hair smells like hospital shampoo, though.”

Coby laughed but didn’t sit up, his hands going around Ash’s arm, his nails scratching at the denim. “I’ll put in a request for something you like better.”

“I appreciate that, thank you.”

They sat there for a moment in silence, just enjoying each other’s company, comfortable and at ease. It was several minutes before Coby spoke again.

“They’re releasing me in a few days.”

Ash’s eyes snapped open and he sat up quickly, forcing Coby to do the same. “You’re leaving?” he exclaimed, panic in his voice.

“No, I can’t go back home, yet,” Coby said, his hands sliding down to Ash’s wrist. “I’m nowhere near where I need to be in my recovery to do that. I’ll reopen my wounds and possibly bleed to death or drown if I tried. Plus, my energy is too weak, and I still can’t heal anything more than minor injuries.”

“But they’re releasing you.”

“Doctor Yancy said I’m stable enough that there’s not much more they can do for me here.”

“Where are you supposed to go?”

“There’s a temple to the south where I can go.” There was a flash of something in his eyes, but it was gone before Ash could comment on it. “It might take some time to get there, but—”

“No.”

Coby flinched, sitting straight up. “What?”

“Coby, that’s way too far from here, there’s no way you can make it there on your own. Not in the condition you are now.”

“But I—”

“You can stay with me.” The words were out before he could stop them and he swallowed hard as he took in Coby’s stunned expression. “My family,” he amended. “You can stay with me and my family. There’s plenty of room and I know my dad won’t mind. In fact, with those traffickers out there, he might insist on it. Plus, I’d feel safer if you were with me…with us. And later, if you still want to go to that temple, I’ll take you there myself.”

Coby’s pupils constricted and he vehemently shook his head. “No. Ash, I can’t let you do that.”

“Why not?”

“I just…” His head whipped around to the side, his gaze falling on one of the cabinet doors. Ash followed his gaze, his brow furrowed. He’d caught Coby staring at that cabinet several times, but whenever he asked about it, Coby never gave him a straight answer. He didn’t do it now, either. “I have to go there alone,” he finally said softly. His head fell, his fingers gripping Ash’s sleeve tightly. “I’m sorry, Ash, but…”

He stopped when he saw Ash’s hand move to his leg, resting a few inches above his knee. Why this simple action startled him, he couldn’t say. Less could he say why it made his heart race. Perhaps it was because the material was so thin, perhaps it was because it was the intimacy of the touch. Either way, his skin felt like it was on fire, and not in an unpleasant way. He wanted to hold Ash’s hand, to feel his palm against his bare skin. Having to deny himself that privilege in order to focus on his mission was starting to cause him physical pain, pain he couldn’t numb with medication or healing energy.

“Okay.”

Coby slowly lifted his gaze back to meet Ash’s, those soft, kelp green eyes warm on his own. 

“If you don’t want me to go, I won’t push it,” he said with a small smile. “I hope you’ll change your mind, though.”

Coby sighed softly, a tiny smile curving his lips. “I can’t promise anything.”

“That’s fine,” Ash replied. “But I still want you to come stay with us. At least until you're fully recovered.”

Coby chuckled. “Fine,” he agreed. “But only if Sheriff Turner approves. I don’t want to feel like I’m an intruder in his home.”

“Trust me, sweetheart, you are anything but.” He reached for his phone and froze before pulling up his father’s number, both of them realizing what he said. “U-um…” He turned his gaze back to Coby who stared back in the same way he had when Ash told him he was important to him. “I-I mean, um…you, uh…I—”

“It’s fine,” Coby said, the words more a soft breath than sound. 

Ash swallowed hard, his eyes dancing over Coby’s face. “I’m not going to take it back,” he said, his voice hoarse.

Coby nodded slowly in understanding but said nothing. 

The two flirted often enough, the term shouldn’t have come as a surprise to either of them. And yet it left them both speechless for several moments, both lost in their own thoughts and whirling emotions. Ash was constantly fighting the urge to touch Coby, to hold him, to kiss him…while Coby was fighting the desire to tell him the truth of what Ash was to him. 

One word…and that wall they were building together had come to a halt. It didn’t crumble. It wouldn’t crumble. But it would stand for as long as both of them needed it to.

“You were going to text your dad?” Coby finally said, breaking the spell they were under.

Ash jerked slightly. “Yeah,” he said, turning back to his phone with a nervous grin. He ran a hand through his messy dark hair, several locks bouncing back in waves over his eyes. “Yeah, I was.”

Coby watched him, entranced once more by the magical device in his friend’s hand. No matter how many times he’d seen it, had seen all the things that could be done with it, had even played with it himself, it still amazed him. They had nothing like this for communication back home.

When the text was sent, Ash cleared his throat and shoved the phone in his jacket pocket, leaning back on his hands. “So,” he said, his voice slightly stronger. “What are the rules of hospitality in the mer-world?”

“What do you mean?” Coby asked, kicking his legs up and folding them on the bed. He reached for his shirt and pulled it on, tugging his braids loose and toying with the beads while they talked.

“Well, I mean,” Ash shrugged, looking up at the ceiling as he tried to think of how best to phrase his question. “Whenever you have guests, how are they meant to be treated?”

“Oh, um,” Coby looked off to the side, the bridge of his nose wrinkling as he thought. Ash couldn’t ignore how absolutely adorable Coby looked when he did that. “Well, there’s usually a lot of food and wine,” he began. “A bed is prepared, along with time set aside for conversation. Typically the matriarch of the home serves a dish of specially made fishes and desserts from the guest’s tribe as a show of respect.”

“What kind of fish and desserts do you have in your tribe?”

Coby smiled, resting his elbows on his knees. “Crab cakes and steamed seaweed on a bed of roasted kelp. There are also a lot of vegetables and different kinds of fish we like, and the wine is homemade.”

“You drink wine underwater?”

Coby laughed, his mouth open enough for Ash to see his sharp red tongue behind his brilliant white teeth. “Of course we do!” he said. “It’s nothing like the wine on land, though.”

“So instead of grapes, you use…?

“Sea berries and whale’s blood.”

Ash’s eyes went wide. “Wait, what?”

Coby smiled. “We’re omnivores, just like humans, but our diet lacks a lot of the nutrients needed to sustain our bodies. We drink blood, but only that of sea creatures, mostly whales and sharks.”

“You don’t eat people?”

“Our tribe doesn’t, no. There are other merfolk who do, though. They don’t live around here, so you have nothing to worry about.”

Ash chuckled. “That’s a relief.” He lay back, folding his hands under his head. “I can’t promise sea berry and whale blood wine,” he said, grinning up at the Sarathian. “But Dad makes some killer crab cakes.”

Coby smiled down at him. “I look forward to it.”

“Well, that’s if he…” Ash’s phone buzzed and he pulled it from his pocket quickly. He held it over his face as he brought up his father’s text. He smiled, typed out his response, then placed the phone on his chest, turning his gaze onto a curious Coby. “How do you feel about clothes shopping?”

**