“Do you shift when you’re in the shower?”

“Does it hurt?”

“How fast can you swim?”

“What do your scales look like, can we see?”

“Are you immortal like elves and Divine and stuff?”

“How are merbabies born?”

“Are you Ash’s new boyfriend?”

The last question from Sophie, Ash’s seven-year-old sister, nearly made him choke on his lemonade, the liquid splashing into his face from the force of the spit-back. 

“Jesus, Soph,” Ash muttered, wiping his face with the napkin Abel handed him. He glanced at Coby who looked confused.

“New…boyfriend?” the merman asked, his eyebrow raised. He’d been able to answer every question up to this point, despite how quickly that had come at him, one after the other from both Lynn and Sophie. 

The two had been practically jumping with excitement since they’d arrived home a half hour before while the boys were finishing up with dinner. Abel had walked in right as the table was being set. He tried to get the girls to settle down, but it had been futile. At least Sophie had stopped trying to hug him and grab at his arm wanting to show him all her toys and drawings.

The first time she’d grabbed for him, he’d flinched backward, apprehension in his bright blue eyes. Fully covered or not, the idea of being touched by anyone other than Ash filled him with a primal discomfort he couldn’t shake. He had apologized at the hurt look in the little girl’s eyes, and Ash explained to her why he couldn’t be touched.

Sophie accepted it and apologized, even giving a small bow that Coby insisted she didn’t need to do. He wasn’t a noble or royalty, just an acolyte of the Sarathian’s religious order. While they were given some level of deference and respect for their position, bowing and formal address weren’t necessary.

Lynn now glanced pointedly at her brother, her shoulders tensed. Ash didn’t talk about Scott.

Ever.

“He’s just a friend, Soph,” Ash muttered, an edge to his voice. He shared Lynn’s glance, letting her know without words not to say anything. She understood, nodding slightly. He turned back to the youngest Turner and grinned. “But you still can’t flirt with him,” he teased.

Sophie giggled, revealing her missing two front teeth, before spooning another bite of shrimp stir fry into her mouth, her legs swinging under her.

Coby still stared at Ash, his eyes filled with questions. Ash grinned at him, squeezing his thigh under the table with reassurance.

“Just ignore her,” he said gently, but said nothing more about it. 

“Sure,” Coby muttered, turning back to his meal.

Abel glanced between the two, noticing the stiffness in Coby’s shoulders and the way he kept his gaze on his meal, an air of tension surrounding the young merman. After a moment, he asked, “How are you settling in, Coby?”

Coby, grateful at the turn of conversation, looked up and smiled warmly at the Sheriff. “Fine, thank you,” he said. “The room is quite comfortable.”

“That used to be Rhett’s room,” Sophie said proudly. “He’s our big brother but he doesn’t live here so it’s okay for you to sleep there.”

Coby chuckled softly. “Yes, Ash and your father told me about him earlier. We’re going to see him tomorrow when Ash gets done with college.”

Lynn’s eyes went wide, while Sophie gasped with excitement. “You are?” she nearly shrieked. “That’s so cool!”

Coby had to laugh at the way she said the last bit in a growl, like any over-excited child would do.

“What does he want?” Lynn asked her brother. Ash shrugged.

“Beats me,” he answered around his bite of food. “Probably to ask me to work this weekend.”

“Are you going to?”

“Hell no,” he grimaced. “I have other, more important shit to do.”

“Like your studies,” Abel said firmly. “I’m glad you’re caught up, but don’t get behind again.”

“I won’t,” Ash sighed. “Besides, with fall break coming in a few weeks, I can’t afford to. This is usually the time they start piling it on.”

Lynn nodded. “They’re doing the same thing for my classes, too,” she said. She looked at Coby. “Do they do that to you, too, when you’re in school? Give you extra work before a big break?”

Coby shook his head. “We don’t have the same kind of education humans do,” he said. “Especially not in the sect. Just a lot of training, really. There are things we do study, of course. Our recitations and hymns, things like that.”

“Are you training to be a priest or something?” Sophie asked. “Like an alter boy?”

“No, not for quite some time,” Coby said. “I’m an acolyte, basically a servant and soldier for our god.”

“What do you do?” Lynn asked.

Coby tried to explain the best he could, but the knot that had begun to form in his stomach when Sophie had mentioned Ash having a boyfriend was clouding his mind. He wasn’t sure how much sense he was making, but if the looks of befuddlement on the girls’ face were any indication, it wasn’t much.

He finally broke off with an awkward grin, reaching up to run his fingers over the pleats of his short braid. “Sorry,” he said. “I’m not explaining myself really well.”

“It’s all right,” Lynn reassured him with a smile. “I bet you’re tired from the shift from the hospital to here. And I’m sure we didn’t help with all our questions.”

Coby’s shoulders relaxed slightly. “Yes, that’s probably it.”

Ash glanced at him, noticing the darkness in the merman’s blue eyes. It wasn’t exhaustion; something was bothering him. He turned to his dad. “Can we be excused?” he asked. “I need to help him change his bandages before he goes to bed.”

Sophie turned and glanced out the window behind her before turning back with a dubious look on her face. “But the sun isn’t even set yet,” she pointed out.

Ash stared back at her. “He also has to take some strong meds that make him really tired,” he said.

Coby glanced out the same window and sat up straight. “Ash, do you think I could go out on the cliff first? I don’t want to miss my evening devotions.”

Ash smiled. “Sure. There’s something I wanted to show you, anyway.” He turned back to his father. 

Abel shooed them away. “Lynn will take care of the dishes. You two go on.”

Ignoring Lynn’s groan of protest, Ash thanked Abel and stood, helping Coby when he winced from a sudden flare of pain radiating from his leg. He took their empty plates to the kitchen and led Coby out the side door attached to the dining room.

The cool evening air smelled absolutely delicious to Coby, who breathed in deeply, allowing the salty sea breeze to wash through him, carrying away much of his stress. He walked side by side with Ash, saying nothing as they made their way to the cliff’s edge. Ash stopped just after the gate, while Coby went further out, approaching the edge of the cliff where he felt the closest to the ocean, even from this height and distance.

Coby stared off into the horizon, the evening glow dancing on the water’s surface. He tried to focus on the energy coming from the sea, performing his breathing exercises that would allow him to relax enough to let it enter him and feed his depleted reserves. However, Sophie’s question continued to ring loudly in his mind, distracting him, fueling those feelings of hurt and even a small bit of betrayal that gnawed at his soul.

Are you Ash’s new boyfriend?

What did that even mean? Was Ash already dating someone and Coby was meant to be his second? It wasn’t necessarily uncommon in his culture, but it wasn’t something he would ever consider for himself. Sarathian’s didn’t date like humans and other beings did. They found a mate and kept them until either death or an untenable situation caused a split. That was if they weren’t already an eternal match…

Like Ash was meant to be.

He dropped the pathetic attempt to focus, his fists clenched at his sides as he exhaled loudly, his head falling to his chest.