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Jessie couldn't stay under for very long, so he reluctantly returned to the surface and pulled himself up onto the side of the pool. He ran his hands back through his hair and gave it a few strong wrings, bringing them away... strangely stained. He did a double-take, glancing down at his fingers in shock.

Pink...?

Bringing a few strands of his long hair forward, he gaped at them in horror. They were stained pink by the substance in the water...!

Swiftly getting to his feet, Jessie made his way with haste to the door. He turned back, thinking to say goodbye to Shinichi, but saw to his disappointment that the man was still unseen, down at the bottom of the deep pool.

Then, as he hesitated, a vast, dark shape appeared in the air just above the pool, immediately falling into the water with a tsunami-worthy splash befitting of its size.

Droplets of water rained down on top of Jessie's pink-tinged head.

"<...This place just gets weirder,>" he sighed, shaking his head as he pushed the door open and left in a state of high disillusionment for the second time that night.

The newest, most explosive addition to the pool rolled over confidently in the water of his new, unfamiliar surroundings. With a flourish of his silver-tipped tail and a broad grin on his face, Zain, Mer-Prince, announced himself to the all-but-empty pool.

"I'm here!"

Zainire, receiving no immediate outcry to his entrance, opened his eyes and took a look around. His shoulders slumped.

"Aww... there's like no one here..." he pouted. "But... I thought..."

It was never quite clear what he had thought, as that that moment Zain was knocked backwards by the force of an unseen glompist. All the air was squeezed out of him by the force of the hug, and with a surge of joy he knew his destination was correct. There was only one person he knew who had ever hugged him like that!

"CHI-CHI!" he cried, as the other merman frolicked away. Zain didn't let him get too far, rocketing through the water and returning his affections with a bone-crunching hug of his own! "What the hell are you talking about?! I'd NEVER forget about you!"

The pair spun around, entwined in the water like a pair of corkscrews. Zain brought his hand up from Shinichi's back, gently tracing his fingers up the back of the merman's pale neck. In rapture, he rubbed his dark cheek against the angelic creature's own, other arm pulling him in even tighter. "Never."

Zain giggled, wrinkling his nose. "You REALLY want to hear about THAT? The city's the same as always, still... greedy, still unkind, just the same as you'd remember it."

The young prince kept his voice light, but there was indeed a coldness in his eyes. However, he continued to smile through it at his friend, and the look soon melted away. "The only thing good about the city is that it has lots of TREASURE!"

He giggled again, abruptly parting and spinning away, reaching around to the pouch of the messenger bag slung around his torso. He glanced back at the younger man, grinning with mischief at the thought of the presents he was about to produce, but his first good look at Shinichi caused his face to freeze.

"Chi-chi, your hair!" he gasped, drifting back towards him a few feet in curious awe. He reached out and touched a few of the pink strands in wonder. "It's BEAUTIFUL! So bright...! Very daring! When did you do this?!"

Zainire grinned at him coyly, not missing the opportunity for a little bit of flirting. "Well, you know what they say... a beautiful person can make anything look stunning!"

He played with the stained locks a little further, watching them swirl around in the water in fascination. His answers were slightly absent while he busily admired the hair. "Oh, your mother? I DID go see her, a few times, just like I promised. She is a very beautiful person, too!"

He made no further explanation or attempt to answer his inquiries. A little bit fickle, the prince had only remembered his friend for the first couple of weeks. After that, he'd failed to check in as much as he'd promised. Out of sight, out of mind, you know?

Zainire found himself pulled into another embrace, glancing down as the man regarded the bag of mysterious treasures in curiosity. He giggled happily, pulling away and circling around Shinichi in boyish excitement. "You want to see what I've got for you?"

Zainire darted around Shin teasingly, keeping the bag just out of his reach as they played their little game. He tortured the merman a few more moments, grinning with glee. "Now, now... you have to be a good boy, or you won't get any treats!"

Cackling at his own wickedness, he shot away to the other end of the pool, frolicking around as Shinichi gave chase. He wrapped his arms around the other man again, and they slipped easily back into their double helix. Zainire closed his eyes, enjoying the feel of Shinichi's smaller, more fragile body pressing close against his skin, muscular tails entwined as one.

"Alright, you've convinced me," he breathed at last, pulling from the pouch a heavy, gleaming necklace of shiny white shells strung together by strands of pearls and aquamarines. He held it up proudly for his friend to look at, an unusually sedate smile on his lips. "For my beautiful angel."

The strange look in the prince's eyes only grew more intense as Shinichi tilted his head. The movement drew his gaze, and Zain admired the curve and sinews of the other man's neck: tenuous, fragile and starkly pale. His body was like a fine instrument which cried out to be played, and sometimes Zain caught himself watching it with hunger - a predatory pike, stalking its unwitting prey.

Something niggled and protested within him - a small, long-dead voice inside his head that told him he shouldn't be giving him such a gift, not now. The meaning was wrong, different to what it should be. He wasn't appreciating Shinichi like he should be.

Ignoring it, Zain's smile widened unpleasantly at Shinichi's request, and he solemnly clasped the valuable treasure around the younger man's neck. Now, you are mine.

Rather than back away, he drew nearer, admiring his handiwork from close-range. His hand drew itself up, brushing the length of Shinichi's neck along the path his eyes had traced moments before. "These jewels pale to you."

It was the truth - Zain had never cared much for jewels, not coveting them like the other mer. Shinichi, however... he cried out to be touched, to be taken and jealously guarded.

Zain's feelings shifted again as the younger merman clung to him in his total innocence. It only made the nagging voice return, warning him off. With a hint of frustration, he felt his lust drain away, driven out by what could only have been guilt.

He wrapped his arms around Shinichi all the more tightly, banishing the thoughts that had been plaguing him. Ownership. Why ownership? Shinichi didn't deserve to be controlled, manipulated by Zain as he knew he could so easily do. Protection. That was what he'd promised those few months ago, when he'd sworn to be Shinichi's knight. It had been jest, bravado... but... it was a distinction which the half-gypsy suddenly felt he needed to draw.

Many more depressing thoughts and Zainire would begin to wish he hadn't come at all. So, he pulled away slightly, giving Shinichi a small smile, before pecking him friskily on the cheek and darting away, inviting him to another game of chase!

Zain laughed as the game heated up, the two mer shooting around the pool like bullets. His bad feelings soon melted away, as the carefree prince regained his usual sense of self. He didn't like brooding. It had become a part of him, but... he didn't like it. It was weird for him to think that there had been a time when he'd been totally wild, never having to worry about anything, no responsibilities - or rather, none he'd cared to listen to...

Zain glanced back many times, grinning, and was aghast to see his angel clutching his head in pain by the wall of the pool.

"Ohmygod, Chi-chi!" he squealed, shooting back to his side. "Oh my god, oh my god! Are you okay?! Are you hurt?!"

To flustered to do anything else, he simply hovered there in front of him, anxiously shifting from side to side and fussing himself to death.