Satisfied, Blake went back out to the living room to grab his pillow, turned off the lights, and settled down on the mattress next to Marin.The streetlamp shined in through the slats in the blinds, illuminating the merman in golden bars.One settled over his eyes: they were a glossy shade of black, the color of the sea at night.Marin smiled at him, using his forearm to prop his cheek up.
“There now,” he said, reaching out to brush a lock of hair behind Blake’s ear.For a moment he thought that Marin was going to lean in and kiss him, but instead he tapped Blake’s nose.
“Go to sleep,” he said.And Blake obeyed.
7
Blake had woken up early with the intent of helping out Marin with walking, only to discover that the merman had managed to wake up before him, walk out to the kitchen, and figure out how the stove worked all before eight in the morning.He was dressed in a pair of Ryan’s old paint-splattered jeans and a Warped Tour 2015 tee shirt.
“Your roommate let me borrow some clothes.Also, I remembered how to walk,” he said, setting a plate with a rolled omelet down on the counter.“And how to cook.”
“Clearly,” Blake said, staring at the omelet in amazement.He dropped his voice so that Ryan couldn’t hear.“That’s really good, though.It means that your memories are starting to come back on their own.”
After one of the more enjoyable breakfasts he’d had in several months, Blake took Marin out to the parking lot twenty minutes early to see if he could manage riding pillion.He handed Marin his spare helmet before wincing at the long sheet of lavender hair that cascaded down his back.“Yeah, might wanna braid that before you get on.It’s gonna go everywhere once we get on the freeway.”
“Ah,” said Marin, turning to present Blake with his back.“Please do.”
“Oh, you wantmeto—?”Blake blinked, taken aback.He’d seen Marin braid his hair when he’d still been attached to the aft of the boat, so it stood to reason that he could do so again.Marin glanced over his shoulder, a gentle smile playing on his lips.
“Do you know how?”he asked, quirking a scarred brow.
“I… can do a basic braid,” Blake admitted, recognizing the flirtation for what it was.
Haltingly, Blake reached out and ran his fingers through Marin’s hair.It looked like something out of a shampoo commercial—pale and shiny—and it glided through his fingers like silk.Blake managed to braid it into a simple plait, securing the end with a spare hair tie Marin had pilfered from Ryan.The simple action of touching someone else’s hair was unexpectedly intimate.
“There,” he said, settling the helmet down over Marin’s head.“You should be good.”
“Thanks,” Marin said, approaching Blake’s Kawasaki.He cocked his head, peering at it this way and that.“You put it between your legs, right?”
That’s one way to phrase it, Blake thought before mentally punching himself.Making innuendo the first thing in the morning probably wasn’t the ideal way to start the day.
“Y-yep, that’s the gist of it,” he choked, trying his best to conceal his flush.“Here, it might be easier if I get on first—oh.”
Marin mounted the Ninja with ease, grabbing the handles and turning his hand as if he were revving the throttle.“Like this?”
“Yeah, just like that,” Blake said, stunned.
Then, to his complete and utter shock, Marin said, “1980 Ducati Super Short.”
“Excuse me?”Blake blinked, mouth hanging agape.
“Sorry, it popped into my head.”Marin smiled at him.
“No, don’t apologize, that’s a good bike,” Blake told him, waving his hands at Marin in dismissal.“That’s… I wasn’t expecting you to say that.It makes me wonder if you had one in your first life, you know?”
Marin shrugged, as nonchalant as ever.“Who knows?”
Who knew, indeed?Blake made a mental note to text Celeste about it later.Maybe it was another lead they could go off of.
Marin scooted back onto the bike, allowing Blake to climb on.He easily secured his arms around Blake’s middle, peering up at him from over his shoulder.Through the visor, a bright, toothy smile worked its way onto his face, eyes flashing with excitement as he met gazes with Blake.
So cute…Blake thought, fighting the warmth that inched its way across the bridge of his nose.
He tried to ignore the way that Marin’s warm, soft body pressed eagerly into his back, attempting to reorient his attention onto the road.He didn’t want to end up crashing because he was distracted by a handsome guy clinging to him.
“You ready?”he asked.Marin squeezed around his middle.The merman’s chin tapped into Blake shoulder several times as he nodded, eager.
“Yeah,” Marin assented, tone laced with anticipation.
