“Hey,” Blake mouthed, waving back.He gestured towards the pile of reject corndogs.“These free?”
Lovepreet rolled her dark eyes, cocking a hip.“They’re yourarteries,” she hissed out of the corner of her mouth, shaking her head so that her thick braid whipped over her shoulder.Even though she was exasperated, she was still smiling.
Then, despite her warning, Blake descended on the pile of discarded food like a man starved.
Deep fried dog in hand, Blake turned to look out over the arcade for any sign of Marin and Matt—he found Matt several minutes later, slumped over in the soundproof karaoke booth that the guys liked to hotbox after hours.He’d apparently dozed off, drooling all over the glass door.
“Matt,” Blake sighed in chagrin, stomping over to go wake him up.He was lucky there wasn’t anyone queuing up at the snack bar.
Blake opened the door and—to his mild surprise—Matt slumped out of his seat and into his arms.He gave Matt a firm shake, only for him to slowly flutter one eye open before the other.
“Oh hey B!”he greeted Blake nonchalantly.“Man I was having thebestdream…”
“You.Are.At.Work.”Blake told Matt in staccato grunts, giving him another little shake with each word.“You had no room to lecture me on my sleeping habits!”
“It’s not my fault!”Matt whined, flopping around in Blake’s grasp.“Marin’s voice is almost as relaxing as Noel’s!I couldn’t help but fall asleep!”
Blake groaned, dropping his chin to his chest.“You’re impossible.”
He resettled Matt in the booth, glancing around the immediate area.Unable to find Marin, he figured that the merman was likely up in the offices as they had planned.Once making sure that Matt was properly conscious and back behind the snack bar, Blake headed up the stairs to search for Marin.He’d only managed to get to the back hall when the song reached him.
It was something in Japanese, probably from an older anime.Marin’s voice was a warm, silvery tenor and it wrapped around Blake like a physical presence.It was as if he’d been immersed in a balmy ocean, completely surrendered to the peaceful pressure of the depths.It was like nothing he’d experienced before, as if everything in his body simply gave up, but he was devoid of fear.
In the depths before him, a pale light was glowing up from the craggy rocks below.Blue and lilac hair diffused in the water around him, ensnaring him, gentle hands caressing his cheeks as he spotted obsidian eyes gleaming out from between the floating tresses.Blake leaned into his palm, allowing himself to be led forward, their lips almost slotting together—
“Alex, get him onto the couch!”a muffled voice called from the surface.
Marin pulled away, smile playful.
“Time to wake up,” he said with a tap to Blake’s nose, and Blake’s eyes snapped open.
“Get out of the way, Matt!”
Blake found himself lying on the dirty couch in the break room with Alex’s service dog Sadie on his chest.Marin knelt by his side, looking sheepish.Alex, Matt, and Lovepreet were hovering over them, their faces clouded over with anxiety.
“You okay there Blake?”Alex asked as Blake eased himself up onto his elbows.Sadie climbed off as he moved, wagging her tail.Blake gave her head a pat.“Try not to move too much.We radioed for one of the other lifeguards to take a look at you.”
“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Blake insisted, pressing his fingertips to his temple.“Please don’t call an ambulance.I’m already in enough debt as it is.”
“That all depends on what happened,” Lovepreet told him, crossing her arms over her chest and quirking an eyebrow.
“He passed out when he was heading for the break room,” Marin explained.“I was back there waiting for him and I heard him fall, so I went to grab help.”
“What, are your naps contagious now or something?”Lovepreet teased Matt, who stuck out his tongue at her.
“Are you feeling okay?”Alex asked Blake.“What happened?”
“I…” Blake tried to piece together the last few minutes of his life.He’d grabbed some corn dogs, yelled at Matt for falling asleep, went upstairs to find Marin, heard him singing, and then… and then what?
“Hey, came as fast as I heard!”Jace called, jogging into the room.His tawny hair was flying around as he charged towards them, shades slipping down his nose to reveal his golden-tan face.
Alex and Lovepreet stepped out of the way to allow him to approach.Alex recalled Sadie to his side where she dutifully sat, watching the scene with stoic brown eyes.
Jace was toting a massive first-aid kit that Blake knew from experience only contained instant ice packs, band-aids, and sugar-free lollipops.He dropped it on the couch by Blake’s feet, crouching down to observe him.“You okay?”
“Just a little dizzy,” Blake reported.“I must’ve had a palpitation or something.I felt fine until right before I passed out.”
“I could use a lollipop,” Matt said, looking at the bag with covetous eyes.
