“Speaking of meeting up,” Celeste remarked thoughtfully.“Noel, we’re planning on going out clubbing in Lavender Heights tomorrow night—you wanna come with?”
The look of horror that crossed Noel’s features could have made a grown man weep.It was like Blake was staring down at a deer in the middle of the road from the cab of a semi-truck, only the poor animal had resigned itself to its death.
“I,” Noel squeaked, sinking low enough into the water that Blake was worried about the safety of his phone.
“Yeah, the more the merrier!”Marin chimed in, tone bubbling with enthusiasm.He reached out to settle an encouraging hand over Noel’s shoulder.
“Get me your phone number so I can send you my address,” Celeste glanced over their shoulder.“I have to get going—I have to do a ten-card spread in like five minutes.Text me and let me know what the plan is, okay?”
“Sure thing,” Blake said, taking the phone from poor Noel and setting it a safe distance away from the water.“Bye.”
“Bye.”
Back in the pool, Marin was saying to Noel: “You should come!I think it would be really fun.”
“I… I really don’t know.”Noel shook his head, his dark hair pooling around him like ink as he sunk deeper.“I’m super uncomfortable in big gatherings unless I’m in my fursuit and—and I promised to watch Matt stream Genshin Impact tomorrow night and…”
He squeezed his eyes shut.“And… I’m not really supposed to go to bars or clubs, since I’m sober.”
“That’s fine,” Marin said with a shrug before adding: “Maybe you can meet up with us to get food afterwards?”
While not being pushy, he was apparently determined to get Noel out and about.
Blake watched the exchange without speaking.Despite Celeste’s offer, he’d been anticipating Noel to turn them down—not that he would have minded him tagging along.In the span of one short evening, he’d been able to see the true colors of Noel’s character and was growing fond.
“I…” Noel began.“That should be okay.”
Blake was amazed.It wasn’t like Noel was entirely absent from their friend outings, but he only ever came if Matt was going to be there and tended to keep to himself at that.It was uncharacteristic of him to accept invitations when Matt’s presence wasn’t guaranteed—Blake was convinced that Marin was some sort of miracle worker.
“Great!”Marin beamed.“Hey, why don’t you bring Matt along with you?”
Nope, Marin’s not a miracle worker, he’s the most devious man I’ve ever met, Blake corrected himself.He’s conspiring to get Matt and Noel together.I’m sure of it.
12
By the time Blake and Marin had finished up at Water Zone and stopped by the local Walmart to pick up some essentials for the merman, it was nearing midnight.Blake all but collapsed onto the sleeper couch the moment they got back to the apartment, propping his laptop up on his knees to conduct some more research on Splashgrounds Manufacturing.Marin settled down beside him.
Splashgrounds Manufacturing had turned out to be a quick search—it was a defunct company in South San Francisco that made slides and playground equipment for water parks.Having narrowed down their region of interest to the Bay Area, Blake attempted to look up any relevant information on the surname “Marin” in the surrounding cities, but had yet to absorb any of the results Google produced.His mind was crawling with mermaid hunters, the conditions of the pygmalion spell, the upcoming deadline, and the man sitting on the sofa beside him.
Blake tried not to stare over at Marin—he was sure that he’d been sneaking glances at him the entire evening, if only to make sure he was all right.It wasn’t like there was anything dangerous in the apartment (other than the bathroom, which was not up to code), but he couldn’t help but be more wary of Marin’s wellbeing than ever.
The merman was absorbed in sketching on the iPad, oblivious of Blake’s plight, the tip of his tongue pinched between his teeth in concentration.From what Blake could ascertain, Marin was unbothered about the information that had been conveyed to him earlier that day.Either transformation complications, budding romantic feelings, and black-market flesh sales were no more of a threat to him than merging behind a semi-truck, or Marin was uncannily talented at hiding his own discomfort.
“Everything okay?”Marin asked without preamble, still gazing down at his drawing.
“Yeah.”Blake nodded, forcing his eyes back to his screen.He scanned the search results he’d called up earlier—most of what he’d been able to produce had been about Marin County.With a sigh, he closed his laptop.
“No,” he admitted.
Marin smirked knowingly, setting the tablet aside.“Wanna talk?”he asked.
“I wanted to know how you’re doing,” Blake replied.“I feel like we haven’t really gotten to touch base in the last twenty-four hours.”
“I won’t lie and say that I’m not a little overwhelmed,” Marin told him, bringing his knees to his chest and tipping back his head.He closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath.“I’ve been remembering so much so fast that it feels like it’s impossible to catch up with my thoughts.But…”
He paused, tenderness gentling his thoughtful expression.“I had a lot of fun with you today, if that’s not weird to say?”
Blake was a little shocked, if touched.“I’m surprised you aren’t more concerned about the fin hunters.”
