That shock he saw on Shadow was priceless but Hebs wasn't going to say anything about that. And, yes, he did know what Shadow was going through. At least, he had a guess of it. He did live with Shadow for quite some time now so observing him and the others had been something he did most of the time.

Splashing the man's face while he was floating, he smiled in amusement and tilted his head towards a certain place that was pretty out of sight. By the rocks and a small cave. Hebs may not be helpful if he was involved but maybe he could ease up a little tension from Shadow?

Kratos didn't like being flustered but it can't be helped when something so obvious was poking him in eye and he still can't see it. When he'd seen what Léan had returned with him, he looked at them in slight awe and surprise. They were all nice, all right.

Shadow immediately looked a little uneasy, a little wary. This...well...to put it frankly, this was not normal--Shadow never had any sort of problem having sex with other people. It was only when emotion got in the way that he was hindered like this.

...Was there emotion there?

Léan held the bottle out to Kratos, so they would both be carrying something and pulling their weight. The bottle sparkled in the water. It had a faded label...where had it come from? Maybe...there was a sunken ship around here?

Hebs pushed back his wet hair as he pushed himself up to sit on the rock. Leaning back and letting out a quiet sigh, the snake teen looked again at his hands and his skin. He had soft pads, he'd given himself that but the scales on his skin didn't look at all pleasing. At least, he didn't think any humans would want to have to touch his scaly skin except for Gian. But, that was only out of curiosity.

Alfie's even lucky half of his body was still human.

Kratos took the bottle and he looked at the faded label before he'd raised his eyebrows a little. He curiously looked around and idly wondered the same thing. Was there a sunken ship around here?

Shadow looked down for a long moment before he glanced up, fixing Hebs with a steady gaze. "...I, ah...I won't force you to do anything, but...if you'd like to, you're more than welcome to," he replied, quietly. "I don't mind your skin." And he didn't mind his skin. Not in the least, actually. He did, however, feel uneasy about something else...

He was trying not to let emotion get in the way of his normal, usually clockwork sex life.

Léan dipped down farther into the water, beckoning to Kratos to follow. He made sure to go at a pace that the human could follow him at. A few minutes passed...when the last minute ended, Léan turned the corner of the small rock wall he'd been following. There was, indeed, a very old-looking, algae and coral-covered sunken ship there.

Surprise was apparent on Hebs face when he'd heard Shadow's words and he felt his cheeks burn with embarrassment. "You're not forcing me on anything," he said before he'd rubbed the side of his neck and patted the space beside him for Shadow to join him. Once the other had done just that, he pulled the other's head down for him to take those lips into a searing kiss. But, not after he'd murmured a few words:

"It's strange how I'm finding you more attractive ever since this trip. Why did I realize such a thing just now?"

[[ Should we move this elsewhere? >> ]]

Kratos followed after Léan and he turned the corner of the small rock, looking rather surprised. He didn't think there'd be a sunken ship here. Before going in any deeper, though, he reached out for Léan's wrist to pull him back and take those lips into another kiss. Just for the oxygen. He wouldn't want to cause panic to the both of them, after all. Smiling slightly at Léan just after the kiss, he slid his hand down to clasp their hands together before he led the way into the said sunken ship.

((Sure, if you'd like. I can only be on until two (it's 1:33 here, so in about a half hour I have to get off), but we can get a lot done before two rolls around. Should we switch them over now to Yahoo, or wait until I can be on longer? It's up to you.))

Shadow sat down uneasily beside Hebs, enjoying the blush that graced the other male's face. He was about to make a comment on just how wonderfully he wore that blush when Hebs suddenly took the initiative, grabbing his head and pulling his face down to capture his lips in a rather passionate kiss. At once, the fallen angel acted. He responded to the other's offered kiss, looming over him at once.

Léan was once again flustered and confused when Kratos kissed him. There was a chance he wouldn't get over his bit of embarrassment until they were much closer together. As Kratos pulled them both forward, Léan's interest immediately shifted to the shift. There was a trove of great treasures in here...it appeared to be a pirate ship from long ago. It had sunk, it appeared, in warfare with another ship. There were even skeletons laying around...

[[ We can wait until you can be on longer. :3 ]]

Hebs could feel his own emotions strangely show by the way he was kissing Shadow. His cheeks didn't stop burning in embarrassment. They seemingly continued on as he tilted his head a little while deepening the said kiss. It was strange, yes, but it also felt good. Almost like a sense of relief was washing over his system despite the cool, morning air biting at their skins.

Kratos showed the same interest as Léan did in the boat and he took one of the skulls he saw laying around already filled with moss. He held it out to the merman and smiled slightly when he'd let its jaws open and shut. Of course, he'd taken the life from it just as quickly and dropped it aside to continue swimming towards what looked like a chest. It was worn with age and he only let go of Léan's hand to check the said chest. Was it a treasure chest?

((*sweeps Shadow and Hebs away*))



Léan drifted along close by Kratos, and he also made his way closer to the chest, curious about it. It was quite old, perhaps Elizabethan in age. It had a rather large lock on it that had rusted itself away, as well. Léan seemed very much on-edge in this sunken ship. Such ships were prime territory for others of his kind...he was on the lookout for more sirens. Wild sirens were more hostile than domesticated ones.

[[ XD ]]

Kratos looked around for a second or two to search for something to work on with the large lock. It's rusted so it should be easy to destroy but with the pressure of the water down here, he wouldn't be so sure. He had also noticed the way Léan seemed to be on-edge looking around like that. It had him curious and wondering. When he'd seen what looked like a crowbar, he moved to swim towards it and pulled it from the rocks and chipped wood it had been buried into. Once he had managed to pull it out, he swam back and kissed Léan again for some more oxygen and well, an excuse to kiss him really before he worked on the lock.

Léan was about to explain why he was on-edge when Kratos graced him with yet another kiss. His resolve to speak was lost, and he settled for a bit of sulky, embarrassed silence while he watched the human work on that lock. He was listening very closely for others of his kind. He would be able to hear them from quite a while away.

...He was wary of running into possibly a very pushy merperson. It was around the time of year when most sirens yearned to have young, and thus pushy males especially chased around potential mates with gusto, even unwilling ones.

Kratos finally got the lock opened. Inside was, indeed, a wealthy amount of gold. Ones that didn't interest Kratos but he was rather amused. Turning to look at Léan, he motioned to it and grinned before he'd tossed the crowbar aside. They didn't have to stay here for long. They could always come back again. It'd be much more fun, too, if they brought someone along. Taking Léan's hand into his own, he led the way back out and to the surface.

"We should probably go back," he started, "Do you still want to stay?"

((*tugs Hebs and Shadow back in*))

Shadow allowed Hebs to redress him and quickly followed him into the water, to wash off. "I have this idea, since I'm sure in the next four days or so we're going to get bored..." he hummed while he let the water run over him. "...I was thinking that we could do a walk-through show while we're here. Reach out to a new audience."

Walk-through shows were not like regular shows. They featured the 'freaks' behind glass and unable to be touched by the public. People would pay to walk through, take pictures, and talk to the 'freaks.'

Léan stretched his tail out once they reached the surface, floating on his back once more. It seemed to be his favorite floating position, really... "...We can go back. I'm kind of getting hungry...and I want tuna, not the little puny fish I've found around here." Tuna was the merman's favorite fish.

Hebs raised his eyebrows a little. "That sounds good," he said with a grin before he'd turned to look over the water. He could see Léan and Kratos but they were small, distant figures. "Though, will Léan agree to that?" Turning to look back at Shadow, it took him a moment to recover again from the man's good looks. He hated it when he was drawn in, really.

He also had to remember to swim.

Kratos found himself laughing. Yet again. A short laugh anyway. "You were wary also," he started. "Something wrong?"

"...We will have to talk to him, I suppose. Perhaps...if he's with Kratos? The two of them can be close to each other, sure...just not directly side by side..." Shadow knew that their dear merman tended to be unhappy during walk-through shows, mostly because he had to answer humans' questions if he was asked. Most of the time, strangely enough, he pretended he could not speak English to avoid answering questions...

Léan blinked, puzzled for a moment, and then he adopted a sheepish kind of look. "Well, I...I, ah...was on the lookout for any of my kind. We're hostile towards intruders to our territory...sunken ships are some favorite haunting areas of my kind..."

Kratos gave a little nod. That explained much. But, he sure as hell wouldn't be giving up Léan without a fight. Even if that meant that he had to kill whoever he came in contact with just to save the other. Tilting his head towards the shore, he took Léan's hand again and started to glide underwater to head towards the said place.

Hebs nodded at that. "He seems to have grown closer to him. That would be a good idea." Smiling again, the snake teen splashed some water at Shadow. "Let's go meet with them by the shore. They seem to be swimming back."

Léan was still a much more nimble swimmer than Kratos was, naturally. He had lost a lot of the muscle in his tail that he had when he was first captured and forced into captivity...but that was because he was now forced to live in a small aquarium. If only they lived near water...if they traveled, it would be much easier for him to regain that lost muscle...

Shadow splashed Hebs back, grinning, and slid their hands together, gently tugging Hebs toward the shore. He was a pretty decent swimmer himself...

Hebs grunted at being splashed back and was just about to splash at Shadow again until he'd felt the other's hand take his own. It had him flushing a little as he swam with the other toward the shore. "We should wake both Gian and Alfie up, shouldn't we?" he asked. He was pretty sure the both of them hadn't had breakfast yet and neither had these other two who were swimming to shore.

Kratos only stopped swimming when the water was at his chest level. He also let go of the merman's hand to turn to him and then glance over at Shadow and Hebs' way. The two seemed close, he noticed and he idly remembered overhearing the conversation between Alfie and Gian about Hebs. Did the snake teen really...?

"We should..." Shadow agreed, in a low hum, as they made their way to shore. He stepped out of the water, flipping his hair back behind him, and beckoned to Hebs. "Would you like to wake them up in an interesting manner?"

Léan noticed the close proximity between Hebs and Shadow, but he paid it no mind. He usually didn't care what the others did relationship-wise. As long as they were happy, the merman didn't care in the least. His stomach grumbled slightly, and he flushed a bright shade of pink, completely embarrassed.

Hebs quirked a brow in curiosity. "An interesting manner?" he asked with a tone of amusement and turned to look towards Léan's way. It wasn't hard to miss that slight growl of his stomach. He did have some sort of hearing ability. Talk about a snake ability.

"Don't be too loud," was all Kratos had told Shadow as he turned to look at Léan. He pulled him close so he could carry him into his arms and turned to look at Hebs. "Where's breakfast?"

While Hebs moved to stand by Shadow's side, he pointed to the house and blinked at Kratos' way. "Léan's share is in the kitchen. It shouldn't be hard to miss. You can heat yours up with the use of the microwave." When he'd seen Kratos give him a nod, Hebs gave him a small smile and then moved his attention back at Shadow. How, pray tell, would be an interesting way to wake those two up?

"You want to shake them awake, all panicked-like, and claim there's a fire?" Shadow suggested, a big, goofy grin on his face. That wasn't too loud, unless one of them were to scream or something. Then Kratos could yell at Alfie or Gian instead of himself and Hebs.

Léan clung to Kratos loosely, still looking a little embarrassed. He was starving, and he desperately wanted some tuna. It wasn't often that he ate human food, but if it was appetizing enough he might consider it. Fish had to be consumed every day, though, as part of the healthy diet of a merperson.

Hebs snickered. "I'll do the fire alarm and scream bloody hell but I won't do the shaking." He turned to look over at Kratos who was now bringing Léan back in for their breakfast - he's assuming. "Come on." Pulling his swim trunks up, he ran his fingers through his hair to push his white hair back. Only a few wet strands fell over his forehead and the sides of his face but overall, he had a pretty good body. Well-toned and would have definitely passed off as a hottie if it weren't for his snake skin.

Clasping his hands behind his neck, he turned to look back at Shadow. "Deal? Unless you have another way in mind."

Kratos managed to bring Léan in and he went to the kitchen to pop his food into the microwave and get those tuna for the merman. He managed to pull up a chair from the dining room so he could sit down and set Léan on his lap. "Try not to move around too much," he told him as he waited for his food to be heated up from the microwave.

Shadow grumbled, looking irritated. "All right. No shaking, then. We'll just scream about a fire taking place, whip open the door, and yell at them to get up and get out. I already pissed Alfie off...don't wanna piss him off again. You know how he gets when he's shaken awake. He's bitten me before, the little bastard..."

His tone was teasing, playful. But that bite had indeed hurt--he'd needed anti-venom.

Léan made an offended sort of face at Kratos when he told him not to move around too much. What, did he think he was going to try and grind against him while he sat there? Pah! He wasn't Alfie...he wasn't a tasteless pervert. The merman got offended at the littlest things. He bit into the tuna the human had fetched for him to hide his slight embarrassment.

Hebs remembered that time. That was rather hilarious now that he thought about it. Chuckling lightly as he shook his head, he tucked his hands into the pockets of his swim trunks. "I'm sure that bite wasn't so bad," he teased the older man, "You have a soft spot for the naga."

Kratos didn't think that at all. He just disliked that tail of Léan's moving around so much. But, he noticed the irritation on the merman's face and raised his eyebrows a little out of curiosity. He didn't pry, though, and pulled his food out from the microwave so he could start eating along with Léan.

"Yeah, and he took a nice, soft chunk of flesh out of my arm when he bit me," Shadow complained, frowning a bit. "...You want to sneak in first, and keep watch at the door while I make the first move?" he added, taking a few steps forward. He was rather cold, now, and wanted to wrap himself up in a towel.

Léan's tail still did swish around, at least the bottom half did. It was something he couldn't control when he was content or quite nervous, and he was a bit of both as he continued to eat so his tail was flicking back and forth almost nonstop.

Hebs laughed again at Shadow's complaint and he nodded at that. "Sure," he said with a grin before he'd put his hand on Shadow's back. Urging the other to hurry while he quickened his pace, he went to get the towel he'd left at the balcony to put this around Shadow's shoulders. "Try not to scare any neighbors, too."

Kratos noticed the bottom half tail of the merman's and he tilted his head a little. "Does that always move?" he asked idly as he continued eating as well. There was nothing but genuine curiosity playing in his eyes.