“Well, I’m pretty close to being a shark, but I’m still technically human,” Erikos chuckled, pointing to his unusually sharp teeth as he slowed. He held onto a bit of coral, leaning forward as he peered over the mile-long dropoff that ended the coral
"A vampire shark," Daus teased, chuckling as Erikos showed him his sharper teeth. He stopped as well, glancing down towards the drop off curiously for a few moments.
“Cool, right?” Erikos said. “We can’t go any farther than this, or we’ll never get back to the shore. It’s all fishing boats past here.”
"Really cool," Daus repeated, peering over the edge for a few more long moments until he finally glanced back over towards Erikos. He nodded in understanding, pushing himself away from the piece of coral he was holding onto, part of him wishing that they could go a bit further.
Erikos turned back, using the coral to make his way back towards the shore. "If my dad hadn't left without us, we probably could have gone out on the boat," he commented
"Don't worry, this was more than perfect," Daus answered, smiling brightly as he looked towards Erikos for a few short moments. He began to focus on the coral and fish again, seemingly unable to get enough of the bright colors.
"Glad to be of some service," Erikos chuckled. He swam slowly along the coral, occasionally trying to catch the odd fish or pet sharks here and there
"I need to get out more often," Daus chuckled, grinning widely as he watched Erikos attempt to catch a couple creatures. He ran into a larger swarm of fish, laughing as the brightly colored animals brushed against his arms.
Erikos giggled giddily as he managed to wrap his arms around a small shark. "Look Daus, I've got a pet!" he called, upside down as he hung onto the shark's belly
Daus laughed loudly and shook his head as he watched Erikos giggle from under the shark's belly. He swam closer to the other, smiling dorkily as he continued to watch Erikos hold onto the creature. "What are you going to name it?" He asked, tilting his head to the side as if he were curious to know.
Erikos scooted up a bit so he could look at the shark's face. It stopped for a moment, its beady eyes staring back at him as he squinted in thought. "I think I'll name it…Fins!" he exclaimed, grinning before scooting a bit back down the shark's belly
"You're an absolute dork…in a cute way though," Daus teased, chuckling as he watched Erikos suddenly get excited as they chose a name for the shark. He continued to swim next to the two, smiling faintly at how Erikos still hung from the shark's belly.
"Am not," Erikos protested, turning to stick his tongue out at Daus before adjusting his grip on the shark. His cheeks were slightly flushed from the other's comment. He wasn't cute, was he?
"No, you're definitely an adorable dork," Daus countered, grinning faintly as Erikos stuck their tongue out at him. He returned the action and tried to distract himself from the faint blush beginning to cross his cheeks again by looking down at some new, brightly colored fish.
"Yeah, well, you're the tiny dork," Erikos shot back in an attempt to somewhat save himself. He was still clutching onto the shark, which after trying to shake him off a time or two simply gave up and let him cling to its fins
"I may be the small one, but you're still the cute one," Daus continued to tease, chuckling as he swam a bit out towards a group of fish so Erikos wouldn't see the flush on his cheeks. He usually wasn't one for complimenting or…flirting, if that was even what he was doing at this point.
"Well you're the…the…the cute twig who needs swimming lessons!" Erikos said, using the fin of the shark to hide his red face. Why was Daus calling him cute so much? That wasn't something friends told themselves often, was it?
"Yes, I probably do need swimming lessons," Daus called back, glancing up at Erikos who was already hidden behind the shark's fin. He looked down and hummed in thought, picking up stray seashells in order to distract himself from the flush on his cheeks.
“But that’s okay, because you’ve got me to teach you,” Erikos said, coming out from hiding beneath the shark’s fin. It had begun to swim lazily towards Daus
"I…do? Because I'm really terrible at it, Erikos," Daus answered quickly, looking up towards the other as he dropped the seashells in his hand. He pushed himself off of the sandy floor, hoping that most of the pink tint on his cheeks had disappeared.
“Well, I’m sure it can’t be too hard to teach you,” Erikos assured him. He reached up, hugging the shark before letting go. The shark seemed confused at first, and it looked around for a minute before finding Erikos. It began to follow him as he swam over to Daus
"What do I do first..?" Daus asked, glancing down at himself confusedly before he looked back up towards Erikos and the shark that followed close behind him. He knew how to swim enough so that he wouldn't drown, but if he got to learn from Erikos, that would be a lot better.
“Well, we should probably start back on land,” Erikos said, frowning in thought. The shark seemed not to want them to leave, even going to nuzzle Erikos’ hand
"We can stay here if Fins wants you to," Daus answered, chuckling lightly as the shark nuzzled into Erikos' hand. It was a bit amazing that an animal had taken a liking in Erikos so quickly, though that must be easy with their charismatic personality.
"I think Fins wants me to stick around, so I guess we could just do it underwater," Erikos said with a shrug. He used the coral to find a relatively clear space, where there were few creatures save for Fins and a few stray fish. Using the coral he lodged his feet beneath the rocks, just so that he was in a sort of "standing" position
"This should be fun," Daus mumbled, chuckling a bit as he used the coral to push himself over towards the clearer space. Unlike Erikos, he let himself float up on his back, attempting to catch a fish or two lazily.
"Okay, so you kinda just…windmill your arms, really. But you have to make scoops with your hands while you do it, like this," Erikos said, taking a moment to demonstrate while Fins nudged his back in confusion
"Like…how exactly?" Daus asked, a confused look on his face as he watched Erikos before lifting his own arms in the air. He probably looked like a complete dork, but hey, at least he was going to learn how to swim properly.
"Like…Like this," Erikos said, slowing his motions down a bit so Daus could see better. "It's really easy once you get the hang of it. You just gotta put one arm in front of the other."
"I bet I look like a complete dork right now," Daus mumbled, frowning faintly in concentration as he attempted to move his arms like Erikos. After a few moments of practicing, he managed to get a close copy of what the other had shown him. "I actually kind of did it," he said almost excitedly, a bright grin crossing his face as he looked towards Erikos.