Arria opened his and leaned over to Carter, kissing away the tear that had fallen, "Hey, I'll be fine. I'd go through whatever they're gonna do to me then leave you alone." He said softly, taking Carter's hands in his own. He was about to say something else when his legs started to tingle. Only, it hurt. It hadn't hurt before so why now? "C-Carter?"
“What…? Oh sh-t, nonononononononono,” Carter cursed under his breath, yanking at the handcuffs again. The worse part of it was that the door was starting to open. Carter struggle against his restraints again, trying to put his body over Arria’s tail- trying to hide it. But his seat belt held him back, so he could only watch in terror for Arria.
It didn't take long for the change to happen, but it hurt, a lot. Arria threw his head back against the seat with a hiss of pain, the shorts ripping as his tail came back in full view. His tail felt to heavy, to dry. He was panting and still in pain and needed water. Need to swim needed to do anything as long as it involved water.
Maria entered with a gasp, a flash of lust entering her eyes. Carter let out a growl, struggling against his restraints, “Don’t hurt him. If you lay a finger on him, you’re dead.”
Maria quickly ushered her guard in, and quickly closed the door. She looked Arria up and down, greed written all over her face. “This is quite a fine surpri-“
“You aren’t allowed to hurt him, and let me out of these d-mn handcuffs,” Carter snarled, yanking at them again. He just wanted to make sure Arria was okay, he wanted to take him back to the ocean, he wanted to get him somewhere safe.
Arria lifted his head and rested it against Carters shoulder, panting, “Why’d that hurt so much?” He whispered, more to himself then anything. Everything felt to heavy, to dry. The space felt to small and cramped and he could barely move his tail. He tried moving but it just hurt. He needed water, and quickly.
“What can I do?” Carter asked softly, wishing he could hold Arria, wishing he could do something. Maria only watched with amusement and greed in her eyes. Carter wanted to rip out those d-mn eyeballs. He wanted Arria safe.
“I… I don’t know…” Arria took a few moments to clam his breathing, retuning it and his heart rate back to normal, “I-I need water, need to swim.”
Carter shot a pointed look at Maria. She had the audacity to roll her eyes, “Why should I?”
And Carter spun a lie in his head -at least he hoped it was a lie- “He’ll die without water, sure he can breathe, but his body needs salt water to function.”
Maria frowned, then gestured to the guard. He stood then unclamped the handcuffs from Carter’s wrists. He was immediately unclipping his seat belt and grabbing Arria’s hands, but the guard pushed Carter away and clamped the metal cuffs on Arria’s wrists. And Maria slid to the front of the vehicle, telling the driver, “Go to the coast.”
Coast. Water. Coast. Water… Arria didn’t care about the cuffs on his wrists, maybe he would have if he wasn’t focused on getting to water. Even though Carter might not know it, he had spoken truth. He heaved a breath and relaxed a little into Carter, closing his eyes.
Carter held onto Arria, trying to offer as much comfort as he could while glaring daggers at Maria. She only smirked, “So how on earth did this come to be?” She raised her eyebrows.
Carter only frowned, tightening his hold on Arria, “None of your business.”
Arria was getting weaker by the second but he was so glad Carter has his arms around him again. He buried his head in the crook of Carter’s neck, a muffled and pained whine coming from him a few moments later.
It felt like it took too long for the car to slow, too long for them to reach the coast. Carter already had his arms wrapped around Arria, ready to carry him to the water, but Maria stood between him and the door and demanded, “What do you think you’re doing?”
Carter snarled, “He needs to get submerged in the water, and I don’t think you’ll want to get wet.” Maria gave him a look, and just as Carter was about to tell her she was wasting time, she turned and opened the limo door. Carter shoved passed her, carrying Arria as gently as he could. A secluded part of the beach was revealed, salty air hitting him as he rushing for the water.
Arria’s heat rate was slowly, his breathing becoming nearly noticeable. He was becoming unbearably tired and just wanted to sleep for however long he could. His tail had lost its colour, same with his skin, “Carter…” He said quietly, barely audible over the rush and crashing of the waves, “I love you…”
“It’s be okay, we’re here, see,” Carter breathed, a wave crashing into him as he hit the water. He immediately put Arria in the water, but kept tugging him deeper. Because Carter had no intention of going back on land, he didn’t care if he drowned, he wouldn’t go back with that insane woman. “Arria?”
Arria didn’t respond. Couldn’t respond. His body was limp and his chest had stopped moving, his heart stopped beating. He’d known. Knew they weren’t going to make it in time but couldn’t bare to tell Carter in case they did.
“See? Arria, we’re here.” Carter said again, swallowing as panic started to tint his voice, “Arria? Arria! A-Arria?” Carter shook his shoulders a little bit. That’s when it hit him. His sea boy’s chest had stopped moving with that steady breath. Tears pricked his eyes. “Arria! Arria!” Nononononono- I had been bluffing- “Arria!” Carter dunked his beloved beneath the water before pulling him back up again. “Arria, you don’t have to fake it, we can just swim away,” Carter pleaded, pleaded for Arria to just open his eyes and laugh again. To take his hand and they could find their way back to Herla and Gallion and- “Pl-Please, pl-pl-please, Ar-Arria?”
It could have been minutes or maybe hours where Arria was consumed in an overwhelming and constricting darkness, he didn’t know. He yelled and screamed and begged to the nothingness to take him back. Take him to his friends. Take him back to Carter. It was then when he small, white blinding light that he swam after for what felt like hours. But it was worth it.
He let out a gasp and coughed and spluttered and grabbed onto the nearest object. Carter. He was still weak and tired and scared but held onto his love as if he was going to die again, colour slowly returning to his tail and his body.
Carter had tears covering his face when he felt Arria’s body move slightly. He gasped, more tears coming. Tears of joy, tears of relief. He gripped Arria tightly -yet gently- and held him close, “You died, you died, Arria, gosh, Arria, I love you, I love you.” He’s alive, gosh he’s alive!
“I know I died,” Arria replied, his voice raspy and hoarce, “And I love you too…” He coughed some more, trying to clear this throat while he held onto Carter. Gosh did it feel nice to be back in his arms, dying was scary and was so glad he was alive again.
“Shhh… save your voice,” Carter told him, still in disbelief that the love of his life was still alive. He brushed it away, just grateful that Arria was okay. He slowly took him deeper in the water, and Carter could vaguely here angered shouted from the beach from Maria, but he ignored it and kept swimming. “Rest, I’m going to get us a farther away, I can drag you,” He told his sea boy -his sea angel- gently, kissing his forehead. Alive. Breathing. Arria’s alive…
“Are you sure?” Arria replied, his voice getting worse by the second. The waters had calmed down and the sun was beginning to rise over the horizon. If he wasn’t trying to focus on his breathing, Arria might have admired it.
“Yes, now shh,” Carter told him with a tiny smile. He’s okay, he’s okay, he’s okay… He swum out further, he was now above his head but he kept going. He needed to get far enough from the coast, far enough so Maria wouldn’t follow.
Arria looked back over his shoulder to the shoreline and frowned a little before looking back to Carter. He really hoped he could get them both to safety and opened his mouth to protest again but decided against it. He was exhausted. The quicker they got home the better.
It looked like Maria was making a phone call, but Carter didn’t dare stop swimming. He kept going as they got farther and farther away from shore, until they were specks on the horizon. Carter had a tight hold around Arria, always double checking if he was doing okay.
Arria was mainly replying on Carter as they swam further out and eventually, he had to ask Carter to stop, “Can we rest for a moment, please?” They were going to have to swim bellow the surface at some point and Arria needed the break before that happened.
“Of course, I got you,” Carter said softly, immediately stopping and holding out his arms to Arria so he could rest. Carter had to admit he was getting tired, but he tried not to let it show. He didn’t want Arria to worry about him.
Arria let out a breath and relaxed into Carter so he could regain his energy, “I can do the rest of the work from here. You’ve done enough and I can swim us the rest of the way.”
“Are you sure? You almost died, Arria, I don’t want you to hurt yourself further. I’m fine.” Carter said, wishing he was a better liar. We’re going to have to swim for so long… Maria had said we crossed the border…
Arria shook his head with a small smile, “You’re tired too, Carter. You swam us out this far,” He placed a gentle kiss to his lips, “I’ve got it from here.” He didn’t care how long he had to swim, as long as he at least got Carter to safety then that was all that mattered.
“Just, if you need a break we’ll take one. As many as we need, we’ll get home safely. Just don’t-“ A faint noise from the distance made Carter stop talking. He squinted, looking at the horizon. What is that- There. Just a speck, but… a boat powered for them, getting closer and closer. If that’s Maria… gosh no please…