Penned Sea Hearts

Kai was giddy. Rami had read everything the locals had to say, making notes in a separate notebook, all serious-like and adorable, and was now actually reading his book, making more notes, underlining things with a pen, and it was just all adorable.

And also impressive, given that he was doing all of this on top of his librarian job. Kai hadn’t managed to do much of his own writing because he’d been too busy staring at Ramos as he flitted between working his job and working on his novel to the point where Kai was starting to wonder if he still remembered Kai was sitting next to him.

But he didn’t mind that at all because it was all very cute to see. And inspiring as well. Kai didn’t remember the last time he’d been hit with the fervor to work creatively that Rami was showing. That was a little sad to think about, but he’d written a lot of books, while Ramos had written one. It was only to be expected for the excitement to get lesser and lesser over time.

Once the time came to close down the library, Kai was suddenly bummed out, though. That was usually when they parted ways, and he didn’t really want to do that. He would be more than happy to watch Rami work nonstop, but he wasn’t sure if Ramos wanted that. He’d probably just not noticed Kai staring at him between everything.

“Um, I suppose we will see each other after the weekend,” Ramos said as they went outside, locking the library door. His expression was as hard to read as usual, though there was a hint of sadness in his eyes. At least Kai hoped he wasn’t just imagining it, and that that the sadness was about them parting ways. He certainly felt very saddened now that he was reminded that the workweek was over.

He’d completely forgotten about that on account of not having a normal job in a decade. He certainly didn’t like the idea of him and Rami not seeing each other for that long. And it was entirely possible Ramos was just saying this because he was assuming that Kai didn’t want to spend more time with him.

Unfortunately, it was also entirely possible Rami himself didn’t want to spend time with Kai, and Kai didn’t want to come across as overbearing, so he had to be careful about this.

“You know, we don’t have to part ways just yet.”

Ramos tilted his head at him a bit, frowning as if not understanding at all what Kai was telling him, making Kai grimace. But before he could panic and blurt something out to backtrack, Rami’s eyes went wide with realization.

“Oh.” He ducked his gaze, his face very deliberately neutral. “You…wish to spend even more time with me?”

“Well, yeah, obviously,” Kai immediately replied, grinning ear to ear. He really hoped Ramos was into the idea because if not he was making a huge fool out of himself.

Then again, that wasn’t exactly new, was it?

“I…I see.” Ramos blinked a few times, narrowing his eyes, as if trying to compute the situation. It would be adorable if it wasn’t so depressing. “Erm, what, um, what would you like to do?”

“Oof, Rami, you sound like you’ve never done anything with anyone before.”

Kai immediately cringed at himself, wishing he could take those words back, but he was genuinely stumped. Weren’t he and Ara friends? Surely they hung out sometimes, despite Ramos’ workaholic tendencies.

Rami’s expression was now guarded, but Kai could tell he was sad from the slight downturn of his lips and the tired, resigned look in his eyes. “Apologies, it is rare anyone wants to spend time with me.”

Kai winced at self-deprecating words and tone, resisting the urge to hug him. He couldn’t resist all the way, though, patting Rami’s shoulder gently. The merman froze, staring at Kai’s hand, not moving away an inch.

“Hey, I’m sorry, Rami. It’s not your fault. Everyone here is just an idiot. All the more reason to spend time together, huh?” Kai’s grin widens when he sees Ramos relax a bit, a tentative smile on his face. He intended to make that smile appear much more frequently. “I shall show you the ways of friendship.”

He snorted while Ramos rolled his eyes, his smile growing. “I was not aware you knew what the word shall means.”

Kai put a hand over his heart, mock offended. “You wound me, Sir Librarian. My characters talk like this sometimes.”

Ramos actually chuckled then, the sound making Kai’s heart dance. Oh, he really was lost, wasn’t he? Oh well.

“Please, never call me that again,” he deadpanned, but the effect was lost because he was still smiling. In fact, Ramos looked like he couldn’t stop, and that was simply adorable.

“Will do, Sir Librarian.”

Ramos let out a long, dramatic sigh, rolling his eyes yet again, and Kai was stuck grinning at him. To the point where he completely missed what Ramos was asking him.

“Kai?”

“Hm?” He blinked, pulling himself together. “Sorry, what did you say?”

Ramos was once again frowning at him, now looking a bit concerned. Kai needed to get a handle on this. “I asked what you’d like to do if you wish to spend time with me?”

“Oh!” Kai hummed as he thought about it. “Well. I’ve been wanting to check out those volcanoes. I’ve never seen one of them so up close. Think you could show me around?”

Ramos stared at him as though Kai had grown a second tail. “Show you around? Around what? The volcanoes?!”

“Uh, yeah?” Kai’s worry over Rami’s reaction quickly turned into amusement when he realized what the other merman’s tense posture and bulging eyes really meant. “Oh, what? Are you scared of them, Rami?”

“Don’t mock me!” he snapped, huffing as he folded his arms over his chest, his tail flicking with annoyance. “I simply do not see how being near deadly lava is beneficial to either of us.”

“You’ve never been up there, huh?”

Ramos glared at him for that question, which only made Kai smirk more. “Of course not. Why would I swim up there?”

“Because it’s interesting!” Kai said with excitement, chuckling at Rami’s withering gaze. He did genuinely want to see the lava. It was such a cool—hehe—local feature, and strange, natural sights like this tended to inspire him, so that would be two shrimp with one stone. But he wasn’t interested if Ramos wasn’t.

“Look, it’s fine, no biggie. Let’s just grab some dinner, then?”

Ramos visibly relaxed, though he still seemed tense, his arms held very close to his body. “Yes, that would be nice. Though I do not have money for a fancy restaurant. Or the energy to about around many people.”

“No problem, we can just grab some takeout and go to your place?” Kai paused when he realized what he’d said without thinking. “Or mine. My hotel room is pretty big.”

“Uh.” Now Ramos was actually blushing, his usually very pale cheeks red as he shrugged. “M-maybe we can just stay out here?”

Kai didn’t show the way he cringed at that on his face, but he sure did. That was about as clear of a rejection as he could have gotten without Ramos yelling at him. The fact that he wasn’t just made this worse because it meant Kai had made him uncomfortable.

“Right, great idea! Known any nice place to write?”

Ramos’ face brightened at that a bit. “Actually, I do.”

After getting something to eat—with both of them deciding on fried lobster—Kai let Rami lead him wherever he was heading, looking around curiously, seeing as he hadn’t been in the eastern part of town yet much.

Noticing a park filled with colorful seaweed up ahead, Kai assumed Rami was heading that way, but they ended up swimming past it to the hill to town hall was located on.

Frowning, Kai followed without a word, now three times as curious as they swam around the large rocks making up large parts of the hill, only for a small opening among the rocks to become visible, largely obscured by weeds.

Ramos looked back at Kai with a smile, disappearing inside the small cave, making the algae sway as he did. Kai darted after him, blinking when he pushed the seaweed aside only to see that what he’d thought was a cave was actually an alcove in the hill, its rocks making up a roof over their heads.

There were crystals around the place, set in the sand beneath them, lighting up the space warmly, and when Kai turned to look back at the seaweeds, he realized that like this, it was possible to see outside, with a prime view of the eastern volcanoes, their heat glowing in the dark waters in the distance, rumbling faintly.

“I liked to come here to think and write,” Ramos explained, settling himself down on a worn blanket thrown over the ground, his tail laid out across the sand and his back against the rocky wall of the hill, his box of food next to him.

“Liked?” Kai repeated, swimming over to him and sitting down as well. “You don’t anymore?”

Rami shrugged, smiling a little, though it seemed a bit sad. “I…haven’t been in a writing mood lately.”

“But now you are again, right?” Kai immediately asked, eager for a confirmation, which Rami gave with a nod and a slight laugh that made Kai’s insides flutter. It was such a pretty sound. He really wished it wasn’t so rare.

“Yes, thanks to you.” Then his expression grew more serious as he frowned. “Though, please don’t let random people off the street read my work without asking again.”

Kai grimaced, his face growing a bit hot as he scratched the back of his neck. “Yeah, right.” That had probably not been his most morally correct idea, but it had worked, so he’d do it over if he could. Still, he didn’t want to ever make Ramos uncomfortable. “Sorry about that.”

Ramos shook his head, smiling a bit as he adjusted his glasses before opening his lobster box. “It’s okay. At least you did not tell them I wrote it.”

“That I didn’t,” Kai said, nodding, pleased with himself that he’d thought it through at least this much. Hoping that it was all right, he swam over to Rami and sat down next to him, stretching out his tail with a sigh and plopping his own box of fried lobster. “Though maybe they’d finally show you some of the respect you deserve if I did tell them.”

For a moment Kai didn’t notice the look Rami was giving him, too preoccupied with stuffing his mouth with lobster meat, but when he realized, he blinked at the other merman. “What?”

“What do you mean respect I deserve?”

Kai scoffed. “What do you mean what do I mean? Everyone is super unfair to you.”

Ramos sighed, chewing on a piece of meat as well as he shrugged. “I have no patience for most of them. It’s only fair they dislike me in turn.” He hummed then, looking down at the lobster tail he was holding. “This is very good.”

Kai nodded enthusiastically, though he wasn’t ready to drop the previous subject. “You say that as if you’ve never had lobster before.”

“I’ve had it,” Ramos huffed, eating more of it. “But this one simply tastes better than average.”

Kai chuckled, unable not to be endeared by that. “I’ll notify the restaurant. ‘Ramos An’lon thinks you don’t suck’.” Kai winked at him. “High honor, honestly.”

He couldn’t help but grin when he got one of the two reactions he’d been hoping for, with Rami’s face turning red, his head ducked a little. Kai let himself appreciate it for a while longer before his smile ebbed.

“You don’t go out much, do you?”

“To restaurants?” Ramos shook his head, finishing the lobster tail. “No, I can’t afford it. Besides, who would I go with?”

Kai wanted to immediately point out that Ramos could just go by himself, but he decided it wasn’t worth it. Instead, he opted for a question about something that had been bothering him a bit. “What about your friend, the blacksmith?”

“Ara? I’m not certain if I would call us frie—” Ramos’ eyes suddenly went wide with horror, making Kai stare at him, equally as alarmed as Ramos suddenly darted off the blanket. “Oh no, it’s her birthday tomorrow! I completely forgot.”

Kai swam to him, grabbing Rami by the shoulders so as to calm him down a bit. “All right, that’s great. We can finish eating and then go get her something nice, eh?”

“With what money?” Ramos moaned, hanging his head.

“You said you could afford to buy the lobster,” Kai pointed out, alarmed again. He had respected Rami’s dislike of being bought food, letting him pay for it himself, but if his financial situation really was this grim, he shouldn’t have let him.

“Yes, and nothing else.”

Ramos looked so damned depressed, his eyes aimed at the ground, his ears drooping, his tail fin pressed against the sand. It was so hard to watch that Kai had to do the one thing that always worked—hug him.

Ramos tensed up but Kai didn’t let up, only hugging him more tightly, not letting go especially when Rami’s hesitant arms wrapped around him in turn. “Look, it’s all fine. You pick something nice, and I’ll buy it, hm?”

Ramos pulled away then, gawking at Kai in disbelief. “I can’t keep taking your money!”

It was a real shame that the few times Rami had expressed truly powerful emotion had been negative. “Fine, I’ll lend you money. How about that? You can pay me back whenever.”

Ramos opened his mouth to argue, but then he sighed, his shoulders sinking. “I suppose I have no other choice.”

“Great!” Kai settled himself back down on the blanket, his arms still tingling from hugging Rami. But he didn’t let himself think about that for too long. “Now come on, we have yummy food to finish.”

Ramos sighed again, heavier this time, but he did obey, seating himself down next to Kai, eating with a pensive frown on her face, no doubt trying to think of a gift for his not-friend. Kai wanted to roll his eyes at that, but he knew Rami would assume he was being annoyed with him, and not with whoever had made Ramos think like this.

Kai would make sure to hint to Ara to outright call Ramos her friend. So there would be no more deniability. He hated gray areas in relationships like this. All they did was cause angst.

Now if only Kai had the strength to escape from the gray area he himself was now in with Rami.