Neptune's Blessings Ch. 031-036

Chapter 31

There was a downside to Mathias getting so much rest during the day. And that was that he was able to dream once more. Luckily his sleep was interrupted before he could start thrashing and screaming.

Mathias calmed his breathing and heartbeat as quickly as he could so that he could listen for what had disturbed his very disturbing dreams. However what he heard was quite confusing. It sounded like a single large creature or merman, but with a soft nearly silent echo. His confusion was soon cleared up though when the currents brought him both Romulus' and Titos' scents.

Carefully and slowly so as to not unduly disturb his sleeping fry he eased himself into a seated posture. Once he had finished he did not have long to wait for his brothers' arrival.

"See?" Tito whispered dramatically as they approached the nest, "I told you he'd be awake when we got here."

Mathias suppressed a snort at Tito once again using a half truth to convince someone that everything was okay. Since Tito had obviously known that Romulus' loud swimming would wake Mathias up.

Pulling a smile onto his face Mathias gave his brothers a small wave. Romulus gave Tito's innocent face a skeptical glance before returning the gesture. Then the two worked together to settle a large enough skipjack to last Mathias and his fry for the whole night that they'd hauled in tandem onto the edge of Mathias' nest. But before they could even rip off a chunk for Mathias though Sleepless, who'd been awoken by the commotion, and Glutton who'd been drawn awake by the scent of food set upon the open wound at the base of the tuna's skull.

The three adults watched bemusedly for a few moments before Romulus broke the silence with a soft chuckle. Then as if a spell had been broken Tito carefully dug into the fish's soft belly and ripped out a large chunk to feed to Mathias. Soon, as if Glutton's loud happy chirps and trills were a signal the rest of the fry woke up and swarmed over the fresh source of food, and Tito and Romulus settled onto opposite sides of the family to watch and occasionally help Mathias get another portion.

Once everyone except Glutton had settled back down Mathias properly introduced his offspring to his eldest brother.

Romulus then proceeded to run his fingers strategically down several of their ribs, test their grip reflexes, bend their arms and watch their muscles, and tease them into chasing his hand. Finishing his examination he spoke in a soft soothing tone, "They're healthy. Their fat layer is a little thin, but their muscles are also a bit more developed than normal."

Mathias started off relieved but then a worried frown grew on his face at the mention of their fat layer. Romulus patted his brother's head comfortingly as he tried to reassure him, "You just need to find some way to get a little extra fat into their diet. They are getting enough to eat." He paused to watch as Glutton continued to slowly eat before he dryly said, "Even if some don't believe it." At Mathias' chuckle he smiled and continued, "It'd be best if you could get a whale calf or seal pup, barring that some mackerel, or something heavily gravid would be almost as good, but there should be plenty of eels and large stationary shellfish at the drop off and I don't think that's too far from here."

Nodding Mathias whispered hoarsely, "Thanks Rommy." Romulus frowned and looked like he was going to say something else, but at Tito's quick head shake he stayed silent.

Tito apologetically spoke up, "Rommy came out to help me hunt, and he'll be missed soon so we should get going."

Mathias sadly nodded before putting on a brave smile and exchanging farewell hugs with his brothers. As they swiftly disappeared he dragged the fish's remains into his nest and curled up to get a bit more sleep.

~~~~~

Mathias finally gave up on sleep when all that was left of the skipjack was bones. With a sigh he ate the remains of the evidence as he watched the water slowly brighten. When the seascape was lit enough that the fry could safely navigate Mathias took them over by the boulder so that they could poke around and hunt in its vicinity. It did not take long for his patience to be rewarded, about an hour after the sun had properly risen a large hare was dropped into the water above them.

Hearing the bloop of a splash Mathias carefully swam up along the boulder with his youngsters following in his wake, however he ignored the sinking coney as well as the fry's indignant shrieks as they passed it by. They would return for it and there was something more important he had to do.

Breaching the surface Mathias held himself steady against the boulder top with his good hand as he gazed up at the familiar harpy. She stood near the water's edge looking at him curiously since they both knew that there was no way that he would be able to climb onto the boulder in his current condition.

With a sheepish smile Mathias said, "Hey, um, Callie right?" The difference between her and Cora were far more subtle than the difference between Cora and Clara. But Mathias was sure that this harpy's nose was a bit more upturned and her chin just the slightest bit more rounded. Her eyes sparked gleefully as she gave him a firm nod. With a soft sigh Mathias apologized, "I'm sorry about the other day."

Callie cackled and shook her head as she mirthfully said, "Don't worry about it, people in far better times have made the same mistake." Then she tilted her head and resumed curiously watching him. There was no way that he could've known who was up here so that surely was not the reason he had swam all the way up.

Mathias sighed, feeling briefly disappointed that it wasn't Cora. He quickly shoved that aside to get to the reason he needed to talk though, "My eldest brother came by last night, and told me that the amount the fry are getting to eat is good but they need to have more fat in their diet." His voice no longer sounded hoarse, but it still had a bit of a rasp to it.

If Callie noticed his disappointment she showed no sign of it as she hummed thoughtfully for a moment before saying, "We could bring you a pig, but their skin is much tougher than anything else we've brought, as are their bones... especially their skulls."

Mathias nodded, thinking it over before softly suggesting, "You could, if it's not too much trouble mostly debone them. Tough skin isn't a problem, unless it's tougher than bones. And there tends to be a lot of fat in the skin."

"Shouldn't be too much trouble," she mused aloud, "and we can more easily make it look like scraps that way." Giving him a mischievous smile she said gleefully, "It'll be fun!" Then she crouched down and spread her wings in preparation to take off.

Mathias quickly pushed himself back underwater to avoid the discomfort of having a harpy take off over the top of him. Then with a rueful shake of his head he headed back down making sure to snag the hare along the way.

After helping his fry to devour the hare, and having a good chunk of it himself Mathias took stock of how he was physically feeling. His left arm still had a constant sharp bone deep ache, but the pain in his ribs was far more intermittent. And as long as he didn't move too fast his tail didn't hurt at all. Swallowing hadn't hurt at all, although speaking still hurt a little bit. But he knew from experience that if he over stressed himself he'd set his recovery back.

He looked around at his offspring's near futile attempts at hunting and let out a defeated sigh. He was recovering, faster than he had any right to expect even. But if he tried to take the fry any further afield, especially since there would be no way for him to nap today then he would reverse some of his recovery. So he just had to trust that the harpies would be able to continue feeding them and not go much further away from his nest.

He chirped at his fry and slowly moved around his old hunting radius until he found a spot with slightly more life to it. Finding a comfortable spot to watch from he sent them out once more to hunt and explore.

A short while later several large chunks of tied and weighted meat with some truly thick skin still attached plopped into the water above them. Pushing off from the bottom Mathias easily snagged a piece and watched in amusement as the youngsters worked together to grab hold of the others. At their proud faces and happy little babbling chirps he chuckled before leading them back to the seabed. As he bit into the meat he found himself surprised even though he had been warned about the skin that he had to saw his teeth through it just a little bit. It was however, an enjoyable meal, and very filling.

After the last scrap of pig and twine had been devoured most of the fry retreated to his hair to watch their surroundings, leaving just Shadow on his shoulder, Cuddles in his lap, and Curiosity and Glutton poking around once more amongst the sparse seaweed and broken coral.

Two more times that day he moved their position, and five more times they were fed more of the delicious pig. And when they finally made it back to the nest Mathias was barely able to stay awake long enough to settle his fry into slumber. Luckily that night was disturbed neither by nightmares, nor visitors.

Although when he awoke in the morning, there was the partial skeleton of an otherwise devoured moray in his nest. He smiled and thought of Tito as he tidied it away.

Chapter 32

Time passed in this way until one night Mathias was not so worn out that he actually awoke when Tito came calling.

Mathias woke up from a nightmare where something formless was hunting him to find Tito perched on the edge of his nest, wordlessly feeding the fry. He paused to look at his brother as he panted for breath.

Frowning Tito shifted closer but when he reached a hand out Mathias flinched away. "Hey, hey," Tito murmured soothingly as he continued to slowly move his hand to pet the top of Mathias' head, "It's okay, nothing else is around, just you me and the fry."

Mathias gulped and nodded as he wiggled slightly upright so that he could lay his head against his brother's tail. Tito fed him what was left of the moray and continued to pet his head as he hummed a soothing lullaby. Once Mathias had calmed and started to drowse, and long after the fry and curled up against their father once more Tito spoke up, "I'll stick around as long as I can and then I'll bring you back to the beach."

"Huh?" Mathias hoarsely mumbled in sleepy confusion, "Why?"

"Well," Tito responded in amusement, "it's already been over a week, and you were supposed to go see Helen yesterday."

Mathias blushed and mumbled sheepishly, "Oh, I guess I lost track of the days."

Tito nodded and replied, "Yeah I guessed so when I saw that you were still wearing the same wraps. Now go to sleep, I'll wake you when it's time to move." Nodding Mathias closed his eyes as he gave himself over to the soothing feel of his brother's hand on his head. As he drifted off to sleep Tito said reassuringly, "You do look much better by the way."

~~~~~

When Tito woke Mathias up the surrounding waters were still dark. Yawning hugely Mathias rapidly blinked his eyes until everything came into focus. Then he roused his fry and got them settled into his hair before he himself clung to Tito's back. Once Tito had them settled near the beach he swam back home.

Mathias could not go back to sleep though. He felt too exposed and alone. Instead he laid in the shallows as his fry snoozed in his hair, just watching and waiting for the sun to rise. As soon as it was bright enough for his fry to see he woke them up to go hunting.

Mathias chuckled as with a chorus of excited chirps and trills they flowed out of his hair to go hunting in more familiar and fruitful surroundings. He did not have to wait much longer before a pair of very familiar legs started wading his way.

He whistled to get his youngsters' attention and then swam towards the harpy as quickly as he dared. As he got closer he became certain that it was indeed Cora, and so when he popped up out of the water he wrapped his good arm around her waist as he buried his face into the top of her belly.

"Whoa!" Cora exclaimed while flaring her wings for balance. When Mathias continued to nuzzle into her she asked him worriedly, "Is everything okay?"

"Just missed you," Mathias admitted in a muffled mumble.

"Aww," Cora said as her face softened, "I missed you too. But you need to let me feed you and come ashore so Helen and Alula can look at your arm."

"Okay," Mathias agreed without budging an inch.

Cora stood there waiting and watching as the fry poked their heads above water. When the last curious set of eyes became fixed upon her she spoke out with quite a bit of amused exasperation, "Helen has candy." At those words each and every one of them raised their head up just a little bit more, only to tilt their heads and give her adorably wide eyed pleading looks. "Fuck," she said softly before asking Mathias in awe, "Is that instinctive?"

Mathias glanced over his shoulder to see the scene behind him. Taking a moment to observe he chuckled before nuzzling back into Cora's belly as he told her cheerfully with the slight rasp that still lingered finally being audible, "Better give them the candy."

"I don't have the candy!" Cora said in a bit of a fluster as they started babbling pathetically, "Helen does!"

Sighing, Mathias reluctantly pulled away as he said in an overly dramatic mournful way, "Alright, we'll placate them with the food you brought and then we'll let Helen and Alula poke at my broken arm while they have some of the sweet stuff."

Huffing softly Cora leaned over to nuzzle the top of Mathias' head before she straightened up and pulled her bag around so she could fish out the still twine wrapped chunks of pig meat.

After they finished their meal, which Mathias learned was also called pork, they headed with some trepidation on Mathias' part to the actual beach where the healer and her apprentice awaited them.

Waiting in the surf along with Helen and Alula was a strange contraption. It had a sloped netted back for Mathias to lean back against, and some sort of tray coming off the left side and curving slightly in front.

At Mathias' dubious expression Alula gave her elder an, "I told you so," look. Helen's lips twitched and she patted the thing with her little hand as she encouraged him with, "Climb on in and sit down."

Mathias stifled a sigh as he wiggled his way into the thing. Once he got positioned properly and was leaning back he noticed that his fry were all staring at Helen beseechingly, while she was gazing down at them in confusion. He then glanced over at Cora who was snickering helplessly. His lips twitched into a smile as he helpfully supplied, "Cora mentioned within their hearing that, 'Helen had candy.'"

"Precocious little things aren't they," Helen mumbled bemusedly before speaking up, "Too much candy can be bad for you."

Tilting his head Mathias asked in confusion, "But it's so sweet, how can it be bad for you?"

Chuckling Helen explained, "Sweet things can make people fat, and being too fat can lead to all kinds of health problems."

Mathias looked at his offspring's cheeks that were just barely starting to plump up, and with furrowed brows he said in a slow thoughtful tone, "Arctic merfolk never seem to suffer from having a thicker layer of fat..."

"Hmmm," Helen agreed thoughtfully as she looked between Mathias and his fry. "Alright Alula, hand over the nectarine drops to Cora, but make sure there are a few left over for Mathias." As Mathias perked up she went on to say, "I'll have someone send you guys some berry pies later."

Mathias was rather eager for this until he remembered something and asked with furrowed brows, "Wait, will there be forks? Because I still don't know how to use those."

Helen shook her head with a laugh as she reassured him, "I'll make sure they're hand pies. Now relax and let us unwrap you."

Mathias nodded anxiously as he tried to relax into their hands. While Cora kept the fry distracted in the background and with minimal movements from himself the pair carefully unwrapped his torso. Once they'd gotten his arm free they had Cora come over and help him hold it up at shoulder height while they continued unwrapping his chest. Once that was exposed they got Cora to gently set his arm onto the table before shooing her and the fry out of the way.

Then Helen touched and poked and prodded all over his ribs while asking about pain levels. It mostly just tickled but Mathias managed not to wiggle as he seriously answered her. Then came the part that Mathias was most dreading. Working together the harpies unwrapped the oiled wool from his arm. He wasn't sure what it'd been oiled with, all he knew was it didn't smell like anything he wanted to taste. Underneath was a set of flattened bent bronze rods that had been tied in place over some loose wool batting. For this they pulled out a pair of scissors and snipped it free. Once they'd folded the batting back Mathias got his first good look at his left arm.

It was pretty in a way if he was just thinking about the colors. The upper arm was a mottled green and yellow while the lower arm was a deep blotchy red with streaks of purple and blue. Helen simply studied the bruising for a few moments before she spoke up in teacher mode to both Mathias and Alula, "You can tell a lot about a break from the degree of bruising. Since whatever had to break the bone had to go through the muscles first. The bruising on the upper arm has healed significantly, meaning that that's been healing rapidly. So it should be safe for Mathias to use his upper arm now, even though a harpy would need to keep it immobilized for another week. His lower arm though, it still looks pretty bad, and we'll need to check his fingers for sensation before we rewrap it." The two of them nodded in response, Mathias though, with far more trepidation than Alula.

Mathias took up the breathing exercises as Helen guided Alula on testing his fingers with her blunted talon tips. Fist she gently poked the tip of each finger, which tingled painfully. Then she trailed her talons up his fingers and palms, after a bit of back and forth discussion they settled on that being a burning pain, which was not a sensation Mathias was familiar with. Finally Helen was satisfied that she would not need to get the leeches after his arm.

When Mathias heard that that's what she'd been testing for he gave her a very alarmed look. Helen merely flashed him a reassuring smile as they got ready to re-immobilize his arm. First was fresh batting that went from elbow to just below his fingers with an opening for his thumb to poke through. Then came different flattened, bent bronze rods, which curved over his elbow on one side and into his hand on the other that were tied securely in place. Last was a new smelly oiled wool wrap.

Mathias made a face as the pair worked together to tightly wrap him from just above the elbow all the way down to around the base of his fingers. Finally he asked, "Why does it smell so bad?"

With a triumphant smile Helen dryly responded, "I thought it best if your babies didn't try to eat your bandages."

"Well it works," Mathias grumbled while glaring at his arm, "If anything it smells even worse than the last one."

"No," Helen told him softly, "Your nose is just no longer swollen so you can smell it better, and the salt water will slowly dissolve the oil." Mathias glanced at her in confusion. He'd smelled several things just fine in the days after his beating, but then he took a few moments to think on it and realized that for that first day things might have been a bit muted. So with a sigh he nodded his acceptance.

As soon as they were done Alula left but Helen stayed and talked with him about the theory behind using different bones as splints and which seaweeds might make good bindings and padding. At several points during the conversation she would check his fingers and make sure that they hadn't cut off blood flow to them.

Just as their conversation was winding down Alula reappeared with a box of berry pies. Mathias looked between the two suspiciously before gesturing to Cora to lead the fry back over.

Cora spotted the look on his face as she came over laughing, she asked, "What's up?"

"Their timing is too perfect," Mathias stage whispered, causing his rasp to be if anything more noticeable.

Alula squawked indignantly and pointed out seriously, "It's purely coincidental."

While fighting a smile Helen took the box from Alula and said, "Come on out of the chair Mathias so that Alula can take it back."

Mathias slid out of his seat much easier than he had wiggled into it. And it wasn't just because he had partial use of his left arm now, it mostly had to do with the fact that when he got here the water was only up to his belly button and while he'd sat there it had climbed up to his second rib. Once he had moved out of the way Alula grabbed the back of the chair and started dragging it to shore.

Helen opened the box to reveal four hand pies. Cora grabbed one to start tearing into little bits for the babies while Mathias snagged another to pop into his mouth. As Mathias ate Helen spent the time describing some exercises that Mathias would need to do with his left shoulder and fingers to help with the healing.

Helen closed the box as Mathias plucked the last one out of it, then gave him a few last parting words, "That rasp in your voice might be permanent, so if it doesn't hurt to talk then continue to do so." He nodded as she continued, "If you feel up to swimming longer distances, then do so. Just keep track of your own comfort and energy." Then she smiled at the munching merman and his youngsters before ruffling his hair and walking off to where she could take off.

Mathias swallowed and licked his lips searching for any stray crumb before he noticed spots of glistening pink on the hands that Cora for some reason had not tucked away. He reached out and grabbed her nearest hand dragging the entirely willing harpy closer so that he could seductively lick the sticky residue off of one hand and then the other. As soon as he'd finished Cora leaned down just a little bit and pressed her lips into his.

Mathias groaned into her mouth as he held her hand tightly. Pressing into her he slid his tongue delightedly along hers until she pulled back. Mathias panted and watched Cora until she breathlessly spoke, "Tomorrow, you should come up the river to the north. There are things to hunt, and me and Callie can teach you about the plants." With a twinkle in her eyes she smiled lustily before leaning down to whisper into his ear, "And Callie can keep an eye on your babies while we have fun on the banks." He shuddered at the thought before giving her an eager nod and slipping back into the waters where he spent the rest of the day guiding his fry around the sandy shallows.

Chapter 33

The next day Mathias awoke to clean up the remains of the snack that Tito had once more left behind. Then as he was contemplating what to pull out of his nest and replace he realized that Tito must've been taking care of that as well, and Mathias had to wonder at the depths that his exhaustion was pushing him to sleep in.

With a shrug Mathias cheerfully called his fry into his hair as he set out to find this river. He'd never actually seen a river, although he theoretically knew what one was. Cora however had said that it was north of where they'd been so he headed to the beach where he let the fry out to forage and hunt as he slowly made his way northwards. Looking for a place where the fresh water flowed into the ocean.

After some time Mathias finally found the spot, excitedly he called his fry close as he swam up the pebble strewn river. As he swam he found that he didn't like the taste and smell of it. There wasn't really anything wrong with it, it was just so different that he had a strong instinctive distrust of it. However he knew that there was nothing about freshwater that was harmful to merfolk and so he pushed past these feelings to properly explore.

The plant life was either shorter than he was used to or stuck up out of the water and aside from the algae everything had a different texture than he expected. The fish though, while they looked a bit different, were all extremely skittish as fish everywhere were. He swam quite a ways up until he found a large bend in the river where the water spread out quite a bit and so the current was much slower. There he settled in near the river bank to observe his surroundings.

His offspring had hidden into his hair as the surroundings got less and less familiar and they stayed put at first when he settled down. After a while though they slowly started to emerge. Mathias stifled a chuckle as he watched the faces they made while open mouthed tasting the water. Eventually they started cautiously exploring and hunting, while never moving further than their father could quickly reach. When they started sniffing and mouthing over the plant life Mathias did not worry, because their sense of smell and taste was better now than it ever would be. They would instinctively recognize what was poisonous. The only danger would be them mistakenly identifying a safe thing as not safe. It would be another couple of years before he would have to actually teach them what was and wasn't safe to eat.

At one point a dark shadow loomed over the edge of the water. Mathias looked over expectantly only to see a deer's velvety muzzle poking down into the water. He flexed the fingers on his left hand as he contemplated whether or not he was up to hunting such prey. It only took him a moment's thought to decide that he better heal up a bit more first. His attention was quickly brought back to his fry when they let out a chorus of excited squeals. He could not see what they were poking at though so he gave an inquiring little chirp

They looked over at him before working as a group to bring him their still twitching prize. He took it carefully while heaping praise on the young hunters, before turning it around in his hands as he examined it. Its skin was brown, and it had no neck and four limbs. The rear limbs were longer than its body and ended in fin-like webbed feet.

Just as he was going to hand it back to them he was distracted by splashing at a different section of the water's edge. He glanced over and, noticing the two pairs of harpy legs he smiled and moved the very short distance until he could sit up beside them and hold out the smooth skinned creature. "What's this?" he asked the startled pair who had been getting into Callie's bag.

They peered closely at the ever so slightly mangled critter he was holding out. Then they exchanged a grin before Cora amusedly said, "It's a frog."

Mathias took another look at it and smiled, handing it back to the peeking youngsters as he let out a pleased little, "Neat."

After they split the pork they brought between Mathias and the youngsters. They spent the next couple hours answering questions about just about everything that Mathias could see. Until Mathias felt something in the water and dove back in to pounce on it. He managed to control his instinctive reaction well enough to only use his right hand. Mathias hooked his fingers into the gills of the strange barbled fish that was very nearly the same size as the largest of his fry and looked it over before bringing it to the two that had been taking turns playing teacher and asking, "What about this?"

Cora simply mumbled, "That was so sexy."

Callie nodded her agreement before answering Mathias and asking a question of her own, "It's a catfish. How'd you know it was there?"

Mathias blushed and shot Cora a look full of promises as he replied to Callie before asking,"I felt it move with my tail. What does this catfish eat?" Mathias had heard of marine catfish, but he did not know much about them other than what they looked like, which was far pointier than the fish in his hand.

Callie tilted her head as she thought before saying, "Anything that can fit in their mouth I'm sure."

Mathias thoughtfully looked over the fish before gingerly transferring it to his left hand. Then he pried open the mouth to see how wide it could open and to feel the teeth in the upper and lower jaw. After another few moments of contemplation he held it in his mouth and used his right hand to scoop up the nearest fry, which happened to be Shadow.

He settled hir against his left shoulder and let out a muffled chuckle when ze giggled and pulled the catfish's tail into hir mouth. While ze was distracted with that Mathias was poking at her arm, trying to estimate how tough hir skin was. Finally satisfied, Mathias carefully pulled the fish in half and slipped Shadow back into the water with the tail end within hir grasp.

While he ate his half he watched the baby scuffle over the half that had gone into the water, ready to intervene if it got too violent. Knowing that if they were truly hungry they would not be fighting over it, he was content to let them work it out for themselves.

After he'd swallowed his last mouthful he turned to the harpies and with a gesture towards the still playfully fighting fry he asked, "Is there anything bigger than that in the river?"

They both shook their heads and simultaneously said, "No." After they exchanged a look and a smirk Cora spoke up to say, "Not at this time of year at least. There are sharks that will swim through here in the spring to lay their eggs further up in the swamp," Mathias perked up thoughtfully at that and Cora laughed as she continued, "And shark babies?"

"Pups," Mathias helpfully supplied.

Nodding in acknowledgment Cora continued, "Shark pups will start swimming downstream in about a month or so. But not right now."

Mathias rubbed his belly thoughtfully as he softly puzzled it out, "Those sharks would've been coming to lay their eggs when the mermaids were also preoccupied with egg laying... I wonder if their young stay there for a few seasons or if it's years... Shark pups do sound tasty," he ended with before asking, "Is there anything venomous in the river?"

Cora snickered while Callie mirthfully answered, "The poisonous snakes prefer to stay on land, and bugs have a hard time biting harpies, so I'm sure they'd have a harder time with you and your hatchlings."

With a mischievous smile Mathias reached over to run his fingertips up and down Cora's belly. Once he finally had her squirming he cheerfully agreed, "You're right, we should be fine."

"Oh you horrible tease," Cora playfully scolded him as he pulled his hand away, "just wait until I have you on land."

Mathias blatantly looked Cora over before he fell back into the water and swam to an extremely low point in the riverbank that sloped gently into the slow moving pool where they had been hanging out in. There he carefully, while keeping his injured arm away from the ground, wiggled far enough onto land that only the fin on his tail tip was still dipped into the water. Once he accomplished such a feat he took a moment to rest before he rolled over in the strange soft green vegetation and sat up giving Cora a challenging look.

Cora sputtered out a laugh and gave her sister one last questioning look. With a smile Callie waved her off and dipped her wingtips into the water to lure the curious fry further into the watercress to give their father and her sister a little bit of privacy.

Chapter 34

As Cora stalked up onto land Mathias was briefly distracted by the short blades of foliage under his hands. Snickering, Cora explained before Mathias could even ask, "It's grass, it's edible, but only animals and the desperate eat it."

Mathias smiled sheepishly but any thing he might have said in response was interrupted by Cora quickly bopping down and expertly running her tongue along the seam of his penile slit. So instead what popped out of his mouth was a soft, "Oh, shit," as he dropped back onto his elbows. But the brief jarring pain didn't properly make it into his voice nor did it distract him overly long.

With her wings flared out for balance, Cora gave him a mischievous look as she teased him. Mathias himself couldn't help but blush as he gave her a soft encouraging whimper. As soon as his slit had opened and his tip poked out Cora shifted to nibbling and sucking up along his flushed belly.

However it had been well over five months since they'd been able to do more than make out, whereas Chloe had been consistently taking advantage of him during that time. So the more aroused he became the more thoughts of her tried to intrude.

Just as Cora was reaching his chest he let out a frustrated growl and lowered himself to his back to free up his arm. So freed, his right hand slipped into Cora's feathery hair and pulled her head along so that their lips could finally meet. She let out a startled squawk but otherwise eagerly went along with his mood.

Mathias guided her tongue to the roof of his mouth and let out a satisfied hum once her taste and scent finally allowed him to focus fully on the now. He relaxed slightly and trailed his hand down so that he could stroke his thumb along the front of her neck while she repositioned herself so that she was straddling his waist.

Every time Cora tried to pull her lips away Mathias would growl and chase after them until she gave up and simply played her small hands gently over his chest and neck. With a happy moan he closed his eyes and slid his hand further down, revealing in the feeling of feathers and skin before he shifted his hand further in. To the sound of Cora's muffled encouraging murmurs he kneaded her perky breasts, first one and then the other.

As he pinched her lower nipples between his knuckles he wondered what Clara will look like when she's full of milk and if she's already getting there or not. The corners of Mathias' lips curled up in a smile at the sound of Cora's delighted squeal and he finally let her lips go, his brief distraction forgotten as he buried his face into her neck and shifted randomly about from nipple to nipple, twisting and pinching and pulling as Cora got more and more excited atop him.

When Cora bit into his exposed ear and clamped her hands onto his shoulders while grinding her crotch into his belly, Mathias didn't want to tease her any longer, he just wanted to plunge himself into her depths. So with his tail fin now slapping about on land he one handedly grabbed her hip and pulled her down into position, so that his engorged dick could seek out her warm entrance.

However without the pleasant scent of harpy filling his senses it was harder to keep the intrusive thoughts at bay and so when his pointy little head pierced into her he let out a small panicked whimper. At almost the exact same moment Cora moaned out, "Oh, goddess! Please fuck me Mathias!"

Focusing on Cora's voice, Mathias was able to quickly shake it off as with an aggressive growl he pushed himself up onto his good arm to watch her with hooded eyes. He took control of his thrashing tail and whipped it up to wrap around Cora, who had her own moment of brief panic before remembering that this time they weren't on a slippery boulder. Calming down quickly, she allowed Mathias to take full control with his tailfin plastering itself to her upper chest and neck as it wrapped around to her back, displaying just how much control Mathias could have over his very flexible tail when he focused enough to do so. Then they let out near simultaneous moans as he yanked the harpy down onto him. Working together with her legs pushing up and his tail pulling down they quickly set up a rapid pace.

Mathias watched fascinated as the one boob that wasn't mashed flat by his tail jiggled and bounced with their motions. But as much as he thrilled at the sight of her jiggling and bouncing and the feel of her hot confines sliding over his rigid shaft, the experience was tainted by phantom pains in the back of his head and memories of someone else's melodic voice and disdainful pale blue eyes.

Not wanting Cora to notice his discomfort Mathias lunged forward with a growl and buried his nose into the side of her head as his good thumb rubbed circles around her bouncing nipple. Gasping Cora nipped and tugged at his ear with her teeth as her unbound hand gripped tightly to his shoulder. Trying to throw himself fully into the moment Mathias nuzzled just under her ear before sucking on the skin as he fought the urge to bite.

"Goddess yes Mathias!" Cora suddenly cried into his ear as her pussy spasmed on him.

Abruptly brought back to himself Mathias smirked and held her close through her orgasm. Once she had calmed into a panting heap he huskily whispered, "Sing for me."

Before she could even fully process his demand he'd already started guiding her hips back into rapid motion. Gripping his shoulder bruisingly tight with her little taloned hands she stammered and stuttered her way through a drinking song where everyone fucks or dies.

"Good, good," Mathias whispered to her as he kissed up and down her neck. It didn't take long for her song to stall out as the feeling of Mathias releasing up into her had her crying out in pleasure once more.

They had not prolonged things enough for Mathias to get lodged inside her this time. But after flopping his tail down he still held her close and breathed in her comforting scent as they caught their breath. After a few moments he felt Cora's small hand brushing through his hair as she said uncertainly, "Mathias?"

"Hmm?" he hummed out as he tilted his head to peer up at her with one eye.

Giving him a small smile she asked, "Are you okay?"

Smiling in kind he softly responded, "Yeah, just thinking."

Caressing his cheek she asked curiously, "Oh, what about?"

"Well..." he said hesitantly as most of his thoughts were things that might worry her, so he did not want to share them. After taking a moment to organize the ones that were less likely to worry her, and before she could get too anxious he said, "Clara's eggs should be hatching in a month or so, right?"

"In about a month and a half," she agreed inquisitively.

Blushing slightly he trailed his fingers over her nipples as he mumbled shyly, "I was just wondering, when she'd start swelling with milk."

"Men," Cora grumbled playfully.

"And some women," Callie called out from not too far away, causing Mathias to blush brighter as he was reminded that they'd had an audience.

Cora snickered as Mathias tried to hide his face into her neck once more before she cheerfully told him, "Her tits have been a little swollen for some time now, but her milk won't really come in until the babes start suckling." When Mathias peeked eagerly up at her again she snorted and laughingly said, "She'll probably still be a little swollen when you next see her."

Smiling at the thought Mathias finally released Cora. Once she had clambered off of him he wiggled his way into the water to rejoin his youngsters, with Cora following in after him.

He spent time greeting and showering affection on his fry before he set to hunting some more catfish while keeping a close eye on his lazily exploring offspring. After he'd devoured one and shared another with the youngsters he had a thought and so popped up near the harpies once more.

He glanced between the pair of blushing harpies, noticing that their nearly identical brown eyes had a suspicious gleam to them which he chose to ignore as he asked, "What are harpy hatchlings like anyways?"

As Callie started obviously sneaking towards him Cora responded to his question with a thoughtful frown, "Oh, umm, well... It's been a while since we've had any, but they're bald and helpless with eyes that barely open. Much like a human baby from what I've heard."

At about this point Mathias curled his tail around Callie's feet and pinned them down. When she squawked in surprise he gave her a wide eyed innocent look. He looked back to Cora as he puzzledly asked, "How long's it been since your flock has had babies?"

Cora smirked at her sister before wishfully answering, "It's been about eight years."

"Yeah," Callie agreed with a grunt as she tried to free herself, "we were still technically kids back then."

"Just barely!" Cora stiffly complained.

"Yeah," Callie once again agreed albeit this time louder and more cheerfully, "we got to join our first battle two months after they hatched."

Pouting Cora grumbled almost to herself, "I wanted to help with the babies."

Finally stilling if only for a moment Callie shot her sister a reassuring smile as she said, "Well they're our clutchmate's babies this time, so we should get plenty of opportunities to directly help." As soon as Cora perked up at the thought she turned to Mathias and gave him a suspicious glare as he once again turned a wide eyed innocent gaze upon her. Before Cora's snickers could fully burst past her lips Callie accusingly asked the merman, "How can you look so innocent while trapping my feet?"

Mathias knew it was a rhetorical question because neither one of them had been using their full strength, so if she'd really been trying to get free she could have. But he gave her question serious consideration as he tilted his head in thought and slightly shifted his tail off her feet. Finally as Callie started obviously sneaking towards him once more he answered, "Because I trust you." The sad fact was that he no longer even trusted his mother and older sisters as much as he trusted this harpy that he'd met only a handful of times and without trust, there was no playfulness.

At his sadly wishful smile, Callie stopped and just stared at him for a moment before hooking him with her wings and pulling him into her chest. It was Mathias' turn to squeak in surprise. After his initial brief moment of panicked freezing up Mathias leaned into the harpy as he contentedly nuzzled into her collarbones. She kept him within the warm cocoon of her wings for a little while before folding them away and asking, "Will you be back tomorrow?"

Mathias shook his head firmly before regretfully telling them, "I don't want to over hunt the area, so we'll probably go to the dropoff and hunt up and down the cliff for the next few days." Straightening up he gave the pair a reassuring smile as he went on to say, "I'll do a better job at tracking the days though, and I do want to check out the swamp you guys mentioned sometime after the fry have grown into merlings and have started talking."

The sisters nodded as that made sense before they leaned in and planted firm kisses to both of his cheeks. Blushing furiously, Mathias dropped confusedly back into the water while the pair left only to return a few hours later with another fatty meal for the merfolk family.

Mathias ate in bemused silence as the two outrageously flirted with him. Once he had finished he pulled Cora in for an enthusiastic kiss. Spotting Callie eagerly watching Mathias blushed before leaning shyly towards her. Grinning Callie stepped into the offered kiss and mostly kept it to their lips moving against each other as she cradled his face. Until he started to pull away and then she nipped at his lower lip before letting him go.

After his offspring had gotten head bumps from the harpies they exchanged farewells with Mathias and he began his journey home.

Chapter 35

Mathias had been bringing his fry to the dropoff for the past several days. He didn't have many memories of his own earliest days but he was pretty sure that most mermen would have preferred to wait until their offspring were quite a bit older before bringing them to such a sharply vertical hunting grounds. The coral near and for a short ways down the cliff were thriving, and there were many crevices and tunnels in the cliff for things to hide, forage, and breed in. So the hunting was good, but the danger was also quite a bit higher than it would be among more typical corals. After all, at a dropoff like this one a merman and his fry risked attracting things from the deeper, open sea, Larger predators than a typical reef could support, creatures that might decide a merman was prey.

With that in mind, Mathias was quite proud of how wary they were in any new environment, feeling pleased even though they should be wary in this place. He couldn't help but inwardly smile at how well they paid attention to his nonverbal cues. So while there had been a few brushes with danger, he'd managed so far to keep everyone from even the smallest bump.

So when he held still to listen to a couple of things both about his size moving through the water towards them, his fry abandoned or took with them whatever they had been doing to disappear into his hair. Cautiously, and moving in such a way as to make hardly a sound he moved away from the wall so that he could hear more clearly. After a few moments he heard his brothers' distorted voices as they slowly drew closer. Mathias chuckled and guessed that they were searching for him. Shaking his head he moved back to his previous position and chirruped the all clear to his fry.

It didn't take long for the voices to get clearer and then to become audibly excited as they caught his scent. Soon enough Mathias was looking away from his offspring with a smile to return his brothers' greeting. Only for his face to fall when he saw how bruised and scuffed up both Linus and Darius were. "What happened?" he asked fretfully while fighting an inexplicable sense of guilt.

Puffing up and showing Mathias his usual goofy grin Darius said, "You should see the other six guys!" Linus rolled his eyes and playfully shoved Darius' shoulder. But any other response was interrupted by the fry excitedly swarming their uncles, who happily patted their heads and listened to their babbling as they showed off their most recent catches and discoveries.

Once the fry were satisfied and had returned to hunting and exploring Linus told his still obviously worried brother, "Titus gathered some friends and ambushed us, but he keeps forgetting that we have friends too. So we're fine." Flashing Mathias a smile he remarked happily, "You look much better today."

Mathias hardly heard him though, nor did he notice Darius' happy nodding. Instead he frowned in thought and led the other two to swim in slow circles around the youngsters. Finally he asked, "Did you guys get in trouble?"

Linus shook his head, but before he could speak to reassure their brother Darius blurted out, "Being told to guard the older merlings for a week straight wouldn't of been a punishment at all if we'd had the time to come visit you!"

Mathias let out a relieved chuckle as Darius shot Linus a triumphant smirk. Linus harrumphed at them both but did seem to relax a bit as Mathias took the news in good humor. While they settled into a companionable gossip fest Mathias took a moment to sadly wonder what else everyone was keeping from him, and by extension Darius who was never willing to keep anything from their quartet, just to keep him from worrying.

~~~~~

Linus had just finished distributing a moray that Mathias had caught to Mathias and his fry while Darius was busily prying open a large clam with Curiosity and Follows closely watching when Mathias heard something just a little bit larger than himself swimming towards them. He let out a shrill alarm whistle. As the fry vanished into his hair he whispered, "Mako," to his alarmed brothers before carefully pressing his back to the cliff face.

As Mathias let out a soft threatening growl and looked in the direction from where this same shark had been appearing from for the past few days Darius shot upwards, while Linus swiftly sank downwards. As the creature got closer, Mathias alternated whipping his tail aggressively through the water and threateningly flaring the tip.

Ever since the first time it had shown up the shark would slow down and swim uncomfortably close as it decided whether or not it was worth it to try for the injured, isolated merman. Until today, it had evidently been finding the answer to be no.

Today, uncomfortably close had become dangerously close. Still, Mathias was hoping that it wouldn't notice anything wrong and continue its usual pattern so his brothers could more easily ambush it.

Just as he had hoped, it didn't seem to notice anything. Just as it was getting a little too close for comfort Linus from below let out a soft little click that the shark also didn't seem to notice, shortly followed by two speeding mermen slamming into the mako's opposite pectoral fins in such a way as to drive the startled and thus thrashing animal into an aileron roll with the brothers hanging on while they worked together to control that roll despite the shark's frenzied struggling. Once they had it slowed and then stopped, upside down and unwillingly calmed, they took a moment to calm their own excited breathing.

Not smelling any fresh blood in the water, Mathias was finally able to relax. With a sigh of relief he asked, "All good?" This was not the first time the brothers had used this well practiced maneuver to hunt a shark, in fact all four of them including the currently absent Tito had faint scars on their sides and arms from where they'd slipped up while initiating the roll. And there had been multiple times when they were younger that their father had had to rescue them when they'd fumbled the crash badly enough.

Flashing him cheerful grins they each gave him an agreeable thumbs up before turning their attention back to the shark. They sank their claws into its belly and carefully but quickly pulled it open. Cutting a shark open and especially killing one beforehand had been so much easier when they were still subadults with sharper, more maid-like claws, but they also didn't have as much mass to make the pounce and use to control the roll back then.

A brief flash of Chloe's claws swinging towards his face flashed through Mathias' mind. Shuddering, he tried to push the thought from his mind as he swam over to the dying shark and directed his youngsters to go after its exposed organs. It wouldn't be the cleanest shark kill the brothers had ever pulled off, but it would be quick.

The thirteen of them ate as much as they could as quickly as they could, so when thankfully smaller sharks started showing up they quickly abandoned the carcass.

Mathias figured that they'd had enough excitement for the day, and the fry had gotten a bellyfull of the shark's huge fatty liver. After a moments thought he decided to take them to the sandy shallows for the rest of the afternoon.

With the youngsters roaming their most familiar of hunting grounds, Mathias happily chatted with his brothers about what it was like when his fry were freshly hatched. A few times during which he noticed the shadow of a harpy and felt a pang of longing that he did not dare to show even these two.

Later, after he'd said farewell to his brothers, he told his young a bedtime story and sang them to sleep, he had time to reflect on his day.

He missed his brothers, and wished they could be around more, especially since even having just one of them around would make it safer when large inquisitive predators drew near.

But he also did not want them exposed to Chloe anymore than they had to be. Letting out a small whimper, he shied away from thoughts of what she might do if she felt that they were interfering with how she thought things should be. And if it were just the three of them, with no other maids around, there would be nothing anyone could do.

He sighed, turning his thoughts back to the harpies who had stayed away even when he went to the shallows because his brothers were with him. As he fell into a fitful nightmare fueled sleep he couldn't help but wonder if they were trying to keep him safe, or if he was a burden on them that they were glad to see his brothers taking up.

Chapter 36

Over the next few days Mathias got his splint switched out for a stinky wrap, and settled into a routine of spending most of his time at the drop off with occasional trips to the shallows. Until one evening as they were returning to his nest, he was contemplating heading up the river again the next day when a scent stopped him cold. Chloe was just up ahead, most likely waiting at his nest.

Mathias let out a soft whimper, and the fry that had been exploring in his wake fled into his hair. Every instinct Mathias had was screaming at him to flee or form a protective coil over his fry. But he knew that would just make things worse. Chloe was waiting, she expected him to go to her. If he went too far away from her expectations she might actually kill him this time. Or drive him to defend himself, which would amount to the same thing.

Trembling and shaking, Mathias clasped his elbows tight to his body as he slowly resumed his journey. The only thing allowing him to move was his greater fear of what she might do if he did not. Once he finally caught sight of her form gracefully lounging upon the edge of his nest, he could not quite hold back a distressed fearful whimper. She looked up at the small sound and rolled her eyes as he flinched and cringed away from her before silently pointing to what she had left in the nest. She was obviously not done giving him the silent treatment.

Slowly Mathias forced himself to approach, but before he had gone too far he could already smell the scent of blood and octopus so when he peeked in at the mangled octopus remains he was able to hold back the sad moan that wanted to come out.

While flinching away from every small move that Chloe made, it took him a few tries to chirp his fry back into the nest. Finally he managed and then waited while watching his frowning mate from the corner of his eye to see if she wanted anything else.

Chloe's nostrils flared as she looked him over critically. Homing in on his bandages she snatched his left hand from where he had it tucked under his right elbow leaving relatively light scratches on his right arm and belly in the process.

Mathias squeaked fearfully and shrank into himself as he did his best to resist the urge to pull away, he didn't want to set her off any more than she was. After all, he'd rather suffer more injuries than be subjected to more of her orders.

Chloe narrowed her eyes at him and gripped his wrist painfully tight as she examined his arm. After a few minutes she coldly asked, "What is this?"

Mathias really wished she would go back to not speaking with him, because he really didn't want to answer that. Trembling, he however forced himself to stammer out, "It-it's a wrap."

She gave him a dubious, suspicious glare and was silent for a beat that wasn't long enough for him to continue even if he'd wanted to. She then asked him bitingly, "And where did this wrap come from?"

Mathias had been thinking about what to say if Chloe were to show up and ask, so he had a ready answer for her, although he could not hold back a fearful quaver from his mildly raspy voice, "Some harpies found me and used me to teach their trainee healer."

Mathias watched, still from the corner of his eye, in horrified fascination as Chloe's suspicious stare slowly morphed into a look of conciliation. She gazed at him in such a fashion for a few moments until she seemed to tire of his lack of visible reaction and told him coaxingly, "You shouldn't trust them."

He made a small noncommittal noise. He could not force himself to agree with her, but he also dared not openly disagree.

She continued in such a manner, "What reasons could such strange creatures have for interacting with you? Surely they're selfish ones. They're not your mate, so unlike me they have no vested interest in our offspring's well being."

Mathias looked down and away as she spoke down to him. The things she was saying were completely opposite to how things were. And yet, it made him feel sad, and a bit guilty for taking advantage of the harpies' generous nature. But, he selfishly refused to push them away either.

With a small hint of self satisfaction in her voice Chloe almost smugly reassured him, "I'll always be here to take care of you and them."

Mathias nodded glumly, unable to summon up any other sort of response.

Chloe gave his wrist another squeeze, at his pained flinch she let go while cheerfully telling him, "I'll see you next week!"

After letting his arm drift down Mathias held himself completely still until he could no longer hear even the whisper of her departure. Then he slumped in on himself before sadly settling in with his fry.

~~~~~

Chloe had driven Mathias into such a state of depression that nothing seemed able to shake him emotionally, not even when his fry shed their scales and finished developing into merlings. But since the upsetting things weren't quite as upsetting anymore, he wasn't trying overly hard to pull himself out of the murk. So even the hatching of Clara's eggs and Cora trying to get him to suggest M names didn't garner as much of a reaction as anyone, himself included, expected. Somehow though, through it all he was able to keep an alert eye on his offspring and their surroundings.

It wasn't until Darius showed up alone that Mathias was able to snap out of his apathy.

Mathias looked away from the vegetation at the river mouth that his merlings were hunting over, amongst, and within to give his usually cheerful brother a confused worried look, "Where's Linus?"

Darius rubbed the back of his neck, looking quite lost as he mumbled, "Juno asked him to be her mate."

Mathias blinked and let out a simple, "Oh," as he fought a surge of jealousy. "I hadn't realized that so much time had passed," he mumbled in an attempt to distract himself.

"Yeah," Darius tactlessly agreed, "it'd be pretty hard to keep track of time when you're so isolated."

Mathias sighed and shook his head as he realized that he wasn't really jealous that Linus had gotten picked by Juno. He was more resentful of the fact that he didn't get to accept someone he could have gotten along with. But that wasn't his brother's fault. Sighing again, he rubbed his face and asked Darius with a great deal more interest than he'd been able to fake for the past few months, "So what are you going to do now?"

Shrugging Darius answered with a frown, "I'm not sure. Tito tends to sleep through the funnest part of the day," Mathias flinched at that, because Tito didn't used to sleep very much during the day. Darius however obliviously continued, "I suppose I could start hanging out more with some of my lovers. But I don't want to give the guys the idea that I'm ready to take a partner..." Things were complicated for Darius. He did have a slight preference for men, but it was only slight and he really wanted to experience having a mate to raise merlings with, but the mermaids preferred mates and partners who were only interested in maids and their school had more men than maids in it. So they could afford to be picky about it.

"You could try to spend some extra time keeping an eye on the merling schools," Mathias nervously pointed out.

Darius flashed Mathias his customary smile as he said, "Hey, don't worry about me. I'll be fine. Oh, I might even be able to use it as an excuse to visit you more!" he finished excitedly prompting Mathias to let out a soft chuckle. Grinning even wider somehow at the sound, Darius excitedly asked, "So, tell me about what we're doing today?"

With a small brief smile that felt oddly unfamiliar, yet had Darius beaming at him. Mathias turned to show him what his towheaded merlings were doing. He froze up for a minute, startled to see the short blond hair growing upon the nearest head. Then he felt a pang of guilt as he realized that he'd just been going through the motions long enough that while he was fully aware of the changes his fry turned merlings were going through, he hadn't actually consciously thought about it.

Clearing his throat he gave himself a little shake to try and scatter the mood from his mind before he reached out a tentative hand to touch the top of hir head. Babbling happily ze leaned into the touch as it turned into a full on caress. Soon Darius was forgotten as Musical cuddled into his arms. So when Darius laughed at the sight of the rest of the merlings swarming out of the tangle of vegetation to demand cuddles and pettings Mathias startled and didn't brace himself properly, allowing the merlings to crash him into their uncle. Fortunately, Darius was braced and fully willing to assist in cuddling and petting.

Mathias' emotions bounced wildly between guilt and joy as his laughing brother and babbling merlings pushed him into the middle of a squirming cuddle ball. Determinedly he decided that no matter how much everything else hurt, his fry, no, his merlings needed him to be more fully present.

Pushing the guilt firmly to the side for the moment Mathias turned the cuddle ball into a drawn out gentle free-for-all game of roughhousing until the merlings wandered off to hunt some more, which is when he got into catching up with Darius.