Tanked

Synris and Azalyss got along well, a fact I found to be reassuring. Again, Synris was kind to me and now our child and he never stopped trying to do everything he could to make up for what he did to me before Azalyss. Besides, I was happy to see Azalyss have someone to play with as he got bigger.

He was growing fast, and I just couldn’t keep up. It was embarrassing, I wasn’t able to play with my babe for very long before I needed a break. Synris was sure that it was because the pregnancy had weakened me and I hadn’t recovered properly or I wasn’t meant to recover, at least that was what he always told me when I expressed my feelings of shame. But regardless, his efforts did little to make me feel better and I still felt guilty when I couldn’t play for very long.

Neither of them gave me time to mope though. Azalyss was highly intelligent and quick. He’d stop even in the middle of a game of tag with Synris the very moment he noticed I wasn’t smiling. Synris would catch him then and they’d both sit with me and tease each other or me until I laughed. One day something similar happened.

The humans had just left but I didn’t want to leave the sand. Azalyss came down to me first.

“Momma, get up. Let’s play, come on!” He pressed his head to my back, wanting me to at least shift.

“Play with your father, he can at least keep up,” I mumbled.

“I want to play with you,” Azalyss insisted stubbornly.

“Fine, let’s play hide and seek,” I opted.

“Then you be the hider, momma,” he sat beside me.

“No no, I’ll be the seeker.”

“No because then you won’t move, and I’ll be hiding for hours for no reason. Momma you got to get up, laying around like this is bad for you,” He puffed. He knew that trick too well apparently.

I sighed and sat up. “Get me a brush.”

Azalyss smiled and went to find his hairbrush, the strange one the human had gifted me. Playing actual games didn’t last long so most times now I would just brush hair and sing or talk with him. Synris came and settled beside me as Azalyss came back and gave me his brush.

But instead of sitting so I could do his hair he threw himself into my arms and hugged me. Synris copied him and wrapped his arms around us both.

I smiled a bit and shrugged Synris off.

“Your turn is next, let me do his hair,” I poked his chest with the brush before he just took it from me.

“No, I think we should do your hair,” Synris smiled at Azalyss.

“Oh! Yeah!! Momma, please? I want to brush momma’s hair,” Azalyss looked up at me with pleading eyes.

I sighed, “Fine......” I mumbled my answer. There was no point in trying to argue either of them, I was as good as done for if they both teamed up.

Both started laughing as Azalyss moved to snuggle behind me with Synris. Naturally, I worried. These two were clearly plotting.

“What are you two planning on doing?” I started to turn to look at them but Synris stopped me.

“Ayrice, you said we could do your hair, now sit still,” he was chuckling.

Uneasily I did as he said and let Azalyss brush out my hair. They were up to something. I just knew it.

Since being here I hadn’t been able to cut it. Synris, who had always had long hair, had really long hair now. His was so long now it passed the tip of his tail fin. Mine was down to my dorsal fin… or what had used to be my dorsal fin.

I guess I was still stuck in old traditions, but I felt weird with hair so long. In the oceans only royal families usually had their hair long, it was supposed to be a sign of rank. I also still didn’t like looking so feminine. Again, nothing against maidens but I was not one and didn’t enjoy recalling the years I was bullied for looking like a maiden.

We couldn’t cut Azalyss’ hair either. Synris though loved letting Azalyss grow his hair out. I didn’t mind but again I felt odd.

Azalyss and I aren’t royals like Synris. In the ocean we’d be the story of the eclipse. I’d be no more than Synris’ mistress and Azalyss would be the illegitimate slug babe. According to the sea’s laws, one of us would be killed. Likely me, the one at fault of bearing the babe. It was not a fun thought. I tried not to dwell on it.

Here was different though... thinking about all of this made me wonder about how Salo and Zephic were doing. Since I rarely went up to the clear wall, I hadn’t seen them in a while. I couldn’t dwell on that long either as Azalyss finished brushing my hair, but he was giggling.

“What are you two doing?” I tried to move and look again but once more I was stopped.

“No, momma, stay still!” Azalyss giggled.

I sighed but smiled, trying to look over my shoulder anyway because I knew these two were doing something.

“This is stupid. Just tell me what you’re doing,” I tried to turn again but Azalyss came and sat in my lap to stop me.

“No. Momma hold still or we’ll have to start again,” he held onto me, arms around my neck to make turning harder.

I snorted, now aware that it was Synris doing something with my hair. I was reassured but also twice as worried.

“Yeah, momma, don’t make us start over,” Synris agreed with Azalyss.

That brought a blush to my face. On occasion, if Synris thought I was comfortable, he would tease and call me momma like Azalyss. Of course, he meant in a much different way. We still hadn’t done anything like that since well before Azalyss was born but that didn’t mean he didn’t occasionally try to go for it. Maybe he just liked teasing me.

I sat quietly then, blushing as I held Azalyss who was happy to lay on me.

He had quite a mix personality-wise. Although he had been born with the humans around, he only liked one. That one was the human male who had been so kind to me while I carried Azalyss. The others he stayed away from, taking after my shyness. He didn’t challenge Synris often either. Only twice had he spoken out against Synris. Similar again to my personality, I really didn’t speak out against him unless I was really, really uncomfortable. And as you know he doesn’t always listen.

He did, thankfully listen to Azalyss. The two times had only been he’d been playing too roughly. He taught Azalyss to wrestle and had hit him too hard and he’d tried brushing Azalyss’ hair and pulled too hard. He eased up and took a break as soon as Azalyss said something in their wrestling match and gave the brush to me as soon as Azalyss spoke up when he’d been brushing his hair.

Azalyss also had my coloring. His skin was tanner like mine and his scales were sandy.

But he shared traits with Synris as well.

He was as stubborn as the abyss. If he wanted something, by the Lords of all life he was going to get it. He loved physical contact as well. The boy couldn’t go an hour without cuddling up to one of us.

Between the two of them there was no escape. I honestly didn’t mind cuddling that much anymore. Sometimes I didn’t feel like it but most times I didn’t mind now, used to it.

Azalyss also liked being up and moving. He hated sitting still unless he was cuddling or sleeping and always wanted to be moving. Synris was his friend then. I couldn’t keep up with them.

And then he had Synris’ pale, cloudy eyes and long fins. Honestly if he had just gotten Synris’ scale colors they would look alike. Although Azalyss was a bit more on the feminine side, that was only because he was a child still.

“Can you please tell me what you’re doing?” I asked, trying again to turn.

“Momma!” Azalyss pulled my shoulders forward. He wasn’t going to let me know either.

“Sorry, sorry. I just would like to know what is being done to my hair.”

“There!” Synris finally spoke up as he gently laid his head on my shoulder.

Honestly, even now, he really did almost look like a god from the abyss. His long, white hair floated gracefully in the water and never seemed to knot up, his fins complimented his body shape and let him exude an aura of grace. It was so unfair.

“What did you do?” I pulled my hair over my other shoulder to look.

I was surprised. Somehow, Synris had braided kelp and colored stone into it. I felt the top of my head and ran my hand over my hair all the way to the tips I had pulled over my shoulder. Somehow, he’d braided it in small braids all the way from the roots to the tips and then put it all in one big braid.

I smiled at them both and shook my head, “Thanks...”

Synris smiled and moved away as Azalyss threw himself on me again.

“Momma likes his hair!” He started singing as I laughed.

I had to admit, I did like my hair at that moment and they were both pretty cute.