Grinning, Keld pounced on the Omega and crushed him into a suffocating hug.
“Why are you soheavy?!” Grayson panted. He struggled to free himself, with the success one might expect to see if a grasshopper grappled a bear. “Let me go!”
“Tell me I’m pretty first,” Keld teased.
“You’re pretty.”
Keld released him and swung an arm around his shoulders. “Shall we?”
The pair made their way to building C, where Tara was gleefully preparing a bad horror movie night. Grayson rapped at Tara’s door with his knuckles. She threw it open, beaming. “Come in! Get a drink! I have canned gose,” she added to Keld.“And something calledhongeois on the way? No idea what that is, but Eksal ordered it.”
“Eksal?” Keld’s gaze snapped over Tara’s shoulder. Sure enough, sitting on the couch like he owned the place, was Eksal. His scales and fins were retracted, like Keld’s, leaving him a deep shade of human brown. His eyes were still entirely black—there was nothing to be done about that—but long, black hair concealed his spiny facial fins from view.
Keld and Grayson followed Tara into her apartment. Though it was at least as big as Grayson’s, the four Mer and five human occupants left it feeling cramped.
Eksal’s jaw dropped. “What are you doing here?”
“I could ask you the same thing,” Keld shot back.
The deep sea Mer grinned and tipped his head toward Jaeyong. The small, dark haired man was curled into Eksal’s side, dead asleep.
“He picked up a night shift,” Eksal explained.
From Grayson’s expression, he was just as stunned by the sight. “When did Jaeyong start dating? He didn’t tell us anything.”
Jenna leaned around the polar Mer at her right. “I was offended too. Apparently he was worried we’d think he was weird for being into deep sea Mer.” She rolled her eyes.
“It is a little weird,” Keld agreed.
Eksal laughed and swatted at him.
Jaeyong jolted awake. “Wha—Oh, hi Grayson.”
Grayson folded his arms. “So, you have something you want to tell me?”
The other man colored. “Um. This is Eksal. We’ve been seeing each other for a while—”
“Formonths,” Jenna interrupted. “They’ve been dating formonthsand he didn’t tell us.”
“I said I was sorry!”
Keld glanced at the white-haired Mer next to Jenna. She was a female Alpha, with scales like a frozen sea. Polar Mer were rare this close to the equator.
“Hi,” he said in Loaish. “I’m Keld Vihinu, and this is Grayson Miller.”
The polar Mer inclined her head. “Eiru Onoi. Nice to meet you. Seems like you already know my date.”
“We’ve had our run-ins,” he said with a laugh. “She’s not shy.”
“No,” Eiru said, casting an appreciative look at the Omega. “She isn’t.”
“Keld!” A rich, familiar voice came from the kitchen.
“Malukti? You too?”
The female Alpha chuckled, coming to join the others in the living room. “It’s been an unexpected reunion. I was half-expecting Zasia to burst through the door next. Actually…” She eyed the blonde, Tara, flitting around her kitchen plating snacks and gathering drinks. “I may call her anyway. It seems Tara is the only Omega here without a partner.”
“Did you consult Tara about that?”
