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~**~ - indicates mental conversation The North Pacific Ocean was home to one of the largest colonies of sea serpents. Able to shape shift into human form, they mostly preferred their elongated forms and stayed in the waters.Sea serpents are distant cousins of the sky serpents, also known as dragons, and both species would go on yearly searches for treasure.The treasure could be something simple like a shiny coin or even a small children’s toy. It varied from sea serpent to dragon. Sometimes, the treasure would even be a human.~~~Dyonisia twisted through the dark waters of the ocean, her form lean and sinuous. Her colouring of white, blue and green scales glinted off the moonlight. A hint of metal was clipped to her ear fin, showing her designation as a shape shifter of the sea serpent race.A smaller sea serpent glided alongside of her, playfully twisting around her.~*Mother! Mother!*~~*Hush, Kevyn! We are on the search! We are not here to have fun*~Kevyn pouted as much as he could at her. They had been on his mother’s search this year for two days now and still nothing. She had been searching for a very long time, long enough for her to find a mate and bear young.She nipped at his flank. ~*Settle! You need to learn these things, as you’ll be going on your own search soon*~Kevyn sighed, currents twisting around him as they flew through the water. ~*Yes, Mother*~They kept going, searching and searching as they got closer and closer to the coast.He didn’t understand why he had to come with his mother on her search. He was years away from his own search. He wanted to go play with his friends and brothers, not this.Moonlight glinted off of his scales, his own colouring a little darker than his mother’s.He really didn’t want to be here.Kevyn twisted in a loop around the water and paused, his mother speeding ahead of him. Something was tugging on his senses. Filled with curiosity, Kevyn wandered over slowly to where his senses were leading him too.Kevyn coiled under the water, treading as he glanced upwards; there was something in the water. He came up underneath it and saw they were a pair of human legs.A human! This far out?But something about this human had Kevyn wanting to coil himself around the person and never let go.Kevyn blinked underwater at the realization. Was this his treasure?Something streaked past him and he reared a little.~*Mother?*~~*Kevyn! What are you doing over here?*~ She chided him.Kevyn looked upwards at the legs kicking furiously in the water, keeping the human afloat and then looked at his mother. ~*I think this is my treasure, Mother*~To Dyonisia’s credit, she only blinked a little and looked up. It was rare that a treasure was a human. She looked back down at her son. ~*Are you sure, Kevyn?*~Kevyn nodded. ~*I felt this tugging and I had to go look for it; it took me here. I want to hold onto this person and never let go*~She nodded. ~*That is the search. I never expected you to find your treasure so young!*~~*What do I do, Mother? How do I approach the human?*~~*Carefully. Do not scare him, and make sure to show your marking*~Kevyn’s tail fin came up to flick the earring attached to his ear fin, marking him a shape shifter of the sea serpent class.~~~Mike growled what felt like the hundredth time as he treaded water. He knew exactly who he was going to blame for his predicament.Pete Wentz, boss and bane of his existence.“Oh, Mike, c’mon on the cruise ship, we’re just doing a short trip along the coast! It’ll be fun! Get out some more!” Mike said in an attempt at sounding like Pete. And here he was, treading water in the ocean with no clear way home; plus, the alcohol he had earlier wasn’t helping.He just had to fall overboard.And now he was smack dab in the middle of the ocean, where he was probably going to get eaten by a shark. He didn’t even know which way the coast was to at least try and swim to shore.A feeling of helplessness filled Mike before he ruthlessly pushed it away. He was Mike fucking Carden. He wasn’t going to die here, right?Taking a deep breath, Mike looked around and decided to start swimming. It had to be better than anything, even just treading here.It would be just like back in high school when he swam for the swim team, just a larger pool. Moving his arms forward, Mike started to slowly swim forward through the water.His plans were halted when something rose out of the water in front of him.Floundering, Mike gave off a yelp as he bobbed in the water and then yelped again as he was lifted out of the water.“Let me go!” Mike yelled as felt something tighten around his middle, his arms waving in the air as he prepared to try and defend himself from whatever this was.Something darted in front of his face as then pain in his forehead came as he and the creature holding him yelped in pain. Mike rubbed his forehead and glared at the serpentine creature. “Did you just head butt me?”The creature looked sorry as it ducked its head. ~*Sorry, it was the only way I could communicate with you.*~Mike blinked and then blinked again. When you lived in a world of supernatural creatures, telepathic snakes weren’t high up on the list.~*I’m not a snake!*~ The creature hissed.“Sorry,” Mike groused and crossed his arms. “What are you then?”~*Sea serpent*~ It said proudly and leaned forward to inspect Mike. Mike caught a glint of metal on the sea serpent’s ear fin and knew this was one of the shape shifters that lived in the ocean. High school history class became useful for once.“Um, not that I don’t appreciate the save, but why?” Mike asked curiously.If possible the sea serpent grinned, barring sharp teeth. ~*You’re my treasure!*~Mike gulped. He knew all about treasures and humans as a treasure were rare and usually guarded fiercely by the ones who claimed them.You just had to look at how his boss Pete, a dragon, guarded Patrick.The water splashed around them as a larger sea serpent rose up and curled around them.~*Mother! I have my treasure!!*~Mike looked sharply at the sea serpent holding him and he could see the slight differences in scale colouring, but he hadn’t realized he had been ‘caught’ by a kid. And now the kid’s mother was eyeing him, snout snuffling his hair, inspecting him. He froze under the ministrations.~*Isn’t the human pretty?*~Mike was never hearing the end of this if that got out to his band mates. If he was going back to his band mates.He didn’t hear what the kid’s mother had to say next; it looked like the telepathic thing only worked between him and the kid. But he watched as the larger sea serpent dove back into the water after giving her child a cuddle, and then it was the two of them alone again.~*Mother said I should take you back to your herd*~ It tilted its head a little.“Uh yeah, that would be appreciated,” Mike managed to get out. “Are you coming on land with me?”The sea serpent looked annoyed. ~*Of course. You’re mine. I’m not letting you out of my sight*~Mike sighed. Great. “Look, kid, do you have a name or something I can call you?”~*You may call me Kevyn*~“Right,” Mike drawled. “Okay Kevyn, you can call me Mike.”Kevyn trilled happily and Mike felt Kevyn tighten the hold on him.“Air!” Mike gasped and the coils loosened their hold on him.~*Sorry! Sorry!*~ Kevyn apologised quickly. Mike yelped as Kevyn pushed his snout into his personal space, inspecting him for damage. ~*I didn’t realize humans were so fragile. I shall be more careful in the future*~Pulling air into his lungs, Mike weakly nodded and patted Kevyn on his flank. The kid wasn’t too big; maybe about eight to ten feet long and Mike knew Kevyn would grow bigger.“You’re male, right?”Kevyn trilled amused. ~*Yes, I am male*~ He leaned in close, eyes protected by a thin membrane, glancing over Mike. ~*Are you?*~Mike snorted. “Yeah.” He looked around. “As great as this conversation is, I think it’s time we headed to shore.”Nodding, Kevyn adjusted his hold on Mike, perching him on a hump and took off towards where Mike hoped was the shore line as the wind whipped through his hair. He shivered slightly at the cold.~~~Bill knew exactly who to blame for this current predicament.Pete Wentz, dragon, boss of the music label he belonged to and bane of his existence.“We lost Mike!” Bill raged, shaking a fist at Pete, who merely raised an eyebrow.“And what do you want me to do about it? I’ve gotten the coast guard organized. They’re going to retrace our route and see if they can find him,” Pete pointed out calmly, trying not to let too much panic show. Mike was a friend, and he didn’t want him lost out in the ocean.“Can’t you just transform and fly out there?” Bill asked, waving a hand over Pete’s form.Pete sighed. “I would if I could, Bill, but I’m crap at night time flying.”Bill threw his hands up in the air and headed over to the rest of The Academy Is....“Any word yet?” Butcher asked as he looked around the pier. There were a lot of people around getting a search party together for their wayward band member.Bill shook his head. “No. And Pete won’t even go flying for him.”“Why not?” Sisky demanded.“Says he can’t fly at night time.”“Makes sense.”The others looked at Michael who spoke up. “Some dragon species can only fly during the day; they have no night time vision, so they don’t fly.”Bill sighed and knew Michael was probably right. He usually was. Whenever they asked him about his uncanny ability to be right about things, he just shrugged and went, “Australian.”“I’m sure Mike will turn up; he’s a resourceful guy,” Michael pointed out reasonably.Bill could only hope Michael was right this time as well.It was a couple hours later, and the coast guard was trying to get The Academy Is... to go back to their hotel—they were being stubborn and refusing. They couldn’t leave Mike out there alone.They ignored the pitying looks as they waited at the pier for any sign that their guitarist and friend was alive.“What’s that?” Sisky asked as he pointed out a shape in the distance.“What?” Bill asked groggily as he slowly stood up from his position of leaning against Butcher’s leg. Blinking a couple of times, he snagged the binoculars that Butcher had acquired earlier and placed them on his eyes, trying to see what Sisky was pointing at.He adjusted the focus a couple of times before a grin lit up his face. “It’s Mike! MIKE’S ALIVE!!” Tossing the binoculars back to Butcher, Bill ran up to the edge of the pier and frantically waved his arms. “MIKE!!!”“I think he’s finally cracked,” Butcher said a bit sadly, but looked through the binoculars and gaped. “Holy crap, it is Mike! And he’s riding some sort of snake!”Sisky giggled a little at the absurdity. “Is that a metaphor for something?”Butcher lightly smacked him on the shoulder. “Idiot.” And raced to go join Bill in directing Mike to the pier. Their actions caused some of coast guards to come near them and see what they were waving at and realize that the person they were searching for was in the water on the back of some sea creature.~~~~*Your herd is noisy*~ Kevyn told Mike as they slowly approached the pier.Mike chuckled. “Yeah, they’ve been probably worried about me.”Kevyn nodded. ~*Herds do that when you go missing for a while*~“MIIIIIKE!!!”“And that’s Bill,” Mike sighed, but then grinned. “Be prepared to be hugged within an inch of your life.”Kevyn trilled, a little confused but nodded. ~*He is your mate?*~Mike snorted and shook his head. “Hell no. He’s one of my best friends. Like a brother really.”Kevyn’s tailfin flicked in the water and moved them forward a little more quickly towards the pier. ~*I see, he is your nest mate*~Mike had no idea what Kevyn meant, but shrugged. “Sure.”They arrived at the pier and Mike hopped off of Kevyn as he slithered up onto the pier and wrapped around Mike a couple of times. Mike sighed.“MIKE!!!”Mike braced himself as Bill wrapped himself around Mike, ignoring the sea serpent. “You worried us!”“Sorry Bill,” Mike apologized and lightly patted Bill on the shoulder.Kevyn trilled amused.The sound had Bill looking up and gasping a little. “Mike, there’s a sea serpent on the pier.”Mike looked up and then back at Bill. “Yeah, I know. He gave me a lift home.”Bill took a step back finally noticing the sea serpent was loosely wrapped around Mike when the others finally joined him.~*A sky serpent!*~ Kevyn said to Mike, visibly startled when Pete came up to them. He looked at Mike. ~*You never said you knew one!*~ The coils tightened slightly around Mike. ~*You’re my treasure! He’s not taking you!*~“Relax kid, he’s got his own treasure,” Mike pointed out to Kevyn, patting the scales reassuringly. Kevyn visibly calmed down but wrapped himself around Mike a bit more, showing ownership.“Miiike,” Pete drawled as he came up to the duo, eyes going slightly slitted. “Did some young sea serpent claim you?”The rest of The Academy Is... looked at Pete startled.“Claimed?” Bill asked wide eyed and confused. Eyes darting back and forth between Mike and the sea serpent wrapped around him.“He says I’m his treasure,” Mike drawled amused.~*You are my treasure!!*~ Kevyn assured him as he nuzzled Mike’s hair.Pete grinned and brayed with laughter. “Once caught our kind never lets go.”Mike looked up and down Kevyn who was entwined all around him. “Apparently.”Kevyn trilled at him again. ~*All mine*~Mike patted the scales entwining him. “Are you going to let me go anytime soon?”~*Nope*~ Kevyn and coiled around him even more.“That is going to make things tricky when performing,” Bill mused aloud as he glanced at Mike’s predicament.The others laughed a little, still unsure what exactly was going on.“Can’t he shape shift to human or something?” Sisky asked, waving at Kevyn with a hand.Kevyn snuffled Mike’s hair. ~*Would that make things easier?*~Mike looked up and nodded. “At least for getting us home.”“Home?” Bill glared at Mike and flapped his hand a little. “You might have hypothermia or something, Mike! Get checked out by the medics at least!”Mike looked at Bill, eyebrow raised, and then glanced behind his band to see the medics waiting, medical bags in hands. “Fine.”It didn’t take the medics long to check Mike over and proclaim him healthy and inform him to drink some fluids and get plenty of rest.Kevyn didn’t move so much as an inch.As soon as the medics were gone, Mike poked Kevyn’s scales. “You think you can shape shift? The way we travel on land requires you to be a bit more human sized.”Kevyn trilled, amused and then his form blurred around Mike. Mike had to stifle the giggle that threatened to erupt from his lips as his skin tingled. It didn’t take long before a small teenage naked boy was clinging to Mike’s back, looking bewildered.He licked his lips and then his teeth and then wiggled his fingers with a free hand. Mike craned his head to look at Kevyn as he tried to keep a hold of him and not touch anything inappropriate.“Treasuuuuure?” Kevyn drawled as he got used to human speech.Mike blinked; Kevyn had a mop of curly brown hair and wide brown eyes and a face so innocent. “Yeah?”Kevyn giggled happily. “Treasure!! I have fingers and toes and human skin!”“Jeeze, he’s just a kid,” Pete said wide eyed.“He’s like a baby Sisky!” Bill cooed at Kevyn while Sisky protested in the background with an indigent, “Hey!”“Kevyn,” Mike winces as Kevyn wiggled on his back. “My name is Mike, remember? And you need to stop wiggling.”Kevyn stopped, all wide eyed and clinging to Mike’s back like a tiny fluffy burr.Michael Guy showed himself to be the smartest one in the bunch as he held up a blanket he got from who knows where; Mike really didn’t want to know and took it appreciatively.“C’mon, Kid, let’s get you wrapped up and we’re heading back to my place,” Mike ordered, shaking the blanket out a bit.Kevyn blinked and slithered off of Mike’s back as Mike turned around to protect Kevyn’s modesty and wrapped him up in the blanket. Kevyn’s fingers crept out and started to rub the material, enthralled with the new discovery as he leaned against Mike.Mike wrapped an arm around Kevyn and glared at everyone, daring them to say something. Nobody did.“We going?” Mike grunted out to the group.The lights by the pier navigated their way to the parking lot and the cars they came in as Mike tried to coax a confused Kevyn into the vehicle. “What does it do?”“It’s transportation, kid, just, get in, okay?” Mike asked almost pleading. Kevyn looked at the vehicle and then back at Mike like he was nuts. “You can cuddle me the whole way home,” Mike promises and that got Kevyn scurrying into the car, almost losing his blanket in the process.Bill stifled his giggles as he slid into the driver’s seat and Pete hopped in the front. The others got in the rented van they got for coming down to LA to visit Mike and Pete.Mike slid into the back and almost immediately, Kevyn latched onto him. Sighing, he adjusted the blanket around Kevyn’s lap, pulled the seatbelt over Kevyn and then over his own self before Bill pulled away.Pete twisted around in his seat as Bill navigated through traffic, the others following behind them. “So, little sea serpent, first treasure?”Kevyn bristled slightly. “Yes.”“So young too.”“I’m twenty seasons,” Kevyn says reasonably as he clutches Mike tighter.Pete snorted. “Still a baby.”Kevyn hissed at him and Mike tried not to squeak from the tightness of Kevyn’s hug. “How about we all try and get along, hmm?” Bill asks from the driver’s seat of the car as he turned into the faster lane.The trio went silent.Keeping an arm around Kevyn, Mike glanced out the window and watched the scenery. He knew he should be more pissed about the entire thing, but the truth was, he was just tired. Getting knocked overboard, almost drowning and traveling back to shore had really taken a lot out of him.Plus, it wasn’t a bad thing to be a ‘treasure’ of a sea serpent. He wasn’t going to be the one to reject the kid. For all that people complained he was a bastard (which was true, but only in areas that counted) he wouldn’t do something as horrible as reject the kid.You just had to look at the history of Pete and Patrick to see what rejection did to a dragon.Apparently Ativan worked as a poison with dragon physiology, and when Pete had finally revealed to Patrick what he was and what Patrick was to him, well, a lot of people knew how that story went.Mike sighed a little and felt Kevyn try to burrow into him further, offering whatever he could and not letting Mike out of his sight. He still wasn’t sure how exactly this was going to work. Mike was a touring musician; Kevyn was a shape shifting sea serpent that probably spent most of his life below sea.Life was about to get even more interesting, and Mike couldn’t wait to see what was in store. THE END.