Yet Another Omake

"C'mon! Come on Matthew!"

"Yes, yes…" Matthew grumbled as he lowered himself off the pier and into the sea. Gilbert was swimming circles around him and clapping his hands in excitement.

"Let's go! C'mon!"

The seawater was cold but not as cold as it had been a couple of months ago when the merman had first washed into his life. Matthew kicked his feet and envied the long white tail that propelled Gilbert forward.

He was wearing an old bathing suit that he had found in the attic of the lighthouse. It must have belonged to his grandfather once upon a time. It was one piece with red and white stripes and he would absolutely die of mortification if anyone besides Gilbert or his dog saw it.

"I'm coming, I'm coming… You're so impatient."

"No," Gilbert tugged on one of his soaking wet curls, "you're just too slow."

Matthew tried to bat his hands away but Gilbert grabbed them and started spinning him around in the water.

"Wah!"

"Bwahaha!"

The large white dog standing on the end of pier barked once, twice, before apparently deciding that he did not really care if his master was in trouble. He sat down, panting in the sunlight, and watched the festivities instead.

"Gilbert!"

The merman finally let go and Matthew just managed to stop himself from flying into the pier. The dog snorted in amusement but made no move to defend his honour.

"You're too slow," he said again with a smile. "What is the point of 'legs' if all they do is slow you down?"

Matthew closed his eyes in exasperation. He had tried explaining the merits of legs to Gilbert a thousand times but the merman refused to believe walking on the beach could be just as wonderful as swimming in the sea.

When he opened them again, Gilbert was nowhere to be seen.

"Gilbert…?" Matthew spun in the water, scanning the horizon. "Where are…?"

He was cut off as something, or someone, pulled him under the surface in a splash. Bubbles danced around him as he tried to remember not to breathe.

He reached the bottom and found Gilbert laughing at him.

Matthew tried to swear but it came out in more bubbles and just made Gilbert laugh harder. He was holding his sides and screeching in Mermish.

'Too slow', Gilbert mouthed. He was teasing him.

Matthew crossed him arms over his chest and pouted. Gilbert swam closer, his laughter tapering off into a curious expression.

'You can't breathe underwater, can you?'

Matthew rolled his eyes.

'Oh. Whoops.'

He grabbed his hands again but instead of swinging him around, he kissed him. Matthew tried to scramble backwards but he could not work up the momentum. Gilbert deepened the kiss and Matthew opened his mouth in surprise.

That was when he realized what Gilbert was doing; he was breathing for him.

Matthew spluttered when Gilbert pulled back. Gilbert just smiled, all teeth, and started to drag him back towards the surface.

"Don't do that!" Matthew gasped as he broke the surface. Gilbert cocked his head to the side and swished his tail. The dog barked in alarm and Matthew wondered how long the two of them had been underwater.

"What? Save your life?"

"No! Kiss me!"

"Okay."

Gilbert kissed him again.

"Gah!"

Gilbert swam out of his reach when Matthew tried to smack him. His face was burning with embarrassment. He had kissed Gilbert on the forehead before but this was different.

"I don't know what you're complaining about."

"You kissed me! Twice!"

"Mmhmm."

"That's not…" Matthew massaged his temples.

"We should do that again."

"No, we should not!"

"Yes, we should," Gilbert nodded his head as if he had just come to some sort of decision. "Yes, definitely."

"No, I…"

"Yes."

"But…"

"Yes."

Matthew groaned and collapsed against the pier. It seemed that arguing with Gilbert was even more exhausting than swimming with him. Gilbert came in close again and leaned on his shoulder.

The two of them watched the sun touch the horizon and paint the sea in shades of yellow.

"But…" He tried again.

"Kissing is fun. We should do it again. Definitely."

Matthew sighed, Gilbert cackled, and the sun set in the distance.

Author's Notes:

I'm just messing around. Because I can… Because MapleVogel lets me borrow her alternate universe for my own amusement… And because I have had an emotionally taxing day and I wanted to write something meaningless and sweet.

Poor, poor Matthew… Gilbert has him wrapped around his little finger. Besides, it is hard to argue with the merman. I've tried.

Oh, and the bathing suit described here is the one that the artist often draws Matthew wearing.