Title: Lionfish 2 (working title)
Word Count: 3019 (this chapter)
Pairings/Characters: Arthur/Eames, past Eames/Yusuf, Ariadne + Yusuf, some periphery OCs
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Some violence and language, also explicit sex, I'm breaking my ban on that until it's finished and I post it elsewhere.
Summery: Sequel to The Importance of Lionfish. Arthur and Eames have achieved domestic bliss, insomuch as a merman and a fisherman are able to do so, but a burning ship brings old ghosts knocking, and a mermaid moving in next door might make for trouble in paradise...

A/N: So, after, what, it's been at least a year, I've got enough of this to start posting it! I was going to write this whole thing before posting, but I ran out of both time and motivation, so, that didn't work. I'm actually pretty bad at finishing things of any length without posting them as WIPs. It's bad. Anyways, drop me a line if you end up liking this, I could certainly use the motivation! I'm going to attempt to post once a week, but I am going to be working and taking a class this summer, so I might not always have the time. But enough of that. Enjoy, and don't hesitate if you have any constructive crit!

Eames stumbled out to his boat on yet another ordinary morning, yawning fit to crack his jaw as he waved to Jane, who he saw only as a blurry silhouette across the street in the pre-dawn darkness.

Eames shoved his boat out to ocean on his solitary stretch of beach, riding through the breakers, violent with a threatening wind whipping them up, and settling into his stroke once he got past the first sandbar. Arthur emerged then, as usual.

"Good morning, Eames," he chirped, little more than a darker spot in the shadow of Eames' boat.

"Hey, Arthur," Eames said more blearily. Arthur, Eames had not been surprised to find, was a morning person. It came of being half fish, he supposed, and not being properly socialized as a child.

"How are you this morning?" Arthur had recently learned that this was something terrapeople commonly said to each other, and the novelty hadn't worn off yet.

"About the same as I was last night. You?"

"I saw a ship catch on fire last night. It was beautiful."

"What?" Eames broke his stroke to peer more closely at Arthur. "When? Where?"

"Miles out, I was way out of my territory. Sort of to the east-ish, I guess." Arthur splashed his left hand in the water, vaguely pointing. "I dunno, it was past the ditch and the sharkwater and the weedcave."

"What time was it?"

"Uh, two or three."

"Did anyone else see it?"

"I don't think so. Most of the sailors died, the fire started very near their small boats."

"Christ, how terrible. Did any of the boats get out unburned?"

"Oh, there were a couple. Not more than two, I don't think. And a few of the sailors found pieces of the boat big enough to float on. They'll probably be washing up on shore today or tomorrow. You should have seen the fire, Eames, it was so tall and angry and bright, scattering the ship in ashes all over the waves." Arthur had a fierce, often unsettling admiration of anything unusually destructive.

"I'm sure it was lovely," Eames said placatingly as he resumed fighting the choppy water to get out to depth. "Did you sleep at all last night ?"

"No," Arthur shrugged, "I can always sleep in the day. The sea was too restless last night."

"And filled with the scream of dying sailors," Eames muttered under his breath.

"Exactly." Arthur's grin was all teeth.

"Alright, moving on from your stunning lack of humanity, have you seen that little mermaid you were going on and on about last week again?"

"I'm not human, Eames, of course I don't have any humanity. But thankfully not, I don't need scavengers taking my fish while I'm up with you. I think I might have seen her out by the burning ship, but it was hard to tell, she was very close to it. It seemed almost like she was helping a couple of them, though it was probably just a dolphin. They like helping failed sailors. It amuses them or something."

"Oh, imagine that, someone helping someone else from certain death!"

"Eames, if they can't manage on their own, there's no use in my interfering with the inevitable."

"Okay, these are the types of conversations that we try to avoid, remember?"

"Terrapeople," Arthur huffed. "Alright, fine, we will now futilely avoid the inevitable."

"It's called diplomacy, Arthur, don't talk about things you will never agree on."

"A ridiculous terraperson idea," Arthur agreed affably.

"How have merpeople survived this long with no concept of diplomacy?" Eames asked, exasperated.

"Teeth and claws, sweetheart, teeth and claws."

Arthur disappeared once Eames got out to depth, Eames not able to catch anything with Arthur hanging about. He usually returned about half-way through the afternoon, chattering on about the latest display of nature's cruelty he had witnessed or the very pretty angelfish he had just eaten, and then again when Eames began rowing back to shore.

Every once in a while, he would have an especially successful day and catch extra fish for Eames, or have to fight off a shark and give the corpse to Eames, or go down and catch a squid for Eames, which Arthur still apparently thought was the height of romance.

Eames didn't mind getting the odd squid anymore, as he had discovered that Old Maurice, the closest thing the village had to a governor, had quite the fondness for squid, and he would in return give Eames sugar or chile powder or any of a host of other delicious spices he got from only God knows where.

There were no extra fish today, but Eames was no less pleased to see Arthur's face again at dusk as he swung his prow towards shore.

"My darling little terror of the sea, have you eaten any more defenseless, pretty fish?"

"I never can resist anything pretty," Arthur smirked. "It's a fatal flaw in my character."

"Why thank you."

"It's true, though, lionfins, I am turning into the most romantic, life-mated sop I ever did see. There was a pregnant tiger shark that came into my territory the other day. I tend to do away with those whenever I can because I don't need them breeding all over my territory, but her mate came over, and they were so much in love that I let them go. It was absolutely ridiculous."

"Sharks actually love each other?"

"Well, after a fashion. It was a most embarrassing affair, and I think that wretched little mermaid saw me do it. My reputation will never recover."

"Arthur, I'm sure it's not as bad as all that. Maybe she'll just think you didn't want to fight two sharks at once."

"Eames, don't say things like that! Didn't want to fight two sharks at once, she'll think I can't defend my territory!" Arthur looked absolutely horrified.

"Okay, okay," Eames laughed, "I'm sorry I insulted your merhood. I wouldn't want to fight two sharks at once."

"Well, you haven't got any teeth or claws," Arthur said reasonably. "If she did think that, though, she'll try to come in and take my things." Arthur turned a hard look on Eames. "If you ever see her, put your gaff through her gills. She won't mean any good."

"Don't worry, Arthur, I'm sure she'll respect your territory."

"She was helping those sailors." Arthur pulled a face, as though this alone was proof of insanity.

"There, see? She probably would have done the same thing with the sharks."

"Oh god, I'm turning into a bleeding heart. I need to fight something."

"Well, try not to get any more scars if you do."

"But, sweetheart, having you tut over me afterwards is the best part," Arthur grinned.

"I think that's another sign that you're a sop."

"It's a socially acceptable form of soppiness, though."

"I didn't know merpeople even had social acceptance."

"We do: kill anything that threatens your territory, make sure your spawn are capable of survival before you swim away, don't kill anyone's life-mate."

"What happens if you kill someone's life-mate?"

"They die as painful a death as anyone can imagine." Arthur's eyes suddenly went ice cold.

They hit the last sandbar before Eames could think of a good response to that.

"You coming out to the pier tonight?" Arthur asked, halting in the water.

"As soon as I'm sold."

"See you then," Arthur flashed his teeth and submerged.

Eames ate a hasty dinner after selling off his fish, most of them going to a gentleman named Saito who said he was starting up a business selling fish farther inland. Eames fully approved of this, as Robert Fischer had had that market cornered for far too long and Eames and the rest of the fishermen would benefit from some competition there.

He trotted out to the end of an old, disused pier half a mile up shore from his house where he had taken to meeting Arthur at night, avoiding the rotten boards and gaping holes with practiced ease.

"Darling?" Eames called out, sitting cross-legged at the edge of the pier. There was no answer, so Eames resigned himself to waiting.

Arthur popped out of the water maybe fifteen minutes later.

"There you are," Eames held out his hand. "Where've you been?"

"I went up to the next town to see if those sailers had washed up yet." Arthur grabbed Eames' hand and used it to pull himself up onto the pier, where he settled with his forearms on either side of Eames' thighs.

"Any news?"

"The boats have both come ashore, but none of the flotsam, though I think they'll be coming up sometime tonight or tomorrow morning."

"Do you know where they're from?"

"No, there wasn't anyone good to talk to out on the water. I think I'll try talking to one of the sailors still stranded on top tonight and see what I can find out."

"I wonder what could have set their ship on fire."

"Who knows. Terrapeople carry fire with them wherever they go. There are any number of idiotic things they could have done."

"That is true." Eames threaded his finger's through Arthur's hair.

"It's all very dull, really, now that the fire has stopped." Arthur leaned his head into Eames' hands, closing his eyes. "It really was a beautiful fire," he sighed. "So bright. Everything seemed like the darkest pits of hell afterwards. Gorgeous."

"Arthur, I'm starting to feel jealous of this fire." Eames dropped a kiss to Arthur's forehead.

"Eames," Arthur slit open his eyes and grinned. "Can't have that," he breathed as he surged up to stand on his hands, pressing forward to kiss Eames greedily.

Eames sighed and wrapped his arms around Arthur, falling back to lay flat on his back, pulling Arthur to lay on top of him, cold and wet. Arthur slid his smooth tongue into Eames' mouth, licking along Eames' teeth and tangling with his own. Eames groaned and curled his arms around Arthur's shoulders, shivering when Arthur shifted his weight to one hand and brought his other down to play with Eames' nipple through his shirt.

Eames bucked, pressing his hardening cock into Arthur, and Arthur pulled back, grinning wickedly.

"Take off your clothes, lionfins." Arthur reached down between Eames' legs, squeezing him hard enough to make him arch helplessly. "Let me take care of this for you," Arthur cooed, relishing the way Eames squirmed and panted underneath him as he ground his hand over Eames' crotch.

Eames wriggled out of his clothes as fast as he was able once Arthur let go of him, setting them carefully over his head where they were out of danger of being knocked into the water below. Arthur fell on him as soon as he was finished, pressing close and running his hands all over Eames' skin, licking and kissing at Eames' neck and collarbone.

Eames ran his fingers down the skin immediately on either side of Arthur's dorsal fin, which never failed to make him shiver, and wrapped his legs around Arthur's tail, savoring the feel of Arthur's smooth scales against his inner thighs.

Arthur picked his head up after a moment and stroked the backs of his fingers over Eames' lips, sharp claws tucked safely out of the way. Eames licked at them until Arthur slid the first two into Eames' mouth, letting Eames suck at them and lick carefully around the dangerous points of his claws.

Eames gripped Arthur's tail with his thighs and began to rock his hips slowly into Arthur's, right where Arthur's skin transitioned into scales. The sensation was indescribable, and Eames moaned and bit at Arthur's fingers still in his mouth.

Arthur grinned and nipped at the corner of Eames' jaw in return, practiced enough not to leave blood by now. Arthur licked at Eames' lips where they were pursed around his fingers and began playing with Eames' nipples again, pinching and dragging tongue and claws and teeth carefully over them, until Eames was gasping and leaking against Arthur's stomach, lisping nonsense around Arthur's fingers.

Arthur rolled off of him suddenly, landing on his back next to Eames. Eames gave a whimper of loss, reaching out after him. Arthur grabbed his hands, kissing his fingers while hushing him, dimples barely visible in the low light of dusk.

"Eames," Arthur ran his fingers through Eames' hair once he had calmed a bit, "I want you to come sit over my face, alright?"

Eames gave a stuttering moan at the idea, scrambling up with uncoordinated limbs to comply. Arthur ran his hands over Eames' hips and thighs before focusing on his ass, slipping his thumb between Eames' cheeks to rub against his hole.

Eames groaned and pushed back against Arthur's thumb, which kept rubbing at him until Eames was shivering with anticipation.

When Arthur finally pulled Eames down against his tongue, Eames made the most embarrassing, high pitched noise, rocking back hard against Arthur's hold and throwing back his head while Arthur licked broad stripes over Eames' hole.

Eames gasped and shut his eyes while Arthur slowly eased his tongue inside, trying futilely to still the impatient thrusting of his hips. Arthur hummed against him in amusement and Eames' cock jerked, dribbling another spurt of precome down his shaft. Eames grunted as Arthur wriggled his tongue in farther, curling his fingernails into the soft wood beneath him. Arthur slowly settled into a rhythm, fucking his slick tongue in and out while Eames struggled to stay upright, biting his lip against the groans that made their way out anyways.

Arthur pressed the pad of each thumb right next to Eames' hole, pulling him wide for Arthur's tongue. His claws dug in slightly as he pulled, ten tiny pricks of pain, and Eames moaned shamelessly, pushing back into them while Arthur pushed his tongue farther into Eames.

Eames was shaking all over by this time, and it took two tries for him to balance on one hand, getting his other around his dick. Arthur slid a hand up Eames' body to rub at a nipple as Eames hurriedly pulled at his cock and Eames' orgasm crashed over him like one of the endless waves passing beneath them.

Arthur continued licking at him through his orgasm, until he was whimpering and barely able to keep from collapsing into the pier. As soon as Arthur loosed his grip on Eames' thighs Eames crawled unsteadily down Arthur's body, flopping half on top of him and tucking his head under Arthur's chin. Arthur turned on his side and gathered Eames into his chest, stroking his back soothingly. He slid his fingers down to rub at Eames' hole every so often just to feel him tremble, pressing his smile to Eames' forehead.

The first time they had had sex, Eames had been horrified to discover that Arthur, being half fish, didn't have a penis. He then worried himself sick over the next few times that he wasn't meeting Arthur's needs and that Arthur would leave him for a mermaid until Arthur took pity and told him that orgasms weren't an object for him. He just liked the way he could make Eames shake, because he was a mean bastard like that.

Arthur stayed wrapped around Eames until his skin started to flake from the dry air.

"Arthur," Eames tapped weakly at Arthur's chest, "you need to get back into the water."

Arthur made a noncommittal noise and pulled Eames closer.

"Arthur, come on, I'm not letting you get that terrible rash again." Eames pushed harder at Arthur.

"All right, all right," Arthur's voice cracked with dryness. "Come in with me?" He pressed his chapped lips to the corner of Eames' mouth.

"Okay."

Arthur smiled at him, then made as if to flop his way back into the water.

"Darling, don't be ridiculous." Eames pushed himself up, then caught Arthur around the waist and tossed him into the ocean. Eames peered after him, trying to spot when he surfaced in the moonlight, the sun having disappeared while they were lying on the pier.

"I'm right here, Eames," Arthur's voice came from the dark shadow of the pier. Eames swung his legs over the edge, waiting until Arthur put his hand on Eames' leg before sliding in. Arthur caught him easily, whispering "hold your breath, sweetheart," before whisking him away from the pier so they wouldn't be dashed against it by the waves.

Arthur absolutely loved having Eames in the water with him, sliding his hands over Eames' slippery skin and laying kisses all over him, squeezing him tight and loving the way Eames clung to him. Eames was still relaxed and sleepy from his orgasm, and it was certainly no hardship to let Arthur have his way with him.

When Eames began to fall asleep against Arthur's shoulder, Arthur smiled fondly at him, kissed him soundly, and swam him back to the pier, where Eames woke himself up enough to get dressed and say goodbye.

"One of these days I'm not going to bring you back," Arthur said, visible on the moonlight side of the pier. "I'll swim far out and just keep you there, all for me. Never let anyone else touch you again."

"I'm sure you will," Eames murmured, smiling indulgently down at Arthur. It was something Arthur said often.

"I'll see you in the morning, lionfins." Arthur's answering smile was soft.

"Goodnight, Arthur." Eames turned to walk back down the rickety old pier, catching Arthur diving under out of the corner of his eye.

He stumbled back home in the moonlight, tumbling into bed half-clothed and falling asleep immediately.