Chapter 7
Steve watched in awe as the island called Atlantis approached him slowly. It was an architectural masterpiece and the bright colors of the city were blinding. It was bigger than Steve had ever imagined.
“How big is this place?” Steve asked George.
“About twenty or so square miles” he replied, eyes focused on the water in front of him.
“Bucky’s gonna be in charge of this all one day?” Steve questioned.
“This and more” George replied looking down at Steve who sitting on the front of the boat, “there are several other islands out there like this, Atlantis is just the capital”.
“Are they anything like this?” Steve asked, the morning sun shining in eyes made even worse as it reflected off the crystal clear blue waters.
“I wouldn’t know” George said, “I’ve only ever been to Atlantis, Bucky’s been to a few of them with the King”.
Steve nodded and looked over the side of the boat. Bucky and his mom were swimming right next to the boat, they gracefully flew through the water.
Every so often Steve would catch sight of another mermaid or merman, all with different colored tails.
“Is there any reason for the coloring of their tales?” Steve asked, innocent spark of curiosity in his eyes.
“As far as I know is that it’s based on what tribe you came from before the kingdom was established. The sons of Poseidon couldn’t share the throne so they all created their own, and that’s where all the islands under Atlantis came from. The tribes are all from different parts of the ocean, you have polar mermaids and reef mermaids, Winnie’s is from her mother, a mermaid from the kelp forests and Buck’s is the same as Atlas who’s father was the king of the Polar mermaids”
“Why did they come together?” Steve asked vaguely, “I mean under one kingdom”.
“They weren’t safe, humans hunted mythical creatures for their resources and many of them went extinct. So, they joined forces and created Atlantis about 3,500 years ago and appointed Bucky’s great grandfather to the throne”
Steve nodded, the information was overwhelming. He was just told all the mythology he’d heard as a child was true and not only that but his friend is some kind of magical fish prince. Steve chuckled to himself about the absurdity of it all.
They slowly approached the sandy white coast of Atlantis, the coast wasn’t anything like Steve had seen before. About 100 yards from the boat, there looked to be a opening almost like a cave, he watched merpeople swim in and out, Steve wished he could see what was down there.
Steve stepped off the boat after Bucky and Winnie were dressed again. Bucky came up to him and draped his arm around Steve’s shoulder.
“What do you think?” Bucky asked with a lop-sided smile.
Steve smiled up at him, “it’s alright” he shrugged and watched Bucky’s face fall, Steve laughed to himself, “I’m just kidding it’s actually kind of incredible”.
Bucky laughed out loud, a beautiful melodic sound that Steve could never get enough of, “that’s what I thought, punk”.
Steve observed the cave opening closer, “Hey Bucky, what’s down there?” Steve asked pointing to opening.
“Underwater housing, most people who live in the capital work on land and live underwater.”
“What’s it like?” Steve asked as he walked with Bucky towards the city.
“It’s very beautiful and tranquil, it’s cave system with kelp forests and coral reefs” Bucky responded, “maybe I can take you there one day”.
“How would you pull that off?” Steve asked skeptically.
Bucky smiled at him smugly, “I have my ways”.
“For some reason I have a feeling I’m not gonna like your ways” Steve laughed, wrapping his arms around Bucky’s waist.
—
Steve walked through Atlantis in awe, it was like a state of perpetual summer. He could get used to this. Bucky walked with him, hand in hand, through the narrow city streets.
“Prince James, how are you doing?” called a shop owner, he was a middle aged man, thin and tall.
“I’m great doctor, how are you?” Bucky asked politely charm on display.
“I am well, why don’t you come in? Is this your human suitor I’ve heard so much about?” The doctor asked referring to Steve.
Bucky chuckled, “yes this is Steve,” Steve waved awkwardly at the strange man. “We can stop in for a bit”.
Bucky led Steve into the shop, the walls were lined with various vials of liquids, it smelled herbal.
“This is Dr. Strange, he’s our apothecary” Bucky introduced, the man held his hand out for Steve to shake. Steve grasped the man’s hand and shook it timidly.
“So you create like medicines and stuff?” Steve asked the man curiously.
“Yes, potions, medicines, and everything in between”.
“He works for the royal family,” Bucky added.
Dr. Strange began examining Steve closely, he was looking at his hearing aid.
“I don’t mean to sound rude, but what’s that contraption you’ve got on your head?” The doctor asked.
“My hearing aid,” Steve responded, the doctor gave him a puzzled look. “I’m seventy percent deaf in this ear, the aid helps me be able to hear,” Steve clarified.
“Well your in luck, I have a potion that will fix that” Dr. Strange said skimming the walls and grabbing a vial of purple liquid from one of the shelves. “Here drink this” he said shoving the vial in Steve’s hands.
“Wait,” Bucky interrupted. “Are you sure this is safe” he said voice stern and serious.
The doctor gave him a sincere look, “yes I am sure”.
Steve shrugged and brought the liquid to his lips, you only live once right? He poured the liquid into his mouth and swallowed, it tasted fruity and herbal like a tea.
His ears began to ring, and his head was in pain. Everything sounded so much louder than normal, Steve ripped the hearing aid out of his ear. Then everything sounded fine, at least like it did with the hearing aid.
“Steve are you okay?” Bucky asked concerned, “can you hear me?” he said grabbing Steve’s shoulders and looked him in the eyes.
Steve was hysterical with joy, he could hear Bucky perfectly without his hearing aid, it had worked. “Loud and clear” Steve said cheerfully.
Bucky cheered, Steve could hear that too. “Thank you, Doctor you have no idea how much this means to us”.
The doctor nodded, “if you have any other ailments you wish to treat don’t hesitate to come back”.
“Thank you” Steve said smiling.
—
The palace was amazing, it was big and full of history. Bucky guided him through the halls of the castle, stopping briefly sometimes to explain the history behind certain artifacts. The castle had canals running through certain hallways, where occasionally Steve saw a mermaid swim by. It was dim-lit by torches that’s covered the walls and illuminated the sandy stone walls.
Bucky led him to a door, it was surrounded by guards.
“Good afternoon Prince James” said one of the men.
“Hello, how are you?” Bucky asked politely.
“I’m well, is this your human?” the man asked, giving Steve an expecting glance.
Steve coughed awkwardly and Bucky laughed, “yes this is my boyfriend Steve”.
“Nice to meet you Steve” the man said, “open the door!” the man ordered to the other guards.
Bucky grabbed Steve’s hand and guided him to the hall behind the door.
“What is this place? I mean what’s with the guards?” Steve asked as they continued walking down the hallway, it had many doors leading to other rooms, but not much else.
“Royal dormitories, we are going to my bedroom” Bucky responded. They reached the end of the hall and Bucky pushed one of the doors open.
It was small with a staircase that led down to a lower level, the stairs led to a huge bedroom. It was again, lit by a multitude of torches, a blue light shone in there was a big window that depicted a beautiful underwater scene. The walls of golden stone led to a bed, the frame was made out of a silver metal and lined with silky blue sheets. There was colorful drapes and rugs, a shelf full of books.
“This is so cool,” Steve commented running to the window. He pressed his hand to the glass, he watched as a merman swam by. Steve waved, there was no response.
“He can’t see you,” Bucky laughed. “It’s one way glass” Bucky said collapsing on the bed. He patted the spot next to him, Steve laid down on the bed. Bucky wrapped his arms around Steve’s body. He began kissing the spot right above Steve’s ear right where his hearing aid used to be.
Steve’s breath caught in his throat, “that tickles” he gasped as Bucky began nibbling on his ear. Bucky smiled against the side of Steve’s head.
“I’m sorry, you just look so good without that clunky piece of metal on your ear” Bucky said.
“My mom’s gonna freak out,” Steve commented on the loss of his hearing aid.
“Yeah, you’re a walking miracle”.
Steve rolled over and straddled Bucky’s torso, he held the brunette’s hands above his head and placed a bruising kiss on his lips. Bucky groaned into the kiss and began rocking his hips back and forth for some much needed friction.
“Steve,” Bucky breathed, “I want you to fuck me”.
That night Steve lost his virginity.
—
Bucky woke up the next morning, Steve limbs wrapped around his body. Bucky’s never been more happy, even after all the morning afters with Alex he’s never felt this content.
Steve stirred awake, he began to detangle himself form Bucky’s body. He looked up at Bucky with his adorable bed head, it made Bucky’s heart race.
“We need to shower,” Steve grumbled rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
Bucky walked with Steve to the bathroom that connected to his bedroom, in the corner of the room was a huge bath. On the edge were bottles of the best local made soaps Atlantis had to offer.
“How do you get water in that thing?” Steve asked, there was a spout but no knobs.
“Just watch” Bucky told him, he used his power to move the fresh water from the supply in the castle into the tub.
Steve stared, “How?” he asked.
“Magic” Bucky winked, “do you really think we light that many torches?”
“Whatever, this place as amazing as it is confuses the shit out of me” Steve whined stepping into the water. He yelped, the water was so cold.
Bucky stood arms crossed giggling, “cold isn’t it?”
“Very” Steve agreed. Bucky placed his hand son top of the water, and the water began to warm up to the perfect temperature. “Weird” Steve mumbled relaxing into the water.
Bucky stepped into the water and laid in between Steve’s legs. He felt the shift take over his body as his tail replaced his legs. Steve rested his head on Bucky’s shoulder and observed Bucky’s tail as it moved back in forth in water.
“Like what you see?” Bucky asked glancing back.
“Yes, a lot” Steve admitted. Bucky smiled up at him.
“What do you think Nat would say if she knew about me?” Bucky asked.
Steve laughed, “she would make fun of you for being half fish first of all, but I think she would have a million questions and want to know everything about you and this place and it’s history” Steve said honestly, “why, are you thinking about telling her?” Steve asked with a raised eyebrow.
“No” Bucky said right away, “I mean I can’t, it’s not that I don’t want to, I’d love for her to know”.
“You could always just ask” Steve said, running his hands through Bucky’s hair soaping it up.
“There’s a lot of politics involved in human and merperson relations, my grandfather took a lot of slack just so I could tell you”.
“Well I can’t wait to meet him” Steve responded edge to his voice, “he knows that people shouldn’t have to keep secrets from their best friends”.
“Can we please just talk about something else” Bucky said not liking where this conversation was going.
Steve was quit for a while, “yeah ok” was all he said.