Beauties and Beasts

Chapter 150: brought to you by TYNDALI!!!

Here is the last chapter of this part of Beauties and Beasts along with a link to the second part on my co-writer's account! We have finally suceeded on coaxing that anxious kitty from under the car! She has her own account! And she's going to keep writing! YAY!
Also, I'm working on a painting of Asher right now. It's going to take some time because I'm painting each of his scales like individual opals. Deeeetail detail detail. But other than waiting on that painting, Shay's part of the story is marked finished! Though Tyndali will be including Shay in her story. ^.^ The friends stay together.
Links to the second part and Tyndali's account will be included at the end of the chapter.

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"I have brought you my song." From out of nowhere, his pale blue fingers circled around a carved conch shell the size of his stomach, thin strings stretched across its surface. "We spend our lives perfecting a melody for our names, and this is for you."

The tanned body outstretched next to his groaned slightly and he stopped it with a swift kick to the neck, as graceful as if he meant to do it, as if he anticipated the movement and it was all part of the performance.

"I would look up to the stars, find a color just like yours /scatter my shells beneath the heaving tides that pull me farther from you /let my gold guide you to me in case I can't reach you first.

"And I would swim a thousand miles /I would climb the tallest peak /I would spend my whole life searching /just to be with you. Just to be with you.

"I find sunshine in your smile and a tickle in your laugh /I find beauty all around you, but I come with empty hands /open and outstretched, I reach for your light /the only thing that warms me when my heart is filled with night.

"And I would walk a thousand miles /I would start my journey new /I would spend my whole life searching /just to be with you. I want to be with you.

"I would make me wings if you lived in the sun /I would say goodbye to my fins, though I've loved them, if you walked away from my home /I would close my eyes with your last breath /I'd follow if there's no protest /there's no ocean I wouldn't search through /just to be with you."

He locked eyes with her and she knew he saw the tear falling down her cheek as he murmured, "Just to be with you."

Neara's lips trembled, as did her heart. She'd never heard anything so beautiful in her life, or even knew shells could make that kind of sound when seaweed was stretched across them. Or his own hair-- whatever. His voice sounded gravelly and hopeful at the same time, so weary and devoted. How could someone hold that much emotion in their voice? Especially comparing it to his speaking voice, when it was just a robot and--

Cold lips pressed against hers, soft with a little bit of friction, like an almost-bald basketball.

She pulled back with a jerk. "What are you doing?" Although she knew exactly what he was doing.

His eyes widened. "Sucking the eggs from your cheek pouch so I may fertilize them. Have you eaten them already?"

Ok, so she had no clue. "What?"

He sat back from her with a frown. "Have you not received your first eggs yet? Judging by the fat deposits on your hips and chest, you should have more than adequate reserves to sire offspring."

Her mouth dropped open.

"If you haven't, that's perfectly fine; I can wait another decade or so before I need to recharge my gonads."

"You're going... you need to..."

He settled his instrument against his side more firmly and slid his slightly-webbed hands down his legs, tracing the bright orange line, speckled with cream and navy before blending into his light blue skin. It almost looked green against the dark stone, especially against the fluffy blue-blond hair of the collapsed beastman next to him, who she didn't worry too much about because his chest still rose and fell.