Fin & Fur

Prologue

Lei sprawled on his blanket and stared out over the stormy sea, noting idly the few seal heads that popped up from time to time, playing in the waves. Another man might have found them amusing, but to Lei they only served to drive home his loneliness even more. If the seals felt safe enough to play, it meant the orca were nowhere remotely nearby.

Stupid orca and their stupid need to wander around and see the world. What was wrong with wanting a nice little territory all to oneself? The sea was the sea. Cold and wet. What was the point of swimming south to go look at more cold and wet?

He scowled, snuggling into his thick furs. Okay, so maybe the south was a little warmer, but as long as one had sufficient fur (or in an orca's case, blubber) the cold wasn't that bad. Certainly when he had his winter coat it could be rather pleasant. Provided he didn't get wet.

Stupid orca.

Sighing, Lei sat up and glared a little more at the frolicking seals before getting to his feet. It was going to be a very long, boring, lonely winter, and if he continued to come out to stare at the sea every day it was only going to make everything worse. His family had been right. He really was an idiot.

Dejectedly he reached down to pick up his blanket, yelping when something strong and firm wrapped around his waist and lifted him up into the air before pulling him flush against something very solid. He flailed, wondering how something had managed to sneak up on him without him smelling them, hands shifting to claws as he snarled, preparing to shred the flesh of his attacker.

A low voice chuckled. "Feisty today, are we Lei?"

Lei froze, slowly looking down past the fur of his jackets to spy the thick black arm holding him in place. Carefully he twisted, looking up over his shoulder at Arvik's grinning face.

Arvik, who was supposed to be several hundred miles south of here, with the rest of his pod.

"You're getting my furs wet," Lei said peevishly, ignoring the fact that he'd just been making himself miserable with missing the infuriating man. Lonely or not, Arvik was not allowed to sneak up on him like that!

"Temper temper, pretty fox," Arvik said cheerfully, turning Lei around to face him. "Does that mean you're not happy to see me?"

"Yes," Lei muttered sullenly, sliding his hands up the wet skin of Arvik's arms and across his chest, feeling the sleek contours of the orca's massive body. Next to him Lei looked positively tiny, even when he did have his full winter coat. Of course, anyone looked tiny next to an orca, except maybe a polar bear.

"Ah," Arvik nodded sagely. "So I should just go back in the water and see if I can catch up with my pod, then."

Lei tightened his hands on Arvik's shoulders, nails digging in just enough to be painful. "Don't even think about it, fish," he growled.

Arvik smiled. "Just because I live in the sea doesn't mean I'm a fish," he reminded, just as he always did when Lei called him a fish. He dipped his head, first licking Lei's lips, then coaxing them open to share a slow, easy kiss.

"I hate you," Lei muttered, snuggling closer. "What are you doing here anyway? I thought you were all going south..."

Arvik reached down with the hand that wasn't holding Lei to him, picking up the blanket and draping it casually over one arm. "I kept seeing things I wanted to point out to you, but you weren't there. About fifty miles out I realized that the trip really wasn't going to be very fun without you, so I came back."

"What about your family?" Lei asked as Arvik turned and headed inland, Lei still pressed snugly against him.

Arvik shrugged. "They already think I'm weird; this just proves it." He smiled, that warm, open smile that Lei had loved from the beginning. "But I'd rather have you and be weird than not have you and be normal."

Lei felt his cheeks heating and buried his face in the curve of Arvik's neck to hide it, though he didn't doubt Arvik knew anyway. "Then hurry up and take me home, fish," he muttered, his words somewhat muffled against Arvik's skin. "I have to prove to you how pleasant it is to be weird."

Arvik chuckled quietly and complied.