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The McAllister’s were the go-to team in the science community when it came to cave mapping. The rag-tag group of cave divers they had acquired along the way made a name for themselves working alongside the pair. Granted, the brothers had a unique leg up on the competition.
Jack leapt out of the water, landing perfectly on the stern platform. His azure tail flicked as he righted himself to sit. His crowntail fin brushed across the water, the dappling of silver scales glinting in the light.
“We good to dive?” a voice asked behind him. He didn’t have to look to know it was Briggs.
His mate was already geared up in his wetsuit, tank on standby as he waited to join him in the water. It was a habit Jack had picked up long ago when they had started to work with this human family of theirs. He wanted to make sure the waters they were working in were safe enough to dive.
“Ty chased off a pair of lemon sharks. Otherwise nothing to worry about.”
Briggs’ smile was contagious. “Strode!” he called back to his dive partner for the day, “let's gear-up!” He leaned down, pressing a kiss to Jack’s lips before grabbing his stuff to do the same.
“See you down there,” Jack said before dipping back into the gentle waves.
Unlike their humans, the brothers wouldn’t have to trade off from fatigue. Strode and Briggs would eventually be forced to switch out with Charlie and Top, no matter how much his mate insisted he wanted to swim the ocean with him just a little longer.
It didn’t take long to spot the flash of red of his brother’s tail, the flair of his lunate fin unmistakable. Jack gave a powerful kick, propelling him down and twisting himself around Tyler. His little brother clicked at him in mock annoyance, his smile giving him away.
The twin bodies plunging into the water made them look towards the surface. The pair of mermen waited for them to descend at a more leisurely human rate.
It was no surprise to either of them when Briggs signaled with his hands that he wanted to go with Jack rather than their original teams- it had been awhile since the mates had swam together and the brothers had the rest of the day to swim if they wanted to. Jack only smiled, flicking his tail to create a wall of bubbles in front of Briggs before taking off for the cave entrance they would start at while the other team started at another one.
Briggs caught up, gloved hand coming out to run along Jack’s dorsal fin. Jack was careful as he took the man’s hand in his, mindful of the sharpened claws and pectoral fins which he tucked in against his arm- early on in their relationship Briggs had found out just how those damn spiny fins could be used for defense.
They slipped into the darkened cave, excited to once more being doing the thing they loved the most with each other by their side.
/End