Page 58 of Music of the Ocean

Saxby paused, his mouth quirking into a small, private smile.

Indigo watched Saxby take it in. Citizens worked together on projects that ranged from the construction of a massive woven structure to the delicate repair of ancient tools, all with a sense of coordinated purpose. Did Saxby see they were a community?

“I want to share something with you,” Indigo said as they swam along. “A favorite place of mine.”

“Okay, sure. I’d love to see that.”

Indigo led Saxby through a side exit in the corridor, away from the city’s main traffic. The corridor narrowed, then opened into a small chamber reinforced with thick bands of dark blue resin.

He swam to the far wall and pressed his hand to a panel, which opened a thin membrane. Indigo led him out into the open ocean.

Saxby cleared his throat as he swam alongside Indigo. “Um, is this safe?”

“I will protect you, never fear.”

“That’s great and all, but that doesn’t answer my question.”

“You are safe with me. Always.”

“Yeah, you aren’t what I’m worried about out here.”

Light from the city faded behind, replaced by a blue-black vastness as they swam. Indigo signaled Saxby with a flick of his hand, and Saxby followed, matching Indigo’s pace as they moved away from the city.

The water there was cooler, the pressure more pronounced. The only sound was the steady bubble trail from their gills, punctuated by the distant crackle of the city’s power grid.

They swam for a while, until they passed a jagged reef that bristled with long glassy spines covered in black fungi. Small fish darted from the holes in the rock, their bodies flashing silver and dark green. Past the odd-looking reef, there was a long, narrow, steeply sided depression in the ocean’s floor.

“Holy shit, is that a planetary trench?”

“It is.” Indigo maneuvered them to a shelf that overlooked the drop-off into the trench.

“This is wild.” Saxby looked down, then across the abyss. “The fact that I’m here and not crushed to death by the pressure is even wilder.”

“Look there.” Indigo directed Saxby’s attention toward strings of blue-and-gold algae painting color in the current drifting along.

A pair of long ribbon-like sea snakes as thick as Saxby’s thigh followed it, their bodies undulating in synchronized waves as they grabbed strings of algae and dove into the trench.

Indigo threaded his arm around Saxby’s waist and pulled him closer.

A flock of tiny translucent creatures rose from the trench, spiraling around them in a slow, luminous cyclone. Indigo waited for the swirl to pass, and then, with a fluid motion, reached out, a tentacle looping slowly through the water, and wrapped it around Saxby’s wrist.

Saxby’s fingers curled around the tentacle. Indigo’s other arm came up, his fingers tracing the new ridges along Saxby’s jaw, then sliding down to the gill slits that fluttered open and closed with each breath.

Indigo kept his gaze fixed on Saxby’s face, searching for any flicker of alarm or uncertainty. Instead, he found only a quiet, curious determination in the way Saxby’s gaze locked onto his.

The tentacle around Saxby’s wrist flexed, then loosened, then flexed again, an unconscious rhythm born of nervous energy. Neither moved, suspended together in a column of blue light as the shoal of bioluminescent creatures slowly spiraled past.

Saxby’s mouth parted, as if to speak, but no words came. Instead, he leaned in, his forehead touching Indigo’s. They hovered in the joined space, motionless, their shared exhalations swirling in the water between them.

Indigo’s hand slipped behind Saxby’s neck, drawing him closer, and he pressed his lips to Saxby’s. The kiss was gentle and brief, a test. When Saxby didn’t move away, Indigo tilted his head and deepened it, pulling them flush together.

Saxby’s hands found Indigo’s waist, then swept up his back, holding him tight.

Encouraged, Indigo shifted his angle, letting their noses brush, and then kissed Saxby again, with more certainty this time. The second kiss was deeper, more insistent, and Indigo’s hands cupped the sides of Saxby’s face.

Indigo’s tentacle, still curled loosely around Saxby’s wrist, tightened its grip in a deliberate rhythm, matching the pulse that thudded between them.

Saxby’s eyelids fluttered closed, and he made a small, involuntary sound into Indigo’s mouth as his tongue dueled with Saxby’s. His legs brushed against, then tangled, with Indigo’s tentacles.