#i will always...

Previous

     This was the day he was going to introduce his brother, Geno had agreed to meet him. But Nightmare had another plan for today, he had made something for Geno. He hoped it'd fit him, because he had no way of properly measuring the necessary proportions. Not without giving away his plans.

     While waiting, Dream was making sand sculptures. Nightmare has no idea how he got so good at it, but he's happy for his brother. When a splash in the water was made, Nightmare turned back to the ocean to find that Geno was here.

    "Hey, he's here." Nightmare put on the life jacket he brought and went out into the water as Dream stopped what he was doing to look. Dream saw who he assumes is Geno, considering his brother knew who he was, and stood up. He stayed back, though, wanting to let Nightmare introduce him. He was ready to put on his life jacket as well, for when he was gestured over.

    Nightmare swam up to Geno and hugged him. "Hey buddy, how have you been?"

    "I'm good. So, is the guy back on the beach your brother?"

     "Yeah, that's my bro, hold on," Nightmare looked back at Dream. "Hey! Come on over!"

     That was Dream's signal to go in, so he put on his life jacket and went into the ocean. As he got closer, he slowed down and smiled at Geno. "Hi, Geno, right? I'm Dream, Nighty's brother, though he told you that."

    Geno smirked, "Nighty?"

     "Dream! Oh my stars, I told you not to call me that in front of people!"

    "Hehehehe, c'mon Night, it's not like you're strangers with Geno. Besides, I couldn't help it!"

     Geno was amused by their interaction, knowing that Nightmare wasn't really mad at Dream. It almost reminded him of his brother and how he'd mess with him.

      The two brothers had started splashing each other, and soon enough they were both laughing. Until they splashed Geno by accident. He looked shocked, but then he got a mischievous grin and disappeared under the water. Nightmare and Dream knew he was up to something, and were as back to back as they could be in the water.

     Nightmare felt something grab his ankles and pull him under, causing him to flail a bit in surprise. He was met by a playful smirk as Geno started swimming around Dream in circles. He let go of Nightmare as he then did the same to Dream, who was a little more shocked by the game Geno was playing. He was honestly having fun, seeing as Geno wasn't doing anything that would be harmful.

     After that little game, they relaxed for a bit. Nightmare and Dream let their life jackets keep them afloat while Geno only had the top of his skull out of the water.

     Geno poked at Dream, and once he had his attention, told him, "You were the one who got me the help I needed a while ago, right? I just wanted to say thank you, I really appreciate the effort you made to help me."

    "Oh, it's not a problem, really. I'm glad I could help, especially with how scared my brother was when calling me. I wasn't going to ignore him when he needed help, what kind of brother would I be if I didn't help him?"

    "In any case, I'm still grateful for your help. It's nice to meet you finally, getting to see the mysterious brother of his is something I kinda wanted to ask him about. I only didn't because I didn't think I was ready for it yet, having only just recovered from an attack."

    "It's alright, I understand. I've been wanting to meet you as well, but didn't want to just pop in on your meetings with Nightmare suddenly. I figured you'd at least want advanced warning before meeting someone new, and let him make the plan to introduce me when you both were ready."

      Nightmare was glad they were getting along, he had been slightly anxious that they wouldn't get along very well, though he guesses he shouldn't have been. His brother always has a friendly attitude and is mostly easy to get along with. He remembered the thing he wanted to give Geno, and quickly made sure he hadn't dropped it when they were messing around earlier. He sighed in relief when he found it where he left it, 'good, it's not lost.'

     "Hey, Geno, I wanted to give you something." He pulls out the necklace he made. It was made of a couple of wires and some string/rope that held together some small shells of varying types. He had spent quite some time putting it together, even having to redo it once.

    Geno was surprised by the gift, it looked wonderful! But he felt quite flustered as well, he wasn't sure if Nightmare knew what this meant in his culture. Giving a gift was something that was considered a sort of intimate event, saved for when one was courting another mershark, though it was different for different species of mer and mershark.

    Upon seeing Geno flustered, he was a bit concerned. "Is there something wrong?"

     Geno shook his head, "N-no, nothing wrong. It looks great! It's just, well... I need to ask this first. What do you know about mer culture?"

     Nightmare was confused, but thought over what he was able to study about mers. "Not a whole lot, unfortunately, there's not a lot about mers in general. Mer culture is even harder to come by. But, why do you ask?"

    Geno's face might as well have been on fire with how hard he was blushing, knowing he'd have to tell him. Dream was watching this all go down, and though he doesn't know any more than Nightmare about mer culture, the way Geno is blushing is giving him ideas about what it might mean.

      "Well, in my culture, gift giving is mainly for when, uh, two mers are picking a partner."

      Upon processing the information Geno just revealed to him, Nightmare's skull erupted into a bright lilac blush at this information, realizing just what the implications of his gift means. Dream's face also blushed, but not as bad. He was thinking that it might be that and would have guessed it if Geno didn't tell them.

     Geno was now concerned that he might have broken them, specifically Nightmare, his skull was almost completely purple. Did he start choking? He's seen drowning people turn purple from lack of air. He doesn't look like he's choking, though, and Dream had turned yellow a bit. So probably not choking.

     While Nightmare was trying to calm his blush, he thought about what he wanted to do. He knew he still wanted to give Geno the gift, but did he want to do so with the intention to be partners, as Geno's culture regards the act? He decided he did.

     "I don't see any problem with that, if you don't have an issue with it. Being partners, I mean." He extended the necklace to Geno, offering it to him. While still blushing, he was serious about this.

    Geno was a bit shocked by his response, but not in a bad way. It would be a bit difficult, but it could work. He took it carefully, and looked it over with awe at how it was crafted. "I don't have any issues with this, either. I'd have to find something to give you as well, but I'll look later. Thanks for this, it really does look great." He put it on, and felt that it was a perfect fit for him.

    "It looks amazing on you. Really makes the hours it took to make it worth it." Nightmare was so happy, his smile was practically ear to ear(if they had ears). Dream was so happy for his brother, he had a good friend and now a new partner.

      Nightmare and Geno spend the rest of the day talking about how they could make this work, and promise each other that they will always be there for each other. Dream was quiet for this, save for an idea or two about ways they could keep in touch more often. They all went home once it was getting dark, very happy about the events of the day.

And the finale of the story! Dream finally officially meets Geno! And they learn a new thing about mers ;)

For anyone who's curious about what the necklace that Nightmare made for Geno, it looks kinda like this: