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They say momentous events become a part of history; the malfunctioning of the nuclear power plant L.I.F.E. was definitely one of those. No one really knows what caused it, but on that fateful day something that could best be described as a radiation wave hit the world. Some people that were hit by it experience a change in their very biology. Becoming something beyond human, some grew extra appendages, some turned into some sort of animal hybrids, and some became something different entirely, while others stayed just as they were. This shift in some people's DNA is what caused the downfall of society. People started attacking each other, thinking that only one could survive in this new and different environment. Many betrayed those who trusted them most; only a few survived to tell the story. But all of that happened a while ago, at least a couple of years by now.
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The sun was rising on the horizon, its rays shining into the window of a quaint little cabin that laid on a small island just offshore. As the rays travelled up on the inside of the building, they reached a figure that was lying asleep in a queen-sized bed. Due to the window's positioning, the light hit Martyn's face, softly waking the man from his slumber.
Still sleepy, he tried to reach towards the other side of the bed, and nothing. He opened his eyes to find what, or better said who, he was looking for. But the bed was empty. He sat up to look around the room, but it was empty. Where was he? Martyn didn’t like this one bit. Where was his partner? Was he okay? Did someone upduck him during the night? How couldn’t he have noticed he was missing? He is always right beside him in the morning. So why isn’t he here?
Martyn got out of bed and took the sword that he stored under it as a precaution before heading towards the bedroom door. He didn’t know what had happened to his partner; perhaps he was still in the house. But perhaps someone dangerous was as well. There were too many horrible things that could have happened not to be cautious.
As he stalked through the corridor and down the stairs, he heard someone humming a tune in the kitchen, along with the sizzling of oil and the fire of a stove. Someone was cooking. And as he turned around the corner to face the kitchen area, all the tension he didn’t notice his muscles were in was released. Scott, still wearing his nightwear (one of Martyn’s shirts that was way too big for him and a pair of comfy shorts), was standing in the middle of their kitchen, seemingly preparing breakfast.
He was facing away from the door and hadn’t noticed Martyn entering the room. So the man decided to lean his sword against the side of the kitchen island. And sit on one of the stools around it. Then he waited, watching the man he loved with all his heart, to see how long it would take him to notice. And it took him quite a while. As Scott seemed fully focused on making some scrambled eggs and bacon. But Martyn really didn’t mind the wait; in his humble opinion, Scott looked incredibly cute swishing his tail from side to side in tune with the beat he was humming.
Once Scott was done putting the food on two different plates, he finally turned away from the stove to place said plates on the island where Martyn was now sitting. His presence startled Scott slightly, as he expected his lover to still be asleep upstairs.
"How long have you been sitting there?" Scott asked, slightly surprised, while he set down the plates in front of him.
"A while,“ Martyn answered with a smile on his face.
„Guess the surprise didn’t really work, then?“ Scott questioned, feeling slightly embarrassed at being caught.
"Surprise?" Martyn questioned, not fully understanding what his companion meant.
"Well, it's the 5-year anniversary of your love confession, so I was planning to surprise you with breakfast in bed." Scott clarified.
Martyn’s heart might have just skipped a beat at Scott’s adorable sentiment, but there was no way he was getting mushy this early in the day. “That was today, really?”
Scott knew him to well too not notice the way he avoided eye contact as he spoke, and he decided to play into it. „Of course, don’t tell me you don’t remember how you swooped in and saved my life. You’re my handsome knight in shining armour~“
Martyn was now fully blushing at the way Scott had started to lean over the table to get closer to him. The light reflecting beautifully off his cyan scales in all of the colours of the rainbow. And the way he was speaking…. And how his eyes meet Martyn’s. He was so blessed.
About five and a half years ago, before the nuclear power plant malfunction and the first people became violent, Martyn had been studying business at the local university. Scott attended it as well, but he was on the track for an interior design major. They had only met because of one of the people Martyn shared a dorm with, Jimmy.
Martyn never liked him even back then; he was loud and always hung around with his obnoxious friends, but worst of all, he was dating Scott. Scott, the most perfect person to ever exist in the entire universe, was dating Jimmy instead of him. To be fair, they did get together in high school, before Martyn knew either of them, but still.
„Let’s eat before the amazing food you made gets cold.“ Martyn declared, snapping himself out of his thoughts and grabbing the plates Scott had just set down on the island to bring them over to the dining table instead. After he had set those down, he went back to the kitchen to get the cutlery, glasses and other things he thought were needed. Showing Scott to the table as a way to say that he would take care of it.
Martyn quickly finished preparing the table before sitting down across from his lover. They started eating while they were idly talking, joking, teasing and flirting. It was just the way they acted around one another, completely comfortable in each other’s presence. It had been this way for 5 years now.
When the radiation wave hit, Martyn was playing some games in his room; he felt it, but it didn’t seem to affect him in any way. He remained human.
The main thing that alerted him that something was wrong that day was the fact that all technology had shut down the moment the wave hit. And the fact that people all over the building were screaming in pain or fear. He didn’t know what was happening at the time, but he felt as though leaving his room unarmed in the face of the unknown would be foolish. Since he grew up in something no one would ever define as a nice part of town, he was used to having a weapon on hand for emergencies. In this case it was a sword that he was only allowed to keep under his bed because he was in the uni's Fencing squad.
With his sword in hand, Martyn left his room, careful not to attract too much attention. Once he reached the hallway, he overheard a group of fellow students talking.
"You just killed him.“
"He just turned into a monster! Did you want to wait till he killed us?!“
That was all Martyn needed to hear for panic to set in. If there were monsters and people killing each other, it was dangerous. It may sound unrealistic, but on the off chance that this was really happening… the risks were too big. And after feeling the radiation, Martyn already knew something was wrong; he just feared what it would be.
And in that moment, as he was feeling afraid and uncertain, only one thought crossed his mind: "Was Scott ok?" He remembered Scott telling him that he would be going to the pool today. He was supposed to go with Jimmy, but the guy had ditched him to do something with his brother instead. And Scott decided that he looked too good to not go, and since he had already planned it, he just went on his own. Stupid Jimmy leaving him all alone.
Martyn barely registered the world around him as he ran to the pool as fast as he could. Thank God that he enjoyed parkour and that the fencing team had a mandatory track day. The way was full of obstacles, people and monsters. But he just kept running. And running. And running, until he reached the pool. He sprinted through the entrance, crossing by the changing rooms and showers, before he ended up at the actual pool.
As he was taking in the first sight of the area, he could see a group of frightened people hiding in a corner; Scott wasn’t one of them. He saw a few people trying to call for help on their powerless phones; Scott wasn’t one of them. And he saw a group of „braver“ guys seeming to surround something in the water; Scott wasn’t one of them. Why couldn’t he see Scott?
Then he noticed that one of the brave guys he recognised from uni had a gun he was pointing at the water. Martyn moved closer to see what he was aiming it at. And as he managed to finally get a peek at the water, he saw body upon body that were clearly shot dead with the gun; none of them seemed fully human. They all looked fish-like. It was obvious to Martyn what was happening; they were killing whatever these fishy people were.
And by now it seemed like there weren’t many left of them. As Martyn turned his face towards where he suspected living once to still be, because of this guy's gun trajectory. He saw him!
He emidiatly recognised the fishy guy with a look of horror plastered on his face, it was Scott. He looked different, not human, But Martyn could still recognise him. His face was the same as it always had been, it just adorned some extra scails to the side of it. And he seemed to have grown a tail and a few extra fins. He still looked soo pretty in Martyn’s eyes. Breath taking even.
Wait, he couldn’t get distracted by the man; he was in danger. Someone was about to kill Scott. Someone was about to shoot Scott. Martyn couldn’t let that happen!
Martyn barely remembers anything after he moved his sword. Anger and fear being the only thing that filled him, striking everyone down who tried to hurt Scott with precision, no hesitation and immense force. By the end the blood that covered the room was probably doubled. Martyn was standing where the guys that had treated Scott now lay dead.
"Martyn?" Scott's voice hesitantly seemed to ask.
Martyn turned to face Scott, his expression softening immediately as their eyes met. Before he walked to the edge of the pool and fell to his knees in front of Scott, asking with a slightly trembling voice. „Scott, are you okay? Did they hurt you?“
„I’m… I'm fine, but you… you just…” Scott tried to speak, but he couldn’t find the right words as he looked at a now bloodstained Martyn.
„They were going to kill you!“ Martyn tried to explain his actions; he didn’t want Scott to fear him.
„Why does that matter?“ Scott asked, sinking in on himself.
"Sco…" Martyn started speaking.
"I’m a monster, and even if I wasn’t, I’m not worth any of…" Scott stated as he interrupted the man.
Though he didn’t get far, as it was Martyn’s turn to interrupt him, “Don’t you even try to say that! Scott, you're the most amazing person I have ever met. You're smart, funny and beautiful, and I love you. And that won’t change even if you are a fish now. So don’t you dare say anything mean about yourself.“
Scott's face became redder the more Martyn talked, and once he was done, they both just stayed there, shocked. Before Scott spoke up again in a shy and questioning tone that was very unlike him, „You love me?“
That was when Martyn realised that he had just confessed all of his feelings to Scott. What had he done? There was no turning back now, so he just nodded in agreement. "I have for a while now." This was so stupid; Scott wouldn't even like him; he loved Jimmy, not him.
"I like you too," Scott said with the most sensual tone Martyn had ever heard from the man. At the same time Scott reached up to cup Martyn’s slightly bloodied cheek. The man fully leaned into the touch before deciding to lean his head down and capture Scott’s lips. Their kiss was sweet. It felt natural, as if their lips were made to fit together.
That's how it had been since then. In Martyn’s eyes they were like two puzzle pieces that had always been meant to be together, and even now, five years later, he loved Scott unconditionally, with all of his heart.