Andy sees that Mark is indeed quite fit with noticeable definition to his abs. His arms are also well muscled and he notices that he possess green scaled fins that extend down his forearms leading to strong slightly webbed hands. Mark also has a patch of lighter green scales that form a happy trail from his navel up to the center of his chest much like a humans chest hair. Andy wagers that Mark is probably at most two years older than himself.
Andy sits down next to Mark itching at the scales growing on his feet and ankles.
"If you stick them in water they'll feel better," says Mark.
Andy promptly sticks his feet and lower legs into the water next to Marks green fish tail. The relief is immediate Andy even notices the patches of scales begin to shimmer a pleasing blue in the water.
"Say Andy," asks Mark, "Would you like to see where I call home? It's only a short swim from here under the water."
"I don't think I can," replies Andy, "I don't think I don't think I can breath underwater yet."
"That shouldn't be too much of a problem," says Mark.
Quickly without warning Mark grabs Andy by the shirt collar and presses his cold lips onto an unsuspecting Andy. Andy is his with an immediate sense of pleasure but quickly pulls away in shock.
"What was that?" asks Andy in surprise.
"Sorry about that," replies Mark apologetically, "a kiss from a merfolk allows the receiver to breath underwater temporarily. Now you can see my home and you won't be stuck living on this beach like a bum while you transform."
Curious to swim below the waves Andy nervously agrees.
"You're going to love this," says an excited Mark who turns himself around and begins pulling himself towards the ocean waves, "follow me."
Andy sheds his shirt and begins wading out into the ocean in his trousers. To his surprise the water is not at all cold. He didn't know if this was due to Mark's kiss or if it was because of what he was becoming. Andy waded out to about his chest when he sees Marks green tail fin pop up and slap the water as if inviting him in. Andy gathers his courage and dives down under the water. Expecting to see poorly under the water Andy is surprised to see that his eyes don't hurt at all and he can see perfectly under the water. He nervously stops holding his breath and finds that he's breathing as though he were on land.
"Pretty cool isn't it?" says Mark as he swims towards Andy.
"Whoa," replies a surprised Andy, "we can talk down here?"
"We're mermen," replies Mark, "of course we can. Now grab my hand, it'll make things go faster."
Andy does as he's told and quickly feels a hard pull as Mark swiftly drags him out into the deeper water. Andy feels himself accelerate faster than any human swimmer could possibly dream of. He wondered how fast Mark could go if he didn't have to drag Andy along.
The green tailed merman pulls Andy along to the the tall rocky cliffs about a mile from the sandy beach. Here ships and humans avoid because the water is dark, deep, and full of sharp rocks. Mark expertly weaves them through all of the rocks and obstacles towards a small dark opening at the bottom of the cliffs. The opening was just wide enough for Mark to pull both through.
Expecting nothing but darkness, Andy notices a light at the end of the tunnel. There appear to be lights made out of luminous shells or some kind of sea plants suspended along the path. The back of the sea cave is filled with more of strange the shinning lights. They illuminate what appears to be various pieces of old shipwrecks cobbled together into an underwater home. A
"Well we're here," says Mark, "home sweet home."
"This is amazing!" exclaims Andy. "Did you build all this?"
"Sure did. I found this cave not long after I transformed. I've been dissembling what I gather from shipwrecks and reassembling it here. It's been a ton of work but totally worth it. You don't find many spots like this. Here come check this out."
Before Andy can get a closer look at the specific features of the underwater home Mark is drags him upwards about 25 or 30 ft. Both boys heads break the surface of the water revealing a large dim grotto. The cliff-face is broken in such a way that the area is naturally lit by some small slivers of sunlight.
Andy sees the glimmer of sunlight in Mark's vibrant green eyes.
"Well," says Mark, "that's the tour. Now what do you want to do?"