And the sea takes me further [original prompt]
Title: And the sea takes me further
Prompt: original prompt
Length: 3,961w
Rating: PG
Warnings: none
Summary: Yifan has lived all his life by the sea, but falling in love with it has never felt so good.
Notes: I'd like to thank my beta for the awesome she did on that fic, and the kissfanxing mods for their hard work!! I hope you guys will enjoy reading this fic :)
The sun is not out yet when Yifan's feet crash against his bedroom's wooden floor. He never closes the shutter, so thick mist rejected by the sea on the shore is watching him through the window, and the humidity dripping all over the glass makes him shiver. He doesn't dwell on the sensation though, and quickly grabs his clothes. The excitation and the eagerness make it almost easy to forget that winter is over, but still fighting against spring over the landscapes. At least it's not snowing anymore, and Yifan couldn't be more grateful. Sailing under frozen droplets, when the sky and the sea are both of a dark shade of grey and he has to squint his eyes to see the horizon line, is far from being easy. Yifan might have lived more than half of his life on a boat, but he's not stupid enough to think he owns the sea and that he has it all written on the back of his hand. Drowning can happen quickly, between two high waves when you're blinking, and your body is lost before the tide brings your boat back to the shore. Yifan has learnt this the hard way.
He sneaks out of the house, thick blankets folded under his arm and right hand holding a bag full of provisions, then tiptoes his way through the tiled streets to the shore. He doesn't want to be seen even though no one would stop him. After all, there was nothing more normal for a fishermen such as himself in a village of fishermen to leave early morning to set sail. But there are things that belong to one person only, Yifan thinks, and today will be one of them. He's going to quietly slip out of the world for a few hours and let people wonder about him, and when he'll come back, he'll have his lips sealed, and for once, there'll be a secret in the village that no one will be able to expose.
He can't help but moan when the sea licks his ankles, cold teeth digging into his flesh and numbing his toes, but Yifan doesn't let it slow him down. He throws his bag and the blankets into the boat, and unties the knot that holds it back with long fingers used to the burns of such a thick rope. His abdomen tightens when he pushes the boat deeper into the sea, but despite the cold temperature of the water, Yifan can't help but feel like the sea is wrapping him in her arms and welcoming him back with delighted waves. It's only when he's in the boat, working the cordages and setting the sails that he notices the wide smile pulling up at his lips despite the cold clinging to his skin and kissing his flesh. The sea will always be his home, and he welcomes the pear-like colors surrounding him with a pleased smile. Something is thumping loudly in his chest, and Yifan lets the ecstasy mix with the rocking of his junk.
The sails are flapping loudly in the wind, and the speed makes the waves look higher and more dangerous, but Yifan waits until the shore and the village become slightly darker shadows on the thin horizon line to slow down. When he's far enough, he reaches and pulls the cordages to refold the sails. The wind stops whistling, but Yifan's junk keeps moving, the sea having more than one trick up her sleeve. Water's never calm, even when you feel like you can hear it lull you to sleep, and it will always, no matter how blue the sky can be, try to take you further. Yifan would know, since he once let it trick him, and when he fell into dark waters, abysses opening beneath his feet to swallow him whole, the water so strong around him, so overwhelming that it held back the memories and things Yifan wanted to say goodbye to. He would have died in the dark, trying to breathe in dark atoms and dark spots invading his sight if long and white fingers didn't reach for his.
A faint noise cuts him out of his reverie, and Yifan straightens in the junk, grinning. It sounds like fingers running against the wood of his boat, except under water, faint vibrations Yifan pretends he can feel under his feet. He laughs as he squints his eyes, trying to draw invisible patterns on the junk's floor that would follow the sound until the excitement gets too strong. He leans down, hands gripping the wet wood and eyes furiously scrutinizing the sea until dark waters turn lighter and lighter as a face gets closer.
Yifan plunges his hand into the icy water, fingers hovering over slippery and almost translucent skin as deep dark eyes stare back at him. Yixing is a few inches under the surface, but Yifan can already see subtle and fleeting splinters of blue and purple in the faded brown of his eyes. He grips the edge of his junk tighter and plunges his hand deeper into the water, only stopping when his palm connects with the soft curve of Yixing's cheek. The latter closes his eyes and leans into the touch, softly nuzzling Yifan's hand as he does so. The fisherman lets his thumb run along Yixing's jawline as his fingers bury themselves deeper into thick hair. He's close to falling overboard, eager fingers now mapping Yixing's neckline when the latter finally opens his eyes again. Yifan smiles softly to the cat-like pupils staring back at him.
“Take me,” he says.
Yixing pulls away and goes back into the darkness of the sea with a sharp movement of his torso. Not even a second after, Yifan's junk starts moving, breaking through the current for a change of direction. Yifan sits back on the floor, and eyes the thick blankets with envy as the wind gets stronger. He wonders where Yixing is taking him this time, but it's more out of curiosity than worry. He would trust the merman with his life, with his everything. It's a risky bet, some would say, and it's probably one of the many reasons Yifan doesn’t tell anyone anything about Yixing. Also, he had heard the dozens of stories the elders liked to tell during festive nights back at the village, and he used to be so scared of the evil creatures depicted in those stories. Every other day, someone would come home from a long day on the sea, screaming about how they saw a strange tail or how they caught a glimpse of a ghostly face staring at them from under chaotic waves, and there would be mentions of fangs and hands like claws, and the stories would become even more terrifying. Yifan used to be one of them, scared of the mystical plague haunting the sea, until Yixing saved him from drowning. Now, he spends most of the Solemnizations listening to the elders with a smirk while he mentally lists everything they are wrong about when it comes to the mermen. Maybe, someday, the two peoples of the sea will learn to cohabit, but Yifan knows they're not ready yet, and he honestly doesn't mind keeping Yixing to himself until then.
There's a tiny island getting closer and closer, and understanding that this is their destination, Yifan gets up and grabs one of the many blankets he took with him. He unfolds it and walks to the end of his boat with careful steady steps. Even though the clouds seem lighter here, it's still freezing cold and he doesn't really fancy the idea of falling overboard. He gets down on his knees and tightens his hold on the blanket before throwing it over the edge of the junk. They're slowing down already, but Yifan doesn't turn away to look at the island, too focused on the blanket -now heavier because of the water- careful to not let it fall. The hull rasps against the sand, but Yixing doesn't stop, pushing the junk as close to the beach as he can so Yifan won't have to swim, only wet his legs. Such a boat is hard to move, but Yifan doesn't worry, Yixing is strong enough to pull it back into the water later. It's funny how, because they've done it so many times before, he doesn't pay attention to most of what's he doing -like dragging the soaked blanket behind him as he jumps into the water- though a few other things still leave him excited and fidgety, like seeing Yixing emerge from the waters again.
There are several things Yifan has to do to make sure everything will be fine, because while Yixing is a powerful and majestic creature beneath the waters of the sea,when it comes to earth, he's weaker than a toddler. The merman watches him wetting the sand he'll be sitting on, lying on his stomach in no more than a few inches of water, lazily clapping his tail in the sea foam. When he's finally done, Yifan grabs the soaked blanket and turns towards Yixing.
“You can come,” he says, and he watches as Yixing carefully eyes the sand at his feet. No matter how much they've done this, Yixing is still wary when it comes to particles that don't slide on his skin as easily as water.
Yixing finally moves, using his elbows to hauls himself up, until his tail is the only part of his body still in the water. Yifan helps him as he straightens, and quickly wraps the towel around him, fingers lingering longer than they should as Yixing softly sighs, leaning into the wetness of the blanket. Being a merman, Yixing can't live without the humidity and constant hydration, but unlike his tail -which is way more fragile- he can manage without being fully immersed. As he sits down next to him, Yifan can't help but think about the other blankets still in his junk, but the thought is fleeting. He would never swap any one those moments with Yixing for all the warmth in the world. He'll have plenty of time to warm himself up on his way back home, anyway.
He still hisses when he sits down, foam surrounding him, and the noise makes Yixing chuckle. Yifan throws him what's supposed to be a glare, but that ends up as a half-embarrassed, half-amazed look. It's the first thing he noticed about Yixing, and the first thing Yixing explained about his kind, but months later, Yifan still finds himself awestruck by the phenomenon. He makes sure to not waste a second of it, eyes wandering on Yixing's body eagerly as the latter slowly metamorphoses.
The elders are right about one thing: mermen are hunters of the dark waters, dangerous and efficient. The stories about them devouring fishermen are wrong though, but they do lure men into traps they find highly amusing, especially when it ends with a drowning. (“It's all about territory,” Yixing had said. “And food. Your people take away a lot of our fishes, and sometimes even friends. My people are not happy about it.”) Most of the time, they just scare the fishermen big time though, and then disappear into the abyss, but that still makes them predators, and like every predator, they have weapons.
When a merman reaches the surface, his translucent skin wraps itself into a beautiful set of reflections, blue, purple and rainbows wandering on their curves, and hiding powerful arm muscles and long fingers that easily turn into claws. The brown of their tails brighten, until colors are not enough to describe what sparkles on every scale, and the intensity of their cat-like eyes drowns into the languor of a beautiful pearl grey. Looking like you're in love with the elements and made from stardust makes luring fishermen so much easier, even when they should be the first to remember that the sea is treacherous, and that storms are just forecasted by peacefulness. But Yifan has seen what a merman truly looks like underwater, he's seen the darkness engulfing him and Yixing piercing it. His skin had been so pale Yifan could see the intricate web of veins running along the merman's curves, and his tail was slimy but powerful. He had claws and fangs, lidless eyes moving too fast for Yifan to follow, and dark tattoos running along his temples and cheekbones. His hair wasn't of that golden red now shining under the pale light of the morning, but of a deep and dark green that could have made it mistaken for a seaweed. He was beautiful, but beautiful in the most terrifying way, beautiful like the sky is before it's ripped apart by lightning just above your head.
(“We have no colors in the abyss,” Yixing had explained. “No lights and no reflections. We don't need what is useless.”)
Yixing looks away from the sea, and Yifan feels his heart clenching at the sight of tiny droplets of water sparkling on Yixing's golden lashes.
“What is the reason you asked to meet today?” Yixing asks, in that clumsy Mandarin of his that Yifan can't help but love.
“Today is a special day.” He grabs the bag of provisions, and slowly puts it on Yixing's lap. “At least, it is for my people. It is customary to thank our loved ones on this special day, and take care of them.” Yifan gestures to the bag on Yixing's lap. “That's why I wanted to see you today.”
Yixing purses his lips and tilts his head as he contemplates Yifan's words.
“We don't have such days,” he says. “We don't measure our lives in days, like the fishermen do. We use tides and moon crescents.” Yixing shifts under the wet blanket, delicate and curious fingers soon poke the bag. “You should have told me. I would have taken with me a shell from the deeper waters for you.”
Yifan smiles, and doesn't bother to answer, too busy watching Yixing take his second hand out of the blanket to open the bag. The merman takes a peek into the bag, and his eyes widen.
“Is this day that important?” Yixing enquires, eyes going back and forth between Yifan's smiling face and what's inside the bag. “So important that you're giving me some food?”
Yifan shrugs. “It depends, I guess.”
“What do you mean?”
Yifan can't help but smile a little more at Yixing's eagerness to learn more about his people and traditions. It feels odd to him, witnessing such a great interest for men and their habits and customs, but he likes telling Yixing about them. It's like giving the merman a little bit of his world, pieces that could one day turn into a door, who knows. A door Yifan could use to bring Yixing back home.
“The presents can be more or less valuable. It depends how much you love the person you're giving them to.”
Yixing nods. “Then I guess you must love me a lot.”
And just like that, he shoves his hands into the bag and pulls the freshly baked bread out of it. He doesn't waste any time and takes a huge bite, eyes sparkling with pleasure. Yifan still remembers the first time he gave Yixing some bread for him to taste, and how Yixing found himself tongue-tied at the sensation in his mouth. He tried to compare it to seaweed, but ended up frustrated at his own inability to explain himself, and the next thing Yifan knew, he had a passionate merman rambling in a foreign language that didn't even sound like a language at all, fingers tightly wrapped around a piece of bread like it was a treasure.
Yifan watches him with a tiny smile, admiring the way Yixing's eyes flutter close when he takes another mouthful of bread, and how appetizing the crumbs look like on his under lip. It takes his friend only a few seconds to eat half of the bread, but just when he's bringing the other half up to his mouth, he freezes and frowns. His eyes fall down on the bread in his hand, and he takes a closer look at it.
“You said it's a present,” he finally whispers, voice getting mixed up so easily with the waves.
Yifan leans in, pretending he's only running after Yixing's soft intonations and not dreaming about the taste of his skin. His breath is curling in Yixing's neck, but the merman doesn't look bothered by it. Instead, his eyes search for Yifan's, tiny storms playing in his irises and softening the danger in his cat-like pupils.
“I did,” Yifan says.
Yixing bites his lips. “I should give you a present too.”
“You don't have--”
“You said it's a day for the people you love, so I should give you something too,” Yixing interrupts. The purple reflected on his face is making his lips look even more pink. “But I have no idea what you would like from under the sea. My people don't give presents.”
Yifan watches him, surprised. “You don't?”
Yixing shakes his head. “There's only one thing we can give to someone, if they really matter.” He eyes Yifan hesitantly and puts the bread back into the bag before hiding his arms under the wetness of the blanket again. “We have something called...” He stops and sighs. “It doesn't have a name in Mandarin, but it's very important. We leave our people and we just go, deep, deep, deep into the ocean to learn more about other colonies. It's something little sirens wait impatiently for, and inviting someone to go with you is...”
Yixing sighs a second time, and Yifan knows him well enough by now to know that he's frustrated by his own words, frustrated by what he's saying and how different it sounds from what he truly means to say. Yifan squeezes his arm through the blanket, and smiles softly when Yixing looks at him to show him he understood.
“Have you gone already?”
Yixing shakes his head. “Not yet.”
They remain silent after that, and Yifan wonders if Yixing thinks about the same thing he does. The ocean is so vast, beginning at his feet and meeting the horizon where nobody can go, but even though he knows its danger, Yifan can't help but wonder if his junk would be able to take him to the end of the world. He doesn't have any tail, and his fingers are long but they're not webbed, and he can't fight off the darkness of the abyss. What he does possess, however, is knowledge of the winds and waves, and the sea speaks a language he can read, so he wonders. He wonders if he could go with Yixing, sailing further away as the merman swims deeper, and even though a world of difference would still exist between them, Yifan would have grabbed another piece of Yixing's world. It could be his door.
Yixing's eyes are wandering on the curves and the helms between waves, so Yifan loses himself in the rainbow colored reflections dancing on the merman's skin. There are so many differences standing between the two of them, but despite of it all, Yifan still gets to touch Yixing, he still gets to talk to him. He sees him almost every day, his own junk dragged by the very tides that bring Yixing back to him, and by now, he even knows what the first changes Yixing's body goes through are when he gets closer to the surface. Yifan used to hate their differences so much, used to despise his own two legs, but as time passed by, he had learnt to love them. Spending a whole day with Yixing means so much more that what it would have meant if they had been from the same world, and maybe, just maybe, they both already stepped through the door.
Maybe this is it. This is them, living in the other's world.
“You know,” Yifan starts hesitantly. “There is something you could give me.”
Yixing turns his head, throwing him a curious glance.
“Really? What is it?”
There's purple on Yixing's under lip, blue sparkling in the corners of his mouth, and tiny crystals catching sunlight on his lashes. Yifan leans down, but quickly finds out he can't close his eyes as they eagerly look for something to happen as he gets closer. Yixing watches him, confused, but he stays still, allowing Yifan's lips to meet his. There's an explosion of dark blue on Yixing’s skin, and purple lightnings leave the storms in his eyes to go wander on his cheekbones. Yixing's lips are salty and cold, but they tingle in the most pleasant way against Yifan's, and he realises he doesn't want to let go when his hand curls on Yixing's nape. He kisses him, and thinks about the dark tattoos, the claws and the fangs, about the explosions of colors on Yixing's skin and how he always nuzzles into his palm when Yifan puts his hand in the water. He thinks about the strange sounds leaving Yixing's mouth when he speaks in his native language, how it sounds like bubbles and strong currents, and then he thinks about the tail, the tail and its power, how it turns water into speed, abysses into playing fields, and Yifan can't help but feel like he's tasting it all on his lips. It is wet and salty, but it's epic and it's made from the words the elders use to build legends, and it's all right there, in his arms, and always will be.
Yifan's eyes are still closed when the kiss ends, but his fingers are enjoying what he only pictures on the back of his eyelids as they wander on Yixing's face, running along his cheeks and his jawline.
“It's even better than bread,” Yixing whispers. “What is it?”
Yifan smiles, keeping his eyes shut on purpose. Every second of darkness around him turns Yixing into the beginning of a memory, and there's nothing that Yifan likes more than seeing him again, and feeling him burn on his retinas with the billions of details his memory can't seem to grasp.
“It's called a kiss.”
He feels Yixing gulp. “Well, I like it.”
Yifan chuckles, and he feels Yixing's index finger poking his cheek. He gives in before the fight has even started, and opens his eyes, just in time to see relief flickering in Yixing's eyes. The merman smiles, thumbs softly pressing on the corners of Yifan's eyes.
“I like it better when you have your eyes opened.”
Yifan beams at him before wrapping his fingers around Yixing's wrists. He puts his friend's arms back under the blanket, but doesn't pull his own hands away, and soon enough, Yixing's fingers are dragging him deeper into the wetness.
“I feel very sorry that it's only meant for today,” Yixing sighs. “Because I would have liked more of it on other days.”
“Oh you know, it's the nice thing about kisses. I can give you one whenever you want, you just need to ask.”
Yixing looks at him, surprised. Yifan is so close now, arms disappearing under the blanket and breath curling against Yixing's, that he sees his own reflection in the pearl grey of Yixing's eyes. When the latter smiles, it’s a grin so wide that it reduces his pupils to a faint splinter of black, Yifan even sees one of the droplets fall from his lashes and sparkle on Yixing's cheekbone before slipping through the crack of his skin.
“Then I'd like another one, please.”
Prompt: original prompt
Length: 3,961w
Rating: PG
Warnings: none
Summary: Yifan has lived all his life by the sea, but falling in love with it has never felt so good.
Notes: I'd like to thank my beta for the awesome she did on that fic, and the kissfanxing mods for their hard work!! I hope you guys will enjoy reading this fic :)
The sun is not out yet when Yifan's feet crash against his bedroom's wooden floor. He never closes the shutter, so thick mist rejected by the sea on the shore is watching him through the window, and the humidity dripping all over the glass makes him shiver. He doesn't dwell on the sensation though, and quickly grabs his clothes. The excitation and the eagerness make it almost easy to forget that winter is over, but still fighting against spring over the landscapes. At least it's not snowing anymore, and Yifan couldn't be more grateful. Sailing under frozen droplets, when the sky and the sea are both of a dark shade of grey and he has to squint his eyes to see the horizon line, is far from being easy. Yifan might have lived more than half of his life on a boat, but he's not stupid enough to think he owns the sea and that he has it all written on the back of his hand. Drowning can happen quickly, between two high waves when you're blinking, and your body is lost before the tide brings your boat back to the shore. Yifan has learnt this the hard way.
He sneaks out of the house, thick blankets folded under his arm and right hand holding a bag full of provisions, then tiptoes his way through the tiled streets to the shore. He doesn't want to be seen even though no one would stop him. After all, there was nothing more normal for a fishermen such as himself in a village of fishermen to leave early morning to set sail. But there are things that belong to one person only, Yifan thinks, and today will be one of them. He's going to quietly slip out of the world for a few hours and let people wonder about him, and when he'll come back, he'll have his lips sealed, and for once, there'll be a secret in the village that no one will be able to expose.
He can't help but moan when the sea licks his ankles, cold teeth digging into his flesh and numbing his toes, but Yifan doesn't let it slow him down. He throws his bag and the blankets into the boat, and unties the knot that holds it back with long fingers used to the burns of such a thick rope. His abdomen tightens when he pushes the boat deeper into the sea, but despite the cold temperature of the water, Yifan can't help but feel like the sea is wrapping him in her arms and welcoming him back with delighted waves. It's only when he's in the boat, working the cordages and setting the sails that he notices the wide smile pulling up at his lips despite the cold clinging to his skin and kissing his flesh. The sea will always be his home, and he welcomes the pear-like colors surrounding him with a pleased smile. Something is thumping loudly in his chest, and Yifan lets the ecstasy mix with the rocking of his junk.
The sails are flapping loudly in the wind, and the speed makes the waves look higher and more dangerous, but Yifan waits until the shore and the village become slightly darker shadows on the thin horizon line to slow down. When he's far enough, he reaches and pulls the cordages to refold the sails. The wind stops whistling, but Yifan's junk keeps moving, the sea having more than one trick up her sleeve. Water's never calm, even when you feel like you can hear it lull you to sleep, and it will always, no matter how blue the sky can be, try to take you further. Yifan would know, since he once let it trick him, and when he fell into dark waters, abysses opening beneath his feet to swallow him whole, the water so strong around him, so overwhelming that it held back the memories and things Yifan wanted to say goodbye to. He would have died in the dark, trying to breathe in dark atoms and dark spots invading his sight if long and white fingers didn't reach for his.
A faint noise cuts him out of his reverie, and Yifan straightens in the junk, grinning. It sounds like fingers running against the wood of his boat, except under water, faint vibrations Yifan pretends he can feel under his feet. He laughs as he squints his eyes, trying to draw invisible patterns on the junk's floor that would follow the sound until the excitement gets too strong. He leans down, hands gripping the wet wood and eyes furiously scrutinizing the sea until dark waters turn lighter and lighter as a face gets closer.
Yifan plunges his hand into the icy water, fingers hovering over slippery and almost translucent skin as deep dark eyes stare back at him. Yixing is a few inches under the surface, but Yifan can already see subtle and fleeting splinters of blue and purple in the faded brown of his eyes. He grips the edge of his junk tighter and plunges his hand deeper into the water, only stopping when his palm connects with the soft curve of Yixing's cheek. The latter closes his eyes and leans into the touch, softly nuzzling Yifan's hand as he does so. The fisherman lets his thumb run along Yixing's jawline as his fingers bury themselves deeper into thick hair. He's close to falling overboard, eager fingers now mapping Yixing's neckline when the latter finally opens his eyes again. Yifan smiles softly to the cat-like pupils staring back at him.
“Take me,” he says.
Yixing pulls away and goes back into the darkness of the sea with a sharp movement of his torso. Not even a second after, Yifan's junk starts moving, breaking through the current for a change of direction. Yifan sits back on the floor, and eyes the thick blankets with envy as the wind gets stronger. He wonders where Yixing is taking him this time, but it's more out of curiosity than worry. He would trust the merman with his life, with his everything. It's a risky bet, some would say, and it's probably one of the many reasons Yifan doesn’t tell anyone anything about Yixing. Also, he had heard the dozens of stories the elders liked to tell during festive nights back at the village, and he used to be so scared of the evil creatures depicted in those stories. Every other day, someone would come home from a long day on the sea, screaming about how they saw a strange tail or how they caught a glimpse of a ghostly face staring at them from under chaotic waves, and there would be mentions of fangs and hands like claws, and the stories would become even more terrifying. Yifan used to be one of them, scared of the mystical plague haunting the sea, until Yixing saved him from drowning. Now, he spends most of the Solemnizations listening to the elders with a smirk while he mentally lists everything they are wrong about when it comes to the mermen. Maybe, someday, the two peoples of the sea will learn to cohabit, but Yifan knows they're not ready yet, and he honestly doesn't mind keeping Yixing to himself until then.
There's a tiny island getting closer and closer, and understanding that this is their destination, Yifan gets up and grabs one of the many blankets he took with him. He unfolds it and walks to the end of his boat with careful steady steps. Even though the clouds seem lighter here, it's still freezing cold and he doesn't really fancy the idea of falling overboard. He gets down on his knees and tightens his hold on the blanket before throwing it over the edge of the junk. They're slowing down already, but Yifan doesn't turn away to look at the island, too focused on the blanket -now heavier because of the water- careful to not let it fall. The hull rasps against the sand, but Yixing doesn't stop, pushing the junk as close to the beach as he can so Yifan won't have to swim, only wet his legs. Such a boat is hard to move, but Yifan doesn't worry, Yixing is strong enough to pull it back into the water later. It's funny how, because they've done it so many times before, he doesn't pay attention to most of what's he doing -like dragging the soaked blanket behind him as he jumps into the water- though a few other things still leave him excited and fidgety, like seeing Yixing emerge from the waters again.
There are several things Yifan has to do to make sure everything will be fine, because while Yixing is a powerful and majestic creature beneath the waters of the sea,when it comes to earth, he's weaker than a toddler. The merman watches him wetting the sand he'll be sitting on, lying on his stomach in no more than a few inches of water, lazily clapping his tail in the sea foam. When he's finally done, Yifan grabs the soaked blanket and turns towards Yixing.
“You can come,” he says, and he watches as Yixing carefully eyes the sand at his feet. No matter how much they've done this, Yixing is still wary when it comes to particles that don't slide on his skin as easily as water.
Yixing finally moves, using his elbows to hauls himself up, until his tail is the only part of his body still in the water. Yifan helps him as he straightens, and quickly wraps the towel around him, fingers lingering longer than they should as Yixing softly sighs, leaning into the wetness of the blanket. Being a merman, Yixing can't live without the humidity and constant hydration, but unlike his tail -which is way more fragile- he can manage without being fully immersed. As he sits down next to him, Yifan can't help but think about the other blankets still in his junk, but the thought is fleeting. He would never swap any one those moments with Yixing for all the warmth in the world. He'll have plenty of time to warm himself up on his way back home, anyway.
He still hisses when he sits down, foam surrounding him, and the noise makes Yixing chuckle. Yifan throws him what's supposed to be a glare, but that ends up as a half-embarrassed, half-amazed look. It's the first thing he noticed about Yixing, and the first thing Yixing explained about his kind, but months later, Yifan still finds himself awestruck by the phenomenon. He makes sure to not waste a second of it, eyes wandering on Yixing's body eagerly as the latter slowly metamorphoses.
The elders are right about one thing: mermen are hunters of the dark waters, dangerous and efficient. The stories about them devouring fishermen are wrong though, but they do lure men into traps they find highly amusing, especially when it ends with a drowning. (“It's all about territory,” Yixing had said. “And food. Your people take away a lot of our fishes, and sometimes even friends. My people are not happy about it.”) Most of the time, they just scare the fishermen big time though, and then disappear into the abyss, but that still makes them predators, and like every predator, they have weapons.
When a merman reaches the surface, his translucent skin wraps itself into a beautiful set of reflections, blue, purple and rainbows wandering on their curves, and hiding powerful arm muscles and long fingers that easily turn into claws. The brown of their tails brighten, until colors are not enough to describe what sparkles on every scale, and the intensity of their cat-like eyes drowns into the languor of a beautiful pearl grey. Looking like you're in love with the elements and made from stardust makes luring fishermen so much easier, even when they should be the first to remember that the sea is treacherous, and that storms are just forecasted by peacefulness. But Yifan has seen what a merman truly looks like underwater, he's seen the darkness engulfing him and Yixing piercing it. His skin had been so pale Yifan could see the intricate web of veins running along the merman's curves, and his tail was slimy but powerful. He had claws and fangs, lidless eyes moving too fast for Yifan to follow, and dark tattoos running along his temples and cheekbones. His hair wasn't of that golden red now shining under the pale light of the morning, but of a deep and dark green that could have made it mistaken for a seaweed. He was beautiful, but beautiful in the most terrifying way, beautiful like the sky is before it's ripped apart by lightning just above your head.
(“We have no colors in the abyss,” Yixing had explained. “No lights and no reflections. We don't need what is useless.”)
Yixing looks away from the sea, and Yifan feels his heart clenching at the sight of tiny droplets of water sparkling on Yixing's golden lashes.
“What is the reason you asked to meet today?” Yixing asks, in that clumsy Mandarin of his that Yifan can't help but love.
“Today is a special day.” He grabs the bag of provisions, and slowly puts it on Yixing's lap. “At least, it is for my people. It is customary to thank our loved ones on this special day, and take care of them.” Yifan gestures to the bag on Yixing's lap. “That's why I wanted to see you today.”
Yixing purses his lips and tilts his head as he contemplates Yifan's words.
“We don't have such days,” he says. “We don't measure our lives in days, like the fishermen do. We use tides and moon crescents.” Yixing shifts under the wet blanket, delicate and curious fingers soon poke the bag. “You should have told me. I would have taken with me a shell from the deeper waters for you.”
Yifan smiles, and doesn't bother to answer, too busy watching Yixing take his second hand out of the blanket to open the bag. The merman takes a peek into the bag, and his eyes widen.
“Is this day that important?” Yixing enquires, eyes going back and forth between Yifan's smiling face and what's inside the bag. “So important that you're giving me some food?”
Yifan shrugs. “It depends, I guess.”
“What do you mean?”
Yifan can't help but smile a little more at Yixing's eagerness to learn more about his people and traditions. It feels odd to him, witnessing such a great interest for men and their habits and customs, but he likes telling Yixing about them. It's like giving the merman a little bit of his world, pieces that could one day turn into a door, who knows. A door Yifan could use to bring Yixing back home.
“The presents can be more or less valuable. It depends how much you love the person you're giving them to.”
Yixing nods. “Then I guess you must love me a lot.”
And just like that, he shoves his hands into the bag and pulls the freshly baked bread out of it. He doesn't waste any time and takes a huge bite, eyes sparkling with pleasure. Yifan still remembers the first time he gave Yixing some bread for him to taste, and how Yixing found himself tongue-tied at the sensation in his mouth. He tried to compare it to seaweed, but ended up frustrated at his own inability to explain himself, and the next thing Yifan knew, he had a passionate merman rambling in a foreign language that didn't even sound like a language at all, fingers tightly wrapped around a piece of bread like it was a treasure.
Yifan watches him with a tiny smile, admiring the way Yixing's eyes flutter close when he takes another mouthful of bread, and how appetizing the crumbs look like on his under lip. It takes his friend only a few seconds to eat half of the bread, but just when he's bringing the other half up to his mouth, he freezes and frowns. His eyes fall down on the bread in his hand, and he takes a closer look at it.
“You said it's a present,” he finally whispers, voice getting mixed up so easily with the waves.
Yifan leans in, pretending he's only running after Yixing's soft intonations and not dreaming about the taste of his skin. His breath is curling in Yixing's neck, but the merman doesn't look bothered by it. Instead, his eyes search for Yifan's, tiny storms playing in his irises and softening the danger in his cat-like pupils.
“I did,” Yifan says.
Yixing bites his lips. “I should give you a present too.”
“You don't have--”
“You said it's a day for the people you love, so I should give you something too,” Yixing interrupts. The purple reflected on his face is making his lips look even more pink. “But I have no idea what you would like from under the sea. My people don't give presents.”
Yifan watches him, surprised. “You don't?”
Yixing shakes his head. “There's only one thing we can give to someone, if they really matter.” He eyes Yifan hesitantly and puts the bread back into the bag before hiding his arms under the wetness of the blanket again. “We have something called...” He stops and sighs. “It doesn't have a name in Mandarin, but it's very important. We leave our people and we just go, deep, deep, deep into the ocean to learn more about other colonies. It's something little sirens wait impatiently for, and inviting someone to go with you is...”
Yixing sighs a second time, and Yifan knows him well enough by now to know that he's frustrated by his own words, frustrated by what he's saying and how different it sounds from what he truly means to say. Yifan squeezes his arm through the blanket, and smiles softly when Yixing looks at him to show him he understood.
“Have you gone already?”
Yixing shakes his head. “Not yet.”
They remain silent after that, and Yifan wonders if Yixing thinks about the same thing he does. The ocean is so vast, beginning at his feet and meeting the horizon where nobody can go, but even though he knows its danger, Yifan can't help but wonder if his junk would be able to take him to the end of the world. He doesn't have any tail, and his fingers are long but they're not webbed, and he can't fight off the darkness of the abyss. What he does possess, however, is knowledge of the winds and waves, and the sea speaks a language he can read, so he wonders. He wonders if he could go with Yixing, sailing further away as the merman swims deeper, and even though a world of difference would still exist between them, Yifan would have grabbed another piece of Yixing's world. It could be his door.
Yixing's eyes are wandering on the curves and the helms between waves, so Yifan loses himself in the rainbow colored reflections dancing on the merman's skin. There are so many differences standing between the two of them, but despite of it all, Yifan still gets to touch Yixing, he still gets to talk to him. He sees him almost every day, his own junk dragged by the very tides that bring Yixing back to him, and by now, he even knows what the first changes Yixing's body goes through are when he gets closer to the surface. Yifan used to hate their differences so much, used to despise his own two legs, but as time passed by, he had learnt to love them. Spending a whole day with Yixing means so much more that what it would have meant if they had been from the same world, and maybe, just maybe, they both already stepped through the door.
Maybe this is it. This is them, living in the other's world.
“You know,” Yifan starts hesitantly. “There is something you could give me.”
Yixing turns his head, throwing him a curious glance.
“Really? What is it?”
There's purple on Yixing's under lip, blue sparkling in the corners of his mouth, and tiny crystals catching sunlight on his lashes. Yifan leans down, but quickly finds out he can't close his eyes as they eagerly look for something to happen as he gets closer. Yixing watches him, confused, but he stays still, allowing Yifan's lips to meet his. There's an explosion of dark blue on Yixing’s skin, and purple lightnings leave the storms in his eyes to go wander on his cheekbones. Yixing's lips are salty and cold, but they tingle in the most pleasant way against Yifan's, and he realises he doesn't want to let go when his hand curls on Yixing's nape. He kisses him, and thinks about the dark tattoos, the claws and the fangs, about the explosions of colors on Yixing's skin and how he always nuzzles into his palm when Yifan puts his hand in the water. He thinks about the strange sounds leaving Yixing's mouth when he speaks in his native language, how it sounds like bubbles and strong currents, and then he thinks about the tail, the tail and its power, how it turns water into speed, abysses into playing fields, and Yifan can't help but feel like he's tasting it all on his lips. It is wet and salty, but it's epic and it's made from the words the elders use to build legends, and it's all right there, in his arms, and always will be.
Yifan's eyes are still closed when the kiss ends, but his fingers are enjoying what he only pictures on the back of his eyelids as they wander on Yixing's face, running along his cheeks and his jawline.
“It's even better than bread,” Yixing whispers. “What is it?”
Yifan smiles, keeping his eyes shut on purpose. Every second of darkness around him turns Yixing into the beginning of a memory, and there's nothing that Yifan likes more than seeing him again, and feeling him burn on his retinas with the billions of details his memory can't seem to grasp.
“It's called a kiss.”
He feels Yixing gulp. “Well, I like it.”
Yifan chuckles, and he feels Yixing's index finger poking his cheek. He gives in before the fight has even started, and opens his eyes, just in time to see relief flickering in Yixing's eyes. The merman smiles, thumbs softly pressing on the corners of Yifan's eyes.
“I like it better when you have your eyes opened.”
Yifan beams at him before wrapping his fingers around Yixing's wrists. He puts his friend's arms back under the blanket, but doesn't pull his own hands away, and soon enough, Yixing's fingers are dragging him deeper into the wetness.
“I feel very sorry that it's only meant for today,” Yixing sighs. “Because I would have liked more of it on other days.”
“Oh you know, it's the nice thing about kisses. I can give you one whenever you want, you just need to ask.”
Yixing looks at him, surprised. Yifan is so close now, arms disappearing under the blanket and breath curling against Yixing's, that he sees his own reflection in the pearl grey of Yixing's eyes. When the latter smiles, it’s a grin so wide that it reduces his pupils to a faint splinter of black, Yifan even sees one of the droplets fall from his lashes and sparkle on Yixing's cheekbone before slipping through the crack of his skin.
“Then I'd like another one, please.”