Washed Up [Part 5]
Nov. 5th, 2016 11:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
esp_dragonFandom: Noblesse
Summary: This'll be fun, Tao said. It'll be something you've never done before, Tao said. Chin-mae agrees that breaking into an aquarium on a night out is something he's never done before.
He wouldn't consider stealing an octopus as fun though. Or what happens afterwards because of it.
Contains: M-21/Tao
Rating: PG-13
Genre: General
Word count: 1,902
Total word count: 11,674
Status: Work in progress
Chin-mae cocked his head as he returned home from work. It wasn't weird to hear Tao still milling about when he came back but that was usually after Tao had spent most of the day asleep. A small smile on his lips when he heard Tao's laugh.
He entered and stopped, staring at the scene in front of him.
"Hey, Chin-mae!" Tao said, and Chin-mae just caught the movement of his wave, but that wasn't what had his attention.
"Did you sleep at all?" Chin-mae said, taking his jacket off, putting it on the hanger.
"No..." Tao said with a weak laugh.
Obviously. Chin-mae went over and crouched next to the mini-tank on wheels Tao seemed to have built in the space of one night; Chin-mae hadn't hadn't seen it before and all the bits and tools scattered around the floor confirmed Chin-mae's thoughts. On one end of the tank, going under and attaching to the wheels was a thick rope, making it look like a tug-tank.
[It kept him distracted,] Takeo said, moving around the bigger tank before pulling himself up to above the surface of the water.
"Yeah," Tao said, his voice wry, "he was doing that enough that I thought it would be cool if he didn't dry himself out trying to see everything in the room. And this way," he said, putting his hand into next to Takeo, "he doesn't just have the tank to explore and he can see new things!"
After Takeo latched onto his fingers, Tao carried him to the mini-tank and Takeo started exploring straight away, poking at a couple of the toys Tao had transferred over. "Is the temperature okay?"
Takeo nodded, swimming around again.
"But just." Tao shook his head. "Don't scare me like that. I don't want you to dry yourself out just 'cause you got curious."
[I'll be fine,] Takeo said, playing with a toy that looked like a before swimming again. [I don't do it for long and I'll be able to feel when something's going to happen.]
"Yeah, that's what Tao says before he collapses too," Chin-mae said, snorting. He eyed Tao, because right now would have been those moments.
"I do no-!" Tao's eyebrows raised and he chuckled weakly, rubbing the back of his head. "Not every time," he corrected.
"Only because I dragged you to bed before you did." It was to the point Chin-mae could recognise the signs before Tao was about to collapse.
"But still. We won't always be around," Tao added, shaking his head. "No sticking your head out if both of us are out."
Takeo turned to look at Tao. [Of course.]
Chin-mae smirked. "You're still being a helicopter parent."
Tao made a face at him. "Fine fine, I'll step back but it's better if we made sure we knew all this before something goes wrong, right?"
"Now I can show you the rest of the house!" Tao said after Chin-mae nodded, starting to tug the mini-tank by the rope.
Chin-mae left them for the moment, heading to the bedroom to change while they were distracted.
* * *
"And I think that's most of the house," Tao said, plopping himself down next to the window. The sun was still trying to make its way through the clouds, . He wasn't sure if he was still making sense but it seemed like he was. Chin-mae had went to bed a while ago but Tao hadn't felt tired enough to sleep at the time, but now...
He stared at the rain for a few seconds before leaning over to lift Takeo's tank up and set him down on the windowsill. That done, Tao folded his arms under his chin, resting next to Takeo.
"It's been raining like this for aaages," Tao said. "It'd be nice to have a change of scenery once in a while." Even just a day. "Everything's so waterlogged now." He blinked, then looked at Takeo. "Though I guess this is perfect weather for you."
[I can empathatise with wanting something different,] Takeo said, looking out the window. [What's it like normally?]
"Not grey," Tao said with a laugh. "But I guess it depends on the weather, but yeah, it'd be nice to not be cold and wet as soon as you walk outside." Especially when Tao had to worry about his equipment getting wet, even though he'd made sure to waterproof everything. One mistake could cost him.
[Yes, it would be...]
Tao glanced at Takeo. It was one thing to make Takeo something to help see more of the house (and it would good to know Takeo being able to see more), but it was another to take him outside. Maybe if he carried him... But he wouldn't be able to maintain the needed temperature outside.
Takeo turned and started swimming around his tank again. [Aren't you tired?]
Tao grinned. "You getting on my back like Chin-mae now?" Though he probably should go to sleep now... "Aren't you tired too? You've been up the entire day like me."
Takeo went up to the side of the tank closest to Tao to look at him. [Chin-mae and I had naps.]
Tao burst into a short laugh, and okay okay, now he really should go to bed. "That's fair enough."
[Hm...] Takeo pressed two tentacles up against his tank, staring at the rain. [There's something about the rain...]
Tao shifted to look at him. "What about it? Are you remembering something?"
Takeo nodded. [But I'm not sure what...]
"Eh, don't force it," Tao said, waving a hand, yawning. "If it comes to you, it'll come to you."
"But I'll just take a short nap here," Tao said, yawning again. "It's no good if I ended up dropping you while taking you back to your tank."
Just. A few minutes. That's all he needed...
* * *
Chin-mae woke up alone. "Dammit," he said, rolling out of bed. Maybe he should start dragging Tao to bed whenever he did.
He walked through the house and found Tao curled up by the window, Takeo still in his tank, staring at the rain. Chin-mae sighed. At least Tao hadn't fallen asleep in front of his laptop again.
"Takeo?" he murmured, walking over. How long had Tao been asleep for? It couldn't have been that long or Takeo would have woken one them up if the temperature of his tank was getting too low. ...Right? Or would Takeo had thought that would have been rude? "Still alive?"
Takeo swam around to greet him, popping his head above the tank. [Yes. Tao fell asleep,] he said, his voice wry.
"I noticed," Chin-mae said, giving him a small smile. "Don't worry, he does that. How are you feeling?"
[Fine,] Takeo said, swimming around again before stopping to look at the window again. [Though I'm feeling a little hungry...]
Chin-mae nodded, turning to the kitchen.
Takeo was still staring out the window when Chin-mae came back with a place of shrimp. "Something wrong?" He hadn't seen Takeo that focused on something since they'd first met. Everything was focused on the rain, not even a tentacle twitching as Takeo stared up at the window.
Takeo didn't answer, turning away from the window to eat the shrimp. Once he was done, he listlessly played with a few toys, tossing them across the tank with a flick, but he didn't follow the movement like he usually did. [This...feels wrong,] Takeo said, tentacles twisting up against each other.
Oh. Damn. Chin-mae pulled up a chair to sit down next to Tao. "The tank?" That was the hopeful answer, but he doubted it would be that easy. If Takeo didn't like being in captivity... Well. "Do you want to go home?"
[Huh?] Takeo span to stare at him. [No,] he said, shaking his head, [that's not what I meant.] He picked up another toy and and threw it up, following it and his tentacles snapped out and grabbed it after it hit the sand. [It's this. It doesn't...] He curled his tentacles around it, bringing it close to him. [It doesn't feel right,] he finished, his voice soft.
"Like..." Tao murmured, lifting his head a little, "you're cursed? Mmnf, mornin'."
Chin-mae couldn't stop himself from rolling his eyes, catching Tao's eye when he was done. It wasn't going to be that. Neither of them were going to be right.
[Cursed? What do you mean?]
Tao yawned, nodding as he sat up. And ended up leaning back on Chin-mae anyway. Well, that was better for his back at least. Tao reached over and put his hand into Takeo's tank and Takeo swam into it. "Like, cursed," Tao said, lifting him out. "Someone put a spell on you to change you. Maybe made you lose your memory too."
Takeo spread out over Tao's palm, tentacles curled up around each finger. [How do you break the spell?]
"There's one way-!" Tao said, grinning and Chin-mae realised what he was going to do just before he did it.
"Tao-!"
"True love's kiss!" Tao declared, bringing Takeo up to his lips. "Mwa!"
Before Chin-mae could say anything, Tao toppled back with a cry and Chin-mae scrambled back as something suddenly occupied the space in front of Tao.
Eyes wide, Chin-mae stared.
Tao was on his back on the ground. That wasn't what he was staring at. There was humanoid on top of Tao, legs straddling Tao's hips, hands braced at Tao's head. Hands that were claw tipped. Hands that were the same colour as the rest of the slick skin (like they'd just came out of the shower and oh fuck). An almost turquoise on the top, and Chin-mae could see enough that they were a paler blue on the inside. Like a killer whale. They had long purple hair that reached splayed out over the ground, long enough it probably reached their calves.
From his angle, Chin-mae could see the gills at the side of their - his neck. Because Chin-mae couldn't see an octopus moving around. The gills were moving, like he was a fish trying to breathe in air and shit!
"Can you breathe?" Chin-mae demanded, scrambling to his feet.
Takeo snapped his attention to Chin-mae and he had the brightest blue eyes Chin-mae had ever seen. They were almost all iris with no pupils, and it was like they were glowing from within.
[What?] Takeo's gills settled down, resting against his skin, leaving only two slits at the side of his neck. [I'm fine.]
But... His gills. And it was Takeo's chest that was moving, in and out.
"Okay. Good." Chin-mae flopped back to the floor. Now that he wasn't worried about what had just happened or Takeo suffocating, he could take in Takeo's appearance more.
He would be taller than Chin-mae by the looks of it when he stood up, and it was like someone had tried to make the image of a human from a picture taken underwater. Takeo was recognisable as human, but apart from his eyes, his nose was flatter to the point it was hard to distinguish it from the rest of his face. His lips were the same, just enough there to see them, but that was it.
"You're a merman?" Tao strangled voice broke Chin-mae's attention. "That worked?" Tao's head thumped against the floor as his whole body shook with laughter.
__________________________________
I can now finally reveal the prompt by the-story-shards-universe that inspired this entire fic, haha.
'“I can honestly say that I did not expect our trip to the aquarium to end like this.”
“You mean you didn’t expect to hide in the bathrooms until everyone had left just so we could help a cursed mermaid escape? What kind of date did you think I was taking you on?”
“Weren’t they a merman?”
“They’re cursed into the form of an octopus. It’s kind of hard to tell.”'
Summary: This'll be fun, Tao said. It'll be something you've never done before, Tao said. Chin-mae agrees that breaking into an aquarium on a night out is something he's never done before.
He wouldn't consider stealing an octopus as fun though. Or what happens afterwards because of it.
Contains: M-21/Tao
Rating: PG-13
Genre: General
Word count: 1,902
Total word count: 11,674
Status: Work in progress
Chin-mae cocked his head as he returned home from work. It wasn't weird to hear Tao still milling about when he came back but that was usually after Tao had spent most of the day asleep. A small smile on his lips when he heard Tao's laugh.
He entered and stopped, staring at the scene in front of him.
"Hey, Chin-mae!" Tao said, and Chin-mae just caught the movement of his wave, but that wasn't what had his attention.
"Did you sleep at all?" Chin-mae said, taking his jacket off, putting it on the hanger.
"No..." Tao said with a weak laugh.
Obviously. Chin-mae went over and crouched next to the mini-tank on wheels Tao seemed to have built in the space of one night; Chin-mae hadn't hadn't seen it before and all the bits and tools scattered around the floor confirmed Chin-mae's thoughts. On one end of the tank, going under and attaching to the wheels was a thick rope, making it look like a tug-tank.
[It kept him distracted,] Takeo said, moving around the bigger tank before pulling himself up to above the surface of the water.
"Yeah," Tao said, his voice wry, "he was doing that enough that I thought it would be cool if he didn't dry himself out trying to see everything in the room. And this way," he said, putting his hand into next to Takeo, "he doesn't just have the tank to explore and he can see new things!"
After Takeo latched onto his fingers, Tao carried him to the mini-tank and Takeo started exploring straight away, poking at a couple of the toys Tao had transferred over. "Is the temperature okay?"
Takeo nodded, swimming around again.
"But just." Tao shook his head. "Don't scare me like that. I don't want you to dry yourself out just 'cause you got curious."
[I'll be fine,] Takeo said, playing with a toy that looked like a before swimming again. [I don't do it for long and I'll be able to feel when something's going to happen.]
"Yeah, that's what Tao says before he collapses too," Chin-mae said, snorting. He eyed Tao, because right now would have been those moments.
"I do no-!" Tao's eyebrows raised and he chuckled weakly, rubbing the back of his head. "Not every time," he corrected.
"Only because I dragged you to bed before you did." It was to the point Chin-mae could recognise the signs before Tao was about to collapse.
"But still. We won't always be around," Tao added, shaking his head. "No sticking your head out if both of us are out."
Takeo turned to look at Tao. [Of course.]
Chin-mae smirked. "You're still being a helicopter parent."
Tao made a face at him. "Fine fine, I'll step back but it's better if we made sure we knew all this before something goes wrong, right?"
"Now I can show you the rest of the house!" Tao said after Chin-mae nodded, starting to tug the mini-tank by the rope.
Chin-mae left them for the moment, heading to the bedroom to change while they were distracted.
"And I think that's most of the house," Tao said, plopping himself down next to the window. The sun was still trying to make its way through the clouds, . He wasn't sure if he was still making sense but it seemed like he was. Chin-mae had went to bed a while ago but Tao hadn't felt tired enough to sleep at the time, but now...
He stared at the rain for a few seconds before leaning over to lift Takeo's tank up and set him down on the windowsill. That done, Tao folded his arms under his chin, resting next to Takeo.
"It's been raining like this for aaages," Tao said. "It'd be nice to have a change of scenery once in a while." Even just a day. "Everything's so waterlogged now." He blinked, then looked at Takeo. "Though I guess this is perfect weather for you."
[I can empathatise with wanting something different,] Takeo said, looking out the window. [What's it like normally?]
"Not grey," Tao said with a laugh. "But I guess it depends on the weather, but yeah, it'd be nice to not be cold and wet as soon as you walk outside." Especially when Tao had to worry about his equipment getting wet, even though he'd made sure to waterproof everything. One mistake could cost him.
[Yes, it would be...]
Tao glanced at Takeo. It was one thing to make Takeo something to help see more of the house (and it would good to know Takeo being able to see more), but it was another to take him outside. Maybe if he carried him... But he wouldn't be able to maintain the needed temperature outside.
Takeo turned and started swimming around his tank again. [Aren't you tired?]
Tao grinned. "You getting on my back like Chin-mae now?" Though he probably should go to sleep now... "Aren't you tired too? You've been up the entire day like me."
Takeo went up to the side of the tank closest to Tao to look at him. [Chin-mae and I had naps.]
Tao burst into a short laugh, and okay okay, now he really should go to bed. "That's fair enough."
[Hm...] Takeo pressed two tentacles up against his tank, staring at the rain. [There's something about the rain...]
Tao shifted to look at him. "What about it? Are you remembering something?"
Takeo nodded. [But I'm not sure what...]
"Eh, don't force it," Tao said, waving a hand, yawning. "If it comes to you, it'll come to you."
"But I'll just take a short nap here," Tao said, yawning again. "It's no good if I ended up dropping you while taking you back to your tank."
Just. A few minutes. That's all he needed...
Chin-mae woke up alone. "Dammit," he said, rolling out of bed. Maybe he should start dragging Tao to bed whenever he did.
He walked through the house and found Tao curled up by the window, Takeo still in his tank, staring at the rain. Chin-mae sighed. At least Tao hadn't fallen asleep in front of his laptop again.
"Takeo?" he murmured, walking over. How long had Tao been asleep for? It couldn't have been that long or Takeo would have woken one them up if the temperature of his tank was getting too low. ...Right? Or would Takeo had thought that would have been rude? "Still alive?"
Takeo swam around to greet him, popping his head above the tank. [Yes. Tao fell asleep,] he said, his voice wry.
"I noticed," Chin-mae said, giving him a small smile. "Don't worry, he does that. How are you feeling?"
[Fine,] Takeo said, swimming around again before stopping to look at the window again. [Though I'm feeling a little hungry...]
Chin-mae nodded, turning to the kitchen.
Takeo was still staring out the window when Chin-mae came back with a place of shrimp. "Something wrong?" He hadn't seen Takeo that focused on something since they'd first met. Everything was focused on the rain, not even a tentacle twitching as Takeo stared up at the window.
Takeo didn't answer, turning away from the window to eat the shrimp. Once he was done, he listlessly played with a few toys, tossing them across the tank with a flick, but he didn't follow the movement like he usually did. [This...feels wrong,] Takeo said, tentacles twisting up against each other.
Oh. Damn. Chin-mae pulled up a chair to sit down next to Tao. "The tank?" That was the hopeful answer, but he doubted it would be that easy. If Takeo didn't like being in captivity... Well. "Do you want to go home?"
[Huh?] Takeo span to stare at him. [No,] he said, shaking his head, [that's not what I meant.] He picked up another toy and and threw it up, following it and his tentacles snapped out and grabbed it after it hit the sand. [It's this. It doesn't...] He curled his tentacles around it, bringing it close to him. [It doesn't feel right,] he finished, his voice soft.
"Like..." Tao murmured, lifting his head a little, "you're cursed? Mmnf, mornin'."
Chin-mae couldn't stop himself from rolling his eyes, catching Tao's eye when he was done. It wasn't going to be that. Neither of them were going to be right.
[Cursed? What do you mean?]
Tao yawned, nodding as he sat up. And ended up leaning back on Chin-mae anyway. Well, that was better for his back at least. Tao reached over and put his hand into Takeo's tank and Takeo swam into it. "Like, cursed," Tao said, lifting him out. "Someone put a spell on you to change you. Maybe made you lose your memory too."
Takeo spread out over Tao's palm, tentacles curled up around each finger. [How do you break the spell?]
"There's one way-!" Tao said, grinning and Chin-mae realised what he was going to do just before he did it.
"Tao-!"
"True love's kiss!" Tao declared, bringing Takeo up to his lips. "Mwa!"
Before Chin-mae could say anything, Tao toppled back with a cry and Chin-mae scrambled back as something suddenly occupied the space in front of Tao.
Eyes wide, Chin-mae stared.
Tao was on his back on the ground. That wasn't what he was staring at. There was humanoid on top of Tao, legs straddling Tao's hips, hands braced at Tao's head. Hands that were claw tipped. Hands that were the same colour as the rest of the slick skin (like they'd just came out of the shower and oh fuck). An almost turquoise on the top, and Chin-mae could see enough that they were a paler blue on the inside. Like a killer whale. They had long purple hair that reached splayed out over the ground, long enough it probably reached their calves.
From his angle, Chin-mae could see the gills at the side of their - his neck. Because Chin-mae couldn't see an octopus moving around. The gills were moving, like he was a fish trying to breathe in air and shit!
"Can you breathe?" Chin-mae demanded, scrambling to his feet.
Takeo snapped his attention to Chin-mae and he had the brightest blue eyes Chin-mae had ever seen. They were almost all iris with no pupils, and it was like they were glowing from within.
[What?] Takeo's gills settled down, resting against his skin, leaving only two slits at the side of his neck. [I'm fine.]
But... His gills. And it was Takeo's chest that was moving, in and out.
"Okay. Good." Chin-mae flopped back to the floor. Now that he wasn't worried about what had just happened or Takeo suffocating, he could take in Takeo's appearance more.
He would be taller than Chin-mae by the looks of it when he stood up, and it was like someone had tried to make the image of a human from a picture taken underwater. Takeo was recognisable as human, but apart from his eyes, his nose was flatter to the point it was hard to distinguish it from the rest of his face. His lips were the same, just enough there to see them, but that was it.
"You're a merman?" Tao strangled voice broke Chin-mae's attention. "That worked?" Tao's head thumped against the floor as his whole body shook with laughter.
I can now finally reveal the prompt by the-story-shards-universe that inspired this entire fic, haha.
'“I can honestly say that I did not expect our trip to the aquarium to end like this.”
“You mean you didn’t expect to hide in the bathrooms until everyone had left just so we could help a cursed mermaid escape? What kind of date did you think I was taking you on?”
“Weren’t they a merman?”
“They’re cursed into the form of an octopus. It’s kind of hard to tell.”'