"Hello?"

The voice is soft and lyrical but Chen doesn't really have the presence of mind to appreciate it at the moment, what with the blinding panic consuming his faculties and the burning pain radiating through his body.

His eyes are screwed tightly shut, so he doesn't see the look of shock on the human's face on discovering him, but he does hear the upset gasp it releases. He curls into himself, still blind to the world, not caring about making noise now that he's been seen. 

Full of words and sounds Chen doesn't understand, the dark haired creature looming above him shouts in a frenzy, and terrified for his life, Chen is is ashamed to admit he begins to cry. A high, gurgling, warbling tone leaks from his throat and the yelling now emanating from somewhere to his left stops abruptly. He can't believe he's sunk so low, beached and crying in front of a human. His mother would surely be laughing at him right now if she knew. Hell, his whole family would.

The human babbles, now at a pitch more tolerable for Chen's sensitive ears, but the words are coming out at a mile a minute, and they all flow into one another- Chen couldn't tell where one starts and the next begins even if he were able to concentrate on them. A light, dry pressure drags on his shoulder, meaning that the human has gotten too close. In order to protect himself- who knows what this human is doing? It might be safe from a distance, but not this close- Chen thrashes violently, moving back away from it.

Panting heavily, his entire being shuddering at the stress, he tries to still himself. He keeps his eyes closed, like a child, trying to pretend that this isn't happenning, that this isn't real. But being blind to the world isn't a good thing when you're in danger, so he forces himself to look up at his would-be assailant. Who is seated on rock close enough for him to touch. But he's looking out to sea, with his eyebrows hanging low over his eyes. He doesn't look like a threat.

Chen waits a little longer, until his hands have stopped trembling, and his heart beats are only a little faster than normal, before unfurling himself and draping his limp tail fins over the rocks behind him. His cuts all still sting and itch all over his front, He hopes he won't get any infections, because he can hardly go home and explain what's happened, and he's not sure if human's have medicine as advanced as merfolk, let alone whether it would work on sea dwellers.

Breathing normally now, or at least as normally as he can with his gills only half submerged in the shallow water, Chen focuses his hearing on the sound of the ocean. Even though it's so far away from him, he can still feel it's calming presence. He looks up subtly at the human, trying to move as little as possible while doing it. He really doesn't look the least bit dangerous: he hasn't got claws, large teeth, he doesn't even look heavy.

He desperately wants to say hello. 

But the longer he waits, trying to work out the best way to actually go about doing that, the more he feels like he can't do it. Instead, he stares bashfully at the human's side profile, noting the way it's nose is like a straight line, and how the soft sunlight gleams in his eyes, framed with small black lashes. As if noticing him staring, it turns around, and Chen looks away instantly, feeling a jolt of fear once more, that he knows now is probably irrational. But when facing the unknown, it is probably better to be safe than sorry.

The human speaks again, prompting Chen to look sharply in it's direction, but no matter how slowly he speaks, all Chen can do is stare at the human blanky. The human bites it's pink lips, then heaving a sigh, stands up precariously on the wet rocks. It points at him, then makes a scooping motion, then points at the ocean. It has to repeat this a few times before Chen understands that it means to carry him back to the sea.

He doesn't know how to react. He knows he needs to get back to the ocean, as he's already having difficulty breathing again, but he doesn't know whether doing what this creature wants is a very good idea. For all Chen knows, he wants to eat him. To strip him of his scales and tail and tiara and sell them off.

And he doesn't want to go back home either. He's had enough of skulking around there and having to live in the huge shadows of his entire family. He'll just stay here forever, until the rest of his days. The human sits down, and watches him, contemplatively. Chen stares right back, resisting the urge to hide himself away. Should he trust it? Even at the risk of being eaten? He ducks down into the water and inhales deeply of the water rippling in the rock pool, then props himself up, so he's as close to upright as possible. Then he points to himself, and says, slowly and clearly,

"Chen." He waits expectantly for the human to do something, maybe introduce himself too, but he doesn't do anything. Just blinks in that strange monolidded way at him. He looks so dry, it's baffling.

"Chen?" It repeats, softly. It has an accent; he doesn't say it quite like he does, but it's close enough. He grins widely, his tail jerking in happiness. He points at the human politely, his hand upturned. The human's head tilts backwards, and his eyes widen a little. Maybe he's confused. Hm, humans are slower than he expected them to be. He repeats his name, then points to the human again. This time it seems to comprehend. It places it's too-dry hand on it's chest,

"Suho," it proclaims, it's voice like nothing Chen has ever heard before. He mimics the sounds, and Suho beams at him, its flat pearly teeth glinting in the light of the early setting sun. After that heartwarming introduction, there's a brief lull, when they've both run out of things to say, then the human- Suho- is gesturing again. But this time each action is punctuated by a word, and one of them is his name.

He's still hesitant about this idea, but he eventually concludes that having Suho carry him to the water's edge can't be worse than waiting here to suffocate. He slowly carefully drags himself closer to the human, hissing as the rocks continue to gouge into his skin, then looks up at Suho, waiting for him to do something. 

Suho's hands reach out and flutter uselessly over Chen's form, unsure of where he's allowed touch him, so Chen scoots a little closer and sits up more. When Suho gasps, and gapes at him in shock, he realises that this move has revealed his injuries, and that's what Suho is upset about. He growls as a warning, or tries to, since it comes out more of a whine, and this spurs Suho into action.

He takes a firm hold of one of Chen's arms, and slowly pulls him upwards, then like a sailfish, his arm darts around his shoulders and holds him upright so he stands almost as tall as the human. Chen clings onto Suho desperately, afraid of falling. This was such a bad idea, out of water he's so heavy, and Suho's impossibly parched skin can't possibly be able to grip him, can it?

Suddenly, making Chen cry out in fear of being dropped, Suho dips forward and hooks his other arm underneath Chen's tail, then yanks him upwards so he's lyings across Suho's outsretched arms, and clutching onto Suho's garments, leaving darkened wet patches on them. The fabric seems to all sense of moisture from him, and he doesn't like it, so instead he wraps one arm around the back of Suho's neck, collaterally coming into contact with Suho's hair, not nearly as rough as he'd expected it to be. In fact, he'd even go as far as to say it feels like the embodiment of water, you know, if water wasn't wet.

The human wobbles dangerously over the uneven rocks, and Chen closes his eyes tightly, grimacing as his entire body is swayed around as though he's in a whirlpool. When they reach the sand, he feels a lot safer, the swaying is reduced to a comforting and lulling minimum and the soft kush kush sound of the sand beneath Suho's feet is a new melody to him, one he won't forget. He wants to remember everything about this human, this 'Suho'.

He murmurs words to him, words that Chen doesn't know, but understands somehow. He understands that Suho is comforting him, in his lullaby voice, so unlike anything he's ever encountered before below the the sea. 

Splashes of water below alert him to having reached the shore.

He wills the ride to last longer, but grieviously, all things must come to an end. That being said, he prolongs the amount of time he has until Suho lets go of him, by acting like he's afraid of the drop. Really, he isn't even lying, he doesn't want to fall that far through the air, but mostly it's just a trick to get this to last longer. That's why he's so surprised when Suho drops carefully to his knees so they're both half submerged in the salty water, and ever so gently releases him. He doesn't think anyone has treated him so sweetly since he was a newly hatched larvae. A warm rush invades his chest as Suho's compassionate fingertips slip away from him, catching on his scales.

More than not wanting to go back home, he doesn't want the human to leave.

As Suho's legs extend, ready to leave, he realises he needs to do something if he doesn't want this oppurtunity to escape from him. He rolls onto his front in the water, still shallow enough for him to prop himself up so his face is above the surface of the water. Beginning to panic again, though this time for a different reason. He wants to reach out and grab him, but what if that makes him angry?

"Suho!" He cries out, hoping this will make him stay. To his astonished delight, Suho stills and tilts his head- a gesture that Chen is sure is meant to be questioning. Wracking his brain for something, anything he could do or say, he recalls the small amounts of human language he learned from the books in the palace library. He does his best to remember one of the more basic phrases, and hopes he doesn't mess it up,

"You are well met, Master Suho," he says, taking great are over the his mouth shapes the foreign words, then looks up at the human anticipating his response. He didn't know what he expected, maybe a bow or something, but it certainly wasn't laughter. Chen's hearts sink; did he say it wrong? Was he inappropriate? He sinks slowly under the water, leaving only his eyes visible, and his hair floating wispily around his head.

"And you, Master Chen," When Suho smiles this time Chen feels surrounded by thousands of buoyant bubbles, like he's soaring through the sunlit sky. 

"Prince. I am Prince Chen," He corrects happly, pointing to his tiara, eager for more contact with this human, and as of yet unware of the difference between their worlds. For Chen, prince doesn't mean all that much, since there are so many princes in his family. But judging by the way Suho recoils as if stung, it must mean something else. He hurries to clarify, "Lots prince, I am small prince! Baby!" 

Suho says something to fast for Chen to catch, but it sounds like an exclamation of some kind. He cringes back into the water in case he's angry, but Suho quickly assures him that he's not by waving one hand and shaking his head. 

"Mermaid Prince, huh?" Suho sighs, ruffling his hair, "or should I say merman?" 

"Man." Chen agrees. He flicks his tail. "Home?" He asks, knowing his grasp of Suho's language is extremely poor, but mostly just glad that at last, they're truly communicating with one another. Suho turns around to see what he's pointing at, then nods. 

"Yes, that's my home. It's a bit drafty in the winter, but it's home." 

"Cold?" 

"Yes, cold," Suho nods. Chen grins, pleased at his ability to interpret the human's words. Well maybe not all of them, but he knew winter, so he just guessed. This sets the framework for most of their conversation, with Suho saying something, then Chen saying one word that could sum it up. Or not. At some point, Suho ends up sat in the water, and has tried on Chen's tiara. It looks better on Suho, he thinks, even though his skin is so starkly blank.

There's been a lull in the conversation for a while now, and in that time Chen has noticed that the sun has now completely set, and the sky is a tenebrous collection of blues and purples seeping over the horizon, and if he looks in the other direction, he can see the stars begining to speckle the sky. He looks to Suho to ask what they are called in his language, but the human has his eyes shut, and his head is lolling to the side. 

Scared, Chen nudges his side, then that failing, shakes his shoulder, and Suho wakes up with a jolt, splashing water into Chen's face.

"Sorry, Chen." He looks around, and sighs, "It's late, and I need to go home," Suho explains, getting up slowly and dripping all over the merman. Chen reaches out impulsively and grabs his shorts- another new word he learned today.

"Tomorrow?" He asks, eyes wide and imploring. 

"Of course," Suho grins.

-

Chen finds a collection of seaweed to sleep on that night. Not nearly as comfortable as his bed in his chambers, but he supposes that's what he gets for running away from home. It somehow feels colder here, but when he thinks of Suho, and how magical this day has been, he doesn't regret it at all. 

-

The sunlight wakes him, and he opens his eyes to see beams of light filtering through the water, distorting and shivering with the tide. He thinks he's going to like it here.

He swims to the surface and looks to shore to see if Suho is awake, thinking that if he isn't, he'll just wait a bit longer. But he's in luck, because there he is- a blue and brown smudge in the distance. Laughing with abandon, he propels himself forward as fast as he can, and calls out his name. Suho's smile is worth a thousand punishments that he might receive if his parents find him.

"Suho! Good dawning to thee!" He proclaims, feeling a little embarrassed when Suho shakes his head and laughs at him. He's spent a long time practicing that phrase, did he not say it right?

"Oh, don't look at me like that." Suho protests, "Where did you learn that anyway?" Chen looks at him blankly, not having understood. Suho his lips, and looks up at the sky, "umm...old words?" He tries, "Say, 'good morning'"

"Good morning." 

"Yes!" 

"Good morning!" Chen repeats again, just to make sure. Suho smiles at him, so wide that his eyes disappear.

They spend a good deal of that day talking, and learning both about each other and how best to communicate. Gestures seem to what they fall back on most of the time, but it doesn't matter; Chen is having the time of his life here. About midday, Suho's stomach growls, causing Chen to erupt in giggles.

"Food, Suho? I get fish?" He offers, splashing his tail around in the water to emphasise his speed. But Suho politely declines.

"No thanks, Chen. I have food at home."

Chen spends a long time trying out all kinds of human food, and when Suho explains that this is only a little, and that there are many more different types, Chen is astonished. In his kingdom, even in the palace, there is only a certain number of ways food can be prepared. This includes different types of cutting and and mashing, and if you have the ability (and Chen's family, of course, do) to create a plumbing system that reroutes boiling water from underground, then boiled fish too. But these foods, to him, are special. Even if Suho says bread is common, and that rice is something everyone has, he just can't see that.

Come night time, Chen bids Suho goodbye again, properly after he is taught how to, and sleeps on the seaweed again. He thinks it's getting more comfortable, or maybe he's getting more used to it.

Two days later, Chen is left alone for the day as Suho needs to go shopping for food. He'd spent ages trying to explain about currency and inflation and even consumerism but all Chen had understood was the food part. So he'd left it as that and headed off on the hour walk to the other side of the island to the tiny street with the only three shops on. 

Chen spends his time alone- his first time truly alone- exploring the waters around the cliff face, and meets a lot of crabs and is attacked by a seagull that didn't like him very much for some reason.

By the end of the fourth day, Chen is speaking in awkward but full sentences, and even Suho seems impressed by how quickly he's improved. They pass the hours singing to one another, each of them marvelling at how beautiful the other's voice is.

On the fifth day, Suho is exasperated, because he is always asking him questions. And then when he tries to answer them, he interrupts with another question. It's exhausting, and it reminds him of having to look after his little cousin. When he says this, Chen demands to know more about him.

"His name is Joonyoung. Last time I saw him, he was three years old, but he's five now, I think"

"Only one?" Chen inquires, shocked. He has almost forty brothers, and just over thirty sisters. How can he only have one?

"Yes, just him,"

"Oh, Do like him?" 

"Yes, he's very sweet," 

"You eat?" Chen squawks, outraged,

"No! No, sweet can be how someone is, too, like 'nice'," he laughs at Chen's misunderstanding. 

"Oh. You are sweet, Suho," Chen nods, "very sweet." He's sure sure there must be better words to describe Suho, but he doesn't know them. This will have to do for now. Suho covers his mouth with his hand, laughing,

"I wouldn't go that far," he trails off blushing. Chen is sure now more than ever that Suho is definitely sweet. 

"Suho is certain sweet," he asserts, patting Suho's leg, causing the poor human to erupt in red. He supposes this is what he gets for avoiding the rest of the human race as much as possible. He loses the ability to take compliments and just generally function.

Talking about Suho's family makes Chen remember his own. The way Suho described his little brother, with such tenderness that Chen could see him remembering the young child in his mind's eye, they must be close. Chen finds himself envying their relationship, and not just because all of his family ignore him. He's jealous of a person that can be held with such regard in Suho's eyes, and hopes that one day if someone were to ask Suho about him (not that anyone ever would) then he'd make a face like that too.

"My family are not sweet," he sighs, unable to convey all that to Suho- not yet anyway. Suho's nostalgic face disappears, instantly replaced by concered confusion, so he clarifies, "they don't like me. I am small and not good. No, ahh, job?" 

Suho frowns, and reaches out to lightly touch Chen's hair, an act of affection that he finds both shocking and endearing. He was raised sparingly, as merfolk larvae are expected to be relatively self-sufficient as soon as they can find their own food (not that they need to, living in a palace), so physical affection is extremely rare among their kind. Chen is startled, and jerks back involuntarily, but leans back into the touch.

"Why are you here, and not at home? At the palace?" Suho asks softly, Chen's slick hair, as if transfixed. Chen feels strange, drowsy, all of a sudden, but content at the same time. Is it because Suho is petting him? Suho has to ask him again, before Chen responds,

"Came away. Wanted me...to stay in palace always, but I want sea. I want to see human-you!" Chen shoots out of the water to emphasise his excitement, getting Suho's clothes wet. Suho frowns at him, but Chen can tell he isn't really angry with him. He likes that they've come this far in their friendship after only a few days. At least, he thinks they've come far. He doesn't really have anything to compare this to, not having had real friends before. Or knowing whether touching other people's hair is normal for humans.

"You know, I have a confession to make," Suho says, looking out to the horizon. It makes for a nice picture, with him sat up in a rock a little way out to sea, one leg hugged to his chest, and the other with his toes touching the saline water. His fluidly dry hair dances in the sea breeze, and he sighs.

"What?" Chen tries to coax Suho into talking, because while he doesn't exactly know what a confession is, it looks serious. 

"My name isn't Suho, really," he murmurs, turning his face away from Chen, so all he can see is his ear, and retracting his hand. 

"I dont understand," Chen brushes Suho's bare shin with the back of his fingers. Suho has more hair on his legs, but this hair isn't like the hair on his head, this is wispy and curly.

"I told you my name was Suho because, well, I wanted to sound cool? But now I've realised that it wouldn't have mattered to you in the first place, and I should have just introduced myself to you as Joonmyeon because that's my real name. But then I thought, oh, but he's gotten used to calling me Suho now, and I didn't want to confuse you and mess everything up for you, so I just kept quiet, but now you know about my little brother." He takes a deep breath, and looks Chen in the eyes, the intensity making Chen reel back in shock, "Did you know in my home country its a tradition to name children of the same with the same first syllable?"

Chen doesn't say anything. For a moment all he does is stare. Did he catch that right? He missed a good deal of what Suho- is it Suho?- just said because he was going way too fast for him to be able to keep up, but the one thing he's pretty sure he heard was,

"Not...Suho?" 

"No, not Suho. I-" he shakes his head. Chen still doesn't understand what just happened, is baffled by Suho's distress, "I'm Joonmyeon," Su-Joonmyeon says.

"Joonmyeon," Chen repeats, trying to get a feel of the new name. It's certainly different to Suho. He can't decide if he like this name better, or not. 

"So my name is Joonmyeon, and my little brother is called Joonyoung. They both have Joon at the begninning." Chen nods, but still feels like he's missing out on something. Joonmyeon smiles, and speaks slowly, "It's traditional to give siblings- brothers and sisters- of the same names with the same begninning. Like me and my brother,"

Chen lights up with understanding,

"Oh! I get!" 

"Good," Joonmyeon reaches back out to continue Chen's hair. "Come to think of it, where does your name come from?"

"The sea?" Chen laughs, acting like its a silly question. Joonmyeon snorts, kicking him playfully. 

"No, I mean, what does your name mean?"

"Oh. Um." Chen thinks hard. He knows his name does have a meaning, but he doesn't know how to explain it. Especially not in Joonmyeon's language. "It is like. It makes a nice sounds like clong," he swings his hand backand forth, trying to demonstrate what he means. Joomyeon looks baffled for a moment, then,

"Oh you mean a bell,"  

"Bell?" Chen affirms, shrugging. He wouldnt know either way. "A big bell,"

"Your name means bell. Huh. In my home country that would be Jongdae, I think. It's interesting how thing have similar origins, huh?" Joonmyeon lets his feet dangle in the water again, and Chen dips his head under the water. Jongdae? He has a human name! Granted, the only person who will ever know this is Joonmyeon, but that doesn't matter. 

The younger merfolk, ones he used to see playing in the trenches near the palace, they always used to call each other by nicknames. He's never had someone to give him a nickname.

He surges upwards as far as he can given the shallow water, and catapults himself onto the rock next to Joonmyeon, allowing his tail to drape lazily over his new friend.

"Jongdae. Call me Jongdae," 

-

On the eighth day he wakes up and he can feel instantly that there is something wrong. It's far too quiet. Normally there's some kind of sound from neighbouring shoals of fish, and colourful yet gradual movement from the coral, but now there's nothing. No fish, no crabs, and even the corals have retreated into themselves. What could be wrong?

The only thing he can see moving is the sunlight, rippling in diamond shaped lines on the seafloor, and three tiny black dots in the distance. Wait. He focuses more closely on the three dots. They don't look like anything he's seen around here before. They're getting bigger in fact. Even though the particles floating in the water obstuct his vision, it's quite obvious that these things, creatures, are moving fast.

He squints, trying to get a better view, still wondering why the crabs are gone. He waits a few seconds for the high speed creatures to come into sight then wishes he hadn't.

These things shouldn't be anywhere near here! He moves as fast as his tail can take him to the shore, and claws his way onto the sand,

"Joonmyeon!" He cries out, desperation colouring his voice a hopeless grey tone, "Joonmyeon! Help!" He flails, the sand is too sodden for him to get a grip onto, and every time he tries to dig his fingers into it, he just comes away with handfuls of it.

The door to the little shack opens, and Joonmyeon leans out, looking exhausted but worried. Chen cries out again, reaching for his friend. Joonmyeon comes running, no longer caring that he's almost . Chen is almost crying, frantically trying to beach himself to get away from the creatures chasing him.

Joonmyeon is quick to scoop Chen up, the same way he had when taking him back to the sea, the first day they met. He jogs carefully back to his home and does his best not to drop him. Chen winds his arms around Joonmyeon's neck, so he doesn't fall, and holds on tight. He doesn't want to admit that he was scared, but he's pretty sure it's obvious anyway, by the way his sharp nails are digging into Joonmyeon's bare skin.

Chen hadn't even realised he'd shut his eyes until he's being lowered down onto something. He clings tighter for a second, but then relaxes when Joonmyeon croons at him reassuringly.

"Jongdae, what's going on?" He demands, but gently. Sweetly. That's just the way Joonmyeon is, Chen thinks, can't do anything without it being sweet, or kind, or just...nice. Which is definitely not a bad thing, of course.

"It's my mother. Sh-e- she, she- " Jongdae clams up, shaking his head. 

"Hey, hey now. You're safe here," for a little while anyway, before you suffocate, Joonmyeon neglects to add. Maybe he should go and get some salt water so he can breathe or something- he doesn't know how this stuff works exactly.

"My mother. She sent-" Chen curses in his native tongue. It's so frustrating, not being able to communicate properly, especially at times of need, "big fish. They eat meat, very sharp-" he points to his teeth, which are also very sharp, "and strong, strong-" he waves his hand in front of his nose,

"Smell?" Joonmyeon suggests. Chen shrugs, starting to calm down again now. "It sounds like you're describing a shark," Joonmyeon frowns. Sharks? His mother sent sharks after her own son? That does not sound like good parenting.

Now that he's safe, or at least as safe as he can be, taking into consideration that he is literally a fish out of water, Chen has a look around Joonmyeon's house. It really isn't very big. His bedchambers could probably only just encompass the whole building, but it seems smaller because it's filled with so much, well, stuff. There are clothes all over the floor, and on the bed too, and photos plastered on every spare bit of wall. There's a basin in one corner, and a small contraption next to it, which has pipes leading into the wall, and beside that there is a puzzling white box, about half his size. A cupboard above that is probably where Joonmyeon keeps his food, he thinks.

He looks beneath him, and sees a small shabby seat, with interesting knotted fabrics layered over it. There are darker patches where he's touched it.

There's a tickling in his throat that builds up to a slightly painful pressure that Chen recognises as not being able to breathe. His breaths become shallow, and he attempts to attract the attention of Joonmyeon, who is now wearing a shirt and messing around with the small contraption on the floor. He turns around and widens his eyes comically when he sees Chen struggling to breathe.

He drops everything in his hands and scrambles over the mess to the front door, and yanks it open,

"I'll be right back, keep breathing!" He urges. Chen nods, and screws his eyes shut. He trusts Joonmyeon, he really does. But he'd certainly like it if he hurried up with doing whatever it is he's doing. 

This really hurts now. It feels like the burning sun is sinking into his chest and shrinking it into nothing. 

He can't breath without water, why did he nod when Joonmyeon told him to keep breathing? His head hurts.

The door slams open and Joonmyeon all but falls inside, weilding two buckets with sea water spilling over the edges. Red faced and short of breath, Joonmyeon wheezes in the genereal direction of the buckets and mimes throwing it over him. Chen nods madly.

He doesn't throw it all on him in one go, he pours it over him steadily, so he actually gets the chance to breathe it in. The relief is like crystal, clear and vivid. He gulps in the blessed oxygen and feels like crying for some reason. 

Chen runs his fingers through his dampened hair, and realises with a sickening jolt that he left his tiara behind! It's still lying amongst the corals near where he sleeps. Or, if he's being realistic, it's probably in one of the shark's mouths.

"Jongdae? What's going on? Can you tell me why you needed to get out of the water?" Joonmyeon sits on the bed, whatever it's made of looks springy and makes him bounce a few times before settling. Chen grimaces, baring his pointy teeth.

"I need to hide. My mother not let me go outside the palace. I went. She wants me back so she can punish me for- for" he waves his hand,

"...Disobeying? I see. Hmm. She sounds very scary."

"She is. She can do things, special things. Powerful?" Chen explains. Joonmyeon hums thoughtfully, that delightful breathy whale sound that he adores. 

They both sit in amicable silence, with Joonmeon tipping water over him every so often. He goes to refill the buckets once, before they run out of water, even though the floor of Suho's home is now drenched, and it will probably take a long time to dry out. Chen points to the pictures on the wall, asking about them. Joonmyeon points out his family and friends that he left behind when in another country far away called Korea. Chen doesn't understand how they look so realistic, not having encountered cameras before.

Once all of the photos have been gone through, and all of his family named, Joonmyeon pokes Chen's tail curiously, running the pads of his fingers downwards over the irridescent scales, so they follow the sloping and don't get caught against the overlaps. He drags his fingers all the way down to the bottom, and trails through the soft part of his tail at the end, like transluscent layers of skin. Chen squirms,

"Are you ticklish?" Joonmyeon asks with glee, touching his tail again and watching in amazement as he curls away from him, giggling. What is this feeling? No one has eveer touched him there before, is it supposed to feel like that? Joonmyeon does it again and he laughs out loud, almost rolling himself out of the chair and having to cling on the the arm rests.

"No, Joomnyeon! Stop it!" He cries through uncontrollable laughter, "Stop!" He accidentally slaps Joonmyeon in the face, his soggy tailfins make a nice sound as Joonmyeon splutters and recoils. Now Chen is laughing for real. Joonmyeon swipes at him, laughing too.

An abrupt cold child washes over him, making his mirth stop short. He knows this feeling, knows it well, but it can't be. She wouldn't come all the way out here just for him, would she? Surely not? Creeping tendrils of fear trickle down his dorsal fin, and he shivers,

"My mother. She is coming for me," Joonmyeon pales. He does that when he's worried, Chen has noticed. And when he's embarrassed he turns red. These humans are delightful creatures.

"That's a bad thing, right?" 

"Very bad,"

Chen can feel both his hearts pounding in tandem, loudly, so loudly he wonders if Joonmyeon can hear them. His breathing becomes shallow again, so Joonmyeon takes the hint and gets up to pour water on him again, being extra quiet and careful. Once that's done, he sits back down, not even letting the bed bounce this time, and listens very hard. Chen almost scoffs; a human wouldn't be able to hear a mermaid coming, he's wasting his time. But he lets him be.

The feeling of power, or magic so strong he can feel the weight of it pressing down on him from all sides- she's angry, he realises, but not only that; she's scared- intesifies until he finds himself holding his breath deliberately.

"Tywysog ifanc," her voice somehow manages to find him, even hidden here.

chen's tail looks a little like this:

and also idk but this sort of explains the mermad babies thing, except the, you know, mother bit. yes baby merfolk start very small

comment please, i know ive been absent for a while but i was writing like the whole time im just useless im sorry bye

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