Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

It started out as just a rumor.

Koujaku was no stranger to those. Despite Oval Tower being destroyed and people finally being able to leave the island, it was still an island. Rumors tend to spread around very quickly, but most of them wind up fading away within a few days to a week.

This one hadn’t. In fact, Koujaku kept hearing about it everywhere he went. When he cut people’s hair, they would talk about it. When he visited Mizuki’s bar, the patrons would talk about it. Even when he stopped by Mediocrity to hang out with Aoba, Koujaku would occasionally hear a customer talk about it.

A merman.

It was no secret, at this point, that Toue had been up to some shady shit in that tower, but no one knew everything yet. He didn’t imagine all of the information about what went on in there would ever be fully released to the public. But Koujaku knew first-hand the sort of freaky experiments Toue was funding in his quest for power and control. The ink in his skin would be a constant reminder of that for the rest of his life. But he couldn’t imagine Toue’s scientists having the ability to actually create a merman. That just seemed way too out there, even for a man with as much money and resources as Toue.

But then one of Koujaku’s team members was found on the shore of one of the beaches, stark naked from the waist down, his dick covered in some kind of weird slime, and a large green scale stuck to his palm. It took him almost an entire day to recover from whatever happened, and once he did, he swore up and down he didn’t remember anything. Even after they explained to him where he was found, the state he was found in, and even showed him the scale, he still said the last thing he remembered was hearing a weird song while he was walking near the beach.

That was when Koujaku decided it was high time to do some investigating. It was common knowledge now that Toue had been using sounds, specifically songs, in his quest to control people. So if his team member’s story was to be believed, this merman did, in fact, exist. And it was likely the result of one of Toue’s sick experiments.

That thought alone was enough to drive Koujaku to search for it. Even though it seemed to have somehow taken advantage of one of his team members, Koujaku was far from willing to jump to conclusions about it. He knew better than anyone how Toue’s experiments could render someone completely unable to control their own actions.

The first place he looked was the very spot he’d found his team member, and while not much had changed since the last time he’d been there, one thing did stand out that he hadn’t noticed before. There was a particular type of sea shell that was peppered all over this particular part of the beach that didn’t seem to be anywhere else. It was bright green and almost shone under the sunlight. Upon closer inspection, it looked like the shells had possibly once been home to some sort of sea creature.

After carefully removing his kimono and trousers, Koujaku waded into the mostly clear water, keeping his eyes downcast the whole time. As he’d suspected, more of the green shells were present, and as he moved further and further out, he started noticing some of them moving around on skittering black legs. So he was right. These were some sort of crustacean, and perhaps they were this merman’s favorite food. That would account for the copious empty shells all over the shore. Though Koujaku couldn’t really understand wanting to eat the same food so often. Wouldn’t it get old after a while?

In any case, he seemed to have discovered a potential spot he could watch in order to catch a glimpse of the merman. It had been dark when his teammate had come to the beach, so Koujaku knew he’d probably have to wait until night time, as well, so he went straight home to wait for the time to pass and prepare himself. He didn’t know what he was going to do if he did find the merman, but he knew he wanted to find it, if only to prove to himself it existed. After that, well, he’d just cross that bridge when he came to it.

*****

Koujaku was beginning to regret his life choices and question his own sanity. He’d been sitting here for hours, inside of a bundle of prickly bushes, and waiting for something that didn’t seem to be coming. He’d done the intelligent thing and waited until it was properly dark, without even a hint of sunlight, to avoid the possibility of any other person seeing him snooping about and calling the cops. But now he was wondering if he’d come too late and the merman had already had his shellfish meal for the day.

He glanced down at his coil and saw 10:30 on the dimmed screen, and he sighed. He really must be crazy. There could have been any number of other explanations for what happened to his teammate, but he’d jumped to suspecting something as outlandish as a merman over what? A scale? Mention of a song? His teammates weren’t exactly known for avoiding alcohol, so this could just as easily have been some sort of drunken incident that Koujaku had blown out of proportion.

The thought had him internally groaning. What the hell was he doing here? With a shake of his head, he shut off his coil and stretched his arms over his head. It was time to go home. This was obviously a-

Splash.

Koujaku’s eyes went wide, and he froze right where he was. Hang on. Was that…? He turned his head, his eyes scanning over the top of the water which, at this point, was only really lit by moonlight. It took him only a couple of seconds to see it, a head poking up out of the water. It was too dark to see it very well, but there was short hair and something shimmering on the person’s face with an almost metallic sheen. He’d seen such a sheen when light would reflect off of facial piercings. Was that what it was?

As the person moved closer to the shore, Koujaku was able to better see their face and he found the answer very quickly. Definitely piercings. Several of them, in fact. They covered his ears, two were in his lips, one in the bridge of his nose, and even few on his right eyebrow. And his hair was completely stark blonde, not something Koujaku saw very often. He also had a pair of very green eyes, eyes that Koujaku could see were darting around, obviously scanning the area much like Koujaku had been doing. It was fortunate, then, that Koujaku had turned off his coil because he’d been sure to put on a black kimono before leaving his house. So there was no way this person would be able to see him… he hoped.

After a few more seconds of looking around, Koujaku seemed to be in the clear because the person swam even closer to the shore, and when he was visible from about the chest up, Koujaku was able to see one of his hands poking out of the water. Within it was a handful of those green shells, little black legs wiggling about desperately. But then Koujaku’s mouth hung open. Wait… his hands…

Was that… webbing between his fingers? And his nails were sharp, almost like claws. With his heart pounding, Koujaku turned his eyes back to the man’s face, this time noticing something the piercings had prevented him from noticing before. His ears… they weren’t just pointed, they looked more like webbed fins than ears, and those green eyes had black slits for pupils instead of round dots. And when the man absentmindedly opened his mouth an inch or so, Koujaku caught a glimpse of a pair of very sharp canines on his top row of teeth.

Holy shit. Could that ridiculous rumor actually be true?

Koujaku kept his eyes trained on the man as he came closer and closer to shore, until he was visible from the waist up, and at that point, Koujaku noticed more fin-like webbing sticking off of both of his elbows. But when the man finally crossed the last few inches needed to reveal his hips and thighs, Koujaku had to close a hand over his mouth to keep from gasping.

There were no hips. No thighs. Not even legs. Just a very green and scale-covered fish-like tail, fully revealed to Koujaku when this man- no MERman, dragged himself up onto the shore and sat with the very end of his tail still in the water. The thin, light-green fins at the tip danced atop the water and moved along with the small waves that would brush against the shore as the merman reached inside of one of the shells and pulled out the squirming black creature.

With a swift bite, he stopped the creature's squirming and proceeded to crack its outer shell to get at the soft meat on the inside. Koujaku watched him in absolute fascination, knowing what he was seeing was real but unsure if he fully believed it yet. Could he be dreaming? He’d been thinking about the merman quite a lot over the past few days, so it was possible, but…

The merman chucked the empty shell to the side, and the sound of it hitting the sand snapped Koujaku out of his doubts. No. This was real. Unbelievably, the rumor was actually true. But if that was the case, what happened between this merman and his teammate. He still wasn’t ready to outright accuse the merman of any intentional wrong-doing, but knowing what happened would certainly put him more at ease. So he made up his mind and stood up, hoping the merman wouldn’t immediately bolt away.

His shifting caused the bushes to rustle, and he watched as the fins on the merman’s ears and elbows perked up. Then those bright green, cat-like eyes fell on him and came alive with absolute terror. Koujaku raised both of his hands, intending on trying to calm the poor creature before it got too spooked. But then a sound started echoing in the air around him that stopped all of his words before they could escape his mouth.

It was a light, soothing, and warm-sounding melody, drifting around him almost like a butterfly or the seeds from a dandelion after a strong breeze. His skin erupted in goosebumps and a smile curled on his lips as the song grew louder and the tune more tender and relaxing. Was this the song his teammate had mentioned?

“No,” came a low, shaky voice.

Koujaku was snapped immediately from the trance the song had put him in, and when he looked at the merman again, he could see he was completely frozen in place, eyes wide and hands clenched tightly around the remaining shells in his hands.

“You can talk?” Koujaku asked dumbly, still a little distracted by the song that had yet to cease.

“Get away,” the terrified creature demanded harshly. “Leave now!.”

Koujaku raised his hands again, this time managing to get his words out despite the song,” Hey, easy. I’m not gonna hurt you. I was just-”

His words vanished again, this time cut off not by the song but by a strange feeling that was suddenly moving through his chest. He felt… warm, tingly even, and he quickly noticed that that feeling was beginning to spread from his chest to the rest of his body. His shoulders were next, then his arms, his hands, his neck, his head, and then… oh crap it was moving south.

It hit his stomach next, and when it moved through his crotch, a gasp escaped him and his knees suddenly became weak. He stumbled a little, falling forward and out of the bush. He managed to land on his knees, but by then the warm tingle had spread all the way down to the bottom of his feet. It was everywhere now, his whole body, and when he finally figured out what was happening, he raised his head to look at the merman.

He was still sitting there, his eyes wide and his whole body locked up as if he couldn’t move it even if he wanted to.

With a mouth that was suddenly overly full of drool, Koujaku asked, “Are you… doing this?”

The merman’s teeth ground together, and he sounded just as harsh as before when he snapped, “I told you to get away! I can’t… control it!”

Can’t control it? Did he mean the song or what the song was currently doing to both of their bodies? Judging by the terror on the poor creature’s face, it was probably both. But if that were the case, was Koujaku about to wind up like his teammate had? Waking up with no trousers or memories and looking like he’d passed out drunk on the beach? Well, that would be humiliating, wouldn’t it? But what worried him more was what was gonna happen before that, because he could feel every cell in his body screaming at him to get closer to the merman, spurred on by the song that was still echoing in his ears.

And when he started to move, his teeth clenched at the sudden wave of heat that seemed to have pooled in his crotch. He glanced down and went rigid at the sight of a tent in his trousers, a tent that definitely hadn’t been there before. Oh no. Oh hell no! He was not about to…

“Ngh!”

Goddammit. His cock just fucking jumped half a mile in the air, and both of his hands were reaching out in front of him of their own accord, apparently seeking out contact with the merman against Koujaku’s will. It took everything he had, but Koujaku pulled both of his hands back and tucked them tightly under his armpits.

“Can you… get back into the water?” Koujaku asked, his teeth still clenched.

The merman scoffed sarcastically. “Don’t you think I’d have left by now if I could? Now that you’ve heard the song for this long, we’re both stuck here until you do something. So just get it over with.”

Do something? What the hell was this guy saying? Did he seriously want Koujaku to…?

Those green eyes fell to the ground, and Koujaku watched as the merman’s face contorted into an obvious mixture of dread and terror, his sharp fangs sinking into his lower lip and coming very close to drawing blood.

No. He didn’t want Koujaku to do anything. Of course he didn’t. That’s why he said ‘get it over with.’ But was he right? Were they truly going to be stuck here until Koujaku gave in to whatever this was and took the merman against his will?

A growl rumbled in Koujaku’s throat and he sunk his teeth into his own lower lip, too. No. No way. He’d be damned if he was gonna hurt this innocent creature, who’d probably been through god knows how many hellish experiments to be made into what he was. There had to be another way, some other method of stopping this song and letting the merman escape back to the sea.

Koujaku pried his eyes away from the merman and looked around, searching for he didn’t know what. Just something, anything that would give him an idea on how to stop this without literally committing rape.

His eyes zeroed in on a dock. It was old and rickety, but it stretched out far enough that if Koujaku were to step off of it, he would land in water he could not touch the bottom of. And he remembered quite clearly that his teammate had been completely passed out when they’d found him. Maybe that meant whatever spell this was would be broken if Koujaku lost consciousness.

His stomach turned. Drowning would not be the ideal answer to this problem, but he’d sooner face that than have to live with the fact that he’d forced himself on someone. At least someone might come along and revive him before he was too far gone for saving. With it being so late at night, that wasn’t very likely, but it was still possible.

That was it. That was the plan. He didn’t have time to think of another one, so he had to go with it. Now he just had to get himself to the end of the dock without letting himself touch the merman. Because he had a feeling if he did touch him, that would be the end of his ability to hold back.

With great struggle, Koujaku managed to get himself to his feet, and using every ounce of will in his body, he put one foot forward, then the other. He focused as much of his mind as he could on his feet, hoping that if he did that he could make them keep moving.

“What are you doing?” the merman asked, and Koujaku wished he hadn’t. Hearing his voice seemed to amplify the effect of the song.

Koujaku kept his teeth clenched and growled, “I’m not… doing that to you.”

He didn’t dare look at the merman, even as he drew closer and started to move past him. But he saw the merman watching him out of the corner of his eye.

“What are you saying?” the merman asked, sounding worried. “There’s nothing you can do to stop this, so just give in already.”

Despite obviously trying to make that last sentence sound nonchalant, the merman’s true feelings came through in his tone. He was scared, and Koujaku didn’t blame him.

With another shake of his head, Koujaku answered, “No. You don’t… want it. I won’t- Hmph!”

Dammit, his dick just jumped again, and this time it fucking hurt. He was so hypersensitive and so damn hard. Every slight movement of his legs revealed that his trousers were soaked with precome, and he was suddenly very aware of his nipples and how his kimono was lightly pressed against them. This was too much. Way too much. If he didn’t get away from this merman soon…

He let out a loud growl and forced his feet to move, willing himself to make it to the dock before he lost complete control over himself and did something he’d regret for the rest of his life.

He heard the merman’s voice, but he tuned out the words, not wanting to risk breaking his concentration for even a second. By the time Koujaku made it to the spot where the dock met sand, he was so light-headed he thought he might pass out. But some part of him was aware that he wouldn’t actually pass out. He would simply lose control of his body, and that poor merman would be subject to whatever his body decided to do. He bit his lip again, hard enough to draw blood this time, and stepped onto the rickety wood.

He was vaguely aware of the merman saying something else to him, but he couldn’t risk turning even an ounce more of his attention to it. Not when he was so close. Only a little bit further. A few more feet and…

Halfway down the dock, he slipped on the wet wood, causing him to fall flat on his face, his cheek getting covered in a mixture of rotten wood, dirt, and seaweed. But that was secondary to the feeling of his hypersensitive cock and nipples being pressed against the hard surface of the dock. Fuck it hurt. It hurt so fucking much. He needed this to end, right now, and at this point he was thinking he’d be okay with not being revived as long as this shit would stop forever.

He reached both hands out and started dragging himself to the edge of the dock, the few remaining feet looking like miles when he was so desperate to reach it. The merman called out again when Koujaku finally managed to wrap his fingers around the very edge of the dock, but Koujaku had lost the ability to even acknowledge the merman at this point, let alone speak.

This was it. He was almost there. Just one more pull and…

He yanked, hard, dragging his entire body forward and off the front of the dock. He fell for only a moment and then he was engulfed by the water, sinking like a rock due to his inability to move much at all much less swim. It didn’t take long for his lungs to start burning due to a lack of oxygen. He hadn’t exactly taken a deep breath before falling in here, and when his lungs did what lungs were meant to do, he jolted, his eyes rolled back, and everything went dark.

*****

Cold. Koujaku was absolutely freezing, a stark contrast to the heat that had overtaken his body before he fell off of that dock. He felt like every ounce of his body was weighed down by anvils, so he couldn’t move a muscle. Not only that, he didn’t seem to be able to take in any air or open his eyes. This was the part where his heart was supposed to start racing, but he wasn’t sure his heart was even beating anymore.

Where was he? Did he actually die? Was he about to be met with the grim reaper or whatever deity was meant to carry him to the afterlife? He was oddly calmed by that thought. Maybe it was due to the fact that he still didn’t know when he might lose control of that power in his tattoos again or maybe it was because the alternative had been him doing something else utterly unforgivable while he wasn’t in control of himself.

Either way, he was fine with it. He just wished the reaper or whatever would hurry up because he-

“Agh!”

What the hell was that? His throat was burning all of a sudden, and now he…

“Urgh!”

Cough after loud cough launched past his lips along with what he recognized as salty water. He scarcely had a second to register it before he was suddenly being rolled, more coughs pushing out more water that was draining much easier now that he wasn’t on his back. Air was rushing back into his lungs to take the place of the water, and he fell into a hysterical cycle of coughing and gasping as his body tried to get itself functioning properly again.

In the meantime, he tried to open his eyes to look around and see where he was or who had rescued him, but his eyes were clouded and stinging from the saltwater that was still working its way out of them. So he blinked a few times, trying his hardest to make his eyes work so he could see his rescuer and at least try to thank them once his throat was working again.

It took at least a dozen or more blinks, but his eyes eventually did clear, and his coughs were interrupted by a gasp when he was suddenly met with a pair of very wide and very bright green eyes. It felt like a boulder had just been dropped into Koujaku’s stomach, and adrenaline rushed through his veins as he suddenly shot up. His feet pressed into what he could now see was the floor of an ocean-side alcove as he tried to push himself away from the merman who was still staring at him with those wide, curious eyes.

“What are you… doing?” Koujaku choked out. “You were supposed to get away! Why are you-?”

Too much he was trying to say too much too fast while he still wasn’t fully back to breathing properly, so he started coughing and gasping again. No. There was no way this merman had dragged Koujaku right back into the shitty situation they’d just been stuck in a few minutes ago.

A pair of webbed hands reached out, and while Koujaku tried to recoil, his adrenaline had already started to ebb so he didn’t have the strength to move away any further. So both of those hands wound up grasping his face and making him look at the exasperated-looking merman. And Koujaku froze.

No. Don’t. Don’t touch me. I might…

“Calm down,” the merman said gently, breaking through Koujaku’s thoughts. “It’s fine. We’re fine.”

For the first few seconds, Koujaku didn’t believe him. How could he after what just happened? But then several more seconds passed and during those seconds, Koujaku didn’t feel even a hint of the heat or ravenous desire that had plagued him before he fell into the water. Nor did he hear the song. The merman’s hands didn’t seem to be drawing any sort of reaction from him, either. So… was he right? Was everything really okay now?

“What… happened?” Koujaku managed to force out.

The merman sighed and drew his hands back before turning to face the entrance of the little alcove. Koujaku couldn’t see a sliver of sand from that entrance, nor could he hear any city sounds over the waves, so the merman must have taken him quite a ways away.

“You passed out,” the merman began. “And the song stopped, so I brought you here to try and wake you up.”

Well, Koujaku had gathered all of that, so his question wasn’t truly answered.

“No,” Koujaku said. “I mean, why is there no song now? I thought you said you couldn’t control it.”

The merman shrugged. “I couldn’t before.”

Koujaku cocked his head to the side. “But you can now?”

“Looks that way.”

 Koujaku let out a quiet sigh of relief. Well, at least he didn’t have to worry about losing control of himself again. But…

“How come?” Koujaku asked. “What changed?”

Another shrug. “Dunno. Something just clicked, I guess.”

Koujaku had a feeling there was more to it than that, but he didn’t have the energy to try and pry about it. As long as the merman had control over his song now, there wouldn’t be any more incidents like the one that just happened. Good enough.

“Well…” Koujaku said awkwardly. “Thanks for saving me.”

The merman’s eyes fell to the stone floor and he shook his head. “I was just returning the favor.”

Favor? What was he talking about?

His confusion must have come through in his expression because the merman clarified, “Every other person who heard that song just gave in without a fight.”

Every other person? Those three words made Koujaku’s skin crawl. Just how many people had taken him before today? No. Never mind. He didn’t want to know. It was irrelevant anyway. It wasn’t gonna happen anymore. That was what really mattered.

“I wouldn’t really consider it a ‘favor’ to stop myself from hurting you,” Koujaku said with a grin. “More like basic common decency. But I guess we can still call it even.”

The merman shifted a little and pulled his tail closer to his chest as if he were bending his knees, wrapping his finned arms around that tail and looking out over the ocean again.

“It’s not even, though,” he said plainly. “Yeah, I saved your ass from drowning, but why the hell would you risk drowning like that in the first place? You don’t even know my name.”

Koujaku’s eyes narrowed. What sort of a question was that?

“I don’t need to know you in order to not want to hurt you.”

“Not wanting to hurt me and being willing to die to keep from hurting me are not the same thing,” the merman suddenly snapped back, his voice sounding strained. “So quit being so damn vague and tell me why.”

A little bit of anger pricked at Koujaku after that. What the hell was this guy’s problem? Would he rather Koujaku have just raped him?

“I already answered your question, merman,” Koujaku answered shortly. “I didn’t want to hurt you. There’s nothing more to it than that.”

That wasn’t entirely true, of course. Koujaku knew that. But he wasn’t about to spill his guts to this merman who clearly had plenty of problems of his own. Especially not with him being so damn pissy all of a sudden.

“Bullshit,” the merman snarled. “People always want something.”

Despite his words still being harsh, they didn’t stoke Koujaku’s anger like the merman’s last bitchy remark had. Because there was something else mixed in with his obvious attempts to sound pissed. Insecurity. It was something he’d heard in Aoba’s voice many times, so it was easy enough to recognize in someone else, even if they were trying very hard to hide it.

Koujaku reigned in his tone this time and calmly asked, “So you think I, what? Tried to drown myself in order to get something from you? What could I possibly want from you that I would only get from almost dying?”

The merman shot him a glare. “That’s what I’ve been trying to get you to tell me.”

Koujaku’s first instinct was just to repeat that he didn’t want anything, but it was obvious by this point that they would just wind up talking in circles if he did that. The merman clearly didn’t believe Koujaku had thrown himself in the water solely to keep from doing something awful, but what Koujaku couldn’t understand was why.

“Is it really so hard to believe that not wanting to hurt you would be enough of a reason for me to do what I did?” Koujaku asked gently. “It’s like you think you don’t matter or something.”

As soon as those last few words left Koujaku’s mouth, the merman visibly flinched and his arms tightened their grip on his tail. And he said nothing. No snarky response. Not even so much as an indignant grunt.

Wait… was that really it? Did he truly think so little of himself that the very idea of Koujaku valuing him as a person was unthinkable? He was stunned for a couple of seconds, until his eyes moved over the merman’s body again, a body obviously tampered with by Toue. And that was when Koujaku figured it out.

Of course. Of course, he wouldn’t think he has any value as a person. Why would he after being treated as nothing but a tool for heaven knows how long? Koujaku could only imagine an experiment that would turn a human into a merman would take quite a long time.

Koujaku exhaled heavily and shakily got to his feet, stretching his arms over his head and yawning. Right. It had been super late when he first encountered the merman.

Looking down at him, Koujaku asked, “What’s your name?”

The merman still eyed him with suspicion, but he answered, “Noiz.”

Noiz? Definitely among one of the odder names Koujaku had heard in his life, but he was used to that by now after hanging around with Aoba and that white-haired boyfriend of his. What sort of a name was Clear, anyway?

Taking a step closer to him, Koujaku replied, “My name is Koujaku. And you may not believe me, but I don’t want anything from you. I never did. I really just didn’t want to do something to you that I knew you were gonna hate.”

Noiz stared back at him, and he could tell those cat-like green eyes were searching his for a single sign of dishonesty or deception. But he wasn’t gonna find it, no matter how hard he searched. He seemed to figure that out after a few more seconds because he looked away and dropped his hands to the stone floor beneath him, staring down at his tail which he finally stretched back out so that the fins were dipped into the water.

Koujaku figured that was probably the end of the conversation, so he decided it was about time to ask where Noiz had taken him and how long it was gonna take for him to get home. Sheesh. This night turned into a headache, didn’t it?

“Noiz, where-”

“What if I said I wouldn’t hate it?”

Koujaku’s mouth hung open and he blinked twice as every cylinder in his brain stopped firing at once. Hold the hell up. There was no way he’d just heard that right.

Looking down at Noiz again, Koujaku shakily asked, “What did you…?”

“If I said I’d be okay with it, would you do it?” Noiz asked nonchalantly, and Koujaku’s throat tightened in response.

At first, Koujaku thought Noiz had to be messing with him. After how snippy Noiz had just been, Koujaku was certain Noiz, at the very least, didn’t like him very much. But as he looked in Noiz’ eyes, he didn’t see anything but a genuine glimmer of intrigue mixed in with that typical blank stare Noiz usually wore.

Shifting his feet uncomfortably, Koujaku cleared his throat and said, “Are you… asking me if I’d have sex with you?”

“I have a spot for it,” Noiz answered, as if that was even remotely the point.

He followed up those six words by sliding one of his hands over to the front of his tail, below his belly button and about four centimeters below where his tail met skin. Koujaku watched as Noiz pushed a few scales to the side to reveal a long, vertical slit Koujaku hadn’t noticed before. Noiz sunk two fingers into that slit, and when he pulled them back out, Koujaku swallowed at the sight of a clear, slimy substance coating them.

Holy shit… That was… His eyes bore down on that slit, and when he saw some of that wetness shimmering on it, buckets of blood immediately rushed south. Hot. Koujaku usually preferred women, and he couldn’t say he’d ever had a fish fetish, but that was unbelievably hot.

“Noiz…” Koujaku said lowly, realizing right away how aroused he sounded. But how was he supposed to not be after Noiz did something so lewd?

“That a yes?” Noiz asked, sinking those two fingers back inside the slit and making Koujaku’s dick twitch when he started slowly moving them in and out.

Wet, squelching sounds echoed in the quiet alcove, and that would already have been enough to get Koujaku hard, but then Noiz let out a soft moan. And that was fucking it. Koujaku was done for. It was one thing to say no when Noiz obviously didn’t want it, but Koujaku had never been one to turn down someone who was being so eager. Especially not someone who looked like Noiz.

Koujaku took another step closer, feeling his dick already standing completely at attention as he asked, “You sure about this?”

Noiz smirked and answered by sliding two more fingers into that slit. This time, when he pulled them back out, something else came with them. Koujaku’s mouth hung open all over again, and he was absolutely captivated at the long, light pink appendage that began slowly emerging from the slit. Inch by slow inch it moved until at least seven full inches of slick, ribbed merman dick was standing proudly out in the open.

“What do you think?” Noiz asked cheekily.

Koujaku thought this was what people must have meant when they referred to having a confused boner. He’d been expecting that slit to be little more than a place to fuck into Noiz, so now that a dick had emerged from it, he was suddenly at a loss. Did Noiz want to be the one to fuck him? Koujaku wasn’t sure he was down with that, no matter how tantalizing that appendage looked.

“Will you relax?” Noiz scolded.

Those words were like scissors cutting through the only remaining string holding Koujaku back. Noiz was right. Why the hell was he hesitating? He’d already committed to having sex with this gorgeous creature. He could figure out how it was gonna happen when they got to that part. For now, he was pretty much dying to see what else Noiz could do with that smart mouth of his.

So Koujaku threw the rest of his caution to the wind and smirked before saying, “All right, Noiz. Know a place we can go where I won’t have to destroy my knees on a stone floor?”

Noiz rolled his eyes, but his tone was playful when he answered, “So needy.”

*****

As it turned out, Noiz had the perfect place for them to go. A small, out-of-the-way wooded area within only a few short yards of the water’s edge with the remnants of a campfire and even a makeshift tent obviously made from the tattered remains of a sail and held up by old planks of wood. Inside was bedding made from leaves, straw, and yet another ship’s sail. Paired with his apparent penchant for eating his shellfish snacks on land, it was obvious Noiz still enjoyed being on land, which wasn’t at all surprising since he’d clearly been human once.

“Good enough?” Noiz asked, sounding a little snippy from his place on the ground next to Koujaku’s feet.

Maybe it was a little bit selfish of Koujaku to ask Noiz to come all the way out here when he couldn’t even walk, but he decided he could make it up to Noiz right now and reached down to take him by his wrists. He was surprisingly light as Koujaku hoisted him up, grinning at the surprised gasp he let out.

“Oi,” Noiz snarled. “What are you doing you idiot?”

Without answering, Koujaku threw an arm around Noiz’s lower back, turned them, and laid him right down onto that DIY bedding. As soon as he was hovering over him, Koujaku saw Noiz’s nonchalant expression crack a little. Red peppered his cheeks as Koujaku stared right at him, not even trying to hide how turned on he was.

“I was thinking about kissing you,” Koujaku answered lowly, loving how Noiz’s cheeks went even darker.

Noiz tried to throw his uncaring facade back up, but it fell flat behind the desperation in his voice when he bit back, “Then what are you waiting for?”

A sly smirk curled on Koujaku’s lips. Oh, this was gonna be fun.

He leaned in to give Noiz what he wanted, and as soon as their lips touched, Noiz eagerly opened his mouth and gave Koujaku more than enough access. Well, he was definitely gonna take advantage of that. With a pleased hum, he dipped his tongue right inside of Noiz’s mouth, exploring as much of it as he could and even managing to cut his tongue on one of those sharp canines. Maybe it made Koujaku a freak, but his cock jumped in response. He couldn’t help it. Noiz was so different from anyone else he’d ever been with, and every little reminder of that excited him to no end.

Noiz tasted the blood at the same time Koujaku did, and he flinched before pulling back and looking at Koujaku with suddenly very vulnerable eyes. Koujaku was taken aback for a brief second, but that shock was swiftly drowned out by the warmth that pooled in his chest at the realization that Noiz was worrying over him. Koujaku felt a small drop of the blood start to leak out of his mouth, so he flashed his tongue out to lap it up before grinning at Noiz again.

“It’s okay,” he told him. “I don’t mind.”

Noiz’s expression softened a bit, so Koujaku leaned forward to press their foreheads together.

“Might even ask you to bite me before this is over.”

Noiz visibly swallowed, and Koujaku watched the intrigue that danced through his eyes. Koujaku couldn’t help the pride he felt at being able to draw out such a reaction. It made him want to know what other kinks Noiz was hiding inside that gorgeous head.

He bent to take his mouth again, this time diving even further inside and trying to tease more moans out of him. And Noiz responded so well, letting out the loveliest moan into Koujaku’s mouth and making Koujaku’s cock painfully hard. He had to get these damn clothes off.

While keeping his mouth locked on Noiz’s, he reached down to pull at the sash on his kimono and shrugged it off of his shoulders. He hadn’t bothered wrapping the bandages around his waist that day, so the only things left were his trousers and boxers. He was a hair’s breadth from reaching down there himself when he suddenly gasped at the feeling of a pair of webbed hands yanking at his waistband. Noiz’s hands were shaky as he yanked, unable to quite pull them down due to Koujaku’s angle.

Koujaku chuckled, “Eager, aren’t you?”

Noiz glared daggers into him, but all it did was make Koujaku’s chest burn with fondness. So damn cute.

He shifted a little so Noiz could pull his trousers down properly and he clumsily shook them off when they were below his knees, having to take a second to shake his leg harder when one of the legs got caught on his foot. After the frustrating garment was kicked to the side, he turned back to Noiz, an apology on the tip of his tongue. But that apology vanished when he saw that Noiz was outright staring at his dick, a mixture of fascination and nervousness on his face.

Well, that hit Koujaku like a damn wrecking ball.

“You like it?” Koujaku asked, spurred on by more pride swelling in his chest.

Noiz shrugged. “Dunno. Haven’t tasted it yet.”

Koujaku’s breath hitched, and his body seemed to give up and just dump all of his blood into his cock. It momentarily occurred to Koujaku that it was odd for Noiz to immediately jump to needing to taste something in order to say if he liked it, but that idea fell to the wayside quickly enough at the thought of being able to get Noiz’s mouth around his cock.

Koujaku took a breath to steady himself and asked, “Do you want to?”

Noiz’s eyes flicked up to meet Koujaku’s and with a smirk, he said, “Who’s eager now?”

Koujaku chuckled lightly before reaching out to run his thumb over Noiz’s lower lip. Noiz opened his mouth a mere inch, and that was when Koujaku noticed a shimmer from his tongue. Was that another piercing? How had he not noticed that while kissing Noiz before? He didn’t know, but his heart thumped with excitement at the prospect of sliding his cock across that metal nub.

Fuck, he was gone, wasn’t he? Completely ensnared by this gorgeous creature.

Noiz started to shift, so Koujaku moved with him, sitting on the bedding and spreading his legs to make room for Noiz to crawl closer. Koujaku watched him the whole time, the anticipation building with every passing second as Noiz’s head moved closer and closer to his dick.

When Noiz was a mere couple of inches away, Koujaku managed to grab his last ounce of sanity and say, “Just… don’t bite there, okay?”

Noiz snickered, placed a gentle kiss against Koujaku’s head, and mumbled, “Idiot.”

Koujaku had no time to react to the kiss before Noiz opened his mouth and sunk down, taking Koujaku in as deeply as he could. Which, it turns out, was pretty fucking deep. God, did he not have a gag reflex or something? And what was with his mouth? It was just as warm as every other mouth Koujaku had felt but it was so much slicker, making the slide absolutely heavenly.

Noiz started out with shallow bobs of his head, and that was already enough to have Koujaku biting the back of his hand to keep from moaning too loudly. Fuck, his mouth felt so damn incredible. If he started moving any faster than this, Koujaku wasn’t sure if he’d last. His teeth sunk harder into his hand when Noiz pulled his mouth up in a long, slow suck and popped off so he could flick his tongue over the head.

Then he looked up at Koujaku again, and those slit-like pupils were even thinner than they’d been before, knocking all of the air out of Koujaku’s lungs again.

Flashing his tongue out to lick at his lower lip, Noiz said, “No one else can hear you, you know.”

Koujaku blinked and dropped his hand away from his mouth, letting it run, instead, through that soft blonde hair. How was it so damn soft when he spent so much time in saltwater?

Grinning, Koujaku said, “I suppose you’re right. And you’re doing such a wonderful job, I really should be singing your praises.”

Noiz’s eyes broke away and when his cheeks reddened again, Koujaku responded with another stroke to Noiz’s lower lip. He was just too cute.

Noiz flicked his tongue against that thumb before saying, “Sap.”

Koujaku chuckled again as Noiz finally turned his attention back to his cock and sunk right back down. Fuck… he really was way too good at this. Knowing Noiz wanted to hear him, he made sure to let him know it, too.

He gripped gently to Noiz’s hair and moaned, “Perfect. That’s so perfect, Noiz.”

Despite his earlier admonishment, Noiz immediately started moving his mouth faster, taking Koujaku in deeper and even letting out a couple of moans. Well, that was interesting. So he liked praise, did he? Well, Koujaku was more than willing to give him that. He couldn’t remember ever having someone who was both so damn good at giving head and so eager to please him.

And, fuck, Noiz was eager. He never once even tried to control the amount of drool he was letting out or dull a single one of those wet smacks as he absolutely worshiped Koujaku’s cock. A couple of times, Koujaku felt one of those fangs get a little too close for comfort, but Noiz never once let them prick him, so all Koujaku felt was the sweet slide of those incredible lips and that salacious mouth.

“So incredible,” Koujaku shamelessly praised as his hips started obscenely moving along with Noiz’s mouth. “I wish you could see what I see right now, how damn sexy you look.”

Noiz moaned again, louder this time, and the vibration was fucking sinful. Goddamn, this whole thing was just supposed to be an investigation into what Koujaku thought was a silly rumor. How did he get lucky enough for it to turn out like this?

Another moan, and then Koujaku’s eyes widened at a familiar sound, one that was echoing even louder than the lewd smacking and sucking sounds coming from Noiz’s godly mouth. It was more of those squelching sounds, the ones he’d heard when Noiz fingered his slit earlier, so naturally Koujaku’s eyes fell to look. Sure enough, Noiz had raised his lower body a few inches off the ground so he could snake one of his hands down to delve his fingers into that soaking wet slit. And it was definitely soaking, giant globs of that slime falling out of Noiz and onto the bedding the more he fingered it. And that sight quickly proved to be way too damn much.

“Ahh… Fuck,” Koujaku groaned. “Noiz, wait… I’m…”

There was no way. It already felt too good, and Noiz was being so damned enthusiastic. He couldn’t handle the sight of him fingering himself, too. But he didn’t want to risk yanking Noiz’s mouth away for fear of getting cut by those fangs, so he gently tugged at his hair. With Koujaku’s cock still in his mouth, Noiz glanced up at him, and Koujaku very nearly came right then and there.

Had he ever seen such a gorgeous sight? He didn’t think so.

“I won’t be able to hold on if you keep doing that,” Koujaku told him.

Noiz slowly dragged his mouth off, and Koujaku had to catch himself again to keep from blowing his load all over Noiz’s face. He was so damn close to the edge. He’d have to wind down a bit if he wanted to have a single hope of properly fucking this beautiful creature who’d just made him feel so good.

“So then you wanna do me?” Noiz asked, just as nonchalantly as ever.

Koujaku’s cheeks heated up a bit at the question. Suppose he shouldn’t have assumed Noiz would see that as a given. Koujaku certainly wouldn’t have seen himself as the one being taken, so why would Noiz?

“Yes,” Koujaku answered plainly. “Very much. If it’s okay with you, of course.”

It wasn’t until after he said it that Koujaku had a realization. Even if Noiz said yes… could Koujaku even truly do anything? He knew Noiz had that slit, but that was where his dick was and there didn’t seem to be any other places for Koujaku to… well… fuck, apart from his mouth.

“Is that possible?” Koujaku asked.

Noiz nodded absentmindedly. “I told you I have a spot for it.”

Noiz followed those words by flipping onto his back and scooting himself back so that his head was on his makeshift pillow. Then he plunged three of his fingers back into that tantalizing slit of his and damn near made Koujaku’s’ heart stop when he spread it open, showing Koujaku the spot where his dick was nestled as well as something Koujaku hadn’t seen before. Only an inch or so below his dick was a small, twitching hole that appeared to be just as soaked as the slit that was hiding it.

Some part of him should have been telling him how crazy this was, that he was about ten seconds away from fingering a literal merman. Honestly, that one voice that usually tells you, “Hold up, what the hell?” should have reared its head ages ago. But it was nowhere to be seen, even as Koujaku crawled closer to Noiz and brought one of his fingers straight to that hole.

“Ngh!” Noiz moaned. “Fuck…”

Koujaku stalled his finger, even as his every instinct was screaming at him to plunge it in further. Because damn it was warm. So warm and so very wet. He knew his finger would slide in and out with absolutely no resistance. But he was not about to sour this amazing situation by getting carried away before Noiz was ready.

“Does it hurt?” Koujaku asked calmly.

Noiz’s eyes were squeezed closed as he shook his head and answered, “No… just… different.”

That eased Koujaku’s worries a bit, but he still had to ask, “Different?”

Noiz nodded. “The other guys… didn’t prep me.”

All at once, every vein in Koujaku’s body turned to ice, and his stomach lurched. Of course. He hadn’t wanted to think about it, but of course none of the men who had taken him while under that spell would have bothered with any sort of prep. Koujaku was barely able to maintain the presence of mind necessary to drag himself toward that dock. If he’d fully given in to that spell, he could only imagine that he would have been equally as careless with Noiz. The thought made his chest ache.

No. Even if Noiz believed what Koujaku had done was foolish, he knew right now that he’d made the correct decision. The very idea of putting Noiz through something so terrible… No. He didn’t want to think of it anymore. All he wanted to think about was pleasing this gorgeous creature and giving him the mind-blowing experience he deserved.

“So then I get to be the first person to fill you up with fingers?” Koujaku said huskily, making sure not to give Noiz any indication he was pitying him. He didn’t know much about him yet, but he could tell he was not the sort of man who would appreciate such a thing. “I’m honored.”

Noiz tensed up, and when he did, that hole tightened around Koujaku’s finger and had him squeezing his eyes closed. Holy crap. If he could do that to Koujaku’s finger…

“Koujaku…”

Koujaku froze, completely taken aback at the sudden whispering of his name in such a shaky, desperate voice. And when he looked at Noiz’s face again, it was clear why. Every single stoic mask Noiz typically wore seemed to have fallen away, leaving him looking far more nervous than he had been this whole thing.

An ache in his chest drove Koujaku to draw his finger out and he was very close to calling this whole thing off. The thought of bringing Noiz any sort of pain or discomfort after what he’d experienced was enough to make Koujaku sick. But… Noiz had never once asked him to stop or even given him an indication that he wanted him to. And he’d already resolved not to treat him as if he were pitiable…

No. If Noiz didn’t want this, he never would have initiated it in the first place. Koujaku was not going to make assumptions and decisions on his behalf. He deserved better than being treated like he was broken.

So Koujaku steeled himself, leaned over, and gave Noiz a slow, deep, and tongue-filled kiss. He lingered there for several long seconds, hoping that this would ease Noiz’s nerves and bring the fire back to those beautiful green eyes.

During those seconds, Koujaku felt the entire atmosphere change. He didn’t know if it was the kiss causing it or not, but Noiz was suddenly moaning softly, his arms were sliding up Koujaku’s sides to wrap around him, and when he dragged Koujaku closer, it would have been impossible to miss the warm, hard, and wet shaft that pressed into Koujaku’s stomach.

Oh… fuck! It was one thing to see that slick, ribbed cock, it was another thing entirely to feel it pressed against him. Then Noiz’s hips bucked, and he moaned as his dick was dragged across Koujaku’s abs. Koujaku clenched one of his hands into a tight fist, trying to keep from losing his head because, fuck, that was hot.

And then, through the wet smacking of their lips, Noiz breathed, “Want… you.”

Koujaku went rigid, those words hitting him harder than anything else Noiz had done or said so far. Not just because it was exactly what he needed to hear right now but because Noiz seemed to know that and was actively trying to ease Koujaku’s worries. This gorgeous creature. This proud, irresistible merman… Koujaku hadn’t planned on walking away and never seeing him again after today, but now… Now he was thinking he wanted to take it even further than that. Because he wanted him, too, and not just for what they were currently doing. He might not have realized that before, but he did now.

He wasn’t gonna drop such a bomb on Noiz right now, but he definitely wasn’t going to leave this tent until he had an answer from Noiz. For now, he was ready to get things back on track and make Noiz feel as good as he’d made him feel.

Koujaku broke the messy kiss and leaned back, sliding both hands down, over Noiz’s tail, and right toward that tantalizing cock. When both hands were a mere inch away, Koujaku raised his eyes to Noiz’s, watching him intently as he let one hand curl around his shaft while the other went right for that still soaked hole.

Noiz tensed again, but nowhere near as harshly this time, and Koujaku didn’t see an ounce of those nerves from before, either. With a silent sigh of relief, Koujaku started pumping his hand slowly up and down the ribs of that slick cock. Noiz’s pupils thinned to almost nothing and a moan rumbled in his chest even as Koujaku also breached his hole again. Still, Koujaku watched carefully, alert for even a single sign of pain or discomfort. Noiz wasn’t going to experience anything of the sort, not if Koujaku had anything to say about it.

He kept the thrusting of his finger slow at first, testing the waters and trying to see what seemed to bring Noiz the most pleasure. He could only assume his internal anatomy was different from a human’s, so searching around for a prostate probably wasn’t going to get him far. But he could still explore, see if there was anything else in there that would drive Noiz mad.

With his hand still moving along Noiz’s cock, it wasn’t long before that hole started to relax and soften, giving Koujaku room to start working in a second finger. He was painstakingly careful when he did so, and Noiz rewarded him with the most lovely moan and a sensual rolling of his hips.

God, he was just… beautiful. So goddamn beautiful.

With the second finger sheathed inside, Koujaku decided he could maybe try slightly rougher movements, and when he did, Noiz moaned a little louder. Hmm. So Noiz preferred that, did he? Well, then Koujaku would deliver in kind.

Bringing his lips next to one of those webbed ears, Koujaku whispered, “You feel so good, Noiz. I can’t wait to be inside of you.”

Noiz keened, his hips raising again and forcing Koujaku’s fingers in even deeper. Koujaku couldn’t resist the urge to chuckle wickedly and start wiggling those fingers around, hoping to find a spot that would draw out another sound just like that one.

“Ahh!” Noiz suddenly cried out. “Koujaku… There…”

Koujaku’s head snapped up, he peered down at Noiz’s face as he readjusted his fingers to try and get them back to where they were a second ago. He moved slowly, wanting to give Noiz time to tell him if he was wrong, but then he felt something against his fingertip. It was round and slightly softer than the rest of the flesh he’d been touching up until this point. He lightly pressed his fingertip against it, and Noiz tensed before letting out another sharp moan.

“There?” Koujaku asked, and Noiz answered with a frantic nod.

Koujaku smirked, not just because he’d found a spot he could touch to make Noiz see stars, but because that spot was positioned perfectly for Koujaku to be able to easily hit it with his cock. This was shaping up to be way more fun than he could have possibly imagined.

He nudged his fingertips against that soft flesh again while simultaneously pumping Noiz’s cock even faster, and Noiz responded with a moan so loud that it actually made Koujaku flinch. Koujaku kept going, not easing up even a tiny bit. As much as he wanted to be inside of him, he was absolutely dying to see him come.

So he leaned back over Noiz again, giving him a messy, indecent kiss before mumbling, “Will you come for me, Noiz?”

Noiz’s whole body thrashed, and his head fell back as another moan launched from his throat. Through heavy, ragged breaths, Noiz answered, “Y-Yes! Wanna… come! Wanna come for you!”

With one more smirk, Koujaku ducked his head down, moved his hand away, and slid Noiz’s cock into his mouth without a moment’s hesitation. It didn’t occur to him until after he’d done it that maybe Noiz's slick wasn’t good for humans to consume, but he’d already come this far, so he may as well keep going. The stuff didn’t have any kind of taste, and he had to admit that he liked how Noiz’s cock felt in his mouth. He was definitely going to want to do this again in the future. Hopefully soon.

“Agh! Haah! Kou- …jaku…” Noiz moaned. “I’m… Fuck!”

Noiz’s body was very different from a human’s, but Koujaku learned very quickly that his dick was much like his since it swelled in his mouth right before it shot out far more cum than Koujaku was prepared for. It filled his mouth and clogged his throat so quickly and completely that he had to struggle to start swallowing it down before he could even really register what it tasted like.

But it just kept coming, spurt after spurt of cum, until Koujaku had no choice but to pull off and let it finish outside of his mouth. And even then, it still kept going for at least another few seconds, soaking Noiz’s tail and his lower stomach in what Koujaku could now see was slightly greenish cum. Matched his beautiful tail, Koujaku thought in his light-headed stupor.

When Noiz’s cock finally stopped twitching, he started letting out heavy breath after heavy breath, his green eyes seemingly having lost their pupils entirely as he stared up at the ceiling of the tent. But he couldn’t have looked any more enticing to Koujaku than he did right now. Mind blown, hole soaked with slick and cum, and every inch of visible skin flushed.

Koujaku prided himself on his restraint, but right about now, it was running out. That hole was practically screaming at him, begging him to fill it with his cock, and he wasn’t sure he could wait for Noiz to come down from his post-orgasm high.

He leaned forward, crawling over top of Noiz and positioning his legs on either side of his hips. That seemed to snap Noiz out of his trance, and his pupils reemerged as he looked Koujaku in the eyes.

“Noiz…” Koujaku said, the plea already in his voice even without any other words.

Noiz cheekily smirked at him and cupped his face with those wonderful webbed hands. He pulled Koujaku down into another kiss and mumbled against his lips, “Fuck me, Koujaku.”

Well, that was all he needed to hear, wasn’t it? For good measure, he reached down and scooped up a whole handful of that cum Noiz had plastered all over himself and coated his dick with it. He was fairly certain all of that slick coming out of Noiz’s body would be enough, but he was taking no chances.

“Gross,” Noiz said playfully.

Koujaku chuckled. “Now you’re saying that? After you shot enough of it into my mouth to drown me?”

Noiz laughed back as Koujaku lined himself up and started trying to press his dick inside. It was still a little tighter than he was comfortable with, so he tried to pull back, about to go back to using his fingers in order to make more room. But two hands reached out to grab his waist and hold him still.

“No,” Noiz said sharply. “Don’t stop.”

Koujaku shook his head. “You’re still too tight, Noiz. I don’t want to-”

“It’s fine,” Noiz insisted. “I can take it.”

Koujaku stared down at him with a stern gaze, ready to adamantly refuse and carry on with his original plan. But then he looked closer at Noiz’s eyes, and he saw the raw, genuine want behind them. Noiz wasn’t just saying that to make Koujaku feel better. He really did want this. Koujaku’s eyes dropped to where they were still partially joined. He wasn’t entirely comfortable with it, but if Noiz said he could handle it…

He sighed silently. Not treating him like he’s broken. Remember that.

So Koujaku thrust forward and tried to press inside again. There was some resistance, but maybe not as much as Koujaku had thought. He saw Noiz wince only slightly, and thankfully he didn’t see any blood. Which was fortunate because as soon as Koujaku started feeling that hole envelop him, any ability he might have had to pull back again was stripped away entirely.

So tight. So slick. And so. Damn. Hot. All of the people he’d been with in his life, not a single one compared to this. Noiz was sucking him in so perfectly and squeezing him so well that he knew he wasn’t going to last very long, especially after how amazing of a job Noiz had done with his mouth.

When he finally managed to bottom out, he shifted a little, trying to make sure his dick was at the right angle to hit that soft spot. Then he met Noiz’s eyes again, several heavy breaths passing his lips as he tried to prepare himself. He had to try to hold back for at least a little bit. He had to. He was not about to look like an idiot by coming in ten seconds.

“Koujaku?” Noiz said, his tone slightly worried.

Koujaku smiled and let out a pained chuckle. “Sorry. I’m okay. Just… You have no idea how good this feels.”

“Heh,” Noiz sneered, brushing a hand against Koujaku’s cheek. “You’ll have to let me find out sometime.”

Koujaku went rigid for what felt like the millionth time since this started as those words rattled his already barely functioning brain. Sometime. As in, at a later date. So Noiz didn’t want this to just be a one-time thing? The relief that brought Koujaku was enough to knock him on his back.

But he channeled it into giving Noiz another filthy kiss and answered, “Maybe I will.”

Then he wiped that sneer off of Noiz’s face by finally letting himself go, driving into that tight hole without an ounce of inhibition. He wasn’t gonna be able to last, especially not now that he knew Noiz wanted to see him again, so he wasn’t even gonna bother trying. And it was a good thing, too, because with every thrust, Noiz let out louder and more obscene moans than any of the ones Koujaku had heard from him so far. Wet, scratchy, and shameless moans that shot straight to Koujaku’s dick and ripped away the tiny shred of control Koujaku had left.

“Noiz,” Koujaku grunted, his thrusts running away with themselves already. “I’m sorry, but…”

Another hand brushed his cheek, and when he looked at Noiz, those green eyes were practically shimmering.

“It’s okay,” Noiz said breathily. “Want you to… come for me, too.”

And with those words went Koujaku’s last sliver of sanity. He grasped onto Noiz’s scaled hips tightly and allowed himself to focus entirely on chasing down his orgasm.

Not that he was gonna have to chase it far, especially after Noiz decided to arch his back and growl, “Come on, Koujaku. Show me. Show me how damn good it feels.”

Damn him. Damn this incredible, gorgeous, unbelievably sexy merman and his filthy mouth. Spurred on so shamelessly, it took Koujaku only a handful of thrusts before he was letting out a loud moan of his own and spilling himself inside of that still tight hole.

And then he seemed to lose every ounce of his remaining strength and flopped over, landing chest-to-chest with Noiz and needing to take several seconds to catch his breath. Because, damn. He didn’t think an orgasm had ever taken so much out of him.

A light chuckle was followed by Noiz raising a hand to lightly stroke down the center of Koujaku’s sweaty back, and he sighed with contentment at the feeling. In fact, he was probably more content than he’d been in a good long while. Seriously. How the hell did this day turn out to be so freaking amazing?

He wanted to lay there for a little longer to bask in the afterglow, but as the seconds passed and the cogs in Koujaku’s brain started turning again, reality started leaking back into this whole situation. A merman. A merman he’d literally just met today. A merman he had no reason to think truly meant what he’d just said in the throes of passion. People will say any number of things if they are trying to help their partner to come, and Noiz was clearly not above saying whatever he damn well pleased to that end.

Koujaku wanted to think that Noiz wouldn’t say something like that unless he was serious, but he had to be certain.

“Noiz,” Koujaku said softly, deciding now was as good a time as any. “Did you mean it?”

Noiz’s hand stilled its delicate stroking and he asked, “Mean it?”

Koujaku nodded. “Just now, you said ‘sometime.’ Does that mean…?”

There was a longer-than-comfortable pause after that, and during that time, Koujaku felt Noiz’s body tense and his hand fall from his back.

“That I want to see you again?” Noiz finished for him. “Yeah, that’s exactly what it means.”

Those words were like a warm blanket wrapped around him after a bitter blizzard. Thank goodness. He’d hoped he was right, but hearing in confirmed in Noiz’s own words banished any lingering doubts.

“Why?” Noiz asked, his voice shaking. “Is that not what you want?”

Where the energy suddenly came from Koujaku didn’t know, but his head snapped up and he immediately answered, “Of course it’s what I want. I just… wanted to know if you wanted it, too.”

That seemed to make Noiz feel better since a smile curled on his lips and he said, “Well, I do. So you’d better start coming here to see me. Otherwise, I’m gonna crawl into the city to look for you.”

Koujaku swallowed and his heart raced as he said, “Don’t. Do not do that. Ever.”

God, the thought of someone seeing him, reporting him to the police, and then him being carted off to some lab or another to be experimented on further… It made Koujaku’s skin crawl and his chest tighten.

Noiz chuckled and ran a hand through the back of Koujaku’s hair. “Relax, idiot. I was only joking.”

That tender laugh eased Koujaku’s mind, quite a lot, actually. So he smiled back at Noiz and pressed their foreheads together.

“Though it would be a lot easier if I could just take you home with me,” Koujaku joked. “Maybe I could invest in a giant aquarium.”

Noiz glared at him and flicked him in the side of the head. “You’re not keeping me in a box, ass hole.”

Koujaku laughed heartily before closing the short distance to kiss that glare right off of Noiz’s face. He was so elated, so relieved, and so damn on top of the world, he wasn’t sure he’d ever come down again.

The kiss broke and he mumbled against Noiz’s lips. “We’ll figure it out. For now, I just want to hold you for a while. Is that okay?”

Noiz’s cheeks reddened all over again, and Koujaku’s chest squeezed. Koujaku’s heart was not going to survive this adorable merman. He knew it wasn’t.

“Um… yeah,” Noiz answered awkwardly. “It’s okay…”

With another smile and a kiss to Noiz’s forehead, Koujaku rolled off of him and onto the barely-exposed edge of the small bedding. He’d have to bring Noiz some proper supplies next time he came here. A real tent, some sleeping bags. Things of the like. If he was going to keep coming out here until he and Noiz could figure out other arrangements, he was at least going to make sure they could both be somewhat comfortable. But he’d deal for now. His back might hate him later, but he needed to get Noiz in his arms.

Lying on his back, Koujaku raised one of his arms slightly, beckoning Noiz to go ahead and scoot closer. Noiz was suddenly adorably shy as he did so, tucking himself underneath Koujaku’s arm and resting his head on the tattoo on Koujaku’s chest. Noiz touching one of those tattoos was a sharp, unwelcome reminder. He’d have to tell him about it one day. All of it. Because even now Koujaku never knew if those tattoos were going to fly out of his control again, and Noiz needed to know that. It might drive Noiz away, but Koujaku could live with that sooner than he could live with harming him.

But that conversation could wait. His tattoos weren’t stirring now, and with Noiz in his arms like this, he could almost imagine a future where they never would again.

“Koujaku,” Noiz said softly.

“Hmm?”

“You don’t like your tattoos, do you?”

Koujaku tensed. A lot. Didn’t he just say he didn’t want to have this conversation right now?

“How did you…?” Koujaku asked, not seeing the point in lying to him.

“Most people who get tattoos like to show them off, but you had yours completely covered up, even the one on your face,” Noiz explained. “And you flinched just now when I touched you here.”

He motioned to Koujaku’s chest, and Koujaku’s stomach tightened. He flinched? He didn’t remember doing that. But perhaps he was a tiny bit distracted by the gorgeous man in his arms.

Smiling weakly, Koujaku told him, “Sorry. Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing.”

Green eyes stared sternly at him. “If it was nothing, you wouldn’t feel the need to tell me it’s nothing.”

Well, crap. Noiz had him there, didn’t he? Still, he wasn’t sure he really wanted to talk about this. Not yet. It was hard enough for him to even think about it.

“Are you… like me?”

Koujaku’s eyes widened a bit, and he looked down at what was actually a very vulnerable expression on Noiz’s face. It made Koujaku’s chest ache, so he raised a hand to stroke the back of Noiz’s hair.

“What do you mean?” Koujaku asked.

Noiz let out an annoyed sigh, “Do I seriously have to spell it out for you?”

Koujaku cocked his head to the side. He truly didn’t know what Noiz was talking about, but Noiz was already annoyed, so he didn’t want to say that.

Noiz groaned and buried his face in Koujaku’s  chest, muffling his voice slightly when he said, “I’m asking if Toue fucked with you, too, you idiot.”

Koujaku’s entire body suddenly felt incredibly cold. Even with Noiz still pressed up against him. How…? It was one thing for Noiz to work out Koujaku’s issues with his tattoos, but this? Noiz seemed to know way more than he should, and that did not sit well with Koujaku.

“Noiz,” Koujaku said sternly. “Is there something you’re not telling me? Why in the world would you even suspect that? I’ve given you no indication whatsoever.”

Noiz tensed, and Koujaku saw at least one of his hands clench into a fist. Well, he couldn’t say he felt too guilty about making Noiz uncomfortable this time. Not after the bomb Noiz had just dropped on him.

“You… kind of have,” Noiz answered softly. “You didn’t mean to, but…”

Koujaku’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t say anything. That… didn’t make any sense. How could he have told Noiz something like that without meaning to?

Noiz sighed again, but he sounded more exasperated than annoyed this time. He raised his face out of Koujaku’s chest, but he couldn’t seem to meet his eyes, cheeks red and nervousness in his eyes.

“When Toue was… changing me,” Noiz began. “I remember the scientists saying that my song would work on everyone without fail. Except… other people they’d tampered with. Only those people might be able to resist it. Something about the methods being different but the overall mind-bending process being similar across all of those methods.”

Koujaku’s eyes shot open even wider, and his jaw dropped. Wait…

“So my tattoos…” Koujaku said, barely above a whisper.

Noiz nodded, a grin on his face. “They’re why you were able to resist.”

Koujaku stilled, even his breathing slowing to a mere crawl as his brain tried to register what Noiz had just told him. It hadn’t happened all that long ago, so Koujaku remembered with perfect clarity how disgusted he’d been at the prospect of taking Noiz against his will and how utterly desperate he’d been to prevent it. To know that his tattoos, things that he’d only ever looked at with pain and disgust, were responsible for preventing it.

He didn’t know. He was still disgusted by the tattoos. How could he not be after what they made him do? But if he didn’t have them, then Noiz would have been…

His eyes fell closed, and he blew a breath out through his nose. Too soon. It was way too soon for him to start being able to see his tattoos in any sort of positive light. But he had to admit that this was the first time he’d ever seen them as anything other than ticking time bombs. That was… something at least.

A hand brushed his cheek, and when he opened his eyes, he was met with a pair of bright green eyes looking down at him with a warm, comforting smile. As he peered into those eyes, all of the nastiness he’d just been feeling melted away, and he smiled at him. He wasn’t going to go so far as to say it was worth it to have these tattoos. His mother’s blood still painting his hands would never let him say such a thing. But he was certainly grateful, at the very least, that the tattoos had given him the resistance he’d needed to keep from hurting this magnificent creature.

“You trying to make me fall for you?” Koujaku asked warmly. “Because that’s what’s gonna happen if you keep looking at me like that.”

Noiz’s smile grew softer and he leaned in to kiss Koujaku, chaste but somehow even more intense than all of the others combined.

With their lips still pressed together, Noiz said, “Then fall for me, Koujaku.”

So he did. Koujaku fell, right into the sea of those beautiful green eyes.

And he did not want to be saved this time.