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The sea was vast, endless with its blue and beauty. It was fresh, still unaffected by the pollution of humans. It was cool and mystifying even for the creatures that dwelled in it. There was freedom in the currents, an understanding between his people and their neighbors not like the complicated societal rules of humans.
Eijun sighed heavily as he laid awkwardly on the tub, his long golden tail pushed up the wall and flopping helplessly as he directed the spray of the shower at it. This was the largest tub they could find but it wasn't even enough for a fully grown merman like him. It was painfully cramped and low, the water couldn't even reach his shoulders if he sat up properly to accommodate his tail.
The tub they had was definitely not a proper replacement for the sea. A child's inflatable pool would've probably been enough to stretch and soak his whole body at once but no city apartment offered that much space or permission to have an inflatable pool in the middle of the living room.
It's been too long since he'd been to the beach or a pool, not that he could actually transform into his full merman body in a public pool but people bought the whole ‘custom made mermaid tail’ story when he stretched out his tail. Several little girls even approached him and their mothers asked if he could teach them how to swim like a mermaid since he was apparently ‘a natural at it’.
The baseball season already ended but it was getting too cold to go to the beach. Most of his fellow mer would have immigrated to warmer waters weeks ago or came up on land if they had families or friends who would house them during the winter season.
For Eijun, he'd been living mostly on land since he was a child. When his grandfather got ill and his father had to relocate back to his hometown to take care of him, he uprooted both Eijun and his wife. From a town close to the sea where Eijun spent most of his time playing with his mer relatives to a farm town too far from a beach that Eijun could visit everyday. It was difficult having to get used to walking when he'd mostly been swimming until then.
Another problem he had to face was being unable to tell his new human friends that he was part mer on his mother’s side. Not many humans knew that mer were real, those who did have mer friends often didn't know what they actually were, too. So even when they went out to the beach or pool, he couldn't transform in front of them – at least he could do that now, humans seemed to be less fearful of mermaids recently and the whole mermaid tail swimming was a steadily growing thing.
He swayed his tail out of boredom though he was careful not to hit any of the shelves and make a mess like he often did. He really wanted to stretch out and dive into naturally salty water. He once tried adding bath salts into the tub but that was a failure he didn't want to repeat, no matter how pretty the bubbles and foam were.
“I'm home! Eijun, where are you?”
“Bathroom,” he answered loudly and straightened his back as he sat up, trying to look a little presentable even though most of his tail was uncomfortably pressed up the wall.
He heard the footsteps approaching followed by the door opening to reveal Kazuya. He'd been out for a magazine interview thanks to his spectacular play during the season.
“Were you in here the whole day?” He asked with a slight frown, arms crossed over his chest.
“Um…no?”
Kazuya shook his head with a heavy sigh. “You don't prune so I won't really know how long you actually stayed in there, but I'll assume you haven't eaten yet.”
“…Uh…may be?” Eijun flushed when his stomach grumbled. He didn't want to admit to Kazuya he'd been in the tub the whole day again, not that he had a problem with it. It was only because he missed his meals when he did and mer had a bigger appetite than humans that made him worry.
“I don't want you to eat me in my sleep, idiot.” Kazuya teased and held out a hand. “Do you want to keep soaking or do you want to help me with dinner?”
Eijun accepted the offered hand with a grimace. “You know I can't cook human food.”
Kazuya laughed, helping pull Eijun out of the tub. He always felt a little disoriented after a transformation and had some difficulty getting used to his legs and balancing his body weight. Once he knew Eijun could stand without falling, Kazuya reached for the bath towel and wrapped it around him.
“You could try to learn,” Kazuya told him, taking another towel to dry Eijun’s hair. “Did you even wash yourself today? Or did you just soak up?”
“I WASHED! OH MY GOD. I EVEN USED HAIR CONDITIONER!”
“All right, if you say so, fish boy.”
“I have really sharp fangs I can bite you with, you know!”
“My, my. I already know you have a kink, Eijun.” Kazuya snickered at the flush on Eijun’s cheeks and kissed each warm cheek briefly. “All right. Get some clothes on before you catch a cold. I'll start with dinner.”
“Mer don't get colds that easily!” Eijun reminded though he knew it was futile. No matter how many times he told Kazuya of his overall above average health compared to humans, he was hardheaded and subjected Eijun to human warnings.
“Don’t come crying to me when you do get sick, fish boy.”
Eijun rolled his eyes and followed Kazuya out of the bathroom. Kazuya went immediately to the kitchen while Eijun went to their shared bedroom to quickly change into dry clothes.
Once he finished changing into one of Kazuya’s large shirts, Eijun sat at the dining table to watch Kazuya do wonders in the kitchen. While he wasn't picky between raw or cooked food, he was very picky with kisses and he wanted all day kisses but Kazuya wouldn't kiss him if he ate raw food (Eijun rolled his eyes at his city human boyfriend). At least Kazuya was amazing in the kitchen and everything he made tasted great so Eijun didn't have much to complain (except the fact that he couldn't nibble on some raw fish for an afternoon snack).
“How was the interview?” Eijun asked with a little yawn. Soaking all day made him feel so sluggish and sleepy.
“So-so. Just the usual questions, nothing new.”
“That sucks,” Eijun commented half-heartedly and let his eyes roam until they landed on a bunch of pamphlets and fliers on the table. Curious, he dragged them closer towards him. “Hey…what’re these?”
“Hm?”
Eijun flipped through them, surprised and delighted to see pictures of beach and onsen resorts. Kazuya, who was usually never so open about his feelings and intentions, usually resorted to such acts to get his point across (while still looking ‘cool’, according to Eijun). Eijun was used to this and knew that it was Kazuya’s way of telling him that they were going to whichever destination Eijun chose.
“Oh my god! This one even has a private pool!” Eijun cheered, pulling out one of the fliers. He got to his feet and ran to Kazuya, pulling away from the stove to hug him from behind. “Let’s go here, Kazu! I want to go here! There's a beach, an onsen and a pool!”
Kazuya chuckled, turning the fire low with one hand while the other went to rest above Eijun’s arms on his torso. “I figured you'd choose that one. We can call the resort after dinner to make the reservation.”
“Osh! Osh! Osh!” Eijun exclaimed, hugging him tighter as he buried his face on Kazuya’s back. “THANK YOU, MIYUKI KAZUYA!”
“Right, right. I expect a proper reward for this, Sawamura Eijun-kun,” he replied teasingly and patted Eijun’s arm. “All right, I have to finish cooking. Let go, you octopus.”
Eijun laughed and didn't let go. Instead he turned Kazuya so they faced each other and he pulled him down to kiss him. Kazuya’s hands reflexively went to their usual spots on Eijun’s lower back and squeezed as he reciprocated the kiss. Both moaned into each other's lips, neither wanting to break contact but were forced to when the oil from the food began to sizzle.
“I'll finish you later,” Kazuya said, licking his lips before turning back to the food.
Though the private pool was just outside their room, blocked from the outside by a high bamboo wall, Kazuya still didn't allow him to spend the whole night in it. Eijun didn't argue though, preferring to sleep beside Kazuya rather than getting the stretch and soak he'd been yearning for so long.
The bed, surprisingly, was a water bed. Eijun didn't know that Kazuya had to pull some strings on that request, but he greatly enjoyed it. It wasn't the sea but the gentle movement and sound of sloshing water was quite relaxing – and, Eijun found, it was also quite arousing when Kazuya was pounding into him that night, making the water slosh wildly.
Eijun woke up late the next morning with Kazuya’s arm protectively around his torso even in his sleep and another pamphlet right in front of his face. He was sure it wasn't there when he fell asleep early that dawn.
Slowly moving his arm to open the pamphlet and to make sure not to disturb Kazuya’s sleep, Eijun succeeded after a few minutes. When he lifted the pamphlet to read it, something small and silver landed on his chest. Before he could check out what it actually was, a hand took it and held it up for him to see.
“It's the key to the house on the flier,” Kazuya explained, his voice husky with sleep just over Eijun’s ear.
Ignoring how his morning voice sent pleasant shivers down his spine, Eijun looked back at the flier and gasped, eyes growing wide before he turned to Kazuya.
“Is this…”
Kazuya smiled, “it's a bit away from the station and work compared to where we're living now but there's already a pool big enough for you to swim around and stretch your tail. It's in a closed neighborhood so you can actually jog around early in the morning when you want to. And the neighbors are –”
Eijun cut him off with an awkwardly angled kiss, smiling as he did that he had to pull away. Kazuya smiled back at him, their eyes meeting with a new fire lighting them.
“So…will you – ehem – move in with me after our vacation?”
Eijun’s eyes widened at how soon they were going to move residences but quickly got over the time frame. He turned his body to completely face Kazuya and pulled his face close to his.
“Miyuki Kazuya, I love you so much. I don't think I deserve you.” Eijun laughed at himself and pressed several kisses all over Kazuya’s face before kissing his lips. “Yes. You're amazing. Yes. I love you. I'll move in with you, Kazu!”
Kazuya smiled, accepting all the attention and love with a pleasant hum. When Eijun was done showering him with kisses and praises, he looked at him and kissed him once again. He sighed gently as he pulled back and stared into Eijun’s golden eyes, his hand coming up to caress his cheek.
“I love you, too, Eijun.”