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Ren had never, not in his life, seen a mermaid.
To be fair, the one in front of him now was not so much a mermaid as a merman, but he figured it didn't really matter. Said merman was also the most beautiful being he'd ever seen, blue hair shorter than his but neatly cut and styled, cobalt blue eyes staring straight at him, full of intensity and wonder.
"Hello," Ren said, softly, so as not to scare the other away. He saw the eyes widen slightly, as though panicking that he had been seen, but Ren slowly reached a hand out to the other and held it there, waiting for the merman to take it. "My name's Ren. Do you have one?"
He watched, smiling tentatively, as the other raised his hand and put it in Ren's, then peered curiously at him through his eyelashes. "Masato," He heard, and Ren grinned wider at that, glad that he now had the other's trust, no matter how little.
"Would you mind if I joined you, Masato?" He asked, slipping down the rock he was sitting on slightly, letting the tips of his toes brush against the surface of the water, creating ripples in the calm water that was disturbed only when Masato moved. "If I dropped down into the water?"
There was a flash of fear and insecurity in the merman's eyes, and Ren tried to retract his hand, wondering if he had gone too far, but the hand in his tightened its grip, and Masato tugged him down into the water, almost shyly. Happily, Ren jumped down from the rock, landing in the water with a splash and making Masato laugh. He grinned, standing up - the water came up to his chest - and waddled over to where Masato was.
"Ren-kun," Masato started to say, but Ren quickly cut him off with a wave of his hand.
"Ren is fine," He said, leaning forward and tilting his head in interest. "Don't be so formal with me, Masato!"
A glint appeared in the merman's eyes, and Ren frowned slightly, but it was quickly replaced by another smile when the merman used his tail to flick water at him.
Pretending to be enraged, Ren lunged at the merman, and a game started, Masato swimming away with powerful flicks of his tail and Ren chasing after him as he kicked as hard as he possibly could, then it changed, Masato chasing after Ren, water fights and laughter as the sun began to set.
"Ren!" They both heard, and stiffened.
"I have to go," Ren whispered, frightened. He could not let anyone see Masato, could not let anyone know of his existence. They would capture his new friend, would lock him up in a glass casing on display for the world to see, and Ren could not have that. "Go, Masato," He urged, gesturing to the waters. "Don't let them see you. Go!"
"You'll come back?" Masato asked.
Ren turned, and nodded. "Yes."
Masato didn't know how long it had been since he had met Ren. In human years, at least. While he was very much interested in the human world - and Ren, in particular - he hadn't bothered to know their way of recording time. In his own maritime years, he'd known Ren for 26.
Currently, he was in what Ren called a 'pool' aboard a ship. He'd seen ships before, when he was beneath the surface of the water and a huge shadow had loomed over where he was. He'd been frightened, so very frightened by the alien object he had no knowledge of, but soon realized that if he didn't bother it, he wouldn't be bothered.
Ren was with him, in this 'pool'. It was a small body of water that Ren had carried Masato into, and a place where the both of them could be themselves and still interact. Sure, Masato could not swim as deeply as he wanted to, but he could at least swim with Ren in a place where he was sure the other would not drown, and that was enough for him.
"Masato," He heard Ren murmur, and then arms wrap around his waist, tickling where flesh and scale met. He laughed, helplessly, writhing under Ren's relentless touch. "Don't be a space cadet and leave me here."
At this, Masato pouted and turned to face the stranger turned friend turned lover. He knew that they would never be the same, never be the same species or be able to stay together in human nor merfolk laws, but it was what he wanted and hell, he would get it. "I'm not leaving you," He said, lifting a hand to Ren's face. "I'd never leave you. What reason do I have to do so?"
The smile that spread on Ren's face was worth all of him and more. He nuzzled into his lover's chest, sighing happily at the warmth of his skin and the cold of the water surrounding them, the strawberry blond's normally immaculate hair sticking to his face with the water.
Gently caressing Ren's cheek with his thumb, Masato pressed a quick kiss to Ren's lips, before he ducked away from his lover, laughing cheekily. He dived into the water, surfacing half the length of the pool away, his smile turning into something more mischievous and coy, giving Ren a come-hither look he would have been embarrassed about should they not be alone.
Growling playfully, Ren swam after him, and they spent the time laughing and chasing each other the way they had when they were children, only punctuated with kisses when the other was caught.
Masato, till this day, did not know what had drawn him so near to the coast line on the day that he had met Ren. He still didn't know what had prompted him to show himself to the child. And yet, as Ren pushed him against the edge of the pool for another kiss, he found that he didn't care.