Work Text:
“I can explain.”
Both of them stayed frozen after the nervous little snippet Reno proclaimed. Rude staring wide eyed from the door of the bathroom, just half open, and Reno settled across the room in the damn near Gaia sized tub that he’d insisted on when shopping for a house out in town once he’d made second. Rude’s fingers clutched still at the doorknob, gaze squarely on his partner while the redhead worked his mouth soundlessly, trying to come up with some addition to the hasty outburst. His hands clutched to the sides of the tub, just barely above the near over full pool of water. But Rude wasn’t paying attention to any of that.
He was staring at the fucking fish tail half outside the end of the tub.
Rude had never been the sort for bedtime stories, but it didn’t mean he was ignorant of them. Everyone knew what a mermaid looked like, and that tail was everything he could have imagined. From this angle he couldn’t quite see where the tail began, but what he could was...unbelievable. Merman?
Each scale shone iridescent with every breath that moved him, the gorgeous fan of fin at the end lighter in color but in a way that complimented the rest perfectly. There were other fins further up, but those were hidden mostly below the water and past the lip of the tub, leaving him somewhat disappointed at not being able to see the damned things.
“I can! Just. Come in, dammit. You’re alone right?” Reno seemed to get over his panic long enough to sound half as cocky as his normal vibe, but the worry in his gaze was clear. Also somewhat painful. His partner was scared of his reaction. That right there was enough to tell him this was a serious moment.
Shaken from his stupor, Rude hurried to close the door behind him, tilting back with a bit more awe in his gaze as he moved closer. The water wasn’t clear, that was pretty odd, right? Maybe it was a bath bomb, it seemed oddly green tinted. “Yeah. Called ahead, but.” He trailed off, awkwardly taking a seat on the closed toilet lid. “Rang out.”
“Left it on the charger.” Reno muttered, dropping his gaze towards the water still hiding him somewhat from view. “Listen, I was gonna tell ya, I swear. I just well.” A breath, tilting to gauge his reaction. “Never found the right time, I guess.”
Rude remained quiet, his gaze drawn back to the tail and his partner at large. Now that he was up close, the laconic man could see other details beyond the largest difference. His nails were longer, fingers slightly webbed. Scales dotted along his forearm near his wrists, another set high on his stomach. And shit...his tattoos. They weren’t red stripes, those were opening as he breathed! Were those gills? Could gills even be up that high on someone? “You were afraid.” Rude declared, watching the other man flinch slightly at the deduction.
His shoulders slowly drifted down and forward, somewhat sheepish. “It ain’t anything against you, yo.” Reno murmured fervently, fingers twisting along the porcelain. “I wanted to tell you, all the time, promise. But one wrong person overhearing, and my ass is straight up in a dunk tank on one of the lab floors.” They both knew what kind of life that led to. “Veld didn’t even know. Wan’t hard to tell ‘im I was from the slums to keep the questions gone after that.”
“But where are you from?” Rude pressed, tone gentle. If it upset him, Rude could step it back, but curiosity was now settling in, and Reno seemed willing to at least talk.
Dropping his head back, Reno let himself stare up at the ceiling, gaze going slightly distant. “Used to be a lot of us, actually. Around Costa, I think. My mother used to say we hung out a lot with the warmer climate folk.” Wasn’t that so very long ago? “Once Mako started rolling out, the ocean around there wasn’t so nice to live in. Everyone migrated around the land masses towards Kalm.”
“But you came to Midgar.”
Damp locks tossed about as he shook his head, sliding back down to his neck and prevailing soft spines along his ears. “That was a couple years later. I was still young but, being an adult comes younger to us.” Reno explained, shrugging a shoulder. “Once I learned about how long I could stay on legs, I went from Kalm to the slums, and you know the rest.”
No, he really didn’t. But he wasn’t about to press on that. Reno was usually more open to things after being called out on something, he wasn’t gonna waste his chance. “How long?” Rude echoed, gaze wandering back down. “There’s a limit?”
“See, now shit’s just gonna get complicated.” Reno laughed, reaching up to touch at his face. His tats. “I have a couple sets of lungs. Sorta. Never really trusted anyone enough to get it checked out by docs up here. Well, one of ‘em, that’s my main set. I use those when I’m back home. And they need water to breathe. I need it to survive. But I can go ages without another breath. Seriously, it's like holding your breath. I can last like three months without needing more saltwater. But I try not to hit that long. I kinda make it a monthly thing. Like a spa day.”
And didn’t that track. Rude was silent while he did the math, noting the match ups with silent surprise. It’d been smoother than he’d expected, that he’d not noticed the pattern. His eyes were drawn back, every time to the scales, and Reno with his sharp eyes seemed to be pleased. “You wanna?”
Touch? Raising his brows above his glasses, his eyes moved back. “You don’t mind?”
“Go ahead, I can tell you’re dyin’ for it.” He teased, dropping his arms back to pillow behind his head. “Just don’t drag along the fin, alright? Shit tickles.” Calling the shots seemed to do him good. That and he seemed ready to burst at being the center of attention now that the awkwardness had mostly fled.
Permission given, Rude eased himself up and moved further down, crouching to touch the area just out of water, where his ankles might have been were he human shaped again.. His hand froze just above, before they moved down to wet in the water first. Judging by the smile at his peripheral, the Turk knew he’d probably just done well.
The scales felt slippery, hard and yet malleable as his fingers slithered over them. Like a fish, really. Though his own interactions with live ones were limited. It’s what he could remember, and that brought his thoughts right back to their discussion, idly petting along the tail.
“So what, you just bring a few gallons back whenever you go to Kalm?”
“Don’t be stupid. I got that scoopy Instant Ocean shit. I woulda gotten me one o’ them fancy fish tanks but that shit’s kinda a sad way of life for my buddies out there.”
“Buddies?”
“Yeah, I can talk to fish n’ shit.”
Rude blinked. He took a moment to ponder it, actually pausing his gentle touches, before the cackle from the tub truly took the thought away.
“Shit, I ain’t some fuckin’ princess or some shit. I eat fish, I don’t make friends with ‘em. I mean, there’s some that are all uh, symbiotic n’ shit, but that’s all. Fuck, I really got you going for a minute.” His mood seemed to be improving steadily, and Rude noted he was actually sitting up further in the tub. His new vantage point gave him ample space to peer closer into the tinted depths, eyes roving over his hips where skin slowly slid into the smooth expanse of scales.
“If yer lookin’ for my dick, it ain’t there.” Rude jolted back abruptly, scowling at his partner to cover the hot flush on his neck. He wasn’t looking for it, not per say. But the thought had passed through. Briefly . “I got an innie for my outie. Cool right? Looks hella different.” He was trying to get a rise out of him with the lewd misconduct, to break the last dregs of ice away.
And it was working.
Sure, they’d fooled around a few times, but Reno wasn’t the type to settle down. He was very much the sort to spend his time freely among several partners. That didn’t mean Rude wasn’t always open to another night with those warm breaths on his neck, the whisper of that hair along his skin.
“Maybe.” Oh, that had his attention. The tail flicked briefly, his eyes back again to watch the man still opposite him in the tub. “Depends on an answer though.” Rude shifted his gaze back down while he spoke, eyes on the tail.
“Yeah?” Reno murmured, head tilted. “What’s the question?” And there he went, his guard cautiously up, but open.
“Is it pink too?”
“Motherfucker!” Reno yelped, sending that coral pink tail up in a sharp snap, abruptly sending a wave of lukewarm salt water over the man.
Worth it.