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Riku was exhausted, his muscles sore and the throb between his brows persisted into the evening. He’d spent a good few hours with Squall, letting the older triton teach him the tricks to splitting his tail into human legs.
It wasn’t something his shoal practiced though his particular species was capable of it according to Squall. It had never been something he cared about before, and he’d never imagined he’d want to roam around on land but here he was…trying. For Sora. For the silly human he was enamored with.
Before meeting Squall, he’d never heard of one of his kind leaving the ocean in a semi permanent manner to live on land. It was unthinkable if not an outright taboo. Squall hadn’t cared, and for love, he’d chosen land because his partner couldn’t breathe under water. Many didn’t understand his choice, but Riku did.
He wasn’t sure he was brave enough to make the same choice, but he understood it. The first day he’d beached himself on land to talk to Sora had been nerve wracking but he was determined to catch the attention of the human that ignored numerous siren’s songs.
He hadn’t planned to go back and do it a second time, or a third time. Months he’d crawled onto land just to see Sora. To watch his hands as he made his art, to listen to his voice and to his laugh.
Riku wasn’t sure if he was brave enough… but he sure understood the compulsion to be close to that person you loved most.
With a groan, he stretched out across plush pillows and sank into soft fabrics. With his body so heavy out of water, it was an amazing way to rest. In Sora’s home, he now had his own little bed on the floor. It started when Sora had bought himself a new mattress for his bed and after a conversation or two, they’d decided to keep the old one too. Sora had shuffled his things around and moved his easel in his already crowded living room to make enough room to build something of a nest.
The old mattress was covered in clean sheets and pressed into a corner of the room. Sora covered it in pillows and blankets and soft things and it was Riku’s favorite new spot.
Riku liked Sora’s bed, but his tail hung off the end. The sofa was nice too but occasionally it was too squishy and Riku didn’t always like the way he sank into it. It made getting up hard.
The bathtub was another place he liked. He liked it when Sora was in it with him, but it was small. It was more for short bursts of fun then a long term place to rest when he was inside Sora’s cottage.
The nest was good though. Comfortable and low to the ground. He had plenty of room to roll in most directions, and the pillows were…his. Sora had carved out a spot for Riku in his home just like he had in his heart.
It was so different from the ocean. Warm. ‘Warm’ had been such a strange thing to notice. The ocean wasn’t cold to him, he was built for the it. Temperatures might vary depending on the time of year but it was his nature to be in water. He adapted easily.
The closest to ‘warm’ he’d ever been before was poking his head out of the water and feeling the sun on his hair. Later when he’d crawl into warm sand, he could feel the heat across his body. It was nice, but still very different from being snuggled against soft pillows with a blanket across his skin. His upper half got more pleasure out of the warmth than his tail but he often curled up in blankets regardless. It was nice, and was perhaps something of a bad habit but he loved his little spot.
“Still worn out?” Sora asked from the kitchen area. The cottage was small and Riku could hear him easily even from a different room.
Riku yawned. “Yeah. Squall said it gets easier with practice but right now i could just sleep until morning.”
“It’s gotta be hard work.” Sora mused thoughtfully. Riku honestly could believe that Sora had been thinking about it. Sora gave detailed thoughts to the strangest things. A triton like Riku suddenly having legs had intrigued him. Riku really couldn’t blame him for the curiosity.
“Yeah, i guess so. I’ll…get the hang of it.” Eventually. Probably. He understood why his shoal didn’t teach it, but it would have been so much easier to learn as a guppy.
“I’m sure.” Sora said, carrying in a small tray. It held two tea cups that were steaming with something hot, probably tea. The cups were new and looked like blue and green sea glass. Sora had picked them up recently at an art fair he’d been a part of to sell his projects.
Instead of sitting on the sofa, Sora lowered himself onto the floor to sit with Riku in his nest. It pleased Riku to no end…
“Here.” Sora handed a cup over and Riku sat up enough to take it. He smelled it first, happy with the offering. He never tired of ‘hot’ food and ‘hot’ beverages. The tea was a new kind Sora had been favoring lately, and he often added a twist of pineapple juice to it.
“Thank you.” Riku said, taking a sip and avoiding the burns to his tongue he’d gotten the very first time he’d tried hot tea.
Sora sipped his own and shut his eyes. Riku didn’t even have to wonder what he was doing. He was listening.
The whole reason Riku had wandered inside early from his practice with Squall was because the sky was threatening to rain. He’d only just made it inside before the drips started and it had been some time now and the rain really hit the roof of the cottage in a downpour.
Rain was almost unnoticeable underwater. Storms were different. Storms could be annoying the way they changed the currents and motion of the ocean, even quite deep. Above water had been a new experience for Riku.
Summer showers were pretty, and the storms were a little scarier. Riku had known Sora for over a year now and only once so far had Sora needed to evacuate to the nearest town right before a bad storm had been predicted. It had confused Riku, but Sora had explained the winds could be far more dangerous than just the warm breeze it provided on the beach.
Riku had seen the destruction that storm had caused and it was luck and good placement that kept Sora’s cottage safe.
He sipped at his tea and made a pleased noise in his throat. His life in the ocean was nice, but these moments on land were priceless.
Sora wiggled beside him, his feet hanging off the mattress as he reclined against several pillows. Riku loved that his bedding smelled like Sora. “Can i ask you a question?”
“Sure?”
Sora tilted his head to look at Riku. “Why did you decide to take Squall up on his offer to learn how to shift your tail to legs. You seemed unsettled when you saw it the first time.”
“I was unsettled the first time.” Riku agreed. Watching an unknown triton follow them up onto a beach, only for his tail to split into legs had freaked him out. “I thought you wanted me to.”
Sora blinked. “Are you doing it for me?”
Riku shrugged. “I’m doing it for a lot of reasons but you’re one of them.”
There was a moment where Sora just watched him. He set his teacup back on the tray and turned to face Riku from where he reclined. “Take me out of it then.”
“Take… you out… of it?” Riku asked, sure he looked as confused as he sounded.
“Yeah, take me out of it,” Sora said.
Riku frowned a little, trying to understand his silly human. “I thought you were excited. You seemed happy to know it was possible.”
“For you! Not for me.” Sora said immediately, hand on Riku’s arm. “You’re curious and like to see things. I know you wanted to go to the last art fair with me but you couldn’t exactly get there with your tail.”
Riku grunted, that was a fairly true comment. There was no point in hanging around Sora’s home when Sora wasn’t there.
“Also when i walk to Cloud’s house and you swim.” Sora said. “I know it bugs you sometimes that Squall can walk along the beach with me.”
That did bother him. Sora often wandered the shores looking for shells and other little things washed up he could use in his art. It was annoying when he couldn’t help. He’d look for things underwater for Sora and had brought back plenty of useful items but it wasn’t the same.
“So learning is a good idea then.” Riku shrugged one shoulder and sipped his tea again. There was a strange amount of embarrassment in this conversation.
“No, learning is for you. If you want to.” Sora said. “I don’t need you to have legs.”
Riku short circuited briefly and he managed to set his own cup down before twisting to face Sora. “You don’t need me to have legs?”
“That’s what i said.”
His frown tugged a little harder. “What does that mean?”
Sora shifted closer until their shoulders touched. Sora’s leg touched his tail. Their hands were loosely clasped. This was intimate for Sora who didn’t care for a sensual touch. Riku cherished it every time.
“I fell in love with a very pretty siren.” Sora said, his voice a touch softer. “That siren has a tail, and i love that tail. You drag yourself onto land for me. You drag yourself inside for me on occasion too. I love you for that and i wouldn’t change a thing about you.”
“Oh…” Riku whispered.
Sora squeezed his hand, careful of the webbing between Riku’s fingers. “Do i wish things were easier for you on land, sure. But that doesn’t mean i want you to be anything more than a siren. The leg thing was so off putting to you at first i didn’t think you’d want to try.”
“I do want to try.” Riku muttered. “It’s just…”
“Freaking scary.” Sora said. “Riku, if you told me right now i could turn my legs into a tail, i would think it’s the coolest thing and i’ve be freaking out too. My legs just…fused together?” He playfully closed his legs and raised them up in a familiar tail motion. Riku could tell already that Sora was using core muscles he didn’t normally just to make that motion possible.
“Just no legs? A sudden tail? It’s a cool thought but i’ve be scared at first. That tail ripping apart into legs…” Sora shook his head. “I’ve seen Squall do it so many times and it’s a lot. I can’t imagine how it could be from your point of view.”
Riku slumped to the side, landing on Sora and squishing him into the pillows. His land siren just laughed. “That’s part of it. It would be convenient but losing my tail feels wrong. It’s no wonder Squall’s shoal teaches them as children when it’s less daunting.”
Sora shifted until they were chest to chest. He didn't seem to mind Riku’s weight on him. It was one more of those suggestive moments where neither minded the other in their personal bubble.
“If you wanna learn how, then learn.” Sora agreed. “But it’s not like i’m going to expect you to have human legs all the time. I don’t want that. You’re perfect how you are. It just might be a convenient option for you sometimes.”
Riku hummed a little, a start of a song he didn’t continue. “That doesn’t bother you? I could live on land like Squall does.”
“That’s not a decision you gotta make now, or ever really. What we’re doing works for us. I love having you here, but you have the ocean too.” Sora said. “The ocean is part of what makes you Riku.”
“It has been working so far.” Riku agreed. He spent many days with Sora. He’d stay the night a few times a week too but he also returned to the waters. It had gotten easier over the last few months to divide his time. “It’s okay though?”
“Sure.” Sora nodded. “If i suddenly had gills, i'd love to follow you in the ocean. I’d love to explore and have you show me all kinds of things. I think it would be fun and exciting, but i’m not sure how i would feel about just staying underwater full time. It’s intimidating and not where i’m meant to be.”
Riku nodded his agreement. “You are a land siren, yes. You’d need the land.”
Sora laughed almost silently but Riku could feel the vibration against his chest. “My point is that it is something i’ve thought about before. I’m not interested in turning you into a human. You are exactly as you’re meant to be and i love you like you are.”
“I love you.” Riku echoed with a soft, relieved sigh. “Sometimes i wish i could swim with you under the waves but i prefer you being able to breathe and sing and make your art. You were meant to be a land siren and that’s how i grew to love you.”
“Exactly.” Sora said, reaching up to pat Riku’s hair. “So if you still wanna get your lessons from Squall on transforming your legs, then great. Do it. Just don’t make me the reason. Okay? Maybe there’s a fun outing or two we could do with you able to travel like a human but it would still be for you.”
“I would like to see the town you get groceries at.” Riku commented. There were a handful of things he’d like to see.
“We could do that.” Sora said easily, and a knot in Riku’s chest unraveled. He hadn’t even known it was there until Sora solved a problem for him that he wasn’t actively acknowledging. Legs wouldn’t turn him into a human.
Sora wouldn’t expect him to suddenly strut around like a proper human just because of a little siren magic. He would still lay in warm sand. They’d still relax in Sora’s small bathtub. His convenient nest of pillows wouldn’t become unnecessary because he’d have been able to use chairs.
He was still going to keep his tail. Sora wanted him to. Expected him to. It was a weight off his shoulders that had him slumping a little harder against Sora.
“Hey.” Sora laughed again, the sound like a melody. Riku loved the sound of his laugh. He shifted, his tail fully curled up on top of the mattress with them.
“I like your beach and your cottage. I like your art and your singing. I like your very silly human legs.” Riku mused fondly. “I just like them more on you than on myself.”
Sora’s face darkened a shade but his smile remained. “Whenever you’re here, it’s our cottage, okay? You might not live here full time but you still live here.”
“That sounds nice.” Riku said, adjusting the pillows around them. He planned on listening to the rain on the roof and taking a nap but he couldn’t actually lay on Sora the entire time. A teasing few minutes squishing his land siren was very different from actually smushing him in his sleep. Riku’s body was heavy. He snagged a blanket and tossed it over them for the warmth.
He curled up on Sora’s side, an arm loosely draped over his chest. “Thank you, Sora.”
“For what?”
“For understanding what i didn’t know how to say.”
Sora hummed. “It was a good talk.” Sora chuckled, eyes sliding shut. He didn’t seem opposed to the nap either. “I wonder if Roxas has a waterproof camera. Maybe you can take pictures underwater. That would be a cool way to show me things down there.”
It was a thought. An excellent thought though he wasn’t sure such a camera existed. Roxas would know though. Bringing a little of his home up to Sora was a thrilling thought.
“Stop planning art projects.” Riku commented, ignoring his own amusement.
“Never.”
Riku was surprised when Sora rolled and pressed himself a little closer against Riku’s body. It was nice. It’s own sentimental kind of alluring. Sora was unlike anyone Riku had ever met, and was all the more wonderful for it.
He’d continue his lessons with Squall. It didn’t seem such an exhausting task now that Sora had taken away the pressure of him needing to perfect it. Maybe someday he’d make a choice like Squall had to stay on land, but they weren’t in a rush. Sharing their life together was still an awfully brave thing.