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Prince Flint hated doing his princely duties in the castle, and with the absence of his parents due to some political matter that needed to be settled in the neighboring kingdom, he'd barely gotten a day to himself.
Which is why the moment he saw the opportunity to ditch, he'd hightailed the fuck out of the castle and headed straight for the beach. Once he got there, he closed his eyes and smiled as he breathed in the salty air. He sat himself down on a huge rock and allowed himself to finally relax as he listened to the waves crashing on the seashore. After a while, he began to drift off to sleep.
But then he heard voices.
Or perhaps, just one singular voice switching between pitches.
"My love, why must you leave me? What have I done wrong!"
"My beloved, you could do no wrong in my eyes."
"Then why must you go?!"
"Because our love is too great, even for you and I!"
Flint blinked, trying to locate where the sound was coming from.
He followed the sound of the voice and came upon a cave cleverly hidden between two large rocks. He slowly wandered inside, hearing the voice get louder as he approached. When he turned a certain corner, his eyes widened at what he saw.
It was a merman!
He was half submerged in the water that flowed inside of the cave, and he was talking animatedly in front of... a coconut? And a seashell? And a single worn out boot?
"No, no! How dare you take my Lillian from me!" the merman wailed in a low voice, then quickly switched to the other side and pretended he was severely injured.
"Rolando, my love... Remember me..." he said in a higher pitched voice and slowly sunk down into the water.
Flint wasn't sure what he'd just walked into.
The merman then resurfaced and faced his 'audience', bowing and pretending the inanimate objects were giving him a round of applause.
"Oh, thank you! Thank you so much! You're too kind!"
Flint couldn't help but smile at the silly and cute display. The prince wasn't sure what compelled him to start clapping, but he did anyway, and it spooked the merman.
"AAHH!!"
"No, no, no, wait!"
The merman panicked even more at seeing Flint, and he rushed back into the water. Flint cursed himself and tried to look for the merman in the water. It was hard due to the dim lighting inside the cave.
"Come back! Please! I didn't mean to frighten you!" he shouted, hearing his voice echo in the cave. "I just wanted to applaud you for your performance!"
At that comment, the merman popped his head back up to the surface, staring at Flint with a hopeful look in his eyes.
"You... you liked my performance?"
"Yeah..." Flint said, eyes not leaving the merman as the creature swam closer to him. Their eyes locked for a second, and Flint felt his heart skip a beat. The merman was so much more beautiful up close. His brown eyes glowed gold in the light, and he had freckles dotting his face like tiny little stars.
The merman smiled at him shyly.
"Thank you.”
That was how the two met.
And it would only be the first of many more meetings between the prince and merman as they had instantly become enamored with one another.
Flint would constantly make up random excuses to leave the castle, which frustrated his royal advisor Nancy to no end. So much so that she'd gotten tired of reprimanding his ass and just gave up trying to make him do his duties.
"Hey, Nancy! I gotta go and–"
"Yeah, yeah, just go," Nancy waved Flint off dismissively.
Flint grinned at her widely.
"Thanks Nancy you're the best!" he said while already rushing out of the castle.
"Mhm. I don't get paid enough for this."
---
When Flint arrived at the cave, Alex was already there patiently waiting for him. The merman's eyes lit up at seeing the prince.
"Flint!"
The prince chuckled and came over to him. Alex had sat himself on the ledge so that his upper body was dry while his tail remained submerged in the water.
"Hello again, Alex.”
What started off as a mutual infatuation quickly became something more in merely the span of a month.
Flint had dipped into the water with Alex inside their little meeting place, playfully splashing each other with water, their laughs echoing inside the cave. Alex cleverly dove down and surprised Flint by wrapping his arms around his waist, smiling up at the prince cutely. Flint couldn't hold himself back from cupping Alex's face and leaning down to press their lips together. Alex whined and melted into the kiss, his arms coming up to wrap themselves around Flint's shoulders instead. Alex kept them steadily afloat as Flint deepened their kiss, one of his hands coming down to rest on Alex's slim waist to pull him in closer.
When they finally pulled apart to catch their breaths, neither of the two could stop smiling.
"What was that for?" Alex asked shyly.
"An applause and standing ovation aren't enough to express my deepest regard and affections for you, my star.”
Flint and Alex's little romance remained a secret to everyone but them.
That was until a certain pirate took notice of his princely rival's absence and decided to confront Flint about it.
"Hey, princey," Luxy greeted Flint with a smirk, stopping the prince in his tracks. "Been a while since you've visited the docks. You trying to avoid me, hmm?"
Flint crossed his arms, his own smirk appearing on his lips. "Me? Avoid YOU? That's ridiculous! I've just been really busy."
Luxy scoffed. "So, what? Your stupid prince duties never stopped you from ditching before."
"Ooh, careful there, Leroy. If I didn't know any better, it almost sounds like you missed me~"
"W-what?!" Luxy coughed and glared at the smug looking prince. "You're out of your mind!"
"Then why are you blushing?"
Flint burst out laughing, while Luxy huffed and stalked away, cursing himself.
"FUCK OFF!"
"Oh, I will!"
Luxy stopped and stole a glance back at Flint, but the prince was already running off to the beach. He frowned.
If Flint was so caught up in his prince duties, then why the fuck was he headed for the beach? The prince was definitely hiding something, and Luxy was determined to find out what it was.
The pirate ran after the prince and trailed after him from a distance, brows furrowing in confusion as the other man entered a cave hidden between two large rocks. Luxy quietly went after him, keeping himself hidden behind a corner as he spied on the prince.
What he discovered made his heart sink.
There was Flint, sitting by the water, hands wrapped around another man, and kissing him!
But not just that!
The man he was kissing wasn't even a man at all!
It was a merman!
Luxy couldn't take his eyes away from them. He felt anger bubbling up inside him and strangely enough, he felt his eyes begin to sting with tears.
Why did he feel so upset?
So... betrayed??
Flint was nothing to him!
They weren't together!
He didn't even think Flint considered them as friends!
So why…
Why did it pain him to see Flint look so happy with another?
Luxy clenched his fists and ran out of the cave without the two noticing him. He fell to his knees outside and let out a frustrated grunt.
So that's why Flint stopped coming by the docks.
He was busy getting it on with a fucking fish!
Luxy laughed bitterly.
Well, if that's the treasure Flint had been so keen on hiding and keeping to himself for over a month, then Luxy may need to acquire himself a bigger net…
That evening, Luxy returned to the cave with a large fishing net in hand. He quietly snuck inside, hoping that the merman was there, and to his luck, he was!
The merman was fast asleep on the ledge, tail half submerged in the water. Luxy smirked, coming up to the unsuspecting creature with the net at the ready. When he was close enough, Luxy prepared to throw the net over him but froze when the merman stirred in his sleep, making a little trill noise as he turned on his other side, now facing Luxy, but still fast asleep. The pirate felt his breath hitch in his throat as he got a good look at the creature.
He was beautiful...
And it suddenly made Luxy feel really guilty for what he was about to do.
Luxy threw the net over the merman and watched him wake up in a panic. He thrashed and struggled and cried out for Flint, but they were way too far from the castle for the prince to hear his calls.
Luxy ignored the guilt gnawing at his heart as he picked up a fairly large rock and used it to bash the merman on the head, rendering him unconscious. Luxy then gathered him up in his arms and headed back to his ship, but not before leaving a blue bandana inside the cave, a little sign and souvenir for the prince when he comes to visit his precious little merman by the morning.
---
When Luxy boarded his private ship, he decided to bring the merman into his quarters instead of leaving him out on deck like he initially planned. He carefully laid the unconscious merman on the floor before taking a seat by the foot of his bed.
Why did he suddenly feel bad for doing this? It's not like he was worried about what Flint would think of him when he finds out what he'd done. Luxy hated him! He hated him so much!
He hated the way Flint made him feel whenever the prince came by the docks to playfully banter with him.
He hated the way Flint treated him like an equal rather than some dirty pirate scum who should be bowing down to him as prince and heir to the throne.
He absolutely LOATHED the way Flint made his heart race whenever the prince so much as smiled his way.
And seeing Flint so happy and in love with the merman? It made Luxy's heart ache, and he needed Flint to experience the same feeling because it just...
It's not fair.
A soft whine snapped Luxy out of his thoughts. He looked down to see the merman waking up and holding the side of his head. Luxy felt a wave of guilt wash over him again as he stared at the creature still tangled up in the net. The merman suddenly looked up at him with fear, and FUCK, why was Luxy suddenly regretting all this?
"W-who are you?" The merman stuttered.
"I'm a pirate," Luxy answered, getting up from his bed to kneel down next to the merman, who cowered when he got closer. "And you, my fishy friend, have taken something very important from me."
The merman breathed out shakily, eyes panicked as he tried to think of anything he might have accidentally stolen from the sea that may have belonged to the pirate.
"I-is it the old boot?"
"The old what?" Luxy looked at the merman in confusion.
"Your important thing?"
Oh, what?
Did Luxy actually refer to Flint as something 'important' to him?
"No, no, that's not..."
The merman suddenly burst into tears.
"I didn't take anything! I swear!" The merman cried.
Luxy cursed in his mind.
"Whoa, hey! Come on!"
"The only thing I've ever stolen in my life was a bit of seaweed from my sister one time! And I didn't mean to! But I was hungry!"
Luxy didn't know what to do with that information. But he really needed to calm down the merman.
"Listen, it's fine, you don't have to–"
"ARE YOU GOING TO KILL ME?!"
Oh, fuck this.
Luxy grabbed the dagger from his ankle holster and cut the merman free from the net. After that, he carelessly tossed the dagger aside and grabbed the merman's face with both his hands.
"I'm not going to kill you!" Luxy said, looking into the merman's sad eyes. "Fuck, this was a mistake. I shouldn't have taken you!"
The merman sniffled, staring at the pirate's now devastated face. He lifted up a hand and rested it on the pirate's cheek.
"You're warm..."
Luxy had no idea what was going on, but he let out a soft laugh as the merman suddenly pressed his face to his cheek. The merman let out a happy trill as he continued to press himself against Luxy, seeming to love the heat emanating from his body. This further conflicted with Luxy's thoughts. Because how did this creature go from cowering in fear at his presence to purring like a kitten beside him? And why was he so gosh darn cute?
"Hey, come on now, pretty fella, I really should take you back to your cave," Luxy suddenly said, trying to push away the clingy merman who just whined and clung to him even more.
"My name's Alex. And I don't want to go back yet. It gets pretty chilly in there."
"Why don't you sleep in the water then? Shouldn't it be warmer down there?"
"I like keeping my hair dry. Flint says I look like a wet penis in the water," Alex pouted cutely.
Luxy couldn't help but snort at that and smile at the merman, feeling a newfound fondness for this adorable creature.
He can understand why Flint fell for him.
Alex had completely changed his heart in a matter of minutes! All the hatred he felt because of his and Flint's relationship had completely washed away, leaving only... sadness. He knew he needed to take Alex back and perhaps forget all this ever happened.
He was a pirate, yes, but his mama didn't raise no heartless monster!
"Let me take you back. I'm so sorry I did this," Luxy confessed, frowning as he felt a little bump on Alex's head where he had hit him with a rock.
Alex slightly winced at his touch, which made Luxy feel even more terrible for what he'd done.
"But what about your important thing?" Alex suddenly asked, looking up at Luxy with his pretty brown eyes.
Luxy felt a lump in his throat, but he managed to muster up a weak smile.
"It's fine, Alex, really. It was never even mine to begin with anyway.”
The merman tilted his head curiously, trying to understand what the pirate meant by that.
"Still! If it means that much to you, maybe I can help you find it!" Alex happily offered, flashing Luxy a toothy grin.
Oh, he was precious.
"What I lost can't be found, Alex. It's a bit more... complicated than that."
Alex frowned, even more confused. Luxy couldn't help but boop his nose.
"Don't worry about it. Let's just get you back to your–"
"Awww noooo!" The merman whined, clinging on to Luxy for dear life. The pirate hoped Alex couldn't feel the way his heart began racing. "Can't I stay with you for a little bit?"
"Darlin', I literally just kidnapped you."
"But you're so warm..."
That is not the kind of logic one should have after being captured against their will.
"Won't Flint get worried if he doesn't find you in your cave tomorrow?"
Alex perked up at the mention of the prince.
"You know him?"
"Uh..." Shit.
Quick, Luxy, think!
"I mean, everyone knows the prince!”
"But you sound like you know him personally," Alex pointed out. "And how did you know Flint and I meet at my cave?"
Either Luxy was being too obvious, or Alex could read minds.
"How about we drop this conversation and get you off of the floor?"
Alex gasped.
"Can I sleep on your bed? Oh, please please please it looks so cozy!"
How the fuck was Luxy supposed to say no to him?
The pirate sighed, giving in to the merman's wishes.
"Okay, fine. But I'm taking you back to your cave early in the morning before Flint comes to check on you."
Alex trilled happily, wrapping his arms around Luxy's shoulders as the pirate lifted him off the wooden floor of the ship and carefully laid him on his bed.
"Oh, this is so nice!"
"Yeah?" Luxy softly chuckled. He moved to get off the bed once Alex was situated, but the merman seemed to have other ideas as he pulled Luxy onto the bed with him and quickly cuddled into his arms.
Luxy blushed deep red while Alex simply hummed in satisfaction.
"Should you really be cuddling with a stranger in his own bed? Wouldn't that upset your prince?"
"Hmm, you're right. What's your name?"
The pirate blinked. "Um, Luxy?"
The merman smiled up at him.
"There, now that we know each other, we're not strangers anymore!"
Luxy couldn't even respond to that, so he just allowed the merman to cuddle into his side while he stared up at his ceiling wondering how he got himself into this situation. His mind drifted back to Flint, and what the prince would think of him if he found out he'd kidnapped his merman lover out of... spite? Vengeance? Betrayal?
He wasn't sure anymore.
So he shook those thoughts out of his head for now and focused on Alex's little happy trills as he slept. His eyes slowly began to feel heavy, and it wasn't long before he, too, fell asleep.
And if his arms instinctively wrapped around Alex to keep him warm through the night, well...
Nobody needed to know.
---
When Luxy and Alex woke up the next morning, it wasn't to the sunlight streaming in from Luxy's window, but to the angry shouts of a certain prince.
They had accidentally overslept.
"Uh oh..." Alex stared up at Luxy, panic evident in his eyes.
"Uh oh indeed," Luxy gulped, sharing the same panicked expression as the merman.
It didn't help that they were still wrapped up and tangled in each other's arms on the pirate's bed. Luxy noticed and stumbled out of his bed, trying to hide the redness of his cheeks as he rushed to gather up Alex in his arms.
"LEROY, YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE! GIVE HIM BACK TO ME!" Flint yelled from the ship's deck, the blue bandana Luxy had left for him gripped tightly in his balled up fist.
"ALRIGHT ALRIGHT!" Luxy yelled back as he kicked open the door and walked towards the furious prince with his precious merman in his arms.
When Alex saw Flint, he smiled and made grabby hands for him.
"Flint!”
The prince sighed in relief and accepted Alex from Luxy's arms, immediately peppering his face with kisses which made the merman burst into a fit of giggles.
"Thank fuck you're okay. God, you had me so worried!"
"Flint, I'm fine!" Alex assured, kissing Flint on the cheek before turning to Luxy with a smile. "Luxy was very nice to me. He even let me sleep on his bed! And it was soooo cozy!"
Luxy's eyes widened and he dropped his gaze to the floor, attempting to avoid Flint's eyes as he tried to defend himself.
"He said he'd never slept on one before! I just... you know, let him."
Flint raised a brow, but stared Luxy down with a hard look.
"That doesn't explain how he ended up there in the first place. Why the hell did you take him?!"
"Does it matter?! I gave him back, didn't I? So just go!" Luxy turned on his heel and screwed his eyes shut, his hands balling into fists on either side of him.
The pirate's actions confused the prince, so he turned to his merman for answers.
"Alex, why did he take you?" he quietly asked.
Alex could somehow sense Luxy's sadness without needing to see his face and frowned, turning back to Flint so he could answer him.
"He thought I'd stolen something important from him."
"Oh? What is it?"
Alex shook his head. "I don't know. He says it's complicated and that it never belonged to him anyway. He was going to take me back last night, but I really wanted to sleep on his bed. And he's so warm, too!"
Flint decided to ignore the tinge of jealousy he felt when he realized Alex had slept on the same bed with Luxy. Instead, he focused on trying to decipher what Alex told him about the pirate.
Luxy wasn't a very material person. He'd lost an expensive gem once and he simply shrugged it off, which isn't a very pirate thing to do. Flint's anger slowly dissipated as he looked back at the pirate who had his back turned to them.
"Leroy, what's Alex talking about?”
"Just forget it, Dicker!" Luxy snapped back, refusing to look at Flint because he feared that if he did, he might break down.
Luxy didn't understand why he was feeling this way. It didn't make any sense! He did the right thing, didn't he? So why was his heart still screaming at him?
"If you don't want to see me anymore, fine by me!"
"Luxy, what gives you the impression that I wouldn't want to see you again?"
"B-because!" Luxy's voice cracked as he suddenly fell to his knees, defeated. "I tried to take Alex from you! I tried to take something important that belongs to you!"
Alex gasped.
He finally understood what the pirate had lost.
"Flint, I don't think Luxy lost a 'something', but more of a someone," Alex said to his partner quietly.
The prince turned to his lover in shock.
"What? Who?"
Alex rolled his eyes fondly as he booped his prince on the nose.
"Who else would it be, silly? YOU.”
"Me?" Flint exhaled in disbelief. Alex nodded, placing a hand on Flint's chest, right above his heart. "You're his important thing. Just like I am to you, and you are to me."
Oh?
Oh.
Now that Alex worded it out for him, it finally dawned upon the prince why Luxy would even consider taking Alex away from him. He had been neglecting the pirate for weeks in favor of spending more time with his merman.
But why would he feel so strongly about it? They weren't even friends. They saw one another as rivals!
Rivals who occasionally banter and flirt with one another.
Rivals who like to be in each other's company because they have a mutual understanding of one another.
Rivals who, for some reason, have stolen kisses from one another when they were drunk off their asses.
Oh dear. Have they been going about the whole rivals thing all wrong? Or have they completely mislabeled their whole relationship?
"Flint, go to him," Alex encouraged his prince with a smile.
"You don't mind?" The prince asked, looking unsure.
Alex snorted cutely. "Why would I? This is better than all of the stories I've thought up! And besides, I kinda like him, too."
Huh, well then...
Building up his courage, Flint carefully put Alex down first before going over to Luxy and kneeling down in front of him. The pirate had his eyes closed, but Flint could see a few tears streaming down his cheeks. The prince lifted up a hand and gently wiped them away with his thumb, which surprised the pirate that it forced him to open his eyes and stare into Flint's own. The prince offered him a small smile.
"Am I really important to you?"
Luxy sniffled, grabbing Flint's hand and shooting the prince a little glare.
"Damn it, Dicker. What does it look like?"
Flint playfully rolled his eyes before surging forward to capture Luxy's lips with his own, their kiss greedy and desperate as they fought to take control.
Alex's eyes widened at seeing how... passionate they were being with each other, feeling heat rise to his cheeks at the sudden thought of himself being in the middle of them.
"Oi, you're leaving Alex out of all the fun," Luxy teased once he and Flint pulled apart from their makeout session.
"Oh, we can't have that now, can we?"
Alex shrieked as he got tackled down by a prince and pirate who began relentlessly attacking him with kisses. The merman was a giggling red mess in between the two.
When they all finally calmed down, they sprawled out onto Luxy's deck with the biggest smiles on their faces.
"Maybe kidnapping Alex wasn't so bad after all," Luxy joked.
Flint lightly smacked him on the side but smiled as he noticed the blue bandana next to his head. He picked it up and tossed it over to Luxy, which hit the pirate flat on the face, making Alex giggle.
"Can't believe I immediately knew who'd taken him from a simple bandana.”
"And the fact I've only ever worn it once around you. But you knew exactly who owned it, huh, Dicker?" Luxy chuckled, poking at the prince teasingly.
"Yeah, well if we had just realized our feelings sooner, Alex here wouldn't have gotten the damsel in distress treatment you put him through," Flint said, intertwining his fingers with Alex.
The merman shrugged. "I mean, I got to sleep in a nice bed and gain another partner out of it, so it's kind of a win."
Luxy smiled at Alex, and then to Flint, and then reached for both their hands so they could intertwine their fingers together.
Luxy finally understood what his heart had been searching for.
His important thing.
Or rather, his important person with now the inclusion of his important merman.
And they were the most precious treasures he'd ever found.
FIN