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Shen Yuan had been peacefully wandering the market looking for a meal when shouts and cries of alarm snagged his attention. He follows the commotion to a tent, surrounded by a crowd of people.
“Come one! Come all! Come and see this horror from the deep! Look at this abyss incarnate!” A man standing on top of a platform cries out with grand sweeping gestures towards the tent.
Shen Yuan is intrigued by such a claim; after all, it's his goal to be the foremost researcher into all manner of flora and fauna of this world! It is likely to be more charlatans capturing some poor regular beast, disfiguring it, then claiming it to be abyssal, though. Regardless, he is curious!
Pushing his way through the crowd, Shen Yuan is shocked to find a most beautiful creature contained in a too-small, coffin-like glass container. A mer, a real live mer. A very displeased one, and being kept in poor condition, too.
A pale, prince-like face, a beauty mark under storm grey eyes. Unbound black hair a glossy, tangled mess, with a single tiny braid with beads, all twisted by his viscous snarling and thrashing. A silver-grey tail with icy blue fins presses against the edges of the container, and Shen Yuan is horrified to discover what looks like deep wounds sluggishly bleeding in the water. The water itself, he doubts, was ever fresh to begin with, but is now tinged pink from his thrashing.
While Shen Yuan is undoubtedly excited to see a mer, he should never have been taken away from his home to begin with, and the condition he's being kept in is truly appalling. The fact that this frothing mass of a crowd doesn’t appear to see anything wrong with such treatment is horrifying!
As much as it grates him to do this and give this slimy weasel anything, he makes his way to the crier.
“How much?” Shen Yaun asks imperiously, peering over the edge of his fan, channelling as much of his Jiu-ge as he can. The man falters, looking at him, back to the crowd, then back to him.
“Apologies, daozhang, the beast is not for sale; it is an important part of our business, you see. If you would like to view it closer, of course, we could indulge you for a meagre amount of coin, or perhaps you were hoping for an indulgence of the culinary persuasion?” The man says, rubbing his hands together with a sleazy grin on his face.
Shen Yuan’s stomach turns. Had they? They couldn’t have, could they? Mer had been categorised as a sentient species by most, if not all, scholars! The eating of sentient species was outlawed! Then he looks back at the gouges in the mer's flesh, the sluggishly bleeding wounds, remembers the books that ascribe mer flesh to granting immortality. The covetous eyes of the crowd, a mix of the wealthy and the poor. Disgust and rage bleed through him.
“You dare!?” Shen Yuan glowers, hand resting on the hilt of his blade. The man does a double-take, looking Shen Yuan over again. Takes in his clean scholarly clothes and the spiritual sword at his hip.
“Of course not! A joke, good sir, a joke!” The man sweats, dabbing a cloth over his face, one distinctly reminding Shen Yuan of a rat, one about to be caught in a trap if he has anything to say about it.
“Perhaps this one should call the guard, see what they think of such a joke.” Shen Yuan says sweetly, a sharp smile behind his fan.
“A price, yes? This one is willing to part with it, for a reasonable sum, of course!” The man stammers, eyes darting about shifty. Clearly, he hadn’t managed to get his hooks into the guards if he was nervous at the mention of them.
Shen Yuan sneers behind his fan, but negotiates a price for the poor mer behind him. After a quick exchange of taels, he watches as the man scampers away. He waits for the man to disappear into his tent before swiftly waving down the guard.
The loss of coin is a small matter; the lowered awareness of the seller, thinking he’s safe, is not. He is viciously pleased to see someone of sufficient rank accompanying the guard, one who also has the signs of being a devout Buddhist, who will be just as horrified as he, at the sale of a sentient being and their flesh. Explaining the situation, he’s smug as he watches the man swiftly march off to take the offender away.
Turning back, Shen Yuan is now struck by the realisation that he has to somehow care for the snarling mer, and transport him somewhere safely. Stepping closer to the tank, the mer bares his teeth at him, flashing sharp points that are primed to take out his jugular.
“Well, looks like it's you and me now. Don’t worry, I’ll get you home, somehow.” Shen Yuan mutters, inspecting the case. After a moment’s consideration of how ridiculous he’s going to look, he ties ropes around the tank and to his sword, slaps a few feather-light charms on it and gets on his blade. Take off is shaky, and the mer thrashing about in understandable alarm is hardly helping, but they manage to get in the air and stay there.
“Apologies, this will be the quickest way for me to get you home. I’d appreciate it if you could stop thrashing about, else we both will be knocked out of the sky and splatter ourselves on the ground.” Shen Yuan calls, glancing down at his cargo, who has frozen and is staring at him with a mix of alarm and distrust. Thankfully, the mer seems to understand him, and the thrashing ceases.
She Yuan manages to fly them safely back to his home on the coast. An estate that benefits from being isolated, vast, and with a pool of fresh seawater next to a cove. While the pool is technically decorative, it is perfect for one injured mer to recover.
The estate had been a gift from his brother, one Shen Yuan had been rather pleased with, for all that he had sulked about no longer being allowed to live with his gege. It held all the conveniences he needed to look after any strays he had picked up over the years.
Apparently, so he could ‘keep those blasted beasts away from me, A-Yuan!’ as his Jiu-ge claimed. Speaking of his Jiu-ge, he hadn’t seen him in a while; perhaps he should check in on him? But he had said not to bother him, that he would be busy for a while, something about a junior at work going missing? Well, he’d think about it.
Shen Yuan sets down in the courtyard with the pool, and a grand view of the ocean, his passenger once more becoming a squirmy and angry mess at the sight of the ocean so close, yet so far. He removes the ropes and unlatches the lid, leaping back when a hand goes straight for his neck.
“Hey now, I’m trying to help!” Shen Yuan yelps as he gets out of range. The mer is half out of the tank, belly low to the ground. His long tail still half in the tank, the other half pressed into the ground, bleeding all over. No doubt, getting dirt shoved into the open wounds.
“Okay, the pool right there? Saltwater, fresh from the ocean and deep enough for you to swim. There’s a small inlet that keeps it fresh. The inlets’ too shallow for you to swim through, but deep enough that the water won’t go bad.” Shen Yuan says, pointing out the pool, its decorative rocks, the deeper water and the little cave the mer can take shelter in. The mer continues to glare at him, slapping his tail on the water, and points to the ocean, getting his point across.
“As much as I would like to just let you free straight into the cove, your wounds need tending, and you need time to heal. So, pool it is for now.” Shen Yuan soothes as he approaches, getting an enraged hiss, and another attempt at his throat. He backs up, glaring straight back.
“Look, I get you don’t trust me, probably humans in general. For good reason, too! But this one is trying to help you. You need medicine, rest, and a space where things won't try to have you for an easy meal since you're injured.” Shen Yuan argues. The mer narrows his eyes at him before twisting away and dragging himself into the pool, sinking into its depths. Shen Yuan sighs in relief.
“Any chance you're going to let me put medicine on those wounds?” He asks wryly, only to be splashed in the face.
“I’ll take that as a no, then,” He sighs, making his way into the house. Shen Yuan gathers up the necessary supplies and sets them beside the pool. “I’ll leave these here then, so you can apply them yourself. Make noise if you need anything.” The pool is pointedly silent, not even the glimmer of a silver shadow under the surface.
That night, Shen Yuan is woken by the barking of wild dogs, and the snarling, whistling shriek of a mer. Heart in his throat, Shen Yuan races out sword in hand, finding the pool presumably empty with a blood trail along the shallow inlet. He follows it to find a pack of wild dogs surrounding the mer, having scented the blood.
The mer has managed to defend himself well, despite the disadvantage of being primarily on land and limited to his claws. Several of the dogs are injured, now wary of attacking this ocean predator, having learned their lesson to be cautious. The mer, however, is not completely unscathed, with fresh bite marks along his tail where it is out of the defendable range of his claws.
Shen Yuan flares his qi, sending waves of energy in a perimeter of the mer with a wave of his fan. The dogs cower wth a whimper, running off with their tails between their legs.
“You alright?” Shen Yuan asks, snapping his fan closed and tucking his blade away. The mer scowls before continuing to claw his way along the ground towards the ocean. Shen Yuan sighs, tapping his fan against his arm.
“I understand, I do. You want to go home. But you're in no condition to be doing this, or being in that cove. I don’t even know if these waters are close to your home, okay, but if they aren’t, there's an underwater abyssal rift near here, and anything that comes out of there, you're in no condition to outswim it.” That, at least, seems to get the mers' attention as he freezes and looks back.
“I’m not lying. Come on, just until you heal enough so you don’t bleed every time you move?” Shen Yuan pleads. The mer seems to think it over before turning around and clawing his way towards the pool.
“... I could carry you?” Shen Yuan offers, getting another splash of water his way for the comment.
“So stubborn,” He mutters under his breath, following the mer, refusing to risk the dogs coming back for another go. The mer squirms back into the pool and doesn’t resurface. Shen Yuan rubs a hand over his face at the sight of the medicine still untouched.
“That’s there for you, you know?” He calls out. When nothing but the crickets in the night sound, he marches off to bed with a muttered ‘fine’.
The next couple of days see Shen Yuan leaving medicine and fresh-caught fish by the side of the pool. Despite his efforts, he sees nothing of the mer aside from the brief flicker of a tail and the ripples in the water. The fish disappears whenever he’s not looking, reassuring him the mer hasn’t gotten himself killed trying to leave again, but the medicine remains untouched.
It comes to a head when the fish he left in the early morning is still untouched in the afternoon. Shen Yuan hesitates before stepping closer to the pool, inspecting its surroundings.
He had been keeping a reasonable distance back from it since the mer was using it. He didn’t want to have the misfortune of being lunged at or dragged under by the upset mer. There’s no telltale blood or displaced earth from the mer potentially dragging himself along the inlet again, which leaves the presumption that he is still in the pool.
“Hey, you still alive in here? I’m just checking on you, so please don’t try to kill me?” Shen Yuan calls out from behind his fan, taking a few steps into the pool. He bites his lip when there's no response.
“If you don’t give me a response, a splash to the face, something, I’m coming in!” When not even a ripple moves across the surface, Shen Yuan curses, shucking off his outer layers, leaving him in his inner robes. He throws his sword to the side, sends a brief prayer to the heavens, he isn’t about the get himself killed, and dives in.
The salt stings his eyes as he squints into the depths. Shen Yuan uses his qi to illuminate the area before him and his cultivation to hold his breath longer. He can’t maintain it indefinitely, but hopefully just long enough to find his wayward guest. He swims towards the cave, hoping he isn’t about to get his jugular torn out for intruding in a mer's nest, temporary as it is.
Dread sinks into him when he finds the mer nestled into the back of the cave, unconscious and brow furrowed in pain, wounds seeping a yellowed pus. Shen Yuan swims closer, tentatively shaking his shoulder and getting no response. He hooks his arms under the mers and swims out, thankful for his cultivation that he’s even able to pull his dead weight at all.
Bursting above the surface with a gasp of fresh air, Shen Yuan hauls the mer to the shore. Pulling him up onto his discarded robes after dunking them in water, to keep the mer damp,
Shen Yuan inspects the wounds with a grimace. They’re clearly infected, inflamed and oozing pus. He curses, rushing into the house to get fresh medicine and to prepare a place for the mer to rest. He, unfortunately, has to use the cursed tank he found him in, filling it with fresh saltwater and moving it into his house, where he rests the mer inside.
It's grim and disgusting work, removing the rotting flesh, cleaning the infection and slathering it in medicine. To begin with, he’s no expert in medicine, or medicine specifically for mer’s, but he does have extensive knowledge on the healing properties of various flora in the area. This is the knowledge he ultimately uses to try and keep the mer alive.
Days pass in a frenzied blur where Shen Yuan keeps an eye on the infection and the mer. He resorts to combing the mer's hair, tying it up into a ponytail and braiding the beads into it, so it stops getting in the way, and spoon feeding him fish mashed into a paste to keep him fed. Eventually, the mer regains consciousness, seemingly dazed and confused.
“You're awake, thank the heavens. I wasn’t sure if you were going to make it, actually. The wounds had become infected, and it nearly killed you. I hadn’t been putting that medicine out there for fun, you know? You’re pretty lucky I looked, otherwise you’d probably be dead at the bottom of the pool.” Shen Yuan scolded, hovering as the mer looked around with a frown, then at the tank. He follows his gaze, startled.
“Oh, sorry about that. I needed to keep an eye on you, make sure you didn’t drop dead on me, you know?” He says, hiding behind a fan, wafting it slightly to distract himself.
“The wounds have healed enough; you should be okay to go back into the pool, as long as you keep applying the medicine and the bandages, this time, okay?” Shen Yuan asks, snapping his fan closed and pointing it at him with a narrowed-eyed glare. The mer blinks at him before nodding with a mullish pout. Shen Yuan smiles at him, lowering his fan.
“I’m glad you're okay.” The mer looks at him with a wide-eyed stare before twisting away with what Shen Yuan thinks is an embarrassed flush.
It seems, after all that fuss, they have come to some sort of understanding. Whenever Shen Yuan leaves the medicine and fish near the pool, the mer pops up to retrieve it with a nod of thanks. He even lets Shen Yuan inspect the wounds' progress when he’s feeling generous!
With this understanding, he begins to feel a sense of trust? Camaraderie? Perhaps companionship? With the mer. He takes to playing his guqin near the willow that thrives near the pool and doing his sword practice in the same courtyard, the mer always poking his head up to listen and watch.
It’s during such a practice that Shen Yuan nearly slips up and falls onto his sword when he is surprised by a, “Your sword forms are similar to that of Qing Jing peaks.” He whips around to stare at the mer watching him.
“You-you can talk?” Shen Yuan stutters. The mer scowls at the question, crossing his arms over his chest with a huff.
“Of course I can talk!” He barks out.
“I-you’ve never spoken to me before, so I just… kind of… assumed?”
“Idiot humans,” The mer rolls his eyes.
“Hey! This idiot human saved your life! Which I still haven’t heard a thank you for by the way!”
“...thanks,” The mer mutters, turning away with a pout.
“Now was that so hard?” Shen Yuan teases, delighted as the mer clicks his tongue.
“Hey, what's your name? If you have one.” Shen Yuan calls out, sheathing his blade and settling on a rock close to the pool. The mer looks at him a moment before tilting his head, in what Shen Yuan assumes is a bow or greeting.
“Liu Qingge.”
“It's a pleasure to meet you, Liu Qingge.” Shen Yuan greets warmly as the mer-Liu Qingge swims closer.
“... you, what’s yours?”
“Ah, apologies, I hadn’t realised I hadn’t introduced myself. Shen Yuan, cultivator and scholar.” Liu Qingge frowns at him, mouthing his name silently and tilting his head. He seems to think for a moment, his gaze considering, before he nods.
“Show me more of those forms.” Liu Qingge says, and Shen Yuan begins again with a grin.
Now that they’ve been properly introduced, and Liu Qingge is willing to talk to him, they seem to have everything and nothing to talk about. The days begin to zip past them between playing the guqin for his guest, discussing sword forms, Shen Yuan teasing out details about the underwater world he can only dream of seeing, and monitoring the wounds' progress.
-
“Do mer also have spiritual blades?”
“Yes, to defend against the abyss,”
“I see! Is it only for fighting against the abyss, or do you use them for hunting too?”
“Depends on what we're hunting,”
“That makes sense. What about you, do you have a spiritual weapon?”
“En, Cheng Luan. It was separated from me when I was caught.”
“... Do you mind if I ask how you were caught?”
“An abyss opened near the pod. I was sent to keep an eye on it. Was distracted when those humans caught me in a net, and I lost Cheng Luan in the confusion. I was kept in that tank for a while before you found me.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t find you sooner.”
-
“You said my forms reminded you of somewhere?”
“We have twelve peaks that our pod inhabits. I’m the lord of Bhai Zhan, it’s junior to Qing Jing.”
“Oh! So if I were mer and part of your pod, my sword style would place me as part of Qing Jing?”
“... probably. Your forms look similar to Shen Qingqiu’s.”
“Shen? Haha! That's certainly a coincidence. So, if I were part of your pod, that would make me your senior then… Liu-shidi?”
“You!”
“Haha!”
-
“Do you have any family?”
“En, meimei, Mingyan.”
“No one else?”
“No, we were separated from our family pod when Mingyan was young. Joined Cang Qiong, they’re our pod now. You?”
“Me?”
“Your pod? Family? I never see anyone else near your den.”
“Ah, I do, an older brother, Jiu-ge, and his partner, Qi-ge. They live separately from me. I kept bringing home beasts. Jiu-ge finally snapped after one wrecked some of his bamboo garden and gave me this place, so they wouldn’t keep bothering him.”
“Hmm, mustn’t be him then.”
“Him?”
“It’s nothing,”
-
“Do rifts to the abyss open regularly near your home?”
“No, but there are a lot of smaller pods that move regularly through our waters; they often request protection or assistance defending their territories when one is sighted.”
“And they send you?”
“I’m the lord of Bhai Zhan, the fighters' peak. We’ve trained to deal with whatever threatens our home.”
“I guess, as the lord, that would make you their best fighter?”
“En,”
“Very humble of you, agreeing so quickly,”
“The most powerful of our pod is Yue Qingyuan, lord of Qiong Ding and leader of Cang Qiong. He stays to care for the pod and defend it if necessary. I go where he cannot.”
“Oh, it’s strategic then, and very wise. Rifts to the abyss are no simple matter on land, or in the ocean, it seems.”
-
“There are always beasts nearby. Why not hunt them?”
“Well, they're not hurting anyone, and they’re peaceful enough. If they cause problems, then the townsfolk will ask me to deal with them. For now, I like to study them. Do you like hunting?”
“Mm, hunting and fighting strong opponents.”
“Oh, I imagine your fights are a sight to behold!”
“We could spar,”
“Ignoring the fact I have no idea how we would without either of us being at a disadvantage, it's a no until you're healed!”
“Hmm...”
-
They discover many things about each other through their little conversations. Like, mer can drink and have tea, but only if it's cooled. That humans have mostly inaccurate information about the Mer society, and this is supposedly by design! Mer always make sure to leave false trails to protect their pods, and to keep greedy humans away. It doesn’t always work in the case of Liu Qingge’s family, unfortunately.
Shen Yuan grows used to having company again, nearby with a listening ear. While Liu Qingge doesn’t seem to be much of a talker, he is a very good listener, and what he does have to say is always interesting. He pays attention to Shen Yuan’s rambling and asks relevant questions! He doesn’t just smile and nod at him, having tuned out at the beginning like most people. So he is understandably both happy and sad when Liu Qingge is well enough to move to the cove, with more space to swim and rebuild his strength.
Moving Liu Qingge from the pool to the cove is significantly easier now that his cargo is eager to cooperate. The moment Shen Yuan sets him down into the cove, Liu Qingge is off, a quick silver dart under the water as he explores the new territory. Shen Yuan watches with a smile, idly fanning himself.
The cove, enclosed by rocks that waves crash against, even at high tide, keeps larger underwater predators out, creating a natural haven of a reef. A breeding ground for fish, and teeming with life, with prey. The perfect place for a mer to recover.
Shen Yuan settles on the beach pier, tracking the flash of silver through the waves with a melancholic smile. He knows Liu Qingge will be able to leave soon, and he mourns the day he will. That he will be left alone in his grand estate once more. Perhaps he will travel again, to keep himself entertained? He’s startled out of his reverie by a splash and a fat fish being shoved in his face. He blinks, staring at the bloody fish.
“For you.” Liu Qingge says, holding it further out. Shen Yuan continues to stare, confused at the fish being presented to him. Why was he being offered a fish? Surely the mer would like to eat his first catch after being cooped up for so long instead of gifting it to another? Perhaps that was just how grateful he was?
A click of a tongue has Shen Yuan looking to see Liu Qingge withdrawing the fish with a frown, seeming to take his lack of response as a rejection.
“Wait! I-sorry, you surprised me. Thank you, Liu-shidi.” Shen Yuan jumps forward, grabbing the fish with a smile. Liu Qingge gives a stiff nod, a faint redness to his face. Shen Yuan can’t help but internally coo over his shy friend.
He can’t say he doesn’t appreciate the gift; he does! However, it's really a fat fish, and he only eats so much. What to do with it? Oh! Maybe he could share it?
Climbing to his feet, Shen Yuan gets ready to head back to the estate to prepare the fish.
“Where are you going?” Liu Qingge asks, swimming along the pier.
“Back to the house for a moment,” Shen Yuan calls, setting his spiritual blade to hover before him.
“Hmm,” Liu Qingge frowns, before nodding and hauling himself up onto the pier. Shen Yuan frowns.
“What are you doing?”
“Coming along?”
“Wha-Wait! You're in the cove now, you don’t need to come up to the pool anymore. It was just so you could heal. Surely you’d prefer having more space?” Shen Yuan reassures.
“But you’re up there?” Shen Yuan blinks in surprise before breaking into a soft smile.
“Yes, but I’m just going back for a moment to prepare the fish. Humans need to do a few things before we can eat them. I won’t be long, promise.” Liu Qingge seems to consider that for a moment, before sliding back into the water with a frown and a terse nod.
“Hurry back,” Liu Qingge grunts, and Shen Yuan beams at him before taking off.
Despite how quick he was, Shen Yuan returns to find Liu Qingge swimming impatient laps along the shoreline. Liu Qingge zips over to the pier, eyes flickering over him as if during the brief separation, he would’ve been attacked.
“Apologies for the wait. Here!” Shen Yuan beams, setting the plate of sliced fish with assorted sauces between them. Liu Qingge’s eyes dart between Shen Yuan and the plate, brow furrowed. When Liu Qingge continues to stare, Shen Yuan picks up a slice and holds it out to him. Liu Qingge’s eyes go wide, face flushing as he eyes the proffered slice.
Did he surprise him? Aw, so cute!
“For shidi,” Shen Yuan says, holding the slice out. Liu Qingge looks to him before closing his eyes and eating the slice off his chopsticks. A strange satisfaction fills him at the sight of the mer eating a meal prepared by both their efforts.
“Good?”
“En,” Liu Qingge picks up the other set of chopsticks, picking up a slice and offering it to him. Shen Yuan leans forward, biting the morsel of food. Liu Qingge’s eyes have lidded in front of him, seeming to have found the same satisfaction in sharing the meal. Bit by bit, they feed each other choice pieces until the fish is gone.
Shen Yuan floats in a haze of contentment on the pier, enjoying the fresh air and the company. He is going to miss being able to walk out of his room and greet Liu Qingge first thing. Perhaps the mer will miss it too? Despite having the entire cove to roam, he sticks close, barely disappearing out of sight, or more accurately, keeps Shen Yuan in sight as he roams.
Soon, dusk is falling, and Shen Yuan should head back. When he goes to do so, Liu Qingge lifts himself from the water expectantly.
“Doesn’t Liu Qingge want to stay in the cove?” Shen Yuan asks, tilting his head in curiosity.
“It’s not with you,” Shen Yuan flushes, but honestly? The sentiment makes him happy, that he’s not the only one who would feel lonely. Shen Yuan ferries the mer back to the pond, already making plans to dredge the inlet and make it deep enough for his companion to swim unimpeded between the cove and the pond.
Not that he minds ferrying him! Just so Liu Qingge will always have the option to be wherever he pleases! Maybe he should also renovate the estate? He has the funds to spare, so no worries on that front. He could open up the waterways so they go throughout the estate, for aesthetic purposes, of course! And educational ones! He could show Liu Qingge more about the human world, show him all the wonderful things humans make! Not just the ugly side he already knows, like those monsters in human form who caught him!
Shen Yuan sets Liu Qingge in the pool, who, oddly, doesn’t immediately swim off to the cave. Instead, he squeezes Shen Yuan’s hand briefly and gives him a soft look, then swims off with a murmured “sleep well”. Shen Yuan’s heart gives a little flutter before he shakes himself and heads inside, rubbing at the side of his neck.
Now that he’s considered those renovations, he feels an almost restless energy to see them through. As soon as he can, he puts the plans in motion. Getting contractors to renovate the estate, with strict instructions to ensure all waterways are wide, deep and connected to the pool. He, of course, gives Liu Qingge a heads-up as to what's happening, and the mer seems to approve, for all that he appears disgruntled about the amount of strange humans in their space.
Credit where credit is due, once the contractors begin work, they finish swiftly. Liu Qingge gains access to everywhere on the estate and can come and go freely.
Shen Yuan eagerly gives him a grand tour of the place, which is honestly way too big for a lone bachelor. There aren’t even any servants! Which does make it rather simple for him to do whatever he pleases, such as caring for a mer and having him as a friend without fear of someone misguidedly trying to take a chunk out of him.
“And this is my room!” Shen Yuan flings the doors wide open, displaying the large canopy bed, shelves full of books (appropriately spelled to protect them from any mishaps or landing in the new waterways) and the connected study. He sees Liu Qingge freeze where he has swum in, going bright red at the bed.
“Shameless!” He barks, and Shen Yuan blinks in confusion.
“What shameless? I just wanted to show shidi everything!” He grumbles, rubbing at the irritated skin of his neck. Had the contractors used something he was allergic to?
“You shouldn’t let just anyone into your nest!” Shen Yuan frowns. What nest? His bedroom? Bah, who cares?
“But you're not just anyone!” Shen Yuan argues as Liu Qingge stares at him with wide eyes.
“Don’t let anyone else in,” Liu Qingge mutters, twisting away and looking around some more despite his previous grumbling.
“Of course, you’re the only one I would.” Shen Yuan has no idea why Liu Qingge has gone nearly pomegranate red, but he feels satisfied about it regardless. Liu Qingge swims to the little nook that is in the connected study, inspecting it. Shen Yuan grins when the mers' gaze swings up to look at him.
“I read a lot, and write beastiaries, so I spend a lot of my time here. I figured, if you wanted to keep me company, it might be better if you had somewhere comfortable to settle. Is it… Is it okay?” Shen Yuan asks, rolling his fan over in his hands.
Liu Qingge runs his hands over the smoothed-out stone nook, the softest of sea grasses Shen Yuan could get his hands on as cushioning, and the little shelf for Liu Qingge to store any little items he wanted to.
“En, I accept.” Liu Qingge says, voice surprisingly deep with emotion. Shen Yuan beams at him, eyes becoming happy crescents at the mers’ acceptance of his gift.
Shen Yuan doesn’t know what exactly it was about this, but it felt like it was another pivotal shift in his relationship with the mer. If he had thought Liu Qingge had been keen to stick together before, now he was almost downright clingy. He still left Shen Yuan's side to hunt and exercise, but now he always brought back something to share. Whether it was a catch of the choicest fish, some little trinket he found that he thought would be of interest or an odd creature he thought Shen Yuan would like to study.
Not that he was complaining! Far from it! He got to document all sorts of new things in his bestiaries, eat the best fish and have the best companion anyone could ask for. It was just… it almost felt a little one-sided? And he felt terrible about it. Yes, he had renovated his house, but honestly, it was an improvement to the dreary place! It needed a little sprucing up! So there was only one thing he could do: he needed to find the best things to gift back!
Shen Yuan takes to buying little souvenirs he thinks the mer would enjoy whenever he is forced to leave the estate, whether due to needing to buy something for himself or to deal with something that requires a cultivator. Meats and delicacies he thinks the mer would enjoy, a comb, a hair crown, and more, always gifted to Liu Qingge upon his return. It leaves him breathless every time, to see Liu Qingge’s eyes go wide and soft, his smile so sweet at every return gift.
So, it’s no wonder, really, that when he falls, he falls gladly for the sweet, stubborn mer.
It’s on a day when he has joined Liu Qingge in the water, stripped to his inner robes to avoid damaging the heavier outer layers, and is checking the healing tail. They’re settled in the nook in his study, cushioned by the sea grass he transplanted. Liu Qingge is stretched out, the full length of his tail on display in the shallower water. Shen Yuan can’t help but admire it and the ice blue fins that flutter teasingly against his skin in the eddying waters, as he looks over the wounds.
Thankfully, they are coming along nicely. Still healing and sensitive, but the scales are beginning to regrow over the skin membrane. He stands to pack the medicine away when he completely misjudges the step out of the water and trips, straight onto Liu Qingge with all the grace of a newborn. He lands face-first onto a pillowy chest, with two hands encircling his waist.
Shen Yuan pushes himself up immediately, blood rushing to his face at the sight the mer, pinned under him as he is, with an equally flushed face. His hands clench where they rest, and he could probably whistle like a kettle with how hot his face feels when Liu Qingge lets out a deep, throaty hum as Shen Yuan’s hands grope his chest. He freezes, his fight or flight instincts duking it out with no clear winner, only for all thought to abandon him when Liu Qingge’s hands squeeze his waist.
“I-I sorry!” Shen Yuan exclaims, scrambling to sit up.
“It’s fine. You alright?” Liu Qingge grunts, helping steady him.
“I’m fine, I’m more worried about your injuries. I didn’t make it worse, did I?” Shen Yuan’s hands flutter over the barrel of the tail uselessly.
“It’s fine, nearly healed anyway.”
“If you say so…” Shen Yuan murmurs, frowning down at where he can see the absence of scales.
“En,” Shen Yuan huffs at the confident answer, looking back at the mer's face. And… He’s not sure what, specifically, it is, about how Liu Qingge looks in that moment, that gets his attention. But, he looks… soft. Such soft grey eyes watching him, wells of deep emotion. The gentle hands that rest on his waist. Something in him aches to be looked at like that. And it's between one breath and the next, that, oh, I love him, washes through him like a gentle wave lapping at the shore.
He doesn’t even have the chance to panic at the thought, as his traitorous mouth decides to share his revelation immediately. The way Liu Qingge’s face blooms into pleased, soft adoration and the mer's tail curls over his legs has his heart beating softly in his chest.
Shen Yuan almost feels like he’s in a dream, watching himself reach out and thumb at the beauty mark, realising that this is the way Liu Qingge has been watching him for a while now, and now he knows what it means. And oh, he has been silly, hasn't he? They’ve been courting nearly this entire time.
How could he have any other response than to lean down and gently kiss those soft lips, to gasp into them when Liu Qingge immediately responds? To slide into Liu Qingge’s lap and glide his fingers through his hair? To shiver and shudder at the gentle, gentle hands that cup his jaw, guiding them through another soft kiss?
He loses time in this soft thing between them. Only returning, as they rest their foreheads against each other, taking deep, steadying breaths. Shen Yuan laughs softly in the space between them, so happy yet feeling like there are so few ways to show just how happy. A glance at Liu Qingge’s face shows he’s not the only one feeling this stir of powerful emotion.
“Liu-shidi-”
“Qingge, call me Qingge.” Shen Yuan hums, pleased at the correction, thumbing distractedly at the beauty mark.
“Then Qingge needs to call this one Yuan.” He murmurs, brushing his nose against the mers.
“Yuan. A-Yuan.” Liu Qingge murmurs, and Shen Yuan doesn’t know how much one can safely melt before they’re no longer human, but just a puddle, or perhaps seafoam. Just coasting on the waves of emotion. He presses another chaste kiss to the mer's lips, a thrill going through him at the ease of it. Of this. Of them.
Like a lock and key, it feels like something clicks into place. Shen Yuan finds himself spending as much time in water as he does on land, whether in the waterways in his estate or joining Liu Qingge in the cove. They trade soft caresses and softer kisses, nestled together in Qingge’s nook, in the pool under blooming willow and on the pier. Nurturing this thing between them.
Oh, the gifts continue, but with a sweet underlying promise, and with Shen Yuan's new awareness of it all. Liu Qingge still leaves to hunt and exercise, but it's always with a brief press of lips in ‘I will return’ and ‘welcome back’. Shen Yuan still has to work on his bestiaries and complete the odd job or two, but it's nestled in the mer's arms or with a ‘be safe’, ‘I will,’ and ‘your home’. Both, always with eager touches, and cherished gifts.
Shen Yuan finds he’s more and more reluctant to leave the water, to leave Liu Qingge behind. It’s like a physical ache in his throat, as if he no longer knows how to breathe without Qingge by his side. His legs, weighted and clumsy when he leaves the water, as if they never want him to leave his side. Perhaps he should be concerned, but all it feels is right. Right to stay by his side, as if they could anchor together in distant currents, drifting but inseparable.
So, of course, the other shoe has to drop. Liu Qingge is finally fully healed, and Shen Yuan knows he should be pleased, and he is! But this thing between them is both new and not, but regardless, he can’t follow Qingge to Cang Qiong. Can’t follow him to the depths, can’t see his home, can’t twine tails and anchor with him. And he aches for it. To do those things with Qingge, to share in his world. But he can’t.
“I wish I could follow you,” Shen Yuan murmurs wistfully, gazing out at the ocean, seated where he is on the pier. Liu Qingge perched beside him, frowning, rubbing his thumbs over Shen Yuan's wrists.
“What if you could?”
“What do you mean?”
“Trust me?”
“With my doors? No. Anything else, yes.” That earns him an amused huff, and Shen Yuan gives the mer a wobbly smile.
“Come,” Liu Qingge says with a tug at his wrists as he slides into the water. Shen Yuan hesitates, then strips off his outer layers until he’s left in his inner layers. He shivers, slipping into the water, guided by Liu Qingge’s hand. Liu Qingge swims them further out, where the water is deep enough that he can’t see the bottom. He wraps his arms around the mer's neck, trembling at the thought of the depths, but feeling safe at Qingge’s side.
“Now what?” Shen Yuan breathes, pulse skittering.
“We dive. Don’t hold your breath, push your qi here, and into your legs.” Liu Qingge instructs, thumbing over the pulse point on his neck. The exact spot that had been irritated and inflamed lately. Surprisingly, his touch doesn’t hurt, just leaves a warm tingling in its wake.
“What do you mean, don’t hold my breath? I need air to survive.”
“Trust me, I won’t let you drown.” Shen bites his lip, nodding hesitantly. They bob up before sinking down into the water. Shen Yuan can’t help the last gasp of air before going under. He knows what he’s supposed to do, but his survival instincts flare in warning at the thought, twisting his stomach anxiously.
Liu Qingge's calm gaze holds his, hands clutching at his waist as they sink deeper. Shen Yuan channels his qi as he breathes out bubbles, his lungs tightening in warning as he watches his air float away. His heart hammers painfully. Agony shoots through his legs, and his throat feels tight. His hands fly to his neck, only to be wrenched away by Liu Qingge’s hands, stopping him from clawing at it. The mers' tail twines around his legs, stilling them. Despite his bodily panic, a calm, quiet settles over him.
Then, he can breathe. Between one moment and the next, something has changed. His body stills, and he blinks in surprise. Liu Qingge is smiling at him and gently releases his hold, letting Shen Yuan drift.
Shen Yuan lifts a hand to his neck, and he can feel something fluttering there every time he breathes. In the same place that had been irritated, he finds gills. He looks down and finds a long, emerald green tail with gauzy fins, much more delicate than the sharper ones on Liu Qingge. He looks back at the mer in surprise. He opens his mouth hesitantly, and finding he has no issues breathing, he speaks.
“What did you do?” Shen Yuan asks shakily, emotions rolling between excitement, fear and wonder.
“I’d heard some things about half-mer. That they could change between two forms freely, they just needed a little push.” Liu Qingge explains, watching Shen Yuan explore his changed form.
“You thought I was helf-mer?” He asks, looking up.
“En,”
“Why didn’t you tell me?!” Shen Yuan grumbles, frowning as he runs his hands over his gauzy fins. Despite their appearance, they feel surprisingly strong underhand.
“You didn’t know?”
“Of course not! Why did you think I did?”
“Your behaviour, and your neck.” Liu Qingge answers, swimming closer and anchoring his tail around Shen Yuan's. Something about it comforts him, makes him feel safe and secure. He hesitantly returns the anchor. He breathes out a shuddering sigh, tucking his head into Liu Qingge’s shoulder. He feels a weight leave him, his fears that he wouldn’t be able to share in this world, gone, just like that.
“Tell me next time, before you test your ideas, please.”
“En…”
They drift peacefully along the currents of the cove, as Shen Yuan processes this tilting of his world. He idly watches the world around him, so startlingly clear to him now. It's not just his lungs and legs that have changed.
“So this is how you see the world…” Shen Yuan murmurs, looking around. It feels like the underwater world has exploded into vivid colour, and the urge to explore grows.
“Will Liu-shidi show me his world?” Shen Yuan asks. Liu Qingge smiles softly at him, turning and hooking Shen Yuan’s arms over his shoulders so they’re chest to back.
“Hold on,” Liu Qingge orders. Shen Yuan clutches tightly as they take off, clumsily flexing his tail to swim, so he’s not a complete burden. It feels both natural and foreign to do so, like a muscle that has atrophied, one he has to relearn and exercise. Then, he’s too distracted to keep swimming and just clutches Liu Qingge tighter.
The shoals of fish dart around them, the reef a visual marvel. So many different varieties of sea life, right on his doorstep, and he would probably have never known, if not for the mer pulling him along. He nuzzles closer, pressing a kiss to the base of the ear fin, smiling when it flicks in response.
Liu Qingge shows him the entirety of the cove, from the reef to the underwater caves. Each new thing is more beautiful than the next. They soon go through the inlet to the pool, and Shen Yuan gets an entirely new perspective on the place that had been Liu Qingge’s home for a while.
Shafts of light break through the surface, showing the soft grasses and disturbed sand, the temporary nest Liu Qingge had been using before the nook had been built. Shen Yuan lets go, clumsily swimming closer to inspect it, running his hands over the dips and curves. He glances at Liu Qingge to make sure it's okay, satisfied when the mer nods him ahead.
Shen Yuan tentatively curls himself into the nest, eyes lighting up at how surprisingly comfortable it feels against his fins. He rolls a little, feeling the urge to twist in the sand. He freezes, then flushes at the smile Liu Qingge sends his way as he swims closer.
“Come,” Liu Qingge calls, stretching a hand towards him. Shen Yuan grasps it, allowing himself to be pulled close.
They follow the waterways to Shen Yuan’s room, to Liu Qingge’s nook where they coil together in the bed of sea grass, surrounded by things from both their worlds. Nestling together, lulled by the gentle lapping of the water and their heartbeats. A sense of right and belonging surges through Shen Yuan.
Home. He feels at home. Found in the way their things mingle amongst the shelves, in shared meals, in ‘I will return,’ ‘welcome home,’ and ‘I love you’s.’ It’s no longer just an estate but a home, filled with their memories together.
They stay nestled there as day turns to dusk. With his new vision, even the dark of the night feels bright, and he can see the stars through his window. The world is both familiar yet strange, and oh so beautiful. He wants to see it all and share it all with Qingge, but…
“You need to leave, don’t you?” Shen Yuan murmurs, pressing close.
“Mm, only for a while, and only when you can join me.” Liu Qingge says, pressing a kiss to his forehead. Shen Yuan's breath shudders out of him.
“I don’t know how to survive out there. I’ve been human for as long as I can remember,”
“I will teach you, if not, I can protect you.”
“It may take a while for me to be able to keep up.”
“I will wait,”
“Then, please, take me with you,” Shen Yuan murmurs as Liu Qingge’s arms tighten around his waist.
“En, always,” He sighs at the kiss pressed to his forehead and the firm promise.
They give themselves a season to prepare. For Shen Yuan to learn how to swim as a mer, to hunt, to read the currents, how to use his spirit blade underwater, and to have preparations in place. For Liu Qingge to rebuild muscle mass, to train, teach and plot their course based on the stars and what maps Shen Yuan can find. Thankfully, with practice, Shen Yuan can freely shift between forms, and they’re able to complete their preparations before the seasons end.
It’s the dawn of a clear day as they bob at the end of the pier. Shen Yuan nervously clutches a bag made of kelp, filled with spelled paper, charcoal and a fan. Liu Qingge is at his side, empty-handed, but healthy and prepared. They look at the wall of rocks, the ones they will launch themselves over to travel to deeper water, and eventually, to Cang Qiong.
“Ready?” Liu Qingge asks, eyes searching his. Shen Yuan bites his lip, thinks of the letters sent, and the one left in his room, if his Jiu-ge comes calling. Thinks of the village and the estate he’s leaving behind. Of their nest in the nook and the pool. They will be back, he knows, but he already misses it. But, another part of him, a larger part, is excited to explore a whole new world so unlike the one he knows. To know and discover a whole other side of himself, with Qingge at his side. So he can only turn and smile.
“Mm, take me home, Qingge.”