Chapter Text
Putain d'enfer, Charles liked Loki; he really did, but damn, the man could talk. When he had gotten into the car, Loki had already started something about where Charles was going to stay. He already knew, of course. He was staying with Shidou, which was a relief considering he had so far been passed around several homes and the only one he'd actually liked was Shidou's (also the only one who had actually tolerated him).
He zoned out watching the city turn to country before disappearing altogether as they went over a bridge that carried on over the water for miles; eventually he couldn't even see land anymore. Shidou lived in the city. It had been several hours at this point, and he hadn't even noticed. Where the fuck were they going?
"Juliaan? Where are we?" Charles spoke over Loki, raising his voice to be heard.
Loki paused, looking into the rearview mirror and behind into the backseats. "Did you listen to a single word I said?" He lifted a hand off the steering wheel to pinch the bridge of his nose.
"Nope!" Charles smiled impishly, batting his eye lashes, knowing that Loki couldn't actually do anything since he was going to leave soon.
"He moved house, p'tit lutin."
"To the middle of the ocean?!"
"No, stupid, to a beach town, Tengo, Kumakura or Tingo, Karmakira or—"
"TANGO, KAMAKARA?!!" Charles sat up fast, boosting himself up by pulling the seats in front of him. "You're kidding!"
"CHARLES, SIT. BELT ON!!" Loki screamed, swerving on the motorway bridge.
"Opp—" He sat, not bothering to actually put his belt on. "We're going to Blue Lock?"
"Yes, I think so?" Loki put both hands on the wheel, checking there wasn't anyone around on the highway (there wasn't and hadn't been since they had gotten on the bridge) before flooring it, clouds and dark waters passing in a blur.
"Why does that matter?"
"They have an amazing art programme, and their main thing is marine biology!" Charles chatters, his wonky canine clicking against his bottom teeth.
"Right up your alley," Loki hummed.
"Yeah, still school though," Charles huffed, looking out the window until he saw tails shimmering under the surface, caudal fins splashing in the water. Those were mer. Oh mon Dieu, there were other merfolk around! He leaned against the window, closing his eyes, feeling the warm sun on his face.
He woke up to see the coastline glistening with clear cyan water frothing as it splashed against the sand and the faded island of Māmeido Shima on the horizon.
"Are we there yet?"
"We are– oh look, there's Shidou."
Charles squinted his eyes, staring into the setting sun, spotting him in a crowd of people on the beach tackling some guy. He wound down the window as fast as he could, considering it was an automatic.
He jumped out the window. "SHIDOU!!"
"CHARLES!!" Loki screamed for the second time that hour, grabbing his legs.
At the same time Shidou had screamed; except his scream was powered by joy, whereas Loki's was the fear of the prospect of having to pay a manslaughter fee. Loki pulled over, the tyres screeching like a banshee, while wrestling Charles back into the car.
"JE NE PEUX PLUS TE SUPPORTER!!" He shook Charles's shoulders.
Charles patted Loki's forearm, giving him an awkward smile. "Least you're leaving me here?"
"Yes, yep, I am," Loki let out a deep breath, still shaking him by the shoulders. "Now get out of my car."
Charles gets out, about to run off when Loki winds down his window.
"Charles?"
"Mhm?"
"If anything bad happens, if you want to come home, call. I'll be there—" He clicked his fingers. "In a flash, ok?"
"I'll see you later, Juliaan." Charles leaned in to air-kiss Loki on the cheek.
As he turned around, the car sped off, his hair whipping in the wind. Shidou grinned, standing on the sand, arms outstretched.
"SHIDOU!!" He sprinted, leaping into Shidou's arms.
"CHARLES!!"
"Ello...who's this?" A tall guy with dark hair and mismatched eyes raised an eyebrow, inspecting him.
"You heard his name, Aiku."
A few people (probably Shidou's friends) came over mostly out of curiosity about who the newcomer was. Then came that sneaky uncomfortable feeling; it wasn't the people, of course. No, he loved people; it was just an ugly, grossness that reared its head, trailing up his thighs that were still wrapped around Shidou...he pulled away. He wanted to explore, of course! He'd been cooped up in a car for ages, but he couldn't go alone. Charles walked down the beach, eyes scanning until he spotted him. There, perfect. He looked around the same age, with black hair that covered his eyes.
"You! You're coming with me!" Charles walked straight up to him, reaching out a hand. "Don't be shy."
The guy took his hand, black-chipped nails intertwined with his own. Charles pulled him to his feet before tugging him first into a jog, then the sprint along the beach, yelling behind them; his legs burnt as he kept going.
"Do you know where you're going?"
"Nope, I have no clue!"
"Well, where do you want to go?" He stopped slowly, hand outstretched, still holding onto Charles's, the sun setting behind him. He was kind of—
"Uh...anywhere, somewhere no one will find us?" Charles is the one pulled along this time towards a bike rake on the sidewalk. How convenient.
"Get on." He scoots to the front of the bike, trying to make room for Charles, who bolts onto the bike, wrapping his arms around the guy's neck, careful enough not to choke him.
"So is this yours or...?"
"I'll put it back later."
It's a relatively short ride; only a few minutes go by. The sun sets behind them, and the water starts to glow with those little lights that he's only seen on the internet.
"Putain," he breathes out, watching the tide roll in, blue and teal sparkles decorating the sand.
The bike squeeks to a stop on the grass.
"So do I get a name?" Charles hops off, letting the other boy lead him into a secluded rocky beach.
"My name's Niko; nice to meet you, Charles." He smiles. His teeth are perfect; it makes Charles a little subconscious of his own. He takes him further down the path and slowly towards the water's edge.
"Hey– I uh...can't swim." He pulls his hand away, stopping just before the waves brush his feet.
"I know– I know about the mermaid thing." Niko looks back, the sea breeze brushing back his bangs. Bright teal eyes bore into him as if he had all the knowledge of Charles's inner being; it's intense and beautiful, and Charles moves forward into the sea, his legs tingling as scales form on his calves. Those tiny glowy lights flickering around his feet.
"You know? How we just met?"
"It's like an ability of mine, I guess, like reading people's souls."
The sun has set; it's dark. Charles can't see in front of himself, but he keeps going until they're both up to their waists until he's standing right in front of Niko.
Charles feels his legs turning into a tail. He swims around Niko doing little spins in the water, tail flicking water at him. "You're pretty weird, huh?"
"You're literally part fish."
"Am I a pretty fish?" Charles laughs, his fang catching on his bottom lip.
"Yes," Niko sighs rather breathlessly, running a hand over Charles' bright yellow scales.
Charles pulled Niko down by his shirt collar, using a hand to brush his bangs out of the way, lips inches away from each other.
"CHARLES!!"
"So much for no one finding us." Niko steps back quickly, dropping Charles into the water.
Charles jolts, looking up to see Shidou on the bank. At the same time, a car drives up, and Sendou waves out the window to Niko.
"I'll see you later, I guess," Charles huffs, swimming back to the land, quickly getting wrapped in a towel by Shidou, concealing his tail until Niko and the car were gone.
"What were you doing?" Shidou sighs, leaving the towel around Charles's shoulders and beginning to walk back the way they came.
"Nothing..." Charles looks up half expecting to be scolded; he knows it's deserved, honestly.
"You ran off with a boy, and now you're out in here in the dark with your tail out." Shidou takes out his keys, unlocking his car and opening the passenger door for Charles before getting into the driver's seat and turning on the headlights.
"It's not like that!" Charles was cold and sopping wet ew.
"Like what?" Shidou turned down a side road where the street lights started to get fewer and fewer.
"He already knew so...it wasn't like...I wasn't doing anything wrong, I promise!"
"So...actually nevermind, I was the exact same at your age."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Shidou just laughs, parking the car on a boat ramp and getting out.
"Where are we?" Charles looked out the window, flinching when Shidou slammed open the door.
"Are you waiting for an invitation or something?" Shidou laughs again, going to pull something out of the tall bushes, a fucking small motorboat.
Charles looked up at the sky, which was dark and filled to the brim with bright stars, much, much brighter than in the city, casting blues and purples into the horizon, the moon reflecting on the rippling water.
"We are going home." Shidou revved the the motor, pulling the string that connected to the engine. "I live on the island," he explained.
"Like you live on Māmeido Shima?!!" Charles barrelled straight for the boat, nearly tipping it over.
"Yeah, I moved there for my fiance a while ago." Shidou pushed the boat further into the water before hopping in himself, his flip-flops getting wet.
"YOU'RE ENGAGED!?" Charles blinks, so not only had Shidou moved from the city, but he was also getting married. "When?!"
"Uh, a year ago I think," Shidou hums, steering the boat towards the island, looking back at the shore; he laughs. Charles followed his gaze to see two people near the wharf; a tail splashed – wait, was that a mer? Shidou snickers like he knew something Charles didn't.
When they neared the island, Shidou turned off the motor, letting the boat drift with the tide towards the island. "Sae doesn't like the noise; says it scares off the fish," he mentioned, idly getting out and pulling the boat and tying it to a rock.
He leads them up a path to a small house. It's cute: a little tiny home with two bedrooms on either side of the house accessible with sliding doors and a kitchen/living area in the middle. It's not much, but it's as much as Shidou needs.
"That one's your room." Shidou opens the glass sliding door on the right, turning on the light; the room's small, a bed and a desk being the only things in the room. Sae and I were saving the room for when we have a kid, but you can have it now. Put your stuff in here – where is your stuff?"
Charles blinked. Where was his stuff? "Uhhh, my phone's in my pocket?"
"Is that all you brought?"
"I had a bag."
"Is it with Loki?" Shidou groans, dragging his hand down his face (which, by the way, was a very Loki thing to do). "He's probably in France by now."
Charles just smiled awkwardly.
"Whatever, we’ll go shopping in the morning. Ooh, maybe I can get the gang to come." Shidou pulls out his phone quickly texting as he leaves Charles in his room to, quote, ‘settle in’.
Charles started by closing the curtains, waiting till he heard Shidou go into his own room. Charles pressed his ear to the door, listening. He opened the sliding door slowly, careful not to make too much noise; he slipped off his shoes, sneaking out.
He had an entire island that wasn't going to explore itself.