{49}
That Disney Remix
Ohno/Nino
PG
nearly 4,000 words and i regret nothing.
but if you see a typo or something then let me know. i got lazy and didn't read over it once i finished.
ltgmars linked the original little mermaid story. it is a bit dark, but it's still amazing so i recommend that you read it. :)
Once upon a time, in the underwater kingdom of Atlantica, there was a very sleepy merman named Satoshi. He was young, with hair resembling a sea urchin, and he had none of the skills a future ruler should have--a fact that worked well in his favor since he didn't want to be King anyway.
Despite having no other plans of what to do with himself, Satoshi's parents, King and Queen Ohno, were understanding and accepted his decision. They decided to live forever, or at least until his older sister was married so the new couple could replace them.
With no burdens weighing down on his shoulders, Satoshi spent most of his time creating various forms of art with any materials he could find. And, though his mother warned him about the dangers of land, Satoshi also made use of the human items that Aiba would present to him. Aiba was an expert on all things human and he never failed to provide Satoshi with something new or some kind of explanation for how things worked. Honestly, Satoshi wasn't very curious about the human world, but the way Aiba squawked and laughed and very nearly tripped over himself every time the topic came up was enough of a reason for Satoshi to stay interested.
The rest of his days were spent aimlessly floating the ocean and napping on particularly comfortable sea-beds in the shallower waters, the light from the sun warming him as he rests.
But though Satoshi really didn't say or do much, he wasn't often left alone.
When he was a merboy, Satoshi got carried away by a current during his nap. He didn't know where he was when he woke up, but there was a small fish nearby that seemed to know about the run of things. Satoshi doesn't know what it was that he said or did, but ever since he was guided home Machida has been at his side, dragging him along to play.
And perhaps it was because his parents didn't seem to mind his constantly absent attention that Satoshi met Sho. Sho's parents were dignified and friends of the family--though officially they were the Royal Advisers. They had barely made it past introductions before Sho announced that he was going to keep a careful eye on Satoshi's safety.
Satoshi himself didn't mind having someone else with him and Machida, and both sets of parents were relieved with the idea, but he never managed to get an understandable explanation. (Satoshi did his best to follow it, but when things got longer than ten words he ended up zoning out instead of listening.)
Truly, this story isn't a story of wonder or magic or adventure like the original.
This is simply a retelling of events.
--
It begins with another day of floating and naps. Satoshi is snoring lightly, Machida tucked under his arm and Sho navigating from his perch on Satoshi's chest, when a loud explosion and crackle cuts through the peaceful hum of the currents.
"Sho-kun?" Satoshi mumbles, voice still thick with sleep. He rubs his eyes and sits himself up with a yawn, Machida grumbling and slowly waking beside him. Overhead, another loud noise splits Sho's answer mid-sentence. Curious, Satoshi looks up and blinks. "Ah," he says. "There are a lot of lights up there."
"Sounds like a storm," Sho says. He looks nervous and yet, at the same time, curious. "I wonder what those lights are..."
"Should we go?" Machida asks.
There's a contemplative silence, broken only by the whistling sounds above water, and then Satoshi shrugs. Sho isn't protesting like usual, which Satoshi takes as an 'okay' for some exploration and has him following after Machida when the guppy starts swimming.
Things get a lot louder and brighter with every swish of their tails, but it's only when they've surfaced that they notice the apparent source of everything--a large ship. It's darker than Satoshi thought it would be, but there are other kinds of lights on the ship that give off a warm glow, drawing him in closer without him realizing it. Vaguely, his mind registers Sho and Machida calling after him, somewhere, as he pushes through the waves after the ship.
It's a lot bigger than he thought, nicer than the ships with sharks on the ocean floor, and Satoshi gives himself a moment to runs his fingertips along the smooth wood before scaling the side.
Music starts to overpower the explosions in the air.
Satoshi seats himself on some sort of convenient ledge, peeking through a small gap of wood and squinting as the lights assault his eyes. When his vision finally adjusts enough to see without discomfort Satoshi lets out a breath at what he sees. There are people, humans, everywhere on the ship, swinging each other around and laughing--and dancing, his mind reminds, Aiba-chan called that 'dancing'.
So taken is he with all the movement that he doesn't notice the strange creature in front of him until it licks up the side of his face. Satoshi wrinkles his nose and pulls back, rubbing away the sticky slobber as it yips happily and scuttles away. The thing clicks across the deck, launching itself onto the knees of a human nearby.
"Haru, get off," the man groans. Even with so much light on the ship, Satoshi can't make out his features very well, just that he sounds young and is curled in on himself. 'Haru' yips again and starts chewing at the man's shoes.
"HEY CAPTAIN!" Aiba hollers from behind him, jerking Satoshi's attention away in an attempt to quickly shush him. The bird just laughs, eagerly landing beside Satoshi on the ledge. "What's up? Planning on party crashing? I'll help!"
Satoshi shakes his head, eyes returning to the miserable pile of human.
"What're you looking at?" Aiba asks, pressing their cheeks together and trying to follow Satoshi's stare. "The dog? I have two back at my place on land. One is seriously huge, I thought it would eat me!"
Another shake of the head, but Satoshi hums to show that he's listening. Kind of.
"He kind of looks like the... what'd you call it, Aiba-chan? Dog?" Aiba beams proudly and nods. "Cute."
"Me, the dog, or the human?"
Satoshi laughs. "All three, I guess. But I was talking about the human."
"You think?" Aiba asks, wings scritching lightly on the wood of the ship as he leans in for a better look. "I dunno, he looks kinda sick to me."
"Cute," Satoshi repeats.
Aiba looks like he's about to say something else when another man steps up and Satoshi gently grabs a hold of Aiba's beak in a plea for silence. He doesn't catch the first part of what's said, but he does hear one respond with "god, just do it so we can end this party from hell already". He's pretty sure it was the first human who said it.
"Everyone, get quiet!" The new human calls out, hardly a yell and yet every conversation immediately simmers down. (Satoshi would be amazed, really, but with the posture that this man holds himself with and the serious way he demands attention it just feels like it's natural for people to listen to him. Even Aiba is silent.) He's poised, elegant, and his grin gives way to a mouthful of teeth. Like a shark. Satoshi shrinks in slight fear.
"Despite our dear Prince being a downer since we set out this morning," the man continues happily, even though Satoshi is sure the curses are loud enough to be heard by all, "we've prepared a very special, very expensive, and very large gift."
"One that you had to give to me out on a boat?" The ill and apparent prince dryly asks.
"Even though I'm sure you'd rather hang yourself over the railing right now, could you please try to at least appear happy? This thing was seriously expensive," the other says and frowns, propping a hand on his hip. The prince frowns right back.
"Oh Jun-chan, you shouldn't have. How will I ever repay you for this wonderful gift?" He deadpans. The other man--Jun, he supposes--sighs in exasperation, gesturing towards a crewman to remove the tarp from the gift.
"Happy birthday, Prince Nino!" The crew cheers.
Satoshi stares in wonder at the gift, the smoothness, the detail, the ability and time it must have taken the artist to complete such a piece. It's amazing. He's so taken with the sculpture that he doesn't pay attention to the prince's complaints and grimaces, not the wood creaks beside him when the prince flings himself over the railing.
"I want to go home," he whines. "I hate the sea."
That's too bad, Satoshi thinks sadly, even as everyone else on deck laughs. For Satoshi, it means this is probably the only time he's going to see Nino. He decides to get a good look and then maybe draw him someday if he remembers.
Only when he turns to focus on Nino, Nino is already focusing on him.
"Who are you?" The prince asks.
Oops, Satoshi thinks. Sho-kun will probably be upset with me later.
A bell chimes urgently just as a large wave rocks the ship, knocking Nino back onto the deck with a crash of lightning, a roll of thunder. It's a freak storm from nowhere, catching them all by surprise. A burst of wind rips Aiba away and Satoshi is thrown from the ledge when he reaches for him.
The waves are wild when Satoshi resurfaces, the sails of the ship shining brightly with the crack of lightning and then slowly disappearing right before his eyes. It's hard to hear over the roar of the wind and thunder, but Satoshi recognizes yelling and splashing and suddenly a much smaller ship, full of people, is battling the waves nearby. At the head of the boat is Jun, waving at the flaming wreckage.
"Nino! Jump!" He yells, and Satoshi finally notices the small silhouette of the prince being tossed around, still on-board. Every time the shadow gets close to the edge another wave hits, knocking him back. The ship is caving in on itself more and more with each second that goes by. Nino is knocked back again, but this time he doesn't stand back up.
The ship explodes.
Satoshi is quick to dive under the waves after that, not sure what he can do but body thrumming with the adrenaline that started just after he saw the crew struggle to hold Jun back from swimming to the ship. Swimming in storms is too dangerous for humans, but maybe this is where Satoshi can actually be useful to them.
There's smoke and debris everywhere, some bits of the wreck so hot that Satoshi hisses through grit teeth as he pushes past it all. It's something he hasn't felt before, like his skin is on cracking, and too much for him to handle. He ducks under the water and is readying himself for another try when a flash of white drifts past his peripheral vision.
Nino.
He's out cold and sinking fast. Satoshi makes quick work of dragging him to the surface, away from the heat and destruction and flashing lights.
In the distance, he can still hear the crew yelling.
--
Satoshi has never been to the shore, despite all of his floating and wandering. He's never even seen it before. Mainly he just follows his instincts (and Aiba, when he spots the seagull flying overhead) and keeps swimming, constantly checking to make sure Nino's head is above water.
It feels strange to him once he's there; sand is dry and scratchy, but it's warm in a way that's almost comforting. Would probably be comforting if the unconscious man sprawled next to him would wake up and Aiba would stop trying to diagnose his condition as dead even when he's clearly breathing.
"Should I be concerned that I have the urge to start singing right now?" Satoshi asks as he brushes salt-clumped strands of hair from Nino's face.
"That depends on what song it is," Machida calls out from the shallow end, as close as he can get to the couple without ending up gasping for water and suffocating.
"I'm not sure. Maybe make it up as I go," Satoshi says, already humming a bit.
"Do it!" Aiba crows. "I haven't heard you sing yet! How does he sound, Sho-chan? Amazing?"
"Amazing," Sho confirms. Satoshi grunts softly in response and lets his fingers flit over Nino's face, trying to memorize the features like a blind man. His thumb brushes over the small freckle at the base of his chin and Nino mumbles something, eyes cracking open.
"You again?" He asks weakly, his voice raw from sea water.
"I gave you CPR," Satoshi explains, then wrinkles his nose. "Tasted weird."
"Probably because I nearly drowned," Nino snorts.
"Satoshi, other humans are coming! We have to go!" Sho says, urgently tugging at the merman's fin in a mock-attempt at pulling him into the water.
Satoshi smiles, gives Nino's hair a fond pat, and then follows his friend back into the ocean. He can hear the man from before--Jun, his mind reminds him again--talking, can hear the relief in his voice while Haru yips, and silently he tells himself that it's okay that he probably won't see Nino again.
Things could be a lot worse.
--
Satoshi glances around the cave in confusion. He doesn't know why he's here, or why Shibata-san is singing and throwing things around, but according to her he's waiting for something important. Once she's done with her musical number and the cauldron in the center of the room is bubbling ominously, the conditions are laid out: he'll be turned human, given three days to make out with Nino, and his specie and ownership will be decided on whether he fails or not.
As usual, he has no idea what's going on. And he'd ask Sho about it, but he and Machida are messing around with some eels at the moment.
There's paper shoved in his face, a pen thrust into his hand, and the sea witch says all he has to do is sign the paper and give her his voice. He doesn't use his voice much anyways so it all seems pretty fair; Satoshi shrugs and signs the paper.
Shibata has him sing the scales and then everything glows and he suddenly can't swim or breathe right.
Vaguely, Satoshi wonders if he made some sort of mistake.
--
The trip to the shore is a lot less graceful this time, filled with spluttering and flailing and general fail. They make such a racket that Aiba shows up shortly after Satoshi is sprawled on the beach. Aiba makes a big deal over the new limbs and... other new things while Sho has a mental breakdown and Machida flails around and Satoshi lounges comfortably in the shallow water, examining a few shells.
"Who's down there?"
Satoshi glances up at the voice, smiling when he sees a familiar silhouette carefully making their way down the rocks that surround the beach. He makes no move to get up, though he does wave when Nino finally spots him.
"...Again?" Nino asks. The prince steps down onto the sand hesitantly but doesn't move closer. Satoshi figures it has something to do with the hatred of the sea that was mentioned before. Using a large rock nearby, Satoshi drags himself to his feet.
His feet.
Only now does the situation sink in as he stares down at his new limbs with fascination. And though he has a feeling that it's not with fascination for his legs, Nino stares too. And then he whistles.
"Damn, what'd you trade in to get a dick like that?" Satoshi mimes something vague and Nino hums. "Well, I didn't get much exposure to it last time, but I guess your voice must have been something."
Satoshi shrugs and, in the shallow water, Sho huddles close to Aiba and Machida. "Is he supposed to know about that?" he hisses. "He's not, right?"
"So are you gonna stand there all day or are we going back to my place?" Nino calls out when the silence stretches for too long. "As much as I appreciate nudity for my late birthday presents, I don't like anything when it's on the beach."
Nodding, Satoshi makes quick work of scooping Sho up and clumsily wandering over, taking the offered hand when close enough and shuffling along.
--
"Why is there a naked man in my room?" Jun sighs the minute he steps into the room, apparently less irritated with the actual nudity than he is by it being in his room. "We've talked about this before."
"It's different this time," Nino says.
"So this time it's not a merman who traded in his voice and fin for legs so he can seduce you?" Jun asks.
"No." Jun arches a brow at the answer, skeptical, and Nino scowls. "Okay, yes, he is. But this time I'm actually not lying." When leveled with an inspecting stare, Satoshi smiles peacefully and waves. Nino grins. "Just think," he begins sweetly, "This means you have a new doll to play dress-up with."
Jun huffs in response and drags Satoshi away by the wrist.
--
Wearing clothes is just as fun as it looks.
Satoshi tries not to squirm or pick at anything as Jun circles him, making sure every fabric is in its correct place and not clashing with anything else. After about the third time around, Jun clicks his tongue, fixes something, and then steps away with a nod of finality.
"He's done." Satoshi digs at the uncomfortably tight pants he's been forced into when Jun turns to face the door. The look Nino gives him when he opens the doors is one of pity, like he understands, but for the most part he just looks extremely amused, if not slightly turned on. Jun preens when Nino starts clapping and means it.
"Nice ass," Nino compliments as they head down the hall to the dining room. The hand that was around his waist dips down and paws lightly, but Ohno just laughs silently and lets him.
--
Satoshi spends all of dinnertime stuffing his face like a man facing death. He's sure they're asking him things, but he doesn't have a voice and he sucks at charades so he can't really answer them anyway; things just end up drifting to silence after that. Every now and then he'll look up from his plate to look for a piece of bread and Nino will be watching him with awe, and Jun with mild disgust, but then Satoshi smiles at them and they wipe his face and give him more food.
Sho spends pre-dinnertime screaming and running in terror until Jun rescues him from the wrath of the chef. He sits on the table with them during their nice, non-seafood meal and writes out Satoshi's name in carefully practiced Kanji for the other two humans when they start talking about naming him.
By bedtime, Nino has gleefully dubbed Satoshi 'Oh-chan' and invaded his bed to cuddle. The both of them are out before Sho can protest, but he still goes to sleep on the vanity table anyway to make sure Satoshi isn't raped during the night.
--
When half of Day Two goes by with the two men doing absolutely nothing productive (both are sitting back to back on the floor; Nino actively playing something called 'Nintendo' and Satoshi contently scrawling things all over scraps of paper), Sho decides to take matters into his own hands. Claws. Whatever.
Summoning all the suggestiveness and subtle music he can, Sho starts singing into their ears about make-outs and touching and various innuendo that ultimately suggest doing it on the bedroom floor--which is where they conveniently have been for forever. It's all very suave and well-performed, even with Aiba trying to obnoxiously join in halfway though and giggling loudly when Sho ends up trying to shove him out the window.
He is unnoticed by both men and wanders away to reformulate his plan and sulk.
"I think Sho-chan was trying to get us to make out," Nino says after he beats another level. Satoshi dips his head in agreement and changes from pencil to fine-tip pen. The game makes ominous music and Nino turns back to the screen with a hum. "Later then. Like, maybe after this boss."
--
Satoshi wakes up the next day with Nino tucked against him and is torn between going back to sleep or ravaging him right then and there. The only thing that stops him is the crash of the door as Shibata Rie, with her own pair of legs, bursts in announcing her and Nino's wedding.
"Loud," grumps Nino as he burrows closer. Satoshi runs a hand through his hair and smiles when face-to-face with Nino's early morning attitude. It's really cute. So cute that he forgets Shibata-san is there until she pounces on the bed and starts feeling them both up even as she screams about Nino being her fiance. The struggle for freedom is rough and doesn't do much for waking either man up, but the part of Satoshi's mind that had been trying to remind him about the kiss floods full-force into his mind.
Nino is in the middle of bitching at the lump under the covers when Satoshi kisses him. There isn't any resistance, but there also isn't any coordination, and they end up tripping over air in no time.
"Oh-chan," Nino mouths against Satoshi's throat, a leg on either side of his waist and a hand in carding through soft spikes of hair. Satoshi opens his mouth, remembers he still can't talk, and redirects Nino's lips higher. Their lips are dry, and it doesn't taste very good since they haven't brushed their teeth yet, but it feels fantastic and Satoshi sucks in a breath when a hand starts palming lower than his waist.
Under the covers, Shibata Rie watches and finds it difficult to say anything except for "I knew this would happen" and it still doesn't sound much like a complaint.
Nino and Satoshi somehow stand and stumble towards the bathroom for a morning shower, their lips still locked together, just as Aiba bursts in through the door with Sho at his heels to lead the animal attack against the sea witch.
--
There's no wedding, no epic party, no dramatic tears or hurt feelings.
It's just Nino playing guitar beside Satoshi as he fishes, occasionally singing along or breaking the melody with laughter as Sho and Machida take turns 'getting caught', and Aiba doing his best to steal away food from a heavily-armed Jun's picnic basket.
It's love, and it's not; whatever it is is enough for them.
But Nino still hates the sea.
Ohno/Nino
PG
nearly 4,000 words and i regret nothing.
but if you see a typo or something then let me know. i got lazy and didn't read over it once i finished.
ltgmars linked the original little mermaid story. it is a bit dark, but it's still amazing so i recommend that you read it. :)
Once upon a time, in the underwater kingdom of Atlantica, there was a very sleepy merman named Satoshi. He was young, with hair resembling a sea urchin, and he had none of the skills a future ruler should have--a fact that worked well in his favor since he didn't want to be King anyway.
Despite having no other plans of what to do with himself, Satoshi's parents, King and Queen Ohno, were understanding and accepted his decision. They decided to live forever, or at least until his older sister was married so the new couple could replace them.
With no burdens weighing down on his shoulders, Satoshi spent most of his time creating various forms of art with any materials he could find. And, though his mother warned him about the dangers of land, Satoshi also made use of the human items that Aiba would present to him. Aiba was an expert on all things human and he never failed to provide Satoshi with something new or some kind of explanation for how things worked. Honestly, Satoshi wasn't very curious about the human world, but the way Aiba squawked and laughed and very nearly tripped over himself every time the topic came up was enough of a reason for Satoshi to stay interested.
The rest of his days were spent aimlessly floating the ocean and napping on particularly comfortable sea-beds in the shallower waters, the light from the sun warming him as he rests.
But though Satoshi really didn't say or do much, he wasn't often left alone.
When he was a merboy, Satoshi got carried away by a current during his nap. He didn't know where he was when he woke up, but there was a small fish nearby that seemed to know about the run of things. Satoshi doesn't know what it was that he said or did, but ever since he was guided home Machida has been at his side, dragging him along to play.
And perhaps it was because his parents didn't seem to mind his constantly absent attention that Satoshi met Sho. Sho's parents were dignified and friends of the family--though officially they were the Royal Advisers. They had barely made it past introductions before Sho announced that he was going to keep a careful eye on Satoshi's safety.
Satoshi himself didn't mind having someone else with him and Machida, and both sets of parents were relieved with the idea, but he never managed to get an understandable explanation. (Satoshi did his best to follow it, but when things got longer than ten words he ended up zoning out instead of listening.)
Truly, this story isn't a story of wonder or magic or adventure like the original.
This is simply a retelling of events.
--
It begins with another day of floating and naps. Satoshi is snoring lightly, Machida tucked under his arm and Sho navigating from his perch on Satoshi's chest, when a loud explosion and crackle cuts through the peaceful hum of the currents.
"Sho-kun?" Satoshi mumbles, voice still thick with sleep. He rubs his eyes and sits himself up with a yawn, Machida grumbling and slowly waking beside him. Overhead, another loud noise splits Sho's answer mid-sentence. Curious, Satoshi looks up and blinks. "Ah," he says. "There are a lot of lights up there."
"Sounds like a storm," Sho says. He looks nervous and yet, at the same time, curious. "I wonder what those lights are..."
"Should we go?" Machida asks.
There's a contemplative silence, broken only by the whistling sounds above water, and then Satoshi shrugs. Sho isn't protesting like usual, which Satoshi takes as an 'okay' for some exploration and has him following after Machida when the guppy starts swimming.
Things get a lot louder and brighter with every swish of their tails, but it's only when they've surfaced that they notice the apparent source of everything--a large ship. It's darker than Satoshi thought it would be, but there are other kinds of lights on the ship that give off a warm glow, drawing him in closer without him realizing it. Vaguely, his mind registers Sho and Machida calling after him, somewhere, as he pushes through the waves after the ship.
It's a lot bigger than he thought, nicer than the ships with sharks on the ocean floor, and Satoshi gives himself a moment to runs his fingertips along the smooth wood before scaling the side.
Music starts to overpower the explosions in the air.
Satoshi seats himself on some sort of convenient ledge, peeking through a small gap of wood and squinting as the lights assault his eyes. When his vision finally adjusts enough to see without discomfort Satoshi lets out a breath at what he sees. There are people, humans, everywhere on the ship, swinging each other around and laughing--and dancing, his mind reminds, Aiba-chan called that 'dancing'.
So taken is he with all the movement that he doesn't notice the strange creature in front of him until it licks up the side of his face. Satoshi wrinkles his nose and pulls back, rubbing away the sticky slobber as it yips happily and scuttles away. The thing clicks across the deck, launching itself onto the knees of a human nearby.
"Haru, get off," the man groans. Even with so much light on the ship, Satoshi can't make out his features very well, just that he sounds young and is curled in on himself. 'Haru' yips again and starts chewing at the man's shoes.
"HEY CAPTAIN!" Aiba hollers from behind him, jerking Satoshi's attention away in an attempt to quickly shush him. The bird just laughs, eagerly landing beside Satoshi on the ledge. "What's up? Planning on party crashing? I'll help!"
Satoshi shakes his head, eyes returning to the miserable pile of human.
"What're you looking at?" Aiba asks, pressing their cheeks together and trying to follow Satoshi's stare. "The dog? I have two back at my place on land. One is seriously huge, I thought it would eat me!"
Another shake of the head, but Satoshi hums to show that he's listening. Kind of.
"He kind of looks like the... what'd you call it, Aiba-chan? Dog?" Aiba beams proudly and nods. "Cute."
"Me, the dog, or the human?"
Satoshi laughs. "All three, I guess. But I was talking about the human."
"You think?" Aiba asks, wings scritching lightly on the wood of the ship as he leans in for a better look. "I dunno, he looks kinda sick to me."
"Cute," Satoshi repeats.
Aiba looks like he's about to say something else when another man steps up and Satoshi gently grabs a hold of Aiba's beak in a plea for silence. He doesn't catch the first part of what's said, but he does hear one respond with "god, just do it so we can end this party from hell already". He's pretty sure it was the first human who said it.
"Everyone, get quiet!" The new human calls out, hardly a yell and yet every conversation immediately simmers down. (Satoshi would be amazed, really, but with the posture that this man holds himself with and the serious way he demands attention it just feels like it's natural for people to listen to him. Even Aiba is silent.) He's poised, elegant, and his grin gives way to a mouthful of teeth. Like a shark. Satoshi shrinks in slight fear.
"Despite our dear Prince being a downer since we set out this morning," the man continues happily, even though Satoshi is sure the curses are loud enough to be heard by all, "we've prepared a very special, very expensive, and very large gift."
"One that you had to give to me out on a boat?" The ill and apparent prince dryly asks.
"Even though I'm sure you'd rather hang yourself over the railing right now, could you please try to at least appear happy? This thing was seriously expensive," the other says and frowns, propping a hand on his hip. The prince frowns right back.
"Oh Jun-chan, you shouldn't have. How will I ever repay you for this wonderful gift?" He deadpans. The other man--Jun, he supposes--sighs in exasperation, gesturing towards a crewman to remove the tarp from the gift.
"Happy birthday, Prince Nino!" The crew cheers.
Satoshi stares in wonder at the gift, the smoothness, the detail, the ability and time it must have taken the artist to complete such a piece. It's amazing. He's so taken with the sculpture that he doesn't pay attention to the prince's complaints and grimaces, not the wood creaks beside him when the prince flings himself over the railing.
"I want to go home," he whines. "I hate the sea."
That's too bad, Satoshi thinks sadly, even as everyone else on deck laughs. For Satoshi, it means this is probably the only time he's going to see Nino. He decides to get a good look and then maybe draw him someday if he remembers.
Only when he turns to focus on Nino, Nino is already focusing on him.
"Who are you?" The prince asks.
Oops, Satoshi thinks. Sho-kun will probably be upset with me later.
A bell chimes urgently just as a large wave rocks the ship, knocking Nino back onto the deck with a crash of lightning, a roll of thunder. It's a freak storm from nowhere, catching them all by surprise. A burst of wind rips Aiba away and Satoshi is thrown from the ledge when he reaches for him.
The waves are wild when Satoshi resurfaces, the sails of the ship shining brightly with the crack of lightning and then slowly disappearing right before his eyes. It's hard to hear over the roar of the wind and thunder, but Satoshi recognizes yelling and splashing and suddenly a much smaller ship, full of people, is battling the waves nearby. At the head of the boat is Jun, waving at the flaming wreckage.
"Nino! Jump!" He yells, and Satoshi finally notices the small silhouette of the prince being tossed around, still on-board. Every time the shadow gets close to the edge another wave hits, knocking him back. The ship is caving in on itself more and more with each second that goes by. Nino is knocked back again, but this time he doesn't stand back up.
The ship explodes.
Satoshi is quick to dive under the waves after that, not sure what he can do but body thrumming with the adrenaline that started just after he saw the crew struggle to hold Jun back from swimming to the ship. Swimming in storms is too dangerous for humans, but maybe this is where Satoshi can actually be useful to them.
There's smoke and debris everywhere, some bits of the wreck so hot that Satoshi hisses through grit teeth as he pushes past it all. It's something he hasn't felt before, like his skin is on cracking, and too much for him to handle. He ducks under the water and is readying himself for another try when a flash of white drifts past his peripheral vision.
Nino.
He's out cold and sinking fast. Satoshi makes quick work of dragging him to the surface, away from the heat and destruction and flashing lights.
In the distance, he can still hear the crew yelling.
--
Satoshi has never been to the shore, despite all of his floating and wandering. He's never even seen it before. Mainly he just follows his instincts (and Aiba, when he spots the seagull flying overhead) and keeps swimming, constantly checking to make sure Nino's head is above water.
It feels strange to him once he's there; sand is dry and scratchy, but it's warm in a way that's almost comforting. Would probably be comforting if the unconscious man sprawled next to him would wake up and Aiba would stop trying to diagnose his condition as dead even when he's clearly breathing.
"Should I be concerned that I have the urge to start singing right now?" Satoshi asks as he brushes salt-clumped strands of hair from Nino's face.
"That depends on what song it is," Machida calls out from the shallow end, as close as he can get to the couple without ending up gasping for water and suffocating.
"I'm not sure. Maybe make it up as I go," Satoshi says, already humming a bit.
"Do it!" Aiba crows. "I haven't heard you sing yet! How does he sound, Sho-chan? Amazing?"
"Amazing," Sho confirms. Satoshi grunts softly in response and lets his fingers flit over Nino's face, trying to memorize the features like a blind man. His thumb brushes over the small freckle at the base of his chin and Nino mumbles something, eyes cracking open.
"You again?" He asks weakly, his voice raw from sea water.
"I gave you CPR," Satoshi explains, then wrinkles his nose. "Tasted weird."
"Probably because I nearly drowned," Nino snorts.
"Satoshi, other humans are coming! We have to go!" Sho says, urgently tugging at the merman's fin in a mock-attempt at pulling him into the water.
Satoshi smiles, gives Nino's hair a fond pat, and then follows his friend back into the ocean. He can hear the man from before--Jun, his mind reminds him again--talking, can hear the relief in his voice while Haru yips, and silently he tells himself that it's okay that he probably won't see Nino again.
Things could be a lot worse.
--
Satoshi glances around the cave in confusion. He doesn't know why he's here, or why Shibata-san is singing and throwing things around, but according to her he's waiting for something important. Once she's done with her musical number and the cauldron in the center of the room is bubbling ominously, the conditions are laid out: he'll be turned human, given three days to make out with Nino, and his specie and ownership will be decided on whether he fails or not.
As usual, he has no idea what's going on. And he'd ask Sho about it, but he and Machida are messing around with some eels at the moment.
There's paper shoved in his face, a pen thrust into his hand, and the sea witch says all he has to do is sign the paper and give her his voice. He doesn't use his voice much anyways so it all seems pretty fair; Satoshi shrugs and signs the paper.
Shibata has him sing the scales and then everything glows and he suddenly can't swim or breathe right.
Vaguely, Satoshi wonders if he made some sort of mistake.
--
The trip to the shore is a lot less graceful this time, filled with spluttering and flailing and general fail. They make such a racket that Aiba shows up shortly after Satoshi is sprawled on the beach. Aiba makes a big deal over the new limbs and... other new things while Sho has a mental breakdown and Machida flails around and Satoshi lounges comfortably in the shallow water, examining a few shells.
"Who's down there?"
Satoshi glances up at the voice, smiling when he sees a familiar silhouette carefully making their way down the rocks that surround the beach. He makes no move to get up, though he does wave when Nino finally spots him.
"...Again?" Nino asks. The prince steps down onto the sand hesitantly but doesn't move closer. Satoshi figures it has something to do with the hatred of the sea that was mentioned before. Using a large rock nearby, Satoshi drags himself to his feet.
His feet.
Only now does the situation sink in as he stares down at his new limbs with fascination. And though he has a feeling that it's not with fascination for his legs, Nino stares too. And then he whistles.
"Damn, what'd you trade in to get a dick like that?" Satoshi mimes something vague and Nino hums. "Well, I didn't get much exposure to it last time, but I guess your voice must have been something."
Satoshi shrugs and, in the shallow water, Sho huddles close to Aiba and Machida. "Is he supposed to know about that?" he hisses. "He's not, right?"
"So are you gonna stand there all day or are we going back to my place?" Nino calls out when the silence stretches for too long. "As much as I appreciate nudity for my late birthday presents, I don't like anything when it's on the beach."
Nodding, Satoshi makes quick work of scooping Sho up and clumsily wandering over, taking the offered hand when close enough and shuffling along.
--
"Why is there a naked man in my room?" Jun sighs the minute he steps into the room, apparently less irritated with the actual nudity than he is by it being in his room. "We've talked about this before."
"It's different this time," Nino says.
"So this time it's not a merman who traded in his voice and fin for legs so he can seduce you?" Jun asks.
"No." Jun arches a brow at the answer, skeptical, and Nino scowls. "Okay, yes, he is. But this time I'm actually not lying." When leveled with an inspecting stare, Satoshi smiles peacefully and waves. Nino grins. "Just think," he begins sweetly, "This means you have a new doll to play dress-up with."
Jun huffs in response and drags Satoshi away by the wrist.
--
Wearing clothes is just as fun as it looks.
Satoshi tries not to squirm or pick at anything as Jun circles him, making sure every fabric is in its correct place and not clashing with anything else. After about the third time around, Jun clicks his tongue, fixes something, and then steps away with a nod of finality.
"He's done." Satoshi digs at the uncomfortably tight pants he's been forced into when Jun turns to face the door. The look Nino gives him when he opens the doors is one of pity, like he understands, but for the most part he just looks extremely amused, if not slightly turned on. Jun preens when Nino starts clapping and means it.
"Nice ass," Nino compliments as they head down the hall to the dining room. The hand that was around his waist dips down and paws lightly, but Ohno just laughs silently and lets him.
--
Satoshi spends all of dinnertime stuffing his face like a man facing death. He's sure they're asking him things, but he doesn't have a voice and he sucks at charades so he can't really answer them anyway; things just end up drifting to silence after that. Every now and then he'll look up from his plate to look for a piece of bread and Nino will be watching him with awe, and Jun with mild disgust, but then Satoshi smiles at them and they wipe his face and give him more food.
Sho spends pre-dinnertime screaming and running in terror until Jun rescues him from the wrath of the chef. He sits on the table with them during their nice, non-seafood meal and writes out Satoshi's name in carefully practiced Kanji for the other two humans when they start talking about naming him.
By bedtime, Nino has gleefully dubbed Satoshi 'Oh-chan' and invaded his bed to cuddle. The both of them are out before Sho can protest, but he still goes to sleep on the vanity table anyway to make sure Satoshi isn't raped during the night.
--
When half of Day Two goes by with the two men doing absolutely nothing productive (both are sitting back to back on the floor; Nino actively playing something called 'Nintendo' and Satoshi contently scrawling things all over scraps of paper), Sho decides to take matters into his own hands. Claws. Whatever.
Summoning all the suggestiveness and subtle music he can, Sho starts singing into their ears about make-outs and touching and various innuendo that ultimately suggest doing it on the bedroom floor--which is where they conveniently have been for forever. It's all very suave and well-performed, even with Aiba trying to obnoxiously join in halfway though and giggling loudly when Sho ends up trying to shove him out the window.
He is unnoticed by both men and wanders away to reformulate his plan and sulk.
"I think Sho-chan was trying to get us to make out," Nino says after he beats another level. Satoshi dips his head in agreement and changes from pencil to fine-tip pen. The game makes ominous music and Nino turns back to the screen with a hum. "Later then. Like, maybe after this boss."
--
Satoshi wakes up the next day with Nino tucked against him and is torn between going back to sleep or ravaging him right then and there. The only thing that stops him is the crash of the door as Shibata Rie, with her own pair of legs, bursts in announcing her and Nino's wedding.
"Loud," grumps Nino as he burrows closer. Satoshi runs a hand through his hair and smiles when face-to-face with Nino's early morning attitude. It's really cute. So cute that he forgets Shibata-san is there until she pounces on the bed and starts feeling them both up even as she screams about Nino being her fiance. The struggle for freedom is rough and doesn't do much for waking either man up, but the part of Satoshi's mind that had been trying to remind him about the kiss floods full-force into his mind.
Nino is in the middle of bitching at the lump under the covers when Satoshi kisses him. There isn't any resistance, but there also isn't any coordination, and they end up tripping over air in no time.
"Oh-chan," Nino mouths against Satoshi's throat, a leg on either side of his waist and a hand in carding through soft spikes of hair. Satoshi opens his mouth, remembers he still can't talk, and redirects Nino's lips higher. Their lips are dry, and it doesn't taste very good since they haven't brushed their teeth yet, but it feels fantastic and Satoshi sucks in a breath when a hand starts palming lower than his waist.
Under the covers, Shibata Rie watches and finds it difficult to say anything except for "I knew this would happen" and it still doesn't sound much like a complaint.
Nino and Satoshi somehow stand and stumble towards the bathroom for a morning shower, their lips still locked together, just as Aiba bursts in through the door with Sho at his heels to lead the animal attack against the sea witch.
--
There's no wedding, no epic party, no dramatic tears or hurt feelings.
It's just Nino playing guitar beside Satoshi as he fishes, occasionally singing along or breaking the melody with laughter as Sho and Machida take turns 'getting caught', and Aiba doing his best to steal away food from a heavily-armed Jun's picnic basket.
It's love, and it's not; whatever it is is enough for them.
But Nino still hates the sea.