Work Text:
Komaeda sits with his back propped up against the warmed slope of a smooth stone. The shallow tide gently laps at his tail, partially submerged in the cool water. The halved moon on the horizon bathes the alcove of the cave in a soft silvery glow, casting a one-of-a-kind filter over the space. Komaeda's iridescent scales shine like crushed opal beneath the moonlight, kaleidoscoping across the lazy waves his tail creates.
Hinata is crouched beside him, a bucket of seawater, a soft cloth, and a large brush usually reserved for cleaning the shell of snapping turtles in hand. His shirt has managed to remain relatively dry, but up to his thighs, his pants cling to his skin, soaked through with water from both the natural tide and Komaeda's idle splashing. He doesn't mind.
Hinata gently dabs at the gash in Komaeda's tail. It's nothing fatal thankfully, but it is oozing, the inky blue blood spilling incessantly over his scales and Hinata knows it must hurt even if Komaeda says otherwise.
He can feel eyes on him as he works. Curious and watching. He's only slightly gotten used to Komaeda's unrelenting staring habit, but he doesn't think he'll ever stop feeling that he's being intensely judged under the other's gaze. Even though he knows Komaeda is only curious.
"We heal." The sound of Komaeda's voice, raspy from the lack of seawater to soothe his vocal cords, startles Hinata when he speaks. His speech is a little broken and slow given he's not fluent in human language. Most of the syllables are difficult for him to pronounce and grammar has also been proving a challenge for him, but with Hinata's help, he's coherent enough to understand which at the end of the day is what matters.
Komaeda winces when Hinata prods at the heart of the wound and rich blue soaks the fabric of the beige cloth. Hinata frowns at the sight, still not entirely sure how Komaeda had gotten hurt in the first place. He'd stepped away for only a couple of minutes to grab his notebook and a few materials for today's research—all of which now lie forgotten a few feet away on the dry rocks—and when he came back, Komaeda was swimming awkwardly. Something equivalent to the way a human might limp when their leg is injured.
Komaeda had initially refused Hinata's help, not out of the urge to be difficult but rather because he didn't see the point. But Hinata was persistent enough because eventually, he'd managed to convince Komaeda to let him help. Though not without Komaeda reminding him every few minutes or so that he would eventually heal.
He glances up at Komaeda as he dips the cloth into the bucket to wring out the blood. Their eyes meet briefly and Hinata can see the familiar inquisitive curiosity in Komaeda's gaze before he returns his attention to the wound. Small amounts of blood pool around Komaeda's tail where he sits on the rocks.
The trail of blood that'd initially spilled onto the rocks when helping Komaeda out of the water had mostly washed away, but that doesn't change the fact that it was once there.
"I know that." Hinata replies quietly. "Even still, you were bleeding everywhere."
Hinata had been studying Komaeda in his free time for nearly three months now, filling page after page in his notebook about all the fascinating things he learned about Komaeda's kind. He had stumbled upon him on a solo hidden cave exploration all those months ago. Ironically, Komaeda was originally more scared of Hinata than Hinata had been of him.
They got off to a rocky start at first, but with time, they managed to fall into a routine. Komaeda's a bit of a special case, having been isolated from his pod at a young age after an attack. He'd been hiding away ever since, which explains the delayed discovery of his existence.
But technically speaking, Komaeda's existence should be impossible. The possibility of mermaids—though Komaeda's actual species is far from the romanticized portrayal detailed in folklore—had been long declared fiction.
He still finds it hard to believe sometimes that all this, that Komaeda, exists at all. And yet Komaeda is very much real anyway.
Hinata's hands remain steady and careful as he dabs around the wound, soaking up the blood that had spilled onto the delicate membrane between his scales. The flesh was softer and squishier in between the firmer scales as he pressed the microfiber cloth to it. He suspects the softer flesh is a tad bit more sensitive than his scales are if the way Komaeda twitches is anything to go by.
"Does this hurt?" Hinata asks, eyes flickering between Komaeda's face and his wound.
Komaeda shakes his head, wide eyes still watching Hinata's every movement.
"No hurt. We heal." He offers up and Hinata huffs out a puff of air through his nose.
"Yes, I know you'll heal."
Hinata presses into another fleshy spot between Komaeda's scales, and his tail kicks up a splash of water. Hinata feels the side of his shirt grow wet. The fabric of his T-shirt clings to his skin, matching the soaked state of his pants. Considering this is not the first time he's been soaked through on a visit; he should really look into packing an extra pair of clothes in his boat for future visits.
Hinata continues cleaning bloodied scales, pointedly ignoring Komaeda's watchful gaze as he works. For such a wound, he managed to bleed a lot; the blood Komaeda's splashing hadn't managed to wash away still sits idle on his tail.
Hinata digs carefully at the crevices between scales, noticing where the syrupy ichor had begun to congeal—gummy, shiny—and adhere itself to a few scales. What had been fluid moments ago now clung stubbornly in place, already thickening as it settled into the gaps.
It's not a simple clot.
Human blood didn't coagulate so quickly. Hinata's brows furrow only briefly at the discovery. He might be more concerned if not for the fact that Komaeda wasn't human. He presses a bare finger into a gelatinous wad of blood, feeling the way it gives under pressure and stains his pad blue.
Komaeda's body is already beginning to heal itself, even as the thickened blood gathers along the wound. He gets the sudden urge to bring a vial back to the lab for hematology testing, fascinated with his biology.
He'd never really gotten a chance to study Komaeda's blood given that he hadn't bled much before now. He had only a few scattered notes on the subject from a cola can lid incident last month:
「Minor laceration to webbing between right middle and ring fingers caused by sharp aluminum edge. Surface cut. Minimal bleeding. Blood coloration; deep blue in appearance. Completely healed in give or take 2 minutes. Rapid regeneration??」
He allows himself a moment to take in the scent, only slightly surprised to find that it carries the same metallic tang human blood gives off. He makes a mental note to log a few more details of Komaeda's blood before he leaves for the night. Proper testing is out of the question for the sake of keeping Komaeda out of the public eye, or at least until he can get his hands on a portable tester that is.
It's a miracle Hinata's been able to keep him a secret for as long as he has. Not out of selfishness, but out of concern for his safety. There's no telling what kind of organization would swoop him up in a heartbeat for more lawless research. He'd probably end up trapped in a tank in some underground facility and experimented on until he went belly-up.
Hinata thinks he'd die of guilt if something like that ever happened to Komaeda because he couldn't contain his curiosity.
Hinata sighs, depositing the soaked cloth into the bucket and retrieving the brush. He can see in real time, the gash beginning to heal itself as more and more blood thickens over the surface of the wound, forming a slick layer that clings as the tissue beneath slowly pulls itself back together.
He wields the brush, beginning to scrub away the excess wads of blood at the surrounding scales when Komaeda jerks away from the contact, an unexpected laugh bubbling out of him. Hinata is momentarily shell-shocked as his eardrums vibrate and the feeling travels down the length of his body like a shiver. The sound of Komaeda's laugh is a sweet and resonating tune. One expectedly exclusive to mythical vocal cords.
Hinata glances up to find Komaeda's eyes squinted, the sharp edges of his pointy teeth visible as he laughs. Hinata's ears thrum again with the reverberation of the sound as it echoes off the walls of the cave.
For a beat, Hinata just stares. It's something so different than the blank, wide-eyed look usually directed his way that he's unable to tear his eyes from the sight. Wet, white-pink curls cascade over Komaeda's shoulders, framing his face with an innocent look. Komaeda's skin is pale, and on anyone else, it would make them look sickly. On Komaeda, his ghostly complexion complements the pearlish hue of his scales as they glimmer in the light, giving him an otherworldly look that only contributes to the fact that Komaeda looks like he shouldn't be real.
The features of Komaeda's face are softer now as his laughter trickles out, drawing on something tender that makes Hinata's throat feel dry. The corner of Hinata's mouth pulls upward in a twitch of bemusement he doesn't fully control. It's not quite a smile, but something shy of it.
Seafoam green eyes meet Hinata's own and his brain startles to the present.
"Uh, sorry. Does the brush tickle?" Hinata asks, actively ignoring the heat blooming in his face and hoping Komaeda's analyzing eyes don't pick up on it.
Komaeda tilts his head, the relaxed expression leaving just as quickly as it had appeared to once again be replaced with focused curiosity.
"Tickle?" He parrots the word back, testing the syllables out on his tongue. The pearlescent fins on either side of Komaeda's head twitch forward. The word comes out a bit wonky, but the cadence and pitch makes it obvious what he meant.
"Yeah, you know. Something that makes you laugh, even when you don't really want to."
Hinata isn't sure Komaeda fully understands the concept, but he nods eagerly anyway, agreeing with him. "Yes. Tickle." Hinata can't stop the fond smile that graces his lips at the reply. He files away the knowledge that mermaids can be ticklish among the other reflex responses he’s been slowly building a map of.
"I'll be quick then," Hinata says, lifting the brush to get back to cleaning. He doubts he really needs to scrub away the excess gel-like blobs of blood, considering that they'd probably just wash off in the water, but he does it anyway. Besides, Komaeda's laugh isn't such a terrible thing to listen to.
True to his word, Hinata is quick as he scrubs Komaeda clean. The sweet sound of Komaeda's laughter is a pleasant undercurrent as he works.
He scrubs until the surrounding area is clear, the only remaining blood being a thin congregation that forms a gummy, translucent film across the expanse of the wound, sealing over it like a second skin. He feels the temptation to poke at the film, wondering how sensitive it is or if Komaeda would react, but ultimately decides against it.
He tosses the brush into the blue-tinged bucket, satisfied enough with the work—and more than anything, with Komaeda's laughter still lingering in the cave. There wasn't much else he could do, especially considering the fact that they don't exactly make mermaid band-aids or something—not that Komaeda would need it anyway.
"Okay. You're all clean," Hinata announces, looking up to meet Komaeda's stare.
Komaeda says nothing in response, his face now schooled back into that same faintly wide-eyed, attentive expression he always wears like he's trying to absorb everything Hinata says and does without quite knowing what to do with it. Only a moment of awkward silence passes between them before Komaeda is shifting away from Hinata.
He turns over, slithering toward the smooth edge of the rock to where it drops off into a deeper section of the water so he can fully submerge his body. His tail flaps, angled fins slapping against the water and sending a large splash Hinata's way as he drops in. Hinata barely has time to react before he's drenched head to toe in water.
He gasps sharply as cold water seeps into every article of clothing he has on.
The top of Komaeda's head rises partially above the surface, the glint of his eyes visible from above the water. He watches from a short distance as Hinata regains his bearings. A few bubbles rise to the surface of the water in front of Komaeda, accompanied by a muffled noise.
Hinata exhales a shaky breath, water dripping from his hair and sleeves. For a second, he debates scolding Komaeda, but any thoughts of reprimanding the other die on his tongue when he catches sight of the way Komaeda's fins flit about just above the surface. Restless and playful.
Komaeda stares at him, clearly waiting to see what he'll do and it's actually kind of cute. He can be reserved and stolid at a superficial glance, but underneath his composed exterior, Komaeda is actually pretty excitable.
Hinata shakes his head with a small smile. Komaeda's eyes squint with self-satisfaction and he slips beneath the water with a small 'plip'. He swims a couple of laps around the cave and Hinata's smile slowly fades as he watches. He can tell the injury is still bothering Komaeda despite it actively healing.
He should make note of today’s incident for bookkeeping. He dips away for a moment to towel off at his boat. He’s still mostly dripping with water—there’s only so much a single towel can do—but he’s dry enough to take notes without completely ruining his work. He sits near the edge of the water where it rises onto the rocks, close enough for Komaeda to approach if he so pleases.
He writes diligently, filling up a brand new page with his slanted writing and scrawling notes in the margin.
「xx/xx/xxxx - xx:xx pm
Returned from boat after brief absence (approx. 3–5 minutes). Komaeda observed swimming with uneven tail propulsion and left favorability, comparable to a limp in terrestrial organisms. Initially attempted to mask impairment, but mobility irregularity became obvious upon closer inspection.
Inspection revealed laceration along lateral section of caudal tail between scales (approx. 7–8 cm in length). Depth unclear due to immediate blood loss. Bleeding significant relative to wound size. Blood ink-like when pooled. Initially fluid but thickened rapidly upon air exposure, forming gelatinous clusters adhering to scales and softer interscale membrane. Faint metallic scent present. Possible copper-based oxygen transport compound (hemocyanin analogue?) Confirmation impossible without laboratory testing. Cause of injury unknown; suspected jagged rock.
External cleaning performed using seawater and cloth after initial refusal. Regeneration visible during cleaning; tissue beneath scales healing in real time. Coagulated blood formed thin translucent film over wound surface during early closure stage, suggesting thickened blood may function as temporary regenerative layer rather than a simple clot.
Healing ongoing at time of documentation. Komaeda exhibited laughter when scales were brushed during cleaning—likely heightened tactile sensitivity along scale margins (ticklish response). Vocalization produced unusual harmonic resonance. Swimming post-cleaning is uneven, but—」
Hinata pauses, bringing the end of his pen up to his mouth and absently gnawing the cap between his teeth in thought.
Komaeda’s definitely swimming better since being cleaned up, but it didn’t look too far off from before. He stares out into the water, watching as Komaeda swims before him in repeated figure-eight-esque motions, curling his tail in a bit of an unnatural way. There aren’t any signs of discomfort on his face, but the way he’s swimming doesn’t look habitual, but rather self-soothing.
He thinks back to all the previous times he’s seen Komaeda swim—if he’s seen him swim like that before. He wonders if the particular motions are helping him heal in some way. He traps his pen between the pages of his notebook before closing it and setting it aside to approach the water.
He calls out for Komaeda, splashing the water a bit with his foot to get his attention. Komaeda surfaces a moment later, mere feet away from the rocks with his hair cascading over him in a way that hides most of his face. Hinata shifts his attention to below the surface, looking for the blue-inked wound through the water’s refraction and ripples.
Komaeda dips his mouth below the water and makes a clear noise of curiosity when Hinata doesn’t say anything further. He floats a little closer without really realizing it, unintentionally obscuring his tail. Hinata’s gaze returns to Komaeda’s and he holds out a hand that Komaeda doesn’t take but drifts closer to instead. “Can I look at your tail again?” He asks.
Komaeda withholds a verbal affirmation, but swims up to the edge of the rocks where the water floods over a bit after a moment. Hinata helps him onto the rocks, keeping him partially submerged like he’d been earlier. Komaeda braces himself against that same sun-warmed stone as Hinata kneels beside him, book and pen in hand again.
“You’re swimming like your tail still hurts,” He explains as he examines where the wound had been on his tail. It’s significantly smaller than it had been originally, maybe only a cm or 2 long now. He was right to assume the gelled wads of blood would wash away in the water. The skin of his membrane is nearly completely healed now, just as Komaeda had been so kind to tell him it would. Multiple times.
In awe, he runs a tentative hand over the wound, wet and slick to the touch. He has half a mind to ask Komaeda if it hurts at all, but knows better. He instead makes a quick note in his notebook, before prodding at the wound for a reaction. He runs his fingertips gently along healing tissue, listening for any noises of protest. When Komaeda does nothing more than sit there silently, he strays a little. If there’s no pain, there might be another reason for why he’d been swimming so awkwardly.
He carefully explores the junction where Komaeda's torso begins to taper off into beautiful scaling. The scales are tiny at first, evolving into their familiar size the further down he moves. They're firm, but no doubt softer than the others, and—Hinata presses down before he can think better of it. The scattered scales are pliant, yielding to the pressure with more ease than expected.
He retracts his fingers, eyes flickering up to gauge Komaeda's expression—if it hurt at all.
The impassive look on Komaeda's face tells him it hadn't. While he isn't likely to openly voice pain, his body often betrays him; a wince or twitch here and there more revealing than the mermaid probably knows.
His fingers trail lower, gliding over shiny scales until his eyes catch onto something. In what appears to be a random thicket of scales, no different from the rest, Hinata notices the pattern begin to thin. The texture shifts subtly beneath his gaze, turning into something silken. At the heart of it, sits a slit near the base of his tail. Small and nearly imperceptible among his other scales, but undeniably there. His fingers hesitate, inches away from the juncture.
His first thought is that Komaeda had somehow sustained another injury in the time that he’d let him swim, but burning heat engulfs his cheeks as it suddenly dawns on him what he's looking at. He stills, not quite knowing what to do. It’s not that he hadn’t thought Komaeda had some form of mermaid genitalia, but rather that he hadn’t given it much thought. Nor had he seen it. At least not like this, now that the subtle seam has made itself apparent under his touch.
Of course Komaeda would have something like this. Logically speaking, there had to be some anatomical equivalent. Reproductive organs don’t simply vanish because the lower half of a body is piscine. Still, knowing that in theory and suddenly finding it under his fingertips are two very different things.
Heat crawls up the back of his neck, suddenly all too aware.
He pulls his hand back a fraction, hovering uncertainly like he’s suddenly forgotten what he’d been doing in the first place. The slit flexes faintly, a subtle movement he might have missed if he weren’t staring right at it. The fins of Komaeda’s tail flap innocently against the water, and curls slightly, drawing a little closer to himself as a strange warmth prickles beneath his skin—unfamiliar and faintly uncomfortable. His slit gives another faint involuntary flex and Hinata’s fingers hovering nearby, jerk away entirely in surprise.
Komaeda shifts slightly against the rock, sparing a glance down at himself before drifting back to Hinata. His tail relaxes gingerly, uncurling by slow degrees beneath the water. Though the warmth still lingers along his face, he doesn’t pull away. Instead, he settles where he is, the fins at the end of his tail fanning idly through the shallows once again.
"Touch." He rasps quietly.
Hinata looks up at Komaeda, caught. A mildly flushed face stares him down and he can feel his own onset of embarrassment color his face. The temptation sits heavy in his chest, stubborn and difficult to ignore. He wants to follow the insistent pull in his chest—really wants to, but the last thing he wants is to inadvertently make Komaeda uncomfortable. Komaeda’s eyes are just as round and filled with the same doe-like curiosity they’ve always had, inviting. There’s no hint of offense or unease in his expression.
Even still, it doesn’t completely ease his hesitation. Hinata clears his throat, forcing his voice to remain even as he speaks. "Are—are you sure? That feels a little...invasive."
Komaeda responds with a single word, the consonants a little soft around the edges, but entirely confident.
"Research."
Hinata stares at him for a moment, processing. The fins of Komaeda’s ears flutter quickly as he blinks at Hinata expectantly. Hinata huffs an awkward laugh, shifting his weight where he kneels beside Komaeda. “R—Right.”
Despite receiving the go-ahead from him, Hinata doesn’t move a muscle—at least not until wet, webbed skin engulfs his hand and guides it back to the base of Komaeda’s tail. They hover over the cluster of scales that Hinata had been shamefully staring at only seconds ago. A brief flurry of technicalities run through his mind of how all this works, but it's quickly forgotten when Komaeda guides his fingers down his front. The scales are slippery to the touch.
The wet webbing of Komaeda’s hand falls away, leaving Hinata to explore on his own. He hesitates, not quite sure what to do with the pulsing heat beneath his palm. Komaeda’s body is unfamiliar territory and he doesn’t exactly have a wealth of experience to draw from. Not to mention, it's a fair assumption to make that Komaeda has never been intimate with anyone—or anything for that matter.
It doesn't exactly feel right to treat this as anything resembling research.
But,,,Komaeda is offering—regardless of how much he truly grasps what it means.
He doesn't even realize he's moved until his fingers are already tracing the edge of Komaeda's slit. His mind lags a step behind, the small, nagging thread of guilt fading from focus. He slides along the path of bare skin between the smaller, retracting scales and his slit. The contact is light, barely even enough to be considered present until Komaeda presses his hips up against Hinata’s touch, insistent.
He takes the hint and applies more pressure, running his fingers along the seam in sweeping motions. Komaeda twitches beneath him, sensitive to the touch.
It doesn’t take long for the seam to begin to part under the steady pressure, the surrounding scales shifting and receding just enough to allow space. What had been a subtle and nearly invisible line gradually opens, revealing a deeper canal, smooth with soft ridges curling inward. He stares at the opening in surprise, his movements slowing to a halt.
He stares brazenly at Komaeda's sex, speechless. He knows Komaeda doesn't exactly follow the rules of nature that they're used to, but—he admittedly had been expecting something more,,,phallic to emerge. Not that he's disappointed.
As it stood, Komaeda's slit quivered idly with a quiet, deliberate stretch, showing its inner surface lacquered with glistening slick. It gleamed wetly between the delicate inner ridges, beautiful and inviting in a way that felt like bait.
He runs a finger along the inner silken ridges before he could think better of it, only pulling away when Komaeda jerks under the touch with a low noise of surprise trilling in his throat. He probably shouldn’t have done that.
“I’m sorry, I—I shouldn’t have done that.” He vocalizes awkwardly, surprised to find his voice more guileless than he’d intended. He briefly considers the possibility of Komaeda taking offense to his folly and jumping back into the water to ignore him for the next few days. Thankfully, that doesn’t happen and he instead gives a nod of silent permission. The usual pale of his cheeks are flushed a deeper shade of pink, still visible even as he attempts to angle his face out of sight.
Relief crashes over Hinata and he waits a moment to resume his indulgence. He treads a bit more carefully now, moving slow enough for Komaeda to track his movements and reject them if he wants to. He chooses not to comment on Komaeda’s newfound liking to blushing, pretending not to notice as he shuffles a little closer.
He grazes over the wet cool of Komaeda’s inner folds, his fingers gliding easily over the area. He spares Komaeda a brief glance, searching for any hesitancy. Komaeda’s expression is pinched, his eyes closed as if bracing himself for something, but he makes no move to push Hinata away. Komaeda keens into his touch ever so slightly, nudging his finger against the heart of his cunt. His hole flutters briefly, clenching around nothing—daring Hinata to plunge a finger in.
The whispers of temptation pull him in, beckoning him to indulge in something he knows he won’t be able to validate under the guise of research. His fingers twitch with restlessness. He knows exactly what line he's toeing and the awareness of it sits heavy in the back of his mind. Even so, the guilt of pleasure isn’t enough to want to stop. Something in the quiet between them shifts and Hinata grows a little bolder.
Unabashedly, he manages to work the tip of a single finger inside Komaeda’s tight grip, rubbing along the velvety smooth skin. Komaeda's reaction is instant—his mouth falling open, jagged teeth visible as he rests his head on the warm stone, breathing more deeply.
Hinata pumps his finger, barely going past the first knuckle and Komaeda's body squelches obscenely. A viscous prismatic fluid oozes around Hinata's finger, dripping down the side of Komaeda's scales just like his blood had earlier. It’s tempting, glossy, chilled to the touch, and pretty. And,,,he's well aware he's chartering into unknown territory getting intimate with a mythical being, but he can't help but want the pearly slick on his tongue. Sue him.
Komaeda's body sucks him in greedily, urging his fingers deeper and deeper. He sinks the digit in further, the silken smooth of his skin giving way to something more textured—grooved and spongy.
He runs the pad of his finger along the textured walls, feeling the way they cling and drag him in. It feels like no time at all before he’s sliding another finger along the sensitive seam. He’s gentle, finding a spot with more give before sinking it in beside the first with little resistance. Komaeda suppresses a noise that could most closely be described as a whine. His tail kicks at the water, splashing at Hinata’s side and soaking his clothes once again.
Hinata scissors his fingers open, watching in amazement as Komaeda stretches around him. The hollow of Komaeda’s pussy reveals itself to him, the opalescent inner ridges softly undulating with need. The stirrings of arousal curl low in Hinata’s stomach, his dick straining against the wet fabric of his pants as he slips his fingers back inside. He plunges them deeper, pistoning them slowly. He takes his time, feeling up every ridge, every groove, and every curve of Komaeda’s cunt.
"More," Komaeda pleads, his voice painfully raw as the word drags from his throat. His hips roll up without thinking, fucking Hinata’s fingers even deeper. He trembles, overwhelmed by the feeling. The wet webbing of Komaeda’s hands cling to Hinata’s shirt, wringing the material in a tight grip.
The pads of Hinata’s fingers brush against something small and squishy and Komaeda cries out so fervently that Hinata startles. He stares at Komaeda with wide eyes, worried that he'd hurt him. He’d barely been able to open his mouth to ask if Komaeda was alright when wet claws suddenly dragged across the flesh of his shoulder. He hisses as his shirt and skin give in easily, lines of red marking his shoulder blade.
Komaeda pulls himself closer to Hinata, his breaths shallow against his collar. For a moment, Komaeda only clings to him, breath unsteady and fingers curled tight in his shirt like letting go would kill him. They sit in limbo as the moment stretches thin between them until Komaeda pulls back just enough to look at him, still trembling faintly.
Their faces hover inches apart, close enough that Hinata can feel Komaeda’s breath against his mouth. He catches the way Komaeda’s eyes drift down to his mouth and he finds himself looking at Komaeda’s own shiny, pale lips in response.
Komaeda closes the gap between them first, allowing the wet cool of his lips to meet Hinata’s own before he’s even gotten a chance to process what he’s done. The contact lingers, uncertain.
It’s clear he doesn’t know what he’s doing, but the intent was there anyway. Hinata takes the lead, moving his lips against Komaeda’s in slow, careful motions, guiding the unfamiliar rhythm. He presses closer experimentally, coaxing the shape of the kiss from him. Komaeda’s lips remain mostly slack, following Hinata’s motions.
Hesitantly, he responds in kind now that the action is welcome. He shifts uncertainly, attempting to copy the rhythm Hinata set. Their movements settle into an awkward but growing pace. Hinata parts his lips, guiding the kiss deeper. Komaeda imitates the motion half a beat later, allowing Hinata’s tongue to slip eagerly into his mouth. The sharp edges of Komaeda’s teeth nick Hinata’s tongue, splitting the muscle and drawing blood between their mouths.
Hinata winces.
Komaeda tries to pull away, but Hinata leans in after him, refusing to let the contact fade. The faintly sweet metallic taste of blood fills their mouths, smearing across their lips without a care. Hinata uses the distraction to run a third finger along Komaeda’s tight rim before wedging it in beside the others. The resulting shuddering gasp has Komaeda pulling away, and dropping his head against Hinata’s chest, his lips slacking with pleasure.
Thick fingers curl against velvety, ridged walls and Nagito whines, unrestrained. A wave of satisfaction encourages Hinata further and he thrusts steadily into the tight heat of Komaeda’s cunt, coaxing more slick to pool around them.
Komaeda moans openly, saliva and blood dripping onto the white fabric of Hinata’s shirt.
Hinata lifts Komaeda’s head with a hand under his chin and the smell of fresh seawater clings to the air around them. He can feel the rapid thump thump thump of Komaeda’s pulse beneath his fingers threatening to make his own heartbeat quicken. He trails his hand to the side of Komaeda’s neck where the skin flutters, opening in thin, gill-like slits. Komaeda instinctively twitches away from the touch—startled, and then just as quickly leans into it with a soft noise of satisfaction.
Hinata smooths a thumb over the delicate gill-slits before moving down to kiss them. The gills flutter against Hinata’s lips as he presses kisses all over.
The palm of his hand slaps wetly against Komaeda’s cunt, thrusting in and out with a rhythm steady enough to crest an orgasm. He zeroes in on the soft mass of nerves buried deep at the bottom of his pussy. He grazes it once, twice, thrice—and Komaeda shudders to a full stop, fighting to pull in a breath.
He cries out quietly, the entirety of his weight suddenly slacking against Hinata as he turns his head to bury his face into the crook of his neck. He openly pants against the wet skin there, eyes half-lidded as pleasure crashes over him in full unrelenting waves.
His voice resonates quietly through the cave as he moans lowly, his body tensing. The slightly syrupy and sappy texture of his slick pools up and around Hinata’s fingers in vacillating pulses, his hole clinging greedily. He rides out the high of his orgasm, before relaxing in Hinata’s hold.
The cave echoes with the sounds of their mingled breathing, the salty smell of saltwater and the sweet smell of Komaeda’s slick heavy in the air. For a moment, neither of them moves.
The threads of guilt begin to creep in at the edges of Hinata’s consciousness, never mind the fact that he hadn’t even gotten himself off, and he briefly wonders if mermaids have some form of post-nut clarity. He shifts awkwardly with Komaeda in his arms, ignoring the pressing discomfort of his physical arousal.
Komaeda makes a quiet noise in response and Hinata’s suddenly all too aware of his fingers still buried deep inside the other. He gives his fingers an experimental wiggle. Komaeda squeezes around him in response, impossibly tight.
He should probably pull them out.
He waits a beat and then removes his fingers with a wet squelch that makes Komaeda’s hole spasm. It quivers obscenely, searching for contact. Opaque prismatic fluid clings to his fingers, dripping in lazy rivulets. Komaeda whines breathlessly beside him.
“You’re okay,” Hinata says quietly, nearly equally out of breath as he lowers him back against the stone. Komaeda goes willingly, his tail splashing the water gently.
His hair sticks to his face as his head tips back against the stone, baring the light flush of his throat. His fins flutter contentedly and he lies there like he’s in some kind of mermaid-like post sex haze. He mutters something into the air of the cave, unintelligible and exhausted.
“What?” Hinata asks, moving the wet, white-pink curls of his hair plastered to his face aside to look at him clearly. Glassy, seafoam green stares back at him, not entirely present. Rosy red stains the pale of Komaeda’s lips, accompanied by the flush of his face.
“Hinata.” Komaeda says a bit louder, his voice coming out hoarse and dehydrated from the lack of seawater. He must’ve strained it earlier.
“Yes?” Hinata responds. He dips a hand into the sea beside him, cupping the water as best he can to pour it over Komaeda’s gills. The water slips between his gills, quickly drawn in.
“Hinata…” Komaeda breathes again, a bit more fervently. The water didn’t do much to help, but the intent is there.
“I’m right here.” Hinata assures from right beside him, leaning into the mermaid’s glassy line of sight. “You don’t have to keep calling me.”
“Hinata.”
Hinata sighs quietly, reminded of when they’d first met and the only word Komaeda remembered was the slight, uneven cadence of his name. He had worn his name out much like he is now, though he doesn’t really mind it.
He sits by Komaeda’s side, awkwardly, not entirely sure what to do. He thinks about maybe submerging Komaeda into the water, but he doesn’t feel too good about dumping a half-dazed mermaid into water even if it is his natural habitat. He thankfully doesn’t have to think long about the logistics of what to do with him as Komaeda slowly comes out of his post-bliss haze, the syllables of Hinata’s name becoming few and far between.
His tail kicks up a small splash of water at Hinata’s side and Hinata meets his eyes. The once distant haze of his irises are now gone, his usual attentiveness slowly returning.
“Hey, are you with me again?” Hinata asks, gauging his state.
Komaeda blinks at him, his head tilting a little in that way that lets Hinata know that he hadn’t understood. He debates repeating himself, or even rephrasing the question, but decides against it.
There’s no imminent danger, and Komaeda clearly is coming back to himself, slowly but surely. Even if Komaeda hadn’t understood him, he, at the very least, looks okay.
Hinata can’t help but glance down at where his fingers had been only moments prior. The smaller scaling surrounding what had previously been Komaeda’s slit is now entirely smooth. The seam sealed over so seamlessly it's impossible to believe it had once been what it was. And when he looks further down, the once 7 cm gash that tore open his flesh is healed. His tail is pristine. No vaginal-like canal, and no wound.
All evidence of what had transpired is effectively gone, save for the glossy, iridescent slick still coating his scales.
Another bout of water splashes Hinata side and he catches Komaeda’s gaze. He’s staring a bit longingly just past Hinata
“Uh,” Hinata says eloquently, turning to look at the sea behind him. “Do you want to get back in the water?”
Komaeda nods eagerly and Hinata moves out of the way for Komaeda to crawl back into the water like he had earlier. He thankfully doesn’t drench Hinata dropping in this time.
He watches as Komaeda plunges deep into the water and disappears below the surface. Energetic and swimming normally like he hadn’t just injured his tail and then allowed Hinata to work an orgasm out of him.
Hinata stares, a little bewildered after everything that just transpired.
His own erection had flagged in the post haze of caring for Komaeda, now mostly flaccid in his shorts and forgotten. He doesn't quite feel blue-balled like he thought he would, instead, finding himself content as he watches Komaeda swim about.
He didn't quite know what to expect when Komaeda had given him the okay all those months ago to study him, but this is certainly far from anything he would've dreamt might happen.
It had all started in the name of research—Komaeda even justifying their intimacy with it, though whether he truly knew the further implications is a complexity Hinata'd rather not pick apart—but it feels,,,wrong to report their moment in his journal like any other analysis.
Not that he would even classify it as that.
He's not entirely sure what kind of culture and societal norms there are regarding mermaid sexual—and romantic—relationships, but it's safe to say that it's nothing like the bizarre folklore humans write about given that Komaeda hadn't immediately dragged him into the sea after their deed was done.
It makes him a little nervous to know that the weight of significance could be vastly different between their species and despite Komaeda's nonchalance, there has to be some kind of larger significance to intimacy among mermaids.
That said, however,,,he's not mad at the recent development between them. Komaeda is a sweet creature with a heart purer than most of the people Hinata has met on land. Sure, there's the whole "mermaid" thing that's a bit tricky and unconventional, but looking past that, he really is nothing more than just a sweet soul.
Komaeda chooses then to emerge from the depths of the alcove sea with a handful of green seaweed. He chews on it idly, floating closer to the ledge Hinata is kneeling at with a curious look. As if he could feel Hinata's nonstop thinking.
For what feels like the umpteenth time today, a ruddy blush creeps over Hinata's ears and trails down the length of his neck. Komaeda, thankfully, pays it no mind. He reaches a hand up, the one holding his bunch of seaweed, and shows his findings off to Hinata.
"Snack." He prompts happily, his fins fluttering, hoping Hinata would catch the hint and oblige. Most days when Hinata visited, he would bring a treat (or a few!) for Komaeda as a silent gratitude for his cooperation. Komaeda's kind, as it turned out, could eat a wide variety of things, though Komaeda had developed a predilection for fruit and sea urchin as of late.
Cute. Hinata thinks to himself, fanning the flames of his flush. He affirms Komaeda's request and heads to his boat, quickly returning with the snack cooler he typically stores food for marine life in. He digs into the cooler and takes out a container of pre-shucked sea urchin. He cracks open the lid and scoops a healthy handful of the creamy roe.
The soft orange lobes are tossed into the water, and Hinata watches as Komaeda dives after them with a joyous splash of his tail. He emerges a moment later, clutching every piece Hinata had thrown in beside his seaweed as he eagerly tears into combined treat. He chews happily, drifting leisurely through the water.
Komaeda hums in between bites, the sound warbling softly through the alcove and Hinata thinks he could skip out on documenting. Just this once.