[ It definitely doesn't appear to be Yu's default state, but Yosuke has seen the cool and laid-back layers peel away over the days. He hasn't seen Yu interact with anyone else, though, so he just assumed that Yu needed time to warm up to him. Yosuke has always been fairly expressive, a trait that hasn't done him well in the past. But being with Yu is the first time in a long time that he's felt more comfortable to be himself. Maybe Yu feels the same way?
Yu is laughing and it feels good. It feels right. For all his protesting, Yosuke's grin is wide as well and there isn't a hint of resistance when Yu pulls them together again. He meets the fervor in Yu's kiss, although he's surprised at how quickly it makes his blood heat. Never before has he felt like he might actually need air when they break apart. His eyes are a little unfocused, Yu's question taking a moment to register. ]
Huh?
[ Oh. Right.
Another laugh escapes him as he squeezes Yu's hand back. Leaning back in, he bumps their noses together before he gently nuzzles Yu's cheek. ]
Yeah.
[ A hum. ]
I do.
[ He tugs Yu forward a bit, moving their hands out to the sides so that they can be a little closer. ]
Maybe it's silly after all, but...I like it when we have things in common. I keep thinkin' that maybe we're too different. So...it's nice, you know?
[ Yu isn't like this around anyone. Except for Yosuke, that is. Not that he has reason to think of that, much less explain - he wouldn't even if he thought of it - but if he knew what Yosuke believed, he might wonder.
At just how to express to Yosuke that he's ... special.
Given the person that he is, Yu pretty much always feels comfortable in his skin. Being himself isn't a problem for him. But he's had trouble opening up to people all of his life. Connecting with them was something he had never really experienced until he'd come to Inaba, and he'd met a little girl, and fallen into a TV, and worked at a hospital, and any other number of transformative experiences. He's slowly learning to be someone ... new. Someone who is not alone.
But with Yosuke, he isn't just pulled out of the solitude he knew most of his life. He's just ... happy.
It's not that he's unhappy at other times. He enjoys being with his friends, tutoring Shu and working at the daycare, running errands across town for the fox and seeing its happy yips and people's smiling faces. Rather, with Yosuke...
The world is brighter. Richer in color. More beautiful. More ... well ... fun.
Like this. This is fun. Kissing Yosuke senseless and getting to see his boyfriend briefly addled by it. Yu smirks, unable to help it, though he well knows that this is getting to him, too. Much more of this, and, well... he's been over that. Despite all logic and good sense, he kind of wants to keep going anyway.
That impulse is not at all curbed by Yosuke nuzzling him, clearing his hands out of the way so Yu can do what he's wanted to since he stripped his shirt off: pull them close, chest to chest. He's got his arm looped through his shirt now, snaked through the bottom and exiting out the neck of it, so he can just let it float around his arm and leave his hands free. He needs them, to settle eager fingers on Yosuke's hips and hold the other boy closer still.
Even so, as much as he's feeling like he's got a sun trapped beneath his rib cage, Yosuke's last comment softens his edges. He leans in until their foreheads bump, and then hums his assent. ]
Yeah. It is. I've thought about it, too. But in the end... there's a lot we share in common, isn't there?
[ Tail or legs, they're both boys - young men, maybe - with a lot riding on their shoulders, with senses of humor that seem to mesh almost perfectly, with curious and sharp minds that complement each other well, with similar places in the world of straddling the line between being a child and becoming an adult.
There are ties that bind them, Yu thinks. A powerful bond. Yosuke may not be one of his social links, but given all he's been through so far this year, he thinks that he can still make this connection between them an unbreakable one.
Yu ducks his head, briefly hiding his face where Yosuke's neck meets the slope of his shoulder. There are pearls looped around Yosuke's neck, of course, but Yu noses them out of the way until he can reach skin. In what is perhaps a deeply sentimental gesture, he loops his arms around Yosuke's waist, instead, in a loose but close hug.
He is quiet, for a moment. Then he says, straightforward and honest: ]
I like you, Yosuke. Really...
[ Not even so deep down, he knows he is at very serious risk of falling, honestly, in love.
[ At first Yosuke had begun to compare them out of an intellectual need to understand. Yu was human, Yosuke was not. What sort of implications did that have? Clearly they could communicate, meaning Yu's comment that they shared a history at one point come to mind. But why were they separated? The more he brought Yu, the more he learned about humans, the more he began to guess how he measured up.
The more he worried that he didn't.
But why should it matter if it's purely for science? Well, it didn't take too long for Yosuke to realize that maybe there was some personal investment in there, too. He wanted Yu to like him. Because of that, he hoped that maybe they weren't so different.
Even after their confession, doubts still lingered. Were their differences too great? He spent some nights back in his grotto restless and awake with the worry. But once they met again, once he knew Yu was safe, he was assured almost immediately that, at least for the moment, those differences didn't matter.
Yu is really something else.
It's reassuring to know he hasn't been the only one thinking about it, though. He'd worried he was borderline obsessed at some points, but at least it shows that it wasn't an unreasonable concern. It's hard to feel that it could be anything but good when they're like this, though.
His skin is alight with wherever they connect. Feeling Yu against his neck makes his stomach flutter. His free hand explores the expanse of Yu's back, fingers playing along the bumps of his spine. The same. He pauses when Yu speaks again, the words feeling heavy in the water.
His stomach flips and his heart makes a run for it too. ]
This time Yu doesn't even reply. Not verbally, anyway. He lifts his head, and the look in his eyes is maybe surprisingly intense. He wastes scant few seconds before leaning in to steal another kiss, and this one isn't one of the short, fluttery sweet ones he was pressing to Yosuke's skin before. This is hunger and heat. Again, it's an immediately open-mouthed kiss, because he feels a driving need to be able to taste Yosuke, to tangle them together so passionately and so deeply that they both forget where one ends and the other begins.
Kissing like this stokes the low-burning embers in his gut to a sudden roaring flame.
Are they too different?
Are they ultimately alike?
They can dwell on it all they want, but Yu knows how he feels.
He is falling in love with Yosuke. He can't kid himself. He can't pretend the way his heart twists when they're tangled up like this is anything less than true emotion. That the dull, survivable, ignorable, even, but constant ache he feels when they're apart doesn't imply some damning things about how he feels. Hearing Yosuke echo his words like that, i like you too, a lot, makes his skin burn.
This is how he feels. He's confident of that.
He's more confident than anything that Yosuke is what, who, he wants.
Now he yanks them flush. His fingers press hard into Yosuke's waist, not enough to hurt or bruise, but enough that you'd be able to see the impressions of his fingertips when he let go, that Yosuke can make no mistake about how much Yu wants him. ]
[ The way that Yu looks at him is new. Yosuke feels entirely unable to look away, the water around them suddenly feeling too warm. But a second later he doesn't have to worry about it, as their lips and tongues meet again in a dance that's becoming increasingly familiar. Yosuke lets out something akin to a sigh, or at least as close as one can make underwater. This--...this is good.
This kind, thoughtful, soft-spoken human with the silvery hair and eyes that remind Yosuke of the moon. He is good.
A surprised mumble is lost between their lips as they are finally chest to chest, a small bubble sneaking out between them. Yosuke's hand instinctively reaches up to the back of Yu's head, fingers threading through the shorter strands of hair that float so freely in the water. Being shirtless isn't anything new to him, but he can't deny the fact that there's something different about this skin on skin contact. He's not entirely sure what to make of it, but it's nice. Maybe it's because he knows this is Yu, this is all of Yu, real Yu beside him. No barriers.
If only he could bring them closer...
The hand at his waist urges him silently in some ways, as Yosuke curls his tail over to rest behind the back of Yu's calf. The places where they're different, he realizes...and yet they touch in so many places where they're the same. ]
[ Some distant piece of his mind wonders if it might not feel this way on land. This heated. The water around them seems to be holding, gathering, reflecting back the heat they're building between their bodies. There's something addicting about the way their skin slides together as they float, the way the water wets their lips and makes their mouths slip together in a way that makes Yu feel a little lightheaded.
It is, altogether, actually a lot better than their previous experiences.
There are sighs, and mumbles, and Yu swallows every sound that Yosuke makes with a hunger that nearly surprises him. He wants. He wants this, the fingers in his hair, the somewhat stuttery rise and fall of Yosuke's chest against his own. The slide of Yosuke's tail around his legs is startling, but it feels ... really, really good. For the first time a rise of gooseflesh rolls across his skin, from the base of his spine all the way up to consume his scalp, where the feeling is echoed thanks to Yosuke's wandering fingers.
Everywhere Yosuke's touching him feels more alive.
Without even thinking, he responds to the way Yosuke wraps the end of his tail around his calf by shifting his other leg, his knee raising to nudge against the opposite side of Yosuke's tail. He has a powerful feeling of wanting Yosuke between his legs, which is absurd, and too fast, and that is definitely one of the ways in which they are different, and--
Yu sucks Yosuke's bottom lip into his mouth, worries at it with his teeth before diving back into his mouth, and though he doesn't realize it quite yet, it is all a little too much. Yosuke will probably soon notice a slightly ... different sensation that comes with their being pressed flush not just at the chest, but at the hips. ]
[ He's never felt this sort of affection before. It's a little overwhelming, a little raw, and completely impossible to ignore. Every time he meets up with Yu, it gets a little stronger. Every time he thinks he understands it fully, and every time he's completely blown away.
Like right now. There's so much heat between them that Yosuke isn't sure what else to do than drink it in. The way Yu is kissing him, the way he is kissing Yu, it's a lot and it's wonderful and he knows he's going to be proud of the bruises and swelled lips when they're done. He hopes Yu will feel the same, so he returns the nips to Yu's soft lips as well, battling Yu's tongue for the time and space to work.
There is something different about Yu. It takes him a moment to notice.
Is this...another place where they're different?
Maybe. He's curious, but he doesn't want to ruin the moment. Yu had decided to take off his shirt, he figures it only makes sense that he should wait until Yu decides to take off his shorts as well. Yosuke has never made a point to hide himself, but merpeople don't really wear clothes in the first place.
He just wants to keep kissing Yu like this. So he does. ]
[ Yosuke biting back at him was more than he was prepared for. This time it's Yu to make the little sighs and sounds, just a few, and only the last one that escapes him is voiced, a low but melty almost-moan. He has tbe absurd impulse to bite Yosuke everywhere, to suck on his skin and leave marks.
The heat, Yosuke's tongue sliding against his own, all this exposed skin, it's too much. Yu's hands climb up Yosuke's back and his nails dig in just a little and his chest stutters just as he fails to resist the urge to twitch his hips, pressing them into Yosuke's. (Or, well, the general area where Yosuke's hips would be, if he had legs.)
When a hiss escapes him, when it feels much better than it should, Yu finally realizes he has a problem.
With a startled, cut off noise, he abruptly pulls back, his eyes wide as his face floods with heat. He's ... oh god. He's not... it's not completely... but it's still-- there's no way Yosuke didn't notice. Mortified, Yu presses a hand over his mouth and reintroduces a little space between their bodies by gripping Yosuke's shoulder with his other hand and physically moving the two of them slightly apart. Some piece of his mind gives him the intense desire to try and ... cover up what's happening, and the hand over his mouth twitches as if it would move, but he catches himself at the last second. Yosuke... will he even know what it means? Probably not.
... still-- ]
S-sorry, [ he chokes out from between splayed fingers. ] I...I got ... a little carried away.
Things seem to have been going so well. He's unfairly warm and Yu's skin feels only warmer. He's dazed, head a little cloudy in the best way possible, and then there's suddenly too much room between them.
What?
Yosuke's a little slow on the uptake for a moment, blinking a few times and refocusing on the shock face of the other boy. His hands hang dumbly in the water as he tries to process exactly what just happened. Yu's cover his mouth.
Did Yosuke do something wrong? ]
What?
[ Yosuke swallows, an uneasy smile testing on his lips. ]
N-No, it's okay. I--um...I mean, I liked it.
[ Of course he's got no idea that Yu is referring to his, erm, lower extremities. He is even brazen enough to reach back out to Yu. He wants more kisses, boyo. ]
[ Too surprised to immediately answer, Yu lets Yosuke draw him back in close.
I liked it.
This is bad for his blood pressure, probably.
He still stops before their bodies can be drawn flush again, his hands back on Yosuke's waist. He's still flamingly bright red, and his adam's apple bobs as he swallows visibly. ]
No, I...
[ Yosuke doesn't know. Of course he doesn't know. Why would he know what happens when humans get aroused? Do his kind even have sex?
Oh god. Thinking about sex of any kind with Yosuke is only going to make this worse. Yu gives his head a small shake to make the flash of heat in his gut dissipate. ]
It's...
[ You know, he's had to face a lot of things. Take on the monsters made of people's darkest secrets, chase a killer at constant risk to the lives of himself and his friends, and in fact, he has almost died. And, somehow, this requires he summon more of his courage than he can ever remember having to do before.
Calm down, Yu. Pulling in a steadying breath (it's water, it makes the water around his head shift, but it's still calming), he reattains some of his composure and looks at Yosuke directly.
[ Yu is hesitant and Yosuke doesn't want to pressure him, but he's not sure what changed. He said he got carried away, but Yosuke thinks he may like carried away. When Yu keeps some distance between them, Yosuke feels his smile falter just a degree. But he waits, confused but patient.
Wait... ]
...Sex?
[ He raises his brows, but it's not disgust. Just, you know. Curiosity mixed with some confusion. ]
[ At the very least, Yosuke doesn't seem too disappointed, which is good. Since he really, really, really doesn't want Yosuke to feel bad, or to worry, or feel like this is his fault. Even though it kind of his fault? But not in a bad way! ... help.
The curiosity and confusion yield mixed feelings in Yu. Some relief, since at least he doesn't seem bothered by the use of the word, but also some dread, since...
... he's not going to have to explain sex to Yosuke, is he?
That question is partially answered while he's still getting his thoughts together, and Yosuke tosses that question at him. He makes a weird sound, somewhere between a choke and a cough. He does end up clearing his throat. ]
... humans don't have seasons. But that is ... how I'm feeling right now. ... this--
[ Yu gestures ... below his waist. His shorts floating in the water obscures it slightly, but there's still a somewhat obvious bulge between his legs. Calling attention to it makes him wish a little bit that maybe he had actually drowned the other day, though he doesn't really look it. He just seems a little ... tense. ]
--is because I ... really liked what we were doing. So my body reacted. [ That's a pretty safe way of describing it, right? Thoughtfully, and again, somewhat plainly: ] We describe it as getting aroused.
[ Sorry, Yu. You totally have to explain sex to Yosuke. Some fish do give live birth, but koi lay eggs.
Still, Yosuke listens attentively. Yu does seem, er, uncomfortable, and it dawns on him that this is likely something that holds a different sort of...meaning? If it's...if it's not just that time of year when that's just how you feel, if Yu is feeling that way because of what they're doing, then...Is it...
Yu wants to...mate with him?
Oh.
Oh. ]
S-So...you...
[ Welp.
Okay, it's clearly starting to make sense to him now. His eyes glance down to Yu's shorts. What is--so that's what--he's... ]
[ How is it with every passing moment, he wishes even more he could sink into the river muck below them and disappear for the rest of eternity? Every time he thinks he's hit the absolute peak of mortification and embarrassment, things get a little worse.
Like Yosuke, glancing down at his boner, and going ... oh. ]
I, uh--
[ He has never been this flustered or off his game, ever, not once in his entire life. It is a new and strange and utterly unwelcome feeling. ]
I don't want-- I'm not... [ He rubs a hand over his mouth. ] I don't want to do anything. Like that. It's just... I couldn't help feeling ... really good. It's ... an automatic response. All I want is ... to keep doing what we were doing. Though, I ... might need to calm down first. [ This is said quietly, with a self-deprecating laugh coloring his tone. ]
[ He should be flattered, right? That Yu thinks that--that Yu's body thinks that--wait, what is he thinking? He's enjoying it too, right? What exactly does that make him in all of this? After saying he liked it, showing that he wants to keep going...is he...also saying he wants...to...
This is getting infinitely more complicated than he anticipated. ]
N-No, it's--I mean--it's cool...
[ Awkward. ]
Haha, I guess...this is another one of those differences, huh?
Somewhat tentatively, he lets his arms fall over Yosuke's shoulders, and tilts his head forward till their foreheads bump. It's an affectionate gesture, but he couples it with a quiet sigh. You'd think that after a discussion like this his erection would have disappeared, but no. He can feel it. He's still half-hard.
If he doesn't end up having wet dreams tonight, he'll be amazed. ]
Something like that, [ he murmurs, somewhat dryly. Yu lifts his head, and his eyes search Yosuke's face. ]
... do you want to keep going? Even if...
[ ... even if his body keeps reacting like this. Unless they take the edge off the biting and light petting, there's no way he's not going to get another boner. They're in a little too deep now. And Yu ... wouldn't actually mind if they kept going, like that. Being turned on and not finding release is a little frustrating of a thought, but the payoff of being physically tangled up in Yosuke for however long he wants is enough to make it worth it. As long as... well...
... Yosuke would kind of have to not mind feeling the constant presence of said boner, pressing against his tail. Which. Is a little embarrassing to think about, but also Yosuke's choice. They can work around this, or just take some time to calm down before continuing at a slower pace. ]
[ He wants to understand, he really does, even if the implications here are a little raunchy. Kissing feels nice, touching feels nice, but the actual desire to procreate really only comes at a certain time, and only after a certain age. He's felt that urge before, but he's yet to actually participate in it. To have it just overcome himself without knowing it's going to happen...that's a little scary, in some respects.
He's actually impressed. Yu's handling it very well.
There's a moment where Yosuke keeps his gaze elsewhere, but he eventually locks eyes with Yu once again. ]
[ Yu just watches Yosuke wonderingly. He doesn't think he's alright with it because he doesn't understand the implications. He clearly does, by now. And he's...
... okay? With Yu ... being like this, right now?
Quietly, he says, ]
Not as long as you're alright with it.
[ He leans in a little closer. Their noses bump. The implication should be clear. ]
[ It's a curious thing. Equating this sort of closeness and affection with reproduction. Normally fish only meet up during that time, and the depth of love and affection isn't usually communicated. However, once a koi has transformed into a merperson, it is possible to form much closer bonds. However, it's separate entirely. Given the fact that not all koi will evolve, the sort of familial ties are lost, the only difference being the lines of the dragons.
He's found other mermaids attractive before, but it's not the same pull that he feels towards Yu. Yu is...enticing. He commands Yosuke's attention. He's kissed before, but not like this. It's so much more intense than anything he's experienced. He wasn't sure if that's just because it's Yu or he's human, or...
Yosuke nuzzles Yu as soon as their noses touch, resting his hand on Yu's upper arm. ]
It's...kind of a new concept to me, you know? I mean, kissing and stuff like this, it's different with you...
[ He's not sure how to put it. ]
I...if this is just what happens, I mean--it's not like we could actually--
[ It's like lightning beneath his skin, everywhere Yosuke touches him. Little bursts of electricity, small bolts that spark in his blood and light him from within. He feels Yosuke the way he he feels it when a zio lifts the hairs on the back of his neck. Yu has to swallow to keep himself from immediately leaning in and recapturing Yosuke's mouth, claiming it for his own. ]
... not like we could...? [ he asks softly, and slowly, he draws their bodies almost flush again. Yosuke will be able to feel him, the hardness between his legs, and having pressure against it again makes Yu shiver, but he otherwise neither pushes it nor gives much sign it affects him. ]
[ There it is again. Before Yosuke had just been curious, but now that he knows what it means...
Yu's embarrassment, being flustered, all of it gives meaning to Yosuke that wouldn't otherwise be there. The thought that Yu could feel the urge to mate, voluntary or otherwise, just by touching him is strangely exciting. The fins at the sides of his face flare outwards.
Still, he has to laugh self-deprecatingly. Clarifying is even more embarrassing. ]
Sh-shit, uh...I was just gonna say that...um...it's not like...I mean, we're different, but we're both...boys...y'know?
[ They can't fertilize any eggs, Yu. That's what he's saying. It's...innocuous. As much as it can be. ]
[ It would be impossible to miss that sign. Yosuke has a lot of tells, thanks to his fins and his tail and just in general being quite an expressive person. The fins on the sides of his face flaring out... that usually happens when Yosuke is interested. And if that's his reaction to feeling Yu's erection...
Yu pulls in a slow, shuddering breath, trying to will himself to be less completely turned on and failing.
He considers those words in silence, letting his hands trail idly over Yosuke's body. Their exploration isn't hungry, but it is ... thorough. There's no inch of skin he misses, his fingers finding every plane, every rise and dip, and smoothing over each. ]
That's true, [ he concedes, in a mild sort of tone. ] ... gender makes no difference to me when it comes to things like this. It's ... possible, for boys to be with boys. It just works a little differently.
[ He thinks. So he's imagined, in his idle fantasies.
Season, he casts back to in his mind, and makes a guess at what he thinks Yosuke is implying. ]
When it's two boys ... it wouldn't be mating in the traditional sense. You'd just be doing it because it feels good.
[ As baldly as everything else he's said when trying to describe all this. He's starting to get a handle on his composure again, even as his desire for Yosuke is creeping up on him all over again. ]
[ He likes touching Yu, and he likes being touched by Yu. It's a good feeling. It makes him feel like they're connecting in ways they can't with words, fully experiencing one another for what they are. His hands start to move as well as if following Yu's lead, but truthfully Yosuke has never been good at keeping still.
The thought of kissing another boy, touching another boy? Not so strange, actually. But it's...really pointless to mate with another boy. Mating is for eggs, basically. He hasn't thought about doing it just because it feels good, though he realizes that might be because he responds to a different stimulus than that of another person, something in nature tells him its time.
To think...that someone else, maybe a certain someone could create that sort of pull--
--he's...a little jealous, maybe. That Yu can experience that. ]
...Does it feel good?
[ He asks, voice a little deeper than he meant it to. ]
[ Truthfully, Yu is starting to slip back into that state of mind where he doesn't really care why Yosuke is touching him. He just cares that Yosuke is touching him at all, warming his skin with those long fingers of his...
He does know that this must all be pretty strange for Yosuke. They're doing this not just across cultural barriers, but ... species barriers, too, if he really thinks about it. They're very similar in many ways, but their, uh, methods of reproduction are actually pretty different. Clearly they both enjoy the physicality of what they're doing, but Yosuke doesn't get turned on the way Yu does. He's simply not built the same way. Though the hazy looks in Yosuke's eye, the sometimes stunned, dazed look when they break away from kissing, the way Yosuke pulls him in... well, hopefully he gets some enjoyment out of it, even if it isn't exactly the same.
The sound of his boyfriend's voice, just a touch lower than his normal register, gets Yu's eyelids to half-lid. He's not so far gone that he can't still feel some misgivings - is this really okay? - but he also knows Yosuke wouldn't ask if he didn't want to hear the answer. ]
... yeah, [ he breathes out, so soft that it barely disturbs the water around his mouth. He ducks his chin briefly, nuzzling Yosuke before lifting it again to brush their lips together. ]
Pressure and touch, [ he amends. Pressing together like this does feel good, though also like not nearly enough. Touching it is what would feel-- and, well, he has misgivings, both about the idea of starting to buck into Yosuke, which seems ... rude, and at all compelling Yosuke to touch him in such an intimate way. He wouldn't... mind, he has to admit to himself, but there is no way he wants it to happen unless Yosuke is absolutely certain. ]
[ Yosuke is most definitely getting a sense of enjoyment out of it, even if the end result isn't the desire to mate. He does like the closeness, the light touching, the affection that comes with it. That's plenty enough to him. There's clearly more to it for Yu, though, and Yosuke can't hep but keep thinking that Yu is feeling this way because of what they're doing. Because of him.
There's a strange sense of ownership of that.
Yosuke manages to steal Yu's lips momentarily before a kiss. Pressure and touch? Specifically...down there? ]
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Yu is laughing and it feels good. It feels right. For all his protesting, Yosuke's grin is wide as well and there isn't a hint of resistance when Yu pulls them together again. He meets the fervor in Yu's kiss, although he's surprised at how quickly it makes his blood heat. Never before has he felt like he might actually need air when they break apart. His eyes are a little unfocused, Yu's question taking a moment to register. ]
Huh?
[ Oh. Right.
Another laugh escapes him as he squeezes Yu's hand back. Leaning back in, he bumps their noses together before he gently nuzzles Yu's cheek. ]
Yeah.
[ A hum. ]
I do.
[ He tugs Yu forward a bit, moving their hands out to the sides so that they can be a little closer. ]
Maybe it's silly after all, but...I like it when we have things in common. I keep thinkin' that maybe we're too different. So...it's nice, you know?
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At just how to express to Yosuke that he's ... special.
Given the person that he is, Yu pretty much always feels comfortable in his skin. Being himself isn't a problem for him. But he's had trouble opening up to people all of his life. Connecting with them was something he had never really experienced until he'd come to Inaba, and he'd met a little girl, and fallen into a TV, and worked at a hospital, and any other number of transformative experiences. He's slowly learning to be someone ... new. Someone who is not alone.
But with Yosuke, he isn't just pulled out of the solitude he knew most of his life. He's just ... happy.
It's not that he's unhappy at other times. He enjoys being with his friends, tutoring Shu and working at the daycare, running errands across town for the fox and seeing its happy yips and people's smiling faces. Rather, with Yosuke...
The world is brighter. Richer in color. More beautiful. More ... well ... fun.
Like this. This is fun. Kissing Yosuke senseless and getting to see his boyfriend briefly addled by it. Yu smirks, unable to help it, though he well knows that this is getting to him, too. Much more of this, and, well... he's been over that. Despite all logic and good sense, he kind of wants to keep going anyway.
That impulse is not at all curbed by Yosuke nuzzling him, clearing his hands out of the way so Yu can do what he's wanted to since he stripped his shirt off: pull them close, chest to chest. He's got his arm looped through his shirt now, snaked through the bottom and exiting out the neck of it, so he can just let it float around his arm and leave his hands free. He needs them, to settle eager fingers on Yosuke's hips and hold the other boy closer still.
Even so, as much as he's feeling like he's got a sun trapped beneath his rib cage, Yosuke's last comment softens his edges. He leans in until their foreheads bump, and then hums his assent. ]
Yeah. It is. I've thought about it, too. But in the end... there's a lot we share in common, isn't there?
[ Tail or legs, they're both boys - young men, maybe - with a lot riding on their shoulders, with senses of humor that seem to mesh almost perfectly, with curious and sharp minds that complement each other well, with similar places in the world of straddling the line between being a child and becoming an adult.
There are ties that bind them, Yu thinks. A powerful bond. Yosuke may not be one of his social links, but given all he's been through so far this year, he thinks that he can still make this connection between them an unbreakable one.
Yu ducks his head, briefly hiding his face where Yosuke's neck meets the slope of his shoulder. There are pearls looped around Yosuke's neck, of course, but Yu noses them out of the way until he can reach skin. In what is perhaps a deeply sentimental gesture, he loops his arms around Yosuke's waist, instead, in a loose but close hug.
He is quiet, for a moment. Then he says, straightforward and honest: ]
I like you, Yosuke. Really...
[ Not even so deep down, he knows he is at very serious risk of falling, honestly, in love.
He cannot bring himself to mind, or stop. ]
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The more he worried that he didn't.
But why should it matter if it's purely for science? Well, it didn't take too long for Yosuke to realize that maybe there was some personal investment in there, too. He wanted Yu to like him. Because of that, he hoped that maybe they weren't so different.
Even after their confession, doubts still lingered. Were their differences too great? He spent some nights back in his grotto restless and awake with the worry. But once they met again, once he knew Yu was safe, he was assured almost immediately that, at least for the moment, those differences didn't matter.
Yu is really something else.
It's reassuring to know he hasn't been the only one thinking about it, though. He'd worried he was borderline obsessed at some points, but at least it shows that it wasn't an unreasonable concern. It's hard to feel that it could be anything but good when they're like this, though.
His skin is alight with wherever they connect. Feeling Yu against his neck makes his stomach flutter. His free hand explores the expanse of Yu's back, fingers playing along the bumps of his spine. The same. He pauses when Yu speaks again, the words feeling heavy in the water.
His stomach flips and his heart makes a run for it too. ]
...I like you too. A lot.
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This time Yu doesn't even reply. Not verbally, anyway. He lifts his head, and the look in his eyes is maybe surprisingly intense. He wastes scant few seconds before leaning in to steal another kiss, and this one isn't one of the short, fluttery sweet ones he was pressing to Yosuke's skin before. This is hunger and heat. Again, it's an immediately open-mouthed kiss, because he feels a driving need to be able to taste Yosuke, to tangle them together so passionately and so deeply that they both forget where one ends and the other begins.
Kissing like this stokes the low-burning embers in his gut to a sudden roaring flame.
Are they too different?
Are they ultimately alike?
They can dwell on it all they want, but Yu knows how he feels.
He is falling in love with Yosuke. He can't kid himself. He can't pretend the way his heart twists when they're tangled up like this is anything less than true emotion. That the dull, survivable, ignorable, even, but constant ache he feels when they're apart doesn't imply some damning things about how he feels. Hearing Yosuke echo his words like that, i like you too, a lot, makes his skin burn.
This is how he feels. He's confident of that.
He's more confident than anything that Yosuke is what, who, he wants.
Now he yanks them flush. His fingers press hard into Yosuke's waist, not enough to hurt or bruise, but enough that you'd be able to see the impressions of his fingertips when he let go, that Yosuke can make no mistake about how much Yu wants him. ]
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This kind, thoughtful, soft-spoken human with the silvery hair and eyes that remind Yosuke of the moon. He is good.
A surprised mumble is lost between their lips as they are finally chest to chest, a small bubble sneaking out between them. Yosuke's hand instinctively reaches up to the back of Yu's head, fingers threading through the shorter strands of hair that float so freely in the water. Being shirtless isn't anything new to him, but he can't deny the fact that there's something different about this skin on skin contact. He's not entirely sure what to make of it, but it's nice. Maybe it's because he knows this is Yu, this is all of Yu, real Yu beside him. No barriers.
If only he could bring them closer...
The hand at his waist urges him silently in some ways, as Yosuke curls his tail over to rest behind the back of Yu's calf. The places where they're different, he realizes...and yet they touch in so many places where they're the same. ]
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It is, altogether, actually a lot better than their previous experiences.
There are sighs, and mumbles, and Yu swallows every sound that Yosuke makes with a hunger that nearly surprises him. He wants. He wants this, the fingers in his hair, the somewhat stuttery rise and fall of Yosuke's chest against his own. The slide of Yosuke's tail around his legs is startling, but it feels ... really, really good. For the first time a rise of gooseflesh rolls across his skin, from the base of his spine all the way up to consume his scalp, where the feeling is echoed thanks to Yosuke's wandering fingers.
Everywhere Yosuke's touching him feels more alive.
Without even thinking, he responds to the way Yosuke wraps the end of his tail around his calf by shifting his other leg, his knee raising to nudge against the opposite side of Yosuke's tail. He has a powerful feeling of wanting Yosuke between his legs, which is absurd, and too fast, and that is definitely one of the ways in which they are different, and--
Yu sucks Yosuke's bottom lip into his mouth, worries at it with his teeth before diving back into his mouth, and though he doesn't realize it quite yet, it is all a little too much. Yosuke will probably soon notice a slightly ... different sensation that comes with their being pressed flush not just at the chest, but at the hips. ]
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Like right now. There's so much heat between them that Yosuke isn't sure what else to do than drink it in. The way Yu is kissing him, the way he is kissing Yu, it's a lot and it's wonderful and he knows he's going to be proud of the bruises and swelled lips when they're done. He hopes Yu will feel the same, so he returns the nips to Yu's soft lips as well, battling Yu's tongue for the time and space to work.
There is something different about Yu. It takes him a moment to notice.
Is this...another place where they're different?
Maybe. He's curious, but he doesn't want to ruin the moment. Yu had decided to take off his shirt, he figures it only makes sense that he should wait until Yu decides to take off his shorts as well. Yosuke has never made a point to hide himself, but merpeople don't really wear clothes in the first place.
He just wants to keep kissing Yu like this. So he does. ]
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The heat, Yosuke's tongue sliding against his own, all this exposed skin, it's too much. Yu's hands climb up Yosuke's back and his nails dig in just a little and his chest stutters just as he fails to resist the urge to twitch his hips, pressing them into Yosuke's. (Or, well, the general area where Yosuke's hips would be, if he had legs.)
When a hiss escapes him, when it feels much better than it should, Yu finally realizes he has a problem.
With a startled, cut off noise, he abruptly pulls back, his eyes wide as his face floods with heat. He's ... oh god. He's not... it's not completely... but it's still-- there's no way Yosuke didn't notice. Mortified, Yu presses a hand over his mouth and reintroduces a little space between their bodies by gripping Yosuke's shoulder with his other hand and physically moving the two of them slightly apart. Some piece of his mind gives him the intense desire to try and ... cover up what's happening, and the hand over his mouth twitches as if it would move, but he catches himself at the last second. Yosuke... will he even know what it means? Probably not.
... still-- ]
S-sorry, [ he chokes out from between splayed fingers. ] I...I got ... a little carried away.
[ kill him. ]
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Things seem to have been going so well. He's unfairly warm and Yu's skin feels only warmer. He's dazed, head a little cloudy in the best way possible, and then there's suddenly too much room between them.
What?
Yosuke's a little slow on the uptake for a moment, blinking a few times and refocusing on the shock face of the other boy. His hands hang dumbly in the water as he tries to process exactly what just happened. Yu's cover his mouth.
Did Yosuke do something wrong? ]
What?
[ Yosuke swallows, an uneasy smile testing on his lips. ]
N-No, it's okay. I--um...I mean, I liked it.
[ Of course he's got no idea that Yu is referring to his, erm, lower extremities. He is even brazen enough to reach back out to Yu. He wants more kisses, boyo. ]
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I liked it.
This is bad for his blood pressure, probably.
He still stops before their bodies can be drawn flush again, his hands back on Yosuke's waist. He's still flamingly bright red, and his adam's apple bobs as he swallows visibly. ]
No, I...
[ Yosuke doesn't know. Of course he doesn't know. Why would he know what happens when humans get aroused? Do his kind even have sex?
Oh god. Thinking about sex of any kind with Yosuke is only going to make this worse. Yu gives his head a small shake to make the flash of heat in his gut dissipate. ]
It's...
[ You know, he's had to face a lot of things. Take on the monsters made of people's darkest secrets, chase a killer at constant risk to the lives of himself and his friends, and in fact, he has almost died. And, somehow, this requires he summon more of his courage than he can ever remember having to do before.
Calm down, Yu. Pulling in a steadying breath (it's water, it makes the water around his head shift, but it's still calming), he reattains some of his composure and looks at Yosuke directly.
Baldly: ]
Do you know how sex works, for humans?
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Wait... ]
...Sex?
[ He raises his brows, but it's not disgust. Just, you know. Curiosity mixed with some confusion. ]
Uh...no.
[ There's a long pause. A very long pause. ]
...Is it...that...season for you?
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The curiosity and confusion yield mixed feelings in Yu. Some relief, since at least he doesn't seem bothered by the use of the word, but also some dread, since...
... he's not going to have to explain sex to Yosuke, is he?
That question is partially answered while he's still getting his thoughts together, and Yosuke tosses that question at him. He makes a weird sound, somewhere between a choke and a cough. He does end up clearing his throat. ]
... humans don't have seasons. But that is ... how I'm feeling right now. ... this--
[ Yu gestures ... below his waist. His shorts floating in the water obscures it slightly, but there's still a somewhat obvious bulge between his legs. Calling attention to it makes him wish a little bit that maybe he had actually drowned the other day, though he doesn't really look it. He just seems a little ... tense. ]
--is because I ... really liked what we were doing. So my body reacted. [ That's a pretty safe way of describing it, right? Thoughtfully, and again, somewhat plainly: ] We describe it as getting aroused.
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Still, Yosuke listens attentively. Yu does seem, er, uncomfortable, and it dawns on him that this is likely something that holds a different sort of...meaning? If it's...if it's not just that time of year when that's just how you feel, if Yu is feeling that way because of what they're doing, then...Is it...
Yu wants to...mate with him?
Oh.
Oh. ]
S-So...you...
[ Welp.
Okay, it's clearly starting to make sense to him now. His eyes glance down to Yu's shorts. What is--so that's what--he's... ]
...Oh.
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Like Yosuke, glancing down at his boner, and going ... oh. ]
I, uh--
[ He has never been this flustered or off his game, ever, not once in his entire life. It is a new and strange and utterly unwelcome feeling. ]
I don't want-- I'm not... [ He rubs a hand over his mouth. ] I don't want to do anything. Like that. It's just... I couldn't help feeling ... really good. It's ... an automatic response. All I want is ... to keep doing what we were doing. Though, I ... might need to calm down first. [ This is said quietly, with a self-deprecating laugh coloring his tone. ]
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This is getting infinitely more complicated than he anticipated. ]
N-No, it's--I mean--it's cool...
[ Awkward. ]
Haha, I guess...this is another one of those differences, huh?
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Somewhat tentatively, he lets his arms fall over Yosuke's shoulders, and tilts his head forward till their foreheads bump. It's an affectionate gesture, but he couples it with a quiet sigh. You'd think that after a discussion like this his erection would have disappeared, but no. He can feel it. He's still half-hard.
If he doesn't end up having wet dreams tonight, he'll be amazed. ]
Something like that, [ he murmurs, somewhat dryly. Yu lifts his head, and his eyes search Yosuke's face. ]
... do you want to keep going? Even if...
[ ... even if his body keeps reacting like this. Unless they take the edge off the biting and light petting, there's no way he's not going to get another boner. They're in a little too deep now. And Yu ... wouldn't actually mind if they kept going, like that. Being turned on and not finding release is a little frustrating of a thought, but the payoff of being physically tangled up in Yosuke for however long he wants is enough to make it worth it. As long as... well...
... Yosuke would kind of have to not mind feeling the constant presence of said boner, pressing against his tail. Which. Is a little embarrassing to think about, but also Yosuke's choice. They can work around this, or just take some time to calm down before continuing at a slower pace. ]
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He's actually impressed. Yu's handling it very well.
There's a moment where Yosuke keeps his gaze elsewhere, but he eventually locks eyes with Yu once again. ]
It's...I mean...does it bother you?
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... okay? With Yu ... being like this, right now?
Quietly, he says, ]
Not as long as you're alright with it.
[ He leans in a little closer. Their noses bump. The implication should be clear. ]
You're sure?
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He's found other mermaids attractive before, but it's not the same pull that he feels towards Yu. Yu is...enticing. He commands Yosuke's attention. He's kissed before, but not like this. It's so much more intense than anything he's experienced. He wasn't sure if that's just because it's Yu or he's human, or...
Yosuke nuzzles Yu as soon as their noses touch, resting his hand on Yu's upper arm. ]
It's...kind of a new concept to me, you know? I mean, kissing and stuff like this, it's different with you...
[ He's not sure how to put it. ]
I...if this is just what happens, I mean--it's not like we could actually--
[ Er-- ]
W-What am I saying? Haha...
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... not like we could...? [ he asks softly, and slowly, he draws their bodies almost flush again. Yosuke will be able to feel him, the hardness between his legs, and having pressure against it again makes Yu shiver, but he otherwise neither pushes it nor gives much sign it affects him. ]
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Yu's embarrassment, being flustered, all of it gives meaning to Yosuke that wouldn't otherwise be there. The thought that Yu could feel the urge to mate, voluntary or otherwise, just by touching him is strangely exciting. The fins at the sides of his face flare outwards.
Still, he has to laugh self-deprecatingly. Clarifying is even more embarrassing. ]
Sh-shit, uh...I was just gonna say that...um...it's not like...I mean, we're different, but we're both...boys...y'know?
[ They can't fertilize any eggs, Yu. That's what he's saying. It's...innocuous. As much as it can be. ]
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Yu pulls in a slow, shuddering breath, trying to will himself to be less completely turned on and failing.
He considers those words in silence, letting his hands trail idly over Yosuke's body. Their exploration isn't hungry, but it is ... thorough. There's no inch of skin he misses, his fingers finding every plane, every rise and dip, and smoothing over each. ]
That's true, [ he concedes, in a mild sort of tone. ] ... gender makes no difference to me when it comes to things like this. It's ... possible, for boys to be with boys. It just works a little differently.
[ He thinks. So he's imagined, in his idle fantasies.
Season, he casts back to in his mind, and makes a guess at what he thinks Yosuke is implying. ]
When it's two boys ... it wouldn't be mating in the traditional sense. You'd just be doing it because it feels good.
[ As baldly as everything else he's said when trying to describe all this. He's starting to get a handle on his composure again, even as his desire for Yosuke is creeping up on him all over again. ]
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The thought of kissing another boy, touching another boy? Not so strange, actually. But it's...really pointless to mate with another boy. Mating is for eggs, basically. He hasn't thought about doing it just because it feels good, though he realizes that might be because he responds to a different stimulus than that of another person, something in nature tells him its time.
To think...that someone else, maybe a certain someone could create that sort of pull--
--he's...a little jealous, maybe. That Yu can experience that. ]
...Does it feel good?
[ He asks, voice a little deeper than he meant it to. ]
To you...right now?
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He does know that this must all be pretty strange for Yosuke. They're doing this not just across cultural barriers, but ... species barriers, too, if he really thinks about it. They're very similar in many ways, but their, uh, methods of reproduction are actually pretty different. Clearly they both enjoy the physicality of what they're doing, but Yosuke doesn't get turned on the way Yu does. He's simply not built the same way. Though the hazy looks in Yosuke's eye, the sometimes stunned, dazed look when they break away from kissing, the way Yosuke pulls him in... well, hopefully he gets some enjoyment out of it, even if it isn't exactly the same.
The sound of his boyfriend's voice, just a touch lower than his normal register, gets Yu's eyelids to half-lid. He's not so far gone that he can't still feel some misgivings - is this really okay? - but he also knows Yosuke wouldn't ask if he didn't want to hear the answer. ]
... yeah, [ he breathes out, so soft that it barely disturbs the water around his mouth. He ducks his chin briefly, nuzzling Yosuke before lifting it again to brush their lips together. ]
Pressure and touch, [ he amends. Pressing together like this does feel good, though also like not nearly enough. Touching it is what would feel-- and, well, he has misgivings, both about the idea of starting to buck into Yosuke, which seems ... rude, and at all compelling Yosuke to touch him in such an intimate way. He wouldn't... mind, he has to admit to himself, but there is no way he wants it to happen unless Yosuke is absolutely certain. ]
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There's a strange sense of ownership of that.
Yosuke manages to steal Yu's lips momentarily before a kiss. Pressure and touch? Specifically...down there? ]
...What d'you want me to do?
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