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The trafficking of supernatural creatures isn’t legal on paper, but it might as well be, considering how anyone with the connections to even come across one and enough money to throw around in order to purchase one would be near untouchable.
And Kaeya’s never been particularly interested, but when a trader ship arrives at the docks where he currently resides, he can’t help but be curious.
All it takes is hearing his name, before Kaeya’s led away from what he quickly understands is the sideshow, and deeper into the ship, where the “good stuff” is kept.
The words of the merchant currently guiding him around, not his.
The merchant runs off moments after he’d led Kaeya into a long corridor, promising to return with a catalogue of sorts. Kaeya wanders around while he waits, noting that each room houses some kind of creature or another.
Nothing catches his eye enough to stop, though he finds himself wondering what exactly people see in trades like this. It’s only after he’d peered into the room furthest down the hall that he stops for the first time since he’d started.
On the other side of the room is a large crate. The ground beneath it is wet. A large red tail hangs out of the crate, slowly swishing around this way and that.
Kaeya subconsciously takes a step into the room, and the tail freezes. Kaeya watches as pale fingers grip the edge of the crate. A head full of red hair, then a pair of red eyes, peeks out. Slowly it, he, reveals himself until he’s sitting up in the wooden crate.
It’s a merman, and quite easily the most beautiful thing Kaeya has seen in his life. And with the money Kaeya easily has at his disposal, he has seen plenty of beautiful things in his life.
Their eyes meet. Kaeya isn’t sure how long they stare at each other for, but they continue to do so until they’re suddenly interrupted.
Kaeya hears the obnoxious clack clack clack of the merchant sounds from down the corridor, and the merman must hear it too. His eyes widen, and he vanishes behind the crate wall again.
The crate is so small, though, that its bright red tail is hanging out of the other end. Kaeya continues to stare as the merchant steps up to him.
“Ah, Sir Kaeya, I see you have a keen eye.” The merchant steps through the door and gestures for Kaeya to follow. “This creature was caught further out at sea a while back. Unfortunately, it’s been here a while since we haven’t been able to find a buyer who’s been able to afford it. But you, sir…”
The man stalks right up to the crate and crouches beside it. He reaches over and yanks the merman’s head up by his hair.
The merman cries out as he’s pulled above the water. He paws helplessly at the merchant’s hand, but the man doesn’t even seem to notice. “Pretty thing, ain’t it?”
Kaeya sees red. His hand twitches towards his blade, but he forces himself to remain calm. “Let the thing go,” Kaeya chides, as cheerfully as he can. “I am perfectly capable of looking over.”
The merchant flushes, but lets go of the merman, who immediately ducks under the water again.
Kaeya crouches next to the crate and peers over to see the merman looking right at him. Their eyes meet again.
It’s okay, he wants to say. It’ll be okay. He can’t, though, because he isn’t willing to risk anything.
“How much?” he asks without looking up.
Kaeya is led into an office, where he’s offered a seat and a drink. He’d really rather not, but he goes along, complementing the cheap trinkets the merchant has on display and laughing at bad, crude jokes like they’re the funniest thing he’d heard.
The crate is carried into the room by a group of men and dumped on the floor by the door.
Kaeya can see tense fingers gripping the edge of the crate, though, and grits his teeth.
“Here’s the price, Sir Kaeya,” the merchant holds out a piece of paper.
Kaeya stares at the many zeros on the paper. It's not the kind of money just anyone would ever see in a lifetime, but for him, it’s as easy as signing a check.
Still, the fact that the beautiful creature in the crate is being traded for a string of numbers makes him sick.
Perhaps he's silent for a moment too long, because the merchant claps his hands together. “Why don't you take a closer look?”
Before Kaeya can stop them, the merman is dumped out of the wooden crate he’d been kept in. Water splashes everywhere, though no one seems to care. The merman flops around on the floor for a moment before the men immediately jump on him. He doesn’t even put up a fight, and yet he’s grabbed roughly by the arms and dragged across the wooden floor towards Kaeya. He lets out a sharp cry and tries to pull his arms away, but it’s futile.
What are they doing?
“Stop!” Kaeya snaps.
The men freeze.
“If I’m to pay full price, I expect the whole creature,” Kaeya says. “Or will you be decreasing the price for every single scale you rip out, dragging it like that?”
The men look at each other nervously.
“We’re very sorry about that, Sir Kaeya,” the merchant says quickly. “It puts up a fight sometimes, and—and I promise you no harm will come to it!“ He claps his hands. “Well, what’re you doing? Pick it up!”
A handful of men move in, and between them they hoist the merman up into the air. The creature flails for a moment, perhaps unsure what is going on, but he isn’t dropped as he’s brought to Kaeya. He’s put down as carefully as Kaeya expects a gaggle of men like this to be able to manage.
The first thing Kaeya notices is that he’s covered in wounds, most of them shallow, some looking a little deeper, and all looking rather recent. The marks stand out vividly against his snow-pale skin.
Kaeya resists the urge to close his eyes and instead takes a slow, deep breath. “Could I have a few moments alone with him?” he asks.
The merchant makes a face that he’s then quick to hide. “Is that really necessary?”
Kaeya rolls his eyes. He whips out his chequebook and quickly fills in the information. He signs it, too, and holds it out. “Here,” he says. His smile widens. “Now, may I have a moment?”
The merchant hastily takes the check, then ushers his men out. The door closes firmly behind him. Kaeya listens carefully, making sure the footsteps, all of them, are far away before he clicks the lock into place. “Idiots,” he mutters, then turns back to the merman.
The merman had taken this time to drag himself towards the far end of the room, and is now cowering beneath the window. It doesn’t look as distressed as it was earlier, but Kaeya is still careful when he approaches. He crouches and shuffles forward, making himself as small as possible. He knows nothing about merman etiquette or communication, but he holds out his hand, palm up, and hopes the merman sees he means no threat.
“Hey there.”
The merman jumps at his voice, then leans in, like he isn’t quite sure what he’s hearing. He makes a sound in the back of his throat.
Kaeya stops an arm's length away from the merman and holds out his hand again. “Hey, it’s going to be okay. I’m not going to hurt you.”
The merman tilts his head and lets out a string of clicks.
Kaeya laughs, feeling a little helpless, then curses in his head when the merman jerks at the sudden sound. “Sorry.” He slowly reaches out so that the merman can move away anytime it wants to, and, as gently as he can, brushes his hand against his cheek.
The merman flinches back so hard at the first touch that Kaeya instinctively jerks his hand back. The mermaid stares at him, eyes wide, then slowly touches his own cheek where Kaeya’s hand had just been. Kaeya freezes, not sure what to do, when a soft, whining sound leaves the merman’s throat.
It takes Kaeya a moment to realise that the merman is crying. Fat tears fall from his eyes and down his bare chest. He rubs furiously at his eyes, all the while bawling loudly and uncontrollably like a young child.
He…it must hurt. Everything must hurt. Kaeya must have done something to hurt it. Kaeya raises his hands placatingly. “I’m sorry! It’s okay, no one’s going to hurt you anymore, okay? I got you, I promise.”
Kaeya still isn’t sure if the merman understands him at all, but he coughs a few times, and his cries slowly mellow out into sniffles.
Kaeya stays crouched where he is, too afraid to even move lest he set the creature off again, when the merman reaches out and hesitantly wraps his shaking fingers around Kaeya’s hand. Kaeya lets the merman manoeuvre him, until his hand is back on the merman’s cheek. “There we go,” he says softly.
The merman nuzzles into his hand, and Kaeya carefully rubs the pad of his thumb against soft, damp skin.
“Nothing’ll ever hurt you,” he promises. “Ever.”
So much has changed since then, Kaeya thinks to himself.
It turned out that the merman, Diluc, did not understand human speech at all, though he had a very good understanding of tone. He was a quick learner, though, and by the time half a year had passed since Kaeya first met him, his understanding of the human language had been good enough for him to hold casual conversations.
Sometimes, Kaeya admittedly misses the days when the only word Diluc knew how to say was “Kaeya,” and would often continuously repeat it until Kaeya eventually figured out what he wanted.
Learning to speak, however, didn’t really stop Diluc from chanting Kaeya’s name like a mantra at certain times.
“Kaeya!”
Like now. Kaeya grunts and runs a hand up Diluc’s leg.
They’d found out Diluc’s tail could become human legs once they’d been dried. They hadn’t known the first time it happened, however, and Kaeya still remembers how they’d panicked when they thought Diluc was drying out.
Now, Diluc is very attached to his legs, and Kaeya is, too. They’re very nice, pretty legs that can walk and run and wrap around things and drape over other things.
Like Kaeya. Mostly Kaeya. Diluc’s very nice, pretty legs are currently hooked over Kaeya’s shoulders, and Diluc is crying out his name every time Kaeya thrusts his hips forward, and his cock slides into his hole.
Oh, how things have changed.
“Kaeya,” Diluc sobs. “Kaeya, Kaeya.”
Kaeya grits his teeth and quickens his pace, and relishes the way Diluc’s chant of his name becomes faster and more high-pitched as he does. Diluc climaxes first, and Kaeya soon follows, releasing inside Diluc’s tight warmth.
“Kaeya,” Diluc murmurs. “Kaeya.”
“I’m here,” Kaeya says. He carefully lowers Diluc’s legs onto the bed, then rolls onto his side next to Diluc. “I’m here.”
Diluc hums. When Kaeya spreads his arms, Diluc eagerly burrows into him. “Kaeya.”
They lay like that for a while. Diluc has his eyes closed, Kaeya has his fixed on Diluc.
The merman is as beautiful today as he was the first day Kaeya laid eyes on him, perhaps even more so. His skin glows in the dim light of their bedroom. His red hair is full and lush. His cheeks are flushed a healthy shade of red, and his chest rises and falls as he tries to catch his breath.
His wounds have long healed, though Kaeya can still make out a couple of pale scars if he looks close enough.
Despite that, Diluc looks like something that shouldn't be touched by mortal hands, and yet here he is, allowing Kaeya to defile him.
Eventually, Kaeya recovers enough to wrap his arms fully around Diluc’s shoulders and thinks of the one thing that comes to mind whenever he does. He can’t help but laugh as he drags Diluc closer to himself.
Diluc lets himself be dragged. “What is it?” he asks.
“You cried when I first touched you,” Kaeya says. He can be fond of it now, but he also remembers how the memory had haunted him for a long while. “I thought I hurt you or scared you. I freaked out.”
“Oh.” Diluc lets out a cough, which soon Kaeya realises was an attempt at stifling a laugh.
“What’s so funny?” Kaeya asks, genuinely curious. He nuzzles his face into Diluc’s neck, and Diluc squirms away with a giggle.
“That you thought you hurt me,” Diluc says. He shoves Kaeya’s face away. “You’d never hurt me. I wish I could tell myself from back then that.”
Kaeya lets out a contented sigh. “Then why’d you cry?”
“Hm?”
“If I didn’t hurt you, why did you start crying?”
“Oh.” Diluc lets out a sigh of his own. “Because it didn’t hurt.”
Kaeya frowns. “What didn’t hurt ?”
“You hand. Me. Your hand didn’t hurt me.” Diluc lets out a thoughtful sigh. “Until then, everyone who touched me hurt me. I guess I didn’t even know human hands couldn’t hurt.”
Diluc closes his eyes and snuggles into Kaeya’s chest, like he’s talked about the weather from that morning, and now the whole conversation is over.
Perhaps it is, for Diluc. Perhaps it really is all in the past for him.
Diluc had been caught in a fishing net. He’d been in the hands of the merchants for two months before Kaeya came across him. Kaeya decides to drop the topic, because Diluc doesn’t seem to care for it, but he feels uneasy as he lies there; It’s never easy hearing about Diluc’s horrible treatment at the hands of humans.
After a few moments, Diluc raises his head. “Kaeya?”
“Yeah?”
“You’re thinking about something.”
Kaeya cracks a grin. “Is it that obvious?”
Diluc shrugs. “I know you well.”
“You do, huh?”
Diluc is quiet for a moment. “You know? Everything I have now, I have because of you.”
Kaeya opens his mouth, but Diluc presses a finger over his lips. “I’m here today, alive, whole, happy, because you saved me that day, and I will forever be grateful to you. I know that, sometimes, you see my scars or I say something and you think things, but you’re thinking of fear I didn’t feel and pain I didn’t suffer because you saved me. I’m here because of you, so don’t forget that either, okay?”
And Kaeya suddenly wants to cry, which is silly because it’s Diluc who’s suffered in his life, not him. He doesn’t know what ot say, so he buries his face in Diluc’s hair.
Diluc lets out a soft giggle. “I love you,” he whispers.
And he says it so easily that Kaeya starts to think that maybe, maybe it is that easy.
“I love you, too,” he replies, and it comes so naturally, and he means it, too, because loving Diluc has always been easy. He presses a quick kiss to Diluc’s lips, but leans back when Diluc tries to deepen the kiss.
“Oh, no, none of that. We need to sleep.”
Diluc pouts but settles back down again. “Fine,” he says. “Something to look forward to, tomorrow,” he adds.
Kaeya curses the way his cock twitches at the slight thought of tomorrow. Diluc laughs, like he knew exactly what kind of effect his words would have. He probably did.
Diluc snuggles into his arms again, and Kaeya pulls him even closer before closing his eyes.
Perhaps, tomorrow, they can do what they did in bed tonight, in the bathtub.