minnows in the ocean

-

"it's... a picture of a man?" lock furrows his brow, looking over the card that had gotten remi so excited.

"it's not- byun baekhyun is not a man. he's like, a modern day god. you wouldn't understand, they don't make photocards for whatever weird goth music you listen to." is lock a cure guy? he seems like a cure guy.

"a modern day god using a frog hat filter." lock doesn't seem impressed. "what's all this other stuff, then?"

"those are the other inserts. there's another photocard in there, i think. you can have it if you want it. consider it the start of your collection." he doesn't care about the little ids the album comes with, really, and besides, he has all the green ones already.

lock fishes the photocard out from the pile remi had abandoned - he normally treats his albums better than this, but this is like his fourth time trying to pull froggy baekhyun, so he's got more than enough copies of the album by now - and turns it over, looking at it for a moment. "this guy kinda looks like you." that attracts his attention. which member could lock possibly be talking about? "see?"

he glances at the card.

"dude. i'm flattered, but mark lee does not look like me."

-

honestly, he could blow the person who'd introduced him to lock, his lifeline of sanity in this pleasantville-ass place, but his time might be better spent sucking up to lock instead. the siren had politely but firmly turned remi down, whenever he'd tried to blow him, but that doesn't mean remi can't try to get on his good side in other ways.

lost in some half-baked fantasy about how best to go about that - lock likes spooky stuff, right? bats and spiders and shit? maybe he can... - a flurry of movement attracts his attention, pausing in the entry of the alley he'd been passing as he sees someone brought down that way, draped over another man's shoulder.

that's... weird, right? like, even for hanjeong.

nobody around him seems to be inclined to act on it, so he guesses it'll have to be him. sorry, froggy baekhyun. don't get ruined. kicking his board up easily, remi tucks it under his arm before darting into the alley without much more than a quick prayer that this doesn't blow up in his face.

neither man seems to have noticed him, even though the one on the ground is obstructed from his view by the other. whatever, suits him just fine. gives him a second to come up with a game plan, anyway. he shoulders off his backpack, setting it and his skateboard aside, spying some construction debris nearby. he doesn't really wanna use his skateboard for this: he really likes this one, and whenever he'd broken a truck on it some months ago, it had taken ages to get a replacement, so he's not exactly keen on destroying it just yet. a quick once-over is all he needs, before fishing a piece of wood that'll work out of the pile. he might only be 5'4, but his attitude's definitely 6'2, deciding to make his presence known.

"hey, fuckhead!"

the auditory cues aren’t much help either. human clothes are so weird, the donning and removing of pants sounds about the same. its the shapes that give him more clues, the bunching of a fabric-y shape around what ren would guess is the knees? it’s interrupted though, footsteps approaching with a relative haste, more shouting. 

he’s not sure what ‘fuckhead’ means. he’s heard it before, sure, but hasn’t gotten the opportunity to ask. it definitely gets the now-unbelted-man’s attention, though. the shape turns toward the approaching footsteps, but that’s all it does before it crumples to the ground, the resounding crack loud enough to give ren a reason.

instincts are a weird thing. ren’s never really been sure his developed quite properly, but its harder to tell without moments like this. instinctually speaking, a blind person might duck or back away, something to get further from the person who’d levelled the ,,, horrible man. one might even call that a logical choice. ren’s instincts, however, are tied to the water– and his puddle’s just about dried up. 

a full-body shudder accompanies the feeling of ren losing his grip on his form. he can't ever get used to it, even if he's trying to. weirdbadwrong. unnatural. words he can't say to ren without hurting his feelings, but he can't stop himself from thinking it.

his train of thought is pretty swiftly derailed, though, as ren kisses his cheeks, human enough once more. "now-" his voice cracks, making him duck his head to hide his face in the crook of ren's shoulder, face burning, whatever he'd been about to say forgotten.

he stays like that for a moment, reassured by the fact that - although he smells like the ocean, like he'd taste like salt if jae opened his mouth - ren feels real underneath his skin, feels human. clearing his throat to avoid another embarrassing moment, jae manages to remember how to act like a person, murmuring, "you're welcome."

“ooh, yeah! what kind of songs did you bring me? more spotted fi?” ren’s pretty sure that’s how jae had pronounced it last time. “do you have more by that band, ravel?” 

admittedly, he’s been looking forward to this all week. the treaty celebrations were always a bit rough for ren, the swarming of the beaches, the sporting events… the littering. –one year, some rude people tried to ransack ren’s shack ! they didn’t get in, of course. perks of being able to control the water flow around his shack– in any case, a quiet night with jae is exactly what he’s been needing.

his hands flex for a moment around the strap of his bag, lip trembling. it's fine. you're fine. he's made out of water, he can't be dirty. before he can talk himself out of it, he brings one of his arms around ren, giving him a hug in greeting.

"i know, that's why i keep wanting to thank you." the first time he'd protected jae, they hadn't even known each other. not really, at least. ren had confessed after the fact that he'd seen jae on the shore dozens of times before they'd ever interacted, which had been humiliating enough for twenty lifetimes, given what he was often there to do.

"i have my own, don't worry. these are all yours." he's smiling enough that it curves his words, dangerously fond. with his free hand, he digs through his bag. "i brought music too, if you want." they didn't always listen to music, sometimes just taking in the quiet of the ocean at night, but he'd played a few different genres for ren before, just to see if he liked any. "here." taking ren's hand in his, he turns it over, setting two nerds ropes in the other's hand, knowing the distinct shape would give away what it was without him having to explain. "it took forever to get here. they had to import it from america, and stuff being imported always takes ages, but i have a whole box now."

ren doesn’t understand the feeling, but he hasn’t gotten the chance to ask anyone what it means yet. maybe jinzi will know?

he pushes his thoughts to the side for the time being, focus shifting back to jae and– “ropes!” ren tries to contain his excitement, knowing its much easier to see and hear jae if he remains solid, though he’s sure jae can hear his bubbles already. “your favourite?” he echoes, he can’t tell much from the just the shape- it looks almost like a melted marshmallow with the surface holes it has, and the strange jaggedness. he takes the taffy in his other hand and lifts it to sniff -!! “smells like apples like you said! i bet it’s really pretty colours!” 

ren’s glamour fades quickly as excitement overcomes him, melting against jae so briefly it might even have been missed if he weren’t literally on top of the other. as soon as he’s recorporealized, he doesn’t skip a single beat, pressing two swift kisses to each of jae’s cheeks before settling once more, this time leaning back against jae.

hate sand, hate sand, hate sand, hate sand.

and yet, jae treks to the beach once more, another number stacked onto the thousands of times he's been here, clutching the strap of his messenger bag tight as he crosses the sand. he's not scared, even though he perhaps should be, instead merely a little apprehensive. he couldn't always easily find ren, and he didn't exactly want to be wandering around the beach alone at night for too terribly long, sure that trouble would find him.

when he reaches the spot he'd found ren last time, he carefully spreads out the towel he'd brought with him, taking a seat at the shore, having to lean forward so his fingers can brush the water as the waves lap towards him.

"i am always here, kuqi.” he drapes himself over the other like a blanket, “and any time you are here i will protect you, you know that.” even now the closest water to them has receded, giving the pair space from the dangers of the open water. 

it used to be that he would deny a thank you was necessary, try and explain that he didn’t need gifts to protect jae. every time, though, he’d be back with a tasty snack and another thank you, so it made sense to stop fighting it.

plus, treats are yummy !

Welcome to Hanjeong, Shi “Ren” Renyu. You are quite the naiad. At 25 (?), you have quite a claim to list claims (or list info).

Enjoy paradise.