Chapter Text
The heat of your fingertips,
lips, and teeth
continues to accumulate
beneath my skin…
Even from the beginning, the expressions Langa reserved entirely for Reki had always been gentle. So gentle that it made the supposedly intimidating sea serpent look downright silly. Reki lost count of the amount of times his own heart had taken significant damage from that dang dopey expression. In fact, just that very morning Reki had fallen victim to it.
He’d set his phone alarm to go off early in case Langa gave him a hard time getting out of bed. However, no phone alarm was needed.
A ticklish sensation underneath his jaw was the first thing that Reki became aware of as he began to stir awake followed by a muffled voice.
“….ki…wake….et?”
“What?” Reki slurred, his brain struggling to remember the basic command of opening one’s eyelids.
Something warm and soft nuzzled his face. “Reki, are you awake yet?”
Reki finally managed to open his eyes. He watched as his reflection in Langa’s blue irises groggily blinked back at him. “Langa what time is—”
“Has it started yet?”
“Huh?”
“The dating for today,” Langa clarified, the serpent’s cheeks flushed pink with bashful excitement. “Has it started yet?”
Kaboom.
Heat exploded out from the center of Reki’s heart, causing the half-merman to tremble as the force of the explosion traversed throughout his entire body.
Toocutetoocutetoocutetoocutetoocutetoocute—
Brain dizzy from the overwhelming affection dominating his thoughts, Reki didn’t even try to attempt to gather enough fragments of his mind to form words. Instead, he quickly came to the decision to use his mouth in a better form of communication.
Which led to some very impassioned “communicating” between Reki and Langa’s mouths that lasted until the two of them finally became aware of the incessant blaring of Reki’s phone alarm.
Reki’s heart was always in danger of bursting from Langa’s antics, but it was a danger that sent a thrill up his spine and made his pulse a giddy mess.
It was addictingly sweet. Breathtakingly tender.
The complete opposite of the danger Kazu was currently in.
~oOo~
Langa’s blue irises burned with a shockingly cold light, his gaze devoid of the warmth Reki was used to.
It hurt.
Pressure began building in the space around Langa as the air became dense with the sea serpent’s anger.
Reki wanted the warmth back.
Langa’s lips were pulled back into a snarl. He took a step forward, a loud crack echoing out as his weight shattered the ice that had started to form around the ground at his feet.
Miki yelped in fright, completely losing faith in her boyfriend shield and making her escape before Langa could get any closer.
“Miki come back!” Kazu yelled, his features twisting as she completely ignored him and disappeared from sight. “You know what!? Fuck her! She would’ve only held me back!”
“Wow, unsurprisingly you are as stupid as you are ugly” Miya said, the teen cracking his knuckles. “Hey Langa, how do you want to do this? Do you want to go first? Or should we just hit him at the same time? I think we should…Langa?”
Langa was completely incapacitated. The sea serpent unable to give any sort of help in a fight. While Miya and Game’s focus had been on Kazu, a certain half-merman had gone on the attack.
One step forward was all Langa had been able to take before he was stopped by Reki’s arms wrapping tightly around him in a hug. Langa’s arms were pinned, his attention completely vulnerable to Reki as the redhead peeked up at him with high class puppy eyes.
“Langa, please don’t hit him,” Reki pleaded before deciding to switch over to the ocean’s tongue so that the others couldn’t understand him. “We’re on a date. Just pay attention to me.”
Reki watched Langa’s gaze go soft. His pretty blue eyes belonging to Reki alone.
It was finally back. That wonderful warmth that filled Reki’s chest to the brink of bursting. He couldn’t help but smile as he did a little hop on his tiptoes to give Langa a playful peck on the lips. “Mine~” Reki crooned.
And just like that the mighty sea serpent was defeated.
Miya clicked his tongue at the sight of Langa going weak-kneed in Reki’s arms. “Langa’s completely useless now. Game you ready to kick some ass?”
“I’m gonna obliterate that ass!” Game roared.
Welp. Kazu was dead. Reki (literally) had his arms full with Langa, so there was no way he could stop a bloodthirsty teenager and his bakeneko companion. Especially after Game released such a passionate battle cry.
That would be rude.
“Just you try you damn punk!” Kazu exclaimed, the blond pulling a baseball bat out of his shadow and giving it a couple of mock swings as an attempt at intimidation.
Though Kazu’s shadow magic wasn’t nearly as strong as Shadow’s, it still was strong enough to earn him membership to S. Even though Reki had faith that Miya would win this fight, there was still the possibility of the teen getting seriously hurt. So, when a loud BAM echoed out from behind him, Reki immediately whipped his head around in concern. “Miya are you oka—wait!? Joe!?”
Joe grinned in amusement at Reki’s astonishment. “The one and only~” He playfully winked despite being smack dab in the middle of Kazu and Miya’s battle. While Joe’s one hand had easily caught Kazu’s bat mid-swing, his other hand was pressed on top of Game’s head. Both Game and Miya flailed as they tried to force their way out from underneath Joe’s hand, but the man didn’t even budge a millimeter.
“Stupid gorilla,” Miya grumbled, “let me go so I can teach this asshole a lesson!”
Joe’s head tipped back as he let out a boisterous laugh. “Miya you sound just like Kaoru!” Joe’s ruddy brown eyes slid over to Kazu. “Speaking about Kaoru, I wonder what he would say if he knew about the special treatment you were giving Reki.” Joe’s grin grew even wider, an uncomfortable screech coming from the metal bat as it began to warp within Joe’s grip. “Should we find out Kazu?”
Kazu visibly shivered. He released his bat right before it finally snapped into two and clattered loudly to the ground at his feet. Kazu’s mouth opened and closed a few times in a pretty good imitation of a suffocating fish. Apparently, he came to the decision that the safest option was simply to run away without saying a word.
“Awww, he left behind his bat,” Joe watched Kazu scramble away then shifted his focus over to Miya. “Instigating a fight while there’s a bunch of innocent people around? Miya, I thought you knew better.”
Miya’s shoulders hunched up. “I wasn’t going to go all out. Just getting some payback by kicking his ass the same amount that he did to Reki.”
“Monthly interest included,” Game added under his breath.
“Don’t be hard on them Joe,” Reki said, his gaze drifting down sheepishly to the ground as he felt too embarrassed by Joe’s stare. “Technically, it’s my fault—mmph!” Reki’s next words were cut off by a hand covering his mouth.
“No.” Langa bluntly stated, the sea serpent’s nose scrunching as he scowled down at Reki. “Don’t say that.”
“Langa’s right. Don’t you dare try to take the blame for this!” Miya snapped. “Kazu’s the one who started it. He chose to bully you for no good reason.”
“I think he was jealous!” Game piped up.
Jealous? Oh, Miki had called Langa hot—
“Jealous because Reki looks extra cute today!” The bakeneko declared with glee.
Thank God Langa was covering Reki’s mouth because it stopped the redhead from letting out an embarrassed squawk. It was true that today Reki had spent more time on his appearance. He was wearing a simple but nice short-sleeved black button-up with some shorts instead of one of his usual hoodies. Plus, Reki had made sure to comb his hair in an attempt to make it look stylishly messy instead of just regular messy. However, despite all his efforts, Reki didn’t actually expect anyone to notice.
And he definitely didn’t expect someone to declare it so enthusiastically.
“Game you can’t just say that out of nowhere!” Miya hissed in embarrassment.
“Why?” Game asked with a complete lack of any sort of embarrassment. “It’s true, isn’t it?”
Miya sputtered at his familiar’s honesty. “Y-you shameless cat!”
“No, Game has a point.” Joe placed his hand on his chin, a mischievous grin on his face as his gaze swept up and down the redhead. “Reki’s looking extra cute today. Must be because he’s on a date~”
Reki moved the hand still covering his mouth up so that it was instead hiding his burning cheeks. “Please stop teasing me,” he begged, “this is too much for me to handle on my first date.”
Please universe. This half-merman was already having a hard time with getting the courage to hold Langa’s hand. He wasn’t strong enough to also handle playful teasing and genuine compliments.
Joe released a dramatic sigh. “Sorry kiddo. I couldn’t help it. Not that long ago you were a little innocent guppy and now you’re old enough to be going on dates? I feel like I’m about to cry.”
Reki pulled Langa’s hand away from his face just so Joe could witness the younger man’s impressive eyeroll. “Stop sounding like my uncle. It’s creeping me out.”
Joe chuckled briefly before his brows pinched together in thought. “Speaking about your uncle. I wonder if he’ll let Kaoru know where you are.”
Reki felt himself beginning to sweat. “What do you mean?”
“Well, Kaoru’s been feeling a bit lonely since he hasn’t seen you for so long. So, today he decided to bring his board to Dope Sketch with the excuse that it needed a magical tune-up. Of course, his true goal was to check on you and make sure you’re doing okay.” Joe’s gaze slid over to Langa. “You see, Kaoru’s been worried this whole time about you having a contract with a sea serpent.”
“He doesn’t need to be worried. Langa would never hurt me.” Reki said without any hesitation. “You can even tell him that Langa and I are dating! B-but um, maybe not right now.” Reki’s voice faltered a bit as his cheeks turned pink. “I don’t want Kaoru crashing our date.”
Their date already was starting out rough. Add Kaoru to the growing list of guest stars and Reki was worried the date would become unsalvageable.
And Reki really wanted to turn this first date around.
“Hey, you who once gave me the tasty offering of chocolate cake,” Langa fixed his gaze on Joe, “tell the merman he isn’t allowed here. This ice cream date is for Reki and I.” Langa took ahold of Reki’s hand, instantly intertwining their fingers before lifting their entwined hands up in a bold display of affection. “We’re going to share a sea serpent dessert and no one,” Langa’s voice deepened into a growl, “No one is allowed to stop us.”
There was silence. A silence where one might be able to hear a pin drop if this person wasn’t Reki because he couldn’t currently hear anything over what sounded like a fireworks celebration going off within his chest.
Was survival supposed to be a concern on a date? ‘Cause Reki was starting to think he wasn’t nearly strong enough to survive all these first date shenanigans.
“Pff.” Joe’s broad shoulders shook as he tried to hold back his laughter. Meanwhile, Miya looked like he was about to die from secondhand embarrassment.
“This is a public place! Aren’t you at all embarrassed!?” The teen hissed; cheeks red as he finally started feeling the weight of judgement from all the “innocent people” staring at them. “That’s it. I’m going to go get more ice cream while I still have an appetite.” Miya huffed as he pulled his hood down to cover his face and marched away.
“Bye bye~” Game called.
“Bye bye,” Reki automatically responded. He went to wave goodbye and dazedly wondered why his wave felt heavy and clunky.
It took Reki way too long to realize that it was because the hand he waved goodbye with was the one currently holding onto Langa’s.
Reki had nothing to worry about. He was already a pro at the awkward part of awkward handholding.
The redhead briefly covered his face with his free hand. He felt the burn of his cheeks against his palm and took a few slow breaths to regain composure. “So, ummm…”
“Don’t worry. I won’t tattle on you to Kaoru,” Joe assured.
“Really? Cool cool cool.”
“But in exchange I want you to let me take your picture.”
Reki’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Why?”
Joe’s easygoing grin was back at full blast. “Well, I originally was planning on taking a photo of myself with the mermaid dessert as a joke to send to Kaoru. But since you’re here I think it would be funnier if you were the one posing with the dessert.”
Earlier Reki had been thinking that it’d be funny for him to get the mermaid dessert and had even considered sending photos of himself with it to Shokichi and Kaoru…
“I won’t show it to Kaoru until way later when you and Langa are no longer here,” Joe added, his grin somehow growing even wider. “And if you want, I’ll even pay for your sea serpent dessert.”
Shit. How could they possibly say no to free ice cream?
~oOo~
After the commotion they caused, Reki felt too self-conscious to actually eat their dessert near the ice cream shop. Thankfully, Langa had ice magic to keep the dessert cold as they walked to a nearby park.
The two took shelter from the sun underneath a gazebo. Langa carefully putting the dessert on top of the table that was present before taking a seat beside Reki. The dessert looked delicious, and not just because it was free. A chocolate sea serpent dusted with edible glitter was swimming atop a bowl of bright blue ice cream. Surrounding the chocolate serpent were scattered blueberries, strawberries crafted to look like fish, and mango slices cut into stars.
Reki whistled in appreciation, “wow, this looks—”
“Needs Goldfish,” Langa interrupted, both his face and tone completely serious. “Reki, did you bring any?”
“Sorry, I forgot the emergency stash of Goldfish at home,” Reki replied, which wasn’t a lie. However, Reki would have said the same exact thing even if he did have some Goldfish in his pocket.
Why would he purposely ruin this dessert by adding cheesy Goldfish?
A crestfallen look came over Langa’s face. “You didn’t bring any?”
Never mind.
“Do you want me to go get some? I can run to the convenience store,” Reki quickly offered. He went to stand up but was stopped by Langa.
“You can’t leave. What if the ice cream melts while you are gone?” Langa tugged Reki back down to his seat. “That would be bad.”
That would be bad. However, Langa had used ice magic to keep the dessert from melting on the way here, so he could easily use his magic to keep it cold while Reki was at the store.
Reki knew that.
Langa also knew that. Yet, that didn’t stop the sea serpent from shamelessly pretending that his ice magic was currently nonexistent.
Reki held back his smile. “You’re right. That would be horrible.” He managed to keep his expression serious as he used a spoon to scoop up a generous spoonful of ice cream loaded with fruit. “You should taste test this first to make sure it still tastes delicious even with the devasting lack of Goldfish.”
Langa eagerly opened his mouth to be spoon-fed. His eyes shone as the food graced his tastebuds. A cute trill passed Langa’s lips, and Reki could no longer hold back his amusement.
“So? Do you still think it needs Goldfish?” Reki asked, grin growing as Langa vigorously shook his head.
“Reki, more!” Langa insisted, opening his mouth and leaning forward into Reki with a bit too much enthusiasm.
“Langa wait! You’re going to cause it to spill!” Reki quickly scooped another spoonful of the dessert and shoved it into Langa’s mouth to pacify the hungry beast.
It worked. The serpent’s advances were temporarily halted as Langa was overcome with bliss from the frozen treat.
“Langa, you’re really lucky you’re too cute to get mad at,” Reki grumbled good-naturedly though a genuine frown came to his face as he looked down. “Awww man, you made me spill some.”
Thankfully, a small amount only got onto the scale necklace he was wearing. His clothes were safe for now, but they didn’t have any napkins and Reki really didn’t want the ice cream to drip down onto his shirt. So, without further thought, he brought the scale up to his mouth and licked it clean.
A sound that was a cross between a cough and a sputter came from Langa. The serpent’s cheeks were flushed as he struggled to catch his breath.
“Langa are you okay? Did something go down the wrong hatch?”
“…You licked it.”
Reki didn’t hear him. He was too busy rubbing Langa’s back in an attempt to calm Langa’s breathing. “Do you need me to get you something to drink?”
“Reki, you licked it!” Langa repeated. This time much louder.
Reki stared at Langa in confusion. “Huh? Oh! Your scale.” Reki picked the scale up and showed it to Langa. “There was ice cream on it, so I licked it clean.”
Langa’s cheeks deepened even further in color as his gaze kept skittering back and forth between the scale and Reki’s nonchalant smile. “That scale came from my tail.”
Reki raised a brow. “I know. I watched it come off into my hand.”
Langa let out a frustrated whine. “Reki, you don’t get it.” Langa was clearly embarrassed. The blush on his face continuing to spread to the tips of his ears and down the curve of his neck as the serpent once again leaned into Reki. This time Langa moved slowly. As his side pressed into Reki’s, the redhead became aware of Langa’s hand brushing his kneecap.
“L-Langa!?” Reki squeaked, the half-merman unable to suppress a shiver as fingertips slid underneath his shorts to lightly touch his thigh.
“You licking my scale would be like me licking you here,” Langa murmured, his breath against Reki’s mouth almost as hot as his hand.
Oh.
Hot sparks shot towards Reki’s chest in an unstoppable path of ignition.
Reki had been right. He definitely wasn’t strong enough to survive these first date shenanigans.