Chapter Text
You’re always honest
with your hunger,
which makes it harder to resist
the allure of being
consumed…
Reki’s life was without a doubt in danger.
And it wasn’t because of Langa.
Okay, it was partially because of Langa.
The hand currently heating Reki’s inner thigh and the so-cute-it-makes-one’s-heart-explode bashful expression Langa was wearing were definitely accomplices to Reki’s demise.
But the true mastermind behind it all? There was only one culprit with the skill to pull off the crime:
Reki’s own overactive imagination.
To give Reki some credit, the half-merman did try his best to fight it, but apparently his imagination was feeling extra motivated to demonstrate its capabilities through some stunning 8K resolution. With Langa’s breath fanning Reki’s lips, it was all too easy do some mild mental editing to instead have those hot puffs tickling the sensitive skin of Reki’s thigh. His imagination barely breaking a sweat as the scene further progressed to Langa gazing up at Reki through his lashes. The serpent’s eyes so vivid blue that they seemed to glow as he opened his mouth further to reveal his pink tongue.
An almost electric jolt shot through Reki’s body as the real flesh and blood Langa pressed his hand just a little bit harder on Reki’s thigh. “Reki,” Langa’s cheeks were still adorably pink as he shyly met Reki’s gaze, “do you want to?”
“D-do I want to do what?” Reki practically (most definitely) squeaked.
Langa’s bottom lip pushed out into pout, “Reki do you really not know?”
Reki swallowed, trying his best to focus on the serpent in front of him and not the one in the fantasy his imagination was enjoying on replay in his brain. “What about you?” Reki managed to counter, “What do you want?”
As soon as the question left his lips, Reki knew he’d probably obliterated his final chances of surviving. Reki’s heart jounced around his chest as Langa’s pout morphed into a toothy grin. “That’s easy,” Langa batted his lashes coyly, “of course I want Reki.”
What. A. Scamp.
Reki’s cheeks burned as he met Langa’s flirtatious gaze head on. “Oh yeah? Want to guess what I want?”
Langa’s eyes lit up in excitement. “Does it involve licking? Or biting?”
Biting!?
Reki felt his imagination begin to stir with new inspiration. The half-merman knowing he had to act fast. So, with panic being the perfect fuel for any impulsive action, Reki grabbed the chocolate serpent straight out of the ice cream and bit its head clean off.
Langa’s mouth dropped open in shock and disbelief.
“Wow looks like you were right,” Reki’s words were a bit garbled due to the decapitated head being crunched beneath his teeth, “how’d you know?”
Langa was back to pouting though this one was definitely a lot less flirty than the previous one. The serpent pulled his hand away from Reki’s thigh and actually scooted a good space away from Reki.
“Langa what are you doing?”
“Giving you and the other serpent space since you’d rather bite them instead of me,” Langa began stabbing the bowl of ice cream with the spoon. The sea serpent sulking as he committed massacre on innocent blueberries and strawberry fish.
Reki let out an exasperated sigh. “Langa you’re being ridiculous. You’re acting like I’m having an affair with some other serpent.” He took another bite of the chocolate (because damn was it really good chocolate) before offering it to Langa. “Here you can have the rest.”
Langa directed a bombastic side eye at his chocolate serpent brethren before bringing his attention back to the bowl of ice cream. “Don’t want it.”
“You sure?” Reki scooted closer to Langa so he could playfully poke the serpent’s cheek with the chocolate. “I know you love chocolate and this tastes way better than the chocolate I used to bring you at the aquarium.”
Reki could see Langa falter. The serpent longingly staring at the chocolate. However, just when Reki thought Langa would cave and give in, he instead pulled his face away. “I said I don’t want it!” Langa declared, scooping up a huge spoonful of ice cream along with some of his massacred victims and aggressively eating it.
There had to be some underlying reason why Langa was upset and Reki refused to believe that Langa was legitimately jealous of a sea serpent made of chocolate. Since Langa was being stubborn, Reki decided that two could play at that game. “Hey Langa?” Reki made sure his voice had a sad little wobble to it, knowing that Langa would look at him no matter what.
Got him.
Reki waited for them to make eye contact before taking another bite of the chocolate and this time holding the piece in his mouth as he leaned towards Langa. He did a quick swipe of his tongue against Langa’s lips, a sweet coldness lingering on Reki’s tastebuds as he batted his lashes up at Langa. “Are you reaaaaaally sure you don’t want some choc—mmph!”
Whatever coldness there was left from the ice cream quickly dissipated from the heat of Langa’s fervor as he pressed his mouth against Reki’s in feverish pursuit. Langa easily found both the chocolate and Reki’s tongue, neither standing a chance at resisting the serpent’s advances and instantly melting.
“Reki, more,” Langa purred in that low and rough timbre that scratched Reki’s brain just right and sent tingles all throughout the half-merman. Reki brought the chocolate up to Langa, but that simply earned him a small growl. “Reki. More.”
It was the same words, but this time Reki clearly understood what Langa was requesting. Reki inhaled and exhaled a shuddery breath, resisting the desperate urge to simply give in to Langa’s demand to perform another mouth-to-mouth chocolate exchange. “First you have to tell me why you’re really upset.”
Langa was quiet for a moment. The tips of his ears turning red as he suddenly pulled Reki into his lap. “…I thought Reki was going to give me another claim marking and it made me happy, but instead of me you bit the chocolate.” Langa hid his face against Reki’s chest. “That made me sad.”
Reki blinked dumbly a few times until understanding made his own face turn bright red. “Y-you thought I was going to b-b-bite your thigh!?” He sputtered.
Langa released a dejected sigh. “Not just bite. A claim mark.”
Reki could almost see the gloominess radiating off the serpent. “Claim markings are that important to you?”
“Mmmm,” Langa peeked up at Reki, “they’re proof that you belong to your mate.”
“…Mate?”
“Yes?”
“Mate” Reki repeated, brain still a bit woozy from the kiss and the idea of biting Langa’s thigh, “like between two sea serpents?”
Reki felt Langa smile against him. The serpent’s eyes softening with affection. “No, like between Reki and I. I don’t have any sea serpent mates.”
Langa’s words seeped right through Reki’s shirt and through his skin, wiggling between his ribs and going straight for his heart. The half-merman felt warmth bloom out from his chest at the impact. Heat whooshing out and saturating his skin with that familiar buzz that signaled Reki was super close to glowing. Which right now would be extremely embarrassing because mixed in with the affection currently overwhelming Reki was also this steadily increasing sense of yearning to have a claim marking left behind on his own skin.
“Reki, the chocolate is melting.”
“Huh?” Reki said, dazedly looking at the chocolate serpent in his hand and noticing the trails of chocolate making their way down his arm. As Reki’s brain slowly tried to figure out the proper reaction, Langa’s own reaction was to lean up and begin following those trails with his tongue.
A gasp left Reki’s mouth, the half-merman shuddering at the wet and ticklish sensation. “L-Langa cut it out! I can just take a shower when we get home to get rid of the stickiness.”
Langa followed the path he was currently on all the way up to the base of Reki’s palm. The nerves there were extra sensitive and Reki both saw and felt a brief flicker of golden sparks as Langa lapped at his skin.
Don’t have me start full on glowing. Don’t have me start full on glowing. Don’t have me start full on glowing. Don’t have me start full on glow—
“I’ll take a shower too,” Langa said, smiling wide up at Reki. “Reki and I can take one together!”
“W-what!?” Reki sputtered. “But you don’t need one! You’re perfectly clean…” Reki’s voice trailed off as Langa scooped out some ice cream with his fingers and smeared it on his own face.
Bright blue ice cream dripped down Langa’s cheek as his grin grew even wider. “See? I need a shower too!”
Reki was at a loss for words.
~oOo~
And back at the apartment, Reki still was at a loss for words.
Well, to be exact it was more like once Langa started taking off his clothes all the words Reki ever learned to speak started pushing and shoving each other in a rush to come out of his throat and therefore they all got stuck in a traffic jam.
This left the half-merman in a standstill that not only affected his speaking, but also apparently his body movements. As soon as Reki caught sight of Langa’s back muscles flexing as the serpent brought his top over his head, the half-merman froze in the middle of undoing his own shirt buttons. Reki was completely spellbound as Langa’s hands moved down to his pants, the serpent taking everything else off in a smooth motion that had the redhead’s insides spinning.
Langa glanced over at Reki, the corner of his mouth tugging up into a smirk at the half-merman’s frozen state. “Does Reki need help?”
“What!? No!” Reki fumbled to undo his buttons, the weight of Langa’s stare making his fingers extra clumsy. “You know what? The lighting is way better in the bathroom so I’m going to finish unbuttoning in there! I’ll let you know when you can come in!” Reki was a blur out of his bedroom, sprinting straight to the bathroom and nearly slamming the door closed.
The lighting is way better in the bathroom!?
“Why am I like this?” Reki grumbled to himself as he finally finished unbuttoning his shirt.
He didn’t need anyone to tell him the answer.
Reki’s brain filled with images of Langa as he continued getting unchanged, his imagination once again toying with him and adding an audio track to the montage of the serpent:
“I thought Reki was going to give me another claim marking…”
“… it made me happy…”
“…they’re proof that you belong to your mate.”
“…like between Reki and I.”
“…mate.”
“Not just bite.”
“I don’t have any sea serpent mates.”
“A claim mark.”
“…mates.”
“…like between Reki and I.”
MATE.
Reki cranked the shower on and shoved his head under the cold water to try save his overheating brain. “Why am I like this!?” He hissed at both the shock of cold water and at his own self-sabotaging imagination.
Come on Reki. Do you really not know?
Knocking at the door made Reki jump. “Hold on Langa!” He quickly adjusted the water temperature and gave himself a stare down in the bathroom mirror. “Behave yourself,” he mouthed.
They were just showering together. Yep, just a simple innocent shower.
Reki’s heart fidgeted restlessly as he opened the bathroom door and stepped aside to let Langa in. The serpent raised a brow at Reki’s dripping wet hair, Langa’s eyes traveling down the rest of Reki’s form with a frown. “Reki you can’t wear pants in the shower.”
“These aren’t pants. They’re swim trunks.” Reki avoided Langa’s stare. “They are meant to be worn in water.” Even without looking at Langa, Reki could feel the serpent’s judgment. “Anyway, are you sure you’ll be okay going into the shower?” He quickly changed the topic out of guilt. “Your tail would probably cause the glass doors to shatter and…and…” Reki’s voice trailed off as Langa closed the distance between them.
“Does Reki want to take a shower with me?”
Reki nodded. The redhead unable to focus on forming words as his attention was directed to the realization that his swim trunks were thinner than he thought. A discovery made possible through having Langa pressed right up against him and being able to feel everything.
“Then Reki has to give me extra nibbles,” Langa didn’t wait for any confirmation. The serpent bending his head down to capture Reki’s mouth.
Nibbles. Kisses. Reki didn’t know which he was actually giving Langa and he didn’t particularly care as long as it meant that his lips were able to keep commingling with Langa’s.
And damn did they commingle. Reki not even realizing that the two of them had moved from where they were previously standing until he felt the hot pattering of water against his back.
“How?” Reki broke the kiss out of confusion. His confusion growing as he also realized that he was somehow now slightly taller than Langa.
…How?
Reki quickly learned how. In the midst of their commingling, Langa had scooped Reki up and the redhead had instinctively wrapped his legs and arms around Langa without even noticing. Reki also somehow not realizing until right then that one of the things holding him up was Langa’s hands on his ass.
How!?
“See? My legs stayed,” Langa said proudly, an excited and expectant look on his face like a puppy waiting to be praised.
And usually, Reki was quick to praise Langa. However, right now the half-merman was too busy debating on whether the squeeze he’d just felt to his butt was done by accident or completely on purpose.
Was the innocent puppy expression on Langa’s face genuine or simply a mask hiding the serpent’s more amorous inclinations?
“Aren’t I heavy?” Reki asked, immediately feeling stupid because he knew how strong Langa was and that the sea serpent could probably lift Reki up with one hand.
“Of course not,” Langa playfully booped his nose against Reki’s, “Reki’s the perfect size~”
Reki felt his cheeks heat up at the praise. “You sure about that? I think it’d be nice to be a bit taller like you.” The corners of his mouth quirked up into a smirk. “Or maybe even taller.”
“Hmmmm tall Reki does sound nice,” Langa agreed, carefully placing Reki down on his feet before cupping Reki’s cheeks (this time the ones on his face) and giving them a squeeze. “But would tall Reki be as squishy?”
“Definitely not as squishy as you!” Reki’s hands darted to Langa’s sides, mercilessly tickling the sea serpent.
Langa’s laughter filled the bathroom. The mirth radiating off Langa filling Reki’s chest with a cozy warmth. However, in that small and enclosed space, that warmth continued to rise in intensity as Langa pulled Reki tightly against him. Arms effectively pinned to his sides, Reki attempted to wiggle out of Langa’s grasp but froze as Langa let out a shuddery moan.
He’d forgotten.
Even though Reki was literally staring at Langa the whole time in the shower, the half-merman had somehow forgotten that Langa was butt naked.
Though right now, Reki had no choice but to remember as a huge reminder of Langa’s current nakedness pressed right against him.
Had Reki’s swim trunks somehow dissolved away under the force of the water? Because with how much the half-merman could feel of Langa, it sure felt like Reki’s flower-print swim trunks had pulled some sort of switcheroo with the redhead’s birthday suit.
Reki swallowed. The acoustics in the bathroom apparently were top notch since everything seemed to be echoing within him with perfect clarity: the spattering of water on his skin, Langa’s quick breaths against his scalp, the serpent’s even quicker heartbeat along Reki’s, and the throbbing between Reki’s own legs that the redhead was becoming increasingly aware of.
What should he do?
What shouldn’t he do?
Because there currently were a lot of horny thoughts duking it out in Reki’s brain and there wasn’t yet any clear winner.
Or maybe there was one. A contender his imagination had flaunted to Reki earlier when Langa’s hand had been warming up Reki’s inner thigh.
Reki remembered Langa’s earlier disappointment at not being bitten. Reki’s gaze finding the claim marking on Langa’s skin.
“…Does Reki want to give me another one?”
Reki jolted at being caught staring. The half-merman completely unaware that Langa had been watching him. At first, Reki’s cheeks burned with a mixture of shame and guilt at the indecency of his thoughts. Then the heat exploded across Reki’s face as he met Langa’s gaze.
Hunger.
Langa’s irises were aflamed with it. The serpent making no attempt to hide his horniness as he tilted his head to offer the unclaimed side of his neck to Reki. “This side is good. Then I can have one on either side.”
“Langa—”
“It doesn’t have to be here though. A claim mark can be put anywhere.” Langa said, pulling away from Reki and gifting him a full view of the goods. “Remember where I thought you were going to bite me earlier? That would also be a very good spot for a claim—”
“You already have a claim marking and I don’t. It’s not fair!” Reki blurted out, his voice echoing embarrassingly. Yet Reki decided to keep going while he was emboldened by Langa’s lack of shame and his own desperate desire to feel Langa’s mouth on his skin. He took a step back so that Langa had a fuller view of his body. Reki’s next words nearly a whisper since he was too anxious to properly flirt. “Where would you put one on me?”
Langa was silent. The plinking of water against the tiles and the glass doors thunderous. An eavesdropper might have thought that the shower was too loud for Langa to have heard Reki’s soft and nervous question, but Reki had been heard.
Reki also had already received a reply. Langa’s gaze sweeping down and settling clearly on the exact spot his hand had touched earlier on Reki’s thigh.