dance with the waves

Yujun Merfolk Royal Merfolk Species Liaison

[hjxmatteo]

Family was complicated and definitely more so when you were a royal. Matteo's brothers despised him with a passion, but his cousins were different. When Matteo took the throne early, they supported him. They didn't ask too many questions about his father and helped smooth his transition to power. In a way, they were more like his siblings than his brother.

His sister was currently with her husband, off looking at the sites. They had never been topside, much less here. But, it was proving to be a nice trip. Meanwhile, Matteo was left now to their own devices.

They wore shells that glimmered like rainbows in the sun. They also wore a crown of flowers. Pink ones that had reminded him of Osuke. Though, his were much prettier.

Matteo looked at the game. His forehead wrinkled as he thought hard. Oh. He remembered. He thought. "I think it's called tennis. But I don't really understand the rules. They seem to run around a lot though." He smirked slightly. "I think that gives us the advantage there."

[hjxyujun]

tilted their head slightly, hearing their cousin speak. they didn't remember putting that on the list of activities for the day. the one they talked over with sujin. just thinking of the other made a small smile grace their features. spending the time with him they had the other day turned out to be a lot more fun then he expected. it was great. silently they brought their mind back to the moment. "tennis," he parroted for a moment before nodding. he had been watching for a moment and still didn't entirely understand the point. other than to move the ball from one side to the other. weird. "what advantage?" they questioned with a turn, thinking about the fact that legs weren't their natural state most of the time when it came to merfolk. the shells and bits of coral in his own hair bumped together as he turned to look to the other quickly. "i would think that having to run so much on legs would make it weird for us. or is it because our leg muscles end up being strong since technically... it is our tail?"

[hjxsujin]

she sells seashells // sujin & yujun.

date: day 2 of the pride festival location: town square / rainbow market time: afternoon trigger warning(s): homophobia, racism featuring: @hjxyujun

sujin didn't often feel comfortable in his own skin.

he had always felt a world away from others, far away from humans and even farther away from the merfolk. but during the pride festival, he felt like he could belong, if only for this brief space in time. it was freeing, and he clung to every moment of it he could.

walking past the stalls of the rainbow market, a simple smile was on his lips as he hummed a song with no name to himself. he was perfectly in his own world, but the glimmer of something in the corner of his eyes pulled his attention towards it.

it was a display of bracelets and necklaces, all made from seashells. a particular bracelet, one made of many different colored shells, called to him. he hadn't ever seen seashells this color, with one being a blue so deep it reminded him of the ocean itself. in fact, all the colors of the rainbow were present, and he asked the woman selling the bracelets to name her price.

she smiled and offered him another — two for the price of one. he tried to politely return the other, but she insisted. "for someone special," she said with a knowing wink. he didn't exactly have anyone special to gift it to, but he still thanked her and paid for the bracelets.

slipping his easily onto his wrist, he raised it to the sky and marveled at the way the sun glistened off the shells. he hadn't realized he was only a step away from another person until their bodies collided and he quickly moved to grip onto their shoulders to hold them steady and keep from falling.

settling his gaze, he rested it upon the other and said, "oh! y-yujun." he let him go and internally chastised himself for forgoing his manners. "princen yujun," he corrected himself. a formal title from their world, from the sea, but he thought it only appropriate.

"i should've watched where i was going," he said, opening his mouth to apologize, but remembered the last time they had spoken. yujun didn't seem to like him apologizing so much. sujin wasn't fond of it much either. "hi," he offered a small greeting instead, allowing for a more easygoing grin to settle on his features.

"you, uh... come here often?" sujin tried to find words to fill the space, but the ones he chose caused him to blush instead. "ah, sorry, that sounds like a come on." he shook his head. "not that i wouldn't- and that you're not- 'cause, you know, you are-" he took a moment to breathe, muttering to himself, "stop talking, sujin."

[hjxyujun]

for all of the planning and the hard work, as far as yujun could tell, the day had gone… swimmingly. sure, day two hadn’t been their day specifically and they still needed to see what the third day would hold. but the main point was that people seemed to be enjoying themselves. the arrest was barely a whisper while the police fumbling was a louder voice with jiho walking the streets once more. the younger ocean folk had doubted the elder siren had anything to do with it, but it was pretty surprising to hear that he had a full-blown alibi ready to take him out of the equation. it proved that there was still so much the younger needed to learn and suddenly the itch to see if the other would impart knowledge to him.

but it was a question for a different day as they walked through the stalls selling so many beautiful trinkets. many of the merfolk that had stalls would beckon them to chat with him. wishing to cover their princen with items so the others would see them wearing them. laughing with a sweet older woman, he paid no attention to much of the space around him, allowing her toy with a shell in his hair that she thought would maybe look good in another color.

when he moved away from her, jun hadn’t been ready for another body to run into them. the strong grip on their shoulders kept him from falling but the gaps they had let out at the surprise didn’t stop. only when their eyes met did they see it was sujin he had run into. who held them tight before suddenly letting go. “sujin,” they huffed out as they nearly stumbled backward, not even thinking they needed to make sure they stood by themself to not fall.

blushing over their mistake, they brushed their hair from the side of their face and shook their head. willing themself to hold onto some composure that they had just been showing to the other merfolk… who were watching even if they were trying to pretend, they weren’t. “no, no. yujun is fine. you don’t have to call me princen,” they rushed out in a soft tone, hoping to interrupt the other from questioning himself. but it seemed they were too late.

of course, jun’s eyes widened slightly at the words sent his way and the blush on his cheeks bloomed to life as if it had never left. oh, well. “no, please don’t stop talking,” he laughed despite the heat that danced across his skin. scrunching his nose in thought for a moment, they tried to piece together what to say next. “i think.. you.. too?” it was like a question but meant to be an answer.

coughing at their own stumble they shook their head, “i mean, would you like to look at more of the market with me?”

[hjxyujun]

Love is in the air

day: pride day three: beach day time: mid morning with: open starter tw: homophobia mention, sad thoughts

the beach was full with people. so many of them there specifically for the celebration of pride. it was a relatively new festivity compared to many of the others that were celebrated in hanjeong but it was definitely one of yujun's favorite. not every day that the streets and people were covered in bright colors and seemingly genuinely enjoying themselves in so many different ways. happiness seemed to permeate the air. a sense of love for the people around and within. the sort of thing they loved to be there for.

which was exactly why they were in their human form, heart shaped sunglasses on their face and their outfit light but covering the items that would worry most humans. their gills comfortably free as they laid back on the sand in the sun. quietly singing along to the music that was loudly playing, they just swayed along to the beat. it was the sort of day they wished they could always have. tapping his toes in the sand he looked towards the people playing various games. curious if they would let him in as well. willing to take the risk, yujun stood, not even trying to brush the sand off of him and walked towards the gaming area.

first, they figured they needed to asses the situation, eyeing the different games that people were playing. seeing one they didn't recognize, they smiled softly towards the person next too them and asked, "do you know the name of that one? i don't think i've ever played it before.."

[heybaetae]

the vacation shirt™

[hjxyujun]

tag!dump