It was a lovely warm day out, a Jaybird day as the weather turned, and he was going to go back empty handed. Too still. It had been an excellent day before, but he was going to have to go deeper with his nets soon.
Treize Khushrenada raised a hand and shielded his gaze, peering out over the water. The shore wasn't far off, he knew, even though he couldn't see it. Sometimes it felt like that was all there was to his life -- him, far away from everyone, fishing alone. He could have joined one of the collectives, but he hadn't. He just needed to eke out a living, enough to supplement his war pension. So he didn't need to turn a big profit, and there was peace in being alone sometimes.
But sometimes he was lonely, which was different from being alone. Being alone meant enjoying one's own company, which he quite frequently did; he had a wide number of books and a phonograph and even a pet bird which sang to him sometimes. That was enjoyable in all ways.
Being lonely was not.
Sometimes he just wanted someone in whom he could confide, someone who would pay attention. Someone who would kiss him goodnight and sleep beside him, warm and safe against his side. He didn't have that. He had come close during the wars, but he had died, and she had left him for a man who had a better head for business and broader goals in life than resigning his military commission for anything quieter. For a house and peace and quiet. For a bright sun in water on a cold day.
War had done him no favors, but the sea had brought his soul back to him, his ability to enjoy simpler things. Simply to be was more difficult than many people might think, but he made a good effort at it and it worked for him.
The loneliness, well. Sometimes, he supposed a man had to take the good with the bad.
He did catch a couple of narrow whiting that would be delicious if he cooked them with a potato when he got home, which brightened his spirits by the time he turned around his boat, sailing back to the dock. He had hoped to line fish some excellent tuna, but would return to net fishing in the morning. Once the boat was properly moored, he took his fish and began to make his way up the beach and toward his house only to stop in shock as he took one last glance behind him and stumbled to a shocked halt.
There was a body lying half in and half out of the water just at the edge of his dock. If he hadn't looked behind him, who knew when someone might have noticed?
It startled him, and he ran down to the body. It was completely naked, and his first urge was to haul the person up with hands under the arms, to get the body away from the water. It looked like the body of a man with long black hair.
When he turned him over, the eyes that blinked open to stare at him were as dark grey as the sea, a little stunned. There were finely arched black brows, and an open mouth that was rosebud pink.
He was beautiful.
He was beautiful and clammy to the touch, but he was breathing. Wet but alive. Treize put fingers on his pulse just to reassure himself. "Hello, are you okay?"
"Hmm?" Those eyes blinked at him, and he let out a shuddery sigh. "Y-yes?" Yes, and there was an accent to those words. Treize couldn't place it. "Where am I?"
"Ahrenshoop. Were you in a wreck? Do you remember anything?" He checked the man's shoulders, his neck, and then slid a hand gently behind his back to start helping him sit up.
"I was in the water." He blinked out across it, gaze narrowing sharply against the westward sloping sun. "That's all I remember."
It was like that sometimes. He'd get him into the house and take a better look at his scalp with a lantern to make sure there wasn't blood in that ink black hair. "Come, let's get you into the house and see if we can get your senses about you."
The young man nodded, stumbling on the way up as if his legs somehow didn't want to make sense of things. "Thank you."
He kept hold of him and the fish both, standing still for a moment. "Easy there. Dagon must have known I'd have company, because I have enough for a feast tonight. You seem like you could use a good meal."
The smile that earned him felt warm all the way down to his toes. "Dagon is a good god for a fisherman."
"And a good god for shipwrecked sailors." Treize helped him to the reed thatched house set back where the sand dunes met the earth again. Sometimes he had nightmares of the dunes consuming it in the night.
Another reason that being lonely was worse than being alone.
"Or whatever I may be," the man agreed.
Once inside, Treize led him to the one small luxury he maintained -- a room with a bathtub large enough to fit all of him that was curtained off from his bedroom -- and found clothes for him to wear while he was busy with his ablutions before stepping outside to scale the fish he'd caught. Let the man orient himself to the world around him, and give him some time to think. He had probably lost friends, and that was a weight the body knew even if the brain didn't. Perhaps he would go down to the pub and see if anyone knew of a wreck, take the man with him to see. After all, the worst news would be none at all, and that was already what they knew thus far.
By the time he was done, the sun was well on its way to setting, and so he returned to his kitchen and began lighting the lanterns. Hearing him move around seemed to be sufficient to nudge things along, because the young man came out, trouser legs rolled up at the bottom and the arms of Treize's sweater pushed up to his elbows. "Hello again," he greeted, striding barefoot to the small table in one corner of the room.
It took his breath away a little, as he absently set down the fish, and crouched, still watching him, to stoke the coals a little to get flames going again. He needed to add more wood.
"How are you feeling?"
"Better now that I've had an opportunity to use your washstand." Filling up the tub was a luxury that took time, but the washstand would do for now. "My name is Wufei."
"Wufei. A pleasure to meet you. I'm Treize." He extended his hand from where he was crouching, even as he shoved a split bit of log into the fire with the other hand.
The hand that took his felt soft, and oh, he was enjoying having company far too much. When he glanced up, Wufei's eyes were on the fire, brows tilted in fascination. "Does it..." One hand reached out, and Treize caught it just in time.
"It's very hot to the touch." It surprised him he even needed to say it, and it made him wonder how hard a hit to the head it would be. "I plan to char the fish on this, so it's very hot."
"But you were touching it? It's so pretty." Dark eyes went back to the flicker, and his lips were parted, a little o.
"With a tool." That was so strange, verging past hitting one's head strangely, and Treize settled the wood and leaned back carefully before grabbing a bit of the kindling to show it to him better. "Have you not seen fire recently?"
Wufei shook his head, and his eyes were rapt, watching the fire until Treize closed the door to the firebox. He seemed disappointed afterward. "Never."
"Never?" He wasn't sure why he felt compelled to look over to his songbirds, who seemed completely happy by themselves on their stick perch, napping cuddled side by side. No, whatever was going on didn't alert animals. "Have you had cooked fish?"
That was answered with another shake of Wufei's head. "Only raw ones. Some of them are tastier than others."
"Then you'll like this. Potatoes?" He asked that casually, feeling a little shaken as he pulled the frying pan down from the wall.
"What are potatoes?" Wufei seemed to sense that Treize found that strange. "I've never seen them."
He handed one to Wufei, uncut, and then walked past him to pull out a chair from the table. "Here, sit and be comfortable while I cook for us."
That, at least, didn't seem to be an unknown quantity for him; he sat at the table, rolling the potato in his hands, looking at it with fascination. "Where do you find these?"
"In the dirt. I have a small garden out back, and in the market otherwise." Anything that survived in the garden was hardy, and could put up with benign neglect. He cut up one, and then gently took the second from Wufei to cut it into cubes. A little salt and some rosemary on both potatoes and fish, and he would have a veritable feast ready.
It was clearly something Wufei hadn't seen with any regularity; he was watching Treize with fascination, from his knife work to his seasoning. "Is this standard, then? Because it smells quite good."
"It's... fairly standard, yes? Fish and vegetables for dinner. Bread or whatever I scrounge up for the other meals. What do you usually eat?" A person hoped one's pets would alert one to a malevolent spirit in the house, so with the birds sleeping, whatever was going on wasn't... that.
He didn't know what it was, but it wasn't that.
Wufei shrugged. "Raw fish," he told Treize again. "And seaweed. And sometimes other things, but mostly that."
He added oil to the pan and began to cook the potatoes first. "Do you mind if I ask what you are?"
Ah, that head tipped to the side. "I'm me. I don't have your word for it."
That would keep him from going down to the pub and asking around the other fishermen if someone had heard about a shipwreck. "Ah. That tells me what I need to know."
"Does it?" He seemed to be honestly curious. "I've listened to your people for a long time. I don't know what all of the words are, though. Just how to put them together." He scowled, but it was more of a pout. "She said she was done watching me watch you and took my skin."
"A seal skin? Or a nixie? I was going to go down to the public house and ask if someone heard of your ship going down, but... I don't think that's necessary now." He used a fork to turn the potatoes over on the pan, spreading them out.
"Mm. The first, I think. I'm not sure what the second is," Wufei admitted. He was watching with fascination, and his hand snuck a bit closer to the stove, felt the heat, and then pulled back from it. "That's what the pretty thing does."
"It's quite dangerous. We keep it in the box, so it doesn't spread." He hoped that sounded like a reasonable explanation. "Were you watching me?"
"Yes." As if that could possibly be a sufficient answer. Those dark grey eyes were rapt on the fork, watching him cook. "You're very pretty."
That was something novel to hear. He almost needed to pull out a chair for himself to process it, because he was not pretty. Handsome, perhaps, but that was also a linguistic nuance that he didn't need to quibble about.
He tried to remember the last time he had seen seal eyes peeking up at him from the water. He definitely had, but couldn't quite say when.
"My mate likes to give me presents. You are the loveliest present yet." And when those eyes cast his way, Treize was nearly breathless with it.
He had heard tales of the sealskins going after lonely women when their men were gone too long, but going after lonely fishermen? He turned the potatoes over, and added the prepared fish to the pan beside them. "Oh. That's... surprising."
"Why? Do you not know how lovely you are?" Wufei frowned. "And also lonely. There is no need to be lonely. I can keep you company."
Some god out there had clearly picked today as the day to answer his prayer, though he knew enough to be wary of such gifts. It made him stop his stirring at the stove for a moment. "I... how did you know I'm lonely?"
Broad shoulders shrugged. "I can tell." That seemed to be a sufficient answer in Wufei's opinion. "It's in your eyes when I watch you."
He had no grounds to argue against that, because it was probably true. He nudged at the fish, just to keep it from sticking. "And you've come out of the water to be company for me?" Treize wondered if it would cost him his soul.
Wufei nodded, watching the fish. "Yes. Meiran is tired of watching me pine. She says it's annoying. Does it taste better this way than it does fresh?"
"I prefer my food to be a little brown, but you might not?" He glanced at their dinner to make sure it was still cooking nicely. "Is Meiran your... mate?"
One hand reached out toward the fish and then drew back quickly when it sizzled. "Mmm. Yes. She stole my skin and sent me swimming. She said that she would come back when you aren't so lonely anymore."
"You're already very good company," he said with amusement, crouching down to take and look at Wufei's hand. "You didn't burn yourself, did you?"
"I don't think so?" He let Treize inspect his skin, perfect and smooth, uncalloused. "It made a sound."
Just amazingly smooth, and soft to the touch. It surprised him, the warmth of him. A seal. A human tucked into a sealskin, with bright dark grey eyes. "Have you been on the shore before?"
"To watch you, yes." He admitted it so easily. "I like to watch you. You're always alone, but not always lonely. Sometimes, it's just nice to see you."
To watch him. He pulled away, just to rescue their dinner and plate fish and potatoes with some care so his guest might enjoy it. "I'm nothing special."
Wufei shrugged. "I think you are, and that is what matters, yes?"
He slid the plate in front of Wufei, watching him in fascination as he sat down next to him with his own plate, and offered him a fork and knife. "Do sealskins go to war?"
"What is war? Is it when the things drop down from below and the bodies follow?" Wufei took the utensils, but he didn't seem to know what to do with them. Possibly giving him a knife had not been a very good idea. "Not as such. There are seals that aren't like us, and they fight over mates."
He picked up the fork, and pushed it into the little cube of potato to put it in his mouth. "Yes. It's when the ships sink and the people on board with them."
"We don't like it when we see them. They pollute the waters and make it dangerous for the fish sometimes." He was observing Treize quite carefully and followed suit. "Ohhhh."
"It's nice, isn't it?" He took his time chewing, and then did the same with the fish, using the side of his fork to cut it rather than the knife. "That's potato, rosemary, and salt. I evaporate sea water for the salt."
It was amusing, then, watching his guest stuff his mouth with potatoes until he was chipmunk cheeked, and yet somehow he chewed and swallowed all the same. Clearly feeding him wasn't going to be problematic. Treize was fairly certain he was swaying a bit in his chair as if the taste made him so delighted that he had no choice but to wriggle, much like a sea lion who had his favorite fish. "Mmmmmm."
"Ah, good. Now I know I can cook for you and you won't suffer." He took another bite, mulling it all over. "I was a general in the wars for a long time. I resigned because there were too many dead and no progress made. We've brought in more technology, and it cheapens what we did."
"What are you fighting for, if not for mates?" That seemed to confuse Wufei, and well it should. Treize had sometimes wondered why they fought at all, usually when he was knee deep in blood and horror.
"Sometimes to defend our land; other times for honor, because an ally asked us to defend their land for them. For access to resources -- which in a way, is a very long way to get to mates." Or to lose mates, as his will to fight and continue to play the games had faded.
Wufei made a face at him. "It seems an awfully long way to go when you could just meet them and have one. As we're doing now."
"So you can imagine why I'm so surprised," he said softly, smiling as he ate another bite of potato. "Humans are very concerned about status."
That earned him a shrug. "I am, what is the... Not the leader, but mate to the leader? Is that important enough for human concerns?"
"Oh yes. Here, there would be a lot of disapproving talk about you spending time with a former General turned fisherman. I don't have a very good status, you see. Not any longer." But he apparently was found good looking and lovely by a sealskin, and he mostly felt inspired to show off.
"All the status I require is that I like you and you are pretty and lonely. This is sufficient." Wufei gave up on the fork and began picking up bits with his fingers. They were quite warm, but he seemed to like it all the same. "It is a shame you don't have a skin of your own."
"It is a shame. I'm human through and through." He watched Wufei, expression bright as he ate a little more off his own plate. "What's it like?"
Wufei gave it very serious consideration and finally replied, "Wet."
Treize laughed, eating another bit of fish. "Cold as well?" And wide and wild. He had often watched the sea life, been careful with it, and watched them when they sometimes came into shore... oh.
"And beautiful," Wufei agreed. "Like you. Except not." Wufei's foot pressed against his ankle beneath the table, toes stroking his skin. "It's beautiful here, too." He nodded at the firebox of Treize's wood stove.
He wondered if fire and skin and ground people were the world's best novelty for him, and guessed there was no reason to deny him any of it. "So I might enjoy your company and showing you the surface for a while?"
"If you would like, then I, too, would enjoy spending time with you," Wufei murmured, and ate another bite of fish using his fingers.
He was not imagining that Wufei seemed to lick his fingers. It wasn't that he didn't have a libido, but left alone long enough, it had atrophied a bit. It felt like it was coming roaring back, watching those nimble fingers. "I would very much like that."
Wufei's mouth tilted, and Treize wasn't imagining that it was a smirk. "Good. Perhaps, too, we can spend several days inside as well."
"You're very straightforward," he said, leaning in to kiss the edge of the man's mouth, once those fingers lowered from Wufei's mouth.
"Should I be otherwise?" Wufei asked him, and then he turned and their lips met more fully, a hand clasping the back of Treize's neck and holding him close.
He imagined sealskins had hierarchies, and no morals beyond preference to guide them either way. "No. No, this is delightful and welcome."
"Good," Wufei replied, and promptly shifted himself out of his chair and into Treize's lap to kiss him quite a bit more thoroughly.
He had a lapful of warm man sitting astride his thighs and wearing his sweater, and perhaps he had drowned out there on the water or succumbed to something and been washed overboard, and this was a decent sailor's heaven, sliding his hands down to touch warm skin.
"Ah, that is quite lovely. Presumably," Wufei murmured between kisses, "you know how these things work between bodies such as ours." His hands were working quite well at tugging up Treize's own sweater, the one on his body, and stroked his skin with adoration.
"Between men? It is one of my fondest delights. But not all men do." He braced a foot on the floor, and lifted it up over his head to take it off, setting it on a bare spot on the table. "Have you done this before?"
Broad shoulders shrugged. "With my mate, but it isn't the same as with men. So no, I don't suppose so."
"Oh. Hmn, as humans or?" That could be vastly interesting, and as it was he was enjoying the straddle of his lap and his closeness of contact.
Wufei tipped his head to the side. "Why would we?" Which was more or less true, he supposed.
"Different sensations, I suppose. How does this feel for you?" He slipped fingers up to brush a nipple gently.
Oh, that was quite obviously high on Wufei's list of things to be repeated, Treize could tell. "Oh! Oh, oh, ohhhh." One hand rose and wrapped around Treize's wrist, long fingers beautiful to see. "Oh yes please."
Treize watched Wufei's face as he repeated the gesture, feeling the flex and release of those fingers. "You're going to really enjoy all of this, oh yes...."
"Yes," Wufei agreed, and he shuddered with delight. "Oh, I like you very much, this is..." He whined, and muttered something Treize couldn't understand. "Yes please.
In the morning he did need to go and put out nets, but for the moment he could let his mind wander off, and he could enjoy a glimpse into a fantastic, impossible seeming life, as he tilted his head and pressed his mouth against Wufei's neck.
He made the loveliest of noises, and it was quite apparent that the sensations in this body were somehow overwhelming. "How," he managed to gasp, "how do you manage to do anything when your bodies feel like, like this?"
"The threat of starvation does a lot to motivate most of us," he quipped dryly, sliding his tongue against the line of Wufei's neck. "It does come down to food, companionship and shelter in the end." And scholarship, and contributing to society, and so what if he had done the last two and had to fall back down the ladder a little to get to some of the other items.
"Mmmm, I wouldn't worry about that," Wufei murmured, and shifted, kissing him sweetly again. "Meiran will keep us fed for a day or three if I ask." Which would mean they could stay in bed and not have to think about anything else.
"That would be very nice of her." The press of mouth to mouth was wonderful, soft lips damp against his, and he had missed that contact. "Let me take you to bed."
"Yes," Wufei agreed, and his thighs wrapped tight around Treize's waist, arms around his neck, so that he could stand and get them both to his bed. "Yes, please."
It felt a little like showing off, a hand braced against Wufei's back as he stood up so he could carry him. He managed not to drop the slightly smaller man and was pleased to be pressed so scandalously close against Wufei's body as he sat him on the bed and started to pull his sweater off of Wufei entirely. "You're gorgeous."
"I know." He seemed entirely pleased with himself as he came out of the sweater, hair a ruffled black mess framing his face. "And you're beautiful. Come to me." Come to him, because he was sliding further up in the bed, motioning to Treize. He knelt, crawling up over Wufei's body to kiss him again. He shrugged out of his clothes, between kisses, and found that there were hands helloing him, stroking them free. "Oh, this is lovely. So different from wearing my skin," Wufei sighed.
"You should slip out of it more often." They were naked on top of the bed soon, and the bare exploration of it was fascinating, as if Wufei were discovering the dip of muscles and the perk of nipples for the first time.
Those dark eyes were wide, taking in all of him. "I think I will enjoy spending quite a good deal of time out of my skin so long as it's with you, no?"
He very deliberately slipped his thumb against one nipple, and smiled against his mouth. "I will make this so good for you."
The feel of a gasp beneath his own mouth was so good, so pleasing. Treize had always loved it when he partners enjoyed themselves, and teaching someone about the pleasures to be had between men would be wonderful, he didn't doubt. "Oh, I do like that."
He crawled lower, kissing at his neck, and then down to Wufei's nipples to teach him how much better it could be.
Every flick of his fingers earned him a new sound, and when he added his tongue to the efforts, he thought Wufei might come off of the bed. It was quite a close thing, in fact, because he cried out and arched, a shudder rippling through him. "Yes!"
"Oh, wait." He was hardly able to contain himself, taking the time to bite gently at one nipple. That earned him a cry of purest delight, and he had to say that he did enjoy being the man to have gained that sound.
He took his time now that Wufei seemed less likely to come off the bed, and kissed, bit and sucked at both nipples with an idle enjoyment that brought about squirming and rocking of hips, little sounds that he was sure he would never forget. "Oh. Oh, oh. Oh, that is..." Hands were on his head, fingers threaded through his hair and clenched.
Treize hummed against Wufei's chest, pressing into the clench of touch, and pulling back to blow a fine stream of air over one nipple. "Good?"
"Land walker bodies are amazing." A shudder rippled through his entire body. "Very good, yes"
He kissed his way down Wufei's stomach, siding down slowly, keeping his fingers on his nipples while he moved. "Land walker bodies have their upsides. Do you mind if I kiss you all over?"
"I have no objection to anything you want to do," Wufei told him, watching him with fascinated eyes. "You seem to have a very good idea of what needs doing."
"You'll have to tell me if it's what needs to be done." The sun was setting, but the light from the fire was bright and warm in the room, and he could see the reflection in Wufei's eyes before he kissed his way down to Wufei's belly button, sliding a hand gently to run a finger along the length of his dick.
That earned him a soft coo, a hum, and a wriggle. Treize hadn't had anyone that enjoyed him this much in a very long time. "Everything needs to be done, I want to do everything with you." He was watching Treize with fascination. The wriggle was interesting, and he could imagine it was a delighted seal gesture. Treize kissed past his dick, mouthing the inside of Wufei's thighs, settling between his legs. There was a little disappointed whine, but then Wufei was up on his elbows and looking at him, fascinated and hopeful, a gleam in his eye that said he was going to be observing carefully. Treize had the notion that he might well be a quick study. That boded well for him to enjoy everything else Treize wanted to try. He lingered, kissing and sucking at his soft inner thigh, pulling Wufei in close.
"I like that very much," Wufei told him, his voice a little raspy with desire, dark eyes burning with it. "Teach me everything you want me to know so that I can try it again in reverse."
It made him shiver, because yes, that was lovely, and it made anticipation pool with arousal right at the root of him. He kissed at the other man's balls, gentle, careful, just to see how it felt for him.
"Ohhh." That was a wavering little sound, and Wufei's thighs pulled in just a bit, then loosened. "I think I'm going to like being a land walker." One hand began petting at Treize's head. He hummed against his skin, sucked one ball carefully into his mouth, and wrapped a hand around the base of Wufei's dick to loosely stroke him off, and Wufei began to moan, at first quietly, then more enthusiastically as Treize continued. He laid down again, knees spreading wider in invitation, and every cry was sufficient to encourage him further onward. He stopped sucking there, leaned up to take Wufei into his mouth, to let him experience a uniquely human feeling, and sensation of suction, and found both hands in his hair, tugging desperately as Wufei rolled his hips, moaning and quite clearly on edge already. Treize could remember well the first time anyone had done this to him, and so he encouraged Wufei further, making slick wet noises until the man beneath him cried out and came, entire body shaking beneath him.
It felt good, swallowing it down, leaning the side of his head against the inside of Wufei's thigh as he pulled back. The contact, he'd missed all of the warm touches and feeling eager and relaxed all at once. He didn't feel lonely here, not with Wufei looking at him in dazed amazement, not with him willing to touch and tease and caress.
"That was..." A shaky breath lingered on the air. "Oh. That was perfect."
"Yes, it was." Treize kissed at the inside of his thigh again, and started to slowly kiss back up Wufei's body, hands roaming. "You're beautiful sprawled out like this."
"I'm always beautiful," he was informed, arms wrapping around Treize. "My mate is also beautiful. You will appreciate her when she comes."
He slid an arm behind Wufei, and settled in with him, comfortable. "I imagine I will. Mm, you feel wonderful."
"Yes, I do." Treize wondered if all of the sealskins were like this, unashamed and comfortable in themselves. "You made me feel that way, just now."
"I could do this for you every time you tire of the sea and want to come visit." He kissed at Wufei's neck, his cheek, enjoying the loose tangle of limbs and the heat. It earned him a bit of a laugh when he kissed behind Wufei's ear, and he shivered. He was probably ticklish there, and that made him smile, too.
"I would like that quite a lot," Wufei agreed, an affectionate gaze falling on him. "Spending time with you often."
He didn't know what to do with that other than to enjoy it and marvel in it because it felt like it had been an age since he'd experienced it, too. To want so openly, that had to be a relief. "You make this a very unboring evening. Usually I read or mend the nets."
"Shall I return the favor so that you'll have no need for those other things?" Wufei offered.
"Yes." Yes, though he rather hoped Wufei liked books as much as he seemed to like potatoes. The way the other man pushed him gently to lie on his back, even though he pulled Wufei atop him in the process, distracted him, and when Wufei slid down his body spreading a littering of kisses along the way, he closed his eyes and just enjoyed his evening.
Five days.
It had been incredibly enjoyable, Treize thought, Wufei seated close to him as they ate their meals and drank their tea. Wufei had given up bothering with trousers and was mostly roaming the house in Treize's sweaters and a pair of socks, tucking himself close to Treize and finding a blanket when he wanted to be warmer.
He had burned the fire warmer, and slipped out the back to grab firewood off the pile against the house. He was going to have to go out and set nets that morning and have something of a return to reality, but it counted as the best five days of his life so far. It was the kind of thing he had always wanted in his life. Someone to come home to, calm and companionship and coziness. The fact that it took the arrival of a fairy tale creature for him to have it just seemed sad even if it was, in fact, entirely wonderful.
He knew he would leave. These things, the stories, they always had time limits, three or seven or something like that. It was early, and he was thinking of making a little pan bread for their breakfast after he set nets in at the end of the dock. It was terribly lazy, and not a good catch at all, but it would keep them in good condition for a few days.
"Hello."
The voice was warm, a thrilling sort of alto, and when he glanced up he found a very delightfully naked woman who could have passed for Wufei's sister. He knew better, though. He knew that it must be Wufei's mate.
It stopped him just outside his doorway, net in an armful that he had clutched tight. "Hello. You must be Meiran."
"I am," she agreed, and her gaze took him in from top to bottom, head tilted to the side. "I've come because it's time to go."
Oh. Five apparently was the more overlooked day in the stories. He set his net down by the door in the sandy grass, because he would have plenty of time for it later if that was the case. "Thank you for encouraging Wufei to come up and meet me. I've very much appreciated his company."
"Mmm, well. It was time, finally. He's had an eye on you since the first day, you know." She tilted her head to the side and smiled. "And I like to give him things that he wants."
There was something about the phrasing that took it so far from pitying a lonely human that he had to smile. "Would you like to come in? I was going to make some breakfast. He's still dozing."
"Yes, please." Meiran's mouth curved into a smirk. "He doesn't like mornings. Nor I, so much, but sometimes. You seem as if you do."
"Habit, I'm afraid." He turned, opened the door again, and held it for her, looking at the stove and yes, he could make enough pancakes for all of them, and he had jam canned on a shelf.
"Mmm, yes." She looked around, and then strolled to the table, sitting naked on the chair. She was still damp and salty, but she didn't seem shy about anything. "This is lovely and warm."
"It is. It's a comfortable home." Neither of them were shy, and Treize wasn't about to impinge on anyone. She moved like a queen, that air of unquestionability about her. She also had lovely pert breasts, and he had breakfast to make.
Her eyes tracked his movements, and she seemed curious about what he was doing. "Will you be sad to leave it?"
"Hmn? Am I leaving it?" He cracked eggs from the bowl on the countertop, into another bowl, and beat them with a fork. Flour, a little salt, and water and they could all eat.
Meiran sighed. "He is terrible at this part. Admittedly."
"I intended to. He's just so nice," Wufei offered from the bedroom door. He still sounded sleepy, and he was wearing one of Treize's sweaters again.
He looked good in it. Better than Treize thought he ever had in it. Something about the way it hit his hips. "Which part?" It was warm and the sun was creeping in bright and clear. He felt... lightly confused, a little sad about Wufei, but relaxed. It was a strange conversation they were having.
"Did you bring them?" Wufei asked her, and she nodded.
"Of course. They're down at the dock. I thought it would be better that way."
"Ah, your skins." He stirred them mix up with care, and pulled down the jar of jam and plates, before putting a bit of oil on a pan, and opened the stove's firebox. "Would you mind if I watched, when you go?"
He glimpsed the heavy gazes that passed between them as he began to stir the fire to life.
"Treize," Wufei said slowly. "We would like for you to come with us."
It startled him. "I, I didn't know that was an option." He'd have to...
Have to what? Free his little songbirds, and let the dunes take the house. Because what was there for him there except friends who wrote occasionally and never visited? "I'd like to."
That seemed to relieve Wufei greatly, because he let out a huffing sigh and moved forward, plastering himself against Treize's back. "That is good. That... that is very good. Excellent, even."
He liked the loop of arms around his waist, the press of face against his spine. "But first, one last breakfast. Then I'll let the birds out."
"He makes very good breakfast," Wufei murmured, the sound muffled against Treize's own sweater. "You'll like it."
Meiran sighed. "Yes, yes."
She sounded patient, soft with him, and that amused him as he started the process of cooking up the batter, one after another. In short order, he had stacks of them, and Wufei looked delighted to see them, still standing behind Treize but peeking around him to see what he was doing.
By the time he was done, they were both watching the food with similar head tilts, and Wufei handed Meiran the first plate. "You will like it," he promised.
He had made sure to use the jam generously. If he was going to the ocean, he didn't know when he'd come back. He didn't think either of them had a good sense of human time. "One last treat."
"One last treat," Meiran agreed, and they settled in to eat. Treize found himself unsurprised by the reaction she had to the pancakes -- Wufei's reaction had been quite similar, wide eyes followed by putting far too much in his mouth at once.
"I told you," Wufei said, and nodded.
The jam was quite good with it, sweet and tart, and he took his time, delighting in watching them both. It was warm inside, and he had his books... and they could stay there, because he wasn't going to say no to an adventure. Especially one that wouldn't end in war.
When they were done, Meiran and Wufei both seemed sleepy, a hand on Wufei's belly declaring him full and sated.
"It's time," she told Wufei, and glanced toward Treize.
Wufei sighed. "It's time." He looked at Treize, and his face seemed so serious.
Treize stood up, and opened the window, before opening the cage his birds called home. "Come on, off you go. I've spoiled you too much." The birds flew around his head for a moment, one perching on the window ledge. They looked at him, long and lingering, and then he gently shooed them away before shutting the window behind him.
"Treize," Wufei murmured behind him, and took his hand when he turned around. "I have something to tell you."
"Mm?" Whatever Meiran had chided him for initially, he assumed. Treize lightly clutched his fingers, looking curiously at Wufei.
"We are not just sealskins." His hands cupped both of Treize's. "We're... I suppose you would call it ferrymen."
"Ferry... oh." He glanced to Meiran, and then back to Wufei, stretching his fingers. "You're..." He should have guessed, he had felt so morose out there on the sea the day he met Wufei.
"Yes." Reaching up, Wufei gently cupped his face and pulled him down, forehead to forehead. "You never got out of your boat."
Meiran hummed. "I covered the... Well. You won't have to see anything."
That was good. He'd been dead a few days and no one had noticed. Thus ended the grand general. He leaned his forehead against Wufei's and exhaled. "Thank you."
"You'll be a beautiful sealskin," Wufei told him, and smiled. "Let's go."
"Will we ever come back to land?" He let Wufei tug at him, let them both lead him out of his house. He left the door open, because it didn't matter.
"Sometimes, if you like." Meiran took his other hand. "The food was quite enjoyable."
"And land walker bodies," Wufei agreed.
The path to the dock seemed the same; the weather was still perfect, just that crispness to the air. Everything seemed normal and he felt fine. He didn't feel as if he was dead or a ghost or... what was he?
When he asked, they both just smiled at him, and Meiran strolled to the end of the dock, lifting her skin. It took only a moment, and Treize couldn't quite understand how she did it, but a seal shortly dove into the water from the end of the dock.
"I'll help you," Wufei offered, holding his and Treize's skins.
Someone had pulled the canvas over the boat, and he felt a shiver hit his spine, an eerie feeling. Treize pushed past it, and reached for the skin. Once his hand stroked over it, something seemed to happen; just what, he could neither say nor describe in any way. One second, he was himself, and the next he was something else, and Wufei was beside him. How he knew it was Wufei, he wasn't sure, either, and so he moved forward, feeling awkward, and splashed into the water at the end of the dock.
The water was cool against his skin, and he dove, spinning and trying to orient himself before he came back to the surface. It felt like freedom, spinning and paddling along through the water, and he realized somewhere along the way that he had company on either side of him.