Sapphire eyes

§ 7 §

Oh shit. Nagisa thought, his blood running cold and freezing in his veins but at the same time, his heart pounding so fast that he felt like dying. Karma saw it, he saw his scales and now, Nagisa was holding both of his arms to cover the scales in a futile attempt. What was he supposed to say?

"Uh..um," Need to think fast, "Karma-kun, these are just.." Then he remembered that one time Okuda told him about this rare medical condition. And he just blurted it out without thinking.

"..because of my condition, icthyosis! It's nothing too harmful."

As much as he almost always told Karma the truth, this definitely wasn't the time. Him being a merman was no big deal, he could gradually open it up but he didn't expect Karma to see his scales this soon. And definitely not when he was in the middle of transforming into his humanoid form, he had to halt his transformation all together because he really couldn't explain it if his scales were to disappear immediately.

To his relief, Karma relaxed, "Oh," and stared at the stunted patch of dry colourless scales with question.

"Can I touch it?" Nagisa blinked, and then blinked again before he registered what Karma asked for.

Before this, he really hadn't mind Sugino touching his scales, but that was when he had a full scaly tail. Right now, looking at his mid transformed state, he finally took in his current condition, naked and with scales on some of his more private areas. And it looked like it dawned on Karma as well because he quickly added, "I'm just curious about the scales. It's not communicable right?"

By all means, Nagisa could've denied Karma right there and then because physical contacts were something he didn't like much, be it from his relative or a stranger. But he couldn't comprehend why in the hundred kingdoms he didn't mind Karma; only Karma and no one else.

Silently, he released his hand from the poorly hidden scales and reached out to Karma. Grabbing the other's hand, he placed it on the exposed patch of scales that fluttered in a open and close motion when the foreign touch settled. It was warm, so pleasantly warm that Nagisa didn't mind the heat that slowly crawled to the tip of his toes.

And the blood rushed the other direction when Karma started caressing, probably feeling the rough texture of the dry scales. For example, his cheeks filled with hot blood as a purr formed in his throat by the way Karma was examining his scales, over his waist, his naked waist.

"I-I think that's okay for n-now," Nagisa had to control himself, lest he relax and let the scales transform all the way.

"Is this why you always avoided being seen naked?" Karma questioned, very reluctantly releasing his hands from exploring the scales. "And Sugino-kun knows about it?"

Nagisa nodded, quickly gathering his clothes and slipping them on. He released the magic he was holding in for so long and the dry patch of scales turned into soft human covering. He had his back turned to Karma but not because of shyness or anything (well, maybe shyness played a role as well but..) he had to hide his bright burning face from Karma who remained uncharacteristically silent.

"Were you born with that condition?" Karma asked after a long time as Nagisa dried his hair with a towel.

Well, that was a good question and to be honest, yes Nagisa was born with the condition but not because he was a human, he was one of the merfolks, of course he was born with scales. Merfolks are literally born like a ball of scales, soft scales, all over their body, the scales just reduced and hardened as they age.

"Ah no," A lie, "I was actually hexed by a merman once," another damn lie.

Karma nodded, "That explains why you get so tense and frightened when the undersea kingdoms are mentioned."