A/n: I'm forcing another mermaid AU on you because I got a new tail for the first time in like 6 years

Deep ocean blue by suntail mermaid if anyone is wondering. Also lol my pillow pet in the corner.

Finding time to hang out with a human when you were a merman was difficult. Adrien couldn't breathe underwater, Luka couldn't walk on land. Well... not for very long. Technically there was a way for him to get some temporary legs, but he'd never used them.

Although his growing love for Adrien had been making him seriously consider learning how. They could only see each other whenever Adrien had the time to come swim in the canals after school. And given his packed schedule that wasn't often. Luka did actually know where Adrien went to school and lived though, not only had Adrien told him but if you went far enough up the canals you could actually see both building just off in the distance.

So one day driven by impulse and lovesickness, Luka had an idea.

What if he stayed with Adrien for a bit? He could fit in the bath right? Only thing was he needed to actually get there, behind his fathers back nonetheless. So under the cover of night, Luka swam up the canals to scope out the scene... and steal some pants off a houseboat because he couldn't be walking around naked. And when the sun came up, so did he.

He dragged himself out of the water in the same hidden away spot he and Adrien usually swam at. Dried off in the sun until he felt the unfamiliar sensation of legs replace his tail. He couldn't stay in this form for long, he'd dehydrate. But for the day, he'd be fine. He spent about two hours trying and failing to walk, wriggling the pants on and finally managing to stay on his feet. It felt wrong, weird. And pants felt even weirder, he quickly decided he didn't like pants. But, he'd wear them until he could get to Adrien's place.

He knew where he had to go, but he'd never been on land before, everything was very overwhelming. The sounds and lights, the amount of people... how did Adrien handle all this? The first place Luka got to was the park, not that far away. Just though the brush that hid the little swimming spot away. Grass felt soft, he didn't mind grass. But as soon as he stepped onto the path, he jumped and stumbled back. It was hot! Concrete was hot in the sun... as if he wasn't already bad at walking, how was he going to get across the roads? Barefoot and unable to run without tripping over, he looked around for a solution.

That solution was stealing someone's shoes. Some parent had taken them off to play in the sand pit with their kid, and Luka was sneaky enough to slip them on without getting spotted. Merfolk were known for being quite sneaky you see. His next battle was the roads, he could walk across them now but when did he? All those cars looked dangerous. It took him a while of watching other people to figure out that when the lights went red, he could cross over because all the cars would stop.

He was aware he probably looked a bit weird, shirtless in pants slightly too small for him, tripping over himself a few times and having to stop and watch others to figure out what to do. He probably seemed a bit drunk. But finally he managed to find his way to Adrien's place, and he knew he couldn't just walk in. Gabriel would absolutely kick him out, he didn't even know of Luka's existence. So he needed another way in.

In the ocean he could fit through a lot of little gaps in shipwrecks and rocks, his fins could fan out and fold in to squeeze through gaps. On land he wasn't sure if he could squeeze his legs together to fit into gaps. But somehow he managed to shimmy through the bars of the fence, his frame JUST slim and smooth enough to fit. Must be all the swimming, it kept him very fit. Getting inside was actually rather easy, he just waited until someone opened the door to go outside and snuck in before it closed.

Thank you glasses lady for opening the door to take the laundry out.

Once he was inside, he went straight to finding Adrien's room. Wasn't too hard, the bedroom full of Adrien's favourite things gave it away. Although he wasn't home from school yet, didn't matter though. Luka needed to sit down for a second after all that anyway. He looked over at the clock, it had been 6 whole hours since he stepped out of the water. 2 of them he spent just learning to walk, the other 4 he spent trying to navigate a city knowing absolutely nothing about it. He wondered how many of those hours was just him standing at a street sign trying to figure out where the hell to go from there.

He kicked off the shoes, he didn't like shoes. He wanted to take the pants off too, he didn't like them. But he wasn't sure Adrien would react well to a naked guy in his room. Or maybe he would... the two were rather close after all. Actually, Luka hadn't even had the chance to see his human form yet... he went into the bathroom, kicked the pants off and looked in the mirror.

It looked weird.

Legs were too short, too far apart. A few patches of scales were starting form on his skin, a sign of dehydration. He'd need to soak himself soon. And why was everything just... exposed like that? Where was the protection? If you got hit there, ouch! That would really hurt! Maybe THATS what pants were for...

"LUKA?!"

Luka jumped, having not even heard Adrien get home he was so engrossed in looking at how strange legs looked in the mirror.

"Adrien!" He smiled.

"Wha- how did? But you're a mer- what-"

"I walked... which I'm not very good at. I tripped a few times"

Adrien blinked, how the fuck did his merman friend get into his house? Ok sure he walked here, but he SNUCK IN and DIDN'T get caught. That was impressive actually.

"Yeah I can tell... you have cuts in your hands and forearms" Adrien said.

Luka looked down at his arms, turns out he did. He hasn't even noticed.

"Can I sit in your bath? I'm starting to scale" Luka asked.

"Uh... y-yeah? Sure, yeah" Adrien replied, still in disbelief Luka managed to get into his house.

In the shock he didn't even notice the lack of clothes, it wasn't until he'd turned on the bath and went to ask Luka what temperature he noticed. And oh wow... he'd certainly be having some dreams tonight... red faced, Adrien turned away. How did Luka just not care? Well he was a merman, he was naked all the time in the water since in his tailed form everything was hidden.

"Uh- warm water?" Adrien asked.

"Yes please" Luka replied.

"Quite frankly I'm amazed you managed. Not only did you WALK here you also snuck in and didn't get caught?! You know how much security my dad has? How did you-"

"Squeezed through the gaps in the bars of the fence"

Wow... and Adrien thought HE was underfed.

"Dude, do you even eat in the ocean?" Adrien asked.

"I guess seafood keeps you lean, so does constant swimming" Luka replied.

True... the dolphin kick motion was a known ab workout and seafood was very healthy. No wonder Luka always looked so good. Once the bath was filled, Luka got in and let his tail grow back, the fluke hanging out the end it was so long. Adrien sat beside him, leaning up on the edge of the bath to talk and insisted on patching up those cuts on his arms.

"Not that I'm not ecstatic you're here or anything... but why are you here?" Adrien asked.

"I missed you" Luka replied.

"So you took a wild risk to come see me?"

"Yeah, you're worth it"

Adrien smiled, now that made him feel special. No one had actually taken such a risk for him before, without some high steaks akuma situation or anything. Luka simply just wanted to see him, to spend time with him, so he crawled onto land for the first time? That made Adrien feel so loved.

"Well as long as you can stay hidden, my bath is yours" Adrien smiled.

"I think your dad would have a heart attack seeing a merman in your bath" Luka snickered.

"I think he'd have a heart attack seeing another person in his house in general"

Luka didn't like Gabriel. They'd never met, but all the stories Adrien had told was enough to make Luka not like him. Adrien traced the scales on Luka's tail hanging out of the bath, unable to stop the smile that kept cracking on his lips at the mere sight of Luka. That merman really knew how to pull at his heartstrings. Coming all this way onto land just to see him? That was true love.

"Just so you know... humans don't really walk around naked, good call getting those pants"Adrien said.

"I think it's dumb. I get it when it's cold, you want to be warm and all. But when it's a normal temperature, why cover up? It's just legs" Luka asked.

"It's not the legs they want covered, it's everything else"

"Still, stupid to me. Merfolk never cover up, we don't have anything to cover up, it's just bodies"

"You merMEN maybe, what about the merMAIDS? They have shell tops right? Or is that just a movie thing?"

Luka gave him a slightly confused look. He'd always thought the humans believing mermaids having shells was a myth.

"No?" He said.

"Wait so mermaids just... have their tits out?" Adrien asked.

"Yeah. No one really cares, we live in the ocean dude. It's the same as like... any other animal who feeds their babies that way"

It dawned on Adrien just then, Merfolk were more focused on survival in hard conditions like the ocean rather than what is and isn't inappropriate. They didn't find the naked body sexual at all, that was just a human thing. Maybe humans could take a page out of the Merfolk books, that would cause so much less judgement for things like different body shapes and sizes, and chest shapes wouldn't be gendered anymore.

"Huh..." he muttered.

"What? You humans think it's inappropriate?" Luka asked.

"Yeah kinda... I don't know why"

"I thought human girls just had those tops to support their backs. Since you know it's not like they float like in the water"

"I mean, that's part of it. You know how you mention all this... human ideals are whack. I should just join you in the water"

"I definitely wouldn't complain" Luka smiled.

You know maybe keeping a merman in your bathtub wouldn't be so bad. Adrien already liked Luka, and they did kiss that one time... it seemed Adrien still had a lot to learn about Merfolk and the world ass a while from Luka. Another thing dawned on him, and immediately he needed the answer.

"Are same gender relationships like... normal for you?" He asked.

"What don't tell me they're not for humans? They're normal. Most merfolk are inherently bisexual. We're creatures of love" Luka replied.

"Gods... humans really do suck sometimes. It's considered not normal in most places of the world for humans. It's something we're still fighting to have rights for to this day"

Seems like Luka had a lot to learn about humans too... he had no idea.

"That's so dumb" he said.

"I know... let me kiss a man in peace damnit" Adrien replied.

Well he said it didn't he? Luka couldn't pass that chance to be smooth as hell.

"I'm right here, kiss me" he teased.

Adrien's cheeks went warm, but a smile broke on his lips and he playfully splashed some water at Luka for that admittedly very smooth tease.

"Is that you asking for a kiss?" He teased back.

"Yes"

Now who was Adrien to deny a merman a kiss?