Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! is the creation of Kazuki Takahashi. No ownership of the canon characters, settings, or events is claimed and none should be implied.
The merfolk culture in this series is the creation and sole property of Lucidscreamer. All rights reserved.
Speak to Me with the Ocean's Voice
Joey originally came from an Atlantic Charm and, unlike the Charm's newest addition, still has the accent to prove it. (Joey's proud of his accent, of the way he clips some consonants and slurs others.)
The newcomer - Yami, and is it as strange as it feels, a land-dweller already possessing a name that's a perfect fit for the royal family? - speaks the Charm's particular Pacific dialect as if born to it, a side-effect (Yugi tells him) of Yami's transformation.
Joey wonders if it bothers Yami, to lose whatever quirks of speech were his when his words were conveyed by air.
Catching voices caught in the drift of the currents, Yami spares a moment to marvel again at the ease with which he not only hears but understands them. Though he no longer needs its magic to translate, he still wears Yugi's pearl at his throat. It reminds him of those early days, as they became acquainted with one another and with the new language they were fashioning from scratches in the sugar-white sand, understanding growing from word to word as if they were taming a wild tongue or rediscovering it, rather than dreaming it anew. A small part of Yami misses that; not the isolation, but having Yugi all to himself. Of course, it's better now, speaking with ease (candid and simple, face to face), able to touch on a whim, to communicate his affections with a caress or kiss and have them returned as easily.
In the sea, speech is strange, more felt than heard, like the bone-deep vibration of whale-song, resonant notes carried by the water. The part of Yami that remembers how it felt to be human, is startled still by words tickling his skin or swimming through the passing gossip of dolphins.
Now, the current murmurs his name as it gently sways the fronds of the sea weed around him. He feels it like a caress against his skin and scales, a low thrum moving through his bones. He lifts his head like a flower opening to the sun of Yugi's smile.