Love snaps, 4

 Hizashi got back long before she did, so he busied himself with some grooming while he waited. His hair was very long and needed a combing, and since he didn't have his, he made do with the fingers of his left hand. He checked his tail over carefully and was pleased to note he was healing well and there were no parasites or anything.

When Elly came back she had a cloth bag with her that she set down by the edge of the pool. Hizashi clicked to himself underwater, hearing the sound, and soon came up to greet her.

"Hey!"

"Hi there!" She took off her water sneakers, rolling her pants up so she could sit on the edge and dangle her feet. "Come on over so I can check that wound, okay?"

"I was hoping you'd be back early." He lay back so she could examine the much smaller puncture.

"I only had to check up on some things, thankfully. It seems my staff is enthusiastically helping out in the front these days." She chuckled, thinking of how they worked with sharks and more, yet the merman scared them. 

"Fnf! If they'd treat me like a person instead of a monster, there wouldn't be any trouble." He knew immediately why the other humans avoided him. "Plus, they come at me too fast before I know what's happening."

"Yeah, I warned them about that." She nodded to herself, drawing back. "You're almost completely healed now. That was pretty fast."

"Yep. Doesn't hurt at all." He squinted, trying to focus on the lower part of his tail.

Elly pursed her lips. "So... I'm guessing you don't see very well, do you, Hizashi?"

He wrinkled his nose. "No. Sometimes I have a fish around to help me out, but there's none in here. Not that it'd matter much anyway, since I'm looking <i>out</i> of the water a lot!"

She nodded. "I picked up a couple of used eyeglasses from a place around here. People donate them... well, that doesn't matter now." She smiled at his bafflement, reaching into the bag she'd brought to pull some out. "All you need to know is they're a tool to help you see better."

He took a pair and looked at her for guidance. She placed one on herself, and he nodded. "Oh, yeah. I didn't know what these things were!" 

The second-to-last were a red pair, and when he slipped them on his golden eyes grew wide. "Ohhhhh!"

"Aha!" She started laughing with glee. "I was hoping for that reaction!"

"I can see!" His ears wiggled so much they almost fell off, but he put his hand up before the frames slid down his nose. "These are <i>awesome</i>!"

Elly checked her phone. "There, I marked the prescription so we'd know what was best. I brought a couple of these things, too -" she showed him a handful of what looked to him like tubeworms, "they slip over the ends and then around the back of your head to hold the glasses in place."

Hizashi slowly dunked his head underwater, then came back up blinking. "Oops. Just for upside, huh." He shook his head so the droplets ran down. "Well if I can't wear them underwater, I'm gonna wear 'em when we're together!" He winked at her. "You're even prettier when I can see you better!"

She was getting used to his flirting by now, so her blush wasn't as pronounced. "Thanks."

"You're extra welcome." He unlooped them from his head and handed the glasses back to her. "I'm gonna go out to get some lunch since I'm better. You don't have to waste anything on feeding me anymore - unless you want to show me anything special, that is." He chuckled. "I could eat human food all week. It's so different!"

"How about I pick up some dinner, then? I've got an idea of what to try next!"

"Excellent! I won't eat too much." He gave her a jaunty wave before slipping past the gate.

Hizashi hadn't been thinking of food at all, however. He sped off to his underwater cave, not that far away but deeper underwater in distance. Mers normally didn't own too many items since humans might find them at any moment, and those they did were constructed to look like ocean detritus. His comb was a polished piece of halibut jaw, for example. He picked that up, gathered a few pretty shells, and foraged for some longer kelp to make a better bed at the aquarium pool. 

When he was done his cave looked as barren as it had when he'd left it that fateful morning. Pleased, he nodded and set back out. It had taken awhile to gather everything and he wanted to get back before Elly arrived with dinner. Besides, he found he was <i>really</i> hungry - he had, in his haste, forgotten to eat anything at all for his midday meal.

Zooming along backwards with his tail curling rapidly, he almost spun into the merman hiding in the shadows by the runoff gate.

"Ahhhh, barnacles." Hizashi groaned.

The new mer appeared frail, his face hollow with bones protruding as if he might have been recovering from an illness. His eyes were sunken but a beautiful, clear blue like the ocean, and he had blond hair that dangled past his cheeks in two long locks. His tail was yellow with white on the underbelly.

"Hello, Hizashi."

"Yagi." He sighed. "Why are you here?"

"I was worried since it's been a long time that anyone saw you." He shrugged. "You look well."

"I <i>am</i>. Did you even listen to what Aizawa told you?"

"Of course I did. But I wanted to see for myself, and, like I said, that was weeks ago. Any human that charmed one of us so completely that they'd risk exposure... that's special." He paused. "And dangerous. You know that."

Hizashi grimaced. "Yeah, I know. But if you're gonna show yourself, too, won't it be worse?"

He shrugged. "It's been a couple weeks and she hasn't put you on display. I think we're safe; I'm just here to make sure."

"You better not scare her, dude. I swear, if you so much as freshing <i>look</i> at her the wrong way -"

"My friend!" Yagi put up both his hands in a mollifying gesture. "I would never intentionally frighten a lady. If she's as kind as you say, we'll have no problems."

Hizashi snapped his claw irritably, another warning, but he nodded and led the way into the aquarium. It was easier setting up a small section of the pool with a fresh kelp bed and his belongings with help, and he was soon humming to himself as he combed his hair for real and waited for Elly to get back.

Yagi watched him primp with an amused glimmer in his eyes. He said nothing, however, and simply hid until the human made her entrance.

Elly got a shock when she walked into the large med bay later. She'd never seen another mer before and didn't know about the visit. She almost dropped the pizza boxes she was carrying but managed to grab hold of them all until she could set them down by the pool's edge.

"Hey, babe." Hizashi waved cheerfully at her. He was wearing the glasses from earlier and had done his hair up in a messy bun, a look she immediately found his most attractive yet. He smiled and jerked his thumb over in the direction of his friend. "Everyone's been so worried about me they sent the local law enforcement."

"Ha! Hizashi, you know we don't have that in our community." Yagi shook his head.

"Nice try. You know you're the protector of this area."

"Ahhh, yes. Well. Hello there!" He decided to ignore this and address her instead, his robust voice belying his sickly nature. "My name is Yagi. I'm one of Hizashi's friends."

"What a wonderful surprise," she smiled, keeping her mouth closed. "Nice to meet you, Yagi. My name's Elly."

"Hello, Ms. Elly!" Yagi suddenly grew in size, his chest expanding until he was a hugely muscled specimen from the waist up. His tail shot up and out as well, and she smiled, seeing spikes now. It seemed mers could be different types of fish, and unlike Hizashi who was a shrimp, Yagi was a puffer fish.

"If it's okay, could I ask how you speak our language, too? Hizashi told me it's rare to speak it so fluently."

Yagi coughed and deflated back to his smaller size. "Some of us know how from books your kind left behind. That's personally how I learned. One of the first ones I read as a child was made for water use, a child's book."

"Most mers know basic human language from the region they live in for safety's sake," Hizashi added.

"There's something I've been meaning to ask you," she said thoughtfully. "I don't think I've heard you speak anything <i>but</i> English."

He laughed a little. "You didn't realize it, but I talk to myself quite a bit. You've been hearing it more than you think."

She blinked, then her eyes widened. "The clicking..?"

"Yep."

"I should've guessed, but it's been a wild ride so far... and I kind of dismissed the sound as your claw and feet." She scratched her head. "I've been so excited and struggling to think straight for awhile."

Hizashi swam close, his antennae twitching nervously. "I'm not stressing you out, am I?"

"No, no!" She placed a gentle hand on his arm and he smiled happily. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

Yagi's eyebrows shot up. "Well," he coughed uncomfortably. "Ah... you seem to have brought dinner with you, if that's what that smell is coming from those boxes! Room for one more?"

"Sure!" Elly opened the top one and both mers inhaled deeply.

"That smells <i>so</i> good," Hizashi sighed.

"Wait until you try it."

Dinner went well. 

Hizashi found out he didn't like anchovies, a fact that had Elly giggling uncontrollably even though she knew there's no way he would like every way humans prepared fish. Yagi left afterwards with a promise to check up on them every once in awhile, and then they were alone.

Hizashi stretched his arms over his head. "Ohhhh man. I ate too much."

"Mmhmm. It was good, though."

"Yeah." She smiled and gathered the boxes up to store some and recycle the rest. "I'm going home after this, so good night."

"'Night, babe."

Elly's mouth twitched but she didn't say anything. That was twice now he'd called her that - and she was sure it was deliberate.

Love Snaps, 3

 Elly left and was gone for hours after they shared brunch. Hizashi grew anxious awaiting her return, especially because several of the other people that had been there when he woke the first time showed up. Kan was not among them, and though he was thankful - he didn't trust him at all -- he found that didn't really care for anyone else, either. They definitely looked at him like a curiosity and not a person. There were far less questions than when Elly was with him and more of an insistence, as if they couldn't be bothered to treat him as an equal. One even offended him by trying to measure his tail without asking!

When the man didn't listen to his repeated objections Hizashi startled him by casually lifting his giant pincer out of the water. The message was suddenly very clear and he was left alone after that.

He was fed that night by someone he didn't see, a few fish tossed into the pool while he was taking a nap. Disgruntled, he didn't eat the offering and went back to sleep in the hopes that when he woke she would be there.

When she showed up the next morning he was more than relieved. Feeling like a fool, he wished her good morning and could barely control his ear fins wiggling with happiness.

Elly was just as happy to see him. She'd spent an awkward evening worrying and a sleepless night, so much that her eyes had dark smudges underneath. She'd really missed him, and with that thought came more that caused her mind to spin. She forced herself to focus but when he flung himself forward to greet her she watched, entranced, as water ran down his sculpted chest, past glittery scales and hardened flesh...

Realizing she was staring she tore her gaze away and busied herself with getting breakfast set up. There was fruit salad and grilled fish instead of the raw ones out of the bucket for him. She frowned when she sat and noticed the fish laying uneaten above ground.

"Was there something wrong with the fish last night?" She paused to point at them. "Weren't they fresh? I told them fresh."

He sighed in the middle of biting off the head of the strange, crispy fish. Mers didn't cook, so the texture and flavor was startlingly different. He chewed relectively for a moment and decided he liked it. "No. I was worried because you didn't come back."

"I'm sorry," she murmured. "I spent so much time with the sharks that I was exhausted, and I barely had time to catch the bus." She thought of how lonely he must have been and stared disconsolately at a grape before stabbing it with her fork. She thought, too, of how she barely got any sleep for thinking about him. "I should've just slept here again but I had to get my mail and stuff."

"You should go back to your home at night," he said slowly. "What's the use of having one if you don't use it? I'm not a pup anymore, I can look after myself. I'll admit, though..." He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I did miss you."

"I missed you, too."

"Oh, yeah?" He flashed her a practised smile and she laughed softly.

"I see you're trying out our customs."

"Well, sure. Mers don't show teeth to each other often, but you guys do."

"How do you smile, then?" Hizashi blushed, his ear flaps slowly moving up and down. She got the hint and grinned widely. "I've seen you doing that and wondered why! So do you only use your teeth as a sign of aggression?"

"Yeah, and also, uh." He grinned abashedly at her, the gesture coming more naturally as a flirt. His teeth were almost the same as a human's, but his canines were pointed just enough for her to notice. "For impressing a potential partner."

"I guess it works, because your smile makes you even more handsome." Elly said this without thinking and then froze, horrified at her boldness. While it was true they'd been skirting around the edges of something, this seemed too casual too fast.

Lucky for her, however, Hizashi had already been smitten for some time. His smile grew broader and she noticed his ears wiggling faster as well.

It was still embarrassing, so she awkwardly picked up her phone and found her streaming music service. "Hey! Uh, do you like music?"

His face lit up more at the sounds of 90's pop filling the room. "I <i>love</i> this song, yo!"

They spent the next hour listening to music before she had to go to work checking on the tanks. Thinking about the injured sealife she was attending to brought Hizashi up sharply when he realized there was no way his friends would know if he was all right. He decided he needed to let them know how he was doing.

He sank down into the water, watching her until the door closed. When she was gone he went to the gate, unhooked it and slipped out. The connecting area was little more than a stream, but big enough to allow him to swim down into the main body of water. He sighed and looked around, gathering himself for a moment.

"Aizawa." He didn't know if his friend would be in the area, but it wouldn't hurt to see. He used more force, clicking harder. "<i>Aizawa</i>."

He rushed at him out of the shadows of a nearby dock, eyes flashing red with worry. "Quick, over here!"

"Hey." He swam casually over but tugged away when he grabbed his arm. "Calm down, I wasn't stolen. I was injured and they let me recover in safety." He showed him the nicely healing puncture on his tail.

"How did you escape?"

"I didn't -"

"Then it must be a trap to you to lead them to more of us!" He hissed lowly with alarm. "We have to <i>move</i>."

"No, you don't get it, they're okay. Well... she is, at least."

"What?" Aizawa stared at him flatly. "Are you in your right mind, Hizashi?"

"I swear it. She helped me, and isn't keeping me hostage at all. See how easy I got out? No one followed, either. You can relax, it's not a trap or anything."

He shot him an even flatter look. "Really."

"Really!"

"Why are you still here?"

Hizashi shrugged. "I'm not fully healed, and it's way easier to rest in there with no predators or other mers around."

As if on cue, a shark of indeterminate species swam by and they respectfully moved aside to give it room. "How long are you gonna stay, then? You two aren't compatible. I know you've got a crush on this walker for some bizarre reason, but it can't logically work."

Hizashi's face fell. "You don't know that."

"How are you going to mate? You're a shrimp and have very specific parts that don't align with mammals."

"Mating isn't <i>everything</i>."

This time Aizawa raised his eyebrows. "Do you want to be celibate for life?"

"I don't hafta - wait, no way, nuh uh, I'm not talking about this with you. Full stop, bro."

"I'm not your -"

"I'm going back."

"You're really going to do this?"

"Yeah." Hizashi nodded, folding his arm across his claw. "I need to be with her. I've never felt like this before, yo. I'm serious."

His friend sighed in defeat. "I'll let the others know you weren't taken by force. I can't gaurantee they won't show up to try to rescue you or talk you out of this, though."

"I know. Just try and make sure nobody panics <i>too</i> much."

"No promises," he grunted sourly.

Love snaps, 2

 It was close to evening when he woke, so eventually the staff of the aquarium left for their respective homes.

Hizashi didn't know where he was or that they were truly gone until the next day. He woke several times that night to scout around the pool, checking to see if the aggressive male or any of the others had come back. They did not. He was, however, surprised to see his tentative new friend remained, curled up in a bundle of cloth beside his temporary living space. He eventually drifted off, though it felt very unnatural to sleep out in the open instead of his hidden hole deep under the sea. He knew that she was there to provide him comfort and protection, however, and the thought both eased his mind a little and excited him.

He was awake when the seabirds started screaming outside the gate that led to the ocean. He welcomed the sound gladly since it was a change from the eerie silence of the pool.

"Ugh," Elly groaned, rubbing the small of her back as she woke. "The sleeping bag was probably not a great idea." She sighed and gathered the bright blue fabric in both arms, rolling it up to shove under a desk for the day.

"Good morning!"

She jumped, then laughed out loud. "Oh my god. I forgot you spoke our language for a second there. I'm awful in the morning before my coffee... aaaand there I go, rambling already. Good morning."

"What's coffee?" Hizashi's antennae twitched with interest. He'd always wanted to learn more about the human world, and he had the perfect opportunity here.

"It's a hot drink that helps wake us humans up."

"Oh." He thought about this for a moment. "Like how we eat clams and mussels and stuff for breakfast."

She raised her eyebrows. "You do?"

"Uh huh. It kind of ...perks us up, yanno?"

"I imagine it's the taurine levels in that type of seafood," she murmured to herself. "Hmm. Interesting."

"I could definitely do with a hit this morning," he grumbled with a frown. "I'm stiff and I feel like I huffed some puffers. Bleah."

Elly ignored his comment about the puffer fish for now, more concerned with his injuries. "Can you swim down there and back again? I'd like to see how your motor skills are coming around."

"Sure." He dove all the way to the bottom and sped across to the far end, tilting more than he'd like but otherwise able to move.

The door to the far side opened at that moment, and the big man from the other day walked in. He had a bucket in one hand and a look of pure distaste on his gruff features. "I got <i>his</i> breakfast."

Elly glanced over and wrinkled her nose. "Is that the same thing we give our bottom feeders in the tanks? Algae wafers?"

"Yeah, so what?" He pointed at Hizashi with a stabbing motion. "It - he's -- half shrimp, right?"

"Yes, but I thought we'd try a few different things. His type is carnivorous, Kan. Besides, it seems demeaning to feed him that. It looks like slop."

Kan set the bucket down none too gently near the pool. "Bullshit. I doubt he cares." He tipped it over and a slurry of algae wafers, half dissolved, splashed into the water.

Hizashi had to squint to see, but he heard most of this from underwater as his natural movement was backwards. His mouth thinned when he saw her grow upset, and he growled when Kan made the threatening gesture. He decided he did <i>not</i> like this human and he felt protective of his protector. In his haste to get back to her he did a stupid thing and pushed himself, curling his tail faster in harder crunches. He was shaking and he barely avoided the mess of algae in the water when he arrived.

"Hizashi, you've gone white!" She gasped in horror and grabbed a bag nearby, jumping into the water to steady him.

"Yeah," he grunted. "My bad, I wanted to uh. I mean, I just pushed myself too much. The wound's not healed yet and ohhhhh. Shells." He curled up tight, panting. "M'fine..."

"Your pereio and pleopods say otherwise, buddy." Elly ran a hand over his carapace, encouraging him to unfurl. He did, but with a small exclaimation of pain that caused all his appendages to twitch even harder. "You broke it open," she said worriedly. "It's okay, I can seal it shut again. Maybe another small dose of antibiotics, looks red but not too bad..." She kept a steady stream of talk as she worked, and he relaxed under her gentle ministrations. Sealant was applied and she gave him another shot to combat infection. She hesitated on giving him a painkiller, however.

"You need to eat with that, but..." She sighed as she stared at the swirling waters of the pool. "I'm sorry about the algae tabs. Someone checks in here in a little while and we can send him out for food. Hang in there and if it gets too bad tell me."

He nodded and closed his eyes.

It was thankfully only a few minutes later when the door opened again and a different man stuck his head in. He had dark hair and skin and a far more kinder countenance than the other one, Hizashi thought.

"I'm going for a coffee run. Ya want anything?"

Elly responded in a much more genial tone, confirming Hizashi's thoughts. "Hey! Is it the shop on the corner?"

"Uh huh."

"Uh... bagel sandwich with egg and meat, any kind. And a large coffee, light and sweet, thanks."

"Will do."

As he was disappearing out the door she called out to him again. "Actually... wait. I have an idea." She scribbled hastily on a piece of paper and handed it to him.

The man blinked a bit, then laughed. "That sounds about right. Good thinking!"

Hizashi was laying lazily on his side watching her tap on a rectangular device she held in her hand when her coworker came back. In one hand he held a large bag from which delicious smells were wafting. He sat Elly's coffee down and handed her the bag.

"I got it all - and specifically requested the lox. Thought he'd enjoy that one, right?"

"Great! It went okay on the research tab?"

He nodded as he grabbed a clipboard and headed out. "No problem."

Elly took the food out, one by one, and unwrapped them from the paper they were in to set on the flattened bag. She took her meal and set it aside, then called the curious merman over.

"These are bagel sandwiches. They're good."
Hizashi had never seen so much human food, let alone any of it close up before. He sniffed the "sandwich" closest to him and watched as Elly took a bite of hers and chewed. Following her actions he picked it up. The firm substance on the outside belied the meat and odd smell of the inside, which was strangely squishy, like a sea sponge. He opened his mouth and took a bite.

His ear flaps flipped up right away as the salty meat and moist substance hit his tongue. He quickly finished the rest in two more bites and snapped his claw excitedly on the surface of the water. In doing so, he fired a larger bullet than he intended and it struck the far side of the pool with a resounding <i>splash</i>, spraying water everywhere.

"Oops."

"Wow," she whispered in awe. "You really have the capabilities of a pistol shrimp."

"Uh huh." He cleared his throat. "I don't, err, go off like that a lot. Really. It's just that these things are <i>awesome</i> and I'm so hungry."

"Here." She offered him another sandwich and he wiggled his ear flaps happily as he ate it. "Stay still please - I'm giving you that painkiller now."

"Uh huh." He watched as the shot went in. "I've seen those things in the water and on the beach sometimes but never knew what they did."

"Oh." Her face fell. "I'm so sorry. They should never, ever end up dumped like that. I get so angry when humans pollute, especially our precious oceans."

"We don't mind some of it! In fact, that's kinda how I learned your language. I found a some magazines and books on the beach when I was young." He paused, remembering. "I'm one of the only mers that can walk a little on land, so I was always the one to go looking for human stuff after dark."

"How'd you avoid being seen?"

"I picked up better speech patterns listening in at the beach. It was mostly younger ones like me, so they weren't too observant. I hid in some rocks or buried myself part way in the sand. Besides, no one believes anybody if we're seen once in awhile."

"I think I figured something out." Elly grinned. "Let me guess; they were rock and teen magazines."

"Whoa! How'd you know?"

"You have a certain way of talking." This time she blushed as she rushed on, "it's not bad! I think it's kind of cute."

His ear flaps moved so fast he put up his hand to brush his hair over them. Untied, the blond tresses fell down his back and fanned out in the water around him. She noticed his hazel eyes had concentric circles as pupils, mesmerizing and, she thought, hauntingly beautiful. They stared at each other, getting closer until one of his antennae touched her cheek, tickling it.

She coughed and sat up quickly. "Oh! I almost forgot. Are you all right with being alone for awhile? I've got to check on a shark we just got in."

"I'm cool." He sighed, disappointed but understanding. She cared for a lot of sea life and he liked that about her.

"You can use my personal tablet if you want - it's like a book but you touch the pages to get where you need to go." She showed him how to use it and was amazed at how fast he picked it up.

Hizashi sighed again as he watched her rush out the door into the back workings of the aquarium. He set the tablet aside and instead of reading anything replayed the memory of her telling him the way he spoke was <i>cute</i>.

Love snaps, 1

 The marine biologist had short purple hair that flowed closely about her face under the clear tropical waters. Her figure was shapely, shown off in the tight wetsuit she wore, and the striping on her split fins and suit matched her hair.

Unbeknownst to her, she had a secret admirer that came to visit every day as she observed the reef life.

"Over here, yo."

"Hurry, there's a walker!"

Far below, two shadows slipped quickly into a hidden cave on the ocean floor with the low sounds of clicks and whistles. There was a resounding <b>snap</b> that disturbed the sand and a cloud of ink erupted from the entrance, dissipating slowly into the water. And then, a few minutes later red eyes were shining out of the darkness, blinking as they tracked the scientist's movements.

The woman above continued to methodically check the species swimming around her, without any idea that two creatures straight out of the pages of a fairy tale were watching her.

There were two mer-people hidden in the cave.

The one was a leopard shark, his tail patterned with dark markings that enabled him to blend in with his surroundings. The other had a curling, yellow shrimp's tail with red patterns speckled on it. He had long, blond hair tied back with a strand of kelp and a heavy red pincher instead of a right arm. Two yellow antennae sprouted from either side of his lip like mustache points that swayed in the current.

Both appeared ravenous, tearing into their lunch as they watched the human swim around.

Eventually their food was devoured and the shrimp man spoke. "So?"

The dark-haired other blinked, his red eyes softening to gray. "What?"

"What d'ya think?"

"Of what? The walker?" He squinted up with a distrustful glare. 

"They call themselves humans," he reminded him.

"Whatever." He waved a hand at her. "Doesn't look too dangerous. Good idea to keep an eye on her, though. You never know."

"Well, yeah... but nah. I mean, see how she's helping? She's healing the reef and the creatures that live here. I've been watching her capture injured fish and bring them back later."

"Walkers are the ones that fuck up the reef in the first place!"

"They're not all bad, Aizawa," he said firmly.

"Whale shit." Aizawa bared his teeth in distrust. "Anyway if you think she's so great, why'd you bring me this time?"

"I guess for insurance. I'm not entirely certain about this." Hizashi's voice remained calm, though his pulse was racing. He'd decided to show himself to her weeks ago and now was the time. "Stay here," he called out to his friend as he curled his tail powerfully, swiftly propelling himself towards the purple-haired woman.

His friend choked. "<i>Hizashi, no</i>! Do you have a death wish?! Don't do anything stupid!"

He ignored his frantic clicks and growls, focusing instead on the beautiful human that was stroking a playful parrot fish. He stayed away at first, out of her field of vision - or so he thought.

Everything happened so fast that later it would seem like a dream.

She whirled around and saw him.

Hizashi tensed even as she did. He saw her eyes widen underneath her mask and she pushed herself back in shock, unfortunately right at the reef. The bright, lively coral had many nooks and crevasses where creatures both lived and hid from view. One of them was deceptive; a pretty shell that most people never assumed held any danger.

She knew but didn't see the marbled cone nestled in the fluttering growth. Her arm would reach it soon and Hizashi reacted immediately. He instinctively knew his pincher would be frightening so he did a very dangerous thing, using his tail to whip the cone snail away. Although he was lightning fast so was the little creature, and it stung him before it was flung onto the sand.

Hizashi swore softly. His tail was strong and armoured but the plating had been stretched out. The harpoon-like radula got him between the shell, right in the tender flesh. The woman dove back down to him, shock replaced with concern. She moved her two sticks in an oddly graceful way through the water, holding them together so they functioned almost like a tail. The snail's paralytic venom soon caused him to stiffen and in the moments before he blacked out he thought how she could almost pass for one of his kind as she reached towards him.

When he opened his eyes he was in an environment he didn't recognize; a small area filled with unusual tasting water. There were walls that weren't coral yet felt rough to the touch, and the ground was also hard and cold.

But the worst was the eerie silence.

Underwater should be noisy, filled with the sounds of the creatures that shared their home with him and the human's vehicles plowing through the upper waves. The silence was almost deafening and though it was good he was alone since he was injured, Hizashi had to push a crushing sense of fear aside. To distract himself he examined his tail and saw there was a thin coating of something over the puncture wound. He instinctively knew it was the work of the woman who had reached out to him. A good thing she'd been there, although he could have made it alone. He was still dazed and didn't feel great, but at least he was awake.

His ear flaps fluttered then as he picked up noises. They were coming from the surface, though, a gathering of people that sounded very excited.

Then he heard <i>her</i> voice.

He flexed his arms and tail, popping up like a cork with water streaming from his long hair. There were many different humans with her, some wearing long coats and others wetsuits. Hizashi swam around to her as she stood near the side of the water, spinning akwardly around when he reached her so he was facing everyone. His motor reflexes weren't quite back yet and he wobbled, but grasped the lip of the pool with his hand to steady himself.

The group took a collective step back when he rose up to swim towards her. A few were holding objects in their hands he recognized easily as weapons and his eyes narrowed. He'd better be careful. He slowed his approach, swirling around and irritated that he was more clumsily than usual. Still, he managed. The woman drew in a quick breath when he grew near but didn't jerk away like the others.

Now that he was closer he could see her much better. She was fairly short, with eyes that matched her dark purple hair. And because she was out of her wetsuit, she appeared a tiny bit thinner in a pair of worn jeans and a baggy Ron Jon t-shirt. Hizashi noticed that she wore no jewelry or other adornments, and he was instantly curious as to why she wasn't mated like others he'd seen. He saw absolutely no Gift on her person to show she was with anyone.

"Thanks for helping me out!" He chirped brightly in her own language.

Quite a few of the people dropped what they had in their hands. The ones with weapons clutched them tighter and he kept a close eye on them.

"It <i>talks</i>!" A burly, spiky-haired man spluttered in shock. "What the hell!"

Hizashi frowned. "I'm not an 'it', yo," he said angrily. "My name is Hizashi."

The woman was perhaps the only person to keep her cool, though she was clearly excited. She smiled at him and he felt his ear flaps prickle as the expression lit up her pale features. "Hello, Hizashi. I'm Elly."

"Hey," he answered back amiably. "Thanks for helping me out."

"How do we know it's not one of those weirdos that pretend to be a mermaid," a slender woman muttered in the back.

Elly shot her a dissaproving look. "First off, they're not weirdos, Linda. How many times have we had this discussion."

The woman shrugged. "Sorry, but -"

"He had PSP, for Christ's sake. No ventilator, nothing except treatment for the the wound the snail gave him... <i>and yet he's awake</i>. I think we can agree he's not human. Besides, I worked on him. That tail, the claw! He's real."

"Right," the spiky-hair man nodded. "Then it's more of a danger."

"I'm not an it!" Hizashi snapped once, very lightly, in anger. The water around his claw bubbled with disturbance.

"Stop calling him an it!" She hissed at the same time that he did. "That's insubordinance, Kan. I'm the person in charge here and you will <i>not</i> disrespect our guest!"

"Guest?!"

"He's not a prisoner or a test subject - the gate needs to remain unlocked <i>at all times</i>."

"If he leaves, we lose the opportunity ..!"

Elly ignored the protest, pointing at the merman and then the exit out to the ocean. "Look, you can come and go as you please." She walked over and demonstrated how it worked, a simple latch that he could reach up to unhook. Hizashi fumbled to unlatch it but then waved a hand at the indoor pool and his injury to indicate he knew it was better to stay put for now. She nodded and closed it again, seeing how his hand shook with effort at the manipulation.

"I'm not going anywhere yet," he told her firmly. "No way. I'm weak as a pup and still having trouble seeing straight, yeah? I'll stay."

"Good." She smiled warmly at him and he slid partially underwater to hide his blush, ear flaps lowering shyly. All that display of teeth had an effect on him; he did find her attractive, after all. Mers showed their teeth in mating and aggression, and there was no hostility in her expression. The result was what felt to him like a tremendous flirt, though he knew humans did it to show happiness. 

He raised himself to smile carefully back at her, not showing any teeth just in case.

Her smile somehow grew brighter, and he knew he was lost.