“Sssh,” the vampire cooed as he gently brushed his face with a cold hand. “Don’t be afraid, this is not the end.” He just nodded weakly in response, and let his eyes slipped closed.

 And then just like everyone said, his life began to flash before, and he looked back to all the moments that led up to now.

 Xxx

 Looking back, it was pretty obvious that there was something different about Tadashi Hamada. He is a very pretty thing; deep brown eyes, high cheekbones, raven black hair, and pale porcelain skin. Too pale to be healthy, but Robert thought it would be rude to point it out. The first time he saw him was during a late night in the labs. Robert knew instantly that he wasn’t a student, however it didn’t seem to stop this newcomer from making use of the school’s spare parts.

 As though he could hear what he was thinking, the pale boy put down his tools and turned sharply towards, watching him with a piercing gaze. A tap on his arm shook him out of his thoughts though.

 “Hey Professor C,” Fred greeted him casually. “I see you’ve noticed Tadashi already, I hope you don’t mind that I’ve brought him along.”

 “I don’t mind a visitor, but I do mind when a non student is using our materials,” Robert reminded him coolly.

 “Is that so?” the visitor-Tadashi-said. Robert flinched. When did he get so close? “I was told that as long as I made something impressive, you wouldn’t mind.” This got his attention.

 “Well, if that’s the case, then why don’t you show me what you’ve got?” Robert pushed, trying to get a feel for him. Tadashi just flashed him a toothy grin.

 “Gladly.” Tadashi turned on his heel to head back to the machinery he left on the table. Now that he had a closer look, he could see now that what he had build from the scraps was a robot arm, and a fairly small one at that. Tadashi picked up and began to play with the flexibility of it. How did he make that so fast?

 “So yeah, I drew up the semantics for this a while back, but I didn’t have anything to test it out with. So it looks like a basic arm, but what I was really trying to test was this,” he paused to draw attention back to the arm, and then pressed both sides together so that it would collapse in on itself, shrinking the arm down to one sixth its original size. “Tada!” He dropped the collapsed arm into the palm of Robert’s hand and awaited a comment.

 “How long did it take you to fabricate this?” he asked him. Tadashi shrugged.

 “I brought some of the parts with me, but I assembled it here in maybe an hour?” Robert hummed as he looked it over. He pulled the arm out to full size again, and then collapsed it back in on itself. The transition was very smooth and didn’t comprise with the function of the limb.

 “Well I would have to say job well done,” Robert told him. Tadashi beamed proudly in response. “What exactly did you have in mind for this?”

 “I was thinking about making a collapsible robot, something that can shrink when not needed, and expand on command,” Tadashi explained. “Fred told me that he usually hangs out at a lab so I thought I would come around and maybe put my ideas to the test.”

 “You could do a lot with this here if you were a student,” Robert told him, handing him back his machinery. “Why haven’t you applied yet?”

 “Ah…” Tadashi shuffled awkwardly. “I have some complications that prevent that, at least right now. But we’ll see.”

 “Tadashi just got back in town after traveling for a while,” Fred interjected easily. “He hasn’t taken any tests whatsoever, so he’s got a little work to do before he can apply to college.”

 Robert just nodded simply. He supposed that made sense, but not really. One would think he would’ve rather gone to school instead. He inevitably decided not to question the lie.

 “Okay then,” he said back. “Well I hope you’ll enjoy your visit, and you figure out what you need.”

 He walked away after that to continue doing his rounds. He could feel his gaze on him the entire time though.

 Xxx

 After that though he continued to see Tadashi. Sometimes he would see him in the labs with Fred, talking with his friends. He usually had a laptop with him, and he would work on coding for the robot he was programming. Occasionally Robert would swing around to look over his work, only to find that his work was better than any of his other students. He would then try to tell him that he could easily qualify for a full-ride scholarship, but Tadashi would just shake him off.

 He ended up seeing Tadashi more outside of the labs eventually. When Robert would leave for the night and lock the building up, he usually find Tadashi waiting for him on the front steps of the lab. Conversation would ensue, and he would eventually find that he welcomed Tadashi’s presence in his life.

 Robert couldn’t help but to fall hard for him. He wanted to deny it so bad, but he couldn’t! Tadashi was smart, and funny, and creative, and not to mention drop dead gorgeous. It began to frustrate him why he would hang around him so much. Did he have some equally adorable, cute, young thing he could be with? What about Fred? Fred was silly, but he nice and a hard worker.

 Tadashi seemed to be able to read his frustrations though because one night the first thing he did was walk up to him quickly, grab him by his sweater vest, and pull him into a kiss.

 Robert was shocked to say the least.

 “What’s the matter?” Tadashi had asked him. “I like you, and I know you’re into me. If the attraction is mutual, isn’t it worth a shot?”

 “Maybe,” Robert hesitantly said. “I think you would be better off with someone your own age though. I’m old enough to be your father!”

 Tadashi laughed. And he laughed hard. Robert felt uneasy watching him double over in the giggly fit.

 “If- HA! If only you knew!” he snorted. He fought to recompose himself. “But no, that’s what they always say.” Tadashi gave him seductive glance and Robert couldn’t look away. “Just trust me though when I say that age is nothing but a number for me.”

 Robert is still not too sure exactly what happened after that. All he could remember was staring at his face, and kissing him again. But apparently that was when they started dating. Tadashi was still somewhat mysterious, but there was nothing wrong with that right?

 Xxx

 Dates would happen very often afterwards. They would go to the park and watch the stars, or catch a late movie, go to the beachside amusement park, or even go swimming at his apartment’s pool. They never got food though, and Robert never saw Tadashi eat.

 When Robert would voice his concerns, Tadashi just waved him off.

 “I have a sensitive stomach,” he would explain. “And I’m super picky on top of that, I just eat what I make at home is all. I’m healthier that way.” It wasn’t Robert’s place to judge other people’s health, so he let it go. Other than the pale skin, Tadashi looked to be in good health.

 They would do anything else, as a date, and then the sex at the end of the night would be even better. Tadashi never stayed though, he had work he said, and always left before the dawn. Robert didn’t mind this much either. Other people could get fussy, but they were compatible and they understood how the other worked. They were exciting and stable all at the same time, and everything was perfect.

 Xxx

 Abigail died, and everything was terrible.

 Xxx

 It didn’t take long for Robert to fall apart afterwards he saw now as he looked back.

 He didn’t talk to-more like ignored-Tadashi for the first week. He didn’t leave the house, and he didn’t go to work. . He just wanted to be alone and grieve. He went to her funeral alone, and all though he couldn’t tell then, everything just ended up getting worse.

 Tadashi ended up finding out about what happened through. Apparently Fred told him? And he was pissed that Robert didn’t tell, but was even more pissed that Robert wasn’t taking care of himself.

 So yeah, he might’ve been drinking more than he should’ve. Eating more food would probably have been a good idea too, same with taking his medicine.

 But he didn’t want to eat. He didn’t want to take care of himself. He didn’t want to see Tadashi. He just wanted his little girl back.

 He couldn’t see it then, but this terrified Tadashi.

 Xxx

 His lack of self-care ended up catching up to him though. After his fight with Tadashi he went back to work at the University, and would stay there from opening to closing, doing whatever he could to stay on his feet and not think about anything at all.

 He didn’t last a week before collapsing in the middle of the labs with a heart attack.

 The rest of that day was blur of lights and noises.

 He wasn’t sure when he woke up, only that it was now nighttime. He felt tired and weak. His body was heavy and bogged down by wires. The room was quiet, except for the soft beeps of the heart monitor…

 And the gentle tapping on the window.

 Robert turned back to the window, and saw Tadashi was there now.

 Well, that was interesting.

 What was more interesting was now his mind was screaming at him that he was on the third floor, and something was wrong.

 And then as if to prove his point, the latch to the window moved on its own, and the glass began to slide open, allowing for Tadashi to float in his room.

 The heart monitor let out a sharp spike.

 “Ssh! No! Its okay!” Tadashi reassured him. “Its only me.” Robert tried to speak but no words came. Then he realized it was because he had a breathing tube down his throat. Tadashi’s feet touched the ground and he lightly walked to him, gazing down at his weakened body.

 “You foolish, fragile human!” Tadashi chided, his tone dark. “What have you done to yourself?” His voice was angry, but his eyes were scared. “I’ve waited my whole life to find someone like you, it can’t end like this!”

 Robert was about to pass out again, he couldn’t do this. Tadashi seemed to sense this. He reached into his bag and pulled out a latched box. Inside the box was an empty syringe. Tadashi slipped off his jacket and sweater, and then stuck the needle inside of his arm, drawing out blood. Once it was full, he then injected it again into Robert, pumping all of his blood into his system.

 “This should help you recover faster,” Tadashi explained. “Call me when you get out, okay? And I’ll tell you everything.” Robert could only nod his head. Then somehow, the most shocking thing came next.

 “I love you.”

 Cold lips brushed the side of his face, and then he was gone again.

 Xxx

 Four days later he was back at home. The doctors were surprised by his quick recovery, but let him go when they saw nothing wrong with him. When the sun went down he called Tadashi’s phone, and waited for him to come.

 It didn’t take long for him to come too.

 Tadashi jumped into his arms as soon as Robert had opened the door. Pleasantries followed quickly after.

 “I was so worried! Are you okay? Do you feel okay? How are you?”

 Robert tried to calm him, and for a few minutes everything felt like it did before. But the weight of the situation weight between.

 They needed to talk.

 “I think I understand now what you are,” Robert told him. “I didn’t realize it before, probably because most of what you told me was the truth.” Tadashi only smiled sweetly at him.

 “Then what am I Robert?” he asked.

 “I want to hear you say it,” he requested back.

 “Afraid you’re wrong?” Tadashi teased, Robert snorted.

 “Well its not everyday I meet someone like you,” he snarked. Tadashi blushed and ran a hand through his hair.

 “I’m a vampire.”

 So he guessed right.

 “I can introduce myself again,” Tadashi went on. “My name is Tadashi Hamada, and I’m ninety-eight years old.” Robert snorted.

 “So you let me freak out over being the ‘older’ one?”

 “I told you age was just a number to me!” Tadashi laughed. “But you get it now, don’t you?” His face flushed a bright red again and he sat down. “I’ve wanted a companion for a long time. I do have my brother, but I wanted something more.”

 “Is your brother a vampire too?” Robert asked. Tadashi nodded.

 “Yes, I turned him when he was eighteen at his request,” Tadashi laughed. “He mostly terrorizes the underground bot-fighting rings.” Robert chose not to speak.

 “When I look for potential companions, I’ve discovered that I liked older humans better,” Tadashi explained. “When I was around your age, and I began to feel lonely, I tried to date someone who looked like me, but it didn’t work out, they were just too young. But you though, and people like you in general, have age the same way I do, and I can relate more.”

 “Well I’m not sure if I can relate to being nearly a century old…”

 “Well, of course not!” Tadashi laughed. “And I don’t expect you too. I just want you to be you. That’s why I love you.”

 That again. Robert felt his body stiffen. He knew where this was going…

 “But that’s not the important part!” Tadashi quickly spoke out, shaking him out of his thoughts.

 “Then what is?” Robert inquired. Tadashi stared him, fondness growing on his face.

 “The important part is I found you,” Tadashi urgently persisted. “And you found me. And I’m afraid of losing you.”

 Robert didn’t know what to say back. Tadashi moved to sit next Robert on the couch… when did he sit down? Tadashi moved one hand to intertwine his fingers with Robert’s. His hand was so cold…

 “I know this must be shocking to you,” Tadashi whispered softly. “I’m sorry. The last thing I wanted was to scare you. I love you I really do, but if you want me to leave I can-“

 “Don’t!” Robert snarled. “Don’t do that, it only feels more manipulative.”

 “I don’t want to manipulate you, I just want to be honest!” Tadashi defended. “If you don’t want what I can give you, then I don’t know what to do!” He squeezed his hand. “I meant what I said, I’m afraid to lose you, I care too much.”

 “But if I choose not to let you turn me,” Robert slowly thought out loud. “Then you don’t want to stick around to watch me die either.” Tadashi nodded slowly.

 “I would never force this on you, its your choice,” Tadashi told him, his hand slipping away. “Think about it and let me know.”

 Robert blinked, and he was gone.

 Xxx

 The next three days were spent in deep thought. He had to make probably the most difficult choice of his life.

 He’s only known Tadashi for five months, and while the time they’ve spent together was wonderful, deciding to change who and what you are was a big commitment to make. He’s not even sure if he loves him. He does like him, and he likes him a whole lot,

 Forever was an awfully long time…

 Not that anyone wants to die, well, healthy people that is.

 And then there was Abigail… As a scientist he had no idea what happened after death. Part of him hoped that he would be with her again, was he willing to give up that chance?

 Maybe he shouldn’t think of the unknown possibilities. Second guessing what could be isn’t going to get him anywhere. He had to focus on what he does know, and the outcomes of those choices.

 A.)  He could reject Tadashi, and live the rest of his life mortal. He continue to be a professor until he was too old to teach. Then he would die alone.

B.)   He could accept Tadashi’s offer. He could throw away his life and everything he’s ever known and live forever with someone who loves him while drinking blood to sustain his new lifestyle.

 Honestly neither option looked all that great when one put it into words. But one thought edged its way in…

 What did he have left to lose?

 Xxx

 “Are you sure you want to do this?” Tadashi had asked him for the fifth time. Robert rolled his eyes.

 “Its almost like you don’t want to turn me now,” he joked. Tadashi just frowned unimpressed.

 The two of them were now in Tadashi’s basement apartment. They were sitting on the floor on top of a plastic sheet, each with their shirts removed. Apparently turning someone can get messy.

 “I just don’t want you to regret it, or feel as though you were rushed,” Tadashi woefully explained. “You could kill yourself if you changed your mind, but as far as I know, it’s not an easy experience.”

 “I know,” Robert sighed. “I thought about this long and hard, and this is the choice I’ve made. I want to be with you.” Tadashi smile fondly and raised a hand to brush his cheek.

 “I’m so happy you chose me,” Tadashi dreamily whispered. Robert caught the hand with his own, and placed a soft kiss on his knuckles. Tadashi crawled closer, and opened his mouth, revealing his enlongated fangs. He raised a hand to his wrist and bit down into it. “I’m going to drain you of your blood,” he explained. “And when I do that, you need drink as much as mine as your body will allow, and then the change will happen.”

 Robert nodded his head, and Tadashi bit down his neck.

 It didn’t take long to get light headed. A minute or two more and he could no longer feel his limbs. Tadashi had to hold onto him while he returned the favor to ingest his blood. As some feeling returned he grasped onto him, and drank and drank and drank-

 Until oblivion.

 He collapsed back onto the floor after that.

 His body burned and ached as it underwent the changed, but he could feel terror come over him as his mind began to shut down.

 The last thing he saw before he faded away was Tadashi lying down next to him, giving him the same loving gaze that he always did.

 Then… nothing.

 Xxx

 After everything that had happened before Robert was slightly surprised he even woke up at all.

 The first thing he noticed was that he was no longer laying on the plastic, but on the plush sofa. All of the lights were off except for a few burning candles, and even those seemed to be abnormally bright. He could hear something move behind him, and then he felt a hand run through his hair.

 “Hey there sleepy head,” Tadashi greeted softly. Or at least Robert thought he thought was softly; it was a little loud to him. “How do you feel?”

 “Confused…” He groggily muttered. “And… hungry?” Oh yes, he was definitely hungry, though it made sense considering he slept for… huh. “How long has it been?”

 “It’s been a day,” Tadashi informed. “Usually the change takes about twenty-four hours to set in. The change can be quite an ordeal.” Robert sat up on the couch after that, and swung his legs off so Tadashi could sit next to him. “But how else are you?” Tadashi asked again as he took a seat. “Some sensitivity is normal considering you now have enhanced senses-“

 “Oh, that explains the candlelight then,” Robert mused. Tadashi nodded.

 “Yeah, you’ll get used to it soon enough though, and then we can leave,” Tadashi explained.

 “Leave?” Robert inquired. What do they need to now?

 “Well, yeah,” Tadashi answered as if it was the most obvious thing. “You are hungry after all…”

 Oh.

 He forgot about that part.

 So much for cheeseburgers.

 “So how, um, how does that work?” Robert asked uneasily. “Do we just find some random person… Oh my God do I have to kill someone?”

 “WHAT?” Tadashi laughed. “Oh heavens no, you goof!” Robert just gave him a confused face.

 “But Vampires drink blood right?” Robert stated. “So don’t we-“

 “Yeah, we drink from people, but we don’t need to kill him, that’s highly unnecessary,” Tadashi explained. “No, we’re going to go see Fred.”

 “Fred?” Well now that he thought about it, Fred was the one that knew Tadashi and brought him to the labs.

 “Yeah, did I never explain it?” Robert shook his head. “Oops, sorry. But no, Fred is a friend and my food source. I feed off of him once or twice a week and we hang out and play video games and stuff. It’s a good arrangement. That’s how it usually works nowadays.”

 “There’s a lot I need to learn, isn’t there?” Robert spoke aloud. “And there’s a lot I need to do… What am I going to about my job? I should’ve moved my assets first and-“

 Tadashi had crawled on top of him to give him a kiss. Robert knew it was supposed to be the classic ‘shut up’ kiss, but jokes on him! He pulled him closer and kissed back hard. Tadashi seemed to like that though. After a few minutes of the impromptu make out, his maker tapped out.

 “Someone’s frisky,” Tadashi teased. Robert’s mouth pulled into a smirk.

 “I guess turning has given me some excess energy,” Robert grinned. Tadashi rolled his eyes and bopped the top of his head.

 “Dork,” he giggled. “But yeah, if you think you’re energized now, you should see how you feel after a feeding. You’ll probably ended up running around on the ceiling.”

 “Really?” Robert asked, raising an eyebrow.

 “What do you think?”

 The pair stared silently at each other.

 “Well I guess we need to go see Fred then!” Robert exclaimed, hopping out of his seat.

 “See now you get it!”

 xxx

 Robert was standing by his car door. He needed to get in to go to Fred’s, but he couldn’t stop staring at the sky.

 “I can see so much more now…” He whispered in wondered. “The stars shine so much brighter now… This is real, isn’t it?”

 “You still doubt this?” Tadashi asked. “The view won’t leave, I promise. We have all the time in the world to admire the night.”

 It should’ve been unnerving, but Robert found comfort in it instead.

 “Yeah… We do, don’t we?”

 They got into the car and began their drive to the opposite side of town. They did have some work to do before they were home free. Robert needed to pull his money from his accounts, do something about his day job, and decide how and when to fake his death. They’d probably have to lie low in San Fransokyo for a while, or leave completely, but that was okay.

 As long as they had each other, nothing else matters. This was not the end, it was only a beautiful beginning.

xxx

“There you are,” Apatite, Callaghan, remarked. “You don’t usually run off on me like that.”

 “Sorry,” Tadashi apologized sheepishly.

 “It’s okay,” Callaghan smiled. He carefully began to walk across the roof and sat down next to Tadashi, who had resumed looking up at the stars. He slid his hand against the roof shingles, and rested on Tadashi’s hand. As soon as he felt the contact from his partner, he turned it over so that their fingers could intermingle, and they continued to silently watch the sky.

 “I can’t even see homeworld anymore,” Tadashi finally remarked. Callaghan hummed in agreement.

 “That’s good,” he told him. “Hopefully they won’t find us here.” Tadashi frowned to himself, and squeezed his hand tighter.

 “Do you think they’ve given up?” he asked quietly. “We’re just two gems, we aren’t anything special. They don’t need to chase us down.”

 “Maybe,” Callaghan added. He honestly didn’t know. He hoped that they did though, either because they didn’t think they were worth the effort, or because they thought that he was dead. With a shiver at the thought, he reached up to the touch the cracked gem on the back of his neck.

 “Are you okay?” Tadashi asked. “Do you need another heat treatment?”

 “No, I was just thinking is all,” he answered. “They probably don’t know I’m still alive. Honestly, if it wasn’t for your heat abilities, I would be dead now…” Tadashi leaned over and rested his head on his shoulder, and scooted over so that their thighs were touching.

 “I hate them so much for what they’ve done to us,” Tadashi admitted. “But even still… I kind of do miss homeworld, just a little bit. Even if they were terrible it was still-“

 “Home?” Callaghan interjected.

 “Yeah,” he agreed.

 “We’ll be okay,” Callaghan told him. “We’ll make Earth our new home, and we’ll be happier here.” He pulled their joined hands up and placed a gentle kiss on the back of Tadashi’s pale orange skin.

 “As long as I’m with you, I am home,” Tadashi told him before returning the kiss onto Callaghan’s cheek. They sat in silence afterwards, but words weren’t needed anymore. They were home, and that’s all that mattered.

xxx

As he dropped a slice of cheese onto his sandwich, he heard a large crash come from down the hall. Did he fall out of the bathtub?

 Another crash grabbed his attention and he bolted from the kitchen and down the hall to find the source of the disruption. As he turned down the hallway though he did see something quite unexpected.

 Again.

 This was still equally surprising though. The mermaid that he rescued a few hours earlier now has legs and was stumbling around completely naked.

 Completely naked, and bent over to pick up a framed photo he had knocked off the wall.

 Robert slapped his hand over his eyes.

 “Hi Robert!” Tadashi chirped. Robert used a free hand to wave.

 “You have legs now…” he summed up simply. Although he couldn’t see him, he assumed the Merperson was nodding.

 “Yeah, we can do that… Not sure why though to be honest,” Tadashi added.

 “Biologically it doesn’t make much sense,” Robert agreed. He could hear Tadashi take a few steps forward. “I should probably get you some clothes to wear.”

 “Clothes…?” Tadashi repeated, sounding confused. “What are… clothes?”

 “It’s what I’m wearing on my body now,” Robert explained.

 “Why do I need them?” Tadashi asked. Robert heard him step forward and felt a tug on his shirt. “Why do you need them?”

 “Because that’s what people do!” Robert snapped, dropping his hand from his face. “Personally, you’re probably going to want something to wear to protect your pseudo-human skin, especially that new bit you’ve got hanging between your legs.”

 “You know what that is?” Tadashi questioned, astonishment and excitement seeping in his voice.

 “Oh my God,” Robert sighed. “It’s like raising a kid all over again.” Tadashi just smiled expectantly at him. “Okay, I’ll lend you a T-shirt and a pair of boxers, and we’ll go up from there.”

 Merpeople, as Robert quickly found out, did not like wearing things below the waist. Getting Tadashi to wear the t-shirt was no problem, but he didn’t like the boxers at all. He made a mental note to consider buying a dress for him.

 “This feels weird,” Tadashi griped, moving his hips back and forth.

 “You’ll get used to it,” Robert told him. “Trust me, you’re going to want a layer of protection around your exposed reproductive bits.”

 “Oh so that is what tha-“

 The doorbell rang, cutting Tadashi off. Robert was tempted to ignore it, except the rapid banging and bell ringing continued to follow.

 “You stay here, and I’ll take care of that,” Robert instructed. Tadashi nodded and sat down on Robert’s bed. The human tried to not think about that image too hard. “I’m coming will you knock it off!” Robert yelled as he approached his front door. Honestly the last thing he wanted someone catching him with a half naked Merperson that looked be well under half of Robert’s age… Not that he gave a shit what anyone thought of him.

 “Yes?” Robert asked, throwing open the door-

 Only to find a naked 12 year old.

 Robert slowly closed the door, and tried to not have a heart attack.

 “Hey!” the child shouted, moving his fist in between the door and the frame. “I’m trying to find my brother. I know he was here.” Before Robert could say anything Hiro opened up his hand, revealing the minty scales that had fallen out of Tadashi’s tail earlier.

 With a heavy sigh Robert opened up the door, and gave the boy another look. True enough his legs had a purple hue to them and he could see the lines on his torso where gills would’ve been not too long ago.

 “Yeah, he’s here,” Robert confirmed. Hiro’s face brightened, and he shoved himself past Robert and ran into the house.

 “Tadashi!” the boy called out. It didn’t take long for Tadashi to thud down the hallway, and fall flat on his face as soon as he saw him.

 “Hiro! Ow…” Tadashi groaned. The boy, Hiro apparently, ran up to him and threw his arms around him.

 “You really suck at walking,” Hiro teased lightly.

 “Well I’m better at catching fish,” Tadashi teased back.

 Well that answered one of Robert’s questions.

 “Jerk.”

 “Knucklehead.”

 They were most definitely brothers.

 “Are you okay?” Hiro asked. “The storm last night was really bad, and I was scared that-“

 “I’m fine,” Tadashi assured him. “My wrist hurts a little, and my tail was banged up. But I’m okay. Robert found me in the net and saved me.”

 “Who’s Robert?”

 “I’m Robert,” the human introduced. The two just stared at each other. Robert waved a hand. “Hi.”

 “Hi?” Hiro greeted back, his face screwed up in confusion.

 Robert now chose this moment to remember that he can’t let a child run around his home naked.

 “I’m going to go get you some clothes,” Robert said before quickly turning.

 “Clothes? What are clothes?” Hiro asked Tadashi.

 “It’s a thing humans wear,” Robert overheard Tadashi explain as he walked down the hallway. “Apparently their skin is fragile so it protects them. Especially those bits.”

 “Holy crap what are those!”

 xxx

 Robert slipped the sundress over Hiro’s head and watched as the boy gave a twirl. The dress used to belong to Abigail, but she had long since outgrown the garment. He never got rid of them though, and they just ended up in a box collecting dust in a closet. He meant to give them to charity, but honestly just ended up forgetting to.

 “You like it?” Robert asked. Hiro spun in a circle and watched as the skirt flared out as he did so. A wide grin grew on his face.

 “I love it!” Hiro beamed. “Thank you!” He quickly dashed forward to give him a hug. Robert was shocked by the sudden show of affection, but he gently patted the top of his head. After Hiro pulled back he began to spin around again.

 “I like that,” Tadashi pointed. “Can I have one?”

 “Sorry, I don’t have one in your size,” Robert apologized. Tadashi face instantly wilted. “I can go buy one though! The stores should have plenty at this time of the year.”

 Tadashi immediately wrapped his arms around Robert’s chest.

 “Thank you, thank you!” He chirped. He leaned forward to give him kiss on Robert’s cheek, causing the man’s brain to fry.

 Robert was now seriously beginning to question if he had drunk himself into a stupor last night and this was all a drunken dream.

 “You’re welcome,” Robert chocked out. Tadashi pulled away with a smile and went to go watch Hiro.

 Having these Merpeople in his life was going to be weird, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to see them go back into the ocean either. Not that he knew what they wanted, but he was sure everything would get sorted out soon.

xxx

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he grumbled to himself annoyed. Hopefully it wasn’t some drunkard. It didn’t look like the person was moving though, so with a heavy sigh he went inside to grab a first aid kit, and back out again to investigate the intruder. As he walked across the warm sand to towards his castaway, he quickly discovered that it was no human.

 “You’ve got to be KIDDING me!” Robert spoke out again, staring down in amazement at the apparent Merperson unconscious on his shore. Well, now this was something. His skin was creamy and his hair an iridescent black, changing to purple and blue depending on how the light hit it. In addition to the typical tail, he had fins on his back and forearms, with webbing between his fingers, all of which were a gorgeous shade of minty blue-green. The sides of his torso were lined with gills that slowly moved as the sea creature breathed.

 But that wasn’t important right now. The poor thing was tangled up in a nylon fishing net, tying up his tail and bending one of his arms against his back, with his wrist forced into an uncomfortable angle. It had to be sprained at the very least. What was even more concerning was the fact that his tail was losing scales.

 “Oh no you don’t!” He scolded the sleeping merman. He quickly pulled a pair of scissors out of the kit and cut the netting lose. Once he was free from the nylon oppressor, Robert carefully scooped up him up into his arms. “Oof,” He groaned as he stood up. “You’re heavier than you look.” But nonetheless he managed to get him up off of the beach and began the trek back up to his home.

 Once inside he deposited him into his claw foot bathtub and ran the water up as much as he could. Now all he could do is wait. He took a seat on the toilet, and watched his new guest. He could see that he was now breathing a bit better, and his tail looked healthier again too. His eyes eventually fell on his face, and Robert couldn’t help but to admire his features. As he began to question whether or not he should add salt to the water the Merman’s eyes popped open and his tail began to thrash.

 “Whoa there!” Robert cooed as he jolted out of his seat. The Merman scooted to the far end of the bathtub, curling his tail up close. “Its okay, you’re safe.” The sea creature blinked back at him. “Can you understand me?” Robert asked. After a moment of moment of nothing, the merman slowly nodded his head. Robert let out a sigh of relief. “Good, that’s good.” This seemed to satisfy the Merman, as his body slowly relaxed. As he stretched out his tail though, a hiss of pain slipped out of his mouth.

 “Um, I don’t know if you can talk,” Robert started out. “But I found you washed up on the beach tangled in a net. It must’ve happened last night during the storm. I brought you up here so that you could rest. I think you are a little injured, so you can stay here until you can swim again. Is that okay?” the Merman nodded again. The human nodded back and began to get up to leave.

 “Wait!” the sea creature called out, causing Robert to turn back around in surprise. “Don’t go…”

 “You can talk…” Robert whispered in amazement. The Merman nodded. “Well isn’t that convenient?”

 “I suppose it is,” he agreed, a nervous laugh slipped out of his mouth. “Thank you for saving me. “

 “It was no problem,” Robert assured him. “Is there anything you need?”

 “No…” he nodded. “But have you seen my brother? His name is Hiro.” This got Robert’s attention. Well, logically there must be more of them.

 “No, I haven’t, sorry,” he told him, causing the Merman’s posture to droop.

 “I hope he’s okay… I need to find him,” he lamented, his eyes growing sad.

 “Well you’re no use to him if you can’t swim,” Robert pointed out. “He isn’t completely alone though, is he?” The Merman shook his head.

 “No, its just us two,” he told him. “We don’t know what happened to the others, the only other ones we’ve seen were our parents, but they died years ago.”

 “I’m sorry to hear that,” Robert told him. The two sat in silence.

 “My name is Tadashi by the way,” the Merman, Tadashi, introduced.

 “I’m Robert Callaghan,” the human greeted back, flashing him a smile. “Nice to meet you.”

 “Nice to meet you too!” Tadashi smiled back. With that Robert left the room in favor of getting some breakfast for his hungry stomach, and to ignore the heat in his face.

 This was definitely not how he imagined his day going.

xxx

So this is short, but this is also maybe only 1/10th of the full story too. If anyone else likes this, I’ll continue this story. The rest of it involves merpeople growing legs, the appearance of Hiro, Robert crushing on his merman, Abigail showing up and being very confused, and merpeople in sun dresses dismantling toasters.

He lasted until a quarter to eight when he caved and finally tried calling him. The phone rang and rang, until someone finally picked up.

 “Hello?” Hiro asked tentatively.

 “Hiro?” Robert questioned in confusion.

 “Professor Callaghan?” Hiro asked back.

 “Yeah, where’s Tadashi?” He asked him. “Is he okay?”

 “Um…” Hiro’s voice trailed off. “That’s a little difficult to answer.” Robert swallowed thickly. Someone in the background spoke. “What was that?”

 “Is that Tadashi?” Robert barked out. “Can you put him on?” Hiro just snickered.

 “I don’t know, professor,” He laughed. “If I give him the phone he might accidentally burn it.”

 “Oh my God Hiro stop,” he finally heard Tadashi in the background. “Is it Callaghan?”

 “Tadashi!” Robert called out, in hopes he could hear him. Hiro just laughed.

 “Maaaaybe!” Hiro just drawled out in the cocky tone. Scuffling continued in the background. “Holy Shit!”

 “Tadashi get back in the shower!” Cass yelled in the background.

 “Hiro, what on Earth is happening?” Robert asked again, rubbing his temples. Now he was just worried and confused.

 “Like I said, hard to say,” Hiro casually told him. “Its best if you stop by yourself.”

 “Fine then,” he conceded. “I’ll see you soon.” He hung up and put down the phone.

 What could’ve possibly happened that Hiro couldn’t tell him what was going? Tadashi sounded fine, but was he really? Why did he need to take a shower? All he could do was go to his home and find out. He picked up his phone to make another call to get off early, and prepared to leave.

 Xxx

 He pulled up and parked in front of the café. He quickly got out and knocked the glass door. The sign displayed the “Sorry We’re Closed”, so Robert was left to wait by himself outside the door.

 “Its open!” Cass called from inside. He sheepishly entered after that. “Robert…” She said uneasily as she came out of the kitchen. “I guess I should’ve expected that you’d show up sooner or later.” She still wasn’t used to seeing him as her nephew’s boyfriend, and he knew she might never like him as such. He could eternally thank Hiro for all of this awkwardness.

 Little shit…

 “I was concerned when they both skipped their classes,” he explained. “But I digress, is Tadashi okay?”

 “Well, he’s been better,” she answered cryptically. “You can go ahead and head up, I have a little cleaning to finish.” He nodded curtly and went for the stairs. All that mattered now was making sure his young love was okay.

 As he entered the second floor, he noticed something rather peculiar: random scorches and burn marks all over the room. There were burns on random patches of the hardwood and carpet. A seat cushion and pillow were similarly destroyed. What was most odd though was the ash on the roof. None of that made any sense. When he heard Tadashi and Hiro arguing though he pressed on.

 “I bet you’re going to have to spend the night in there,” Hiro teased to a closed door. “I’d bring you a pillow, but that would just get burnt too.”

 “Very funny,” Tadashi spat back. “You know I don’t like-“

 “Callaghan’s here!” Hiro shouted, cutting him off. “’Sup Professor.”

 “Hello Hiro,” he greeted tensely. He pointed to the closed door. “Is Tadashi in there?”

 “Yuuuuup,” Hiro nodded. Robert just took a deep breath and moved towards the door. “Wait, you should know he’s naked in there.”

 “So?”

 “Gross,” Hiro made face. Robert just put his hand on the door nob and turned to back to him.

 “Deal with it,” he smirked and stepped inside.

 True enough Tadashi was sitting naked in an empty bathtub. Even more burn marks were in this room. Destroyed magazines littered the floor. But seemingly enough Tadashi looked fine.

 “Tadashi!” he cried out. He quickly stepped to the bathtub and kneeled down. He raised a hand to press his forehead. “Are you okay? You’re burning up!”

 “You could say that again,” Tadashi scoffed. “But yeah, today’s been a weird day.”

 “You didn’t call, I was worried about you,” Robert told him. Tadashi smiled and leaned forward to kiss him on the mouth. “I will admit I’m really, really confused now though.”

 “We both are,” Tadashi agreed. He opened his mouth to say something only for Hiro to knock on the door.

 “You better not start making out in there!” Hiro taunted. “You’re going to melt his face off!”

 “I’m not going to do anyOH SHIT!” Then suddenly before Robert’s eyes Tadashi’s skin spontaneously combusted, flames covering his face and quickly consuming the rest of his body.

 “Holy FUCK!” Robert screamed as he scrambled backwards. To make matters worse Tadashi started to float up out of the bathtub and towards he ceiling.

 “Quick, turn the water on!” Tadashi called out. Robert just nodded dumbly and fumbled for the water controls. He quickly turned the nobs and watched as his boyfriend’s flames quickly went out and he fell back out of the air and onto the hard ceramic bathtub. “Ooooow!” he groaned. Robert just stared with wide eyes. “So yeah, I think I’m going to need the next few days off from classes…”

 xxx

 “Inhumans?” Robert repeated. Cass nodded slowly in response.

 The four were now sitting in the living room; a bucket of water sitting closely to them. Tadashi was wearing a bathrobe, since everyone was still afraid he’d just end up burning more of his clothes.

 “Yes, it comes from my side of the family,” Cass told him. “My Grandmother was one of the inhumans, and the genes have just continued to be passed down.”

 “Do you burst in the flames too?” Robert asked. Cass just shook her head.

 “Oh heavens no!” She laughed. “No, that’s just Tadashi, unfortunately.”

 “We just talk to cats,” Hiro explained. Robert just stared blankly back at him. “You know, we can hear and interpret the vibrations on which they communicate, and then send them back.”

 “I’ll take your word for it.”

 “I used to be so jealous too,” Tadashi laughed. “Yeah, I’m not really feeling that right now.” He turned and gave Robert the biggest pout. “I burnt my favorite shirt!”

 “I’ll buy you a new one,” Robert said easily. “The bookstore has plenty of them.”

 “Thanks,” Tadashi leaned forward to kiss his cheek. “I’ll let you know when I got this under control, and hopefully I’ll be back in class soon.”

 “Good luck with that!” Hiro teased.

 “That’s five points from your last quiz,” Robert deadpanned.

 “Hey!”

 Xxx

 An hour later Robert prepared to depart for the night.

 “Take it easy,” Robert requested. “And please stay in touch.”

 “I’ll try,” Tadashi nodded. He took a step forward towards him, and Robert just couldn’t help but to plant a kiss on his mouth, one of which Tadashi eagerly reciprocated. Hiro audibly made a fake cough. After Robert pulled back he quickly spun on his heels and turned to face him.

 “And you Mr. Hamada,” he warned. “I better not see you missing any more classes, and I expect a report on my desk in time on Thursday.”

 “Yes Sir, Mr. Callaghan Sir!” He shouted back, topping it off with a mock salute gesture. Robert rolled his eyes and ruffled the boy’s hair. “Hey!”

 “I’ll see you around,” Robert told them both as he went out the door. “Good night!”

 “Night!” Tadashi waved, his hand quickly catching on fire and going out again. Robert smiled uneasily and got into his car.

 This was going to take some getting used to, but it could always be worse. If Tadashi could  figure it out, so could he.

xxx

“Are you sure something is up?” Robert asked him after he ate his last macaron. Tadashi nodded.

 “Positive,” he said back. “Those two have gotten way too close.”

 Hiro and Baymax were sitting at a table towards the back of the café. Hiro had a small plate of fresh cookies and his homework in front of him. Baymax, who seemingly had no reason to be active, was there to provide him with conversation. Hiro was talking to him more than doing his homework though...

 “Is it really a problem if Hiro has a crush on your bot?” Robert questioned.

 “No, the weird part is I think Baymax likes him back,” Tadashi explained. “Hold on… Look! He’s going to do the thing!” Tadashi grabbed Robert’s chin and turned him to look at the boy and the bot. Baymax bent over and pressed his face against Hiro’s cheek, his “eyes” slipping closed as he did so. Hiro smiled and blushed at the gesture, an embarrassed giggle slipping out.

 “And what was that?” Robert asked him.

 “That was a kiss!” Tadashi retorted. “About a week ago I overheard Hiro teaching Baymax what it was and what it meant, and now Baymax can’t stop doing it. And he only does to Hiro too.” Tadashi slumped back into his chair and ran a hand through his hair. “I programmed Baymax to learn, but I’m not sure what to think about all of this!”

 “We could strip him down and take a look at his coding and memory and see what’s changed,” Robert mused, leaning back in his chair. The two watched as Hiro and Baymax disappeared up the stairs. “Do you think its possible that the limits to his AI have been broken?”

 “That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out,” Tadashi answered. “I feel like it’s important to question Baymax’s programming and any possible identities he may have grown. This something we’re going to want to eliminate in future versions of Baymax.” Tadashi turned to Robert and flashed him a grin. “But I’m also curious to see what exactly Baymax has become.”

 “You think that Baymax might be a fully functional AI?” Robert inquired, shock lacing his words. Tadashi’s grin widened.

 “Well maybe not fully functional,” he started. “But I think he’s getting there. Oh man, I’ve got to say I didn’t see this coming. It took eighty-four tries just to get him to work, the fact that he’s exceeding all expectations just blows my mind!”

 “I always said I knew you could do it,” Robert complimented.

 “I couldn’t have done it without your help,” Tadashi shot back.

 “You did all of the grunt work,” the professor insisted. “I was just a proofreader.”

 Tadashi rolled his eyes and finished off the last of his tea.

 “You know,” he started. “If I did create an AI, what exactly does that mean? For us and Baymax, I mean.” Tadashi’s eyes grew wide and his fingers drummed on the table. “Does this mean Baymax is a person now? If I changed him would it be considered cruelty? Do I get to call him my son?”

 “’What measure is a non-human?’” Robert quoted. “If Baymax is and or becomes an AI… Well… Then we’ll just have to cross that bridge when we get there.” Tadashi nodded slowly. “For now we’ll just run our tests and play it cool and start documenting even more the changes in Baymax’s development.”

 “That sounds like a good plan,” Tadashi agreed. “I’ll bring Baymax back into the lab with me on Monday and run a diagnostic on him.”

 “Sounds good,” Robert affirmed. “In the meantime, you might want to talk to Hiro about his relationship with Baymax. You probably haven’t yet, have you?” Tadashi turned away and rubbed the back of his head.

 “No… Not exactly,” he mumbled. “I didn’t want to outright accuse him of dating my robot unless I had proof to back it up, but I probably should, considering that Baymax is only continuing to get more and more attached to him.” Robert just laughed lightly and got up out of his chair.

 “You do that and tell me how that goes later,” the professor concluded. “I need to get home and grade some exams. Don’t forget the one you have next week yourself.”

 “I won’t,” Tadashi beamed. He gave a quick glance around the café. Aunt Cass and Hiro were nowhere to be seen, and the few customers that were there were not paying any attention to them. Tadashi quickly leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “You have fun with that.”

 “I’ll see you around Hamada,” Robert said as headed to the door, glancing over his shoulder as he walked to give a wink.

 “Goodbye Professor,” he smirked as he returned the gesture. After he watched him disappear into the crowded streets outside he turned back the table and collected their used cups and plates to take back to the kitchen.

 His head felt hazy now, the weight of his creation clouding his thoughts. He could’ve changed science as the world knew it, and he didn’t even know how. He could worry about that later though; he had bigger problems to deal with.

 “So my son is dating my brother…” He muttered to himself as he washed a plate. “Still better than bot fighting.”

xxx