#tsoft

     Sitting up straight in his chair that was connected to the desk, he sighed. This day just wasn’t over fast enough. “Ugh, ‘m sorry Fef, just tired I guess.” He was lying, of course, he knew the real reason, and that reason was to think about that strange creature that was supposed to appear in the aquarium. Wait, “So Fef any news about the new addition?” He asked softly, making sure that their teacher wouldn’t hear them.

     Feferi seemed to pause and think before nodding. “Yeah, my dad told me they just put the little fella in an hour or so ago.” Figures Feferi would bug her parents about it at lunch, which was right before this class about fifty minutes ago. “I’m not sure what he is yet, but I can’t wait to see him after class!” She giggled softly, excited about the new addition just as much as Eridan was.

     “How do your parents know it’s a he?” He quietly asked, knowing that they probably sexed the poor thing before they put it in the tank with all those chemicals. Eridan had always wondered how it must feel to breathe in fresh, crisp ocean water, and then be dumped in water filled with a lot of chemicals. The brunette imagined it would be like accidently swallowing pool water, and the thought made him cringe. If that’s what it was like, Eridan felt sorry for the fish, and was glad he wasn’t one of them.

     The dark blonde haired girl (almost a brunette, really) was thinking for a while before she shrugged. “I don’t know. All that dad said was that he’s fine, if a little scared is all. That’s before the seventh period bell rang and I had to shut my phone off.” So both were confused on how they did that, Feferi not really caring, but Eridan knowing that checking the sex of a wounded animal, no matter what kind, wasn’t a bright idea. “But I di-” Feferi was cut off with a loud ringing bell, the sign that school was over. Eyes shining behind her pink rimmed glasses, she picked up her books and stood up, heading for the door that so many of the students were flocking out of. It was a Friday, so of course they would be excited about a weekend of staying up late and video gaming. “Wanna come to the aquarium with me, Eridan?” She asked kindly, and Eridan nodded. Eridan knew that she normally went to the aquarium after school and always asked him, but most of the time he wouldn’t go, but now he had a reason to.

     “Sure Fef, I’d love to.” He said softly, pushing his black glasses up his nose, fixing his gelled up hair and gathered his books, standing up and walking out the door to the classroom with Feferi right next to him. Walking down the hallway, they stopped by their lockers. Having lockers next to each other was handy, and Eridan knew that kids kept their lockers from freshman year all the way to senior year, so really, Eridan was quite pleased.

     The boy with the blonde streak running through his hair had grabbed his art bag that doubled as his school bag, fixing his prized light beige scarf, and smoothing out his plaid purple shirt. He was wearing a black tee under it, especially since it was thin. Fixing the black belt on his bright, almost neon blue skinny jeans, Eridan shut and locked his locker, looking over at Feferi, who was putting stuff in her magenta purse. Once she had everything in her small purse and then her backpack, she shut and locked her own locker before they set off down the halls to the aquarium.

*~*~*

     It was actually a short walk from the school, maybe about ten or fifteen minutes of small talk and wondering what creature was the new addition. The place itself was huge, tanks everywhere, fish of all kinds in them. There was a large main room where you walked into after you had bought your ticket, and then two upper floors, and an outside that probably covered half the area of a football field, possibly more, where the animals performed and some lived.

     Both Feferi and Eridan were walking through the lines since they didn’t need tickets because Feferi’s parents own and run the place. She had to explain to the ticket boy that Eridan was with her though, and after a minute or so of calm arguing, he believed her and she dragged Eridan in.

     Honestly, they didn’t believe what they were seeing.

     In the middle of the large room, was a circular tank, well, almost circular, more like cylinder shaped. It was normally there, nothing strange about it, but it was the new creature inside that amazed them both. The previous tropical fish had been moved, and made way for probably the most popular attraction now; a real live mermaid! At first Feferi was excited, babbling on about how she always wanted to be one as a child, and Eridan wondering, no, knowing, that whatever that thing was, was the creature he had seen beached just four days ago.

     Feferi had pushed a few people out of the way to see the mermaid, using the excuse that her parents owned the place again. She dragged Eridan through the small crowd of people to the front, where the thing in the tank was clawing through some of the colorful pebbles on the bottom.

     So the sign was right, this boy was a mermaid, well, a mer-boy. He had dark blond hair, but lighter than Feferi’s own, a thin upper half with webbed hands, claws on the tips of his fingers, and even some yellow-tinted ear fins with multiple piercings where his ears were supposed to be. They flickered as people took videos and pictures and making ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ at him. His lower torso was just a fish tail in the color of gold, but what caught Eridan was that there were two decent scars running down it from somewhere in the middle to almost the tip of that glistening tail.

     Eridan sighed, that boy looked absolutely miserable in there, he looked like he was taking shallow breaths, and he was digging in a frantic manner. Frowning, the boy only looked around their age, and from stories he heard mermaids usually had a small dorsal fin to help them swim. ‘Must be puberty or somethin’.’ Eridan thought.

     One bright light from the flash of a camera made the fish-boy snap his head up, eyes wide with fear. Eridan’s mouth made a little ‘o’ shape at his eyes. His eyes were bigger than humans, he could tell, but not by much, but it was the color of them that amazed Eridan. His right eye was an olive green color, while the other was sky blue, but instead of the calmness Eridan would like to see, they were wide and full of panic and fear. Feferi pressed her hands to the glass while Eridan kept them by his sides. The boy actually felt a small amount of pity for the creature in there, but quickly caught himself. Why should he feel bad for it? It was his fault he was even caught in the first place.

     The mer-kid swam quickly to his hammock, his tail creating a stream of bubbles after him. Eridan was impressed, he had never seen someone, or something swim that fast before, sadly, it was probably because the thing was scared. Curling up in the hammock, a diver plunged into the tank in all black. Both Feferi and Eridan watched the employee curiously.

     Looking over at everyone, the worker then swam over to the mer-boy, and proceeded to poke and tap him lightly on the arm. Feferi thought for sure that the kid would attack the diver, and so did Eridan and probably a few more people there, but they were surprised when the boy looked up back at the worker and quietly and uneventfully followed him up to what was the outside tank he had.

     Feferi grabbed Eridan’s wrist again and yanked the boy up the flight of stairs and out to the giant pool that the mermaid was kept in. Not a whole lot of people went up there because the mer-boy got fed everyday up there, so it wasn’t worth missing your spot. The two teenagers made it up to the top tank, where they saw that the diver was out, or just out of his suit, and there was a man in the middle of the large, rock-surrounded pool. It was pretty deep, and one side showed downstairs, covered in glass so the people could watch him from a different angle.

     The man on the large platform had a bucket of fish near him, Eridan and Feferi smelt it before they saw it. Speaking of Feferi, being the excited, kind of bossy girl she was, walked down the platform with Eridan in hand to the worker who was throwing fish in the water for the mer-creature to eat. Honestly Eridan didn’t want to go down the platform, but Feferi had other ideas. “Hey mister!” She called, and the man feeding the creature turned around.

     It seemed he knew that her parents owned the place, and instead of the scowl he first turned around with he put on a smile, most likely a fake one. “Yes, Miss Peixes?” He asked softly, the merman poking his head out the water, expecting to be fed. The water weighed down his hair and it was sticking to his face as his ear-fins flickered before lowering.

     “I was wondering if me and Eridan could see the merman.” Feferi replied in that happy, bubbly, and excited voice of hers. The seadweller in question flared his fins, almost a little ticked at what she said. Eridan knew that he at least knew what she said, and he also had a feeling that if he could understand the English language, then he could speak it. Maybe.

     The employee nodded. “Of course, if you want to feed him just give him around five fish. The kid has an appetite.” The two teenagers nodded as the man, probably five years older than them, walked back to the building, leaving Eridan and Feferi to feed the merman that was staring curiously at them from the pool. Well, the blond was more or less looking at Eridan.

     Sollux knew that was the boy from a while back when he was getting caught up, he just knew it. The two humans knelt down on the edge of the platform, Feferi all smiles and Eridan giving the fish-boy a good look over.

     Grabbing a slimy fish from the bucket, Feferi held it in her hand and presented it to the finned boy. Sollux looked up at her with a confused look on his face as Eridan stared in awe at his eyes. They were gorgeous, amazing. He never thought merfolk could get heterochromia. “Hey boy.” Spoke Feferi in her most soft and motherly voice. “You can eat it from my hand, I won’t hurt you.”

     Eridan wanted to scoff and roll his eyes. The merman was a wild creature, and he didn’t trust him as much as Feferi apparently did. “Fef, he’s a wild man, don’t-”

     While Eridan was talking, the merman was already nibbling on the fish which was still in Feferi’s hands. She was trying her best not to squeal and Eridan looked dumbfounded. He had no idea why the other seemed to trust Feferi so much, probably because it was since Feferi seemed too trustworthy, so kind and gentle that she couldn’t cause any harm to the aquatic teenager.

     Speaking of which, Eridan had noticed that Sollux looked their age. He may be a year or two older, but he doubted it. The male with the sandy brown hair took a step closer to Sollux, taking in all of his smaller details. His pupils seemed to be able to change in size according to light, just like a cat’s eyes. Eridan thought that was pretty damn cool. He had small freckles running on his cheekbones, under his eyes and across his nose, along with some on his shoulders. ‘Of course he would have them; he probably spends a lot of time in the sun.’ He thought, looking along his body where Sollux’s torso turned into a tail. There were a few clusters of golden scales on his upper hips close to where the tail started, and it was cool looking to Eridan.

     “Oh he looks like he wouldn’t hurt a fly, Eridan.” She said softly so she wouldn’t frighten the merman. This time Eridan did roll his eyes. “What’s your problem?”

     Sighing, he pushed his glasses up his nose and shook his head. “He has fangs, Fef. He could and would attack and be able to kill somethin’ if he wanted to.” Eridan paused briefly, looking at Sollux, who was still eating up the fish, little by little. “Hell, the guy probably eats fish whole and has been for his whole life.” He had to, those fangs had to be there for a reason.

     “I have a name, you know.” Both Feferi and Eridan’s faces went blank, their eyes widening in shock. He could speak, the merboy could speak! He could also speak their language. Both humans blinked back at him like he had three heads. After a long pause, the dark blond just sighed. Cue the laughs at this point. “It’th Thollukth.”

     Both humans just stared at him. Feferi thinking about what his name actually was, without the lisp while Eridan was thinking that lisp was hilarious as hell, and maybe a tad bit adorable. He guessed it had to do with the merman’s overbite of fangs, he looked like he was in serious need of some braces.

     “Hi,” She paused. Okay, how was she going to go around this without sounding like an idiot? Well time to take a shot. “…Sollux?” Feferi said in a questioning tone before Sollux nodded. “Well hi there! I’m Feferi and this is Eridan.” Eridan nodded his head and raised his hand, crossing his arms afterwards.

     Arching a brow at Eridan, Sollux just chuckled lightly. “I think I thaw him a while ago.” When the words left his mess of fangs and lips, Eridan’s face paled a little. That was it, this was the thing that was making all those noises and was bleeding out on the sand days ago.

     Getting as close to Sollux as possible, he looked shocked. “Y-You wuh-were that thing on the sand!?” Damn his stutter, it only showed when he wasn’t watching it. He was just so shocked that Sollux was the creature, though he already assumed he was. But just the fact that it was a real live mer-person was still shocking in itself.

     “Yeah, I wath.” He said, his fins fluttering as he chuckled. Feferi just about squealed then.

     And squeal she did, she just thought that this guy was the hottest thing since the last teen girl movie. Eridan just rolled his eyes while Sollux’s ear fins swiveled down with a light jingle, which caught Eridan’s ear. “What was that noise?” He asked him, giving the merboy a curious look.

     Thinking about it for a moment of two, Sollux finally got what he was talking about. “Oh, eheh, thothe are my fin pierthingth,” He informed, perking the two fins up and spreading them out as wide as they could go, and he was right, there were some rings dangling from the bottom of them, and small little balls in the membrane itself. The two humans’ eyes’ widened, leaning forward to see them. There were a lot of them, but they were all made from either gold, silver, or what appeared to be bone. “They’re a right of pathage for me, or jutht thomething to track my age.” Fluttering the fins, he put them back to how they normally looked.

     Impressed, the both of them had a single question running through their minds; how old was he? Sollux looked about their age, but they couldn’t be too sure. “Hey, how old are you? And do you mind if I call ya’ Sol?” Eridan spoke up, and Sollux nodded at the last question.

     Finishing up all the meat on the fish, Feferi put the bones to the side. “I’m around fifteen or tho.” He shrugged, and Feferi’s eyes widened as a smile plastered itself on her face. “What?” He asked, looking up at her with a questioning look in his two colored eyes.

     “That’s how old Eridan and I are!” She said cheerfully. “That’s so cool!” Feferi spoke again, giggling and smiling like a small toddler.

     Sighing, Eridan chuckled lightly. “Don’t worry; she’s always perky like this.” Sollux just nodded, hoping that Eridan was right. The two boys just ended up staring at each other for a while as Feferi calmed her giggles long enough to hold a normal conversation, even if she was still smiling widely.

     As soon as she did though, a frown took its place. “Sollux, we have to get you out of here.” It was like it just hit her how bad this was for the merboy, and how awful he must feel. “This isn’t right, you don’t belong here.”

     Leaning back a bit, Eridan nodded, and Sollux did too. “Yeah, the water here hurtth my gillth and all the humanth are conthtantly watching me.” Carefully, Eridan reached forward and his hand brushed over that wet, dark blond hair that shone like gold under the sun. Sollux blinked back but soon went right up to the edge of the platform, letting Eridan run his hand through his hair.

     Feferi frowned. “Aw, Sollux!” She basically whined in a heartbroken tone. “We have to help you! This isn’t right,”

     “And what can we do about it, Fef?” Eridan interrupted the girl, pulling his hand back from messing with Sollux’s hair, the merman pulling his head back to look at both of them. “We can’t really do anythin’. Besides, if we did somehow get Sol outta here, what the fuck are we gonna do with him? The ocean is too far away from here so we can’t bring him there.” Pausing briefly to breathe, Eridan continued. “And, wouldn’t it look suspicious if we just tugged around a merman while the aquarium would be looking for him? Fef he’s probably your parents’ most prized… thing here,” He really didn’t want to say creature or fish, since now he knew that Sollux could both understand English and speak it. “They’ll definitely be lookin’ for him for a long while.”

     Sighing, Feferi’s frown only deepened. “I know! Just, we can’t just not try!” Feferi threw her fists beside her on the platform, Sollux reeling back a few centimeters. No matter how much she hated it, she could be a bit like a spoiled child when she didn’t get her way with things. “Sollux, we need to help you.” Her voice was softer and she looked embarrassed that she just did that in front of him. “I don’t care how but I’m going to get you out of here.”

     Sollux’s fins perked up a bit at the thought of getting out of here. It seemed like so long that he’s been in here, when in fact it has only been a few days. “I jutht need water around my gillth.” He said, pointing to his neck gills and the gills on his sides. “It altho doethn’t matter what kind of water.” The aquatic boy added, remembering all the times he had swam up freshwater rivers to catch trout and other fish.

     “That’s good.” Feferi spoke up before Eridan could, the boy giving her a small pout and fiddling with the end of his beige scarf. “Wait, Eridan don’t you have an indoor pool?”

     Giving a look to Feferi, then Sollux, and Feferi again, Eridan arched a brow at her. “Yeah, why?” That was when it hit him. “Fef, just ‘cause my dad isn’t home a lot doesn’t mean I can house Sol.” Feferi frowned instantly.

     Huffing, Feferi bounced in her seat slightly. “Please Eridan? Just until we can get him back to the ocean. My parents are always home!”

     Seeing the look on her face almost killed him, but it was that one look at Sollux’s that sealed the deal. The boy’s pupils were large and he was pouting, his cheeks puffed out a bit and his fins lowered. The teenager honestly looked like he was going to start crying right now with how sad he looked. Even his lower lip was quivering. Sighing, Eridan pushed his glasses up again and huffed, crossing his arms. “Fine, you two blubber-pusses won me over.” He looked back at Feferi. “He can stay, but what’re we gonna feed him?”

     Before Feferi could even think about it, Sollux chipped in. “Well I can eat thome human food, but anything from the ocean ith good, I prefer fresh, nothing like thith shit here.” He said, pointing a clawed finger at the bucket full of fish. “It’th dithguthting and awful.” He nodded once to confirm what he said.

     “Well I have a chef that could cook some things up for you, and trust me it’s good.” Chuckling softly, he looked over at Feferi and she smiled back. Both teens looked down at Sollux at the same time. “We clean the pool often since I swim in there a lot, so when we do that I can carry you up to my room until it’s all cleaned.”

     Sollux smiled, glad that there was a chance at getting out of this place probably once and for all. A small little dolphin chirp bubbled its way out of the boy’s throat, the two humans smiled at it, Feferi giggling and Eridan chuckling softly. “That was so cute!” She said, Eridan nodding his head in agreement. Sollux just blushed slightly, a small rose color tinting his cheeks.

     “Now, we got to think of a plan to get ‘em outta here.” Eridan said, Feferi and Sollux both nodded a few times. “I think we should get little mister dolphin out of here as soon as possible, Fef.” She giggled at the nickname and Sollux just flared his fins. “Lighten up, Sol.”

     Feferi just patted his hair while his fins calmed down and stopped flaring. “Yeah, we should do it tonight, you up for it boys?” Sollux nodded and Eridan responded with a yes. “Good, but, shit I can’t drive, but we could put you in a wagon, I have a spare key to the place so we can get in.”

     Liking the plan so far, Eridan of course had to put in his ideas too. “I can bring the wagon, plop you in, and be on our way to my house.” Pausing, he tried his best to remember if his dad would be home tonight. “Yeah Fef, my dad ain’t home tonight so we could do tha- shit.” Eridan just remembered the servants, but if it was done late enough he wouldn’t have to worry about it. “As long as we do it from around one to four thirty we should be good.” The servants, butlers and workers all got up at five am sharp to start their work. If they got home, at the latest four thirty, it would give him a half hour to show Sollux the hiding places in the huge pool they had in case one of the workers went in. “Sound like a plan, guys?”

     Sollux and Feferi both nodded, liking it. The plan itself sounded solid enough so that they would be able to get Sollux out and in Eridan’s home quickly and without anyone noticing. Though both humans would have to sneak out, both of them didn’t see why that was a problem, but it was a half hour walk from the aquarium to Eridan and Feferi’s neighborhood, so it would take them a while to go there and get back. “Where should we meet up?” The perky girl asked her best friend, arching a brow as Sollux just listened, ear fins perked as he made sure to take in everything each of them were saying.