Welcome to Gaia! ::

Having barrelled at full speed down the beach alongside his new female friend who was obviously very cool if she also wanted to partake in the mysterious and wonderful psychedelic arts, Zain came to an abrupt halt as the zombie approached them and began talking rationally. He cocked his head, looking up at him with interest.

Huh.

He was pretty cute.

The first part of Imaru's informative talk washed over him without being heard as he examined and appreciated his cuteness. Something jumped out at him from the next part, though: book. Now why did that ring a bell? Ah, yes.

"You mean this?" he grinned, pulling the bitten, soaking wet sketchbook out of his pouch and waving it up at the zombie. "I liked the picture of the octopus. It tasted like crap, though. You might wanna think about buying something more yummy next time. Do they make eel-flavored books?"

Zain stared up at the girl in shock, horror, dismay, and many other sorts of associated emotions.

"NO! My book!" he cried, hugging it to his chest like a child with its favourite doll. It didn't matter that he'd barely had it half an hour and it really meant nothing of value to him at all. It was his. "I found it fair and square!"

Well, technically this wasn't true, as Shinichi had been the one to point it out in the sand... but it didn't matter! It. Was. His.

He shoved the book back down inside his pouch as if one of the humans might suddenly lunge forward and try to snatch it away, and then... noticed the fifth person on the scene, lurking just behind Alexi's legs.

He fell to the ground, staring at it from its own level. It stared back.

He stared.

It stared.

They stared.

The staring never seemed to end... until, abruptly, Zain reached out and grabbed Total with both hands around his plant pot, pulling him close and shaking him.

"SO CUTE!!" he squealed, whirling the plant through the air, "PUPPY SO CUTE! PUPPY PUPPY PUPPY~"

But something was wrong. Zain stopped swooping Total around, and stared at him hard once again. He tugged at one of his leaves, then felt the leafy material between his finger and thumb. (He may have technically been molesting the sentient plant, but as this was for the twin causes of examination and science it didn't matter.)

As you can see, nothing gets past our bright and princely prince.

"You is not puppy," he said, glaring, this time with utmost suspicion, into Total's beady eyes. "Puppies is fluffy. What is you?!"

Zain blinked at Alexi and Total.

"Plant," he repeated, looking at the creature in his hands.

...

"Why do you talk?" he asked innocently. Then, his voice became rather breathy. "...Are you... magical...?"

"BAD magical plant!" said Zain, giving him another hard shake. "VERY naughty! Evil!"

He shook the pot a few more times, but it grew gradually more vigorous. He paused, thinking.

"...Could you grant me a wish?" he whispered, looking hopefully, wide-eyed into the plant's soul. Would he be able to resist those big, sparkly eyes?

"...Yes... of course...!" said Zainire wondrously, gently setting down the plant and gazing up at Alexi with a kind of awe, "Why didn't I see it before...?"

It must have been obvious by now, even to a bystander, that some fine mer logic was about to come out of his mouth.

"As the guardian of the magical plant... the true magic must lie with you!"

It just kept on coming, didn't it?

He prostrated himself on the ground - which wasn't a difficult or impressive movement, as he was already lying flat on his belly anyway - and, arms outstretched, offered his praise to the carer of the magical plant.

"O wise and benevolent keeper of the Magical Plant of Wisdom and Knowledge and Stuff," he began grandly, managing to make his voice heard even though his face was shoved into the sand, "We have travelled many miles and overcome many obstacles to seek your wisdom and knowledge and stuff today. If you could grant us the benefit of your mystical arts and godly powers we would be forever in your debt!"

Turning his head to one side in order to look, one-eyed, up at the Keeper of the Magical Plant of Wisdom and Knowledge and Stuff, his face more covered in sand than it already was, the prince knew that now that he had secured a wish, he had to... think of something to wish for.

He rolled onto his back, looking up at the sky as he thought. When he first came up to the surface as a child, he'd been afraid of the sky... and the air... and the strange noises, and the sound of human voices...

It was all so different. He'd cried.

His mom had told him off so badly for that. She'd told him that if he was ever going to be king, he couldn't afford to let things overwhelm him. He had to be strong, like the immovable cliffs that supported all of the coral outside the city. He was meant to be the face on which everything else rests. She said she wouldn't accept a son who was more like the coral itself - pretty to look at and showy, but more delicate than an angelfish's spine. She never knew, but he cried again later that night, for disappointing her. He'd always remember it because Afayana, his foster mother, came into the room and held him, making him laugh with silly songs and jokes until he felt better. Whenever he thought about that, it made him remember that he loved her, and that maybe she loved him, too, even though he always used to be running off and hurting their family's reputation. Nah, he still did that - scratch the past tense.

He stared up at the swirling clouds, eyes slightly glazed.

"...First of all, I wish that Shinichi and I can be together forever," he eventually said, very earnestly. "Because I love him. Then I wish we could rule together. I'd be king, and my mother would be happy. I also wish my family could all get along even though some are gypsies and some are nobles and some are adopted and some are blood. I wish I didn't keep upsetting people, and that they'd just let me help like I want to."

A short silence fell. The prince, who'd kept on staring seriously at the sky, suddenly tilted his head back and grinned at the tomboyish girl. "But if you can't do any of that... I wish I knew your name!"

With a happy, dolphin-like series of purrs and clicks Zainire rolled right over energetically once, and then back in the direction he'd come. If at some point either of the humans had forgotten that they were talking to a giant man-fish, it certainly reminded them even as he grinned up at them happily again. Or, at Alexi to be more specific.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Zain!" he enthused.

"That's Pretty Shinichi over there," Zain continued, gesturing back towards his partner.

"And this," he concluded, pointing up at Imaru, "Is Mr. Zombie."

He lowered his voice, glancing around dramatically, as if he were sharing a secret with Alexi. "Mr. E. Zombie."