|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2010 11:39 am
It was midday, and Kiri had too much to do. WAY too much to do. He was behind on orders, and most of his customers were too powerful to be kept waiting for long. Seeing as he wasn't going to be around much for the next week, he'd arranged to be able to drop Lorelai off at a closed exhibit in the nearby Aquarium. It was all set up - fish, rocks, lots of water, and waves - but there was a 'closed' sign outside the doors, and it was abandoned save for the fish. No people were allowed to visit it. Probably because the animal it was for hadn't arrived yet.
Right now, Lorelai was using it as a playground. He had found the 'sea-flowers' as he called them, and had a habit of putting them into his hair. One at a time, of course. Anything else would have looked tacky. He also - as young children loved to do - put anything and everything into his mouth, nomming on rocks, plants, and sealife in equal quantities. Though there were some he was content to stay away from.
While Kiri was gone, he had a blast, and Kiri came to pick him up at the end of the day. What he was NOT expecting was to no longer be completely alone in this huge tank...
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2010 12:23 pm
"Alright, so let's see this tank," Tom said pleasantly. He was accompanying a couple of biologists from Mer Co to an aquarium further inland that wanted to partner with them for educational programs in a location that wasn't nearly as remote. Neither of the biologists particularly liked talking business, although when it came down to what they actually did, Tom was sure they'd start yapping again.
The aquarium director had looked at Tom oddly, probably because he had decided to bring along Alex on this little expedition (He'd never seen an aquarium...and even if it was closed, this was still it), but he hadn't objected to the strange looking child. Didn't even seem surprised...there're definitely a lot of odd things in the world. They were led through the halls, past a few small tanks housing various small fish, and to a rather large wall of glass, showcasing a good-sized tank. "This is it," the director said with a smile.
At this point, the two biologists started asking their detailed techincal questions about the environment...definitely not Tom's field, so he turned his attention to Alex, instead. "What do you think?"
"It's a big pool," Alex said simply. On the boat that served as their house, Alex had his own little kiddy pool to be inside and still be in water...so that's what he was comparing it with. "Can I swim in it?" he asked hopefully.
"Hmm, maybe," he replied. At about this point, the biologists were requesting to see the top areas of the tank, so the group made their way there. Once up at the top (and out of the "guest areas"), Tom asked the director, "Do you mind if Alex stayed in the water here while we discuss the details? I promise he won't eat anything...and he'll be able to tell us if there's anything we'd be concerned about." That last bit wasn't entirely true...
"Oh, yes, certainly," the aquarium director said after a moment, and that was quickly answered with a little yip and a splash as Alex pushed off from Tom's back (he had been facing away from the water.
"We'll be back later, Alex," Tom said. "Don't eat anything you shouldn't."
~
Once he was in the water, Alex let himself sink to the bottom as he listened to the sound of fish and things in the water and...something big and squishy! He looked around. "Is...anyone in here?" he asked curiously.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2010 12:49 pm
Lorelai was contentedly weaving some seaweed into his hair, when he heard another voice, and nearly jumped out of his skin. He turned to look toward the sound of the voice, and broke into a big smile, waving his hand wildly in the water.
"Over here! Over here! I'm here!"
He called, starting over toward the white being. A being... like him? Excitement caused his heart to pound as he slid his way over, and took in the white one. ... Feelings he didn't understand crept up, and firmly wrapped themselves around his heart, causing it to race even faster.
Without even asking - or knowing quite why-, Lorelai 'jumped' himself over to the white one and gave him a big hug.
"My name's Lorelai! ... What's yours?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2010 1:00 pm
Alex smiled and waved back as the other--a mer! His hunch was right!--came closer. "Hi!" he said happily, and then he was hugged, and briefly confused. People didn't do that all that often.
He quickly recovered with a little giggle, and declared, "I'm Alex! Do you live here?" He took the opportunity of being hugged to play with the kinda frilly covering of Lore's back, and to poke the other's side...just to see how squishy he was.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2010 1:18 pm
He was firmish-squishy, but still about the same as Alex, and he wriggled and giggled as he was poked and prodded, and did some fancy back flips to try and get away. When he'd escaped the prodding, he floated back down, and hugged the other again, nuzzling, and pulling away, as he glanced left and right.
"Nooooo... I'm just staying here while daddy works. He can't take me with him when he doesn't work in the house."
He smiled, and settled himself nicely in the sand, resuming braiding the seaweed into his hair. It was now nice, long, and... green. At least from where the seaweed started and ended. At the very top, his hair was still brown.
"I like it here. It's big, and it's quiet, and there's lots of playtoys."
Another grin. This was a very happy Mer at the moment.
"What about you?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2010 2:00 pm
Shaking his head, Alex said, "Nooo, I don't live here...I've never been 'ere before." Once Lore escaped and resumed the braiding, Alex drifted over to a craggy little rock, and rolled it around a bit, then in the direction of the other mer.
"I live on a boat in a bay," he explained, as if this were a perfectly normal thing. "And my daddy is here, for a sigh-un-teethic thingy." He didn't really know or understand what they were doing...only that it was something sciency and water related. And to Alex, those two ideas were not very separate. "I'unno why they're not here," he added after a second.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2010 2:12 pm
Lore looked up, and grinned.
"My daddy does those things too - but they aren't in the water." he said, finishing tying a piece of greenery into his hair, before starting another one. He would bankrupt the kelp bed at this rate, but there was more across the tank.
"My daddy makes people."
With a nod, he picked out a good piece of seaweed, and swam over to Alex, starting to tie it into his hair without one lick of permission otherwise.
"Hold still! Wanna make you look pretty."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2010 2:39 pm
Alex twisted his head slightly to try and see what Lore was doing. "Hey!" he said, startled, "What's that?" The only conceivable reaction, clearly, was to take advantage of the fact that Lore was on top of him with his arms raised to play with Alex's head.
Therefore, without really waiting for a reply, or for Lore to finish, Alex reached out and tickled the other mer in both his arm pits. "Tickle, tickle!" he squeaked playfully.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2010 3:28 pm
"AAAAH!" Lore squealed, and dropped both his arms, curling into a ball to protect himself from tickling, and to laugh his little lungs out. "Aaaaahahaha! Stoooop!"
He weakly batted at the tickling hands, and gasped for breath, rolling in the sand. VERY ticklish this one. His seaweed-ed hair flowed in the water, covering his face as he rolled, and making it a very odd sight indeed when he peeked out from under the green to look at Alex.
"Why'd you do that?" he asked, once he caught his breath. "What was that?"
In order to avoid a recurrence of the situation, he swam around so that he was behind the white male, and eyed him from that direction, sticking his tongue out slightly while the other couldn't see him.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
