John came back Down and put a fence in the pool to keep the rays on one side as he helped a few small otters and salamanders into the water to swim freely "you lot have twenty minutes okay, then I've got to drain the pool" he said and fed the salamanders as they came close while otters paddled happily. Sherlock tilted his head, watching the human again. As the new creatures were put in the water, he welcomed them with his own clicks. They swam around his floating form.
John sighed as he had to continually chase a smaller otter away from frank "stop teasing him. He'll poke you again and you know it" john scolded as he eventually simply started using a long handled flat net to keep him from the ray
Sherlock gave a few clicks to the otter and the creature came over to him instead, poking it's nose to Sherlock's. He smiles at the young thing. He speaks with the other otters and they flip about the water.
John smiled and went about gathering up the rays, clams , and starfish before he started to drain the pool. He moved Sherlock to the fresh water lock as he got on his hands and knees and began to scrub the tank clean by hand. Sherlock leaned on the edge of the tank, his tail gently swaying back and forth in the water. "You are a very strange human. Do you have a name?" He asked curiously.
"I think I'm fairly regular thank you very much. John. John Watson. You?" He asked as he looked over to him, already having finished a quarter of the tank
"Sherlock," the merman said in reply. "And I am quite certain you are strange. I have seen my kind taken up in nets and had their tails cut off while they are still alive."
" yeah...people are kinda messed up. Hell, even over seas we still try and kill each other because one person said so" he shook his head "Sherlock suits you"
Sherlock snorted, "Well of course. I don't know many human names though." He flipped his tail up to the side lightly, giving a small harmless splash.
John shrugged and in under twenty minutes had the tank scrubbed. He got out and pushed a button and the pool began to fill again
Sherlock watched the legs and wonder if he could have them too. There was always talk that his kind could walk on land for a short time. It was of course, not advised to so. The top world was dangerous for them if found out. "What is having legs like?" He asks
"Well...its how i walk around. You can trip and fall or break the bones but you can also run and jump. So i guess it's kind of a give and take"
Sherlock watched the legs and wonder if he could have them too. There was always talk that his kind could walk on land for a short time. It was of course, not advised to so. The top world was dangerous for them if found out. "What is having legs like?" He asks
" um.., its odd, sometimes it is fantastic because you can do a lot of things but you can get them hurt and if you do you can be crippled"
Sherlock tilted his head. "Would I look good with legs?" He asks curiously, his tail swishing slightly
John looked him over "probably. I mean, you look lean so you'd probate have thin or muscled legs. And from your tail you'd probably be tall" he said
Then it was decided. He lifted himself out of the water and slide out, hands catching the floor so he could catch his fall a bit better. "I want to have legs." He says, sounding extremely young.
"Well...i don't know how to help you" he said with a slight frown" are you okay out of water"
Sherlock gave John a pointed look. "Well you did drag me out from the bay and I was fine." He huffed, brushing his fingers along his tail. He wondered how long it would take or if anything would happen at all.
" yeah but i put you in a pond so you were still wet" he said and collected up the soggy otters and held them in a basket so he could bring them back to there habitat
"Shouldn't have taken me out in the first place." Sherlock muttered in stubbornness. He leaned against the glass and let his tail lay in front of him.
"I thought you were a regular fish. i was going to put you in the local species tank." John said and gave a fat otter another fish. " so what happens if you dry out?" He asked and rubbed the mammals swollen stomach "just a bit longer and you'll have your pups" john said and walked then back to the habitat but kept the pregnant one close "you get your own room" he said to it and went back to Sherlock
Sherlock tried not to feel envious of the otter and her swollen tummy. Everyone in his pod had long had pups of their own. He sighed quietly and looked away, back at his scales. "I don't know. I've never tried it because I've heard it was painful."
"Then why are you doing it? It looks like it'd be more fun to swim around with that tail of yours " he said and tilted his head
"It is, but if you had the chance wouldn't you want to know what having a tail was like?" Sherlock replied in return. As he felt his skin dry the scales began to tingle slightly
John thought and nodded "yeah...i would" he said and watched as the colour began to fade
Sherlock bit down on a pained noise as the scales began to burn slightly. It wasn't tremendously painful though. He was more intrigued when some of the scales, now colourless, fell off and dissolved into nothing. He grinned seeing skin underneath. The more he dried to more he could see legs appearing. It was a tad scary but mostly exciting as he slowly pulled the limbs apart, the rest of the scales fall away. He didn't know anything really about human anatomy and he wouldn't realise that it appeared he had more female like genital than male. Merfolk were very different after all. He wiggled his toes and grinned. "I have legs!" He exclaimed, touching them eagerly.
John rose a brow before snickering at the lack of genitalia that Sherlock had leading him to believe he had the same male organs as a dolphin "yes you do. " he grinned
Sherlock touched the dangling digits on the end of his feet with a smile. "Help me stand!" He said, lifting his arms up at John
john looked at the otter and then at Sherlock. he set her on a heat stone in the pool before going over and helping the pushy man up
Sherlock grabbed John's arms and hung on as they awkwardly helped him get up. He leaned against the glass, the new flat feet strange to adjust to. He wobbled on them for a moment to get the balance right, but his new legs were muscled and well defined from the strength of his tail. He stood up straight and grinned at John. "Ha! This is so weird!" He gleefully declares.
john chuckled at the other and put his hand on sherlocks shoulders and helped him walk to the tank across from him and smiled at the other "your first steps!" he said excitedly
The motions of each leg wasn't different from his tail but the fact that there were two of them to coordinate certainly made the challenge. His lower half was completely hairless and he did not know the familiar shame of nakedness that humans did. He got a hang of walking quite quickly and smiled smugly. "It's not as hard as looks."
john smirked and walked backwards in a circle "don't mess with a pro now fish boy" he laughed
Sherlock giggles and watches John in fascination. He wants to do that to! He copied the motion but much slower, testing each muscle and bone. "Well, I can't do it fast but I can at least do it," he grins.
john thought and began a cheesy and horribly done dance. " but ive got the moves" he said and grinned, acting like a fool and loving it
Sherlock grinned, "What is that called?" He asks excitedly. "Wait, is this what humans call dancing? Oh teach me dancing John!"
john laughed and covered his mouth "im terrible at dancing. I have a few movies in the den that have dancing in them if you want to watch them
"Is that not how all humans dance?" Sherlock asked confused, pointing to John's feet.
"well no. there's a whole bunch of different types of dancing. like square dancing, waltzing, grinding, jazz, ballet, and even some hip hop like dances"
Sherlock had no idea what any of those were but they sounded interesting. He smiled and walked carefully around the room, his arms slightly to keep his balance. "What other things do humans do?"
"well...we work, sleep, play, entertain ourselves, and eat. I used to play sports" he said with a smile
"Are sports...games?" Sherlock asked with a tilt of his head, turning to John once more
john nodded "yeep. I used to play rugby and lacrosse. they are contact games"
Sherlock didn't really understand but Sherlock nodded anyway, curious for more. "What do you eat?"
"meat, fruits, vegetables, and grain" he said
Sherlock frowned. "What are...all those things that aren't meat?" He hummed. "I want to try all of this! I want to be human for a time. Show me how?"
he nodded " okay. come on. ill make you some supper"
Sherlock didn't question what a supper was. He followed John on his new legs. He looked at everything and always kept an eye on John's back.