A/N: I think the chapters are gonna start getting a bit longer from here on. Though there might be a few shorter ones thrown in there. Further progression now!

That morning signaled the arrival of the first of some of Alfred's new toys: a selection of weighted balls and batons and objects to fetch in the pool. It wasn't much, and there were other things Arthur would prefer to give the merman, but he hoped it was enough to tide the creature over until more arrived. Deciding he couldn't wait to give them to the other, Arthur headed to the pool straight away.

"Good morning, Alfred."

"Morning, Arthur!" Alfred immediately swam over to the edge where he was standing.

"How are you?" Arthur asked, sitting by the side of the pool.

The merman chirped. "I am good! Happy now! How are you?"

Arthur chuckled. "I'm good, thank you. I have something for you, actually..."

"Really?" Alfred perked up even more. "What?"

Grabbing the small bag quickly, Arthur presented the various toys with a shrug. "They're just some simple weights and things. You can throw them in the pool and chase after them and play games with them."

"F-For me?" Alfred's eyes widened. "They are for me?"

Arthur nodded. "You spend so much time here, and I work so much, you must get bored when I'm not here..."

"It's okay! I wait for you! But thank you!" Alfred wriggled with excitement and grabbed at the toys.

Arthur smiled softly at this, chuckling. "You're welcome. Have fun."

"I will!" Alfred immediately threw the balls in and dived in after them.

Grin growing, Arthur sat back and watched.

Happy squeals and chirps erupted from the pool as Alfred frolicked about in the water with the toys. After a moment, he froze and turned to stare at the human. "Throw it!"

Arthur raised a brow. "This one?" He asked, holding up a bar.

"Any one!"

"All right," Arthur replied, chucking in a couple of the toys and watching as they settled at various depths.

They didn't stay there for long for Alfred was almost instantly upon them, creating small waves with his enthusiastic surges. Two minutes later, after playing with the toys briefly, he deposited them in a neat pile next to the Brit. "More?" he asked, tilting his head slightly.

"Ah... That's it for now. There should be more soon though- I'm sorry it's not much," he finished with a mumble, looking down a little.

"No, no..." Alfred reached up to touch his cheek. "These are okay." He gave the human a smile. "Throw more? And Arthur... It is everything."

Arthur blinked up at the other, then gave a small smile. "...Okay. I'm glad."

"Yes!" Alfred's smile broadened. "You be happy!"

Arthur chuckled a little at this. "Yes, yes. Come on now, we can play some more if you want."

"You want too? You want to play too?" Alfred flopped backwards into the water, submerging beneath the surface for a moment.

"Hmm..." Arthur tilted his head, thinking for a moment. "All right. I don't see why not."

Lighting up at Arthur's answer, Alfred did a little flip of joy. "Okay! We play now! Throw them more!"

Arthur gave a small grin and, taking a fistful of the batons, threw them in.

The merman squealed as he dove after them, collecting the toys just as rapidly as the first time. As he was bringing them back though, he slowed. A few years back, he had seen a human with a small furry animal on the beach. The human had thrown a stick and the animal had chased it, even going into the water. But eventually the human had gotten tired and stopped. Was this what was happening right now? Would Arthur eventually get tired of just doing this with him and stop?

Alfred deflated slightly and bit his lips as he brought the toys over. "You... You have work? You go do work..."

"Hm?" Arthur shrugged a little. "I can go a bit later. I'm working from home most days so I don't have to go in."

"No, you go work. I am okay." Alfred gave him a small smile, keeping a tight grip on the toys.

"Ah... Are you sure?" Arthur asked with a tiny frown.

"Yes! I am okay!"

Arthur nodded. "All right. I'll come back later then."

"Okay." Alfred slowly swam to the opposite side of the pool and leaned against the edge there, staring out the windows with eyes that mirrored the sky.

"See you later, Alfred," Arthur said, standing and heading off.

"See you..." Alfred's heart sank- a small part of him had hoped that Arthur would notice and stop and stay and ask what was wrong, like he so often did. But not this time, it seemed.

The blue eyes turned glassy and distant as he watched the sky and the tops of the surrounding buildings, with only occasional glimmers of movements to amuse him. A helicopter here. A plane there. Someone going out on their balcony for a few minutes. Two men hanging a rainbow flag from their window. Alfred stared at it, reciting the colours he'd learned on it until, unknowingly and still resting there, he fell asleep.

A while later, done with work, Arthur came back in with a sigh. "Hello, Alfred." After receiving no response, Arthur moved forwards with a frown. "...Alfred?"

Alfred woke with a start and stared up at him. "Hmm? Arthur?" His face brightened up a bit. "You... You done work?"

"Yes. Are you all right?"

"I am okay," Alfred replied, giving him a small, sad smile. "But you..." He searched for the correct words. "You will not...be tired of...of throwing? So much?"

"Tired...?" Arthur frowned slightly in confusion. "Why would I be...?"

"Tired... Tired...not want to do it more. Want to do other thing not throwing," Alfred tried to explain. "Like me when...when I watch human, then sun goes away and I not watch human..."

"Wha- Ah..." Arthur sighed, smiling slightly. "Well of course I'll want to do other things with you too. But that doesn't mean I won't want to play with the batons too."

Understanding and relief washed across Alfred's face and his lips stretched into a broad, genuine grin. "Okay! Arthur... Tell me, okay? Tell me when you want to do other things with...me too, okay?"

Arthur smiled softly at this, glad Alfred seemed okay. "Of course."

"Yes! Thank you, Arthur!" Alfred's grinned widened though a moment later he glanced out the window and pursed his lips. "Arthur?" he asked, dragging his eyes back to the man.

"Hm?" Arthur tilted his head.

"That- That there..." The merman leaned up out of the water and pointed to the flag hanging from the window. "It is pretty... Is it special too?"

"Hm?" Arthur looked out at the flag and blinked, before turning to the other with a smile. "I guess it is in a way. It- ah- it supports equality. That flag represents gay pride- that's... Well... If two people who have the same gender are in a relationship together."

"Two people who...what?" Alfred looked up at him blankly, not understanding about half of that. "Gay? What's gay? Are you gay?"

"Uh... Well, yes, I am..." Clearing his throat, Arthur plowed on. "If a man likes another man. Or a woman likes a woman."

"You are? Do you have flag? Are you in a rela..." Alfred blinked. "A relatingsip?"

"I have a flag, yes, but... No. I'm not with anybody in that way."

"Oh." Alfred suddenly smiled. "You will be...with anybody one day! You will be special!" he told the man sweetly, pure, unadulterated happiness written all across his face.

Arthur stared at him for a moment before breaking into a grin and chuckling. "Thank you. And... I hope the same for you."

But Alfred shook his head. "I am only one like...like this." He gestured to his tail and then looked back up at Arthur, his own smile never waning. "No more. You are only one to say I am special. But I am okay. Thank you. It is better with no one for me." He didn't want any other merpeople to suffer through the terror of getting captured- and he felt there weren't many people who were so nice like Arthur who frequented the place where he was sold.

Arthur blinked, giving the other a small, sad smile and leaning down to stroke the merman's cheek. "Well, I'm here for you."

"Thank you..." Alfred allowed his eyes to half-close and leaned into the stroking.

"No need to thank me."

"I do thank you." Alfred smiled and suddenly pulled away, grabbing hold of Arthur's hand and yanking him into the water.

Arthur's eyes widened at the sudden feel of water surrounding him, and he sputtered a little. "A-Alfred- what?"

"Hah! You are mine!" Alfred pulled him off to the deeper end of the pool and left him there, swirling around. "Arthur?"

"Wha-" Quickly shrugging himself of his shirt, Arthur watched the other. "Hm? What is it?"

"Food?"

"Of course- it's still at the edge," Arthur replied, swimming over to where the fish was.

Alfred watched him go and waited. "How you- how you give it?"

Arthur paused. "How do you want me to?"

"You pick!"

"Heh, all right." Arthur grabbed the first piece of fish and threw it towards the merman.

Alfred immediately shot out of the water, catching the morsel in mid-air and landing with a resounding splash. When he emerged again, his eyes were dark and his teeth showed off their pointed ends when he smiled.

Arthur chuckled at this and proceeded to throw more of the fish in.

The merman went absolutely wild, leaping out of the water and once even clearing the pool entirely and sliding across the floor to the wall. But after that he only shook himself off and wriggled back into the water to continue his chase after the food.

Arthur found this amusingly cute, shaking his head a little as he threw more in and sitting back when he'd used all the fish up.

Pushing down his disappointment at the last fish, Alfred swam over to Arthur and nosed inquisitively around the human's legs.

"Hm?" Arthur tilted his head at the other.

When Alfred surfaced he was still in hunting mode, though there was a confused look on his face. "No more? Positive no more?"

"Ah... There's more in the fridge, if you want it. I suppose I still don't know exactly what your diet should be."

"Diet?" Alfred tilted his head.

"Yes. How much you should eat and when and what."

"Ah. Do you eat fish?"

"Sometimes," Arthur answered with a shrug. "I have it cooked though. And I eat a lot of other things."

"Other things? What other things? I eat other things too?"

"Lots. Yes, I don't see why you can't try other foods."

"Food! Food!" Alfred grinned happily, his features slowly returning to normal.

Arthur chuckled and shook his head gently. "Do you want me to bring different food for you to try tomorrow?"

"Yes! Food!" Alfred wriggled happily in the water.

"All right, I will then."

"Okay!" The merman looked around and then heaved himself out of the water, sprawling on the edge of the pool and closing his eyes.

Arthur tilted his head at the other. "You all right there?"

"Yes. Want to be here not there." Alfred opened one eye and flashed him a smile.

"Fair enough." Arthur grinned back at the other.

"Come here." Alfred patted the spot next to him. "Come be here.

"All right, all right." Arthur chuckled, shuffling up to the other.

"Is... Is boy here today? Will he be?"

"No, he shouldn't be. It's just us."

"Just us..." Alfred repeated the phrase and decided he liked the sound of it. "Teach me more, Arthur?"

"Of course. Is there anything you want to know about?"

"Food!"

"Heh, of course." Arthur chuckled. "You like your food, don't you? Hmm, well there's the six main types of food: meat, fruit and vegetables, dairy, carbohydrates and sweets. Fish is meat, but you've got other meat too, from land animals..."

Alfred listened with rapt attention, occasionally asking Arthur to stop and explain a word or phrase- especially some of the more difficult ones like 'carbohydrates' and 'vegetables'. They didn't seem very pleasant. He also had to stop Arthur every so often so the human could dampen his tail with the pool water, which he did with a small smile and a chuckle before continuing.

The two of them stayed by that pool's edge far into the early hours of the morning, and only when Arthur had almost fallen asleep a second time did Alfred chase him off. He too was exhausted, but brimming with the knowledge of what he had learned during the day. And the pattern continued the next day, and the next, until three days later Arthur received two big packages outside his door.

The Brit eyed them eagerly as he signed them off and quickly brought them in, taking the packages to the pool room.

"Hmm?" Alfred perked up as he entered. "What are those?"

"Some new toys," Arthur replied, turning to the packages and grinning to himself. For a moment, he had a small debate over which to open first, but then decided to just go with the large, thin one. His grin widened as he slid the black object out of the box and turned to the merman proudly. "It's a TV!"

"A...TV?" Alfred frowned, looking at it with an unimpressed look on his face. "Is it...fun?"

"Of course. I mean, it depends who you are. You can watch things on it- people and stories developing. And it'd be another way for you to learn things."

"Oh, okay! So no toy but teaching!" Alfred wriggled happily and reached up out of the water to touch it.

Arthur's eyes widened and he quickly (but gently) moved Alfred's hand out of the way. "Ah, ah, no, you shouldn't touch it with wet hands." He hadn't thought of that, damn. "Just a second. Stay there," he said, rushing off to get a towel.

Pouting softly, Alfred sank back into the water.

Soon enough, the Brit arrived back, and he handed Alfred a towel, before digging around for the remote control. "Here, dry your hands. You control it with this," Arthur said, holding the control up. "But I need to set the TV up first."

"Okay!" Once he'd dried his hands Alfred picked up the remote and examined it. "Uhh, what's this?" he asked, pointing to one of the buttons.

"Hm?" Arthur peered over at the large, red button. "Oh, that turns it on."

"What is...it?"

"Oh." Arthur chuckled slightly. "It's a button. You press it."

"Oh." Upon further examination of the remote, Alfred happily started to press all of the buttons.

"Heh, well they're not going to do anything yet." Arthur shook his head. At least the other was having fun.

"Okay!" Alfred stopped and placed the remote down. He fully submerged himself and swam out into the middle of the pool to watch Arthur as he set the device up.

Arthur quickly mounted the television (of course he'd gotten a wall mounted one, with at least a little waterproofing), and then attached the cables, plugging them to the socket in the corner, then moving to the remote to set the channels up properly.

Alfred was watching him in awe, his eyes constantly flicking between the pictures moving across the screen and Arthur himself. When it was all set up Arthur made him dry his hands again and then handed him the remote, pointing out what all the buttons did. Alfred moved to the side of the pool closest to the TV and flicked through the channels until he had found a program that interested him. At one point he came across a nature program about the ocean, stopping and staring hungrily when he saw schools of fish on the screen.

Arthur watched, chuckling softly at Alfred's obvious fascination and awe, before tilting his head at the screen himself.

"Fish! Fish!" Alfred wriggled happily before settling down and concentrating on what the female voice was saying. The program was already half over, but in that half an hour he learned more than he thought he could. Occasionally he would still ask Arthur to clear something up for him, but for the most part he understood it all on his own.

Stretching as he stood, Arthur glanced back at the merman. "Do you want the rest of the items?" he asked.

"Oh, yes!" After turning the TV off, Alfred swam closer to the other box.

With a smile, Arthur opened another box, pulling out some more toys- little mechanical ones shaped like fish, some more weighted ones, some floaties and inflatables and hoops, floating basketball game- and arranging them on the floor for Alfred. "I wasn't sure what you'd like, so I just got a few different things. I've never had the chance to use pool toys, so..."

"They are nice!" Alfred's eyes widened and he scrambled out of the pool to take a closer look. "Thank you, Arthur!" Shuffling his body forward again, the merman hugged Arthur around the legs.

Arthur blinked and chuckled at the other, reaching down to ruffle his hair. "You're welcome. I'm glad you like them."

"Thank you thank you!" Alfred tilted his head up, smiling broadly at both the gesture of getting the toys and the ruffling.

"Of course." Arthur smiled softly- Alfred really was rather cute, almost like a puppy. "Do you want to try any out, then?"

"Yes yes!" The merman detached himself and pointed to the basketball hoop. "That!"

"Heh, alright," the Brit replied, unfolding the hoop and setting it up on the water, before tossing Alfred the ball and pulling his own shirt off.

Alfred slid into the water with the ball in his hands, frowning as he ran his fingertips over the ridged surface. "Weird..." he mumbled.

"Hm? What is?"

"Feels weird..."

Arthur chuckled softly. "It so you can hold it easier without it slipping."

"Oh, okay." Alfred hurled the ball at the hoop, giving a small whine of disappointment when it didn't go in.

"Heh, no, come here." Arthur quickly jumped into the pool, giving a small shiver but quickly getting used to the temperature and retrieving the ball. "You've got to aim it, it's not about how powerfully you throw it," the Brit said, demonstrating.

Alfred eagerly splashed after the ball when it was thrown, and once he had it he surged back to Arthur's side. "Okay! I will try!" He took aim and threw it again- this time with more of the correct form, but still too much power.

Letting out an amused sigh, Arthur went and got the ball again and handed it to Alfred, waving him closer. "Almost."

"Almost..." Alfred huffed determinedly and raised his arm to throw it again.

"Ah, ah, come here..." Noting Alfred's posture, Arthur circled behind him, reaching his arms around the merman to his hands to correct it, holding the other's hands in place. "That should be better. You need to throw it more gently," he said quietly.

Alfred had stiffened when Arthur touched him, but now he found he didn't mind the contact in the slightest. Following the human's instructions he threw the ball to see it fall flat in front of the hoop. "No good..." he mumbled.

Arthur blinked, glancing across at Alfred so close and suddenly realizing his position. Turning red, he quickly moved off to get the ball and hoped the merman didn't mind it as he handed the ball back. "Don't worry about it. You were close- keep trying."

The merman frowned at the redness but didn't comment. He remembered Arthur saying before that redness meant awkwardness, so he figured that he must have done something wrong. He deflated a bit, but accepted the ball nonetheless. "Okay." He swam a bit away from Arthur before attempting to throw the ball again. This time if bounced off the rim of the basket.

"Ah, you almost had it this time!" Arthur swam closer, lifting the other's arm up a little. "If you shot it from there, it should have been fine."

"Thanks." Alfred quickly snatched his arm away, diving after the ball. He didn't want to make it any more awkward- that would be bad.

Arthur blinked, glancing at the other. "Wh- Alfred?"

"Hmm?" Alfred glanced at him when he had retrieved the basketball. "What is it, Arthur?"

"You-" Arthur shook his head. "Nothing. I thought something was wrong..."

"Well you had...red so I did awkward, but it is okay! Red is gone!" Alfred gave him a tentative smile.

Arthur looked at the other for a moment, then chuckled slightly. "Alfred, you didn't do anything wrong."

"But you had red..."

"I've told you before, it's not bad. Don't worry," Arthur said softly.

"But you said awkward... Awkward not good..."

"It's fine," Arthur said.

"Okay." Alfred looked down, feeling foolish. "Sorry."

"Hey, for what?" Arthur asked, frowning very slightly.

"Silly. I am silly. Sorry. Play more?"

"You're not..." Arthur sighed softly. "Come on, then. Let's see if you can throw this in."

"Okay." Alfred's heart sank terribly at the sigh, but he tried not to let it show. He positioned himself in the water. "Like this?"

"Sure, give it a try," Arthur replied with a small smile.

Not looking at him, Alfred threw the ball. It bounced off the rim again and the merman's shoulders slumped, but he dutifully retrieved the ball yet again. "You do it," he mumbled, passing it to Arthur.

"Oh, thanks." Arthur grabbed the ball, then looked back at Alfred and passed it back to him once he had shot and gotten the ball back again. "I've gone now, so go ahead."

"Me?" Alfred looked down at the ball in his hands. For some reason, he didn't want Arthur to see him miss again. "It is okay. Other toys now." He let the ball drop into the water and made his way to some of the other toys.

"Ah..." Arthur bit his lip. I guess he didn't like it... "All right, what do you want to do...?"

Looking over the toys critically, Alfred picked out the mechanical fish. "Food?" he asked, bringing one up to his nose. It didn't smell like food...

Arthur followed the other, looking over his shoulder. "Ah, no...it's mechanical. Um...not alive, but you see this button here?" He took one of the fish and put it in the water. "You press it, and..." The fish went shooting off.

Alfred's eyes widened and a moment later he took off in pursuit of the little toy. He caught it in seconds and returned it, still wriggling, to Arthur. "Is like real fish!"

"Yes." Arthur said with a chuckle. "Only don't eat it."

"Okay! No food!" Alfred shook his head and placed the fish carefully into Arthur's hands.

"Heh, well it's still yours to play with," Arthur replied, holding it out.

"Want to play with you..."

"Hey, that's fine..." Arthur gave him a small smile. "Why would I not play with you?"

"You said...yours to play with..."

"Well, yes. Because it is. But that doesn't mean you can't play with me..."

"Oh." Alfred gave him a small smile back. "Play then!"

Arthur threw the fish for him gladly and the two of them played with the little mechanical toys for a good half an hour before moving on to the other stuff. When all of the toys had been tested and tried out Alfred realized how hungry he had gotten and he approached the human imploringly and looking like a lost seal pup.

"Hm? What is it?" Arthur asked with a small frown.

"Foooooood..." Alfred moaned, bumping his nose gently against Arthur's side. "You said...different foods?"

"Ah!" Arthur gave a small laugh and nodded. "Of course. Wait just a moment."

"Okay!" The merman nodded and swam off, amusing himself with the mechanical fish while he waited.

A few minutes later, Arthur was back with a platter of various foods, and he placed it by the edge of the pool.

The scent wafted across the room and moments later Alfred caught whiff of it. The fishman froze in the water as he tried to figure out the smells, but after a moment he gave up and with a flick of his tail was over by the edge to see for himself. There was something that smelled like fish but different, some long green rods, a few red balls, some green slices, and some little dots of yellow. On the other side of the platter were a slice of white and a ball of something similar. Of the two, the ball smelled better.

Alfred picked up the fish-like smelling thing first, biting into it and finding it to have a pleasant taste. It was called 'chicken', Arthur told him. And the other things were apparently asparagus, tomatoes, cucumber slices, and sweet corn. The white things were bread and a scone. Alfred avoided the asparagus and bread, not finding the scents too appealing, but he tried the rest and liked it. He had eaten the scone last and now looked at Arthur with pleading eyes.

"More?"

Arthur blinked at him. "...M-More?" No, Alfred must have meant something else. "More of what?"

"More scone!"

"Uh..." Another blink. "Yes. Of course." Arthur stood, heading off to the kitchen in a daze- nobody had asked him for another scone in years.

Alfred blinked himself- what was with that weird reaction? Sure the...scone had been slightly crispy, but the flavors were good! He waited by the poolside and a long time passed before Arthur returned.

When he did, the Brit brought a plate with a couple more scones on it, sitting by the pool and holding the plate out to the other, slightly avoiding looking him in the eyes. "Here..."

Alfred picked up on the aversion and paused. "Arthur?" he asked softly. "Are you okay?"

"Hm? Of course." Arthur offered him a small smile.

"Okay." Smiling back brightly, Alfred took one of the scones and started munching on it happily. "Good!"

Arthur stared at him, before his gaze dropped a little. "Thank you..."

"Thank you?" Alfred's brow furrowed and he reached up a hand to tilt Arthur's chin up. "You feel sad? What is wrong?"

"Ah- no- I just..." Arthur shifted slightly. "People don't usually like the food I make, for some reason..."

"No?" Alfred frowned. "They silly then."

"They... They're silly," Arthur repeated, reassuring himself. "Yes. They are."

"Yes!" Alfred reached for another scone, grinning as he bit into it. "Scones good!"

Arthur's eyes soon dropped again as he flushed slightly, fumbling with his thumbs. "Thank you," he said once more.

"Why thank me?" Alfred tilted his head. "No thank me. Feed more scones."

"I'm glad you like it." Arthur gave him a tiny smile. "What, you want more still?"

"Not now," Alfred said, gesturing to the still full plate before him. "But other time."

Arthur nodded slightly. "Okay."

"Yes!" Smiling happily, Alfred finished shoving the scone into his mouth and swam off, tossing the mechanical fish into the air.

Watching him, a smile grew on Arthur's face and he tilted his head, tossing the scone into his own mouth.

Alfred continued frolicking around in the water, new energy coursing through his body because of the food.

They sat like that a good while, Arthur occasionally joining the merman in his games before he had to excuse himself to work. He visited at the end of the day, however, and the next morning too.

But before Arthur could get too comfortable that next morning, the house phone rang with an anxious German on the other line.

"Ah- What is it?" Arthur replied haughtily, irritated at the interruption.

"No need for that tone, Kirkland. Can ya watch lil Fritz again tonight? I wanna take Mattie out on a nice sweet romantic date."

"Romantic?" Arthur raised a row and sighed. "At such short notice?"

"It ain't short notice!" Gilbert huffed. "I've been planning this awesome evening for weeks! I just need someone to take care of Fritz for a few hours this evening! That's the last thing to take care of and I know you're always free because your life is so boring so I could wait to ask you!"

Arthur snapped. "Fine. I'll look after your damn kid again. But if you ever interrupt me when I have plans, I swear to God, Beilschmidt, it will be the end of you. So give a man some bloody notice," he growled, eyes narrowing.

"Whoa whoa whoa, if you have plans just tell me, Kirkland. I'll find someone else..."

"...Like you said. My life's boring and I'm always free," Arthur said tonelessly.

Gilbert sighed as well and pinched his nose. "Are you sure? Just two seconds ago you were yelling about being busy."

"Jesus Christ- do you want me to or not?" The Brit said, clicking his tongue.

"No, no, I do. No need to get your panties in a twist. I'll bring him around at around five, okay?"

"Fine, sure."

"Okay. Thanks, Arthur." Gilbert hung up the phone and turned around to find Fritz trying to hide behind the doorway. "Hey there, little man." The albino crouched down and held his arms out to the boy. "Come here. You want to go to visit Artie tonight?"

Fritz started as his father noticed him, but quickly shuffled up to him and into his arms with a small smile. "Ja! Are you and papa going out?"

"Ja, we are." Gilbert pressed a kiss to his forehead. "How much did you hear?"

"Um..." Fritz shifted slightly. "Most of it..."

"Oh Frederick..." Gilbert stroked his hair. "Well don't worry your awesome little head. You'll have a great time with Arthur, yeah?"

The boy bit his lip gently and nodded.

"Hey, hey, really. Your daddy wouldn't lie to you." Gilbert hugged him tightly. "Now what do you say we go get some ice cream?"

Blinking, Fritz then nodded again, a little more vigorously this time as he smiled.

"C'mon then pipsqueak." Gilbert heaved the boy up into his arms and left the apartment.

Alfred meanwhile was waiting patiently for Arthur to return to the pool room. He had seemed annoyed when he left, so Alfred was worried that something was wrong.

It wasn't long before Arthur got back, and he offered a weary smile to Alfred when he entered.

"Arthur?" Alfred frowned, coming up onto the shore of the pool. "Are you okay?"

"Ah? Sure. Just..." Arthur sighed slightly. "That was my neighbor on the phone. They want to bring their child around again."

"Oh. The one from last time?" Alfred tilted his head. "That is not bad..."

"No... But I won't be able to be with you as much this evening."

"It is okay. I will be here." Alfred gave him a soft smile.

"I know," Arthur replied, smiling slightly back. "Thank you."

"No thank me. I will wait for you. Any time."

Arthur's smile grew a little, and he watched the merman. "...Seems like I should teach you about contractions, hm?" He said after a few moments, sitting down by the edge of the pool.

"Con...contractions?" Alfred tilted his head and slipped back into the water. He moved closer to the human and rested his chin on Arthur's knees.

Within an hour, Alfred's confusion had dissipated and he felt that he had moved up a level in his language speaking. He hadn't learned all of the contractions as Arthur probably forgot a few, but he had taught the merman the basics.

"I'm happy, Arthur!"

Chuckling, Arthur ruffled the other's hair as congratulations. "Yes, well done," he said.

"Thanks, Arthur!" Alfred eagerly leaned into the ruffling. "You're a good teacher!"

Arthur blinked and smiled gently. "I'm glad you think so."

"I do! Now food! Can I have...fish? And scones?"

"Of course," Arthur replied with a smile, getting up to get the food.

"Yes!" Alfred threw himself into the pool, doing laps around the edge until the human returned.

"Here you are then," Arthur said, holding out a platter to the other. "Want me to throw the fish in?"

Nodding vehemently, Alfred perked up and readied himself, his eyes narrowing and his body practically wriggling from anticipation.

Arthur chuckled, before quickly throwing the bits of fish in.

The merman caught all of them in quick succession and gulped them down. Once the fish was gone he approached the Brit and held his hand out for a scone.

Grinning softly, Arthur handed one to the other.

"Thanks!" It was gone in seconds and Alfred asked for another.

"You really like them that much?" Arthur tilted his head as he gave another one, a small, happy smile on his face.

"Yes! They're different! Unique!"

Arthur blinked, opening his mouth before closing it again and simply shaking his head with a small laugh. "Well, I'm glad."

Alfred leaned back with a satisfied smile, happy that he had been able to make Arthur laugh so warmly. "Yes! Uhh, how long?"

"Hm? How long for what?"

"The boy... When will he be here?"

"Ah... This evening- probably around four or five? We've still got a while."

"Okay. Can we look at the tee vee?" Alfred asked, tilting his head.

Arthur raised his brows. "Oh? Of course," he answered.

"That's good!" Alfred dried his hands and grabbed the remote. "What do you want to watch?"

"Anything will do. I'm not the biggest fan of American TV," Arthur replied, pulling a face.

"American?" Alfred frowned. "What is American?"

"Oh- Well, um... This country - this bit of land - is America. So American is anything that comes from here," the Brit explained, biting his lip.

"Are you American?"

Arthur chuckled at this. "No, I'm English. From England."

"England? Sounds nice. Englaaaand..." Alfred rolled the name on his tongue and smiled.

"Heh, well I'm glad you think so."

"Me too!" With a final smile in Arthur's direction Alfred turned the TV on and flicked through the channels until he had come across BBC America. "This?"

Arthur smiled a little, nodding. "This is fine."

"Okay! ...He's has a funny name... Sherlock..." Alfred said, pursing his lips.

"Heh, I suppose he has. He's British too," Arthur replied with a small smirk.

"...What's British?"

Arthur blinked, then chuckled. "Maybe I should go get a map of the world," he said.

"Uhh, okay..." Alfred looked thoroughly confused by that point.

Shaking his head a little Arthur went and fetched an atlas, turning it to the first page with a world map and a picture of the Earth on it, and showed Alfred.

"Whoa..." Alfred's eyes widened and his head whipped back and forth as he took in both pages. "What's that?"

"This is the world that we live on- it's called Earth, and it's a sphere. And this is a map of it- it shows all the land and sea and the different countries."

"Sphere? But this is not sphere... It's flat!"

"Ah- it looks like it, yes. But it's a really, really big sphere. Imagine you were as big as... Hm, one of your scales- the Earth would be as big as this room. Probably bigger. So because it's so big in comparison to you, you don't notice it and think it's flat." Arthur grinned smugly- he was never the best at science, and teaching Alfred like this made Arthur feel a whole lot smarter on the subject than he actually was.

"Ohhh." Alfred didn't understand it fully, but he felt he had the basic concept. "So what's America and England and British?"

"They're the countries. Look, here," Arthur said pointing each country out. "This is America, where we are. And this is an area called Britain. This part of it's England, where I'm from."

"Oh. I'm American!" Alfred declared happily.

"Yes." Arthur chuckled.

"So what are these?" The merman gestured to all the other countries.

Arthur went through all the other nations, one continent at a time- and though he didn't quite remember all of them, he got most of them down and Alfred lapped up the information. The merman didn't understand all of it either, though he thought he had it down.

"I'm American!" he said happily at the end of Arthur's little lesson.

"Yes, you said," Arthur replied with a chuckle.

"I am!" The merman looked back at the TV screen to find the Sherlock guy still there.

"Yes, yes. You still want to watch this hm?"

"I do! Watch with me?"

"I'd be glad to," the Brit said with a small smile.

"Thank you!" Alfred settled back and rested his head against Arthur's leg as he watched, happy to just spend time with the human.

Arthur smiled softly down at the other, before turning his attention to the screen. He thought the program was just that little bit nicer with the warmth on his knee.

A/N: It's gonna take a loooong time for them to get together, so don't get your hopes up!