So… holidays.

Tulio had never even thought about living the town for a 'break'… not when there were so many gullible people still in this place (seriously, they never seemed to catch on that they were being… out-smarted)

But, as Miguel pointed out, Eugene couldn't spend his whole life thieving and being a general pest to society.

Which led to them being here… at a circus.

Tulio felt like this was the end.

He was dragged here, there and everywhere. From paddling in the nearby sea, to winning ragged teddies at the stall. The weather was warm, and Miguel insisted on walking everywhere, gawking at all the sights.

"Come on Eugene!" Miguel grabbed the excited child's hand and pulled him towards an ice cream vendor, "Then we can go back in the sea, deal?"

Eugene nodded sleepily, as Tulio lifted him into his arms. His son was clearly tired and a little over-heated despite all the water. "Miguel, slow down…" he sighed, "… we're here for another two days, we can do all that later."

"Noooo!" Eugene whined, burying his face into Tulio's shoulder, "Ice cream!"

"Nap, then ice cream."

"Noooooo."

…..

Eventually Tulio won that particular argument, however, when they went back out it seemed to be even hotter, giving them the idea to hop onto the back of the next traveling cart and ride the rest of the way to the sea.

Once they were there, Eugene leapt off the back of the cart and rushed off, ignoring his Dad's protests for him to just wait for a few moments or just to slow down.

Of course, Eugene didn't listen, forcing his parents to run in the heat.

"I am… definitely going in the sea." Tulio gasped, "I think, I might stay there."

"Like mermaids!" Eugene seemed thrilled with the thought, spinning around to face his Papa, "Like in one of my stories! I read one where a mermaid wanted to be a human, so she made a deal with a sea witch, who took her voice and- "

"- and true love solved it all?" Tulio sighed and rolled his eyes. That's how all the stories ended. True love always saves the day.

"Yeah! Because the prince saves the mermaid and then her Daddy turns her back into a human and- "

"- and they live happily ever after, I know, I know." Tulio smiled, "I thought you wanted to be a hero, not a mermaid?"

"I can be both!"

And with that, Eugene raced off into the sea again, leaving Miguel alone to cackle at the exasperated look on Tulio's face. "You should have seen that coming, why do you even try to talk him out of these things?"

It was mid-afternoon, the sun was high in the sky, and Tulio honestly couldn't be bothered to argue, deciding instead to keep an eye on Eugene to make sure he didn't drown or that his skin wasn't getting too red.

"Stop worrying." Miguel saw through him instantly, clearly itching to pull him closer into a hug, despite the crowds of people surrounding them, "You need to relax more."

Tulio sighed and nodded, leaning back and trying to slow his breathing, still keeping an eye on his son.

"Is there any way to slow him down?" he wondered aloud, "With every new year, I think he gets faster."

"I know, I know."

"… We need to tire him out somehow." Tulio shrugged, "Should be easy."

Miguel just laughed, pushing himself to his feet and putting on a burst of speed to scoop Eugene up and tickle him, making the boy giggle maniacally.

Turns out, kids have a lot of energy to spare, and possibly even more as back-up. Fuelled by the regular water breaks, Eugene outpaced his parents everywhere they went, rushing around the town in glee.

Most of their day was spent in the sea, peaceful without the constant presence of ships and drunk sailors.

The rest of the brief holiday passed by, and it was crazy and exhausting, and by the end, Tulio figured they'd probably drunk enough water to fill an ocean. Eugene fell asleep on the cart back home (Tulio knew his prayers would be answered sooner or later).

When they got back into the little room, Eugene finally woke up, gazing sleepily up at his parents. "Can we go back next year?"

"Yeah… of course we can."