"Hermit crabs have lungs and gills! They can run around underwater but it is possible for them to drown. Girlie back there is getting ready to molt." Mika explained to Liz who sat beside her on the floor in front of the hermit crab tank.
Liz had thought all of this talk of sea life would be boring and tried to find any excuse not to listen when Mika saw the the dark haired woman had nothing to do for the rest of the day. After a few facts Liz actually became interested.
"Molting...?"
"They dig under the sand and shed their exoskeleton. After they shed it, they eat it."
"Ew, no... Why?" Liz asked, curiously.
"Its full of protein they need. When they go under you aren't supposed to disturb the sand or dig them up, its been known to kill them. When they are ready they will come back up on their own." Mika was so passionate the way she spoke of aquatic critters.
"Don't they bite?" Liz wanted to hold one so bad, never having held one before.
"They don't bite. They pinch when they feel threatened or scared." Mika picked up the biggest one, "Stretch and tense out your hand if you are worried about her pinching. I've spoken with her and she trusts you."
Liz blinked, confused. She let Mika put the hermit crab on her hand, actually scared she would roast the poor creature by accident if it did pinch her. To her surprise the crab just looked at her and began to slowly climb around her hand and fingers. The crab's feelers were all over the place.
"She's smelling you, with her feelers!" Mika explained then two smaller little feelers started touching her, "Now she's tasting you to see what you are!"
"What?"
"Those feelers put stuff in her mouth, she's tasting you."
At one point it ever so gently pinched her to pull itself up onto the back of her hand, causing no pain at all.
"Let's make sure Red's cats never make it in here." She put the critter back in the tank and Mika placed the lid back on so they would be safe.
"They're also cannibals. If one is molting and the others smell it they will eat the molter so they have to be isolated if found doing a surface molt or if they are dug up."
"That's... Gross..."
"My little cannibal babies! But, now... I'm going back into the tank with Abe!" Mika blushed before throwing off her clothes and climbing in. Once inside she swam around Abe and the two started a game of what Liz thought was an odd version of tag.
Meanwhile, she just walked out of the room muttering to herself, "Cannibal babies... A cannibal baby was licking me..."
...
The others were on a mission and Mika was left alone with her fish companions. She swam around and caught sight of a creature in the library. Its nose was pressed against the tank, watching her every move.
"Hey, kitty!" She said and swam towards it, fast. The cat jumped back, fur sticking up yet it approached her again, slowly. It pawed at the glass over her nose and licked it.
"How did she get in here?" She heard a familiar voice ask. Hellboy walked in with Abe and the two watched the cat pawing at the mermaid behind the glass.
"Red, she's so cute!"
"She wants to eat you."
"Nu uh!"
"You're a giant fish, she wants to eat you." Red smirked, "By the way, you have yet to meet Manning. He just came back."
An older man walked into the room when Mika climbed out of the tank, flopping on the floor with her tail and fins. The cat instantly ran to the tail and jumped on the fluke.
"See? She wants to eat you!"
"Does not! She's playing!"
"She wants Mika sushi."
"A mermaid now?" The man next to Red interrupted the two.
Hellboy pointed back and forth between the two, "Manning, Mika. Mika, Manning."
Mika shifted into her human self and ran to the man, wrapping her arms around him and hugging him.
"Mika, clothes!" Abe said, panic in his voice, trying to avoid the cat that was now looking at him with hungry eyes, staring at Mika like it was confused and trying to figure out where her tail went.
...Sorry." She apologized and pulled away.
Manning looked as if he were about to have a heart attack, "That's okay, its completely normal for a naked woman to run up and hug you at random..." He adjusted his jacket, "Everyone here just gets even more random... But this is by far the weirdest thing I have ever seen."
"I'm weird?" Mika said, her face showing how emotionally hurt she was by his comment.
"Yes." Manning answered her question, sternly.
Mika turned and walked out of the room with a quiet cry. Hellboy turned to Manning, "Good job, idiot! You just hurt her feelings! Not everyone here is strong enough to hear about how different they are!"
"Well..." Manning lit his cigar, "That's not my problem is it?"
Abe shook his head and went to the door that led to Mika's room but it was locked. He knocked gently but heard nothing. With a sigh he climbed into the tank but he saw the screen up on her side.
...
Two days passed and Liz knocked on Mika's door but received no answer. She eventually became annoyed and kicked the door in. Once inside she saw the mermaid was no where to be found.
Myers walked by, looking through some papers. Liz ran out and grabbed him by the arm, "Where is Mika?"
"Mika? I haven't seen her. Have you checked the library?"
"I have looked everywhere, she is not here!" Liz almost yelled, "Abe and Hellboy said the last time they saw her was when that douche bag called her weird! She went into her room and wouldn't talk to anybody!"
"Well, where would she go? Someone would have seen her leave..."
The two went into her room and Liz hit the button for the screen to come down. Abe turned, expecting to see Mika but questioningly gazed at Liz and Myers instead.
"Abe, Mika is missing!" Liz informed him, "Do you have any idea where she might be?"
"Have you tried contacting Tideborn? She could have went back to them.
...
"We haven't seen her, did something happen?" Kins asked, putting Hellboy on speakerphone.
"Yeah, Manning decided to call her weird. She got upset and left." Hellboy said with a growl as he looked at the man responsible next to him.
A sigh was heard over the phone and only background noise could be heard.
"Kins?" Hellboy asked, "She's not with you?"
"No. She never took insults very well at all. Tell Mr. Manning to go suck a massive shark dick because you won't see her as long as he is still hanging around." He seemed overly pissed.
"No need for me to tell him, he heard you." Hellboy's voice spoke again to Manning this time, "Smooth move, jackass!"
"I didn't know!"
"You didn't know to be nice to a lady? She may not be human but she is still female!"
...
Abe waited until dark to go out with Myers. At the beach, in a more abandoned area they found one of her sundresses with the two cuffs she often wore.
"Is it possible to track someone underwater?"
"If you know what to look for..."
"Do you know what to look for?"
"Not exactly, but I have an idea." Abe took off the breathing apparatus and stepped into the water, "Sharks tend to feed at night but they usually stay close to piers And harbor areas."
"Just... Be careful."
With a nod, Abe jumped in the water and began his search for Mika.