The fact that Goku's special rainbow marshmallows were fish shaped almost made the need for them worth it. Yamcha felt he might be able to work up a smile as he watched the multicolored sugary shapes bob along in his mug. The break room was quiet even with all available staff members crammed into it. Most of them stared at Yamcha or off into space.
"So..." one of the new hires began slowly. They looked down at their feet for a moment and then raised their head. "Merpeople are a thing."
"Yep." Yamcha said. He stirred his hot chocolate with a spoon and the silence returned for a moment.
"Did... did you know about them?" asked the employee again. They fiddled with their name tag nervously. "Did everyone else know about them except me?"
"Don't worry Cela. I was the only one keeping it a secret." Yamcha assured them. They relaxed a bit and nodded.
"Okay. I thought you guys might not trust me or something." they said.
"We all trust each other here. That's the West Bay way." Goku said. His signature grin hadn't left his face. "And when Yamcha's ready talk about it he will."
"There's not too much else to do right now, is there?" Yamcha said. He took a small sip of his drink and then sighed. "Okay. You can ask questions but keep them to one at a time, please."
"Can do, buddy!" Goku said. "Anyone who wants to ask something just put your hand up."
All the hands in the room raised.
"O-kayyy... that's... a lotta questions... uhh..." Goku said. He pointed at Krillin. "You first."
"How long have you known about this?" Krillin said. Yamcha felt a tinge of guilt and looked down at his mug again.
"Since my trip to Japan." he said. "I didn't say anything for... a lot of reasons."
"Next, you!" Goku said. He gestured towards Cela.
"What were the reasons?" they asked.
"Well, he asked me to, for one. I didn't want to betray his trust." Yamcha said. "When I got back here I thought I'd never see him again so I kept quiet."
"All valid reasons." Goku said with a nod. He picked Lazuli next.
"Were you planning to tell us your boyfriend is a merman?" she said.
"Not without his permission." Yamcha said. "It probably would have taken a while."
"Sounds like it would." Goku said. He pointed at Piccolo next.
"What comes now?" he asked.
"I... I don't know." Yamcha said. "At the moment all I want is for Tien to be okay. I haven't considered anything after that."
"Well, now you can start."
Yamcha turned around to see a tired looking Lapis standing in the doorway. His usually deadpan face had a small smile on it. Yamcha felt a chill of worry and releif go through him. He slowly put down his drink and stood up.
"Is he...?"
"Your merman is fine. We'll want to monitor his recovery in an isolation tank but he's stable." Lapis said. He was taken aback slightly when Yamcha suddenly walked over and hugged him.
"Thank you." Yamcha said softly. He could feel himself starting to cry again. "Thank you for saving him."
"It's our job." Lapis said. He awkwardly patted Yamcha on the back and wiggled out of the hug. "And yes, you can go see him. He's in quarantine ward 4H-U."
Before anything more could be said Yamcha was out the door and running down the hall. He was vaguely aware of the others following him but didn't care. After a few minutes he made it to quarantine and walked into the ward. The first thing he saw was Azure standing next to one of their large tanks. Then he saw Tien. Lying at the bottom of the tank bandaged but alive. Yamcha walked up to the tank and knelt down. He could see Tien' gills fluttering and the waterproof bandage that stretched across his chest moved ever so slightly as he breathed.
"It will probably be a while before he wakes up." Azure said. Yamcha looked up at him with the most grateful smile he could muster.
"Thank you." he said quietly. Azure smiled back.
"It is my job." he said. The two stayed in silence as Yamcha watched Tien. Soon the rest of the staff had joined them and surrounded the tank.
"Wow... he really is something." Krillin said.
"He's beautiful." Cela added.
"Wait until you talk to him." Yamcha said. He allowed a soft smirk to form on his lips. "He's full of enough sass to rival Bulma."
"Gods forbid, there's two of them." Piccolo groaned. Yamcha laughed gently and rested his palm against the side of the tank. Eventually the others left and it was just him and Azure again.
The sound of water splashing woke Yamcha from a slumber he didn't know he had entered. He looked around blearily and rubbed his eyes. He'd been placed on one of the benches in the quarrentine area and covered with someone's jacket. A glance at the clock told him it was almost noon. Another splash caught his attention and he stood up. He walked over to the main tank from the night before but it was empty. He followed the noises he had heard to one of the shallow treatment tanks. Azure was bent over it with bandages in hand and by the looks of it had just applied fresh ones. Yamcha made his way over to see Tien still asleep and lying in the pool.
"He must have some sort of Merperson healing ability. His wound went from near fatal to a few days old overnight." Azure said.
"He didn't tell me much about the Mer but I'm sure they have something like that." Yamcha said. "They can create illusions so maybe it's magic."
"If that is an illusion," Azure said as he pointed at Tien's chest, "Then I am throwing him back in to the ocean myself."
The two shared a brief laugh and then Azure walked off to put away his supplies. Yamcha reached into the tank and gently held Tien's hand. All the stress of the previous night had dialed down and now he only felt a low buzz of worry. He perked up as he noticed Tien begin to stir. All three eyelids blinked open slowly and his gaze soon settled on Yamcha.
"You kept your promise." Tien mumbled weakly. Yamcha smiled and tried not to cry again.
"Of course I did. That's what boyfriends do." he said. Tien smiled back and squeezed his hand.
"Thank you. I'd hate to wake up to a stranger." he said.
"Anyone would." Yamcha said. "How are you feeling?"
"Besides torn open? Splendid." Tien said. Yamcha barely suppressed a snort of a laugh.
"Glad to see you didn't lose your sense of humor along with all that blood." he said. "You owe me a new shirt."
"I'll weave you one out of seaweed." Tien joked. He laughed and then coughed.
"Take it easy, koi boy." Yamcha said. "I didn't do all that worrying just to lose you now."
"Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere." Tien said.
"I'd kiss you but I don't think it'd be sanitary." Yamcha said. "Our vets are pretty strict."
"I can wait a little longer." Tien said.
"Just gotta use your healing magic, right?" Yamcha said.
"Did I tell you about that?" Tien asked.
"I figured it out." Yamcha said. Tien laughed again.
"I'm lucky I dove for such a smart human." he said.
"If that means the same thing as falling for me then I'm flattered." Yamcha said.
"I think it does." Tien said. "Do humans use the word love?"
"We do."
"Then it's easier to say I love you, isn't it?" he concluded with a smile. Yamcha laughed quietly.
"I love you too, you silly fish man." he said. Tien gave a weak laugh of his own. They continued quipping back and forth until Azure returned.
The following weeks were hectic to say the least. The aquarium had to stay open to the public and continue running while the staff kept an eye on Tien and tried to figure out what to do with him. It didn't take too long for Tien to recover enough from his injury to be swimming around without his bandages. The attack had left a nasty scar across his chest that Yamcha had deemed "badass" and "sexy", much to the mermans embarrassment. Several introductions had been made since Tien's arrival and it seemed everyone was getting along well with him.
"What happens next?" Tien asked one day. "I can't stay in this tank forever."
"It depends. Do you want to let the world know about Merpeople? Or would you rather return to the ocean?" Yamcha said.
"Going back to the ocean wouldn't be the best idea. Tao is still out there, for one, and I don't really have much to return to." Tien said.
"... what about Chiaotzu?" Yamcha said. Tien sighed and swam a quick lap around the small tank as he thought.
"It's better for him that I don't go back. If I'm not at the docks then he can't be punished for going to them." he said after a while. "I miss him but I don't want to risk putting him in danger."
"I guess you have a point." Yamcha said.
"If we reveal the Mer to the world... that could endager my entire species. We've avoided fishers so far but I'm sure we'd be hunted if it got out that there's more of us." Tien said.
"... what if there wasn't more of you?" Yamcha said as an idea came to him. "We tell the world that you're the last of your kind. The only merman on the planet."
"... It might work." Tien said. "That way I don't have to hide and I won't worry about the others."
"Exactly!" Yamcha said. "You can stay here and we'll keep you safe. If you want to stay."
"Staying here..." Tien said. He considered it for a moment and then smiled. "You'd better build me one hell of an exhibit."
"The best in the world." Yamcha said. "With a private cave if you don't feel like being gawked at by the public."
"Speaking of the public... how do you plan to break the news?" Tien asked.
"I dunno... the science community would probably be the first to know. That way the world doesn't think it's a hoax." Yamcha said. "We'd have to inform our higher ups as well so we can get the money to build the exhibit."
"I'd be happy to talk them into it." Tien said.
"So... we're doing this then? Telling the world that you exist?" Yamcha said. Tien nodded.
"It sounds like a plan to me." he said. Yamcha grinned and leaned over the side of the tank.
"Well then, Mr. Last of the Mer, we've got a lot of work to do." he said. Tien swam up to meet him and pulled himself up to the edge of the tank. After a quick kiss Tien dropped back down with a splash. Yamcha laughed and wiped the water off of his face.
They had a lot do indeed.