"I'm really glad they hired you for graphic design,"
"You are?" Cela said. Yamcha held up the poster they had made for the exhibit.
"Of course! This looks great!" he said. The main focus of the poster was a side angle shot of Tien. It captured him from his neck gills down to the start of his tail. It was attention grabbing but didn't reveal too much. The title at the top told people to "Meet the last Merman on earth" and the bottom text read "He's waiting for you at the West Bay Aquarium."
"I tried to get people interested but I didn't want to show too much of Tien in the picture." Cela said. "Maybe I should have used a shot of his back..."
"It's amazing the way it is. Don't worry about it." Yamcha said. Cela grinned and tapped away at their laptop.
"I put the picture as the banner for our website and set up an information page." they said. "Are you sure the first week of admissions is supposed to be free?"
"It's the best option. We get more word of mouth out that way and it lets people who can't afford it normally visit the aquarium." Yamcha explained.
"I guess that's a pretty good reason." Cela agreed.
"It was Tien's idea." Yamcha said.
"Your boyfriend is pretty smart." Cela said.
"I must have rubbed off on him at some point." Yamcha said.
He ignored Cela's chuckle and headed outside. There was a group of people waiting for him when he got there. He recognized the man in the front and shook his hand.
"It's good to see you again, Gohan." said Yamcha.
"Same to you uncle Yamcha." Gohan said with a smile. He hastily turned to the people behind him. "Not blood related. I just grew up with him around. Friends with my dad."
"You're rambling again, kid. Excited?" Yamcha said with a small laugh. Gohan adjusted his glasses and looked sheepish.
"It's not every day one gets to meet a Merman." he said.
"True. They tend to stay in your mind once you've met one though." Yamcha said. He began to lead the group. "Follow me. The exhibit is this way."
It didn't take long to walk to the exhibit. A sign pointed the way with bright letters directing the reader towards the Ningyo Grotto. After a few more steps the pathway split. One way lead down below to the underwater observation area while the other ended at the stands. The tank itself was enormous. Inside of it was a massive stone structure that reached above the waters surface. In the middle of the submerged mountain was a large hole that went all the way through. In the middle of that was a smaller hole that led into a tunnel connected to a private cave. Countless plants and coral flourished inside the tank. The top edge of the tank had a clear wall around it about five feet tall. A part of it could be opened to allow assess to the water. Yamcha herded the scientists up to the stands and had them sit down. Then he let one of his hands dip into the water. He and Tien had already decided that if anyone needed to get Tien's attention a quick whiff of their scent in the water would summon him fairly quickly. Sure enough he surfaced after a few seconds of waiting.
"Gentlemen, this is Tenshinhan, the last of the Mer." Yamcha said.
"Just call me Tien." said Tien. A few of the more skeptical scientists already looked a bit shaken. Maybe they hadn't known Tien could talk.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Tien. I'm Gohan." said Gohan with an outstretched hand. Tien accepted the handshake with a smile.
"Likewise. Your father has spoken very proudly of you." he said.
"You know my dad?" Gohan asked.
"I know the staff well." Tien said. "I've been here for a couple of months already."
"Of course." Gohan said. He sat with the rest of the scientists and readied his clipboard.
"I know all of you are here to ask questions. I'll answer them as best I can." Tien said to the group. One of the men raised his hand.
"Professor Worthington of East City University." he introduced himself. "We've been informed that you are apparently the last of your kind. How do you know this to be true?"
"An excellent question, sir. Over the past few years there's been an unknown disease sweeping through the Mer population. It weakens our health and renders our eggs sterile. Mer were already antisocial and the threat of contamination spurred further separation. Recently this "Trench Curse", as I called it, got worse and began affecting previously healthy Mer. I was lucky to get out of the ocean when I did. I haven't seen another living Mer for nearly a year and I'm almost certain there's none left." Tien explained.
Yamcha tried not to smirk as the group took notes. He and Tien had gone over several possible questions and built answers before the scientists arrived. With pollution the way it was a disease was the most convincing lie to use in spinning the tale of the Mer's demise. A couple of the men in their audience looked like they didn't quite buy it but they didn't say anything about it. The rest seemed satisfied and Gohan just looked sad.
"I'm sorry to hear it, Tien. It must have been rough, losing everyone like that." Gohan said.
"It could have been worse. I'm not infected and as I stated Mer aren't very social." Tien said. "Thank you for your sympathy, however. Perhaps if the Mer had reached out to humans sooner we would still be thriving."
"You called this disease "Trench Curse." May I ask why?" said Worthington.
"Mer have their own sayings and words humans don't. In this case the use of the word "Trench" is likely what you're confused about." Tien said. "Simply put, the trenches are full of of pain and suffering for Mer. Dangerous creatures lurk near them and the pressure causes our gills to collapse. We can't swim at the trenches depth safely. Since the trenches are so hazardous many Mer avoided them all together."
"It's like hell. You'd tell someone to "Go to the trench" and it'd mean "Go to hell". Not too hard to remember." Yamcha added. Tien nodded.
"Exactly. Although Mer tended to make more... elaborate curses than that." Tien said. "I think "May the trench take you" would be closer. Most Mer would have said "May your gills fail you and crabs feast on your corpse" with the understanding that the implication of the trench was there."
"F-fascinating, thank you." said Worthington. Tien flashed a sharp toothed smile.
"Not a problem, professor." he said.
"Um, hello there." another man piped up with a half raised hand. "I'm Doctor Casey Knox. I was wondering... would you happen to be a carnivore?"
"Close. Mer are omnivores but have a tendency to prefer meat. Mainly because of our diet. Fresh fish are easier to find then a steady supply of plants." Tien said. "Our teeth also have other purposes."
"May I have a closer look at them?" asked Knox.
"Doctors Gero and Stone have all of my biological information on record, including dental. You can ask them about it later." Tien said. "I'd rather not have a stranger poking around in my mouth."
"Sorry. I should have thought of that." said Knox.
"It's quite alright doctor. I know humans are curious." Tien said. "I can tell you something the vets don't know about my teeth."
"What's that?" asked Knox.
"Several of the front ones act like fangs. If I wish to do so when I bite my prey I can inject a venom." Tien said.
"You have venom?" Yamcha exclaimed. "That would have been nice to know before now."
"I'm very careful with it." Tien said. He had the grace to look a little sheepish. "Still feel like kissing me?"
"I'll think about it." Yamcha teased. "You must be doing something right if I'm not dead yet."
"The venom isn't dangerous. It simply shuts down the victims pain sensors." Tien explained. "It's easier to eat when your meal isn't struggling."
"Pardon me -" said one of the professors, "But did you say... kiss?"
"No one briefed you guys on anything, did they?" Yamcha said. "Alright. To make a really long story short – Tien and I are a couple. We have been for quite a while now. We are also NOT taking questions about our relationship at this time."
"Congratulations, you two." Gohan said. "Dad mentioned Yamcha finally had someone in his life. Although he didn't mention they were a merman."
"It's not really something I mentioned to him in the first place." Yamcha said. "Moving on, I'm sure everyone still has lots of other questions."
The rest of the afternoon was of little note. General questions were asked about the Mer, their sociology and biology, and quite a few times Tien had to remind the audience that he wasn't there to be prodded by them. Yamcha sighed as yet another doctor he'd never heard of asked about habitats. He decided Worthington was alright, a generally polite man, and Doctor Knox was one of the nicer ones. Of course, Gohan lead most of the engaging discussions while the rest of them took notes. Yamcha was pretty sure one of the professors in the back of the group had been glaring at him for the better part of an hour. Once their time was up Yamcha gladly escorted the group out of the exhibit.
"You'd think they'd be more creative with the stuff they ask." Tien noted later that evening as they practiced their routine for the "shows" that were being held that week.
"I'll say. I hope the public's more interesting." Yamcha said. "... maybe I shouldn't have mentioned kissing."
"Why not?" said Tien.
"I dunno... one of those guys was definitely giving me the evil eye the whole time. Everyone on staff is so accepting I almost forgot homophobes are a thing." Yamcha said.
"Right. You told me about those kinds of humans." Tien said. "It shouldn't matter, right? That guy can't do anything to hurt you."
"A fair point. It just kinda bummed me out a bit." Yamcha said with a sigh. A staticy click over his walkie talkie caught his attention.
"Yamcha, you there?"
"Yeah. What's up?" said Yamcha, picking up the device.
"There's a Miss Briefs here to see you."
"Bulma? Tell her I'll be down in a minute." Yamcha said.
"Actually, she sort of... went past the barricade... she'll probably be there soon. Sorry."
Before Yamcha could ask anything he saw a familiar face appear at the stands entrance.
"Who's that?" Tien asked. He swam up to the edge of the pool beside Yamcha. "One of your friends?"
"Yeah. She's the one who wanted that picture of you." Yamcha said. He braced himself as he watched Bulma approach. He had no idea why she was here and didn't know what to expect.
"YOU'RE DATING A MERMAN!?" Bulma shouted as she came closer. Within seconds she finished her journey over and put her hands on her hips. "It's been MONTHS and you didn't tell me?!"
"Hello to you too, Bulms." Yamcha said. "You know you're not supposed to be up here?"
"I don' give a damn about all that." Bulma said with a hand wave. "You've seriously been smooching some mythical creature since Japan and didn't think to mention it?"
"You knew about Tien back then. I literally told you the day I met him." Yamcha pointed out. "I doubt you would have believed me if I said he was a merman."
"Speaking of the merman, it's nice to meet you." Tien spoke up. He reached a hand over the side of the tank. "I'm Tenshinhan. You must be Bulma."
"Right, right. I should have done this first." Bulma said as she leaned in to shake hands. "It's great to finally talk to the guy Yamcha's so taken with."
"Bulma, you could have just waited until the exhibit opened to see him. Or you could have called me." Yamcha said. Bulma crossed her arms.
"There's no way I'm waiting that long." she said.
"It's this weekend." Yamcha pointed out.
"And a call isn't the same!" Bulma continued. Her expression softened a little. "It's good to see you again anyways."
"You too, Bulms." Yamcha said. "I still wish you'd at least waited at the gate for me."
"You wanted to get yelled at sooner?" Bulma said with a small laugh. Yamcha pointed to a couple of uniformed people entering the area.
"No, I just didn't want to bother security." he said. Bulma sighed and began walking towards the guards.
"I've still got a lot to say to you!" she shouted back at Yamcha.
"Do it legally next time!" he called back. He watched security escort Bulma out of the exhibit and sighed.
"Was she the one you used to date?" Tien asked.
"Is it that easy to tell?" Yamcha said.
"She's... something." Tien said.
"She's several things." Yamcha said.
"Is that usually how things go with her?" Tien said.
"I wouldn't know anymore. She's changed since we were together." Yamcha said.
"How so?" Tien said.
"She's calmed down." Yamcha said. Tien laughed.
"If that's calm I'd hate to see her riled up." he said. "So... should we get back to practicing?"
"Suppose so. Don't want you trying a jump and landing on me." Yamcha said. Tien splashed some water on him and swam a few feet away with a chuckle.
"As fun as that might look I agree. We'd probably get hurt." he said.
"Exactly. Let's run through this thing one more time." Yamcha said. Tien gave him a thumbs up and dove beneath the water. Yamcha smiled and tried to recall the first lines of his script. As crazy as his day had been there was no time for rest. The weekend was bound to be a blur of people and he had to be as prepared as possible. With that in mind he cleared his throat and began going through his speech.