The day the Ningyo Grotto exhibit opened would go down as one of the most attended days in West Bay Aquariums history. The advertising had been stellar and with the leading scientists in the field confirming the merman was for real the public was convinced. Free admission hadn't hurt either. The aquarium grounds were already crowded beyond belief and the line forming for the exhibit snaked its way through the paths down to the entrance. Countless families and their children were enjoying the regular sights while other patrons excitedly chatted about the prospect of seeing a merman. It was easily the happiest the atmosphere in the aquarium had been years.
Yamcha was nervous as hell.
He'd practiced the routine and his speeches countless times with Tien over the preceding week but it was doing little to calm his nerves. As he zipped himself into his wetsuit his brain kept running through worst case scenarios. What if someone got hurt? He fiddled with his hair elastic nervously and made his ponytail just a little too tight. What if something went wrong? Logically there wasn't any risk but try telling that to anxiety. He took a few deep breaths and picked up his headset. The sooner he started things the sooner they'd be over. There was only two shows to do that day. He could handle it.
With that in mind Yamcha finally headed up to the stands. Everything was in place except him and the audience. He went to the open part of the tank fence and lowered himself into the pool. After a bit of fiddling he had the section of fence back up and locked into place. He swam out to the part of the stone tower that peeked above the surface of the water. It had been made flat enough for him to stand on for presentations. He set down a second headset he had carried out there and made a quick call to the gate to let them know he was in position. Then he waited.
The stands filled quicker then he had been expecting. He could see people of all ages lining the seats in various states of excitement. There were a lot of children in particular. As he scanned the crowd that seemed to be mostly in place he stood up and switched on his headset. Thank the gods for waterproof microphones. He'd hate to have to shout everything.
"Good morning everyone! It's great to see you all out here with us today at the West Bay Aquarium. The show will be starting in just a few minutes." he said with the most welcoming and cheerful voice he could muster. A stammering of applause met his ears in response along with a couple of cheers. At least the audience was ready even if he wasn't. Once all the seats were occupied and the chatter had settled into a low murmur it was time to begin. He raised a hand and soon the crowd was silent and attentive.
"Once again, I welcome you to the Ningyo Grotto, our newest exhibit here at West Bay. My name is Yamcha. I will be running the show today and I am also the reason the show exits. You see, a number of months ago I was on an assignment in Japan. While I was there I met someone special." he started. He crouched down and dipped a hand into the water.
"I'm sure you've all heard of him and you're excited to meet him. Not to mention you're probably tired of hearing me talk already." he continued. A few laughs from the audience gave him some comfort. At least his humor was working. It was better than nothing for sure. Maybe things would work out fine after all.
"Without further ado, I am pleased to introduce to you..." Yamcha said. He lifted his hand out of the pool. At the same moment he saw a dark shape under the water approaching fast. He grinned and spread his arms wide. "Tenshinhan, the last merman on earth!"
As soon as he finished his announcement Tien left the tank in a very well practiced leap over where Yamcha was sitting. He dove back into the water seamlessly to thunderous applause. Yamcha stood up again and watched with a smile as Tien swam a lap around the pool.
"Now, I'm sure all of you have questions. Right away I can tell you that he doesn't know many tricks. That's mainly because he is not an animal. For all intents and purposes Tenshinhan is just a human with some fish bits added in. He is intelligent, emotional, and most importantly, willing to put up with me." Yamcha said. He got a larger laugh this time. Tien surfaced next to Yamcha and used an arm to prop himself up onto the rock. He grabbed the extra headset and slipped it on.
"That doesn't mean I have to like him." he said with a smirk. More laughter from the crowd and a few cheers. Yamcha rolled his eyes dramatically and crossed his arms.
"Would you like to do the show for me?" he asked. Tien pretended to think about it.
"Hmm. That depends. Does the audience think I could do a better job?" he said. The people watching cheered loudly and Yamcha had to turn off his mic for a moment so he could laugh.
"Well, I'm the one getting paid to talk about you but if you insist on taking my place then get up here." Yamcha said once the crowd had settled. Tien pulled himself onto the space left on the rock and sat up as best he could.
"Should I start telling bad jokes now?" he asked.
"As great as I'm sure that would be how about we stick to audience questions for now? I'm sure there's a lot to get through and more people makes the work go faster." Yamcha said. Tien sighed dramatically.
"I guess I'll let you keep your job for now." he said. A few members of the crowd laughed again and Yamcha smiled. It was nice to see his script was working.
"Sounds good to me. Now, anyone who wants to ask something can line up along the edge of the tank starting at the employees with the microphones over there." Yamcha said as he pointed to the two uniformed people standing across from him.
The lines formed fast and some people stood in the aisles of the stands to extend them. Yamcha signaled to one of the workers and they held the microphone out to the first person in their line. A young girl stood on her tiptoes and held the mic with both hands.
"Can you talk to fish?" she asked.
"No, not really. They see me like they'd see a shark. A predator. Some of the smarter ones and I have an understanding. They don't bother me and I don't bother them." Tien said.
"Okay. Thank you." said the girl. She headed back to her seat and the questions continued.
"Why do you have three eyes?" An older teen this time.
"Well, Mer have an innate natural magic. We heal faster than humans and can create illusions to appear more human. Our third eye is where our magic flows from." Tien said. "There's a few more small things we can do with it but it's mainly just an eye."
"How did you get that scar?" A young man.
"A fight. I like to think I won." Tien said. He didn't elaborate any further.
"Do you live in fresh or salt water?" An elderly man.
"Mer can live in both. It doesn't effect us like it does fish." Tien said.
"Why did you come here?" An older lady.
"I didn't have much in Japan. When Yamcha here left I decided to go find him." Tien said.
"A question for the presenter. How did you find the merman?" A middle aged man.
"I did something stupid while swimming and almost drowned. Tien saved me." Yamcha said. He was surprised someone asked him anything.
"Are you lonely?" A teen girl.
"No. I have friends here. More than I ever had out in the ocean." Tien said. "I'm quite happy."
"Do you find humans attractive?" Another teen girl.
"Let's just say I found one in particular that I happen to like." Tien said. "You're not getting anymore gossip than that."
"What do you eat?" A younger man.
"Mainly fish. Some plants. The food you humans have up here on land is a lot better though." Tien said.
"What's your favorite color?" A young boy.
"I'd have to say orange. Like a sunset." Tien said after a small laugh. Yamcha couldn't help but to smile along with him. He was right about the public being way more interesting than those scientists.
"What happened to all the other merpeople?" A young man.
"A disease. I was lucky to get out of the water before I contacted it." Tien said.
"Do you think any other merpeople survived?" A young woman.
"I doubt it. Even if some did any eggs they had wouldn't be healthy enough to hatch." Tien said.
"How fast can you swim?" A young boy.
"I've never timed it. I'll have to let you know later." Tien said.
"How long can you be out of the water?" A young girl.
"Around four hours. Then I start to dry out." Tien said.
"How can you breathe on land?" Another teen.
"I have lungs similar to a humans. They're connected to my gills. If I need to I can take in extra air for emergencies. For example; saving a human who wanders into my home without enough air." Tien said with a pointed look at Yamcha. A few more laughs from the audience.
"Yes, thank you again for not drowning me." Yamcha said. He glanced down at his watch. "We only have time for a few more questions so really think about what you wanna know. If we don't get to you don't worry. We're gonna awnser more on our website and post all the ones that we've already been asked."
"Are you like... a siren?" asked the next man in line. "Luring people with singing to drown them?"
"Uh, no. That's entirely a human made thing." Tien said. "I don't think I've ever sang in my life."
"I'll see if I can convince him to try sometime." Yamcha said. Tien glared and splashed some water on him with his tail. Yamcha laughed softly and wiped it off. "I doubt I'll have much luck."
"Is is possible for you to get the bends?" An older man. Yamcha couldn't tell from this distance but he felt like it was Professor Worthington from the day before.
"It's not. However, I can't dive too deep or the pressure will crush my gills." Tien said.
"Do you have a native language?" A teen.
"Technically. Mer mainly communicated using body language and a picture based system. As for any other languages, I also speak fluent japanese and english." Tien said.
"Alright folks, that's all the questions we have time for today." Yamcha said. "Thank you for coming to our show and to West Bay. Our observation area will be open when you leave and you can stick around here if you want to. We hope you had a fun time today and that you'll come again."
It took a while for everyone to leave the stands. Of course a few groups stuck around to wave at Tien and stare. Yamcha gathered up the headsets and got ready to swim out.
"I'll meet you in the cave for lunch." Tien said as he swam past.
"Sounds like a date." Yamcha said with a smile.
He made his way over to the fence and unlocked the gate panel. After climbing out he closed it again and began walking to his equipment station. He barely avoided a few people trying to talk to him along the way. By the time he had his lunch in hand it was later then he hoped. With a sigh he walked down the employee only stairs to the entrance of Tien's private cave. He headed inside after a quick knock.
"Hey. I brought food."
"That's why I keep you around." Tien said sarcastically. He was already lying on the rocky floor of the cave a few feet away from the water.
"I knew I was good for something." Yamcha said as he sat down next to him. He handed over a sandwich and unwrapped his own.
"You did a great job today. You've got a natural flair for this kind of thing." Tien said.
"You think so?" Yamcha said.
"Yeah. People are drawn to you. You're charismatic." Tien said.
"Is that what made you fall for me?" Yamcha teased.
"No, it was your cooking skills." Tien replied. "Which, by the way, are amazing."
"It's not like you have much to compare it to." Yamcha said.
"It's better then fish every day." Tien said.
"I guess it would be." Yamcha said. "You did good too. I'm glad we didn't get any difficult questions."
"Speak for yourself." Tien said. "You only got asked one."
"Yeah but it's not like anyone asked for your whole life story." Yamcha said. "... did any of the questions bother you?
"Not really, it's just..." Tien said. He sighed and lowered his lunch. "I wish I could be more honest about some stuff. Like us, for example."
"I'm sure some eager fan will figure things out at some point." Yamcha mumbled. "I wish we could be open about it too but the boss doesn't want to risk it. Someone might want to hurt one or both of us if they found out."
"I guess." Tien said. Yamcha inched closer to him and put an arm around his shoulder.
"It'll come out eventually. We just need to be careful in public." Yamcha said quietly. Tien leaned against him and stared at the water.
"I know." he said. Then he perked up a little. "But... we aren't in public right now."
"That is true." Yamcha said with a smile. He soon found himself being pulled into a hug. Then a kiss. Then a few more.
"Promise we won't have to keep this a secret for long?" Tien said after pulling back a little.
"I promise." Yamcha said. He smiled and went in for another kiss. They had a bit of time before the next show, after all, so they might as well use it.