Yamcha had planned on becoming a biologist.
Instead he became many things. A marine biologist. The boyfriend of a merman. The adoptive father of an outgoing ten year old boy. The list could go on.
It seemed the world just kept throwing progressively bigger things at him ever since he met Tien. Just a few months ago he'd finalized his move into an on property building at the Aquarium. It was bigger than his old apartment by a wide margin and was the closest he could come to living with Tien. Chiaotzu loved it. He had all the space he could want to run and play plus constant access to the whole aquarium. He'd been with Yamcha and Tien for nearly a year already and had become the focus of their lives.
"Can I hang out with Krillin today?" he asked one morning during breakfast.
"Of course you can. Just don't distract him, okay?" Yamcha said. Chiaotzu nodded eagerly and finished his cereal.
"He promised to let me help feed the fish." he said as he left his chair.
"Make sure he actually does his job then." Yamcha said with a laugh. Chiaotzu giggled and grabbed his backpack.
"I will. Bye dad! I'll come to the show later!" he said. He headed out the door and Yamcha watched him run off with a grin.
"Have fun!" he called after him. Chiaotzu waved and kept going. Yamcha picked up Puar as she tried to run out the open door and walked back inside. He had some time before his first shift started. Making a packed lunch for later would be a good idea.
Most of his days went the same way. Be a dad, be a hard worker, and be a good boyfriend. Besides his move and the arrival of Chiaotzu not too much else had changed. It was comforting. The last two years had been hectic enough to last him a lifetime. Now things had finally settled down. Of course it wouldn't last too long, given his record, but he savored it while he could. He did the shows, cleaned the tanks, and fed the animals as usual. He spent time with Tien and Chiaotzu.
"I'm glad things are they way they are now." he reflected during the end of one day. He sat on the rock in the middle of Tien's tank and watched the sunset turn the water orange.
"So am I. It's good to have a routine." Tien said as he joined him on the rock.
"Who knows how that will go when Chiaotzu starts school again." Yamcha said with a soft laugh.
"Whatever happens, we can handle it. Everything so far has worked out." Tien said.
"Here's hoping the future goes the same way then." Yamcha said.
"Speaking of the future..." Tien said. Yamcha looked over at him with a curious expression when he trailed off. Tien locked eyes with some far point on the horizon and even in the evening light Yamcha could tell he was blushing.
"What is it? I haven't seen you turn that red in years." Yamcha said.
"Three years, exactly. Since we met." Tien said. "So much has happened, and I..."
"C'mon koi boy. A good boyfriend always listens." Yamcha said.
"What about fiance?" Tien blurted out.
"... what?" Yamcha said quietly. He was fairly certain his brain had stopped functioning and needed to reboot. A mess of emotions was rising all at once.
"I mean... Mer don't have anything like human marriage but... I know it's something you want. I thought I would ask." Tien said. He tapped his tail anxiously against the rock. "If you don't want to it's fine I just... wanted to know if you'd want to... to marry me."
Before Tien could ramble any longer Yamcha collided with him in the strongest hug he'd ever given. The two slipped off the rock and into the pool. A billion thoughts must have been running through Yamcha's head but the most overwhelming one was "Yes". It was a few seconds before he even registered they had fallen into the water despite the steady flow of bubbles leaving his mouth. Luckily Tien was true to his word and saved him again. Yamcha's smile nearly broke the contact when lips touched his. After a much needed breath he swam up to the surface while keeping his hold on Tien. As soon as they were clear of the water Yamcha pulled him in for a proper kiss.
"If you think for even a moment that I would say no then I'm throwing you back into the ocean." Yamcha said once they parted.
"For once I'm glad to hear that." Tien said with a small laugh. "You'll have to teach me how all this wedding stuff works."
"With pleasure." Yamcha said. "At least you got the proposal right."
"I'm assuming most proposals don't end up with the couple underwater?" Tien said.
"There's been weirder. Besides, with you ending up wet is expected of any event." Yamcha said. They both shared a laugh and floated along in their embrace for a while.
"When do you want to tell everyone?" Tien asked after a few minutes of silence.
"Ideally? Right away." Yamcha said. "But with all things involving you I'm sure anything we said would get turned into a rumor somehow. Remember when Chiaotzu first arrived?"
"I think the headline "Little merboy walking on land – hybrid lovechild?" is my favorite." Tien said.
"It was a good one. So. What do we do about this?" Yamcha said.
"I'm not sure. You know how this human stuff works." Tien said.
"Right. If we don't want rumors and tabloids again..." Yamcha said. He smirked with enough sharkish feel to rival the actual fish itself. "How about we put on a show?
"That's the end of our Q and A for now everyone. How are you enjoying the presentation today?"
The crowd, filled with new faces along with regulars, cheered. Yamcha smiled widely. Things were going well and on schedule. Now he just needed to end things properly.
"As usual for the end of our afternoon show, Tien will retrieve a special gift for whoever answers today's West Bay trivia question correctly." he said. Tien was already swimming along the bottom of the tank and a few people were lined up. Yamcha pulled out his trivia page and got ready.
"... now that's odd." he said. Murmurs spread through the crowd at his pause. Tien surfaced near the edge of the tank and lifted up a small shell.
"This doesn't look like a trivia question." Yamcha continued. He could hear the audience gasp as Tien showed the people nearby what was in the shell. He swam over as Yamcha pretended to be confused.
"I think this is in Mer. Tien, can you read it?" Yamcha said. He knelt down and held up the page.
"It says Yamcha Zedaki, love of my life and best friend, will you marry me?" Tien said. He held up the shell and the sunlight reflected off the ring sitting in the middle of it. Yamcha played his part of the surprised boyfriend well. There were still a lot of genuine emotions being shown as he tearfully answered "Yes!" The crowd was applauding like mad through the initial post question hug to the ring being put on Yamcha's finger. There definitely wasn't going to be any rumors around this particular part of their lives.
"You two never fail to make a scene." Lazuli commented after most of the well wishers and guests had left. "I assume you'll want to hold your wedding here too?"
"If you'll let us." Yamcha said hopefully.
"I already let you live here." Lazuli pointed out. She smiled gently. "I'm sure it'll be great."
"Thanks Mrs. Stone." Tien said. Lazuli dismissed the notion with a wave.
"I owe you a lot. Just don't break anything." she said. She walked off and within seconds they could spot other staff members making their way over.
"Ready to take on whatever's next?" Tien asked. Yamcha smiled and leaned over to kiss him.
"As long as you're with me."