Scavengers of the Sea

Part 5

So, this was the cause of his granddaughter's distress...

Romulus would have to admit that this wasn't what he expected.

"That one's Antonio." His younger granddaughter pointed through the water at a dark-haired human boy, who was standing on the dock and staring out toward the sea with a sad, defeated expression. "Lovi's been coming out to meet with him a few months."

Well, he was handsome. Romulus could see why Lovina might find herself attracted to this boy.

A human, though. That was entirely unexpected. It was also fascinating...

Feli floated beside him, her expression downcast. He knew that she was worrying about her sister and probably wondering if telling him about this boy was the right thing to do. Romulus was certain that Lovina would be furious when she found out, but it really had been obvious to everyone that something was wrong. He was her grandfather, as well as her king. He would, of course, try to find out what happened to make her so unhappy.

"A human..."

Feli flicked her tail and swam in front of him. "He's really nice, though! He's not a bad human at all! He even saved her when she got caught in a net, even though he couldn't swim and I had to bring him to her!"

She obviously was worried that he was going to do something to this human. That wasn't Romulus's intention. Not now, at least.

He watched the boy, thinking... His headstrong, adorable little granddaughter had fallen in love...

"Feli, go get your sister and bring her here."

Feli flicked her tail in surprise. "Bring her here?"

"Tell her that it's an order from her king." He knew that Lovi would be annoyed by the summons, but refusing a royal request was impossible... Technically. "Perhaps it would be best to not tell her where you're taking her, though." Just to be safe.

His younger granddaughter hesitated for a moment, but then nodded and swam back toward the city.

Romulus remained, staring up toward the young human. He had apparently decided to sit on the edge of the dock, dangling his feet over the ocean.

It seemed like it was time for Romulus to set things right.

~.~.~

Ya know, as weird as it might be... Gilbert could totally accept that his best friend fell in love with a fish girl. After all, what guy hadn't experienced weird, confusing feelings when they first watched The Little Mermaid? It totally made sense.

What he couldn't accept was how pathetic Antonio was being right now.

"Dude," he shouted toward his friend from where he and Francis were standing on the beach. "Why don't we go find a bar and get totally hammered? That'll be way more fun than just sitting out on this smelly dock all evening!"

Antonio didn't even seem to hear him. He just continued to stare out at the ocean, as if expecting the mergirl to appear at any moment.

Gilbert huffed out a breath in annoyance and then muttered, "This is getting fucking ridiculous."

Francis sighed and slid a hand into his jacket pocket. "Oui. Poor Antoine. A broken heart is a difficult thing to mend."

Yeah, maybe, but sitting out on this dock night after night wasn't going to help anything. Gilbert didn't like how hard his friend was taking this whole breakup, if that's what you could call it. He'd been so unhappy recently. Sure, he tried to fake that everything was okay; he kept his usual happy-go-lucky grin plastered on at his part-time serving job and he still hung out with his friends and laughed at their stupid jokes. But Gilbert and Francis knew their friend well-enough to know that he was unhappy.

And he'd taken to coming out here most nights. He said it was just because he enjoyed the peace and quiet, but they both knew that he was hoping that Lovina would show up.

Francis suddenly sighed and began to walk out onto the wooden dock. "Come on, Gil."

Gilbert followed, not entirely sure what his friend was about to do. But, he knew that if anybody could talk some sense into Antonio, it probably would be Francis. He'd always been better at all this emotional, mushy stuff.

He crouched beside their friend, finally jerking Antonio back to the present. He turned his head toward them and Gilbert was surprised and disturbed to see how bright his eyes were, like he was close to crying. He hurriedly brushed them away, though, and laughed. "Oh, sorry, Franny. I zoned out."

Francis sighed, then reached out and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Antoine."

"Sorry? Why are you sorry?" Antonio legitimately sounded puzzled.

"I'm sorry that things are difficult for you, mon ami. It's always very difficult to get over a heartbreak like this, but Gilbert and I are always going to be here for you."

Gilbert nodded. "Of course! We ain't ever gonna ditch you! It's bros before hoes, after all!" He raised a fist toward the air in what was definitely an awesome pose.

Antonio laughed—an actual laugh, even if it did sound a bit sniffly. "Gracias. I just wish I'd been able to tell her that I was sorry." He hesitated, then continued. "I'd already decided that I'd stop coming here after tonight. I just...hoped."

"Don't worry, man." Gilbert crouched down between the other two. "There are plenty of other fish in the sea who aren't actually fish! I think we should totally take you out clubbing after this. Get some drinks in ya, pick up some hot chicks. You'll feel better in no time!"

Francis snorted and rolled his eyes, while Antonio just frowned. It was totally an awesome idea, though. Gilbert knew drinking always cheered him up.

"That does sound like an excellent way to spend an evening. It's unfortunate that I can't join you."

Gilbert was definitely not the one who screamed, no matter what anyone else said. He was way too awesome and manly to scream just because a man's voice suddenly just appeared out of fucking nowhere. Nope, the other two might have screamed, but not the Awesome Gilbert Beilschmidt.

He did spin around, though, so he could beat up the guy if he turned out to be a threat. Which meant he was the first one to realize that the voice was coming from the water.

Specifically, from a man floating in the water. An older man, with dark hair and a freakin' like twelve pack or something. The guy was shredded.

He also had a long, golden-colored tail.

"Fuck," was the only thing Gilbert could say. He was getting really sick of these fucking mermaids.

Antonio was on his feet in a moment, staring down at the merman in the water like he wasn't sure whether he should remain on the dock or jump in for some stupid reason. Francis hurriedly joined him and grabbed his arm, probably to make sure he remained in place.

The man chuckled, and it sounded much more human than anything they'd ever heard from Lovi. He lifted an arm from the water, biceps glistening, and then said, "Lovely weather we're having, isn't it?"

"Y—you..."

The man swam closer and stared at Antonio for a few moments before he nodded. "It's definitely not going to be easy for you, young man, but I'm willing to consider giving my blessing."

Antonio, Gilbert, and Francis all stared at the man with varying expressions of total confusion. Francis was the first to snap out of it. He released Antonio's arm and took a step closer to the end of the dock, where he crouched so he was closer to the man's level. "Um, I apologize. We haven't been introduced. You wouldn't happen to be Lovina's..." He hesitated, then guessed, "Father?"

The man laughed. "Father?! Such a flatterer at such a young age!" He puffed his chest. "I'm her grandfather!"

Gilbert's eyes widened. Dude, he hoped he was that ripped when he was a grandfather.

The merman continued, looking at Antonio, who still seemed to be in shock. "My little Feliciana told me that my other granddaughter has been causing some trouble up on the surface. I decided to come and investigate for myself."

"You can speak English!"

Man, that took a while. Francis turned to send Antonio an incredulous look, but their friend had eyes for nothing but this merguy. He dropped to his knees with a heavy thump and leaned forward; Francis grabbed onto the back of his shirt to make sure he didn't accidentally topple into the water. "Lo siento, but can you tell Lovi that I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to make her angry!"

"Didn't you?" A slight smirk passed over the man's lips, but then he crossed his arms over his chest and frowned sternly. "I'll consider it. First, I would appreciate if you three would answer my questions. Have you told anyone else about my people's existence?"

"No!" Antonio shook his head decisively.

"My brother," Gilbert corrected him. Although, Ludwig barely counted. "He isn't going to tell anyone, though." He'd be too worried about people thinking he was crazy.

The merman nodded. "Good. The less people know, the better. My little Lovi broke quite a few rules when she let herself be seen by you." He sighed. "Ah, I always knew she took after me. I suppose I will have to punish her, though..."

Antonio looked horrified by this. He jerked slightly forward, but Francis pulled him back. "No! It wasn't Lovi's fault! Gil lost his pendant in the water and she brought it back to him!"

Okay, no, that was completely not what happened. The little fish bitch stole his pendant. If it wasn't for his brother, he never would've gotten it back. Gilbert opened his mouth to argue, but Antonio wasn't done talking, apparently.

"So, please don't punish her! I just want to talk to her again! I miss her so much and I think she misunderstood what I was trying to do and I don't want her to think that I don't like her, because I really, really do!"

Francis was staring at the merman with an unreadable expression. He finally spoke again, obviously considering his words very carefully. "I'm a little curious, Monsieur... How do you know our language? Who are you?"

Probably good questions. The man smiled and puffed up. "Ah! The stories I could tell about how I came to learn your language! My name is Romulus Rex Roma and I am ruler over this corner of the sea!" He must have seen some weird expression cross over the boys' faces, because he waved a hand in dismissal. "That's not particularly important, though. Not to humans, at least. More important is the fact that I am also a world traveler! I've explored the oceans, the human world... That's where I learned to speak your language, as well as others."

He was getting that rambly look in his eye that Gilbert recognized from particularly boring visits with his own grandfather. "I particularly enjoyed my journeys in Italy. The food, the wine, the lovely human women, but now, I am a humble king and grandfather, doing my best to raise my two adorable little granddaughters!"

Nobody seemed to know where to even begin with that. Humble king?

Gilbert thought this through and then realized, "Dude, Toni! You've been feeling up royalty this whole time!"

Antonio turned bright red. "I haven't been 'feeling her up'! I would never do that to Lovi!"

Pft, yeah, right. He totally saw them getting all cozy while Antonio was out swimming with her and who knew what else they did when he and Franny weren't there. Gilbert laughed, a hissy sort of sound, and then dropped down to join his friends on the damp, wooden dock. "Man, this is crazy. So," he turned back to the merman. "How'd you world travel with a fin like that? You'd think we'd have heard of you guys being real before now if you were going all over the place."

Romulus smiled again. "You could call it a perk of the job. I have the ability to change my shape and blend in with humans for limited periods of time. It's something I learned from the former king and Lovi will learn from me, once she's a bit older." He sent a pointed look toward Antonio, whose eyes lit up at the realization of what that meant. Then, he turned back toward the ocean, "And here are my girls now."

Gilbert, Francis, and Antonio all turned their attention from the merman and toward the distant ocean. At first, they couldn't see anything, but then Gilbert noticed a disturbance on the surface of the water and pointed it out to his friends. It was moving toward them at a rapid speed.

Antonio jumped to his feet. "Lovi!"

After a few moments, the dark-haired girl surfaced beside her grandfather. Beside her was her sister, who looked a little worried, while Lovi looked pissed. She only spared a single quick glance toward their group, before turning toward her grandfather and punching him right in the solar plexus.

It didn't look like it actually hurt, but they still all stared at her in surprise. Her sister squeaked and immediately moved to grab her before she could do it again.

Lovi didn't even seem to notice her, she just clicked at the merman in obvious annoyance while completely ignoring Antonio, who visibly wilted at the lack of attention from his fishy-lady love.

It seemed like she was never gonna stop ragging on the old man. He eventually lifted his arms out of the water and said, "Now, now..." in English. "Nonno's here to help both of you."

The expression of absolute shock that crossed Lovina's face was pretty priceless. Both her and her sister's eyes widened and they stared at their grandfather like he just sprouted an extra head right in front of them. Gilbert was going to guess that they hadn't known that their grandfather spoke English.

It would've been a nice thing to know. Could've avoided a whole lotta issues.

He was pretty sure Lovina realized this at the same moment he did, since she suddenly gave the most infuriated, terrifying screech he'd ever heard. And that was including the scream Lizzie let out when he stole her favorite teddy bear in kindergarten, right before she smashed him over the head with a toy frying pan.

"Lov—" Her grandfather started to say, presumably in an attempt to calm her down. It didn't work. She threw herself at him like a flying projectile and they both went under the water. Feli squeaked in dismay and dove underneath as well, which left three human beings on the dock...

They stared at the water, then at each other.

"Dude, you've been trying to bang a motherfuckin' mermaid princess," Gilbert said.

Francis chuckled. "That is rather impressive, Antoine. If very unexpected."

Antonio was preoccupied by the violently churning ocean. "Do—do you think they're okay?"

Gilbert shrugged. "Well, I'm sure as hell not going down there to see if they are or not." He'd seen those teeth. He wasn't gonna get attacked by a piranha mermaid today. "So, looks like you got your wish. What are you planning on saying to her?"

Antonio remained in place for a moment, then decided to sit beside him. "I wanted to say that I was sorry for what happened, but... I wasn't expecting this at all."

The water was calming down, which hopefully meant that they'd stopped fighting and not that Lovina had just murdered her grandfather. They watched for anyone to resurface.

Feli was the first. She popped her head out of the water and clicked at them, then looked toward a spot on the surface. After a moment, her sister and grandfather appeared.

No visible injuries, but the old man did look a little chagrined. Lovi was pouting, arms crossed over her chest as she refused to look at anyone.

"Well, I suppose it is understandable that Lovina's a bit upset..." He said. "Although, I was completely unaware that she met a human, since she never told me. If I had known, I obviously would have offered up my translation services earlier."

Lovina didn't seem to need a translation to know what that meant. She snorted, but finally lifted her head to look up at Antonio. He immediately dropped onto his knees again and reached a hand toward her while sending her the most sickeningly lovestruck look Gilbert had ever seen.

Ugh, it made him want to bash his head against the dock. Meanwhile, Francis just grinned and scooted away from their friend and then whispered. "So, how long until he decides to jump in with her?"

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "He's gonna regret it if he does. I'm not driving him home when he's soaking wet."

"Lovi, I'm so sorry. I...um...I wanted to say that I was sorry. I didn't mean to upset you and I swear I wasn't trying to do anything bad!" He stopped and helplessly looked toward Romulus, who clicked something to her.

She immediately rolled her eyes and frowned. She was ignoring the offered hand and instead mumbled, "Stupid Antonio."

"Yeah, I'm definitely stupid," he agreed way too readily. Both Francis and Gilbert snorted. "I wanted to explain, though!"

Her grandfather presumably translated what he said and she immediately clicked something back at him. Romulus's eyebrows rose for a moment, but then he laughed and turned back toward Antonio. "Did you try to kiss her?"

Wait, he did? Gilbert never saw that happen. When was Antonio pulling those moves?

He was blushing heavily enough to make it clear that he had, even before he admitted, "Um, yes."

"Dude, she's got piranha teeth. Also, major fish breath!" He still remembered watching her tear that fish's head off in one bite. He wouldn't want his tongue anywhere near that.

Antonio sent him a look that clearly stated that his comments were unwanted. Pft, just trying to look out for his buddy.

Romulus chuckled, ignoring his granddaughter's homicidal glares. "Well, that explains it. Kissing is, unfortunately, a human pastime. I remember my first experience with it... Ah," he sighed in grandfatherly reminiscence. "That was a highly enjoyable experience."

He returned to translation duty, although this time he seemed to be explaining the whole concept of kissing to the girls. Feli was listening with her sister, obviously fascinated by this new information. At the same time, Lovi was turning red as a tomato.

While Antonio started looking more and more nervous.

Her grandfather was apparently enjoying his impromptu explanation of the birds and the bees. He was grinning while making expansive hand gestures. When he finished, Lovi clicked at him for a while and then Feli joined in.

"I feel like I'm listening to Flipper," Gilbert muttered. "Except without that weird thing that sounds like he's laughing."

Francis giggled. Antonio glanced back toward them with a look of 'how can you be laughing at a time like this?'

The mermaids finally seemed to finish their conversation. Feli's eyes were wide, like she'd been shown a whole new world; Lovi was staring down at the water, cheeks bright red; and Romulus was just grinning, obviously highly entertained by this whole situation.

"I suppose we'll have to talk about the courtship, then! Ah, they grow up so fast." He wiped a probably-not-actually-there tear from his eye. "Of course, we'll have to adapt it to the situation! Normally, anyone who wants to court the next heir to the throne would prove their worthiness by demonstrating their prowess in battle, speed and grace while swimming, and their willingness to sacrifice everything, including their life, for their queen."

Now Antonio was turning pale. "Uh..."

"But, that's nothing to fret about! We'll figure it out when the time comes."

Antonio nodded, still looking slightly terrified. "I—Sí...Sí, I'll do whatever I have to do. Does that mean Lovi..." He stopped. Gilbert could tell that he really wanted to know the answer to his question, but was too nervous to actually ask.

Pansy.

"Um," he shifted his weight nervously between his feet, then asked. "Is—is there a way to say 'I love you' in your language? That I could...um..."

Francis sighed. "So adorable."

"Dude, I'm gonna fucking puke if this keeps up."

Francis punched him in the shoulder, which was totally unawesome!

Romulus chuckled and then motioned for Antonio to come to him. And, of course, the idiot didn't even stop to think. He just immediately went to the very edge of the dock, sat down, and then pushed himself into the water.

Gilbert groaned. "Goddamnit. I am not ruining my leather seats for this bullshit."

Francis giggled, and then stood. "I think it's about time for us to be going anyway. It's best not to intrude on l'amour~"

"Dude, we intrude on 'l'amour' all the time."

"Oui," Francis nodded. "But, in this case it might be better to intrude from a distance. Give them a little privacy, oui?"

Whatever. Just so long as his car stayed nice and dry.

A/N: Damn, I wanted this to be the last chapter, but nopeeeee. Only one more, though, and that's going to be fully centered on Lovi and Antonio, since this chapter had like none of them. I realized I definitely needed to write a chapter explaining Lovi's thoughts on this whole situation and we also just need more Lovi and Toni cuteness!

I like Francis and Gil being the peanut gallery. They are both the best and most terrible of friends.

Anyway, thanks for the reviews asking me to get back in gear and finish this up! This chapter was being a pain, but finally was able to get it to work. And next chapter will definitely not take as long. It actually is probably gonna be up within the next couple days, since I plan on writing it mostly tomorrow so I can finally put this thing to rest. xD