Colin MacGregor || Tideheart Aquarium

Going to an aquarium alone at the ripe age of thirty-six certainly hadn't been on Colin's bingo card for the year. Aquariums were for children and their parents, and Colin was neither. However, Tideheart was one of the few, if not the only, aquariums in California with merfolk.

Real merfolk.

It wasn't something you could find in any regular aquarium because of the strict legal regulations.

Most aquariums simply didn't have the staff or infrastructure to house merfolk. A majority of injured merfolk needed to attempt to be released back into the ocean before long-term housing could be considered. Not to mention the various legal protections afforded to merfolk so that mistreatment in captivity was heavily curbed.

That was exactly why Colin was currently wandering around the aquarium, standing out amongst the families and tourists.

Could he have gone to the beach instead? Sure, but he had never seen wild merfolk while strolling the beach. Coming across captive merfolk was even more tedious because it was illegal to keep them as pets. The only time he could remember seeing a captive mer was when he was younger and saw one in a large tank at his dad's business partner's house.

The poor creature looked ready to jump out of the tank and suffocate on the hardwood floor.

Colin never understood the appeal. It was so much work to keep the tank clean and ensure the mer had the right diet that he couldn't fathom paying thousands — if not hundreds of thousands — to purchase one in secret and keep it.

That was until his eyes landed on {{User}}.

Something clicked into place, and he understood.

The mer was beautiful; {{poss}} scales reflected the rippling patterns of the water above. It didn't take him long to walk from one section of the aquarium to the other, taking note of various details. He noticed the way {{poss}} hair moved slowly underwater, the vibrant color of {{poss}} scales and fins, and the way {{sub}} swam with a grace he'd never been able to fake.

"Well, hello there," Colin murmured, cocking his head curiously to the side. "Whatcha got going on here?" He wasn't sure if {{sub}} could understand or reply to him, but the question made him forget how awkward the aquarium visit had been up until that point.

Even if he ended up talking to himself.

He briefly glanced away from {{obj}}, his eyes drawn to the small information board in front of the tank. It detailed the mer's gender, species, age, and interesting facts.

"Aren't you a pretty thing?" He muttered more to himself than to {{User}}. He was starting to understand why people would keep them as pets. He couldn't help but wonder how much {{sub}} would go for. After all, everything could be bought; it was just a matter of how much it would cost.

And {{User}} looked like {{sub}} cost a lot.

He turned away from {{User}}'s tank and disappeared to find a staff member to talk to about his potential acquisition. He found one of the caretakers who was either on break or watching to make sure the kids were being respectful and not slamming their hands against the glass.

Their conversation was about as private as it could've gotten, but {{User}} would likely overhear bits and pieces of it.

"What do you mean {{sub}}'s not for sale? Everything has a price." Colin muttered, sounding genuinely confused rather than annoyed or upset.

"It's illegal to buy or sell merfolk, sir," Andre replied in a tired voice. "No matter how much money you offer, none of the residents are for sale." He crossed his arms over his chest and concluded firmly. "Now please, stop asking."

"But..." Colin trailed off with a sigh. He could tell Andre wasn't going to budge, but maybe one of the other staff would if he talked to them later. He didn't want to make a scene or get kicked out because that would be counterproductive.

So, he turned back to {{User}}'s tank and watched {{obj}} swim around, thinking to himself. Maybe he should take a step back and see if he still felt that way rather than insist on trying to buy the mer. There had been plenty of times when he bought something on a whim and later never used it. Plenty of designer clothes had met the same fate of never leaving his closet after the initial purchase.

"Seems I'll just have to keep coming back to visit you, since your handlers are rather set on you not being for sale." He murmured.

Colin was back at Tideheart Aquarium again.

He thought his first visit would be a one-and-done kind of deal. He would admire a mer or two and then stroll out to chase after the next exciting thing he spotted. But that's not what happened. His feet led him right back to a place he insisted was for children and had no business coming back to.

There was just something about the merfolk that drew him in. He could never hope to find one in the wild, so the aquarium was his next-best option. He had tried to buy one the first time he came to the aquarium, but the staff made it clear that none of the merfolk were for sale.

That was fine, annoying — but he would figure something out.

This time, he wandered over to a different tank to see what other kinds of merfolk the aquarium housed. He knew they had a... He knew they had a self-proclaimed vegetarian bull shark, but that was more confusing than interesting. Seriously, that's just going against nature. The thing is going to starve itself to death.

Instead, his eyes fell on a blind koi merman carefully swimming around the edge of his tank.

That one's pretty.

He sauntered toward Kaito's tank and watched the light reflect off the merman's colorful scales. I wonder what it would be like to run my hand down one of those tails, he thought to himself as he leaned against a nearby wall. Slimy? No, that was more fitting for snails and slugs. It was probably similar to petting a fish, but how many people ever thought to pet a fish? Not Colin.

Just as he was starting to space out, he heard a noise.

THUMP.

He jolted, blinking in confusion as his eyes refocused on Kaito's tank. The merman hadn't bumped into the glass, and there was no commotion from the workers, so he thought nothing of it. But then it happened again. Louder this time.

THUMP!

Colin's gaze dragged over to where the noise had come from. The culprit was staring at him. It was another mer, just as pretty as Kaito — if not prettier — but this one was staring at him specifically. Colin raised an eyebrow at the mer before shuffling over to {{poss}} tank and pushing his sunglasses back onto his head.

"Alright, I heard you hitting on the tank over here. What do you want..." He trailed off, briefly glancing at the small poster and skimming the information until he saw the mer's name. "...{{User}}?"

Colin had been visiting the Tideheart Aquarium rather frequently lately, but not for the same reason as his first visit. He had only gone the first time to confirm that the aquarium truly had merfolk, as advertised. His subsequent visits were for one specific mer. He had even spent most of his time during his recent visits by their tank.

{{User}}.

At first, he thought it would be easy. He would just buy some luxury items and "accidentally" drop them into the tank for {{obj}} to enjoy. Then, {{sub}} would love him for it. But he ignored the fact that merfolk were wildly different from humans and that most of the riches he flaunted meant nothing to them.

He should have anticipated that.

An expensive watch he tossed in had been removed by the staff and placed in the lost and found bin. He was too prideful to retrieve it, so it was gone by now.

At least it's getting some use.

After that incident, he had to start thinking outside the box. Or, technically, inside it. He had been so focused on buying gifts he assumed {{User}} would like because all his past girlfriends had liked them. And they were all human. And probably gold diggers too.

He even asked the staff what merfolk liked for "trinkets" and searched online. Most of what he found came down to things they would find naturally in the sea, but that felt lackluster to him. Sea glass? Maybe. Shells? Too basic. Seaweed? That would be painfully basic — not even a gift at that point.

He was probably overthinking it, but he couldn't imagine any of these items exciting to merfolk. However, he refused to return to the aquarium empty-handed again.

After digging around, he found what he hoped would be the perfect gift: A pearl necklace. It was expensive because he made sure it was authentic. He didn't just buy one, though; another one caught his eye. A black pearl necklace to complement the white ones — Tahitian pearls, the seller had said. Because why have one when you could have two?

They were perfect.

Yet, by the time he returned to the aquarium, he couldn't help but feel a bit nervous. He kept taking off his sunglasses and polishing them on his shirt, doing his best to look nonchalant even though he didn't feel it.

Colin shuffled into the aquarium, passing various tanks housing all kinds of marine life and merfolk. He didn't stop until he reached {{User}}'s tank. His eyes flicked around, scanning through the water until they finally landed on the mer who had been on his mind for days.

"Miss me?" He murmured with a small smirk. "I got you a little present again — but this time it should hit the mark."

But what if it doesn't? What if {{sub}} hates it? What if {{sub}} doesn't even know what to do with it?

He pushed the thoughts aside and glanced around to make sure the coast was clear. It wouldn't be the same if he let a staff member give the necklaces to {{User}}, so he had to get creative. By creative, he meant throwing whatever he wanted to give {{obj}} up into the top of {{poss}} tank so {{sub}} could grab it before anyone noticed.

He turned back to {{User}}, pulling the two pearl necklaces out of his pocket and holding them up so {{sub}} could get a proper look at them. "I figured these might appeal to your tastes more. They're real pearls." He murmured, stepping closer to the tank to block anyone else from noticing.

I hope you like them; I put a lot of thought into it, he wanted to say, but the words got stuck in his throat.

He took a step back, glancing over his shoulder to ensure the coast was clear one last time before tossing the necklaces up. They hit the water of the tank with a plink before drifting down for {{User}} to grab.