The Waves Are Ours |Virgato|

Chapter 2: Tail

With great difficulty, Chris had wobbled his way all the way up the sand with the two human boys' help. It wasn't until they'd finally reached Richard's car that he was starting to think that he was getting the hang of this walking thing. Maybe he could handle staying on land for longer than he thought.

Though Chris had quickly realized that there were bound to be a lot of complications when keeping company with land people even for a few short hours.

They couldn't possibly understand how naïve someone could be over basic human knowledge. His first hurdles before they'd even left the beach were cars and their heavy doors. Two things that were new to Chris but obvious to the two boys. He feared the boys were quickly growing tired of his questions and unusual comments, but Richard seemed to be doing his best to answer them. He hoped they weren't getting too suspicious about his upbringing. Especially when he'd let out a small yelp as the car's engine had started up.

Richard's place hadn't been far from the beach, but they'd had to drive to get back there. They'd driven along past the beach and Chris couldn't help but stare out the passenger window as they drove away from the place he'd once called home. He watched as these unusual lights flashed different colors as people crossed. Some walking, running, jogging past. There were even some with these strange furry creatures that moved on four legs that Chris had never seen before.

When they finally made it to Richard's place, it was a large two story beach house that was painted a royal blue color with a white trim. Chris had gasped as he'd wobbled behind them. He followed them into a large room with rectangular objects that took up most of the room. Which led onto another room with a long bench with tall seats in front of it. The place was immaculate, making it appear that maybe Richard was the only one who lived here. They had called it Richard's place, so perhaps he was.

"Okay, this can be your room up here," Richard spoke as he lead Chris upstairs to the bedrooms. They'd left Erick downstairs in the kitchen as he'd started rummaging through the large white square object in the room that Chris wasn't sure the name of. It did smell goo though.

Chris had followed, and kind of wobbled behind Richard up to a vacant room on the second floor. Richard had opened the door and behind it was just a large rectangular object. It looked kind of like a rectangular version of his clam bed back at home, but he wasn't so sure whether the humans used the object for sleeping too? If that's even what it was. Did humans even sleep? He realized he didn't know much about the humans at all. He felt a little overwhelmed. There was a lot to learn.

"What's this for?" Chris asked Richard as he pointed at the strange rectangular object.

"It's a bed, you know, for sleeping," Richard gave him a strange glance. Chris quickly realized that any human would have known that. He could have even worked it out too. His cheeks flushed pink in embarrassment. Richard frowns, "How long were you on that boat for anyway?"

"A little while," Chris said, not meeting the other boy's eyes. There was no way he could admit the truth.

A thought flickered through Christopher's mind. If this was a bed then it would probably be soft and comfortable like his bed at home. Not caring what Richard thought, he waddled over to the bed and let himself fall back into its soft sheets. It was every bit as comfortable as he'd hoped, and it was pleasant to get off his aching feet as well. He let out a loud sigh and hugged the pillow. It smelled kind of strange though, making Chris sneeze.

He heard Richard let out a soft giggle. Chris whipped his head over to see Richard still standing in the doorway, watching him with an amused expression.

"I'm glad you like it," Richard smiled, "Now, do you want me to run you a bath? I can show you the bathroom."

Chris cocked his head sideways, confused by the words and their meaning, "A bath? Run? What's run a bath?"

Richard gave Chris a confused look, but shrugged, "I'll show you. You smell all salty just like the ocean. I take it that you'll probably want one."

Chris honestly didn't mind smelling like the ocean, but he realized that would be a strange thing to say to a land person. Humans probably didn't want to smell like the salty waves of the ocean, which a part of him found a little sad. He wanted to fit in badly, so he just nodded.

When Chris followed Richard into the bathroom, it soon made sense to him what Richard had meant. Richard turned a silver object and water began to gush out of a curved object. He put a white object into a metal dish at the bottom of the bath. Chris had seen land people use showers on the beach, but he'd never seen one like this before. The concept seemed quite similar except this one was filled with water. Chris was amazed as the water level rose without escaping the bathtub. He dipped his finger into it, finding it to be warm.

"Should I put some bubbles into it?" Richard asked.

Chris nodded quickly. He understood that at least. He liked bubbles. They formed behind him when he swam, and by the currents. With his friends, they would spend hours dashing through them. They couldn't be a bad thing.

He sighed. He wondered if he would ever be able to do that again.

Chris guessed for now, bubbles in the bath were going to have to do. He stared at the water, fascinated, as Richard started rummaging through the cupboards.

"Once the water level is high enough, you'll be able to sit in it," Richard told him as he squirted something into the bath, causing soapy bubbles to form on the water's surface. Chris grinned. They were even better than the ones in the ocean.

"So, you sit in it?" Chris asked in wonder.

"That's right," Richard nodded, before shooting Chris a look, "You're so strange Christopher. It's like you've never seen any of this stuff before."

It's because I haven't, Chris thinks, but he's excited to try out the bath anyway.

"Excellent," Chris nodded, barely listening to Richard anymore. He couldn't wait to try out the bath.

Richard turned the tap off and explained to Chris how to get in. Richard said something to him as he left, but Chris was too transfixed by the bath at that point to notice.

Removing the towel that the guys had lent him, he climbed into the bath. As he'd discovered when he'd put his finger in, the water was warm, and the bubbles rose over the top of the tub and tickled at his toes. He smiled, it was like being in a miniature version of the sea. He frowned, perhaps not as good, but it would do while he was on land.

He closed his eyes and he could picture all the color and life that the ocean world had to offer. He was reminded of sitting on the golden towers of his home with his best friend, Luna, as they watched the other merpeople go about their business. He missed her already. He wondered how long it would be before he saw her again. He hadn't even had a chance to say goodbye to her. He wondered what they'd told her. He couldn't have stayed there though, not after what happened.

"I brought you some towels, so... uh, Christopher, what the heck is that?"

Chris opened his eyes. His eyes instantly went to the doorway where Richard stood with a shocked expression on his face. What was his problem? He followed the boy's gaze to find a large scarlet fin sticking out the other end of the tub.

His tail had miraculously returned, and Richard was staring right at it.