Hello

Chapter 1

Objectively speaking, Percy knows he doesn't have it all that bad. Officially, he got rescued, taken out of the tiny aquarium they had kept him in and brought to a centre for wild animals that offers much more space and far better conditions than he had before. Why they couldn't release him back into the sea though is a mystery to Percy.

He knows he's not the only merfolk in captivity, and that there are still a lot of his kin living in zoos that treat them awfully, but even his large container cannot compare to life in the open sea. Percy is much smarter than his keepers give him credit for, he understands that they don't free him because he is what brings enough profit in to keep the rest of the centre running, and a part of Percy understands that many of the animals that are kept here really have no better option. For the most part, he is just pouting because no one gave him a choice in the matter.

The best part about being here isn't the large aquarium that actually allows him to get some exercise, or the fact that they give him things to chase and play with, or even his trainer Will who Percy has grown rather fond of, no, the best part are the visitors. There is nothing that can give Percy more joy than seeing the tiny, chubby faces of curious children pressed against the outside of the cool glass, trying to stop him in the dark. Nothing better than the way they shriek in excitement when they see his scales shine when he rushes past or how they jump and squeak when Percy stops just short of the glass and whirls up the sand around him before he disappears again. Nothing better, but their teacher.

The first time Percy noticed the man was during his first week in the exhibit. He was still really moody about the whole 'rescuing means putting me into a bigger tank' business, so for the most part of the day, he would be lurking in the darkness where the many passing visitors couldn't see him. That was until the soft sound of someone tapping against the glass echoed through the water. Percy's hearing in water is excellent, it didn't even take him a second to figure out that it was a repetitive rhythm. He listened curiously, slowly floating closer to the glass wall where the noise came from. It had been years then since Percy had been in the open sea the last time, the last time since he heard the echo of ships communicating with one another, but Percy would always recognise morse code.

The light from above caught on one of Percy's fins, reflected and glittering green in the dark. Percy's sight was much better than a human's, and even though they could barely see anything but the outline of his fin so far, Percy could already spot the first small faces pressing their noses flat to the barrier between themselves and the water. The tapping continued, but none of the children was doing it, all of them too transfixed on making sneaking another glance at the merman hidden in the darkness. Percy grinned, sharp teeth flashing wide, as he finally spotted the source of the noise. At the very left of the crowd, a tall blond man leaned against the glass, eyes darting between the kids he was obviously watching and the tank. Again, his fingers tapped out the one word against the glass.

Not wanting to scare him away, Percy approached the glass slowly. This man was the first person to actually seek out contact to him apart from the keepers and trainers he's had over the years, and Percy couldn't deny feeling more than a little delighted. He didn't miss the way the children gasped before they all fell quiet as soon as Percy got close enough to actually be seen, and even the man's eyes widened considerably. One of the boys reached for the man's hand, another child, a girl, hid behind his leg even though she was still peeking curiously at Percy. It almost made Percy smile and, on a whim, he decided to wave at her before closing the distance to the glass wall. It was eerily quiet outside the tank now, the only faint sound Percy could hear was people's breathing, and he reached out to tap the glass where the man's hand was still resting against.

Hello.

The blonde's eyes flitted between Percy's face and his finger against the glass, and Percy's smile turned a little smug when he realised he had shocked him too much to even react. Percy waved at the little girl again that seemed much braver than before, pressed against the glass again with the widest grin on her face, then he pushed himself off the glass and rolled back, disappearing back where he was hidden with just one curl of his tail.