Aquarium

She was uncomfortable. She could feel what the food-bringer called air being far too close to her for her to feel fully comfortable, and she also felt cramped. Still, despite all of that, she couldn't help but keep swiveling her head around as she took in all the new sights.

There were so many two-legs around, and so many new sounds! There were strange hallways for her to gawk at, new smells for her to take in, and so many other things she simply could not comprehend.

It was a bit daunting though since practically all the two-legged people insisted on staring at her, whispering things to each other that she could not understand. She even felt some hostility from some of them, although it was limited and well hidden.

Still, it wasn't enough to deter her. She was practically hanging off the sedge of her seat the entire time, her head constantly dunking back underwater to 'take a breath' so to speak, before shooting right back out to get a better view.

She heard the food-bringer chuckle behind her, causing her to turn around and look up at him, trying to decipher the strange noise.

The large man just smirked at her tilted head and confused expression, once more making noises she mostly could not understand. "You look like a country bumpkin coming into a city, kiddo. I bet you're gonna get some fans soon, too."

She just blinked at him, deciding that his strange two-legged ways were too incomprehensible for her. Then, she just turned back and continued gawking at everything.

It was a bit annoying that she could only stay above water for twenty or so seconds at most, but she wasn't really too bothered by it since, for her, it was just how things were. It was a classic case of 'ignorance is bliss', something that fit the young mermaid rather well.

She heard one of the other two-legs speaking to her food-bringer, something that made her rather curious since they'd been silent for a while. "Sir, we're almost there. We'll need to take the elevator though, it's on the lowest floor and I don't think using the stairs would be a good idea."

Her food-bringer nodded, not even bothering to look at the speaker, nevermind answer. She stared innocently at the two, one looking torn between embarrassment and anger and the other just looking bored.

When the food-bringer noticed her stare, he just gave her a sly smile before continuing to ignore the poor man. Once again, the young mermaid was forced to shove the situation into the 'weird two-legged things' folder in her mind.

Her food-bringer and his fellow two-legged lackeys remained silent for the rest of their 'journey', other than one time where her food-bringer barked in that harsh tone he's used once when she'd messed up one of his games. He'd done it because one of the two-legs had tried to come a bit too close to her, something she clearly hadn't liked and hadn't been afraid to make known as she bared her teeth and hissed.

"Alright... We won't all fit in there. You two girls, go back to whatever you were doing, and you two, help me put this thing in there without breaking anything." The food-bringer said suddenly as he pushed her uncomfortable yet livable home towards a wall. She tilted her head as his four lackeys scrambled, two going back the way they'd come from, and two going towards the wall.

Then, like magic, the wall parted open, revealing a squared space within. She wasn't too surprised though, since she'd seen things like that before, even if not exactly equivalent.

However, when the food-bringer started pushing her tiny cage towards it, she started to get restless. She let out a small whine, trying to back away from the thing, not liking the idea of being confined in such a small space while already stuck in a cage barely bigger than her.

"Shh... It's alright. Be good." Her food-bringer said, not calming her down in the slightest. Still, his stern glare did stop her from trying to scratch at the cage around her.

She huffed and huddled on the floor of her little cage, submerging her whole body. The food-bringer gave her one of his 'really?' looks, raised eyebrow and all, before turning towards one of his two lackeys and asking, "Alright. Floor seven?"

"No, sir. Floor eight." The woman answered, tapping three times in rapid succession the seventh-floor button. She couldn't see as well underwater as she could above, but even there, she could see the blue light shining briefly from the button before the walls began to close.

She panicked briefly, her tail lashing out by instinct. Thankfully for the two-legs around her, the cage was rather sturdy, so other than a small 'oof' uttered from her food-bringer as he was forced to endure a sudden shoving of the cart into his belly, nothing happened.

"Be careful." He barked at her, glaring at her. She shrinked back, curling up on the floor as she looked at him with pitiful eyes. The man just sighed, combing his slick hair with one hand.

"Sir... I don't mean to intrude, but wouldn't it be better if she wore one of the collars?" One of the food-bringer's lackeys suddenly said, causing said food-bringer's head to swivel around and glare at the foul-mouthed woman.

"Those cursed things? Who do you take me for? We're not here to enslave, we're here to train. I don't care how the other two managers handle their mutants, but I do things MY way, understood?" He barked, causing both the mermaid and the woman to metaphorically jump.

"I-I didn't mean it that way! My apologies!" She quickly backtracked, going as far as bowing along with her apology.

He gave her another stink-eye but didn't elaborate on it as the walls finished closing. Suddenly, the room began to fall.

The young mermaid screamed in terror, the strange sensation of falling yet not falling terrorizing her. The three two-legs in the room with her grasped their heads almost simultaneously, groaning at the sudden yet very painful headache they'd just received.

She would've kept screaming, but the food-bringer's hand lashed out, bopping her on the head hard enough to cause her to shut her mouth. She stared at him with wobbly lips, feeling as though she would start crying while she rubbed her head.

"Shut up, would you? Your voice hurts for some forsaken reason." The food-bringer sighed before turning once more to his lackeys. "How long is the ride again?"

"Not very, sir. We should-- Ah, here we are." The woman commented dully as they came to an abrupt stop,

"Hm." The food-bringer hummed noncommittally, appearing rather uncaring. Although, unknown to the three females in the elevator with him, he did indeed feel a bit sheepish at his pointless question.

After the three managed to wrangle out the mermaid and her box out of the elevator, they were greeted by a sight that was nothing short of amazing. The two women had been here before, so their reactions were lessened, but Marcus' and the mermaids weren't.

There was a gigantic glass circle in the middle of a room hundreds of meters in diameter, and within it, there was a miniature ecosystem. Small fish swam around, corals littered the floor and walls, and other sea creatures could be seen here and there.

A spiraling stairway circled the aquarium, leading all the way to the roof, which, unknown to the two newcomers, contained a specially made area designed exclusively for the young mermaid to be trained in.

The young mermaid's eyes were practically glued to the construct, her hands absentmindedly scratching at the glass as she eagerly tried to push the glass forward, something that broke her handler out of his reverie. He smiled slightly at the sight of the extremely eager mermaid in front of him before turning to the two women who'd taken the time to walk over to a side of the room.

"Where can we put her in?" He asked. The whole thing was clearly far, far more than he'd ever expected, and he knew that he'd be struggling for a long time to repay the favor given to him. With this, not only would it likely solve the problem of finding the mermaid a suitable and enjoyable habitat, but it would also serve him well in showcasing his own power since it would now technically belong to him.

"There's a training area above, sir. She can enter and exit from there, although I suggest just carrying her up there without the carrier." One of the two women said. Marcus kept looking at her for a second, his eyes narrowing, before turning back towards the mermaid, a thoughtful look appearing on his face.

"... No. I don't want to risk it. Let's dump the wheels, but we'll need to carry the box. Help me out, would you?" He asked, secretly enjoying the frowns emerging on both of the women's faces.

"... Yes, sir." They eventually forced out, evidently unhappy at being forced to do yet more hard labor. Together, they managed to disengage the box from its wheels, and after quite a bit of coordinating and Marcus forcing the mermaid to stand still, they started the long trek up the twisting stairs.

"... It's beautiful. Little mermaid, do you--... That sounds bad. I really need to name you soon." Marcus chuckled, interrupting his rant before it took off.

"She doesn't have a name yet, sir?" One of the women asked between her huffing and panting. After all, a glass of water weighted practically nothing, but carrying a box of water along with a mermaid in it... Well, it wasn't very light.

Finally, a stressing and tiring five minutes later, they finally managed to reach the top. It was a whole other floor in and of itself, and as they entered it, Marcus couldn't help but be even more impressed.

There was a fully aquatic area where the mermaid could live in, a half-and-half area, and a fully dry area. Each part had its own systems to keep them clean and nice, and he could even spot an empty office off to the side, presumably for himself.

"Well... damn." He said. The area was still rather bare-bones, unlike the aquarium down below, but that was to his liking, as he could customize it himself.

The shrill sound of scratching glass broke him out of his thoughts and dragged his attention to the mermaid, who was looking at him with wide, eager eyes. He let out a huff of laughter before he began pushing the box towards the water area, ignoring the panting women since he didn't need their help anymore.

When he finally reached it, he didn't interfere as the mermaid dragged herself out of the cramped box and crawled forward using her claws. When she reached the water's edge, she slipped in head first, her tail vanishing naught but a moment later.

Finally, now that she was gone, Marcus allowed himself to sit down, heaving a tired breath. He wasn't even in his forty's yet, and he already felt far too old for this kind of thing.

Although... judging from the dead-tired women, he was still in better shape than most, something that allowed him to smile in pride... secretly, of course.