Prodding

She heard three quick taps, the sound very familiar to her at this point. She quickly finished up the unlucky little fish that had been unfortunate enough to end up as her morning meal before darting upwards, her tail allowing her to reach speeds far faster than any two-legs could ever hope to achieve.

It only took a dozen seconds for her to reach the little passageway that allowed her to go into the upper floor. She didn't hesitate to pass through it, easily arriving into the waters above.

She could see the food-bringer waiting over on the non-water section, along with his two newest lackeys. She waved her hand at them, just like the food-bringer always did to her, before swimming over towards the edge of the water section.

Suprisingly, however, it wasn't the food-bringer that approached her, but instead, it was one of his lackeys. The foreign two-legs spoke a few words that she didn't understand to her food-bringer before walking over to her, practically bouncing on his feet.

He crouched at the edge of the water-section, right where she herself was waiting. She eyed him suspiciously, sinking a bit deeper into the water, ready to dart if the foreign two-legs did anything she didn't like.

The man extended his hand towards her, palm side up. He even went as far as putting his hand under the water, something the food-bringer rarely ever did.

She looked at it with suspicion for a while, but it didn't take long for her curiosity to win over her developing cautiousness. She slowly swam towards the hand, sniffing it a bit. There was a lingering smell of food on it, just like the food-bringer's hand. Maybe he was a new food-bringer?

She looked up at him, trying to understand what this new possible food-bringer wanted. The man let out a smile, retracting his hand before taking out a familiar plastic bag with a delicious aroma drifting from it.

Although... The aroma did feel a bit different than usual. Still, her nose wouldn't lie. She knew it was food, so she eagerly awaited his commands.

"Hm... Mr. Castle, what level is her understanding of the English language?" The new food-bringer asked as he turned to face the old food-bringer. The old one responded back from his position over at the dry area, although the meaning of his words still eluded her.

"I see... Circle." The new food-bringer ordered, observing her with cynical curiosity. She disengaged from the edge of the pool and darted away, swimming around the entire perimeter of the full-water section before returning to her starting point, her eyes fixed onto the plastic bag in his hands.

"Alright, alright. Here you go, cutie." The food-bringer laughed as he dug into the bag, fishing out a turkey leg before throwing it into the water in front of him.

She didn't immediately bite into the new food, instead choosing to first grab it and sniff it. The smell was decent, and although it was different than her usual food, it didn't seem undigestible.

She bit into it, her teeth easily piercing through the tougher-than-usual bones. She tore away pieces of flesh and bone by shaking her head side-to-side, and before long, the entire leg had been devoured, not even leaving a scrap behind.

"Hoh, so you do like that, huh? Interesting, interesting. Now... How about... Jump." He said while holding his chin, his eyes looking at her like a more and more interesting test subject.

With little fanfare, she dived down to the bottom of the water before swimming up as fast as she could, breaking through the water and going up several meters before falling down. The landing didn't really hurt her thanks to the toughness of her skin, and considering how quick and easy this exercise was, it was one of her favorites.

"Good, good. Mr. Castle, you've truly been teaching her well, haven't you? Alright, here you go, girlie." He said, the smile on his face only continuing to grow. He took out another piece of food from his bag, and this time, it was a medium-sized piece of bread.

He handed it to the eager mermaid, who took it carefully from his hands. She sniffed at the strange food, but unlike before, the smell wasn't appetizing... at all.

She still bit into it, only to make a disgusted face and immediately let go of the bread. She glanced up at the new food-bringer, then back at the bread, then back at the man before simply letting the bread go, allowing it to sink down into the water.

"Hey now, if you don't like it, that's fine, but don't just waste it like that. Here, take this." The man reprimanded, handing over another turkey leg. She sniffed it, recognizing it as the first piece of food, before treating it to the same procedure as said first piece of food had to go through.

She let out a satisfied smile after finishing her meal, looking up at the man above her. He continued to rub his chin before turning and shouting at the only remaining non-food-bringer. The man yelled back some more of their strange words she could not understand before he too approached her.

With two people hovering so close to her, she felt a bit uncomfortable, but she could deal with it... Well, sort of. She retreated further into the water, once more eyeing the two men above her with suspicion.

"She's rather cautious when it comes to humans. Does she have trauma or something? No, that wouldn't be right, she opened up too fast for that... What happened to you?" The new food-bringer asked, looking at her weirdly. His eyes practically bore into her, making her rather uncomfortable.

She didn't answer, obviously. She could understand basic commands, but conversations were still beyond her. Instead, she waited for the two men to just give her a command and so they would just feed already. She was still quite hungry, after all, and they'd interrupted her in the middle of her hunt.

"Come here." The second man, the non-food giver, suddenly said as he patted the ground in front of him. She blinked at him, not understanding the command. He repeated the motion a few times, beckoning her towards him. She hesitated, not quite trusting him enough to be next to him...

In the end, her hunger won out, so she cautiously swam over until she was right in front of them, her head hidden just beneath the water's surface.

The man tried to reach out his hand towards her head, but she wouldn't have that. Her food-bringer could do it, but that was different. Inwardly, she viewed the man as a sort of father-figure, or at least a master-figure. However, this man was naught but a stranger.

The man recoiled when a hiss escaped from the mermaid below them, her sharp, dangerous teeth bared for all to see. The hiss alone was enough to cause the three men in the room a rather painful headache, and without waiting, the mermaid vanished underwater, escaping to the deepest part of the pool.

"Ouch... You weren't lying when you said that her voice was a weapon in and of itself, huh..." Mr. Jiron commented as he rubbed his temples, watching the faint outline of the mermaid that had escaped.

"Indeed... Mr. Huerto, may I ask why you felt the need to provoke my charge?" Marcus asked as he stared at the handsome man, who simply shrugged uncaringly.

"Do not worry, Mr. Castle. We were simply trying to test her reactions to different personalities, and observe how she interacted. We're just trying to get a feel for her personality, so please, do not worry." Mr. Jiron said, trying to assuade any worry that Marcus may have had.

"Very well. I have several appointments set up for the rest of the day, so I will leave the rest to you. Do try to follow the schedule we set up, yes?" Marcus finally said after a few moments of tense silence.

Without waiting for a reply, he turned on his heel and walked out of the room, heading out towards the rest of the compound. The two remaining men watched him leave, and when he was gone, they turned to each other.

"Alright, brother. Let's get this show on the road, I suppose." Mr. Jiron said. The handsome man nodded before heading towards Marcus' office. He wasn't the expert in this situation, so really, he was just there to help his brother with this interesting job, so it was only to be expected for him to act as an aid.

Mr. Jiron turned to face the large pool once more, staring directly at the little mermaid hidden within. His lips curled up, his desire to understand the strange human-fish hybrid only continuing to increase as he interacted with her.

And he would understand, for come hell or high water, he wasn't known as the number one mutant expert for nothing.