Snippet #1474090

Adam was at least thankful for the fact that hissing was the worst of Nerin’s comeback. He was just wondering at the clear warmth in her voice as she turned to the boy when they were interrupted—the two of them rushed away to the opposite end of the tank and Adam turned too, one hand still holding the rung, the other falling to one side as he leaned out to see what was being towed in.

His eyebrows rose. It was the kit for transferring sea creatures around the aquarium—a shallow tarpaulin hammock inside of a metal box of water. For a moment he wondered if they were going to take the merfolk away when he realised that no, they were bringing something in.

The fluty, canorous sound that Nerin made—and was echoed from within the box—confirmed it. Adam was fascinated by this platform of communication but he didn’t have long to dwell on it. The big boy scientists were here and doubtless they had plans. Adam would have loved to stay to see what was going on but he decided on one thing at a time; food. If the child was hungry, he’d see what he could do. Nerin had mentioned fish and squid… well, he’d have to see what he could do about that. He certainly wasn’t feeding them any of his sea babies.

Leaving the team of scientists to do their thing, Adam slid down the ladder and walked across the room, walking faster as he reached the door and practically powering out of the place. He was still a little dizzy at what had passed—him! Little old him being one of the first people to interact with the merfolk. He was so preoccupied that his characteristic clumsiness decided to kick in and he practically fell into someone moments later.

Someone familiar.

“Nausicaa!” he said; he shouldn’t have been surprised, really, seeing as news of the merfolk had already leaked, but he was caught short in any case. Just seeing the creatures had made him unbelievably happy, let alone talking to them! He was grinning like a fool. And of course, his mind had gone to Nausicaa almost immediately after their discovery. Which was why, to complete his greeting, he simply blurted—“Mermaids!”

Eloquence wasn’t exactly a vital trait for a scientist, luckily for him.