-Oliver-

Glaring down at the fish, I let my eyes rise slightly to Callem's, then Lyrics. I knew what those words meant, at least to Callem, and whether he explained it to Lyric or not, I wasn't interested in checking. Instead of accepting the fish, I stood and began speaking as I headed inside.

"Eat it. I don't want it."

I knew it would likely hurt the mer's feelings, but he'd get over it. It wasn't like he was going to be staying here, like Mellac or Callem had. He was going back home, likely tomorrow morning, and would forget all about me soon enough.

Back inside, I headed for the kitchen and grabbed a bag of Goldfish crackers from the cabinet above the stove. Once I had the bag open and a handful of fish in my mouth, I hopped over to the sofa and dropped down beside Parker. We both had our gazes on the television, but the shouting in the room behind us was what had our attention and left an unsettling feeling in the air.

"They're really going at it..." I mumbled as I tossed another handful of goldfish into my mouth. Parker grinned and rolled his shoulders.

"I probably should go break them up, but each time I try, they're either already at 'it' or Jayson is storming out."

I nodded, my focus on the sound of stomping feet heading toward the living room.

Guess it was going to be the 'storming out' solution this time.

"So uh... they're lovers, or?"

Parker snorted, taking a drink from the glass beer bottle I hadn't noticed in his left hand.

"More like enemies with benefits."

Okay, that was pretty funny, but I kept my smirk inside as Jayson stomped through the room and into the kitchen. The sound of clinking beer bottles told me his plan was likely to get smashed until he passed out.

That definitely didn't sound like a bad idea, but I was supposed to stay dry... and they didn't need to know that I'd drunk myself to sleep after I got home from the hospital.

The memory of the mer in my dreams popped into my head suddenly, making me squirm on the sofa until I felt Parker's eyes on me.

"What's wrong, Oliver?"

I fidgeted, really not wanting to actually say what had happened, in fear that it might have actually been real.

But you know it's real. Your back door has slash marks in it that are hard to ignore.

"Well... uhm. When I came home from the hospital..."

He stared at me, calm and patient. The guy had a knack for just dragging things out of you that you never intended to say or do. It was just his kind personality that did it.

"I drank when I got back bu—"

"Oliver!"

His angry shout cut me off, making me flinch and shrink back into the sofa a little.

"I-I know. It was stupid, but hear me out first, okay?"

He didn't seem pleased, especially if the look on his face and crossing his arms over his chest had anything to do with it, but thankfully he shut his mouth and let me finish speaking.

"I got drunk and passed out. Then I had this weird dream. There was this guy outside by the river in the back. I got up off the sofa, thinking I was awake, and ran outside to go check on him since he was lying facedown near the rushing current."

The door to the patio slid open, then closed, but neither of us bothered looking up to see who had come in, figuring it was just Lyric or Callem.

"When I helped turn the guy over to try to see if he was okay, he told me something was our fault. That we were poison."

Parker tilted his head, raising a brow in confusion.

"Poison?"

"Yeah, like, us humans. He meant that we were causing problems and poisoning their world or something."

"Ah, I can't argue with that," Parker said, nodding his head. With both of us being marine researchers, we've seen our fair share of sick and injured animals hurt by humans so I knew he understood what the guy had meant.

"What was weird, though, and what I have a feeling wasn't completely a dream, was when he suddenly attacked me. His teeth were all sharpened like a sharks and I could see in the brief moment before I woke up that there were multiple rows. I think... I think he might have been a shark mer."

A scared squeak from near the patio door had both of us jerking our attention in that direction. Lyric was hiding behind Callem, shaking with a hand bunched in the larger mer's sweatshirt. That had Parker getting up and walking over to him as Callem took Lyric into his arms for a hug.

"It's alright, little one. Do you know who Oliver is talking about?"

Ah, good question. There can't be too many mers left, even though the ones we've already found technically aren't supposed to exist.

"I-I..." he whimpered against Callem's shoulder, making the larger mer hug him tighter and begin rubbing his back soothingly.

"We need to know, Lyric, please?" Callem whispered against the smaller mer's hair as he gently moved him around to his front. Lyric took a few moments to compose himself before looking up at Callem with watery eyes.

"I know."

When he paused, Parker settled a hand on his shoulder and smiled, hoping to spur the mer on to continue speaking.

"Lot hurt if s-say..."

We all looked at each other as Lyric buried his face farther against Callem's chest, tears beginning to wet his sweatshirt. I decided to try to get the information out of him since he seemed to want to make me happy after what he'd done. So, steeling my nerves, I got up off the sofa and hopped over to lean near his other side.

"Hey, Lyric?" I said quietly, catching his attention right away as his bright purple eyes turned to meet mine.

"Can you tell me? Just a whisper against my ear?"

His eyes widened, probably from the shock of me actually coming near him willingly, but then he actually shook his head slowly and frowned.

"Much h-hurt. Th-they much hurt Lyric."

Pursing my lips, I heaved a stressed sigh and leaned over, licking his cheek like I'd seen Parker do to Callem a few times when he'd gotten stressed.

"Oliver keep Lyric no hurt," I whispered to him as my left arm wrapped around his shoulders gently. We were all waiting for him to answer, but as the time dragged on, I realized he probably was under a lot of pressure with all of our eyes on him.

"Here, Lyric," I said as I straightened up and opened my arms to him. He looked at me in surprise but was quick to leave the safety of Callem's arms for my own.

"Wanna go soak in the tub for a bit? Your skin looks like it's drying out, sweetie."

He smiled, seemingly excited yet confused. Which he confirmed when he asked me what a tub was.

"Heh, come on. I'll show you."

Lyric didn't hesitate to let me tug him toward the bathroom. I dropped his hand to close the door and turn the light on, then got the water going. He was suddenly beside me as I began to check the water temperature, right hand swatting at the heavy stream of water like a curious cat who didn't understand water equaled bath time.

Hmmm.

"Hey, Lyric?"

He hummed and looked up, catching me a bit by surprise.

That's a really cool sound. Must be something like Callem's screech but different because he's an orca and not a dolphin mer. He also doesn't look stressed anymore, so it's probably a happy sound.

"Check this out."

I grinned and reached over, pulling the notch up to switch the spigot into the showerhead, making it suddenly begin raining down water in the bathtub. Lyric yipped and shrank against the side of the tub, but I could tell, with both of his hands still firm on the edge, that he was interested and still curious.

"It's okay, look."

I swiped at the water, then brought my hand back to muss up his hair, the water making it stick up at odd angles. Lyric didn't seem to care that I had messed up his hair, though. He was too busy grinning as he scrambled into the tub.

"Oliver!" he shouted, moving beneath the spray of water on his hands and knees before turning to lean over the edge of the tub like a dog would, trying to get attention.

"Yes, yes. That's me."

He hummed again and rolled around on the floor of the bathtub, evidently loving the feel of the warm water on his dry skin.

"Feeling better?" I asked with a smile. I had a feeling he would want more water than just a light spray so I carefully lowered myself to the floor and leaned over the edge of the tub to push the drain plug down. The water level began to rise as I leaned back, grinning as I watched Lyric splash around excitedly.

"Oliver play to Lyric?" he asked, peeking over the edge of the pool like a cautious child hoping to hear what he wants but having a feeling it could go either way.

"If I come play, will you talk with me about the shark you know?"

He immediately paled, and I could hear a quiet puff of air leave his blowhole.

"But h-he much h-hurt Lyric for talk..." he whined, obviously worried about being hurt by the shark mer. I didn't want to have to try to guilt him, or heck, I didn't even know if he would understand, but it was worth a try to figure out who that shark was before he could make another appearance.

"Hun, Lyric much hurt Oliver."

His eyes widened and he darted beneath the rising water, blowing out another gust of air from his back that shot a small spray of water into the air right in front of me. I waited a few minutes before he surfaced again and leaned over the side of the tub to nuzzle against my shirt.

"Lyric no mean hurt Oliver."

I gave him a small smile and wrapped my arms around him, using the side of the bathtub to keep myself balanced.

"I know now that you didn't mean to, but you did, Lyric. It hurt a lot."

He started sniffling, making me sigh and grab his shoulders, nudging him back so I could meet his eyes.

"It's okay... but can you please tell me about the shark? Oliver can protect Lyric."

His soft eyes blinked a few times as he looked down, then were on mine again.

"O-Oliver make no hurt t-to Lyric?"

I nodded, squeezing his shoulders for reassurance.

"O-Okay. I-I say to Oliver if no hurt."

Yes!

"Good boy!"

He hummed again, but it wasn't as loud as the others, making me think that he wasn't very happy about having to talk about the shark.

Too bad. I'm nearly panicking just being in here alone with you. Just spill it about the shark!

"H-Hice... Ocar says him Hice."

Hice? His name?

"Is that his name, Lyric?"

He nodded hesitantly, licking his lips.

"Ocar call him Hice."

I smiled and nodded back to him.

"Okay. What do you know about Hice?"

Lyric whined but answered anyway, his voice quiet.

"Hice make for them gone."

Huh? Make... for them? Them? Who's them?

"Who are them, Lyric?"

He pointed at me, but then seemed to sit back and think for a moment before looking back up at me.

"Them. At there!"

I still wasn't really getting what he meant.

"At where, Lyric?"

He bristled, pouting at my obvious lack of understanding.

"Them make for hurt Lyric. Oliver make no hurt for them."

He smiled at the end of that, giving me time to think it through.

Them make for hurt him. So they tried to hurt him... but I made them not hurt him?

Considering I had only known Lyric personally for such a short time, I could only think of one time when I'd stopped people from hurting him.

"You mean the scientists at the lab? The ones who shot the dart at you?"

"Yes!" he shouted, excited that I had finally managed to figure it out.

"Alright, great. So, Hice helps them?"

He nodded again, and I mirrored the action. I was trying to be really careful and not push him too hard too fast so he wouldn't withdraw again, but this was starting to get seriously deep.

"So, what does Hice do for them? You said he make 'gone' for them?"

Another nod, but that didn't really answer my question.

"What does he make gone for them, hun?"

That had him fidgeting, nerves making him duck back underwater for a minute before he resurfaced. Everything about his posture and expression told me not to ask anything further, but this was the information we really needed to know.

"Lyric, sweetie? We need to know, please? Oliver make sure no hurt for Lyric. I won't let Hice hurt you," I said, trying to calm him as I reached out with my hand in a comforting gesture. He didn't hesitate to grab it and hold it to his cheek, nuzzling against my fingers while humming sadly.

"Lyric?"

His eyes lifted to mine wearily before he answered in a hushed tone.

"Oliver see Hice."

I nodded, leaning over to stroke his soft hair with my free hand while balancing on my one good knee.

"When see Hice, them say to Hice make gone."

When see Hice... okay, I saw him, technically. So now the second part. Them say to Hice. So they told him... to make gone?

It didn't take long to process once I broke it down in my head, and the disturbing information had my blood running cold.

"They told him to kill me."