Garroth had his glasses and hat on, walking in between Vylad and Aphmau who also has sunglasses on to not make him look suspicious. Aaron and Katelyn walked in front of the small group, keeping an eye on the officers that littered the streets every once and a while. The tension of the group though had completely washed away from Garroth, being amazed by the things around him. He watched as cars zoomed by, children running with beach balls and other toys, and bikers ride past. It was all so new to him and Aphmau could see the wonder in his eyes, even under the sunglasses. She tried to hold back her laughter as he continued to be astonished at every day things to her.

"What's so funny?", Garroth asked, seeing past her attempts. She only shook her head, forcing out; "N-Nothing. It's just cute to see you so blown away by all of this!"

Garroth felt himself blush a bit by the comment but, just smiled back at her and continued on. They eventually made it to the boardwalk and Aaron was right when the place was packed with guards. The group came up to some steps, two officers stopping them.

"Excuse me sir,", One of them said, looking directly at Aaron. He held up a picture of him, asking; "Is this you?"

Aaron had nothing else to say besides yes so, the officer than asked to Aphmau; "Are you Miss Aphmau?"

Garroth looked down at her again, concerned for her. She bit her lip and replied; "Yes sir."

"I'm sure you're aware of what's going on," one of the officers began, "the specimen you and your team were working on has disappeared from the research center and we were asked to question you due to your recent request to resign and your apparent...attachment to it."

Aphmau and Aaron glanced at each other nervously but, Aphmau spoke up first. "R-Really? I had no idea! That's awful! What can we do to help?"

"Well, we were wondering if you knew anything. We stopped by both of your homes and your families said that they had no clue on the matter."Aphmau was surprised to hear that Ein had no sly remarks about her but, she decided that part of it may have been censored due to them not wanting too much information to slip. "We are suspicious though as to why you were gone last night from your homes. Care to tell us more?"

"Well, we..." Aphmau began, trying to think of something but, Vylad stepped in and said; "They were at my place sir. We all decided to get together and hang out last night. It got a bit crazy and we figured that we should practice safe driving tactics."

The officers seemed to believe it...somewhat but, asked anyway; "Who are you three?"

"Crap!" is all Aphmau could think of. They had no clue what to say for Garroth. Vylad and Katelyn decided to introduce themselves first while she came up with a plan. When it came time to Garroth though, he came up with it himself. He let out his hand, shaking the officer's informing her "I'm Rowan, ma'am. I'm the half-brother of Vylad and a close friend of Aaron and Aphmau."

"I see,", She replied, scanning him over. "Well...I guess that's all we needed to ask you for now. Have a nice day."

With that the two left, letting the group pass through. Vylad erupted with absolute excitement. "That was awesome Garroth! You were so calm up there!"

The blonde thanked his training in the guard academy back at home for his mannerisms and social cues with an officer. The group though was still really impressed by his ability to come up with something on the spot. After the quick exchange though, Aphmau tugged at Garroth's arm saying; "Well Rowan, we have to show you the whole boardwalk now and get you a tacky tourist t-shirt!"

"O-Okay!", Garroth stuttered our shyly, his blush returning when her arm wrapped around his'. The group only snickered to themselves, seeing how surprised the blonde was acting to the short girl's energy. The guy had to admit though...she was a firecracker for a "4'11" girl.

•••

The rest of the day was great. Except for a little mishap where they accidentally walked into a seafood place, exposing Garroth to the fine cuisine of the beach. He didn't mind too much though, knowing that this was their reality. Yet, his stomach still rolled slightly thinking about being someone's dinner. Now, they were in  a common merchandise store, Aphmau searching the racks for a cool t-shirt for Garroth.

"Aph...I don't think I need a t-shirt,", The blonde chuckled to which he was only shushed by the woman. She pulled out an cool looking Phoenix Drop beach t-shirt with a red crab logo on the front pocket. The design was enlarged on the back as well. "Here! What do you think?"

Garroth wasn't going to lie that he thought it looked really nice. He wasn't used to clothing have intricate designs like this. The most merfolk would have for their appearance was their tails...but they were set with that for life. He found it so interesting that all humans had a specific style according to them. "I love it! But I-"

"Nope! I'm getting it for you!", The short girl insisted, marching up to the cashier. The blonde was left there in disbelief as Aaron came up to him, patting him on the shoulder. "She's like that bud...don't be too shocked."

"I just feel bad,", He admitted. "I don't think I'll wear once I go home."

"Well...maybe as a keepsake?", Aaron suggested. "Just to have?"

The blonde smiled, nodding his head, liking the idea. Vylad came up to the two and said; "Guys! They have a three for one deal on caps! Would you guys want one if I bought the one?"

Meanwhile, Aphmau was paying for the t-shirt while Katelyn joined her. As the cashier was getting her change, Katelyn whispered; "How's it going?"

Confused, Aphmau asked; "What do you mean?"

The blunette playfully rolled her eyes and said; "You know...how's the relationship with Princy over there going?"

Aphmau face heated up in embarrassment as she sputtered out; "K-Katelyn it's not like that! We're just r-really good friends!"

"That's what everyone says but, you know it's true! You both really like each other, I can tell,", She smirked as Aphmau got her bag and change. Aphmau huffed and reiterated; "It's not like that and besides..." She looked up at him and they made eye contact, them both smiling at each other.

"He doesn't belong here."

Word Count: 1131

I'm gonna try to bang out another chapter tonight so stay tuned!