The guards were visibly agitated by her statement, but they sighed. "Fine. Don't fall in." The two guards shuffled out of the room, back out the password and keycard-coded door.

As soon as they did, the merman visibly relaxed a bit more. He swam up closer to the surface, just a bit closer. There was a wary, but curious, look on his face.

She grinned a little sticking her tongue out at the guards, a little happy that they actually did leave. She turned back to the merman before offering a small smile, offering the still squirming fish. It was a bit hard to keep her grip on it, but luckily it wasn't that big a fish. "Sorry about them." she said, not sure why exactly she was apologizing, but she felt she had to. She leaned down a little more so it'd be a bit closer to his reach, keeping a hand on the railing so she wouldn't slip and fall in the water. "Are you hungry?"

The merman finally breached the surface, poking his head up above the water. He was a few feet away. He looked completely human, except for the fact that he had a tail.

"...Why are speaking to me like I'm one of you? I'm just an animal to all of you."

He had an alto-tenor voice, a soft and rumbling one. But he definitely knew English.

Lyra raised an eyebrow. "Hey hey. Don't blame Every single human for what these idiots did and think." she retorted, though her tone wasn't one of anger, just calm. She almost chuckled after a second. "But, I was speaking to you in that way because I'm not going to call you names. That would be rude, in any culture or species." she said easily enough. "Have they heard you speak?" she asked curiously. She had forgotten to ask about that, but she was sure the man would have mentioned something about it.

"Of course not," he grumbled. "I wouldn't give them that pleasure. They don't deserve my words." He looked like he seriously had his feathers fluffed out--he was irritated. Very irritated. However, his eyes were set on the squirming fish. It seemed like he was hungry, of course. He hadn't said anything about a name...

Lyra grinned somewhat and gave a small laugh at his words. "Ah, that is great." she said but then chuckled as she calmed down, shaking her head. "Sorry, wasn't laughing at you. A very good thing you didn't let them hear you. Otherwise, the guy would've wanted you to say some things to the crowd." she said, smiling before offering him the fish by letting it drop as close to him as she could. Looking at the merman still a couple feet away from her, she tilted her head, curiosity in her eyes. "What's your name? Mine is Lyra."

The merman finally swept into action, quickly capturing the fish as it dove underwater and snapping its spine. The crowd below, who could see it, oohed and ahhed at the action. The merman popped back up after a moment, the fish in his hands.

"...Léandre. Léan, for short..."

Lyra blinked, a little amazed at how fast he'd gotten the fish. She glanced down to where the crowd was before looking back at him. Happy to have finally gotten something other than, 'the merman' she nodded her head lightly, almost in a semi bow as she smiled. "Nice to meet you. So, Léan or Léandre then? Have you ever been called Andre?" She had asked before she could stop herself.

He seemed to bristle a bit. "Léan is good. Andre...no..." He nibbled on the fish, organs and all. It seemed he ate every part of the fish. Scales...skin...tail...fins...eyes...everything. He ignored the crowd egging him on to do it again. He didn't want to do anything for them...

She smirked somewhat and nodded. It seemed she wasn't at all bothered from him eating the whole fish. Though she did have to wonder if it tasted good even with the bones. "Wasn't gonna call you Andre. Just asked if anyone ever did call you that." she said, almost teasingly before shaking her head, taking another slightly larger fish from the bucket and offering the wriggling fish to him, also ignoring the crowd. "Still hungry?"

Léan munched up the fish, leaving some of the harder bones alone. He set these on the railing, understanding that he didn't want to get this tank dirty if he was going to be forced to live in here. He backed up, tail flicking in anticipation. He liked catching live fish. "Quite."

Looking at the bones he didn't eat she looked a little relieved. So he couldn't eat all the bones. That was slightly better. She had seen some people eat small bones, and that was fine sometimes as long as you didn't choke. At his reply, and reaction she smiled and tossed the fish in the water, watching it try and swim away from them. "Just tell me when you don't want any more alright?"

With ease, Léan chased after the fish, eventually catching it in his mouth and swimming up to the surface. Humanely, he snapped its spine before he ate it. "Why are you up here?" he asked suddenly, warily. "You are obviously not one of the employees."

Lyra made her self a bit more comfortable by sitting down. "The manager offered to let me give you food, since I kept asking questions." she said, shrugging a shoulder as she leaned an arm back, looking at him before looking at the other fish, poking one a little as she chuckled. "If I were an employee, I'd probably have sabotaged this whole thing, maybe even smuggled you out of here." she said, a little thoughtfully to his comment about her not being one. After making sure he was almost done with that fish, she grabbed another fish and waited until he would be done before she dropped it in.

Léan frowned at the mention of the manager as he finished his fish. "That man needs some quality time with a large great white..." he muttered, then, suddenly, he perked up. "...Smuggle me out..." His tail started to swish back and forth, excitedly. "Is there...a way for you to do that?"

She smirked wryly, agreeing with him on the shark idea. "I'd offer to send him off, but I'd be afraid for the shark's stomach." Lyra muttered, slightly joking. Her ears perked a little and tilted her head at his question. He did seem excited about the idea, though she wasn't sure how to work that out. "I'm not sure. If I can somehow find a way to get the password they have on the door, and the key card thingy sure. I'd be glad to do so." she said with a small smile. Her grip slipped a little on the fish and it managed to escape her grasp to the water. Her eyes watched it and then looked back to Léan. "Are you left alone at closing time?"

"0211."

Léan's voice sounded confident. "That is the password for the door...I believe...I heard the guards in here talking about it earlier, when they last brought fish in for me. I do not know how to get a key card, though..." He frowned at this.

Her expression brightened lightly at the mention of the password. "Well, that helps. Part of it is done. As for the key card..." she smirked lightly, tilting her head as the start of a plan worked it's way in her mind. "There might be a couple of ways. Among them include your satisfaction of dunking one of the guards." she offered sweetly.

Léan's tail flicked back and forth, plotting as well. It seemed that even though he was acting somewhat friendly, he wouldn't get or stay too close to her. Understandable, considering what he'd been through. "I would like to see that happen. Go with whatever idea you please."

----------

((Hey, I'll be back...I'm off to my family thing. :3))

She nodded and bit her lip. "What do you think of a simple but classic, 'drag down, guards rush in to 'help' and somehow manage to get the key card once they're distracted' plan?" she asked thoughtfully. Lyra looked from the corner of her eyes at the door, wondering if they would really come in. They had to. Since, they couldn't afford a lawsuit or any sort of accidents. There was the slight risk of him being harmed though. "Well, you'll be trying to drag me down, or actually doing it, and when they come in, you can drag down one of the guards if you'd like." she explained. That way, while the guard is underwater, under all the confusion and such, she or he could grab the card.

( Alright then. Have fun! X3 )

Léan's tail swished back and forth, and he eyed her thoughtfully. "That works." He paused, and then a devilish grin graced his features. "May I bite him?" He flashed pointed, razor-sharp teeth at her. He was obviously very agitated by the guards, and all of the employees in general.

She smirked but bit her lip again, thinking wondering if that would be a good idea. After a moment she nodded. "Well, you can bite him, but just be careful not to get hurt in the process yourself." she warned. The last thing they wanted was the security to be upped, and also for him to be hurt, thus causing a small problem in moving him. She knew that the only chance for smuggling him out would be at night. After the aquarium closed, but the problem would be how to transport a merman out of the aquarium. "How did they bring you in?" she asked curiously.

"I will be careful. And they brought me in blindfolded. It felt like they placed me on some sort of purring creature...that was cold, and made beeping noises." Léan was referring to some sort of car or truck. He ducked underwater and finally went after the fish that had escaped, catching it with ease and bringing it back to the surface.

"Alright. And did they?" She asked, wondering if it was a big one, or with water in it for him, though the man had said Léan could last for a while without it. "Well...Thank goodness we brought a minivan." she muttered before brushing back a piece of hair. They had the means to get him away from the aquarium. The password and maybe the key card. She could probably sneak outside with the card. They'd have to disguise themselves to be unnoticed by cameras. That was where her friends would come in. It paid to have a clepto as a friend, even if she'd have to beg. Waiting for him to return to the surface with the fish she offered a small smile. "I might have to put you in a semi cramped space to get you out of the tank and to the car. Are you claustrophobic?"

"Claustro...what, now?" Human terms, most of them anyway, were alien to him. "Car? I don't mind a semi-cramped space as long as I can see where I am," Léan amended, nodding. He snapped the fish's spine and started to nibble on it, half-content. These weren't his favorite kind of fish, and he really missed having his favorite fish.

((Hey, I'm gonna head to bed...it's late here.))