"Merman ?" Skye repeated. "Whoa. And you're real, right ?"

She pinched the back of her hand.

"Well, I'm not dreaming." she said to herself.

Archie blinked, and tilted his head. "Hm?" He was real, obviously. He couldn't find the words to properly respond. He needed English lessons, severely.

Then again, what use did he have for human language? He wasn't human.

Frowning, Skye watched the merman in the water. She sighed.

"You don't belong here." she said, a hint of sadness in her voice. "I probably better let you go."

Feeling the water lapping up against her wrist, she pulled her hand closer to the surface.

The words 'let go,' which he'd learned could mean 'release,' stirred Archie into action. His tail swished back and forth, creating small waves in the water.

"Home? I go home. Brother waiting." It seemed he had a brother, one whom was very precious to him. The absence of the mention of other family members suggested that he didn't have any.

Skye watched Archie. A sudden thought flashed through her mind.

"Okay, I'll let you go . . ." she said, inhaling deeply. "On one condition."

Squeezing her eyes shut, she released her deep breath.

"Take me with you." she breathed, opening her eyes.

Archie took a moment to shakily translate her words. When he did, a brilliant red blush stained his cheeks, and crept all the way to his neck and to the tips of his ears.

"It...change...no easy. Human...human must sleep with mer...man or mer, mer-maid...make change poss...possible..." he explained, embarrassed.

Skye erupted into a fit of giggles.

"You mean- We'd have to-" she struggled to speak through the laughter.

Moments later, the laughter subsided.

"Well, I want to know what it's like. Under the sea." she replied, smiling. "Is there any other way ?"

Archie took another moment to process her words, then shook his head.

"No. During, need to bite human...ve...venom, change human...only work...during sleeping with..." he attempted to word, quite awkwardly.

With that, Skye knew what she wanted. She climbed back down from the cardboard box tower and began clumsily removing her clothes until she was left with only her Muppets underwear. Climbing back up the card tower, she swung her legs over the side of the tank and dipped her legs into the water. She wanted to be a mermaid. Right now.

Archie squealed in fear, and dipped down below to hide behind the castle. He had never spoken to a human before, or touched one...let alone this. He watched her fearfully from his hiding place inside the castle. It was a small castle, and he'd managed to pack himself inside it it, curled up and under his tail.

Dangling her feet over the tank's edge, Skye bit her bottom lip. Did she really want this ? Wasn't biting kinda . . . dangerous ?

Pfft, screw that.

Skye slid off the rubber edge of the tank and into the cool water. Taking a deep breath, she dove down to the bottom of the tank, her hair spiralling around her tendrils. She swam over to the small castle Archie was hiding in and looked inside through one of the cracks in the material. Smiling, she waved at the merman.

Archie tilted his head at her. He had very little space in the castle, and he would probably get stuck upon trying to escape from it. He stayed put, still looking a little wary.

He would probably have to be pulled out.

Skye frowned at Archie, tilting her head to mimic him. She swan to the back of the castle and caught a glimpse of his beautiful tail.

Are you stuck ?

Unsure on what else to do, she placed a hand on the skin of Archie's tail, feeling the scales underneath her fingers.

A blush swam across Archie's cheeks, and he immediately tried to drift away, out of the castle. The only thing he managed to succeed in freeing was his long, flowing tail.

Panicked, he thrashed around a few times, trying to propel himself forward.

Skye giggled, sending a cascade of air bubbles towards the surface of the water. She swan with them, breaking the surface of the water gasping for air. She took another deep breath and propelled herself down to the back of the castle. Taking Archie's tail in both her hands, she steadied herself, digging her heels into the pebbles covering the bottom of the tank. Flexing her muscles, she tugged hard on the scaled limb, and immediately wishing that she hadn't. Another group of air bubbles went flying from her mouth as she pulled. Stopping to gain a better grip, she placed both her feet on opposite sides of the castle and pulled, air bubbles escaping her precious oxygen supply. Her lungs ached and her whole body was pulsating in an odd way, but she had to free Archie.

After a few minutes of tugging, Archie finally snapped free, and smacked against her, sending them both flying and then thudding against the glass. The tank leaned to the left, like it was going to fall over and spill its contents.

Archie, terrified, could do nothing but throw his arms over his head and squeeze his eyes shut, preparing for the worst.

Skye squealed in fear as Archie smacked into her, loosing the last of her air. Dizziness overcame her as the tank began to lean to the left. She slumped down into the pebbles next to Archie just as the tank began to fall. Water poured out of the glass cage, the materials groaning in protest as the tank tipped onto it's side with an almighty crash, sending Archie, her and the castle flying out. Skye's limp body slid across the wet floor and finally came to a stop against a wall on the other side of the room.

Archie, who could breathe on land even though it required much more effort, was thrown against the same wall, a few feet away. Quietly, he took in big gulps of air, adjusting to breathing in pure air instead of getting his oxygen out of water.

He shook his head, sending water flying everywhere, and then blinked, looking around. When he noticed Skye, he used his front arms to pull himself forward and reached out, tentatively, to poke her shoulder.

Archie's poke moved Skye's shoulder a little. Her hair was plastered to her head, the hints and hues of other colours shining through with the aid of the water. Her pale skin was dewy as water droplets rolled off her body and onto the floor. She did not stir. She did not wake.

(( LE GASP. O NOES ! :gonk: ))

Archie didn't know what to do. He whimpered and just laid there, near her but not touching her. This room was far away from the rest of the aquarium, so it was unlikely anyone else heard the tank fall. Quietly, he waited for her to move, or wake.

Skye's body suddenly erupted into shakes as she violently coughed, water streaming out of her mouth. She inhaled sharply, again and again, to ease the still-present ache in her lungs. Looking around at Archie, she smiled as she continued to take on air. She rolled over to face the merman, looking over him to make sure he wasn't hurt.

Archie had a slowly-developing bruise on his side where he'd hit the wall, but he didn't appear to be seriously injured. He seemed perfectly fine breathing in air instead of water, which was a good thing, since there weren't any other tanks in the room he could use. His tail swished back and forth, almost like it was wagging, when he saw that she was all right.

Skye beamed at Archie, glad to see that he was okay.

"That was actually kinda fun." she said, laughing.

She sat up, wringing out her hair.

"So, what now ?" she asked, eagerly.

Archie blinked, processing her words, and then shrugged, halfheartedly. He wasn't sure what to do, since he didn't know what humans did on land or how human worlds worked.

Frowning, Skye turned, hands on hips, to face Archie.

"So, what's the deal with your tail ?" she asked, looking down at the beautiful scales. "Does it turn to legs when you're dry ?"