Chapter Text
Aether let out a sigh as he stared at the paperwork he had been given that morning. It was all related to Xiao’s recent developments and the incident where the merman had snuck out of his designated space while Aether had been taking a nap just a few days before. If he had known that his companion was so sneaky, he wouldn’t have been so quick to fall asleep even with how exhausted his period left him. It was embarrassing enough having to deal with Xiao coddling him so much after it had started, having Tighnari come over to make sure he was taking care of himself properly was worse, but having an entire group of dragons come over to check on him while returning Xiao to his room? He wanted the floor to swallow him up at the sight.
“Are you okay?” one of the melusines - a younger one by the name of Mamere who loved drawing - asked from where she was sitting on the floor drawing with Xiao.
“I’m okay, don’t worry. Are you two having fun drawing together?” Aether asked as he closed the folder he had been working on and turned to look at his two companions.
Xiao nodded, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he tried his best to color inside of the lines of the coloring page that Elynas had dropped off with his daughter. Mamere passed Aether a coloring page as well once she noticed that he had closed his folder and waved for him to come join them.
“Xiao doesn’t look like he’s having fun.” the little melusine noted as she offered up the pack of crayons for the human to choose one himself.
“He’s just not used to coloring. If he wasn’t enjoying it at least a little, he would have stopped by now.” the blond offered the young melusine a reassuring smile as he picked a green crayon from the pack and offered it to her. “Just give him some time, okay?”
Mamere seemed to approve of that answer and nodded to herself before plopping back down on the floor where she had been coloring. Aether smiled as he watched the two of them color, grateful that Xiao could finally make friends outside of his enclosure. Now that Xiao had found his legs, there were so many things that the two of them could do together that weren’t an option before. And with the good connections that Aether had built with the others in the facility, there were more options of people for Xiao to meet than the two of them would really need to see as an option.
Pulling out a form with a blank back side, Aether started to carefully sketch the sight in front of him on the back with his pen. He wasn’t the best artist - Albedo would have done a significantly better job if given the chance - but with not being allowed to take a phone or camera around the facility, he knew that a drawing would be the only way to memorialize the situation. It was a major milestone for the merman and Aether wanted to make sure he’d never forget it.
A weight against his side had Aether looking up from his paper to see the teal haired merman having crawled over and settled in to cuddle up to the researcher. Honestly, it was one of the most adorable things he had seen Xiao do in the time the two of them had known each other.
“Are you getting tired, Xiao?” the blond asked while reaching over to run his fingers lightly through teal hair.
The merman nodded, his eyes closing at the soothing movement of Aether’s fingers through his hair. Touch had become one of Xiao’s greatest comforts when it came from the researcher and Aether was glad he could give his companion such a simple comfort. However, there was no way he was going to be able to get Xiao back to his enclosure if he fell asleep where he was sitting.
“Alright, let’s head back. Make sure you say goodbye to Mamere before we leave.”
As soon as the two of them had returned back to the set of rooms that counted as Xiao’s enclosure, the merman stripped down and threw himself into the water, his legs shifting back into the long teal speckled black tail that he was used to. Even the marks on his arms seemed more vibrant as he returned to his true form, something Aether knew he would need to make note of in his next report. As soon as he was back in the water, Xiao visibly relaxed and seemed less lethargic. It was almost like night and day if not for the fact that the merman was still visibly exhausted from socialization.
“Feeling better now?” Aether asked as he rolled his pant legs up and settled in on the edge of the tank with his feet in the water.
“Mm.” Xiao nodded in agreement, swimming over to rest his head in the blond’s lap and wrap his arms around his waist.
“I’m glad.”
Aether smiled, humming to himself quietly and running his fingers through Xiao’s long hair to comb it while he allowed himself to get lost in his thoughts. Summer had ended a few weeks ago and with how the temperatures outside of the facility were cooling off, it was only a matter of time before the different enclosures experienced their own temperature changes. In the case of Xiao’s enclosure, it meant that the water in the tank was going to start cooling off, leaving the merman preparing for winter and the less abundant hunting that would start soon. He knew that the seasonal changes were meant to make sure that if the day ever came that the facility released one of the creatures who resided there that they would still be able to function properly outside but it still left Aether frustrated that there wasn’t anything he could do to keep Xiao more comfortable during the colder months.
Speaking of temperature changes…..
“It's starting to get colder.” Aether began, continuing to brush through his companion’s hair. “Is there anything you need in the water?”
Xiao blinked a few times to wake himself up a bit, clearly having not expected to have been asked a question like that. The confusion had Aether’s heart aching as he was reminded once again that none of the others Xiao had ever been matched with in the past had really cared about the merman as anything other than a research specimen. If he ever got his hands on them, he was going to give them a stern talking to that they would never forget.
“Cave.” the dark haired man replied after a moment. He motioned towards the bottom of his tank and the artificially grown coral reef that resided there. “Too small.”
“A bigger cave? I should be able to arrange that.” Aether was surprised by just how simple the request was and took a closer look at the bottom of the tank. “Is there anything else you want added?”
Xiao shook his head before burying his face in the researcher’s shirt again, pressing against his stomach. “Just cave now. Better for Aether.”
‘Better for Aether’? Ah, Xiao was trying to make it so that Aether could experience his world more. The way the merman wanted to share more of his world and the things that it involved with Aether had him fighting cute aggression. How was he supposed to explain to anyone he knew that he was fighting the urge to squeeze an apex predator so tight one of them ended up injured? Gods, his merman was just so cute!
“That shouldn’t be too hard. I’ll talk to Katheryne and see what my bosses think, you should get some rest while I’m out.”
Xiao let out a grumpy churr, making it clear he didn’t like the idea of Aether leaving just yet but pulled away regardless before swimming down to the bottom of the tank to settle in among the seagrass for a nap. If Aether had been allowed to have a camera, he would have taken a picture of his adorable merman curled up in his bed of seagrass but alas, once again, he was thwarted by the facility’s security rules. Maybe one day, in the future, he’d have the chance to take pictures of Xiao. For the moment though, he turned his focus towards the request he’d need to make of his supervisors for his companion.
Aether pulled his legs out of the tank, shifting away from the edge and reaching for a fresh towel to dry the salt water off before standing back up. He slipped on a pair of sandals and tightened the straps so they wouldn’t slip off before making his way out of Xiao’s enclosure. It would be nice if he didn’t have to deal with Dottore but there were no guarantees that he would be saved from that particular harbinger. If he was lucky, he’d just have Sandrone or Arlecchino he had to meet with.
He thought about things he could arrange for Xiao’s enclosure as he made his way through the plain white halls. Maybe when the weather warmed up, he could see about having a set of shallower pools added at the upper edge of the tank? Shallow reef pools would make it so the enclosure could include a larger diversity of plant and animal life. They would also make it so that the current animal life would have another place for some of the fish that preferred shallower depths had a comfortable place to breed when the water warmed up again in the spring.
Before he knew it, Aether found himself standing in front of the door that led to the main administration office and had to shake himself from his thoughts. It would be a nice surprise for Xiao, something he would have to bring up with Katheryne when he filled out paperwork.
“Katheryne, I’m back.” Aether called out as he opened the door to the admin office and stepped inside.
“Hello Aether, how is Xiao doing?” Katheryne asked as she looked up from the pile of folders she had been sorting.
The Katherynes were a series of mechanical puppets made by Sandrone who worked in many different places inside of the facility. With the high clearance level that was required for the facility, it was hard to keep enough administration staff on hand to keep everything running properly so instead, they had put a group of puppets all with the same name and face in positions that they wouldn’t be able to fill otherwise. Aether knew they were all puppets with an interconnected consciousness but he still made a point of treating them the same way he would treat any other person he worked with.
“He’s doing great! Xiao can leave his tank now so I’ve been taking him to make new friends.” Aether explained, his smile growing as he thought about how well his merman had been adjusting to interacting with others. “I’m actually here about him. I wanted to see if I could apply for a couple of renovations to Xiao’s tank. He has a reef but without shallow pools, there’s a limited number of safe places for the fish that live with him to breed during the warm seasons and the types of sea life that he can have with him are limited. There’s also the issue of his cave apparently being a bit too small for him to shelter in comfortably so I’m worried he’s been stressed about the lack of shelter that’s more suited to his size.”
“Those are valid complaints. I’ve forwarded the request to my handler, give me a few moments to fill out the paperwork.”
Aether watched Katheryne pull a stack of forms out of one of her desk drawers before starting to fill it out. It was soothing to watch someone else write - he and his sister used to watch their older brother Dainsleif write so the sound of pens on paper was comforting to him. Knowing it was going to be a while before he received an answer, Aether made his way over to one of the chairs in the pseudo waiting room of the admin office and sat down. He turned his attention to the ceiling tiles so he wouldn’t be staring at his coworker. Even though she wasn’t a living being, it was still rude to stare.
After an indeterminate amount of time, the sound of expensive heels tapping against the floor making their way over to him pulled Aether’s attention away from the ceiling in time to see Arlecchino making her way over to him. The gods must have had mercy on him that day considering they sent one of the supervisors he had the best relationships with to speak with him.
“Aether, it’s good to see you again.” Arlecchino greeted as she stopped by the front desk to accept the stack of papers Katheryne had finished filling out to read over them.
“It’s good to see you too. How are your kids doing? I haven’t seen Freminet in a couple weeks.” Aether asked both out of politeness and genuine curiosity. The woman genuinely cared for the children she took in - even the non-human ones - so he knew that she was always fine answering generalized questions about their wellbeing.
“Freminet has been busy assisting the maintenance team with repairs in the Merusea Village. However, it seems he’s about to be reassigned to help find a suitable location for a set of shallow pools to be built.” Arlecchino looked up at him over the stack of papers in her hand, the hint of amusement in her eyes difficult to notice for those who didn’t interact with her as commonly as he did. “Xiao has been here seven years and had a dozen handlers. In all the time he’s been here, you are the first one who has actually seen him as more than just a test subject. Considering how low the allocation of funds towards this particular enclosure has been over the years, arranging this should be a simple request. There is, however, one issue that we need to take care of first.”
Aether felt his stomach sink at the mention of a problem, having to take a deep breath to keep himself calm. He needed this to go through for Xiao and his comfort. “What kind of issue?”
The amusement in Arlecchino’s eyes became even more obvious as she pulled the last few pages out of the stack of papers she was holding and turned them towards him. There, in large text on the first page, were the words ‘TEMPORARY REHOMING REQUEST’.
“Xiao will need somewhere to stay until the remodeling is complete. You two will be living together until everything is complete.”