How Green Becomes Wood

"There." Dark said, pointing at a larger fish which looked almost to be scanning the reef. It had just begun to persue another fish when two women dressed in silicone tails and seashells in their hair dived down into the tank and swam towards the glass. The rest of the patrons at the tank reacted in delight, apparently expecting this, but Dark glanced to his sons in mild bewilderment.
 
"What. The hell." Xander half said half asked, staring at the women. "What is happening?"

"Mermaids? But why would their be mermaids?" Alec asked. He was realizing how, well, attractive they were in their little seashells and very toned bodies thanks to swimming, and he turned bright red, unable to look away but feeling like he should.

Xander looked down at the map, too confused to be moved by a skimpy bikini made from inadvisable materials. "Oh. Apparently, there's a mermaid show." He paused. Then asked one word packed with utter bewilderment. "Why?"

Alec made a couple of quiet, unintelligible noises, watching the swishy tails and hips.
 
Dark watched the women as they swam over each other with practiced elegance, able to acknowledge their beauty objectively but being much too old to be swayed by twenty-somethings. Instead, he pointed to them and looked down at Ivy, "Look, my darling, mermaids! Can you wave hello to them?" He waved so Ivy would do the same and then looked at the other children in the crowd, ones old enough to be fully cognizant of what they were seeing but too young to perceive it as anything other than true magic while the performers blew bubbles and popped them into heart signs. Nodding towards their delight and amazement, he answered Xander's question, "That is why."
 
Xander glanced toward the kids and gave an indifferent shrug. "Alright, looks like they are having fun," he agreed. "I don't really get the mermaid thing, but whatever. At least the kids are having fun." He looked at Ivy. "Do you like mermaids?"

"Uh-huh," Alec murmured, watching one do a smooth flip.

Xander didn't hear him. "We should probably move back so the kids can see better," he said, meaning himself and Alec, expecting Dark to keep Ivy up front despite his height.
 
Ivy giggled at the mermaids blowing bubbles, snuggled up in her father's arms, absolutely loving the show. At Xander's comment, Dark did start to move back but then Ivy grumbled in distress, not wanting to be further from the tank, and after some hesitation, settled on kneeling down with her in front of it so he wouldn't block as many views and Ivy could still be up close.

When the mermaids swam up for air, another performer swam down to join them--this time, a merman in a tail coloured to as to heavily obscure the transition from his torso to the silicone and golden rings on his biceps. He was no less graceful and able to do the same tricks, but he attempted to look more powerful as he did so. Not long after he entered the tank, the two mermaids swam back down for the big finale of their performance.
 
"Wow!" Alec breathed, his eyes wide as he watched the beauty and power of the newest performer. He was so cool! Granted, Alec's eyes kept straying to the female of the female performers, but he could admire the skills and the glitter and shine of the male. He was very good!

Xander wasn't particularly interested in mermaids and had only been watching with minimal attention. He didn't mean to be rude, and he knew what they did took a lot of work and effort, but it just wasn't his thing. When the man came diving down, however, he caught Xander's eye. He hadn't expected a guy to be doing something like this. He watched with a little more interest, noting the grace in which the other man moved and the strength behind his movements. He didn't think much about it, but a seed of interest stirred as the merpeople put their all into their finale.
 
Dark appreciated the merman, partially because he was not himself a buoyant man, and it was impressive to see someone else float around so effortlessly. Just like the mermaids, though, he didn't have any strong feelings about it. The merman was clearly closer in age to his children than he was to him.

After the final, admittedly quite impressive, tricks concluded, the performers swam to the top for another breath of air and then swam down to the glass so people could wave hello and have their pictures taken with them. Since they knew there was such a crowd and they couldn't stay underwater indefinitely, they all were at a different spot near the glass so there could be three separate queues.

"Did you like that, Ivy?" Dark asked, standing up and walking over to his sons. Seeing the look on Alec's face, he wordlessly tapped him on the arm to subtly suggest he pull himself back together without calling any attention to it or (hopefully) causing embarrassment. "That was interesting, I did not expect that."
 
Alec jumped, but the tap did job, and he quietly and quickly pulled himself together, facing the wall and taking several deep breaths to calm himself down. No need to go slobbering around! That was embarrassing for him and potentially insulting for the performers. He would not be "that guy." Besides, he had a girlfriend.

"It was different," Xander agreed, already well past even that tiny gleam of interest. It was forgotten and left to be buried. "They've got some impressive lungs on them. Are you going to get a picture with Ivy? You could get her to stand in front of the glass and look in."
 
"I may as well, although if I can have her be in the picture without me I would prefer it," Dark replied, "If nothing else, I will let her meet them. Is there any of them in particular we should stand in line for?"
 
Alec found his blush returning and tried to control it. "Either whichever one she noticed the most or the one with the shortest line."

"I think that one had black hair. Unless it's the water making it look different. You could have a black haired baby meet the black haired mermaid," Xander remarked. "The dude has a line that's mostly without kids for some reason. His might go faster."
 
"I like her meeting the mermaid with black hair," Dark said, moving into that line, "With how much she seems to love fish, and how much I know she loves bathtime, maybe she will end up performing like this some day. She would like the picture then."
 
Alec and Xander hung back, trying to stay where Dark could easily see them while making it clear they weren't in line for a picture. Xander leaned on the stroller a lot until he passed it to Alec to make him push it for a while. Alec stole the occasional glance at the mermaids, but it was much easier to behave himself and not oogle ridiculously when they were mostly holding still (as much as floating in water would let them) instead of flitting around and doing impressive tricks.
 
Although the mermaid was only able to make out vague shapes, when Dark helped Ivy to stand in front of the tank, she had just enough vision to swim down so she was on a closer level to Ivy and wave hello. Ivy waved back and giggled as the mermaid blew a bubble for her, and the whole time Dark took quick pictures before their time was up and he collected Ivy and walked on, "That is a fun thing for them to do. It must feel rewarding for them."
 
"Really? Why?" Xander asked curiously.

"Because they are bringing happiness to children in a way that also brings them joy, right, Ba?" Alec asked.

Xander pointed out the restroom when they passed near it in case Ivy needed a diaper change.
 
The twins found a corner to amuse themselves in while they waited for their father to return, counting fish and watching whatever marine animals were in their view. There was a lot to look at here!
 
Thankfully, nothing of note happened during the diaper change and after everything was packed back up and his own hands were washed, Dark stepped back out and walked towards his sons, "Right, are you ready for the conveyor belt?"
 
"I dunno," Alec said hesitantly. "Do we have to sit on it? They are always so messy!"

A mother passed with her two elementary-aged kids. It was a narrower passage, meaning she had to slow down to pass closer to Dark than she normally might have. "Babysitting the kids today?" she joked jovially, guiding her two kids around the stroller. "Giving mum a break? Good for you!"
 
"I think--" Dark began to say when the mother spoke up and he turned to look at her confused, although his expression wouldn't have read that way to her, "No, I am not babysitting, they are my children." Presumably, he guessed, she did not realize they were his, especially given the phenological difference between himself and his sons.
 
"Well, of course," she said, confused now, as well, and glanced between Ivy - who did look like she belonged to him - and the two boys - who did not. "But where is their mother? Is she here or off having a wel-earned bit of rest?"
 
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