Merfolk Mating Rituals Are Confusing

CH 7

Tiziano was pacing.

It was nothing unusual, mostly just meant he had some extra energy he needed to expel, whether it be through a good ole fashion bitching session were Squalo would nod along, knowing that Tiziano usually meant every word that was coming out of his mouth, or just some quick physical activity.

Whenever this side of his fiance showed itself, Squalo would sometimes make his infamous, "German Shepherd" analogy.

"A German Shepard locked in a white room, with nothing but it's own tail is eventually gonna do something drastic."

Tiziano hated that damn phrase, mostly because the ginger was completely right about it. Squalo shifted, setting down is PlayStation remote, and shuffled again. Even without looking up, Tiziano could tell he was about to say it. "Squalo."

Nonplussed, Squalo snorts loudly. "Oh come on Tiziano, we have to tell her sometime. Either she's gonna find out by looking up what he called you-"

"Squalo!" Tiziano hisses, flashing a nervous look towards the hallway.

Keep his gaze neutral, his husband leans forward. "- or you're gonna slip up in front of her."

Tiziano's voice, hardly ever raised beyond a bassy laugh, raises in a nearly hysterical yelp of, "Oh just shut up Squalo!"

They both flinch, though Tiziano recovers faster than Squalo does, continuing in a shaky voice as he eyes the hallway again. "You know as well as I do that if we told her anything now, she would flee farther inland." Squalo scoffs, leaning back in his armchair and leveling the blond with an unimpressed sneer.

"Well, that Cecelia nearly did it for us! We can't keep dancing around telling her Tiz, because-"

"Bu-"

"-if she finds out through someone else, we're fucked babe. And you know damn well how nosey she is..."As much as Squalo's words rang with the bitter tang of truth, Tiziano scrambles for words in a last ditch attempt to wrestle back control of the argument.

"What about the Boss, then? Hmm?" Squalo's eyes widen just a tad. "There's been no confirmation on if he's really gone! And you know what he did to her last time we told her... what if he does it again?" Tiziano hands go to his hair, nails digging into his scalp and tugging. Squalo makes a noise of complaint, but Tiziano is in full panic now.

"What if he does something worse? He nearly killed her Squalo!" That makes him flinch and grimace as Tiziano turns away to stare at the guest bedroom, blood beneath his nails. She was so kind to them... They couldn't lose her, not like that...

"I... I don't know Tiziano..." Squalo sighs, leaning forward on the couch to rest his elbows on his spread knees. His fingers thread into his thick hair, and he sighs weakly, "I really don't know, babe."

A near total silence reigns after his utterance, the steady hum of Crash's water filters providing a mind numbing backdrop.

Feeling weak, something he hadn't felt in a long time, Tiziano hunches over into himself. His eyes tear up and Squalo is up in a heartbeat, crossing the room even quicker than that. "No, no. Tiziano, it's..." Words fail him, leaking from his mind like water through a net. Wrapping his arms around Tiziano, Squalo falls back on one of his oldest - and most effective - tactics; rocking the two of them from side to side while humming a soft, wordless melody.

Tiziano shakes with restrained sobs, staining Squalo's wife beater with mascara and flakes of dried liquid eyeliner. "I-I don't wa-want her hur-hur-hurt again, Lolo!" He wails softly. Squalo doesn't even wince at the claws in his back, merely shushing him. "Sh-she's my b-best friend, a-and I... I just..."

"I get it Teets, she's my friend too, baby. But..." He sighs into his neck, knowing his next words are going to utterly piss off his fiancee. "I'm starting to think we should... Let it happen?" Squalo immediately locks his arms after saying that, which is absolutely the right choice because Tiziano instantly tries to turn to him. When he realizes that's not going to work, he tries to throw his weight forward, and Squalo grunts at the elbow that gets buried in his gut.

"What the hell are you saying Squalo!" Tiziano finally throws him off, although he has a sneaking suspicion that Squalo could have kept his grip. He whirls around, shoulders held up in an aggressive manner, and fists clenched. He would never in a million years actually hit Squalo, but it feels good to bury his nails into something that wasn't the love of his life.

"Easy Teets," Squalo soothes, "you're gonna wa-"

"I don't fucking CARE!" Any semblance of volume control is lost in his rage. "Are you honestly suggesting that she just..." His hands flail, English words and Italian phrases failing him for a moment before he finally manages to spit out, "Waltz back into their arms? THAT SHE LEAP INTO THE WATER, WILLFULLY THROWING HERSELF INTO THE ARMS OF A SI-!"

"Tiziano? Squalo?"

The words are like a gunshot in a church. They hang in the air, freezing both of them in their tracks, and leaving Tiziano gawking at the air for a moment. Squalo looks like he's in the same boat, although his shock immediately melts into a smug facade. "You okay, bambina? Did we accidentally wake you?"

)Y/N)'s eyes shift back and forth, almost like her sleep addled brain is unable to truly process his concerns as she observes them.

Tiziano takes a few deep breaths to calm the adrenaline pumping through his veins. But her glassy eyed look of pure concern makes him feel miserably guilty and he shies away to hide is ruined make up, feeling like a sinner standing under a saints holy gaze.

Squalo repeats himself, keeping her from truly taking in Tiziano's disheveled state and she blinks hard. "...yeah. W's w-worried." Her words are a little slurred as she speaks, a clear sign of her having been startled awake. To both of their surprise, she wobbles further into the room and makes herself comfortable on the loveseat. "...wh'n's work? We... We wo-work to close, ri-ri-right?"

The familiar work babble soothes Tiziano's mind, and makes him slowly unwind as he listens to them just... Exist.
Tiziano drifts past you, slipping into the kitchen to get some water and wash his face. Peeling back into the living room, he feels a small flash of fondness when you jump on Squalo, looking very much like a kitten with its mother... He and Squalo always did want kids.

Listening to and watching Squalo baby (Y/N) only makes his ache for that domesticity stronger... And it makes it sting all the more when she trots out to get into her waitressing outfit, grinning ear to ear and thanking them for letting her stay here.

His eyes harden, shifting to glare in the direction of her house.

Squalo wasn't right.

They weren't going to tell her, and things would go back to the way they were when she wasn't being courted by mermen...

His eyes blank for a moment, his grip on his glass tightening.

It had to.