"I'm so excited!" Roman exclaims as he swims in a circle in what legged creatures would consider a backflip on land. The boy's older brother chuckles, watching his little brother with amusement. "You better go now. Dad gives you five days on land, but it'll fly by like that." He emphasises his point with a snap. The younger brother blows a raspberry, bubbles leaving his mouth in the process, but proceeds to follow his brother's advice. "Bye! I love you!" Roman exclaims.

You see, Roman and his family are mer-folk. Recently, Roman turned twenty and his father allowed him to go to the surface for five days. Every mer-person has the ability to change their fins into legs as long as they are on dry land and Roman finally gets to walk around like a human.

His brown-colored head pokes out of the water when he reaches the surface. It takes a breathless, slightly terrifying moment for his gills to stop working and his lungs to start taking in air. His bright tail flicks in excitement as an abandoned shoreline is only a short distance away. He swims over and heaves himself out of the shallows, his magic taking over to transform his bottom half from fish to human.

His bottom half is now covered in a soft, short piece of fabric matching his tail in color that wraps around his waist (he believes humans call them swim trunks). His new feet are bare and sensitive. He pushes himself up and, after almost falling about a few millions times, starts to explore his new surroundings. Loud noises on the other side of some tall bushes catches his attention, causing him to wander over and nearly get run over by a biker.

In front of him is a small mall, filled to the brim with humans. Roman attempts to look like a normal human as he crosses the street and enters the building, cold air raising goosebumps on his bare arms. After all, all he's wearing a pair of swim trunks and to top it all off, his hair is dripping wet. Nobody seems to notice him (to them, he looks like another beachgoer) as he wanders around, eventually entering a store under the name of 'Aeropostale'.

What immediately catches his interest are the scraps of fabric with interesting designs that cover his feet. He gathers as many pairs as he can and takes them to the bored cashier. The cashier rings them up with a raised brow before telling Roman the price. The merman tries to pay for them in sand dollars as that is the currency under the sea, but the cashier refuses to take it. "Sir, these many pairs of socks will cost forty-five dollars. Please pay, or leave the store." The cashier says. Roman pouts, but obliges, leaving the store with  heavy heart.

What the merman didn't know was that he had caught the interest of a purple-haired male named Virgil. There was something about that guy that he couldn't quite put his finger on. After the brown-haired boy sits down on an empty bench, Virgil slips into the store and grabs the first pair of socks he sees, a pink-and-white striped pair of knee highs. He hands the cashier some cash before leaving the store. "Uh, excuse me, but I think these are yours." Virgil says as he approaches the mysterious male, holding the bag out for him to take.

Roman gives him a look of suspicion, but takes the bag, smiling when he looks inside. "Oh, thank you so much!" He exclaims, immediately tearing them out of the packaging and pulling them on as far as they could go. "Hehe, no problem." Virgil says. He starts to leave, but Roman stops him. They start talking, getting to know each other, becoming friends before Virgil's phone plays a small tune. "Uh, sorry, just a sec." The younger male pulls out the small device and reads the text message that he received. "I need to go. That was my dad. I'll see you around?"

With that, the human heads off, leaving Roman with a strange feeling in his chest. One that his father definitely won't be happy with.