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Philip was surprised that the little girl didn't seem surprised and wondered just who her father was to have a little girl used to gems and the like. "Thank you for the meal Callum." He said before Sarah asked him a question. "Why its Austin. It was one of the first things he told me when we met." He said not lying to Sarah as he sat at the table he saw. His first bite of the human food made him moan in bliss at how good it tasted. "Mmm, this is pizza? Its so good!"

"In a different shape? Like a starfish?" He asked after a moment before hearing he could stay after having Sarah's approval. "Its not bad at all, though I am not sure what fat is. All the merpeople are about my size, unless they are with child." He said shrugging. His statement answered Sarah's question, but he nodded and smiled to her. "Yes, I am a merman. Would you like to see my tail after dinner?" He asked before looking to Callum wondering if that would be alright to show her his other form.

Philip nodded thinking of a stone and shape he could do that would be good for Sarah. He would have to get to know her personality a bit more, but that could wait for later. "I wont let her drown Callum. There is no better teacher then a merman if you want to be able to swim you know." He said winking at the man and smiling.

Philip finished his slice of pizza and waited for the others to do so as well. He didn't want to eat much to get fat and he filled up faster on this then he did on fish for some reason. "I am ready to see this pool when everyone else is finished."

Philip couldn't help but chuckle at the exchange between father and daughter before he spoke. "Your father is right you know, a person's studies are very important. Besides, if you don't, I wont show you my tail or tell you stories about my life in the sea." Looking at Callum the merman smiled for a moment before he spoke. "Why don't you join us in the pool and garden? Or do you have work that needs to be done?"

The merman smirked seeing that he had found a point to help Callum with Sarah when it came to her studies. He would just have to with hold his stories when she didn't listen properly. "Well don't stress out over the work, as for the clothing, I can put it away if you just tell me where it goes." He said before hearing what Sarah said about being more then just a friend.

"You would have to ask your father that, I don't see him as anything but a friend right now." He said before laughing himself. Sure there were some things about Callum he liked. The man certainly was attractive and he could see himself falling for this man if things continued on this way. Though he wasn't sure how things would end up between them. If they ended up as more then friends, would Callum want to have more children? It was something he wouldn't have to worry about for some time thankfully.

"Then I hope you can join us soon then." He said looking at Sarah and laughing. "A troublemaker hmm? Does that mean I have to watch out for him too Sarah?" He said jokingly, though it appeared that he was serious.

"I will keep a close eye on her. Shall we go see the garden first then? I have never been to a garden before, the only colorful things Ive seen were coral and fish." He said before he smiled at the seven year old thinking that if this was how all children were he wasn't sure he would be ready to have one yet.

Philip followed Sarah through the house he would be staying in and listening to her before he heard one of her questions. "Yes, sharks are very dangerous to merfolk. So are giant squids and octopi. If your in the cities though, they tend to leave you alone, the more that are in a city the safer the rest of the group is." Thinking about his home made the merman a bit sad, but he didn't mind speaking to Sarah about his home. "It is wonderful, the entire ocean, sea, any kind of water is your playground. The world is yours if your willing to swim the distance to a new location. There usually aren't many dangers though. The biggest threat to my species has been fishers. We get caught in the nets, or our food supplies are taken from us. Pollution is another issue. Those of us that can have young have to find locations to lay the eggs or live birth our young that is pristine."

When they got to the garden Philip looked around and smiled. "Its prettier then the coral I used to visit. Do you like playing in the garden Sarah?"

Philip wasn't going to disillusion the girl into thinking that her father could do something about the issue of trapping or fishing. After all, if she didn't think her father could be a powerful man, it would change her outlook on life. "We played something like that when I was a boy in the reefs actually, though for you it was a game, for my kind it was how to avoid being spotted by boats and sharks. Still, it was fun for us because we didn't know that it would teach us a life skill when we were older."

As he was given a coin Philip looked at it for a moment knowing that he wouldn't have his wish come true. Still, he tossed the coin into the fountain. He wished he could go home, or to find a new place he could call home, where he wasn't considered a slave or a forced companion to someone he really didn't know.

"This fountain is big enough for me to show you my tail if you would like to see it. That way we wont be at the pool and your father will feel more comfortable."