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Potemkin was a simple fellow. He rarely felt the need to get excited. Not that he was downbeat, but his instincts never insisted that he speed up, go fast, attack the first thing that came near him. He was perfectly happy to dawdle back and forth, maybe taking a break to doodle on the floor, maybe nibble on the food that the humans left for him, maybe just paddle around some more. A simple existence, but that’s the way he preferred to live.
He never understood why the other Mer could be so erratic. What was there to be upset about? Potemkin was sure he had everything he could want. Plenty of space to swim, food delivered to him every day, games and toys to occupy himself with, what else could he ask for? Maybe it was because they were so small. Potemkin had thought he had to be the smallest thing in the world compared to his fellow sharks, but here, everyone was smaller than him. He positively dwarfed them in size, some to the point where he was certain he’d be able to capture them in his cupped hands if he tried. Maybe being that size made other creatures think differently.
Sometimes the humans put other Mer in with him. He didn’t mind sharing space, but they could be so...odd, sometimes. Some of them just seemed to dislike him because he was there. They hissed and clicked and when he didn’t leave, they’d scurry off into a narrow nook or try to bite him. His skin was too firm and thick for their tiny teeth and claws to puncture, and it didn’t really hurt all that much, so he just swatted them away and went back to his own business. If a Mer didn’t like them, in the end, they would only realize they weren’t going to get the response they wanted. Potemkin was easygoing, and it would take more than a few failed bites or dirty looks to aggravate him.
The humans really seemed to like him, though. That was nice. He knew that humans were bad at breathing underwater, but every so often, one would jump in the water and swim with him for a bit. It made for an amusing sight. Such tiny things, and without any fins. Some had fake fins on the ends of their legs, but they still couldn’t swim as well as a Mer. He preferred swimming slowly, though, so they kept pace perfectly fine. It was sort of like a game, trying to paddle along at the same speed and swim together
Some humans weren’t good swimmers at all. Sometimes they swam too close to a rock and got stuck, or the long black tube became disconnected. He didn’t know what it was for, but it seemed important that it was connected to them, especially near the bottom of the tank. Whenever it came off, they splashed about all frantically. Silly things. So excitable, and then he’d have to grab them around the middle- gently, humans were squishy there- and carry them back to the top of the water.
Still, visiting humans could be plenty of fun. As long as they didn’t need rescuing. Sometimes their hands or the ends of their fake flipper would brush his spotted side, and it felt very ticklish! But he would have to be careful not to accidentally smack them while laughing. And sometimes they would draw together. He had plenty of sticks, so he was always happy to share them for drawing in the sand.
Humans liked watching him draw. He’d realized that recently. They would clap when he doodled in the sand. And a few times, the Loud Man had brought him a strange contraption that he could only use when his hands were out of the tank. He drew on that, too, with colorful things that left bright lines. Even more humans had been watching him then. They clapped and cheered and made all sorts of happy sounds that made him feel happy, too. Though he had been saddened to realize that the colorful things couldn’t be taken back underwater with him. He’d tried, but the water made it smear and vanish. At least he had been allowed to do it again every so often, Potemkin always enjoyed painting, especially when the humans were always so happy to see him do it. They would clap, and sometimes, the Loud Man and the Red Lady would hang his pictures next to his tank so people could see them.
Very odd creatures, they were. But they were kind to him. So Potemkin supposed he liked them very much.