Viktor has never been great with swimming, not with his malformed right pectoral fin. He stays near shore where the water is shallow and he can easily use his arms to move himself instead of his tail. He wants to go deeper, into the beautiful coral that he sees other mermaids living in. Vi and Powder live in an underwater cave, Silco and Vander made a shipwreck their home. Viktor just…can’t. He can’t, not with the fact he can’t properly swim. He goes in circles, or if he’s lucky then he can do a little wobbly swim short periods before growing tired. It’s not ideal at all.

He’s running out of food in the shallows, so Ekko has to come regularly with fish and food for him. He’s embarrassed about it, but what more can he do? He has no mate he can hang onto, and he’s not attractive to anyone because of his fin. He already bothers everyone enough, he can’t bother them more for transport.

Viktor was relaxing on a rock, watching some human from a safe distance. He was curious. Would he be disabled if he had legs? Would he be cured if he was human? The thought made him frown. Do humans even get sick? He knows they die. Of course they do. But do they actually get sick?

He’s lost in contemplation when he hears a splash. His head snaps up and over, seeing a tail disappearing into the water. Was it Ekko? Or someone new? He lets curiosity get the better of him, sliding off his rock and into the water, looking around and using his arms to move himself forward.