Sage felt his eyebrows raise in surprise when the merman spoke. He certainly hadn't expected it to understand him, and he'd expected it to know English even less. It was a shock, that was for sure. But it was clear this was an intelligent creature ...likely as intelligent as a human being. Good, if it could communicate that would make it easier to take care of.

Of course, when it dove back under with the purposeful splash, he scowled at it, shaking his head with a huff. "Damn fish," he muttered, moving to get up and hop off the platform, tossing the wet papers into the trash can and then moving to slip into the back room that was technically his house to change. He didn't have many outfits, but he had enough. Even so, he hung the other one in front of a fan to dry quicker. If the splashing was going to be an issue, he'd need them dry as quickly as possible.

He headed back out then, lighting a new cigarette, since his other one had been doused beyond repair. He re wrote the notes he had, and then added a few more about the animals speech and ability to switch between lungs and water. It was definitely unique. "Oi! What's your name then," he called over to the merman after a moment, figuring that would be better than just a number

Remy came back up to the surface, resurfacing to his shoulders. He drained his gills, as he couldnt speak without air. Underwater, merpeople had adopted a series of clicks through their gills to communicate. He inhaled air and glanced at the man. "Whats your name?" He asked curiously. "Why should I listen to you?"

Sage wrinkled his nose slightly when the merman talked back, though he supposed it was fair enough. He didn't really trust anyone either. "Sage," he noted after a moment of regarding the creature and thinking. "And because I'm doing my best to keep you as comfortable as possible without letting any of the other dickwads out there poke and prod at you all day long," he added, an eyebrow arching upwards slightly. "Can't take care of you if I don't know anything about you," he pointed out. "The fish were an educated guess at most," he added with a shrug, tapping his cigarette and then sticking it back in his mouth. "Course I could just call you Specimen 00765. Up to you really," he noted, grabbing a pen.

Remy listened and watched. "Remy. And I'm not a specimen or a creature to be locked up, dickwad," he retorted, lifting his tail and flicking it at him, splashing Sage again, though not that bad. He kept his head above water, scowling at the man.

Sage grunted when he gave his name, jotting it down on the paper he had, huffing out a breath when he splashed him. It didn't completely douse him, but he was thankful his hair was tied back and his eyeliner was waterproof. "Hey, I don't get to pick what shit they toss at me," he snorted. "But while we're here, we may as well make the best of it," he added pointedly, relighting his cigarette and shooting the creature ...Remy ...a scowl.

"I didn't ask to be here, and I'm not shit either, asshole," he snorted, diving back down and flicking his tail powerfully, soaking the man again. He exhaled, bubbles surfacing as he reactivated his gills. He swam down to the bottom of the tank, curling up behind a rock, wrapping his tail around himself.

Remy stayed curled under the rock for the next few days, only coming out late, late at night to eat and then curl back up. If the human was gonna be an ass, sucks for him, he didn't get a subject to study. Though, while he was hiding away from the human, his lacerations from his capture began to get infected. His tail slowly lost its color, his skin paled, and he was soon too weak to swim over to his food.

Sage found himself growing more annoyed at the creature as time went on. He never really saw more than the tail scales that covered the entrance of the rock cave area in the tank. Of course, he could get into the security system and pull up the security footage so he could watch what he was doing when he came out at night. It wasn't much, but it was natural. When he woke and noticed the food untouched for the second night in a row, though, he frowned, moving to peer at the merman. The scales were dull, and he wasn't moving at all, so sage cursed under his breath and moved tug his shirt off and slip into the tank, hauling the merman over to the platform, using a rope to pull them up. Since he knew he could breathe air, he didn't bother getting a shoe or anything, but checked him over and treated the wounds best he could, staying nearby and closely monitoring his vitals.

Remy was too weak to fight the man, he didn't really have a choice as the man dragged him to the platform. He drained his gills and switched to his lungs as they surfaced and he was on the platform. Remy had just enough strength to roll over, exposing the abscess that was steadily growing on his side. He hated that he needed the man's help, but he really did need the help.