Chapter Text
The other guppies got super protective once they heard of the news. They told Jean Loo that they've been taking turns keeping Tiny (yes, that is their appointed nickname now) company at school, and now if the group has to split up, they go everywhere together in pairs. Even when they go to the library. After their session that day, the kids spend it coming up with mnemonic devices (they said the word so proudly. Seems like it's their new favorite word of the week.) to remember their parents' phone numbers, then their friends' parents' phone numbers. He teaches his guppies about basic rhyming and enjoys watching them brainstorm over the words. Ironically, they get so lost in it that they forget to look at the time, which results in their phones all lighting up with their parents' contacts on the screen, everyone calling to check where their children are.
They rush out of the library together. Jean Loo gets an idea and brings Tiny along on his bike, whisking them home in record time. Their mother greets them at the door. She tells him about an upcoming trip that the school is organizing. Something has come up and she has to go out of town that day, so she'd like him to go in her stead as chaperone. Granted, he may not be related to her by blood, but the school only requires the replacement to be vouched for by the parent (signed and approved on paper), and be of legal age.
The level of trust she has in him hits harder than the weight of the request itself. Jean Loo agrees with a nervous nod. A day out spent with his guppies? Even if it's for a school trip, like hell is he gonna pass that up! The date is far away enough that he can still notify his boss and fill in his shift on another day instead.
The mother smiles in relief. She tells him that she'll take care of packing their lunches and if the location requires any fees to enter, she'll cover that as well. She asks him to keep it a secret from the children and he agrees. It would be more fun if it's a surprise.
Two weeks later, he gets an update from Tiny's mother.
They're going to an aquarium.
He tumbles off the bed from surprise alone when he sees the text. Jean Loo sits on the floor, hunched over the phone, rereading it over and over. He knows the aquarium they're going to visit. Read up on it. Seen pictures and watched so many videos of it. It's some real uptown bougie place where a ticket is worth months of his pay. He knows his guppies go to private school, what with their uniforms and all, but he didn't know they were *this* wealthy.
The fact that their families can afford to collectively feed him everyday should have tipped him off on this, but that's not the point right now.
He's gonna get to go to the aquarium, for free!!
The mother sent him the itinerary. He's tempted to elevate her to the rank of a goddess when he sees that the tour will be hitting up every single exhibit available (except for the snow world. Why is there a snow world at an aquarium? Are there frozen pre-historic fish there?)
He sends her a "thank you" after typing and deleting several words of praise that popped into his mind.
He asks her how refined he should dress, because he's not sure if a hoodie will cut it, and he doesn't even have a single button-up shirt to his name.
Apparently that triggers a fashion emergency.
That weekend, the guppies' mothers drag him to the mall for a shopping trip. Jean Loo feels like one of the mannequins decorating the various store fronts when they dress him up in different outfits, cooing and squealing about how handsome he is. One says that he reminds her of the models back in the 90s. The mothers are more than happy to chip in and buy him the clothes they think fits best and that he feels comfortable in, completely disregarding his protest on how it's too much. The amount of shopping bags hanging off their arms as they enter and leave each shop is preposterous to Jean Loo, but what takes the cake is they don't show any signs of exhaustion at all.
They try to buy him new underwear too, but he puts his foot down at that. So they just give him a hundred dollar bill and shove him into the nearest Calvin Kloin while they go rest at one of the benches scattered in the mall, chatting with each other as they wait. Jean Loo returns to them with his face red all the way up to his forehead, handing them the receipt to prove that he did, indeed, buy himself a pack of boxer briefs.
They refuse to let him give them the change. The money is his now. Why would he need to give it back to them?
The mothers take him out for smoothies before they all pile into a car and drive him home. (He finds that he quite enjoyed the apple-kiwi smoothie. The sweet and tartness of it is very refreshing, but that might be dehydration and fatigue talking.) They help him take the bags up to his apartment too, but then it turns into a cleaning frenzy when they see the state of his room. By the time they leave, the sun has already gone down. It takes everything out of him to convince them to not cook him anything or rush out to buy him groceries. Sure, there are no fresh vegetables in the fridge, but it's not like he's going to be making salad or stir-fry or whatever any time soon. If they buy him a head of lettuce, chances are he'll just wash it, then peel the layers to nibble on with some dip. Can they not see the shelves of leftover containers he got from the latest visit?!
Jean Loo wonders if this is what having a mother is like. But he supposes his experience may have been skewed by the sheer number of moms alone.
The days leading up to the trip have him and his guppies restless with anticipation. The children look at him with big doe eyes, pouting at the fact that he can't go with them. It takes real effort for him to not blurt out the truth or drop them a hint that he's going to be there.
He wakes up extra early on that day. The mothers had advised him to wear a "polite" outfit, so he goes for a white shirt, dark navy pants, and white sneakers. The mothers bought him this super soft, light blue cardigan. He throws it on, as well as a white cap to top off the outfit. The hair at the back of his head is exposed though. Fortunately, it's not long enough for the blue to start coming through again. He hasn't redone his dye job in a while.
He decides to bring his guppy bag too. He's already packed it the night before with what he thinks will be essential. A water bottle, a pack of tissues, wet wipes, his notebook and pen—You never know when inspiration will strike!—, and the usual keys-wallet-phone combo.
What? Do you think Jean Loo would care about the concept of "man purses"? It's a bag. Why would it be any different from when he uses a backpack? What if he has to carry more stuff than he thought? What would he do then, huh, genius?
The early morning air is a little chilly. He gives a hypothetical pat on his back for choosing to wear the cardigan. He takes the bus to the school. Once there, he asks around and is directed towards the gymnasium. There's a group of teachers there, along with a gaggle of children and other chaperones. The guppies group hasn't arrived yet.
The paper with Tiny's mother's signature saying that she appoints him as her replacement is a little crinkled since he kept it in his wallet, but the teacher accepts it, saying that she has already called and told them that he's going to be here. The chaperones are given a run down about what their responsibilities will be for the day. Help keep an eye on the kids, assist the teachers in handing out worksheets, all that "adult" stuff. They're put into pairs so each group will have one teacher and one chaperone looking after them, though every group will be walking together for the entirety of the tour anyway. Jean Loo checks the list of names he's given and recognizes his guppies' names right away. Score!
He idly chats with the adults while they wait for the students to arrive. They ask him generic questions, he gives generic answers. Yadda, yadda, yadda...
Then four familiar shrills of screams hit his ears, and he feels multiple little bodies crash into his legs.
His guppies clambers to hug him from all sides, eyes sparkling. He kneels down to greet them and they crowd around him. They're drawing the attention from the other kids, but he doesn't care. But they couldn't chat for long, as the teachers call for them to go line up so they can take attendance. Jean Loo rejoins the adults standing by. They smile knowingly at him. He coughs his embarrassment away, but a faint blush remains, dusting his cheeks.
After all the students are accounted for, the teachers call the chaperones forward and let them introduce themselves. Some giggle at his accent and his name, but he doesn't let it get to him. He walks along with his group to their bus. He sits up front with the teachers and other chaperones. They go over the worksheets during the drive. The questions are so easy, he's pretty sure his guppies can answer these without needing the tour at all. Though it's probably not the same case for the other students in the group. Pah! Of course they would pale in comparison to his guppies! They don't have him as their tutor after all!
They arrive after nearly an hour of driving. The bus goes through a large arch decorated with metallic silhouettes of various fish and seaweed surrounding the aquarium's name. The building itself looks more wide rather than tall, though there are up to three floors if his memory of what was stated on the website is correct. Its exterior is white, but the window holes are shaped to look like currents of water are wading through the concrete. The "roof" of the first floor especially makes it look like they're literally walking under the waves. There's even a fountain out front. That's fancy as shit.
The students get more and more energetic as they drive up to the entrance. Jean Loo is also excited, but he has to help the teachers calm the kids down and remind them to ready their bags. The teachers hop off the bus first while he and the other chaperones wait to make sure there's no one left, then getting off themselves. They corral the children together and collectively have a group photo taken. The morning sun is blinding, but he stands next to his guppies, smiling wide, eyes squinted against the light. Once done, they all move towards the entrance, everyone in a hurry to get into the air conditioned, aquatic haven.
The tour guide is already waiting for them on the ground floor. She gives a cheerful wave and greets them, voice loud and clear. The students echo their greetings back at her, voices much more jumbled but nonetheless equally loud. Introductions are made and the worksheets are given out, then they're on their way with the tour.
The group goes up to the first floor where the route begins. Jean Loo absorbs any piece of information he could. The guide's explanation of the different oceans, regions and climates where fish live mixes with the children's hushed whispers. As they move along, the students get more disorganized, a couple have already split off from the group to go have a look at the tanks. Guess he knows who the troublemakers of the class are now.
He feels a hand threading around his own.
He looks down.
Oh.
It's just Tiny.
The guppies are all holding hands.
He's proud of their quick thinking. This way they won't get lost.
Jean Loo walks on the outer side of his group. The guppies have formed a sort of "net" around the other students who are members of the group (except for Tiny who is right next to him. The VIP escort) in order to prevent anyone from straying too far. At some point, it turns into all the kids in his group holding hands. Even the teacher joined in.
They move from fresh water to salt water. The hall opens up and they walk upon a particularly tall tank, filled with schools of fish and fever of stingrays. A worker in scuba gear waves at them and motions for them to watch. The stingrays swim around to nuzzle against the worker as he takes out pieces of fish. The group laughs as the stingrays press their faces up against the glass, gobbling up the fish that the worker dropped into their mouths. One of them misses and has to kind of wobble itself to chase after their meal, the skin of its underbelly scrunching as it dragged against the clear surface.
The kids crowd around the adults as they approach the shark tanks. Unsurprisingly, they are scared. The guppies are not, obviously. One of the guppies' favorite fish are sharks, so they've seen more than enough shark videos to be scared anymore (even though Jean Loo did tell them not to look it up. He made sure that the ones they watch are clips from actual documentaries and not movies at least. The media really painted sharks in a bad light.) They enthusiastically raise their hand and answer the question from the tour guide, then start prattling about other fun facts about the species. A student from another group pipes up about how it's weird and creepy that they like the "murder fish", and the guppy nearly rushed over to sock them in the face for daring to call their favorite fish such a degrading name. They quickly calm them down while a teacher reprimands the bully for their words.
The tour continues. There's a section about how planewrecks and shipwrecks become a part of the fishes’ natural habitats. The tanks feature bits and pieces of planes and boats with coral growing on them, little fish flitting in and out of the window holes, finding refuge in the decaying husk. It fills Jean Loo with inspiration and he has to whip out his notebook to write down the verses he's thought up. The majestic nature reclaiming its place, delicate but bold and powerful. Oh how Lil' Crapper wishes he could embody it in song. Maybe he'll try incorporating the sound of waves into the backing track this time? It might be cool if he adds in other sounds of the ocean too.
Finally, the group reaches the last of the tanks. The guide thanks them for participating in the tour. She introduces them to the underwater tunnel and bids them farewell. The head of the teachers step up to notify everyone about the upcoming timeslot when they can freely walk around with their group to enter the tunnel or go back and revisit any exhibits they're interested in, but also to keep in mind that they need to finish their worksheets and reconvene later on the ground floor to have lunch, turn in their work, then head back to school.
Jean Loo looks to the guppies, who are all looking at the tunnel with glimmering eyes.
Well, it's not like he can say no. He wants to check this out too after all.
The group heads into the tunnel. Jean Loo is caught breathless by the fishes swimming overhead. He doesn't even notice the children gasping as they run ahead.
He takes off his cap, running a hand through his flattened hair. The light filtered by the water reflects blue onto his features as he looks up above at a sea turtle going by, its shadow briefly covering him.
It's...so peaceful.
He takes a step forward. His mind is running a mile a minute and he can feel the beat of his own heart reverberating through his body. Ever since he was created, he had a connection to water. His entire function in his former life literally revolved around using it to flush away any waste, but he had always wondered where it all goes. At times, he even wanted to go along with it himself. Oh, how he had envied River and her freedom, not only of her form, but to also flow wherever she wished. The days when he was still stuck bolted to the floor drained at his spirit, so he took to any distraction he could. His being as a toilet repulsed others, so he eventually found enjoyment in wordsmithing and had gotten creative with the "audio samples" he was given. What better way to keep his mind sharp in such a bleak and monotonous life than to use it constantly, thinking and refining, then expressing it all into song?
But now he is human.
It's a miracle that he didn't cry when he had taken his first breath. The first actual breath that he could feel seeping into his lungs, expanding it until they protested for their capacity. The first touch of his hands on the human and how his body no longer runs colder than theirs. The elasticity of his own skin and muscle. The softness of his hair, finally free from its imitation of plastic bristles. The pressure of the plunger on his head replaced by a golden cap, matching his new jacket.
And the kiss.
A simple press of the lips between him and the human. The first one he's ever received in his life. He believed he had read enough "references" to know what he's supposed to do during a kiss, from the numerous magazines and novels that were sometimes left on his cistern. Close the eyes. Breathe through the nose. Careful with the teeth. A little tongue...
His insecurities got the better of him after they parted. He couldn't suppress the little quiver in his voice when he asked how he did. He was thankful to the human, so even if he cannot grant them pleasures of the flesh that involves their nethers, he hoped that his mouth would be talented enough.
He could tell then that the human's silence was one meant to spare his feelings. His bravado kicked in to smooth it over, tucking the hurt behind a confident smile. He led the human to the bed, pulling them along to tumble onto the mattress together. He was so used to hard tiles that he nearly melted into the cushion (props to Betty. She's amazing). He wriggled up until he could grab the pillows, tucking one under his chest and handing his lover the other. He had fun chatting that night, talking about his dreams and plans he had going forward. He figured he owed them one more night of his awesome presence. The world had been waiting for Lil' Crapper, so what's a couple of hours more for him to enjoy some quality time with his love?
He left the following morning, and the rest was history.
The sound of laughter breaks him out of his reminiscing. The children are pressed right up against the glass wall. A large, fat fish with bulging lips is swimming by and one of the guppies is mimicking it, puckering their lips and puffing out their cheeks. They blow raspberries at their friends and the group breaks into laughter once more. Tiny turns to look at him and waves him over, telling him to hurry up.
Jean Loo finally manages to smile. The nostalgic, if not slightly painful, memories get put back in its box as he strides forward. He scoops up Tiny, earning another round of giggles. He holds them on one arm, letting them hang on to his shoulders. The rest falls into formation around him as they ask about whatever is swimming by. Jean Loo's answer slowly turns into a chill, freestyle rap about the creatures they see, sprinkled with a bit of trivia. He points at the animal he mentions in the song, doing a call and response when it's a particularly easily named one. They make it out of the tunnel after a couple minutes. The children seem satisfied. He deems it a good enough mood to remind them about the worksheet they had to do. All of them perk up and turn to open their backpacks, taking out their stationary. The teacher of their group—holy shit he completely forgot that they're still here—suggests they all make their way to the ground floor first. There should be plenty of tables at the food court for them to write on, and they won't need to worry about getting seats to have lunch.
Most of the tables are filled with students from their school already, but they can still get their seats. The guppies finish their worksheets quickly, as he expected, then move on to help out the other kids in the group. Soon enough, everyone is pulling out their lunch boxes. The teacher excuses themself to go buy something from the nearby shops, while Jean Loo tucks into one of the sandwiches that Tiny's mother packed for him to share with her child. They can easily tell which ones belong to who. Between the pâté with cucumber slices, and the one with ham and cheese, it's pretty clear. Tiny asks for a bite from his though, and they make a face when they tasted liver. But still, the child thanks him and doesn't spit out the food or cry about it. What a champ.
Jean Loo finishes his food faster than the rest of the group. The teacher suggests for him to go have a little walk around while they look after the students, saying that they'll have to recheck the worksheets before they're collected. He looks to his guppies to find them all still preoccupied with their lunches. He supposes a quick jaunt wouldn't hurt and gets up from the table, his bag in tow.
He finds himself in the aquarium's gift shop. Merchandise of all sorts of marine life stock the shelves from wall to wall. Mugs, coasters, keychains, blankets, pillows, hats, whatever generic souvenir item there is. You name it. He's pretty sure the store has it. There's a few guests scattered here and there amongst the shelves. He browses through the selection, cringing at the price of some of the items. A sixty dollar hat? Will he be able to breathe underwater or fly if he buys and wears this thing? No, thank you.
He continues with his exploration until he walks upon a wall of plushies and keychains. The plushie line contains the usual suspects: a clownfish, a closed clam, a blobfish—
And an absolute unit of a chunky, grey seal plushie.
Jean Loo instantly recognizes it to be a leopard seal. He couldn't resist reaching out to touch it, his hand sinking into the softness. The plushie's eyes are embroidered on to look like they're gently closed in a comfy little nap. The snout protrudes from its round face, short and tipped with a black nose. A sliver of pink tongue pokes out from its mouth. On its sides, angled a bit forward, are two flippers. Before he even realizes, it's already in his arms. He turns the plushie around to find its rear flippers and the tiniest little tail poking out from its round body. God, the more he holds this thing, the more he wants it. The size is just right. If he hugs it to his chest, he can just about rest his chin on the snout. He checks the price tag.
Thirty-five dollars.
That's...not too bad....right? The plushie is quite big after all, and the quality seems to be up to par.
It wouldn't be a smart decision for him to buy something like this. He needs to save his money after all.
Buuut he does have a double shift day this week, since he's filling in for another guy at work...
Oh, what the hell. He's buying this thing.
Jean Loo brings the plushie over to the cashier, who looks up from her phone and seems surprised to see a customer in front of her. She scrambles to put her phone away. He keeps his face neutral as he pays and collects the receipt. She comments on how his partner would be so happy to receive such a cute gift as she takes out a paper bag to put it in.
His heart twinges at the comment, face heating up with an emotion that he refuses to acknowledge.
"Non, she is to be mine."
His answer comes out clipped. He snatches the plushie from her and stuffs it into his own bag instead, then nearly dashes out of the store.
Jean Loo's return is met with questions about what the new lump in his bag is. The guppies have fun guessing, but a look from the teacher tells him that it would be better if he doesn't take it out now. They're kids, If they see whatever it is, they're gonna make a ruckus about wanting to get one too for sure. The teacher calls for their attention and has them all start making their way to the assembly point. He's saved by the bell, it seems.
The teachers round up the students, do roll call, and collect the worksheets. The bus ride back is much more quiet than in the morning. The children are all sleeping, not surprising since they've all just had lunch. He's even a little sleepy himself.
Jean Loo glances at the teacher, who is already out cold. He hugs his bag closer to himself, fingers sinking into his new roommate resting inside it, and drifts off.
He is awakened by the sound of the teacher clapping for the students' attention. He's half way melted out of his seat, so he shuffles himself back up. He picks the crust out of his eyes and flicks it away, one arm still holding his bag. Ugh, he feels like he's made out of crinkled tissue paper, balled up and loose at the same time. He takes a deep inhale that turns into a yawn half-way through, enjoying how the tension in his chest unfurls. He listens idly at the announcement. They're getting close to the school already, just a couple minutes more. Jean Loo gets up to help the students check if they got everything they need and cleaned up after themselves.
It's the same routine when they get off the bus. When they get to the gymnasium, some of the children get more animated when they see their parents already there, waiting to pick them up. He spies two of the guppies' parents in the crowd. The head teacher gives another speech and asks the students about what they've learned from this trip. Many raise their hands to answer, intending to show off their new knowledge. At the very end, the chaperones get a big chorus of "THANK YOU!" from them all. After that, everyone say their goodbyes and disperse. It's time to go home.
Many decide to leave right away, walking out with their parents or as a group together. It's around the usual time when school is out, so there's plenty of time left for them to do whatever they want. The guppies come straight to him, their parents following behind. They ask if he would like to tag along with them to one of their homes. After spending the whole day with him, they would rather relax and play games over having a tutoring lesson. Jean Loo accepts the invitation (but not without acting a bit coy and teasing the children about breaking routine first, of course.) One of the parents takes their phone out to text someone (he assumes other parents. They probably have a group chat set up by now, right?) A quick car ride later, they arrive at the house and he's led inside.
He spends the rest of the afternoon watching the guppies shout at each other in a game called "Undercooked"; laughing as their chubby avatars run and bump into each other in their haste to get to a burning pan or to deliver a dish. At his laughter, one of the guppies turn on him in revenge, poking at his sides to try and tickle him. Jean Loo defends himself by pulling one of the couch pillows over and making a barrier, but then the rest of the group descend on him like piranhas, now finding more entertainment in pranking him than the video game. They attack him from all sides, so no matter where he tried to wriggle away from the mischievous little hands, he'd always run into another waiting for him. He laughs so hard that he rolls off the cushions, hitting the carpeted floor. He curls up as he heaves for breath, a couple more laughs sputtering out of him. The guppies are victorious.
As he lies there, tired as if he just ran a marathon, one of the kids looks at his bag and remembers that they never found out what was inside. They walk up to the bag and poke at the lump.
"So what did you get from the shop, Jean?" They ask, still poking at the object in question.
"Oh. That." Jean Loo pushes himself up, leaning back on one hand while the other tries to fix his hair, sweeping it back. Seeing as there's no risk of the children dashing off to try and get one for themselves now, he tells them. "She is Jean Loo's new roommate. Would you like to see her?"
The guppies' eyes all brightened with curiosity and they all nod. He kind of knee-walks over to grab his bag, then takes out the plushie.
"It's a seal!!" The high pitched exclamation from the guppies draws the parents' attention. The parents, those who have come to pick up their child, have all arrived at different points during the gaming session. They've just been sitting around and chatting with each other at the dining table, leaving the living room for the kids to play around. With Jean Loo there, they don't have to worry much about anything happening.
Jean Loo holds the plushie by its torso, right under its front flippers. Leave it to his guppies to recognize greatness when it greets them.
The guppies take turns patting and squishing the seal while he prattles on about seal facts, then leopard seal facts. He admits that he was a little disappointed that the aquarium they went to today didn't have any seals or sea lions, but he understands that it takes much more to adequately house them. He'd rather not see them at all than to see them suffer because of money hungry corporations using them for publicity.
As the evening rolls around, Jean Loo excuses himself from the hangout, saying that he needs to head home before it gets fully dark. The guppies whine at the prospect, but he pulls the adult card and uses his job as an excuse. He has a morning shift tomorrow and he didn't bring his bike today. They wouldn't want him to take the bus home in the dark, right?
The guppies wail "NOO!" in response. But apparently that sentiment is also shared by their parents, as the hosting mother chimes in from where she's standing in the kitchen, offering to drive him home after he joins them for dinner. Apparently after dropping by only once, she's already remembered where he lives. He's about to refuse again, but his stomach growling answers for him.
Curse the human body's need for sustenance!
And so, Jean Loo is powerless against the will of a mother(s...and fathers and children), and is treated to pizza.
He goes to bed that night hugging Madame Lav.
Who is Madame Lav?
His new roommate, of course.