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Derek was pretty lonely. Sure, he had Boyd and Erica, but they had each other more than anything. There was Finstock and Greenberg, but they mostly hid in their burrows, spitting gravel at anyone swimming too close. Derek had learned his lessons about aimlessly floating along the bottom and has taken to chilling out near the corals on the side. At least the corals didn’t spit rocks at him. If Derek was feeling particularly lonely, he would hang out with Deaton sometimes, but the lionfish quite honestly freaked him about a bit. Derek was a pretty relaxed omnivore. Sometimes he liked meat and sometimes he just wanted to get his seaweed on. But Deaton is a vicious carnivore that could quite possibly eat every fish in this tank. They tried to be discreet about it, but sometimes, if Deaton was acting particularly sketchy, Derek, Erica, and Boyd would set up a schedule to keep watch. You never know when a lionfish is going to go rogue.
Boyd and Erica were on a date near the pink corals, so Derek was hanging out by the green corals across the tank. He was just floating around, trying to stay clear of Deaton, occasionally watching Finstock and Greenberg’s argument over whose burrow was better, which eventually led to them spitting rocks into each other’s hole to try to close it up. It was pretty much a daily occurrence at this point.
He was doing some swimming drills, working on his fin mobility, when he saw the pretty feeder with the red fins on her head walk near the tank. Derek was pretty excited because he knew it wasn’t time to eat yet, but maybe she was coming to give them a treat? Sometimes she would give them seaweed outside of feeding times. But upon closer inspection, Derek noticed some clear bags in her side fins. It looked like the same kind of bags she brought when she first put Finstock and Greenberg in the tank. If Derek pushes himself to remember very far back, he can sort of remember himself being in a bag like that, but he tries to forget because that was a very scary time.
The feeder takes the dark shield off the top of their tank, using her mouth to make some weird sounds that are garbled through the water. Derek has never known any fish who were able to make noises like that, so he knew their feeder must be a very special kind of fish. Plus, she didn’t need water to breathe. Very special, indeed.
After a moment, two of the bags are placed side-by-side in the tank. Derek stays where he is just to observe the goings-on, but Deaton makes his way closer to the bags to see who the newcomers are. Deaton takes it upon himself to oversee all the fish in the tank. Derek somewhat remembers Deaton being so aggressive towards a fish that had hurt Erica that their feeder ended up removing the other fish from the aquarium. Derek doesn’t really miss that other fish, Matt, but he also knows to never get on Deaton’s bad side, now. He doesn’t want to get kicked out of his tank.
After a while, Derek swims closer to the bags floating inside the tank. In one bag, there is a yellow fish with spots and two horns on its head. In the other bag is two small blue and grey fish that look terrified to be there.
The yellow fish spots Derek and swims up as close as he can in the bag.
“Hi!” The fish says. “I’m Stiles! I guess we are going to be roommates now!”
Derek looked critically at the yellow fish, Stiles, before replying, “I’m Derek. You’re a weird shape for a fish.”
And it was true. Stiles was a weird box shape with lips that sort of stuck out and the two horns sticking out of his head.
“Says you, pufferfish. At least I don’t blow up like a balloon when I get angry.” Stiles the fish laughs.
On his side, Erica and Boyd swim up. “It’s not just when he’s angry! He does it when he’s embarrassed too!” Erica informs the newcomer.
“Hi! You’re pretty! My name is Stiles!” The new fish says.
Erica, the vain dwarf Angelfish that she is, wiggles her blue and orange body and smiles coyly at Stiles. “Thanks, cutie. My name is Erica, and this handsome fella is Boyd!”
Boyd is also an angelfish, but where Erica is vibrant and loud, Boyd’s colors are muted and soft.
“What kind of fish are you?” Boyd asks the newcomer.
“I’m a cowfish. It’s cause of my horns, you see?” Stiles flips around super-fast before jamming his horns into the side of the bag.
“I like your horns,” Derek says to the new fish.
“Thank you! Oh, and these two scaredy-fish are Scott and Isaac. They have really high anxiety, but they’re also sort of vicious if you try to hurt them. But they’re my best buds!”
“You guys know each other? Where are you coming from?”
“We used to live in a tank with a bunch of other fish together, but it was getting kind of crowded so we moved out.” Stile explains nonchalantly. That was one of Derek’s biggest concerns. But a while ago when it seemed that there were too many fish for their tank, instead of their feeder splitting them up like she did with Matt, she just bought them a bigger tank. Now this tank has a lot more hidey holes and more rooms for the corals to be all spread out. Derek likes their new home, and he hopes Stiles, Scott, and Isaac will too.
“Oh, well I hope you like it here. Our feeder is nice and sometimes gives us treats even if it’s not time to eat. And all the fish in the tank are pretty alright, for the most part. Deaton, the lionfish, can be kind of creepy but as long as you don’t get on his bad side you will be fine. And Finstock and Greenberg, the jawfish, have this weird mating ritual where they are always arguing, but they’re pretty cool when they aren’t throwing rocks at you. And all of the other fish are pretty nice too.” Derek thinks it’s important to let Stiles and the other new fish know about the social layout of their new home.
Right as Derek finishes explaining, the feeder comes back. During their talk, she had been slowly adding water from their tank into the bags Stiles, Scott, and Isaac were in, trying to get them used to the new water. Finally, she is ready to set them free. She slowly places the bags so that the fish are able to swim out and explore their new homes.
Once Stiles is free, he zips around, swimming up and down and around Derek, Erica, and Boyd in circles. “I’m freeeeee!” he squeals as he does so.
When Stiles has gotten the burst of energy out, Derek swims up to him shyly. “So, um, if you’re not busy, I can give you a tour of the tank? I know it like the back of my fin.”
The cowfish smiles at the pufferfish. “I would like that. And maybe after, we can race. The pufferfish at my old tank was old so she was kind of slow. I want to know if I’m faster than a puffer.”
“You’re on, cowfish” Derek promises. He shows the young cow fish on a tour around the tank. Derek knows that in the coming days, he won’t be as lonely anymore. He caught himself a cowfish.