Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Tommy knew that Ranboo didn’t like water.

In fact, from how the boy reacted to it, he could almost believe he was terrified of water, in some way. Unfortunately, anytime he and Tubbo tried to ask about it, they would get deflections of some sort, ranging from ‘I had a bad experience as a kid’, to ‘I just don’t like it’. Which was fine, really, except being afraid of getting squirted by a water bottle didn’t exactly line up with an almost drowning in the ocean as the two normally assumed the first to be about, and they knew he wasn’t allergic, or he would’ve just said that, and they’d leave it be. In fact, he actively denied an allergy to it. So, they were still left with questions, and being teenagers, they were going to get them the only way they knew how; being menaces.

They were going to drag him into a pool with them.

Well, first they were going to wrestle him onto a boat and sail out to the local island, because they wanted this experience to be special , and what was more special than a cave pool? Truly, they were kind friends.

—

“He’d better appreciate the effort we’re going through.”

“Oh hush, I’m sure the Boo will enjoy the present.”

Tommy rolled his eyes, grumbling to himself. At that moment, he was helping Tubbo steal a boat. But this wasn’t any boat, and they weren’t just stealing from some rando, no, this was Wilbur Soot’s boat, which meant it was new and sleek and he could piss the man off all in one go. Very poggers if you asked him. So there they were, Tubbo managing to have snagged Wil’s keys the last time Tommy and him fought, a perfect distraction for their plans.

It was Ranboo’s birthday, maybe, kind of. They weren’t really sure if he even had one at that point, considering he never told them about it, so they decided that today was the day, because today was when they were gifting him with very sudden and startling exposure therapy. Because that was absolutely how exposure therapy works, and Tommy would know, having done this with confined spaces, which had… well, it technically worked for him.

“If he doesn’t can I kill him?”

Tubbo slowly turned to him, a bright too-cheery smile on his face, and he sunk a bit in fear. His friend smiling in anything but mischief never meant anything good, especially for Tommy, more likely getting tossed overboard into water than kind words being said.

“I called dibs. Remember?”

“Yes Tubbo!” he got out, swearing he’d seen the darkness of the void in his eyes.

In an instant, his friend was back to normal, humming happily as he continued fixing up the boat. They’d taken pieces of it apart at some point, just to piss off Wil, but now they had reason to get it working again. He silently praised Tubbo for keeping the pieces. Tommy hurriedly untied the last rope keeping them docked against the pier, grinning as they slowly began drifting off. They had a bit of time, afterall, misewell relax for a bit and see where the water takes them.

Plus, there was always Wilbur to mock as they floated by just out of reach. Oh, and there the man was, on his daily route walking along the waterside, pen and notepad in hand, just waiting to be messed with by the duo. He began waving his hands wildly, hoping to catch his attention that way. Of course, this failed - stupid Wilbur - so he yelled instead.

“HEY BITCHBOY!”

The man jumped slightly, already causing a snort to come from the two, before a furious look rose on his face, and then they were cackling , trying to keep their breath as he began yelling back at them. Something about little gremlin shits, yada yada, Tommy didn’t care. He was a big man with more important - and more importantly fun - shit to do than get yelled at by some not-poggers bitch boy.

“ Byeee!”

He gave a wave and then a middle finger to Wilbur as Tubbo started the engine, speeding them off to their goal. Destination: The Antarctic Bay. Really, they didn’t know why it was called that, considering they were nowhere near the Antarctic, but they didn’t care much. Probably some old guy got too drunk, named it that, and was hailed as one of the founders of their island.

Tommy shook his head in grief. They should’ve named it PogLand, or maybe Big Man Innit after him. This was a travesty and a personal attack against his person, and he had half a mind to rectify it right that second. Sadly, it would have to wait until after Tubbo and him took over the world. Which they would. Someday…

Until then, he would just deal with Antarctic Bay being the shitty name of where Ranboo was staying. Well, staying as far as he’d told them. Tommy had never really seen where Ranboo went after school or after a day of wandering about with them. He just knew that Ranboo was ‘staying in Antarctic Bay’, which now that he thought about, was a super sus fuckin way to phrase it, but he couldn’t be bothered to give a shit. As long as he could find him to terrorize, he was good.

And find him they did, sitting on their rock at the top of the hill, one leg tucked beneath him and one laid foreword, apparently comfortable, despite how awkward it looked. In his hands were his little journal and pen, both of which he revealed as water proof at some point. He was probably scribbling something out in his god awful handwriting - not that Tommy or Tubbo could claim to have any better.

“RANBOOB!”

Heterochromatic eyes flickered up to meet his for a second, before shooting to his bright blonde hair instead, avoiding eye contact as always. The boy took one glance over the boat, sighed, and closed his journal, stuffing it in his messenger bag with a grim look as he slid down the hill. Once at the bottom, he continued to stay a few paces away.

“What are you two up to this time?” he asked in an almost defeated voice.

“Get in loser, we’re going boating!”

Ranboo shuffled awkwardly, gripping his bags strap tighter.

“Uh, have fun? I don’t think-”

Tommy didn’t let him get any more of the rejection out before he jumped onto land, launched himself at Ranboo, and hauled ass back to the boat. There was sputtering behind him, but he ignored it in favor of shoving the tall boy onto the vessel, laughing at the small shriek he let out, and then hopping back on himself. He didn’t even have to yell ‘Drive!’ as Tubbo pushed them out to sea as fast as he could. There would be no escape for the boo boy today!

Said boy was fiddling with the buckles to one of the seats, hands shaking far too much to strap in himself. Tommy let out an annoyed groan, standing up as if walking amongst the rocking of the boat were second nature, and crouching to help, figuring he’d stop being ungrateful for their gift if he felt secure. And he didn’t like seeing his friend in distress, though he’d fuckin shank anyone who dared imply such a thing to his face.

Except for Tubbo and Ranboo. Somehow, they got off the hook everytime, but he couldn’t bring himself to be angry like he would at anyone else. But he wasn’t soft, okay! He was just… appreciative of their comradery. Yeah, like what that weird Techno guy said about his short friend. Quite the pair, those two, but they were caretakers(?) to Wil, so they were on the Not Poggers list, and were to be shunned from the Trio’s adventures. Plus, they were old fuckers weren’t they.

“So… Where are we going?”

“Endlantis! Y’know that teeny tiny island with the giant pillars?” Tubbo said, buzzing with energy and clearly on the verge of a nonsensical ramble.

“Uh-huh,” he replied, though it was more of a high nervous sound.

“Okay, well, Tommy and I found out about this weird cave pool thing right?” he didn’t wait for a nod, “We’re gonna go and find it, and maybe there’ll be treasure, or some weird ass fish or something. Oooo, we could-”

“We are not microwaving another fish you heathen!”

Tubbo pouted back at Ranboo, who instantly yelled at him to look where he was driving. They didn’t need another instance of him crashing a vehicle he was operating, and not when the Boo was already quivering slightly in his seat.

“Hey, uh, you alright big man?”

He was answered by shaky breath out, followed by a ‘yeah’, which he didn’t quite believe. Despite it all, he did give a shit about his friends' thoughts and feelings, and whether or not they were okay, regardless of what everyone assumed of him. Watching the mismatched eyes flicker about their surroundings, he lightly patted his hand.

“We’re not- We won’t let you get hurt, okay?”

Ranboo’s eyes shone, and he nodded, slowly deflating as tension left him. Tommy, of course, couldn’t handle being so mushy, and decided to ruin the moment with a ‘great, now it's time for adventure boob boy!’, jumping up to stand behind Tubbo at the wheel. The best save he’d ever made, truly. The brunette gave him a quick look that said “we’ll talk about this later”, but focused back on the open water, grinning as he began circling the island.

At the backside - the one you couldn’t see from the shore where they lived - was a pier, one no one seemed to know about, or at the least, everyone knew not to talk about. They had discovered it one time when they paddled out on their own. You would think there would be rules of some sort set down by caretakers in their lives, but luckily, they had none. Not that anyone else knew that. It was a secret, though probably not as big of one as you would think, considering how damn easy it was to hide from everyone - including Ranboo.

Yeah, they felt bad about it, but they didn’t need a lecture. Tommy also wouldn’t put it past him to go searching for someone to take care of them, if only for his own peace of mind, most likely rambling something about needing his friends safe and cared for. Which, yes, would be endearing and Tommy would tease him for it for weeks if it happened, but he and Tubbo were fine on their own.

Of course, if he ever found out Ranboo didn’t live in Antarctic Bay like he said, he’d fucking strangle the string bean into finding a nice family to exploit. As friends do.

“Heheheheh,” escaped Tubbo as he helped Tommy tie them to the dock.

“Well, I don't think- I don’t think I like that laugh at all.”

“Don’t worry about it Boo Man, we’re just takin’ a trip, chillin out with the bros, right?”

The tallest of them eyed the two, but caved and followed them onto the creaky wood anyway. To be fair, it was a bit more unstable than he expected from their last experience with it, though a storm had passed through recently. Luckily, it did its job at holding their weight and keeping the boat from leaving them stranded, and that was enough.

It was when Tubbo got a familiar gremlin grin, one that stretched across his cheeks, that he knew they were in for a time.

“Race you to the top!”

“You’re on Big T!”

They were shoving and running as a voice yelled helplessly behind them.

“Top of what?!”

—

Ranboo won, the fucker.

Tommy would call him more than that, but Tubbo kept scolding him for saying he’s a wrongen - before turning around and doing so himself - so he kept it in. It was because of his stupidly long legs, it had to be. The guy didn’t even know where he was going until they were halfway through the run there, and even then he almost turned the wrong way at one point. Rudely tall, that’s what he was, though the shortest of them would probably have something to say about Tommy thinking Ranboo was too tall, considering his stature when compared to both of them.

He heaving in a few breaths, having chased after the two - and how the fuck was Tubbo so fast - and flopped onto the rock beneath them. It was cold under his cheek, fighting away the heat from moving. He hated moving, why did he ever move, why couldn’t he just do things with his mind, like a fuckin, like a Tel-e-path. Wait no, the name had something to do with Kine-tics, didn’t they. Fuck if he knew. (Secretly, he did know)

Slowly opening his eyes, he smiled softly at Ranboo and Tubbo play-fighting - another divorce in the works, he bet - watching the last light of the sun disappear beneath the horizon. Which meant only one thing. It was time. He hauled himself up, stretching before grabbing at Ranboo’s sleeve.

“Come on Boo, time for the surprise.”

“Surprise?”

He looked to Tubbo as if for help, but the boy only held onto his other arm, tugging with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

“Don’t worry about it.”

It looked like he did, in fact, worry about it. Tommy did have to give him props though, for trying to mask it and be excited for what was planned for him. He wasn’t saying the two didn’t see through the copier paper thin shield, but he could be glad there was even an attempt made, what with the other surprises they’d had in the past. Apparently it wasn’t okay to put spicy pepper dust in a brownie, who would’ve thought.

Tommy was surprised really, that he didn’t ask more questions earlier. Not when they led him down a weird cave opening at the top of the mountain, and not when they needed to switch which flashlight they used because Tubbo’s ran out, and not even when they all stepped into a gross cobweb.  Okay, admittedly the last one was the least concerning. It was only as the tunnel opened up into an almost-room, a circle of water in the center, did he say something around a groan.

“Please don’t tell me this is the cave pool.”

He started again, probably seeing their smiles turn near villainous.

“Okay, let’s rephrase; is this the cave pool, and why is it the surprise?”

Even that sentence held regret, evidently, as he paled at whatever face Tommy was making, only getting to sputter out an ‘oh crap’ before they both held tighter and brought him with them as they fell.

It wasn’t as cold as Tommy thought it would be. His expectations of the ocean were that it always would hold a chill, and the ocean at night was no different. What he got instead was lukewarm water, a bright light blue and- wait, was the water glowing? He shot up to the surface in an instant. And yep, the water was definitely glowing - though still reflecting the second moon of the month - and as he checked over both of his friends, so were they. Not everywhere, though the tiny bit they were was freaky enough.

Their eyes and open mouths were glowing, both glancing between each other and him, Ranboo’s glow a black and white, Tubbo’s a bright green, and he looked down at the water to escape it. Of course, this brought about him seeing his own reflection, which showed the red glow of his eyes and mouth, and he gasped, eyes moving back to his friends.

The water was bubbling now, and the instinct to run appeared before something brushed it away, lulling him into a feeling of safety and pod and what the hell was happening fuck. It didn’t feel like the water was boiling - and honestly, how ridiculous would that be, a naturally boiling ocean pool - so he stayed still.

And then the world was shifting, disorienting him for a moment, before the feeling went away, leaving something strange but not unpleasant.

Everything was blending together, and suddenly he was swimming in color and warmth, and he’s breathing it all in but it’s not his breath it’s Their Breath, and everything he sees is through Their Eyes, and he hears Their Heart together, and Their Soul. Their Soul is a mix of reds and greens and sharp black and white, and it envelops them with such a feeling of belonging and love it’s almost too much.

It was as if they were separate liquids before all being gently pooled into one, and it felt right , then they were slowly pulled into their own puddles again, but still a mix of each other.

Then he’s back, and he has to become reacquainted with the feeling of his body, patting at his chest, wiggling his fingers and arms, and then toes and- where the fuck were his toes. He looked down, seeing a bright red tail in place of his legs, scales shimmering as if golden glitter was thrown across it.

There was a question of why, before realizing the only new variable when entering the ocean for the millionth time in his life.

He slowly raised his gaze to Ranboo.

“What the fuck.”

Chapter Text

“What the fuck.” Was the first thing out his mouth.

The second being “The fuck did you do,” which was quickly followed up by, “ I’m the microwaved fish!” from Tubbo.

“Yes Tubbo, very helpful, think about your shitty microwaved fish instead of the real problem. Speaking of; what the fuck man, what did you do Ranboo?”

The boy sunk further into the water, seeking solace in it when just a few minutes ago - fuck, he didn’t know how long they were together like that - he would’ve cowered at the mere sight of the liquid.

“Well, you see, I kinda maybe forgot to mention I’m a Mer.”

“‘Forgot to mention’ my ass! The hell- this is super not poggers of you, you’re a wrongen for this I swear, making us fish people randomly too.”

Ranboo dipped so the water was just below his mouth, ears - fuckin hell when did those get so long and pointy - flicking about in distress. He fiddled with his hands for a moment, before speaking again.

“I didn’t mean to… I didn’t even know I could do that, I mean, yeah there’s- there’s tales about it, but I didn’t think they were real. And, and it’s always voluntary and known about by both parties and-”

“Both parties? There’s three of us,” he spat, waving his arms wildly between the trio.

“Exactly! I don’t- I don’t think this has ever happened before.”

They were all silent for a moment, and Tommy studied his companions' tails in an attempt to not spin his mind around in circles wondering about the science of all this. It was easier to just get lost in the shimmering scales. Tubbo was a bright almost neon green and a few lighter and darker scales mixed in, with Ranboo’s being a mix of black and white, the pattern almost like a koi fish. There was an odd level of comfort at the sight of them, the same feeling of safety and warmth washing over him, and he shook his head to clear it. Speaking of-

“Okay, I can’t be the only one that felt that bullshit from earlier.”

“Oh you mean the weird home feeling? And how it was like we were melted down into paste and then smushed into one new paste and then pulled apart again?”

They both gave Tubbo a weird look, sighing and shaking their heads.

“No, well, yes, but that’s such a weird fuckin way to describe it man,” Tommy whined, placing his head in his hands, “That and the feeling of our souls, or, soul or whatever.”

“Almost like-”

“Soulmates,” Ranboo breathed, the green eye he could see wide and starry.

And sure, it was nice and all seeing the boo happy, but there was still the instincts of what the fuck , and ew gross feelings to work through in Tommy’s brain, so he used his usual response. Except, he didn’t, the sounds vanishing from his mouth when he went to speak. Trying again only resulted in the feeling of wanting to cry to appear, and he quickly switched gears, hoping to ignore the ickiness in his chest when he tried to say ‘gross, I don’t want to be soulmates with you’.

Fuck, please tell him he could still-

“Bitch!”

Ranboo startled at this, blinking rapidly as if trying to decide how to react, frowning and almost pouting for a moment before it dawned on him, and he let out a wheezy laugh.

“Oi dickhead, dickhead, shut the fuck up! Stop laughing at- Ohh, not you too Tubbo!”

He’d just needed to make sure he could still insult them, alright? So sue him. Knowing this, he proceeded to give the usual slew of rude phrases as they dried off next to the pool, Ranboo explaining that they’d magically come back to their legs and the clothes they were wearing prior to the change. Convenient, was his first thought, but then he realized how long they’d have to wait to dry off there and continued to hiss at them.

Eventually, his words died down, leaving them all in a comfortable silence, looking over their tails out of the water. There were differences in them, from the amount of fins to length, to how much fish they really were.

Tubbo had a classic mermaid tail - something he took great pride in, thank you very much - while Ranboo had the bigger scales of his tail fade into something that wasn’t scales. You would barely notice it wasn’t skin, if not for the color being the black and white, definitely not his human skin. Unlike his tail, most of the black was on his right, with more white on the left. Now Tommy understood where the split hair came from, half of it naturally growing white; it matched his Mer form perfectly.

He would be the hardest - read; impossible - to pass off as a human playing in the water if he so much as popped his head above the surface. Tommy was an odd middleground of the two it seemed. His scales weren’t such a stark stop as Tubbo’s, nor fully covering as Ranboo’s, slowly growing more sparse and finally stopping completely around the middle of his ribs. There were, from what the other two told him, a few scales almost acting as freckles along his cheeks, though from a distance they wouldn’t be noticable, he was sure.

Luckily, despite not quite being an ocean terror like Ranboo, Tubbo got the matching razor sharp teeth they all did. And of course this came along with the comment of ‘why microwave fish if I can just eat it raw now!’, setting off a wave of disgusted noises from Tommy.

“ Tub-oh! That’s gross!”

“Oh come on! You get what I mean, right Ranboo? I bet you’ve eaten tons of fish!”

“He has not-” he looked at the boy who was currently staring intently at his tail and moving the fins about, wiggling his clawed hands, “oh my god you have.”

“I was born a Mer, I had to eat something.”

He was going to protest this further when Tubbo cut in, eyes narrowed.

“You mean mermaids.”

“Wha- Tubbo, mermaids- mermaids is used for women, mermen is more accurate here, considering. And, and even then, those are land terms, we just use Mer out here.”

“Are you sexist Ranboo?” Was the only thing Tommy could manage at the turn in conversation, causing the other to sputter wildly for a second, “We can be mermaids if we want, women are mermaids and women are poggers.”

“I- Okay, okay, sure sure, that’s fine. Again, Mer is accurate and gender neutral but, whatever you like I guess.”

“Glad that’s settled then, we’re mermaids,” Tubbo said with a grin, showing off his sharp teeth.

Tommy shivered at the sight. He just knew he’d never get used to that. Sure, he had to look at Ranboo with the same teeth, but he wasn’t Tubbo , the only one who could strike fear into him with only a smile. He poked experimentally at his own teeth with his tongue, amazed when he didn’t cut himself on them. Must’ve been some evolutionary Mer bullshit then. Now that he thought about it, his tongue and mouth did feel rougher, probably something to do with having to exist in water and what they ate-

Fuck, he didn’t want to even think about eating fish like his two weirdo friends.

As he was thinking and tuning out the recommendations Ranboo was giving on what fish were best, he felt a tingling feeling, then the sudden receding of scales back into legs. He watched in awe as in seconds they were gone, leaving familiar skin. Standing, he was beginning something along the lines of ‘time to go boys!’ when he looked at the two, both still stuck on the ground with tails. He held back a laugh, knowing one of them would flick water at him and send him back in progress if he did, settling for, “Anything I can do?”

“Can you help me towel the end of my tail? It’s a bit far and there’s so much to dry on me.”

Tommy nodded in understanding, glancing over the not-skin but not-quite-scales covering the boy's body, and grabbed his towel from where he’d tossed it to the side. It was a bit damp, but apparently not enough to send him back into ‘Mer mode’ as he’d dubbed it. Sitting beside the tail - and holy shit it was long compared to the other two’s - he ran the cloth over it, being careful not to catch the edge of the scales or press too hard. He knew how sensitive a tail was after prodding at his for a bit, and he didn’t want to chance hurting his friend.

“Soooo. How are we going to deal with this?”

“Huh?”

“We need like, training or some shit, y’know? Tubbo and I aren’t exactly careful around water like you are.”

“Can attest to that, I’m never careful!”

Tommy moved on with a shake of his head, half admiring and half drying the scales he was patting at, “Plus, learning how to use these damn things would be… Well it’d be pretty cool, alright.”

Ranboo beamed at that, lifting his head and finally giving Tommy a good look at his eyes, the hair covering the left the whole time. The usual Green and- red. His other eye was red now. Normally, Tommy would’ve reared back because what, but he surprisingly didn’t feel an ounce of discomfort from the sight of them, only looking away when they flickered up to meet his gaze. The other wasn’t too fond of eye contact, and he wasn’t about to be a prick.

“How about tomorrow then?”

There were hums of agreement from the newly made Mers - and god did that fuck with his brain to think about - continuing with his task. With the work of Tommy and Ranboo together, the black and white retreated to nowhere, both turning to help the last of their bunch. The eldest pouted of course, not understanding why he was the last dry when he didn’t have as many scales. A good question, one with no answer from the younger two. Once the green faded as well, they all stood, making sure to throw a towel on any puddles of water the saw, not wanting to restart the process over again.

They trailed back through the tunnels, Tommy stretching his arms to the sky with a smile and then staring, entranced by the giant moon above them. Right, a Blue Moon this month. Something bubbled up at the sight, but he turned away instead, only to see the others looking up with the same feeling he’d pushed down written across their faces. Probably a Mer thing then, something else to get used to.

“Welp, on our way then right?”

Their heads snapped to look at him, a glossy look leaving their eyes as they nodded. He didn’t want to imagine what would happen if all of them were under whatever influence it seemed to have at once, so keeping himself under check would be a must. Tommy shelved that for later; don’t let your friends look at a full moon. Now wary, none of them took even a glance up on their way to the boat, where they were extra hesitant when stepping on the creaking dock, knowing now the consequences of falling into the water.

Luckily, they made it with no incident, no stray water splashing onto them, and they were driving off back to the main island. The sun was rising as they stepped onto land, toes - and god was he glad to have toes again - wiggling in the grass, hair rustling as a morning breeze blew in from the sea. He wouldn’t be taking his legs for granted again, that was for sure. That didn’t mean he’d be ignoring the chance to swim within the depths of the ocean either, but he still took a moment to let the initial scare of missing the limbs set in.

They said their goodbyes, waving and watching Ranboo walk off to wherever he went when not around them, then taking a slow and quiet walk back to their shared home. The red and orange hues of the sunrise faded to its usual light blue, and the comforting heat of the pavement warmed their feet. Nothing could ruin his peaceful morning, not even Wil when he spotted them. He ran over and started spouting something off, filled with swears and empty threats, and Tommy simply tossed the boat's keys at him, giving a half-hearted smirk that stopped the man in his rambling.

“Not really in the mood today big man,” he said, and the man blinked as he called over his shoulder, “Have fun with your boat!”

He felt a grin form as they moved out of the man's sight. Yeah, he’d given the keys back without fuss, but; Wil still didn’t know where the fuck his boat was tied up. Tubbo finally let out a demonic cackle at that, and they lazily bumped against each other, Tommy resting an arm around his friend's shoulders. They made it home soon after, happy to find their keys still in their pockets, and stumbled through the house. Going through a soul meld and Mer transformation - twice, if you counted the change back - was straining the first time, who would’ve guessed.

After changing into pajamas, Tommy flopped face first onto his bed, ready to pass out forever. But something was weird. And not weird like his friends, something was weird in a not okay way, pushing in the back of his mind and keeping him from sleep. He was about to resign himself to staying up when a knock at the door sounded. It opened to reveal Tubbo - because of course he wouldn’t wait for Tommy to say come in - who shuffled in and then jumped onto the bed.

By now it was routine for him to show up in Tommy’s room after a nightmare. They both knew he couldn’t have fallen asleep and gotten one that quickly, but he didn’t question it, and he didn’t bother wondering why the pressure in his head lessened with his appearance, letting the older tuck them under the blankets and wrap his arms around him. After a moment, he returned the cuddle, an arm flung across Tubbo’s waist. He was tired, too tired to care about how mushy he was being, allowing himself to be coddled like this, only sinking further into the blankets with a mostly-content sigh. Something was missing, and he didn’t know what, but for now… This was good enough.

—

He woke up to no one there. Not uncommon, with Tubbo waking up earlier than him more often than not - if the boy ever slept in the first place. Tommy rubbed at his eyes and trudged to the bathroom, catching his reflection in the mirror and freezing. His hair, and his- what the fuck was wrong with his eyes? They were brighter than when he went to bed, now sporting vibrant and not to mention unnatural yellow blonde hair, the same with the blueness of his eyes.

He ran a hand over his face and blinked a few times to be sure this was reality, then yelled.

“TUBBO?!”

“Hmm? What’s- oh.”

“Yeah, oh fuckin idiot, look at my-” he turned to Tubbo, gaping for a moment, and then, “your hair.”

The boy paused in his staring, frowning and pulling his longer hair in front of his eyes as he opened his mouth, no doubt to say there was ‘nothing wrong with it’ or ‘his bed head isn’t that bad’. Instead, a small dying noise sounded in the back of his throat, now grasping at light, nearly white blonde hair. Tommy nodded sadly as they locked magically green and blue eyes, already grabbing his toothbrush shiv - he’d seen too many movies and wanted his own, he explained to Ranboo once.

“Time to kill the boob boy.”

Chapter Text

“Tommy.”

“Ranboo.”

“Is that your toothbrush shiv?”

“No,” he lied.

“Alright alright… Are you, are you going to stab me?”

There was a long silence between the two as they stared at each other, Ranboo having - mostly - gotten over the shock of Tommy’s new appearance. The taller bolted, but he was ready, launching himself at the boy and gripping tightly at his legs. They both kicked and hissed, and he was very much glad they weren’t in Mer form, where Ranboo’s claws would easily have dug into his skin. It wasn’t long before he was dragging the bean pole to the duo’s home by the ankles, grinning at the loud whines of apology. There was also a bit of begging, knowing just what Tubbo would put him through once they were there.

Sure enough, Tubbo saw them come through the doorway, grinned like a maniac, and pulled out a small metal box.

“Tubbo, Tubbo please no, no no, anything else, I-”

“TREASURE, THAT IS WHAT YOU ARE!” echoed his voice, then the auto-tuned version layered a millisecond later.

“Nohooohooo!”

Tommy only sat to the side, slipping on a pair of noise cancelling headphones and enjoying the few groans of pain from Ranboo that made it through, ignoring any pleading looks sent his way. Eventually, he took pity on him and snatched Tubbo’s torture machine up, locking it in a cupboard where it would sit until he took a sledgehammer to another lock. Really, he couldn’t afford to keep replacing those. They were just lucky Tommy inherited this house for them - far away from any ex-family they both had.

“So, have you learnt your lesson fiend?”

The boy still on the ground frowned, but nodded. The younger two knew not to argue against Tubbo’s fury - and while Tommy was still a bit miffed as well, he wasn’t as brutal as his friend. Plus, it wasn’t as if this was a true consequence for any wrong-doing, because there was still the fact that; being a mermaid was fuckin cool.  Regardless of any odd changes, that is.

“Welp, now that we’re done, how about a mermaid lesson?”

Ranboo looked like he wanted to correct the newly-blonde, but chose against it in favor of saying yes.

—

They were going back out to the island, having stolen Wil’s boat - again - and driven away, cackling as… friends. A team? Tommy felt like he was missing something, a word, but shrugged it off. Probably another mermaid thing. Either way, they’d snagged the keys, hopped aboard, and been gone in seconds, barely able to see the shock on the man’s face turn to anger. And, now that he thought about it, a little bit of fear, mostly aimed toward the tallest of them.

“Hey Boob boy!” Tommy called over the wind, too lazy to move to a closer seat.

Ranboo rolled his eyes, unsteadily crouching and hurrying over to where he was. He always ruined all the fun, didn’t he. A screaming contest would’ve done them all good, Tommy thought, get the adrenaline going or something.

“What?”

“Bitch man Wil seemed pretty uneasy about you,” and then the horrible thought of, “Does he know you’re a Mer?!”

“Huh? Oh, no no, no he just- Ahh, it’s a bit embarrassing.”

“Oh?”

He watched a hand run down the other's face, cheeks gaining a pink tint. This, of course, was a sign that he knew he couldn’t get out of answering Tommy, no matter the amount of deflecting and avoiding - not unless he wanted to jump into the water to escape them.

“When I first got here, I uh, I had to steal a tiny bit,  y’know? Wil was the first person I stole from, but he caught me and- and I got away.”

“There’s more, isn’t there. C’mon Ranboo, you’re talking to the crime duo of the island, we won’t tell if you stabbed him.”

There was a moment where he thought he’d have to pry further, but was pleasantly surprised with an answer.

“I kneed him in the groin!” he blurted, burying his face in his hands.

It took only a second to process, and then they were both on the floor of the boat, wheezing for breath and clutching at their stomachs.

“I didn’t mean to!” he whined, “It was a knee jerk reaction okay?!”

This only made them laugh harder, gripping onto each other as they tried to calm down.

“Holy shit, a knee jerk reaction Tubbo! Oh my god, fuck!”

“I didn’t know you were such a wrongen Boo my Beloved!” Tubbo finally got out, ignoring any sputtered argument from Ranboo, only patting him on the shoulder. “Welcome to the crime club. Oh god that’s amazing.”

Tommy heard him mutter something about ‘not wanting to be part of the crime club’ but he saw the smile that stretched across his face anyway. Family, came a small whisper from his soul. He brushed it off, because it was wrong, and that wasn’t just him rejecting the word, he could feel it, how wrong but close it was. But that was a line of thought best saved for later, because they were finally at the fucked up dock - somehow in worse shape than last time - and stepped onto it one by one. It held them - barely - and they agreed to bring something to fix it up next time.

The mission today, however, was swim lessons - not that Ranboo thought they needed it, apparently - figuring out how to move and breathe under water. In his mind, who wouldn’t want to navigate the depths of the ocean, places never before seen - unless by other Mers. He could- holy shit he could befriend fish. Unless Ranboo and Tubbo got to them first, fuckin weirdos eating raw fish. Granted, Tubbo hadn’t yet, but it was only a matter of time before he found one to bite into, only solidified as they transformed and the boy instantly gnashed his teeth together, giving a malicious grin.

Thus, began the few minutes of learning different ways to use their fins and tail to maneuver, then trying to wrangle Tubbo into not moving all around. He was searching for a poor fish to go after, of course, and Tommy winced as he watched his sharp teeth sink into one, even Ranboo grimacing at the sight, despite also being a fish eater. What was in that one movie; fish are friends, not food? Yeah, that didn’t matter to Tubbo, apparently, even if he himself was part fish. Or, part whatever they were.

“Hey, why do you have a real fish coloring, but then he’s like the little mermaid?” Tommy jerked his head to their friend now devouring a fish, pointedly avoiding that area of his vision.

“I’m actually a hybrid!”

“What?”

“Oh! Oh yeah, yeah so there’s different types of Mers, although none of them have any official titles or anything,” he muttered the last part under his breath, as if it was a slight against him, “Some of them are more based on actual water creatures, while the others are the ‘classic mermaid’ form. I’m a hybrid of both, so it makes sense that you two might get something more familiar to what the stereotypical Mer is to the overworld, being turned into Mers by melding souls with me.”

Tommy made a face, but nodded. It made sense, though he seemed a bit… off, from the usual mermaid vision. That could’ve just been from his skewed thoughts on what Mer looked like, but he felt like something was missing. He’d been feeling that a lot lately. There were more questions, more thoughts, but they were interrupted by Tubbo zooming between them, snickering at their surprised looks.

“Sloooow!” he called over his shoulder, pushing to get further away.

He scoffed before beginning to follow, slowly getting the hang of swimming with a tail instead of kicking his feet. There was a tiny piece of instinct that urged him forward, and then there was something behind him, no, something on him and it moved, and he was suddenly far closer than he had been a second ago, shooting past Tubbo by accident and having to roll awkwardly to stop himself. He gasped in for air - except it was the bubbly solidness of ocean water, which he still wasn’t really used to - his friends staring at him with wide eyes.

Reaching to touch his back, he was met with a fin of some sort, one that he could feel being touched, and, if he focused on it, felt tall as all hell. Looking down, he saw that it went to almost the end of his tail, and then it was folding back down and away.

“What the hell,” he breathed, because that was not normal. Or, maybe it was for Mers.

Both seemed as freaked out - yet excited - as he was, though Ranboo was the one to rest a hand against his back, eyes sparkling.

“ A sailfish! Except, except you’re red, but a sailfish’s sail like I have a koi pattern!”

“Sailfish?” Tubbo piped up.

“Yeah, yeah they have a giant fin that they use to go at high speeds to catch prey, then it’s retracted when they don’t need it.”

Tubbo hummed, using this as an excuse to run his hands over Tommy’s scaled lower back, laughing when Tommy frowned with crossed arms. That certainly explained the weird feeling from earlier. Well, one of the two feelings, since the weird family bit went unanswered, but he wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to deal with that just yet. Not out of fear or cowardice, because he was a big man, a big mer currently, and those didn’t get scared, not when they were fearsome beings of the deep and dark sea.

Fearsome beings that apparently had to deal with their team family friends petting their weird sailfin. He swatted at them, only garnering laughs in response as Tubbo moved to continue poking at him, grin wide and just genuinely happy. And really, he couldn’t be angry at that, could he? So he stayed still, letting them tire themselves out, their tails wrapping around his when they were well and truly done messing with him. The comforting hum of their souls together pushed a bit further into his skin than before, and he sighed. Maybe, this was alright.

—

Going home went much the same as the day before, though they didn’t see Wilbur to give the keys back to - not that they wouldn’t have stolen them again tomorrow anyway - and they yawned as they closed the front door behind them. Unlike last time, both immediately went to Tommy’s room, instead of separating only to be together by the end of the night. This time, he curled around Tubbo, breathing in the scent of grass, and the new addition of something he just knew was connected to the sea, connected to their souls having melted together into new ones.

His face was still pressed into his friend's hair when he woke up, legs tangled together and Tubbo’s hands holding onto his. For once, no nightmares had startled either of them into awareness, and he sighed in relief at the thought, before wondering if it was something to do with the voice saying something close to family, but wasn’t quite family. He didn’t know what to make of it, but he did know it was 5 am from the alarm clock, too early to be awake. Drifting off to sleep again, he smiled, holding just a little bit tighter.

—

He should’ve expected the next morning to be another Mer-induced disaster. Truly, after their hair and eyes changing, and that entire mess of becoming Mers in the first place, he shouldn’t have been so surprised by what he woke up to. Thing is, seeing your best friend of 8 years freeze water that almost spilled out of their cup was not something he was ready for. In fact, he decided, right then and there, that he was going back to bed.

“It’s too early for this,” he managed to get out, both of their eyes wide.

“Uuuuh. UHHHHHH. I’m not hallucinating here big man, you’re seeing that too?”

“Yep.”

Tommy wished he didn’t, and he wished even more that he had his headphones on hand, seeing the beginning of an ear splitting cheer from Tubbo. And sure enough, the noise was an assault on his half-asleep senses, making him grumble and drop his head onto the counter. There was a moment of watching the cup, ending in the conclusion that it wasn’t going to defreeze magically on it’s own, though that would’ve been very convenient. Until Tommy grabbed the cup, and then his hands felt tingly and warm, and the water went sloshing back into its container, then boiled a second later. He hastily pulled his hand away, the water returning to normal.

They both held their breath, debating whether they should go stab Ranboo again for this, but shook their heads in unison as they locked eyes. Super powers could be fun, they reasoned. And really, the events were a blessing in disguise, as Tubbo drinking from it without a straw would’ve been a disast- and he went and did it anyway. Tommy could only sigh as the boy fell to the ground, tail flopping wildly at the sudden change. Tubbo pouted up at him, eyes wide and glossy in the too-real way only Tubbo could make them, instantly getting a reason for him to practice his new abilities.

“I seem to have fallen. And I can’t get up!” Tubbo said in his mockingly bad actor voice.

He snorted and crouched next to the tail, being sure not to touch it or else he’d be changed too. Still hesitant - it had been less than a minute since Tommy found out he had powers, give him a break - it took a bit to fully dry his friend, not wanting to burn him by accident. Turn friend back to human - check. Find other friend and showboat a bit - next on the todo list.

Of course, they practiced a bit more with Tubbo’s cup of water, with the boy trying to see if he could freeze water as he was trying to drink it - the answer was yes, a horrifying discovery until Tommy managed to melt it from the back of his throat - though he only laughed it off a second later, as if he hadn’t given Tommy a heart attack. ‘Practice’ was the justification between giggles, and if he didn’t care so much for the other he might’ve chosen to strangle him.

Instead of committing a murder, he went to find Ranboo, having the displeasure of giving his friend a piggyback, because, as the smaller put it, ‘I just got my legs back, they’re all jelly and saaaad’. It was hardly an excuse, but he caved anyway, begrudgingly letting the other jump onto his back. So off they were, barely feeling the heat of the pavement against his feet, despite it usually being burning hot at that time of day.

He didn’t have time to focus on that though, considering they had been through their usual route multiple times with no sight of the boy. Normally, he would be sitting at their rock on the hill, and if nothing else he’d be somewhere near Antarctic Bay, with his weird white button up and black sweater that Tommy teased him about for being nerdy. Not in a mean way, just a… Tommy way. But he was nowhere, until the thought that- he said he lived in Antarctic Bay. Which yes, could mean the small area of the island named the same as the actual area of water, but he’d mentioned being born a Mer, and ‘when he’d first gotten here’, so it was highly likely-

“That fucker’s homeless.”

“Pfffft, Tuboh! You can’t just- you can’t just say that!”

“Well?! He told us he had somewhere he lived and,” Tubbo waved his hands around them wildly, “I’m not seeing where the fuck that is. Which means he’s passed out in the water somewhere. Ooooo, the second I get my hands on our Boo, I swear to god.”

“No murder… Yet. We have to find him first.”

With slightly malicious grins, they dove into the ocean, ready to greet their friend for the morning.

Chapter Text

Ranboo was used to the quiet of the ocean.

The soft crashing of waves hitting the rocks above his head, the little noises fish sometimes made - did you know Piranha’s bark - and the soft sounds of crabs clicking their claws. He was born in it, and abandoned in it. So he was used to the noises, as he curled up at the very bottom in his little cove, journal held tightly against his chest. He’d water proofed it a month ago, having filled up the old one just as he finished making the new, glad his friends never questioned where he got endless waterproofed objects. If they asked, he wasn’t sure he could’ve lied.

He didn’t like lying, so he didn’t do it. And telling a few - many - little half truths didn’t count, did it? After all, he did live in Antarctic Bay, and he didn’t know where he’d gotten the specific waterproof triket they’d asked about that one time, so it was fine, right? Apparently, it wasn’t, evident by the loud splashes he heard above him. His eyes opened, blinking blearily and rubbing at them as he registered what he’d heard, an instant panic rising.

Were those humans in the sea this early? Except, looking at the light level, it wasn’t nearly dark enough for when he usually was awake, and- oh god he’d overslept. That’s why he wasn’t surprised at the sight of red and green, simply closing his eyes again and awaiting his imminent demise, knowing that struggling would only make his fate worse. True to their title - the chaotic duo - he heard the purposefully off-key singing of Tubbo switching rapidly between songs.

He thought Tommy would choose a shiv, but felt a hand rest on his tail and it heated him up. It didn’t burn, but it was still uncomfortably hot, the water around them bubbling with the heat, and he quickly wiggled away hoping the youngest would stop scaring the fish. Luckily, he seemed to get the message and the water settled, before Ranboo felt a small prick in his arm, hissing and looking down to a sharpened piece of ice sticking out of him, Tubbo looking up with a smirk.

“Wha- I’d rather not get stabbed, actually.”

“Too bad!” Tubbo said in a sing song voice, but let Tommy melt the ice anyway.

“When- How did you- Okay, okay, when did that happen,” he managed, waving his arms at them.

“This morning!” Tubbo said at the same time as Tommy’s; “Because of your weird Mer shit.”

Which- yeah, okay, that kind of made sense, magic from magic, cool, he just wanted to know; how did they get manipulation of water and why. Though, whatever sea magic started Mer’s hadn’t explained their existence, so why would it begin answering them all now, because sure, giving three seventeen-year-olds powers was a great idea that didn’t need to be questioned at all. Who’s to say they wouldn’t simply choose world domination with their new abilities, what with the other two already having a plan formed. And okay, maybe it was a bit fun with the intricate snowflake designs Tubbo was making in the water - and how the heck was he already doing that?? - but the implications-

“C’mon Ranboob-”

“Again, not my name.”

“I can see you over-thinking from here! Just fuckin, calm down or something, it’ll be fine, we’re The Boys ™ we’ve got this!”

Ranboo squinted. How did he always say it with the ™ without actually saying the ™? But Tommy had real magic now, so who was he to question the workings of the world, especially when it didn’t seem to apply to the other two. Somehow, they forgot about his living situation for all of five minutes. In those few moments, Tommy dried them off - rambling on about ‘how the fuck do you waterproof things Ran what the fuck’ - and he had to break it to them that; no, they can’t decide to become vigilante menaces that wreaked havoc upon the island. Tommy only bit back that he didn’t get a say because he’s homeless - not entirely untrue - before the boys face turned furious and he stalked off.

“Uh- did I- did I do that?”

“Yep!” and when that made him shrink further; “Oh, he’s just angry that you’ve been living alone in the sea. Don’t worry, he’ll find you a home, easy!”

“Wha- what do you mean find me a home? Is he gonna break into one?! I don’t think I’d like that actually, no thank you I’m okay.”

Tubbo shook his head with a wider grin than before - somehow terrifying even without the sharp teeth - and tugged him to sit in the grass.

“You’ll see.”

He rested his chin in his palms, trying to ignore how not comforting the response was.

—

“What?”

“You’re taking in my friend Ranboo, got it?”

Tommy was currently standing in front of Phil and Techno - the weird ass family of Wilbur - tapping his foot impatiently. They really weren’t getting his offer, were they? If they let Ranboo stay with them, he would have a home for once and they could get brownie points or something for housing an orphan. It was a win win! Possibly. Unfortunately, they were being a bit difficult with his demand- offer, so maybe he’d have to pull out the blackmail.

“Did you say Ranboo, Tommy?”

At his nod, the blonde brightened considerably - and geez, did everyone on this damn island have a soft spot for the boob boy? Maybe he needed to get memory issues. But Techno didn’t seem to notice the other’s reaction, snorting and giving an answer for the two of them.

“No, not happenin’. Why would we want one of your friends in our house? Ridiculous, isn’t it Phil?”

There was no reply, and Tommy grinned, watching Phil’s face scrunch up in thought before turning to pout at Techno. The other man’s eyes widened, clearly knowing a losing side when he was on it. It was like Tubbo when he gave puppy dog eyes - ones he shouldn’t have been so good at with how fuckin evil he was - making Ranboo and him cave on things they normally wouldn’t. Techno, at that moment, looked horrified.

“Phil, Phil why are you lookin’ at me like that? Phil no, no more orphans remember?”

“Wilbur’s not an orphan Techno,” he scolded with a light whack to his arm, giving a bright smile as he continued, “Where is he, I can have the guest room ready in 10.”

“Be back in 15 or so!” he said instead of a true answer, already running off with a wave and a middle finger to the pink-haired one.

—

“No no, so you tie- you tie the flowers here, then more toward the middle.”

Ranboo watched Tubbo nod along, tongue sticking out as he was careful not to break the flower stems further, letting out a noise of triumph when he was done. A flower crown of dandelions were tossed haphazardly onto Ranboo’s head - definitely some flowers broken and falling out of it - the other boy clapping his hands happily. The older had forced him to teach him the art of flower crowns - forced as in he’d instantly begun the false waterworks when he initially said no, tears that were surprisingly convincing. Still, he smiled at the present, then startled at the sudden picture the other took.

“For my scrapbook,” Tubbo claimed, as if that explained anything, because when-

“You have one of those?”

“Nope!”

Dropping his head into his hands, he sighed. Really, Ranboo should’ve expected that; he would’ve talked his ear off about it for at least a week if he were serious, it was just the Tubbo way. He leaned back against the rock, taking in the heat that was soaked into it and listening to him ruin a few more handfuls of flowers - which, really, he doubted there would be anyone to miss that specific patch anyway. It was so peaceful, quiet aside from a few hums and breaking flowers, and he wondered why most days weren’t like that. He let out a yelp as someone tackled him from behind, arms wrapping around his neck and keeping him from tumbling down the hill to his dead.

“Found a home!” a voice yelled next to his ear, and he hung his head, “And it’s not even illegal for you to live in!”

“That’s- that’s good,” he said slowly, though it came out with a questioning tone.

“You’re indebted to me now, forever, no getting out of it!”

And oh boy, he was way too gleeful while saying that. He would’ve mentioned it, but Tommy was already tugging him upright, straightening his mussed up shirt collar and sweater before nodding rapidly as he spoke about the home. It took a second to process, because he didn’t recall seeing him like this often. Tommy was nervous about this. Maybe it was the people he was ‘kindly exploiting’, or the house, or maybe he wanted Ranboo to like the new living space he’d ‘found’ - either way, he was warmed by the sight, something that didn’t go unnoticed.

“Oh fuck off, you could live in that stupid water cave again for all I care. I just want to mess with the Watson’s.”

It was a half-truth, which he expected. Tommy didn’t like admitting to caring about people, even if they were as close as the three were, so he knew very well that the first half was a lie; and the second was very much the truth. They’d all heard the rant by now, about how Wilbur was a wrongen, and Techno was a prick, and Phil was- Honestly, they didn’t hear much about Phil, but from his own experience with helping and being helped by the man, he was inclined to say he was good. Very fatherly, from what he’d seen, considering their first meeting was him fussing over a scraped palm Ranboo had gotten from falling. Well, to be fair, the man had also laughed when he watched him fall, but the injury pulled out some form of protectiveness in him, one he’d never had trained on him before - as far as he knew, considering his lack of parents.

But that was a train of thought he didn’t want to follow, mostly because there wasn’t anything for it to lead to, only empty spaces where memories should be. So he should be fine not remembering. Yeah, yeah he was good without a family, just like Tommy and Tubbo always said to themselves. And this wouldn’t be a family, he was certain, because his own blood had left him - because why else would he be alone? - and he had no spine like Tommy and no excitement for life like Tubbo, so this would just be a house, not a home. He reminded himself of this as he lagged behind the two, Tommy impatient to be there so he could bother the men more. Really, he knew the other was more worried about where he lived than he let on.

When they got to the cozy house, he raised a hand to knock, instantly being pushed aside so Tommy could fling the door open with a shout.

“I’m back shitheads!”

And wasn’t that just the Tommy way. Ranboo wished, then, that he could be as small as Tubbo, tiny enough to press himself against Tommy’s back and use him as a hiding place, or a shield, because the first man to walk in was huge. Not just wide in frame, or having many muscles, but also tall, taller than he was. The man had pink hair pulled into a high ponytail - which made sense, heat and all - and eyes that were brown but seemed almost red. He brushed it off as just the lighting. He snorted, gave a short greeting, a once over of Ranboo, and then left with a mug in hand. Tea, he thought it might be from the smell, though he couldn’t fathom why someone would want a hot drink in the middle of summer.

The one still clinging to his arm - because when did the smallest ever stop - mumbled something about him being weird and intimidating, and he pushed aside his own anxieties to give a comforting bunt to the others head. It was an accident, and weird, and not a human thing, and he’d decided he would be ignoring that ever happened until the boy let out a giggle. And wasn’t hearing his Pod happy worth everything? He coughed, ignoring instincts and soft yelling in his mind in favor of paying attention to the new person entering the room.

“Ranboo!”

They knew each other - kind of - but he held out a hand automatically anyway, flushing in embarrassment when Phil hugged him instead, Tommy grumbling something about how weird it was that he liked Ranboo. Which- hurt a bit, yeah, yeah it stung on the very inside, where his mixed soul hummed and sang a tune at the sight of the blondes, one only two other souls knew. And oh wow, both of them being blonde was something he’d have to get used to now. But he was getting distracted, spacing again, tuning back into the conversation to the brashest of the trio threatening the man with something like ‘crashing your boat next time’ if they weren’t good to him. He really didn’t want to know when the first time was.

Phil was blonde still - thank god no one else’s hair was magically changing - shoulder length with a piece on the side in a tiny braid. It matched the one pulled in the pink-haired one’s ponytail, he noticed. He filed it away for later, then took one look at the floral button up the blonde was wearing and decided; yep, that was his new aesthetic, he was absolutely stealing the dad look. If he ever got new clothes that was. That wasn’t these people’s jobs though- which reminded him, oh crap he needed to get a job at some point, for the clothes and the rent, because at some point he’d turn eighteen and have to pay them back.

But those were worries for later Ranboo, because present Ranboo was now alone and awkwardly shuffling in the hopes he wouldn’t have to speak more than necessary. Phil gave a knowing smile, giving a rambling tour - one he didn’t have to reply to - of the space. A hand lightly rested on his shoulder, heavy and comforting, almost like when Tubbo was hanging off him, though not quite the same as the man wasn’t Pod.

“If you need anything, Wil’s room is at the end of the hall, our’s is right across from you, alright? Don’t be afraid to ask for anything, okay mate?”

Ranboo gave an awkward thumbs up, and dammit he would be having anxiety over that in his dreams for weeks wouldn’t he, making even more awkward finger guns as he retreated into the room. It was probably small, but his little cave was at least half, if not a third of the size; he only needed to sleep and stuff his things in the corner afterall. But now he had all this room. He decided that the first bit of business would be settling in for the night, trinkets and the softest blanket he’d ever felt around him. It was nearly perfect, aside from the missing Pod.

He gulped down the mournful whimper that threatened to escape at the thought, because his Pod should be there, but he knew that wasn’t how humans worked, and while they weren’t humans anymore, human life was all they’d experienced. He wasn’t sure if they’d ever understand the want for Pod, or the pull of their souls, so he resolved to keep silent and push past it, for their sake.

That night, a Mer escaped his room whilst unconscious, another fell asleep with more questions about emotion than answers, and a white-blonde cried over brown dye that just wouldn’t stain.

Chapter Text

“Tubbo.”

“Yes dear?” came the reply with an ‘innocent’ smile attached.

“What are those?”

The smile stretched to a malevolent grin, and he knew; he’d messed up by questioning the boy.

“Why Boo, I thought you’d never ask!”

Tubbo unfolded the fabric in his hands, eyes narrowed in mischief as Ranboo took it all in. What the boy held in his arms were pairs of gloves, all in different lengths and colors and styles. The pale green ones were the smallest, surely for Tubbo himself then, and would stop just below the elbow when pulled on - and of course he would describe them as his ‘princess gloves’. Next were a pale red - a bit too far pink for Tommy to not fake complain about - fingerless aside from the middle one. He just knew that Tommy would take that as an excuse to flip people off.

The last pair, held out in one hand toward him, were fingerless gloves in green and red, matching Ranboo’s eyes. And yeah, it was dorky, especially Tubbo’s claim that they were ‘The Gloves Gang’, but he still felt the little fluttering from his soul at the gifts, the sound of the ocean rising in his ears. He swallowed the feeling down, along with any chirps he wanted to let free, fiddling with the ends of his new accessories. They were a great distraction from his instincts, and he relaxed at the repeated action. Luckily, the other two were too busy arguing to notice, voices rising louder over if Tommy would wear the gloves or not - Tubbo assuredly winning.

“I think the color suits you,” he piped up without meaning to.

Ranboo flushed when the attention turned to him, but felt a swirling warmth at the look on Tommy’s face, clearly warring between continuing to fight, and something that looked close to pleased at the comment. The blonde- or- the original blonde huffed, but pulled on the gloves without another complaint. They really did look good on him, the mention only causing a bright red to cover his face, denying any form of calling him ‘soft’ for it. He only smiled, ruffling Tommy’s hair and feeling glad for his friends, his soulmates. It was already a better day than that morning had been.

He wasn’t sure why, but he’d woken up to hands on his arms and someone gently moving him, because for some reason he was standing in the living room but he couldn’t remember why he was there- And then he was fully aware, despite being fast asleep a second prior, and he’d run. Which, he had to say, sleepwalking wasn’t the best first - second? - impression to give to his new housemates. He’d never sleepwalked - sleep swam? - before. There was a question of why, but he already knew, as he knew that the sun would rise and set, and the ocean would continue to move without stopping, and his soul would still swirl happily every time he so much as thought of his soulmates. The answer was simple in his mind; Pod slept piled or curled or splayed out- it didn’t really matter how, just that they were together.

Ranboo was alone.

Not in the sense he didn’t have a Pod - he very much did - but in the sense that there was no way for him to surround himself with them to rest. It was obvious then, that he was trying to find his Pod in his sleep. But he could handle it, maybe, hopefully. The two were doing just fine - aside from whatever repression Tommy was dealing with - and he could just- try more? Or, in blunter terms, he could fake it until it became reality. Which probably wasn’t healthy now that he thought about it, but that was okay, yep, it was oookay.

“Booloved? Are you ignoring me?”

“Huh?”

He played with the gloves again in an attempt to avoid Tubbo’s stare, looking him over as if there was something physically wrong with him he could find. To be fair, there kind of was, what with the sleepwalking and- oh, oh was that a weird weight in his chest? But it wasn’t that bad, or he’d cross his fingers that it wasn’t because dang it, he didn’t want to bother the two over nothing - nothing being instincts and gestures that were woven into his very being as a Mer, but who wanted to think about that?

“Hmmm. Fine, I want a divorce.”

For a second, his brain did that thing where it short-circuited, thoughts slowing to a halt then rapidly reappearing and causing a headache.

“You- I- You what?” He squeaked out, highly confused because he definitely did not recall getting married to Tubbo.

“We were married, I’ve decided, but now I think I’ll divorce you,” and he said it in a way that somehow made it seem like a thing Ranboo didn’t very much want to happen, thank you.

“Wha- Maybe, maybe let’s not?”

“Welllll. I suppose I can stay for our son.”

“Our son?” he parroted softly.

“Your son?!” Tommy finally cut in, but there was no stopping the disaster.

“Yes,” he sniffled dramatically, “Michael, the tiny Christmas fish. We can’t very well separate and leave him with only one father, so I suppose I shall suffer!”

Ranboo wasn’t sure why, but Tommy chose to glare at him, as if he were the one claiming they were married with a son. It made a slight feeling of nervousness bubble in him, but it went away when the two began their play fighting again, a sign he wasn’t actually in trouble with his soulmates. And maybe that shouldn’t have been a worry - they were Pod now, soulmates now - but he couldn’t help the thought from slithering back into his mind time and time again, that he was a bit more excited about being soulmates than they were. Maybe, he was just overly attached, considering these were his only friends ever.

Yeah, which meant it would be better to not mention the sleepwalking, or the burning in his chest at the decision to keep a distance. Or, not a distance, he was going to interact as he always did, nothing more. He knew they’d be pissed he was ignoring his own feelings - needs? - but they weren’t born-Mer, and he couldn’t randomly mention Pod piles and expect them to understand. Trying to exist as they had before the Soulmate incident it was.

This was how the rest of the day went, Ranboo avoiding questions on why he was acting odd, and pretending he didn’t notice the looks shared between the two when they thought he wasn’t watching. It only made the weight crush down further, but he ignored that too, laughing away any tension. He decided to lose himself within the chaos of his soulmates instead of focusing on those anxiety inducing thoughts, wheezing a high cackling laugh as Tubbo chased Tommy around with a half eaten fish, trying to force him to take a bite. The youngest still didn’t have complete control over his sailfin, barely able to escape getting a mouthful of raw fish.

It all came to a close too soon, with a short group hug and then him parting from their group. They didn’t say anything, so he assumed he was going the right way, but as usual he didn’t quite know where he was going.  This direction was right, at least in the beginning, but now he didn’t remember. He didn’t remember, and it was dark out now, sun setting far too quickly for his liking, the shadows crawling in without him even realizing. His instincts screamed for Pod, to allow them to curl around him and protect each other from the hidden dangers.

But he wouldn’t force the two to help him - he didn’t know where they lived anyway - meaning he was stuck, in the dark and hopeless. All he could do was walk around until he recognized the house he was supposed to come back to. Which was weird, wasn’t it, having a house to go back to, rather than a lonely cave; it was all he’d ever known, and all of it was changing.

A hand on his shoulder made him jump back, stumbling a few steps - curse you feet - and letting out a noise of distress. He was too startled to worry about whether it was a human noise, eyes focused on the new person. They were a tad shorter than him, but taller than Tommy, with fluffy dark brown hair, a trenchcoat on - who the hell wears a trenchcoat during summer on a tropical island? - and a phone in their hand. Wilbur, he recognized from Tommy ranting about the man.

“Ranboo?”

How the heck did he know his name? It’s not like Tommy and him actually talked; they yelled, and bickered, and sometimes Wilbur would chase him around the island, but that was it. He took a step back, unsure if he should run - it was nighttime and he was defenseless - or say something. Apparently the action was enough, Wilbur practically deflating with relief and running a hand through his hair.

“Thank god.” he breathed, hunched over with a hand on his knee, then standing upright again. “Alright, time to get home gremlin number three.”

And oh, he’d forgotten Wilbur lived with Phil and Techno, being their… Son? He couldn’t really remember - shocker. Despite the idea that mayyybe he should be a bit more careful about who he followed in the night - the man could be lying after all - he shuffled alongside him. He expected an awkward silence, something he wasn’t unused to with people he didn’t know, and got the exact opposite. Instead, Wilbur rambled on about anything and everything, being far more similar to Tommy than either would admit; he made a note to never say that aloud in front of them.

“Ah, and here we are! Welcome back Ran-boo.”

He was about to correct the odd emphasis of parts of his name, when the door swung open. Techno looked down on both of them, eyes flickering over him a few times before he nodded, approving of whatever it is he saw. When the man moved from the doorway, he took the invitation to come inside, slowly trailing behind them to the living room, where a disheveled Phil sat. He looked- not great to put it kindly, and Ranboo shrunk at the exhausted stare he was met with.

“Please,” and he stood up straighter, but realized just how tall he was and slouched instead, “Never do that again.”

Oh, oh that was bad, oh he was going to get kicked out wasn’t he, he’d sleepwalked and now they wanted him gone didn’t they. What would he tell Tommy? More importantly, as the more terrifying of the two; what would he tell Tubbo. He’d already failed at keeping the shelter they’d given him.

“I’m sorry, I- I didn’t mean to. I can- I’ll lock the door next time, then I won’t be a bother or anything, or I can go back where I was before and we can just pretend I live here for Tommy, or-”

“Kid.”

His jaw snapped shut with a click, eyes wide and staring up at Techno, before focusing on Phil, who was now lightly holding his arms.

“Mate, I was talking about running off and staying out ‘till midnight.”

Midnight? That wasn’t good, but they didn’t seem angry. And he’d assumed- oh he was so out of the loop wasn’t he? He flushed, fiddling with the gloves Tubbo made him, another pinch in his chest at the thought of the boy.

“I- Oh. I thought…” But it was clear what he’d been thinking, so he switched gears. “I didn’t remember where to go. I mean, I knew I was supposed to be here, I just- didn’t know how to get back.”

There were questions to be asked then, both Wilbur and Techno opening their mouths to start, but they stopped at Phil’s light glare in their direction. After a few seconds of twitching eyes and slight tilts of heads, the two nodded, making the man in front of him smile.

“We’ll talk in the morning, how’s that?”

And really, did he have any room to disagree?

“Can- can you lock me in?” he asked - had to ask - once led to his room, gulping when he saw Wil’s eyebrows shoot up, but relaxing gratefully when Techno whacked the back of his head.

Phil gave a sad smile and nod, shooing him off to sleep. It was for the best; trying to answer everything in the morning while dead tired wouldn’t do any of them good. Once settled in, he curled himself into a cocoon with the blankets they’d given, trying to simulate the feeling of Pod - something he’d never known, but somehow understood - which moved to trying not to cry at what was missing.

The click of a lock never came.

—

He shouldn’t have been crying.

It wasn’t something he did, but somehow this of all things was breaking him. Tubbo loved being a Mermaid; the quick travel through the sea, the water against his skin and going through his gills, the fish he befriended - and ate, but he wouldn’t ever be telling Michael about that part. He loved it, and still he felt a crushing- something in his chest. Something was missing, and he couldn’t figure it out, and instead of dealing with it he was trying to dye his hair for the fuckin fourth time within two days, brown dye - stolen of course - staining his hands. But it wouldn’t stay on his hair, running out with the water and swirling down the drain, a reminder of his failure.

It was irrational, crying over hair dye of all things - and it wasn’t as if he hated being blonde - but it was his one ploy for control, one that was going miserably. All it took was one sob too loud, and Tommy was by his side, features blurred from the tears in Tubbo’s eyes. He wasn’t meant to see him like this; he was supposed to have a handle on his emotions and force the others to get their shit together, because they definitely weren’t stable, worsening after the blue moon. It couldn’t - and shouldn’t - be blamed on becoming Mers, at least in his mind. The transformations didn’t add much, and as far as he could tell, it simply brought pre-existing issues to the surface.

But there he was, tears being wiped away, and being forced back into the tub to rinse out the brown. He could track the exact moment Tommy realized the dye didn’t work, that he hadn’t managed to ruin his new hair; he saw when it clicked, the reason he was crying pathetically in the bathroom.

“Tubbo,” he said, slow and soft, concern dripping from his voice.

Warm hands - and of course the human heater got heat powers - brushed through his hair, likely staining them, though the other didn’t seem to care. Instead, Tommy continued to get rid of the mess, at one point convincing him that he would be washing his hair for him. It didn’t take a lot of prodding, only the declaration and a whine in response, then the boy grabbing at shampoo, hands covered in suds returning to massage at his scalp. During his tiny bout of spacing out, he was picked up and slowly dried back into human form. They laid there for a while, possibly hours if his back aching from the hard tile was anything to go by, both hiding from the issue, before the other finally broke the silence.

“You- You’re allowed to not be okay.” Tommy started, turning his head to look at him, his new other-worldy blues boring into him. “You know that, right?”

And he- Tubbo wasn’t ready for his second breakdown.

It was painful, and gross, and most definitely ugly to be watching, tears a constant stream and snot running, his mouth open from the harsh sobs shaking his body. Despite how disgusting he was - vulnerable, another piece of him whispered - Tommy held him the whole way through. He cried far too long for the one meant to be the stablest of the group, but slowly worked down to shudders, then light shakes, sniffling and wiping at his nose with a towel. Tommy’s fingertips were slightly brown, and there were remnants of dye stuck to the tub, but he managed to not devolve back into a crumbling mess.

“I should be okay,” he croaked.

“Maybe.” Tommy shrugged. “I don’t think less of you for breaking down - Ranboo won’t think less of you either. Alright big man?”

With a shuddering breath, he nodded, trying to curl his tail around- oh, right, he didn’t have one of those right now. He tried not to mourn the loss. He was human first, but now things were different, and he knew his friend had noticed, that he knew exactly what he was thinking. Neither said a word. Instead, he got a playful splash to the face, the beginnings of an all out water fight. It would’ve been easier if they were actually in the ocean - their tails were getting in the way, very much cramped in their tiny bathroom - but they made do in the name of war. Tubbo won of course - always stronger than his friends despite being the smallest - managing to pin the other to the floor with a triumphant cheer.

‘I’m truly a Girlboss,’ he mused, smirking at Tommy’s defeated pout.

He didn’t feel completely better - the deep roots of fear could never be pulled away so quickly - but there was a lightness in his chest, and a hum surrounding them. The change was still overwhelming, and the thought of forever being different in a way he might never understand was a lot. None of that changed the fact that they were there, soaking wet and Mers for the second time within an hour, and he was still laughing. It would be okay, he knew then, as long as his friends- his soulmates were there beside him.

Even if one of their trio was missing.