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This new ocean is weird.
For one, the water feels weird to his scales. He gets all tingly and hot-cold if he moves too fast, and it tastes weird too- not like his water tasted, even when it was fresh and clear. There’s also a big plastic thing that shoots water from inside the ocean, as well as dumping some from the top of it. Resting beside the plastic thing felt really nice, and got the itch on his back Tommy could never get by himself.
Another thing that struck him as odd was how often he got visited. The human- Wilbur, his human- came by twice a day, every day. Even when his old human was around, he didn't visit Tommy this much, hell, he didn't pay attention to Tommy at all, at least, not in comparison to what Wilbur did.
Every day in the early hours, Wilbur would come by, walking in with a "doctor"(Tommy was pretty sure that the doctor was a human, but if Wilbur called her a doctor then so would he). And when the lights would dim, Wilbur would come back alone and would talk to him for hours, or play music and dance around, encouraging Tommy to trill and move to the music with him.
That was another oddity; how much everyone tried to get Tommy to break the rules. Tommy had nothing to lose when he shouted at the old ocean, breaking the rules then didn't mean much. But now that he was awake and feeling better, he wouldn't lose himself as he did then, he would keep his head on straight and he wouldn't make a peep again, especially now that dream wasn't around to annoy him into talking.
But everyone talked to him . He had always been ignored, it was how the world worked.
Be seen but never heard.
Dream hated following the rules.
He misses Dream. He tries not to show it, grateful that he was saved and that the human tried at all to save his friend, even if he really wishes Wilbur would have taken Dream first. But he couldn't change the past, so Tommy made peace with the loss as well as he could.
Dream was dead. There isn't anything he can do for him now.
His only regret is not asking Dream to teach him how to kill a fish property. All he remembered was that if the bones weren't paid attention to he could choke and die, which Dream was obviously dead set against. And instead of fighting to learn right then and there, Tommy had leaned back and let dream take care of it for him.
Take what is provided, never ask for more.
Which leads to his biggest problem right now.
Tommy was hungry.
When he first got moved to the new ocean, he had been given these weird cups to drink out of, and that was his meal. After a few days, when the red spots on his tail had started to fade, Wilbur started putting live fish in the ocean with him. At first, they were scared of him, darting away too fast for him to follow since the majority of his fins had rotted away, restricting his movement, but now that the little guys knew he wasn't going to kill them, they were really quite friendly, even going up to him for pets sometimes. Wilbur and his humans managed to save some of the decorations from his old ocean, so the fish had plenty of hiding spaces, which dream insisted was really important for their health.
Because obviously , if Tommy wasn't going to eat his new friends, they needed a good home!
But still, without those cups the doctor gave him, he was pretty hungry, and if he wasn't scared of making a mess he would try and figure out how to debone a fish, but he had never made a mess of purpose before, what if the humans got mad that they had to clean his water? What if Wilbur got mad at him? The thought of that made his stomach curl, and he’d never be hungry until he could get his mind off of it.
Speaking of Wilbur, the human was here for his nightly visit, playing his guitar, singing in low, soothing melodies, a worried tinge to his tone that Tommy could just barely pick up.
Wilbur was upset about something. Tommy stopped a questioning trill from escaping his throat, only the smallest chirp bubbling out.
Wilbur stopped playing.
“Are you...” a sigh. “Can you even understand what I'm saying? You seem to respond to verbal commands but it's been a week, and there's… do you know you're safe here?”
Pay attention to guests, show them what they want to see.
Was that what he was worried about? Tommy wanted to laugh. Of course he was safe here, any small ocean was safe! He didn't think Wilbur would let his new ocean get as bad as his old one either, not when it took so long to fix him because of it.
He swishes his tail and doesn't move.
When Wilbur finally looks back to Tommy, he makes a show of nodding his head, smiling at the human, hoping to ease his stress.
If anything, Wilbur looks even sadder. Tommy felt nonexistent fins flatten.
“Because I've never seen a mer as still as you. You don't move, or- or talk and whistle, you don't eat without us making you to- I know you miss Dream but you can’t-”
Did Tommy miss something? He hadn't been told the rules had changed- but to be fair his old humans never did either, he had to learn the rules on his own, which caused lots of punishments when he had outstepped a line he hadn't known not to cross. A small flicker of anger rose up- how could Wilbur expect Tommy to know something he hadn't been told- but dampened it immediately. Of course the rules had changed, Dream told him stories about the real ocean, with no rules at all , of course not every place expected Tommy to be as still as his rocks.
“You're wasting away, I can see it.” Wilbur's eyes teared up- Tommy thinks that means the human is really sad, and oh god, it's all Tommy's fault.
So Tommy does something he’s only done once before in the presence of a human.
He calls.
It's scratchy and breaks often, he hasn't spoken once since getting Wilbur's attention, and when he only had Dream they spoke in soft chirps that didn't upset his throat, but it gets his point across.
Wilbur’s eyes glaze over as his mind tries to comprehend the magic behind the call, while Tommy's fishes dart out of his fake coral and circle around him, responding to him in the way Dream always said they would. Mers called to each other in the ocean all the time, according to him, to hunt, to communicate feelings not easily put into words, for simple comforts. It was something the babies can do at birth, which was how his human found him the first time, after his mother died and Tommy accidentally called the human to him in an attempt at getting an adult to help him.
He never learned how to send messages, but he thinks the fact that he has no idea what's going on is pretty clear.
“You… this is all really confusing, isn't it? I should have brought puffy in sooner, I- is there anything I can do right now, to help you understand? I- ” Tommy twirls around quickly, since he can no longer swim in his happy circles, and points up at the platform the humans and doctor stood on when they wanted Tommy out of the water. Wilbur frowns, but once Tommy grabs one of the unnamed fish and awkwardly begins to swim up - the loss of the majority of his fins made it impossible to swim hardly at all, only able to use his arms and the muscle of his tail to propel himself around - he gets the hint and makes his way up to the platform, and waits for Tommy to make it up.
Switching from his underwater breathing to his above water breathing hurt like a bitch, which was the reason why Tommy didn't swim up to the surface unless he needed to (well, one of the reasons, without a strong tailfin he couldn't tread water very well, it was a struggle to stay up here during morning tests), but he could make an exception for Wilbur. He would always make an exception for him.
Neither Wilbur nor the fish expected Tommy to chuck it out of the ocean, the fish flapped on the platform a few times before the betrayal set in, and it stilled. Dramatic little shit.
"Do- are you giving this to me? Like a pod thing? I didn't think pods had an order to eat in. Or maybe-" Wilbur frowned, squinting at the fish. The pack he was wearing on his hip shifted as he bent down to get closer to Tommy. It was all he had not to sigh and trill exhaustedly, like he remembers his mom doing when he got too excited.
Fine, he'd get the answer across through direct means.
He hoisted himself out of the water- well, he tried , he didn't have the arm strength to get all the way out, so he ended up in an uncomfortable half in, half out dangle- and grabbed at the pack. It didn't come off, it had to be more attached to Wilbur's hip than he thought, even though it moved like it was about to fall off.
Wilbur jumped at the sudden movement, but didn't move to get away, instead watching Tommy struggle with the pack at his hip, the fucking prick. After only a few seconds though, he laughed and detached it for him, so he was a bit less of a prick for that. Maybe a two-point five on a prickness scale, which Tommy just invented for his human. Regardless, he had the pack now, which was half of his plan already, he just hoped Wilbur actually had what he needed.
It took him longer to find the thing- he had only seen it once and it looked different than before, but when he grabs a blue metal stick, he knows he’s been victorious. The fake claw (he doesn't know what it’s called, and Dream never told him about a held claw before) is sheathed in the blue metal stick, but he doesn't think he needs to figure out how to release it, not unless Wilbur is too much of a prick to figure out what Tommy’s trying to tell him.
"Okay, I can figure this out." Wilburs eyebrows furrowed, and he started to bite his lip. "My knife, and a fish- are your nails...? No that's not- you need me to cut the fish, though, yeah?" Tommy nodded, relieved that his human got the idea.
Wilbur's silent for a few more seconds, holding the fish in his hands, and for a second, Tommy thought that he was going to say no, that he wouldn't do it. Which, yeah, would be understandable, but would suck -
"Oh, I fucked up again, didn't I? God, I'm so-" Wilbur makes an angry noise- loud enough that Tommy couldn't hide his flinch. Wilbur's mouth presses together in what Tommy's learned means apology , so he relaxes as his human starts to play with his fake claw(what did he call it- a knife?)
"You're domestic, of course you don't know how to hunt. Look-" Wilbur puts away his knife and gives Tommy a pleading look, “This knife can't cut a fish, it's not big enough, I mostly use it for fruits and boxes, but I'm going to be right back, okay? Stay right there, I'm gonna fix this- God I can't believe I thought-" he stands up quickly, awful close to Tommy's fingers, and bolts down the stairs.
The fish on the floor seems to realize that it's not dead yet, and starts flapping again. It was a very good performance, so Tommy pulls it back into the ocean and watches it dart away. It hides in the coral that Tommy never goes around, since he’s pretty adamant on them having their privacy, and a few of the named fish follow- clementine seems particularly upset at him, and he holds back an apologetic chirp.
He doesn't know if Wilbur would mind Tommy going back into his tank or not, but he did say to specifically stay here , so Tommy lifts himself slightly higher to get a bit more comfortable, and actually sit like he sees humans do so often.
Act normal when you obey, god damn it!
Wilbur is back by the time Tommy's scales start to dry out and get itchy, which is really fortunate since Doctor doesn't like it when he scratches them. Like always, Wilbur is the perfect distraction
“So, I went down to the kitchen, explained everything- this is actually my first case, so everyone kind of expects me to fuck up, I think, but anyways- sorry, I ramble when I'm nervous, and obviously this is a stressful situation. Not the point. Uh-” he reaches an arm out, and it's only because Wilbur hasn't tried to hit him once that Tommy holds back the instinct to jump back into the safety of the new ocean.
His humans holding a bag, that smells suspiciously like the fish in his ocean. His stomach rumbles at the thought of food, but there's still the problem from before- Tommy doesn't know how he’s supposed to eat it- he’s never had to fix his own fish, his old human just gave him dried food, and dream always took the bones out before tossing his fish into the ocean. He doesn't know how to communicate that to Wilbur, he realizes. Theoretically, he could just say it- he’s spent enough time around his old human to learn their language, but the idea of making more noise than necessary makes that not-hungry feeling curl tight around his gut like a serpent in dream’s stories.
Luckily, Wilbur solves the problem by pulling out the fish from the bag and its-
What is it?
It smells like fish, but it’s- weird. Cut up neatly, not like the fish Dream gave him when they lived in their old oceans. It doesn't smell alive, but it doesn't smell rotten, like Dreams fish had, either.
It’s shoved in Tommy's direction a little, put on the floor, and pushed toward him. Tommy’s hand is halfway to the plate before he remembers his place- the rules here are new and strange, after all, he would rather wait for permission to eat than assume that he could do anything without consequence.
“Oh- don't worry. It's uh- you can eat, we won't ever tell you not to eat if you're hungry.”
Tommy still hesitates, just in case Wilbur changes his mind, but when there's no move to reprimand Tommy for eating, he practically inhales the plate, not out of fear of it being taken away (well, maybe the thoughts there in the back of his mind), but because he was hungry .
Wilbur still looks distressed but seems to have reached a conclusion. He sighs and stands, brushing off his legs.
"You're trying. This whole time I've been- blaming you for your health and you literally cannot communicate your needs, and you're still trying to. Thank you, I guess. I almost gave up on you- on this - but we both have to keep trying, huh?"
And Tommy- Tommy wants to try , whatever that means to Wilbur. He doesn't want to follow the rules anymore, not when they're the reason he almost died- they're the reason Dream did die, because he couldn't call out fast enough, to the people shouting when his human left, or to Wilbur, who hadn't known they were there.
So he takes a deep breath, to prepare himself for what could be his biggest mistake ever.
And instead of exhaling, letting himself think about the consequences, the breath turns into something better.
"Thank you."
Be seen and never heard
He's tired of the rules.
"My name's Tommy."
Wilbur's eyes are wide, and his mouth hangs open. Tommy's pretty sure he's just shocked that Tommy could speak, like he didn't hear him frantically trying to save dream when they met. The moment of silence is almost deafening- Tommy wonders if he could make it back into the water before Wilbur could do anything severe.
But then it passes and Wilbur's laughing- and Tommy has heard lots of people laugh, his old human, men in black suits, dream- but nothing has ever sounded as nice as Wilbur's laugh.
He thinks he might break the rules more often.