Work Text:
Some described Tommy as an enigma, but most said that he was more trouble than he was worth.
It wasn’t his fault, okay? He was just too curious for his own good.
He saw a shiny rock? He was dipping the pod as soon as possible. An interesting coloured fish? Tommy had already chased it away. Something that looked slightly edible? The guppy had already tried chomping on it.
Out of all his podmates, he was the most energetic. They struggled to keep up with him sometimes. That didn’t exactly mean they didn’t like him, though; for a pod with dwindling numbers, he was a breath of fresh air.
That meant when he wandered off, everybody noticed.
━━･𓆟༄･━━
He hadn’t meant to get lost. He really hadn’t.
Tommy had tucked himself underneath his brother, all ready for bed, and then, he had seen it.
A shell.
It had been the most beautiful colour— pink, like Techno’s scales. It scratched his instincts, and he knew he had to get it for him. So he had drifted down to the ocean floor to pick it up.
And then, it had moved.
It scurried away at a fast pace, so naturally, Tommy had chased right after it.
The guppy had followed it for a little while before pouncing down right on top of it. Turns out, there had been a crab in it, and it had pinched him on the nose!
He yelped, and went to hide underneath his brother again. But when he looked up, Techno was gone. There was nothing but the clear blue water and some fish swimming by.
Tommy let out a questioning trill.
“Techno?” he asked, like that would make him appear.
He swam upwards and looked around, only to find nothing.
No pink hair, and no shiny scales.
No Techno, and no pod.
“Techno?” He repeated. His voice was much quieter this time.
He suddenly felt extremely exposed. There was nothing around him anymore, except for a few blades of seagrass. Anything could come up behind him.
The blonde floated upwards, suddenly hyper aware of the fact that not only was he in stingray territory, he was in tiger shark as well.
He began to whistle like Wilbur taught him to. The blonde waited for someone to call back, for someone to notice that he had wandered off again.
Tommy huffed. He had gone a full moon-cycle without going off on his own, which was a new record for him. The elders had told him they were going to reward him for his good behaviour, and of course he had gone and messed it up.
Wait.
Tommy froze and uncrossed his arms. His whistling ceased.
His father told him to stay in place whenever he got lost.
But… if he went and found his own way back by himself, then a, nobody would notice him missing, and b, they wouldn’t chew him out.
The guppy uncurled himself and looked around. He didn’t really remember how he got here, because his vision had tunneled on the crab, but he did remember where they had been staying for the night. It had been on the edge of a coral reef.
Tommy spotted the colourful polyps and cheered internally. He kicked his tail and shot off, excitement thrumming in his bones. He was going to return to camp and tuck himself right back under Techno’s shadow and act like this never happened.
He reached the edge of the reef quickly— he really hadn’t chased the crab very far— and stopped to look around once again.
Everything looked the same.
He started to curl into himself again, but forced himself to take a deep breath.
Left or right.
Tommy thought back to earlier, and remembered what Techno had told him to do when he didn’t know which direction to go.
He floated upwards more and reached the surface. He looked around for any humans, and when he found none, he poked his head up into the air.
The sun was setting. Pinks, oranges, and blues created a beautiful gradient, but he shook his head and reminded himself to focus.
They were heading the way the sun and moon rose, which meant they were going left.
He ducked back down and pushed himself back down closer to the ocean floor. He came back down and he checked with his hands, creating an ‘l’ on both sides. Tommy trilled happily when he found that he had guessed which way was left correctly.
He swam down the corridor, which he found to be familiar from earlier. He had hidden up on one of the outcloves and pounced on top of Wilbur when he had passed by.
The blonde started to swim faster and faster and confidence surged through him.
He could really do this!
Before he could come across the camp, though, he heard something.
“Tommy!” Someone shouted, and then clicked a few times.
He perked up at the noise and returned it. He shot off around the corner and bumped face-first into someone’s chest.
Strong claws pulled him in. A talon gripped his chin as his brother searched him for any inflictions.
“Tommy,” Techno crooned.
He snuggled in closer, pushing his head onto his brother’s shoulder. A hand began to rub his back.
“Prime, kid.”
“Sorry,” Tommy mumbled. All of his earlier confidence washed away and was replaced by shame.
Techno only sighed. “You can’t keep scaring us like that.”
“I didn’t mean to.”
“I know you didn’t.”
Techno laid his head on top of his and continued his back scratches. When he looked up, he could see a deep frown etched in Techno’s face, and worry dancing in his eyes.
And then, he noticed.
Behind Techno, the entire pod was watching. He leaned away from Techno so he could get a better look.
Phil and Wilbur were right there, but Wilbur was blinking like he had just gotten woken up.
Like Techno had just noticed he was missing.
But if Techno had just noticed he was missing… that meant he couldn’t have gotten far in searching for him.
Which meant that Tommy had found his way back.
Before he could pronounce what he had done, Techno let go off his shoulder and pushed him forward into someone else’s hold. They quickly began to fuss over him.
He sent Techno a look and promptly forgot about what he was going to say.
Help me, he mouthed.
Techno snorted and swam backwards a bit.
A particularly tough jab to his hair left him whining.
“Dad,” he dragged out.
“Hold still,” Phil ordered. “You’ve got sand in your hair— how the hell did you even manage this?”
He looked upwards and found a stick in his father’s hands.
“My hair is fine!”
Another hand began to comb his hair, as if to spite him. He batted them away with his claws. Wilbur squawked indignity.
“You scratched me!”
Tommy stuck out his tongue.
“ Dad—! “
Phil sighed and began to go through his hair again. A few more things were plucked out (seriously, how had he gotten this dirty?) before Phil began to pull him to a makeshift nest that he had made while he was supposed to be with Techno. His brothers followed closely behind.
He was pushed down to the seafloor this time, instead of floating in the current. His family surrounded him to create a barrier. They settled quickly, and Tommy realized just how tired he was.
Phil seemed to sense his tiredness, so he stopped his poking and prodding. In a quieter, and much calmer, voice, he asked what he did.
“There was a pretty shell. I wanted to go get it for Techno,” he explained sleepily. “But then, there was a whole crab in it.”
“Aww, mate.”
“It pinched me on the nose.” Tommy frowned, and reached a hand up to rub the skin.
“Yeah, that’s what they tend to do.”
“Kid,” Techno spoke up. “Maybe next time, bring me with you.”
“Sorry,” he apologized. Sincerity coated his tone like honey.
Techno stared at him for a moment, before shaking his head and sighing like Phil did.
“It’s fine, Tommy. You didn’t even go that far.”
Techno pulled him in, but then, Tommy remembered. He pushed off of the pinkette and trilled excitedly.
“I found my way back!” he proclaimed, sleepiness washing away.
“You did?” his father asked. He sat up and pulled him under his chin.
“Mmh! I remembered where we went, and I followed the path.”
“Good job, Tommy,” he praised.
Techno was at his side again, and Wilbur was at his other.
“Wait, then how long were you gone for?” The brunette frowned.
Tommy blinked, trying to think. When he couldn’t find a good answer, he settled on shrugging. “I dunno.”
Beside him, Techno groaned.
“Well, you know what?”
He looked up to his father.
“You found your way back, and that’s what matters.”
(And later, when they all fell asleep, Techno held Tommy a little tighter this time. After all, he had made a promise.
Nothing bad was ever going to happen to Tommy under his watch. Ever. )