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Tommy has seen the same four walls his whole life. A see-through barrier is the only window into the outside world he gets. New faces walk by it every hour, constantly changing. It seems like thats the only thing the outside world is good for.
Nothing like Tommy's stable little world. He knows every inch of this place. He knows every grain of sand, every leaf on the kelp, every small reef fish that swims in circles around him, and every time food rains from the sky. It's safe in his small enclosure. It doesn’t matter if some nights he can’t sleep, or if it's so cold that he thinks he might freeze. He ignores the growing pile of broken dull scales that sit in the corner.
A tapping noise echoes through the tank. Hurting his ears. Quickly Tommy swims in tight circles, praying that if he moves the noise will stop. It usually works like that, at least most of the time. But sometimes the noise seems never-ending, persistent in a way he didn’t account for. It seems to be his unlucky day; however, as the noise doesn’t end. It only picks up, loud and faster.
Tommy pulls at his scales, trying to bring his attention away from the noise. Eventually, the noise ends with a muffled scold from one of the large humans outside. Tommy tosses the newly peeled scale into the ever-growing pile. He grimaces at the faint taste of iron that fills the water. That didn’t usually happen. He shakes his head, ignoring the smell in favor of hiding away behind the kelp that filled his tank.
It wasn’t a good spot. Constantly swaying with the filters and not quite big enough to hide his whole body, but it was better than being out in the open cold waters. Every scale and hair on display. Some days the eyes were overwhelming, but at least he was safe here.
Thats what he thought, until the blue nets dipped into the water. Tommy curls closer to the corner. He brought his limbs as close to his body as he could, only watching as the blue fabric swayed through the water.
He can only watch as the thing touches the ground. Staring at the strange contraption. A curious chirp rang through the water, one that was rough and nearly unrecognizable. A muffled noise filters through the space above his tank, making Tommy's head shoot up.
He can only make out the blurryist of colors above the water. But they were still a stark different from the typical white ceilings he had seen his whole life. The bright blue and red colors mashed together in the rippling water. It was pretty. The colors were brighter than the dull darkness outside of the see-through glass. Probably the brightest he had ever seen.
Slowly, Tommy uncurls from his little hiding space. Hesitantly floating towards the colors. He squints his eyes, trying to still the shakiness of them. But the colors still dance with the water. So he swims closer, inching his way towards the top of the tank.
Slowly the colors start forming shapes. Familiar shapes, shapes he never sees on this side of his tank. People are here, standing over his tank. Outside of the safety of the glass. They can reach him from this side. There's no more protection from the awful noises or grabby hands. No safety from their weird tails or strange ways.
Tommy flaps his tail, propelling himself away from the people. Only to his own horror to meet a strange scratchy surface. One very different from the concrete floors he knows. His eyes grow wide as he turns violently flipping himself over. The net rose up underneath him. Surrounding him in the unfamiliar washed-out blue.
Tommy withers in it, trying to escape its scratchy grasp. Only tangling himself further. He lets out a terrified trill, coughing as the noise leaves him. He flops around, pulling against whatever machine is lifting him into the air.
Another terrified trill leaves his mouth as he feels air wrap around his tail. He’s out of the water. He takes deep panicked breaths as he is lifted further out of the water. Muffled alien words are yelled across the room as the humans reach for him. Tommy yelps trying to dodge their reaching hands. It's impossible though as the net curls around him. Making it so he can barely move his body.
A prick floods through his system, making him cry out. He fights with every breath, wiggling and withering, trying to make it as hard as possible for them to reach him. But soon the edges of his vision start to dull and his eyes get heavy. Slowly the fire in his dims to nothing but a spark as whatever they put in his system takes effect. Knocking him into a restless sleep.
~~~~
Tommy wakes to a shaking. His mind is foggy as he peels open his eyes, not quite taking in anything that surrounds him. That faded blue obscures his vision. Blocking out around half of everything around him. But from what he can see he is still out of the water. A large metal arm is lifting him through the air slowly.
New blobs of color surround him all yelling and making wild gestures. As they move around him. Tommy is not entirely sure they know he is awake. They crawl around him like they do back in his tank, not paying too much attention to him. He wants it to stay that way. To sink into the background until he can figure out a way to clear his brain of this horrible fog and escape.
Sadly his wish doesn’t come true. A pair of eyes met his own, widening in shock as they stared at each other for a second. A quiet hiss escapes Tommy as he tries to ward away the human. But the human only calls out to the others, sending everyone into a panicked rush.
Tommy jolts as the machine whirls into action, lowering him down. More chirps leave his mouth, panicking as he is lowered into the unknown. His heart feels like it is about to burst as he has trouble bringing in air.
Suddenly he is surrounded by water. The net slips under the surface, reigniting Tommy's fight. He can still escape this. Can go back to his nice familiar corner and hide away from the world. He swarms and wiggles. Taking in large breaths as he does. He bites and yanks at the net swims and pulls.
And it works. The net drops away like it was never there. Tommy is thrown forward into the water. He lets out a relieved chirp as he swims away from that god-forsaken net. A leaf hits his face, scaring him. Tommy jolts back in horror. This is not his tank.
Sand littered the bottom of this new tank covering up the hard concrete floor. Corral lined the walls as well as small caves. This tank was bigger than his old one and had no see-through walls. It was terrifying.
The large space seemed to echo around him. He can feel the gentle push of moving water as if there is something in here with Tommy. And if there was he would have no idea. The walls curved, hiding entire sections from him. The plants seemed to reach for him as if they were cognisant.
Tommy shoots off in the water, towards a small crack in the stone wall, allowing him to squeeze into the small hiding spot. To his surprise, the space inside the crack wasn’t small at all. Only the opening was tight, the rest of the cave was much bigger. Soft kelp floors surrounded the cave. It was somehow even glowing allowing Tommy to see where he was going.
Carefully Tommy peaked out of the cave eyes searching for any movement. There was nothing in the water, but he could still see the blurry colors of the humans walking above him. He eyed them carefully as they walked around the topside of the tank. Every once in a while he could make out one of them peering in, trying to catch a glimpse of him.
He ducked back into the cave whenever that happened. The wariness never left him, even as the hours passed. He was never alone in the room. There was always a human watching, sometimes they would even tap on the water as if he would come to the surface.
Tommy watches as they try and lure him towards the surface. Throwing food and toys in as if he were some dumb pup. He watched as they grew more desperate. Throwing more food in, and calling out towards him more frequently.
He hissed at the people, lying down in the soft kelp bed as his eyes grew heavy. He fell asleep slowly, jumping awake at every new sound and tide.
Tommy floats for a while, in a strange state of awareness and sleep. Something isn’t right, he knows that. But he’s not sure what it is. His head is foggy and his stomach swirls every time he moves his head.
It's painful, making him call out every once in a while. Time flies by without anything improving. He's not even sure how much time has gone by. What he does know is that the humans are scared.
He can hear their worried squeaks and long-winded calls for him. But he is having a hard time turning in the kelp bed, let alone swimming to the mouth of the cave to see what's happening.
Tommy simmers in his anguish. Whining in pain as if that would solve anything. With each whine the human's strange words seemed to get louder, more urgent. He wishes they would stop. It hurts his head.
A strange grumble fills the water, and it takes Tommy a moment to realize it's coming from him. It must have been a while since he ate if his stomach was making noises like that. The issue was he wasn’t even hungry. The thought of eating made him feel nauseous, so he ignored it turning over and going back to bed.
~~~~
Tommy jumps at the sound of that horrible machine that brought him here. It clicks and whirls to life. Forcing him to drag himself out of the kelp bed in order to defend his small cave from the terrifying chunk of metal.
He wiggles out glaring with heavy eyes at the blue net. Only to notice it's full of something. The net sags at the bottom wrapping something up in it. Whatever was there must be large as the net the humans are using is much bigger than the one they used for him.
A wiggle is all it takes to scare Tommy. Something is in there, something alive.
Tommy races back into the safety of his cave with a startled yipe. He freezes as a response echoes through the water. A calming coo rings out again, asking for an answer. Tommy can feel his heart begin to pound as he hides away in the furthest corner of the cave. He can only pray that whatever is being lowed in can’t fit.
The splash is deafening as the creature lands in the water. A searching coo is the first thing that comes from its mouth. Then even worse… words.
“Pup?” The stranger's question is soft. As if he is trying not to scare Tommy. Tommy yanks out a scale trying to distract his heart from its current quest of beating out of his chest. This however seems to be a bad idea as the blood floats through the water, alerting the stranger.
“Pup!” This time the call seems more frantic. “Are you alright?” Tommy throws a hand over his mouth to hide the terrified whimper that threatens to leave him.
Tommy can feel the tide change with one powerful push from the stranger's tail. The light coming into the cave dims as a horrible shadow falls across the entrance. He can now see the outline of the creature, and the scariest thing is it looks just like him.
The same blond hair, the only difference was the length. The same blue eyes although the creatures were more weathered than Tommy's own. The same long tail, though the creature’s was at least four times the length of his own.
There were a few differences of course. Like the stranger's tail was a dark green, unlike Tommy's dull red. And the creature had all his scales not having bald spots like his own. But the fact still stood that this strange creature was a mer like Tommy.
He wasn’t sure if that scared him more.
“Hey guppy, how do you feel about coming out of there? I want to make sure you are alright.” The stranger asks. Tommy just shakes his head hiding further in the wall. “Guppy?” The man asks again. Only then does Tommy realize the mer can’t see him.
“…No,” Tommy whispers cautiously. His voice is scratchy and he is scared the mer didn’t hear him in the first place. But that is cleared up with a confused whine.
“What's wrong bud? You can come out, I know you might be a little scared, but you are safe I swear. Tommy doesn’t say anything, just hoping that if he waits it out then the mer will give up and leave him alone.
~~~~
His wish doesn’t come true. In fact, it seems like the opposite happened. The mer seems to be camping outside calling out to him every once in a while. The only good thing that comes from it is the fact that he will throw food in for Tommy to snack on.
The worst part is that his sickness has worsened. To the point when sometimes it feels like he is drowning in the very water that keeps him alive. His head is always pounding. His stomach twirls. And he sleeps almost day in and day out, but the sleep isn’t good. He wakes up shivering even when he is sweltering hot.
He just wants this whole thing to be over, but the longer his here the less likely that becomes. The new mer just sits at the entrance. Listening to him hacking out his lungs. It sucks so bad.
Every day the fog worsens. And every day he comes closer and closer to swimming out of the cave and towards the promises that the other mer sings. He can barely stop himself at this point. And sometimes Tommy wonders if it would be better to die of the mer than to waste away with this sickness.
Today is worse than any other. The fog has completely taken over leaving a blubbering mess. His tears mix with the water that surrounds him, but his wails only echo through the cave. The mers calls seem more urgent. But also so kind in a way Tommy has never heard before.
It's kind and caring, and Tommy can’t help but float towards them. Electing to ignore the horrible feeling geting up causes. An excited coo comes from the mer as he sees the shadow of Tommy moving towards him.
“Come here guppy. I know you don’t feel well and I know this is so scary but I can help I promise.” The mer calls out, tying a soft chirp in the end encouraging him. And as much as Tommy hates it, he swims towards the mer. He wants the pain to end and maybe the mer isn’t lying. Maybe he really does want to help.
Arms wrap around him before he has even reached the mouth of the crevice; Pulling him out and towards the man. Tommy lets out a small fearful chirp, but is quickly hushed by the man. He is held gently to the mers chest.
So close that Tommy can hear his heartbeat. It's steady and calm. A familiar rhythm that lures him to sleep. A soft chirp leaves him. And the mer just quietly shushes him, humming a soft song, making Tommy feel even more tired.
He falls asleep before he even processes what's happening.
Tommy wakes up warm. Warm and comfortable. His headache is only a dull pounding at this point, but his body is still exhausted, he has to fight to open his eyes. He tries in vain to blink out the cloudiness that takes over. Giving a soft whine when it stays stubbornly there.
“Oh, I know pup.” The mers voice rises through the fog. His voice is soothing, and Tommy can feel the vibrations under his head.”Don’t worry we will get you feeling better in no time.” The man tells him.
Tommy can feel the gentle sway as the man carefully swims. A small whine slips past his lips, only to grow into a growl as his head breaks the surface. He wants to be back in the safety of the water. Not in the cold air.
“It's ok guppy. Just open wide and we can go right back under, you just need to take this medicine to help you feel better.” The mer soothes. Tommy just growls louder, the man isn’t listening!
The mer puts a bottle towards his mouth, but Tommy just tills his head away, grumbling. The mer tries again, this time Tommy gains the energy to try and swat it from the man's hand.
“Come on mate, work with me here.” The mer mutters trying again to put the cup to his lips. Tommy lets out another loud scratchy growl. This however was the wrong move as the mer takes it as his opportunity to shove the cup in his mouth, forcing him to swallow the strage medicine.
It was a horrible taste. As if he ate a fish that had rotted in the sun for a few days. Tommy tried to spit it back up but the mer wouldn’t let him, sinking under the water as he left the cup on shore.
Tommy coughed rubbing his tongue against his teeth, trying desperately to get the taste out of his mouth. The mer dropped one of his hands off Tommy's back. Only to come towards his mouth with something that smelled good.
“Here this will help get the taste out. I know it's gross but you’ll feel better now.” The mer said softly. Cautiously Tommy took the food from the man's hand, eating it slowly.
It was so much better than the medicine. With the taste out of his mouth and the warmth that surrounded him, Tommy fell back asleep. Dozing off the sickness.
~~~~
Tommy wakes up aware. The fog has been lifted and his body feels normal again. This however becomes a problem. As now he is cognisant of the grown mer holding his softly. A loud hiss is the first thing that makes its way out of Tommy’s mouth. The next thing is his jaw clamping down on the mers arm.
A startled yipe is let out as Tommy squirms to escape. But the man holds him tighter.
“Let go of me!” Tommy squeaks. He scratches across the man's arm to no avail.
“Pup! Stop!” The man calls, desperately trying to hold him still.
“No! I want to be free! Stop holding me!” Tommy screams, and to his surprise the man does.
“But you have to promise not to swim away.” He tells Tommy as the arms around him disappear.
Tommy is darting away before he can even think about it. He hisses as he ducks under the man's arms and into the open tank. Only for the arms the wrap back around him, pulling him away from freedom.
“I said you had to promise!” The man exclaims with a careful laugh.
“I didn’t promise shit bitch! Let me go!” Tommy yells, worming in the man's grasp.
“Not until you listen to me.” The man says.
“Fine.” Tommy stretches the word to make sure the man knows he’s not happy about it.
“Well for one my name is Phil, and you should probably tell me yours unless you want me to keep calling you guppy,” Phil tells him.
“No! My name is Tommy!” He exclaims. The man just laughs.
“Alright Tommy, do you know why you are here?” Phil asks. Tommy just shakes his head, pausing his wiggling. Phil gives him a funny look, his eyebrows scrunching up as stares. “Did you not ask?” he questions.
“Who would I have asked?” Tommy urges.
“The humans who took you here.” The words slip off of Phil's tongue easily. Tommy stares at him in horror, pushing himself away from the man.
“No!” He shouts. “Why would I do that?”
Phil looks at him curiously, before wrapping him up again and swimming towards the surface. Tommy tries to fight, at least a little bit as they swim. But nothing works. He whines as his head breaks the surface. Phil just chirps reassuringly.
Tommy stares at the tank platform around him, horrified by the large amount of people that walk in and out. There have to be at least ten of them, all of them able to jump in the tank and go after him if they really want to. And the worst part is when they noticed Phil they circled around the tank.
Tommy squealed when Phil started swimming towards them. Soft calming chirps filled the air around them but it wasn’t enough to settle him. Shouts sound out around him, startling him. It's almost like the humans are trying to talk to them.
Then to Tommy's mute horror, Phil responds. In a tongue Tommy doesn’t understand. Phil is talking to the humans. He feels his stomach sink and feels like he is going to be sick all over again. This should be impossible! He shouldn’t know their language, he should be hiding from them. A soft voice in his head told him Phil should be keeping him safe.
Phil sinks into the water quickly after the conversation, seemingly sensing Tommy's panic as he holds him tightly chirping softly. Tommy almost wants to blindly believe the chirps, to listen to the promises of safety and love pup. But he had only just met this mer.
“Why would you talk to the humans?” Tommy hisses.
“I just needed some information. It's ok, they won’t hurt you, they are here to help.” Phil tells him. “That place you were in before wasn’t good for you, so now you get to live here. I’m here to help you figure everything out, and if you want you can join my pod.” He explance. Tommy stares at the man a little lost, but he nods anyway.
Phil swims in circles as he talks. Calming Tommy's previously pounding heartbeat. Soon his movement slows as if molasses fills his veins. He yawns as his eyes become harder to keep open.
Phil lets out an airy laugh as he stares at the pup in his arms. “Alright, I think you have been up for long enough, you are still trying to fight off this sickness. Come on let's get to the den so you can get some rest.” Phil's voice is soft as he talks, gently pushing through the tank.
Soon they reach a part of the tank Tommy has never seen before. It's a large cave, covered in soft bedding and warm comforting lights. He falls asleep quickly in the safety of Phil's arms.
~~~~
Tommy spends the next few weeks glued to Phil's side. Everything the man does he does. It is nice. Much nicer than the loneliness that he has grown used to all of his life. He now has someone to talk to, someone to help him.
And Phil makes it clear that he wants to help him. The man spends his time teaching Tommy everything he needs to know. How to open clams, how to hunt, how to swim as fast as a sailfish, and how to float through the water like a jellyfish
The biggest change is the fact that Phil is teaching Tommy how to speak to the humans. It's a slow process, as he can only learn a few words at a time and try to train his vocal cords to work with their strange language.
Only after around three weeks is he able to form a few basic words. Greeting the humans now every time Phil and him float to the surface. But learning the new language is a blessing and a curse.
It all happened around a month into being here. Tommy was having a much easier time understanding the humans now, while he couldn’t understand full sentences he could get bits a pieces.
A hand tapped against the surface of the water, calling them to the top. Phil and Tommy swim up quickly. Phil starts talking to the workers as Tommy plays around the top. He likes to watch as the water ripples and splashes around him, laughing as it reaches the pavement that surrounds the tank.
“Moved… should be able to leave…soon…” Tommy can only pick up around half the words the worker is saying to Phil, and he likes none of them. He stops his splashing to focus on the two people in front of him.
“Thats good… Tommy…miss me.” Phil has a smile on his face as he talks. Tommy can feel his stomach drop. They are talking about him. They're talking about him leaving. Leaving without Phil.
He knew it was always going to happen of course. Phil has a family, one that he has talked about extensively, one he loves. Tommy just didn’t think he would leave so soon.
Tommy ducks back under the water before Phil, swimming towards their little den. He feels like he is going to be sick all over again.
Phil is leaving him. He is going to be all alone again. The bigger tank will echo his loneliness worse than the smaller one.
He can feel the tears well up in his eyes as he hides his face in the soft kelp nest, trying not to cry.
“Tommy?” Phil says swimming towards the entrance of the cave. “I have amazing news!” He calls out. Tommy can feel the tears leak into the water around him. Phil thinks this is good news? That he would be happy?
“Oh mate, what’s the matter?” Phil asks, pushing towards him. Tommy just shakes his head, he wants Phil to tell him. “Come on pup, it’s alright. You can tell me what’s bothering you.”
“You’re leaving me alone again!” Tommy yell’s. Pulling his face out of the nest. Phil’s eyes grow wide as he stares at him. It takes him a moment to process what Tommy was saying.
“No, no Tommy never! That wasn’t what that was about. I was talking about both of us leaving. To a permanent tank. So you can meet my pod and maybe even stay if you want.” Phil tells him. Tommy stares at the man.
“Like your sons?” Tommy asks.
“Tommy, if you want, you can be one of my sons. You can be a part of the pod. I want you to be a part of the pod. Wilbur and Techno always wanted a young brother anyways.” Phil says with a soft smile.
“Really?” He asks.
“Of course.” Phil promises.
“I would like that.” Tommy tells him. Phil pulls him into a soft hug. Chirping happy noises. Tommy smiles, now he will never have to be alone again.