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Crosshair curled up deeper into the seaweed bed. It barely counted as a bed, but it was all he had managed. He tried to hold back the sniffle. The cave was dark, too dark. And cold and lonely. He didn’t like it. But it was safe here, too. Protected from predators and prying eyes. A protection his pod should have given him. He didn’t know where they were. One moment he had been swimming after a pretty fish, the next they had been gone. He had called out for them, for hours. No one had come back.
This cave was big, and empty, and would keep him safe until they came back from him. Because they would, wouldn’t they? They’d surely notice he was gone and they would search for him and hear his trills and then he would be safe again. He’d just have to wait.
But waiting was hard, and Crosshair failed to hold back another sniffle. All the sounds were scary and he was tired but he couldn’t sleep all alone. His gaze fell on a big conch. He liked shells and he liked conches even more. They made a nice sound - sounded like the sea on a stormy day, when he was kept safe by his pod. With another sniffle, Crosshair swam out and snatched it, immediately darting back to the cave when a big shadow passed over him. He snuggled back down, pressing the shell to his ear. It helped a little, and he closed his eyes, trying to imagine the trills of his pod in the roaring of the conch. Eventually, he drifted off into a fitful sleep, never letting go of the conch. Not this night, nor one of the following.
“What’s that?” Crosshair scowled at the … heap.
“It’s a pillow fort!” Wrecker cheered and dragged him towards it. “We used to do it as kids. I thought it would be fun to redo it!”
Crosshair scoffed, looking at the blankets and fairy lights and Lula in the middle of a big pile of pillows.
“That looks boring.”
“I promise, it’s fun!”
Crosshair didn’t have a choice in the end, being dragged in by Wrecker, and the others snuggled around them. Tech had brought a tablet to watch a movie.
All his complaints slowly faded away, between the warmth and the snuggles, and Crosshair zoned out of the movie a bit when he realized that the pillow fort reminded him of the cave he grew up in. Only less cold and lonely. It was warm and safe and he wasn’t alone - never alone here, with four brothers keeping him company.
“That was such a good idea,” Wrecker happily said, pulling Echo and Crosshair closer. “All of our family together. I love you guys!”
Crosshair scoffed and tried to hide the tears in his eyes at these words, clutching Lula to his chest like he had done with the conch back then. He’d gotten so lucky to find a new family.