Chapter Text
It was a stormy winter's night
The snow lay on the ground
The sailor boy stood on the quay
His ship was outward bound
His sweetheart, standing by his side
Shed many a silent tear
And as he pressed her to his breast
He whispered in her ear
Farewell, farewell, my own true love
This parting brings me pain
I'll be your own true guiding star
When I return again
My thoughts shall be of you, of you
When the storms are raging high
So fare ye well
Remember me, your faithful sailor boy
Without a care, the ship set sail
He kissed his love goodbye
———
It was a popular shanty, but it was definitely most popular in Finn’s bubbly fishbowl head. He caught himself thinking about it more often than not, and he wouldn’t be able to give you a reason why. In fact, he had thought about it countless times himself. The idea of asking Astro popped into his head a few times, but he always dismissed it because what would Astro even say? The moon toon mainly usually specialized in dreams, not the behavior of the mind. However, that was probably in his practice somewhere. It didn’t reely bother Finn much, though.
That one was one of his favorites, although he didn’t have much experience with it himself. The aquatic toon had never reely had a crush or been in love with anyone at the museum. He probably wouldn’t for a while, though. He hadn’t felt like Cosmo or Sprout before they got together with anyone, or he hadn’t felt like Dandy and Shelly, who he was shore, were going to get together soon. Finn didn’t even know how it worked, and neither did he reely want to. If he were in love with someone, shorely the number of people saying it all the time would get eely annoying. People had already started doing it with him and Shrimpo, which is what I never really understood.
Shrimpo and Finn had only become friends recently; however, Finn had always admired the shrimp from afar. He liked the way Shrimpo acted so… free. He acted as if the world revolved around him, or if he was just singled out in total. He never even cared what others thought about him. Shrimpo also had two separate personalities sometimes. When Shrimpo was with other toons, all he would do was yell at them and just be a pain or nuisance. But not with Finn. Shore, Shrimpo still had his loud and obnoxious nature, but it was definitely a lot less harsh towards him. Maybe it was even because he had figured out Shrimpo’s speech pattern by now.
If Shrimpo told you that he hated something, it was either because he actually liked it or it was just an exaggerated statement against a toon. Shrimpo didn’t actually hate Toodles; he had just said that because Toodles got him to admit to being friends with Finn. Those silly things had always been the stuff that made Finn laugh. Shrimpo was definitely quite the toon. Ever since he had met Shrimpo, he had wanted to be his friend. Even when everyone had told Finn it was a bad idea and that Shrimpo was not the cool toon the fish bowl had thought he was. But it hadn’t worked on Finn. Any sea life fascinated him, and Shrimpo happened to be sea life.
For some reason that couldn’t be explained by anyone but the aquatic toon, Finn could remember the exact moment he met Shrimpo. The Shrimp had been getting scolded by Sprout for something he had done right before Finn arrived. This was practically normal for the Shrimp toon, when had he not been involved with something troublemaking? He also didn’t really like Sprout, which the strawberry didn’t like him much either. This argument was just another day in Gardenview for everyone else, but for Finn this was a first time occurrence. Something about the whole thing really intrigued the fish bowl. Everytime Sprout had made an argument against Shrimpo, the toon would just throw a defense back using the word “Hate”. Sprout realized the whole argument was kind of pointless, so he just dropped it and turned over towards Finn, (who he had zero clue or awareness that he was there).
Once he noticed however, he pulled Finn aside and apologized for what the fish bowl had seen. But Finn wasn’t concerned about what he saw. Sure the bickering was annoying, but the Shrimpo had done the funniest thing ever in his eyes. He made the argument reely fishteresting. It’s not everyday you see a raging shrimp win an argument using the word hate as his main course. Maybe it was Finn’s love for sea creatures, but Shrimpo had looked cool! Even though the ocean was salty, Shrimpo had been even saltier.
Finn looked at the clock on his nightstand and he realized it had already been 13:02 (1:02 PM). He had slept in for the second time this week, and what was worse is that he had plans with Gigi, Flutter, and Connie in a little bit. He had even missed the chance to get breakfast, and lunch would end in a little bit. This had been a common occurrence recently, and Finn had no clue on why. He had no problems going to sleep, and he hadn’t changed the time he usually went to sleep. If he kept this up, he would have to cross his daily fishing trip off his list of activities. Not to be confused with Brightney however, she had a to-do list which Finn only had a list of things he cod do on an empty boring day.
Some of them were things like fishing (obviously), hanging out with friends (Shrimpo was his main choice), and reading some fish books that he would borrow from Brightney. Sometimes he would combine the first two activities depending on if Shrimpo wanted to go fishing with him. You didn’t hear this from Finn, but the fish bowl noticed that Shrimpo actually liked fishing and was curious about the oceanic world. But if Finn pointed it out, the shrimp would turn his head and deny it like he had with everything else.
After a couple minutes of thinking, Finn finally got out of bed with his aquatic fish pajamas. He also put down the Shrimp plushie he slept with (which was a mere coincidence according to Finn), and did a little stretch as his feet hit the floor. He was finally ready to start his day at 13:05. Way later than expected, but at least he started it. The first thing he needed to do was to get breakfast, it was important afterall. He also got to see some of his friends even though they were going to hang out soon. Finn then reached into his head and took the cork out, setting it beside him on his- to no one’s surprise- fish-themed bed.
Before he left his room, however, he just had to greet all of his fish. Who cod pass by an aquarium without addressing all the cute finned individuals?
“Hello, my little fish sea-bilings! It’s going to be a fin-tastic day!” Finn exclaimed cheerfully. He looked at all the fish in the tank, which wasn’t all that many, but it was still around three or four.
Of course, to no one’s surprise, the fish stare back without saying a word. Then, they started swimming around as if nothing had happened. As if nothing eely changed, because nothing had changed. At least for them.
While he was wrapped up in his one-sided conversation with the fish, a sudden knock came from the door. It was 20 minutes before the end of lunch, and 50 minutes before he had to hang out with Connie, Gigi, and Flutter. So who cod possibly be knocking at his door at the moment? Finn stood up and instantly got reminded that he hadn’t eaten today. He still headed to open the door and greet the toon that had currently been standing there. To his surprise, it was Shrimpo. Suddenly, his face felt a bit warmer.
“Oh Shrimpo! What brings you here?” Finn asked the small shrimp who looked just as angry as ever.
“I SAW THAT YOU MISSED BREAKFAST SO I BROUGHT YOU SOME LUNCH!” Shrimpo yelled as he withdrew his hands from behind his back. He held a plate of spaghetti (without any meat) which he then placed on the floor. Since when did Shrimpo bring anyone food? When was he nice to anyone as a whole? He had never seen the shrimp ever perform an act of kindness. Not even that one time he would get rewarded with his own spot in the aquarium. Which he still got anyway, but the point still stood. Shrimpo had never been nice to anyone, and now he was being nice to Finn of all people. The thought made a slight blush appear on the bowl’s face.
“O-Oh! Thank you! I ree-ly appreciate it!” Finn smiled. He didn’t really understand the feeling that was going on, but it only happened when Shrimpo was around. Finn had just assumed since he had the biggest friend crush on Shrimpo for a while now and maybe the feeling didn’t go away.
“WHATEVER. I HATE YOUR PUNS AND I HATE BEING HERE!” Shrimpo stormed, walking away which was just stomps due to his angry nature. So much for Shrimpo treating him with kindness. He did appreciate the previous gesture though. He had side tracked a lot today, so it was helpful that someone had brought him his lunch. Finn was also happy that Shrimpo had remembered his dislike of meat. He had made sure Sprout only made the pasta part, which had to have been hard considering his rivalry with Sprout. Shrimpo went out of his way for… him. The thought made him feel a little warmer than he originally had.
Finn had… lied before. When he said he had a friendship crush on Shrimpo, he actually had a major friendship crush on Shrimpo. He thought he had had one on Gigi, but this one felt different. He enjoyed being friends with Shrimpo and hanging out with him too. Shrimpo was a funny toon. Betta yet he actually listened and remembered Finn’s facts. Shrimpo even let himself be seen with Finn in the hallways of Gardenview while they were having a wholesome or sweet conversation. If you had been and Gardenview and had any sense of who Shrimpo was, you would know that he usually wouldn’t do that for anyone. Finn was different to him. Finn was special. Finn loved being special. Especially to, in his eyes, the coolest toon in all of Gardenview. Shrimpo was the only toon in Gardenview that could be so transparent yet so secretive at the same time. As well as bonus points for him being a crustacean.
He brought the spaghetti up to his lap and grabbed his fork so he could properly eat his lunch just around thirty minutes late. By now lunch in the diner had definitely ended, so taking his plate to go wasn’t really much of an option. He didn’t need to worry about not seeing his friends that he sat with at lunch, for they had been currently knocking on his door before he could even bring his fork to his mouth. He laid the plate down and walked to the front of his room to open the door. Connie awaited him, along with the rest of his friends.
“I just saw the whole thing, man! I high-key think he likes you!” Connie smirked with an I-Know-What’s
-Going-On-Here kind of smile. Finn felt his face get a little hot as he prepared his defense.
“Not eel-y, he was just looking out for me, minnow?” Finn explained to the mob of toons. They weren’t really buying the cheap excuse. They kept giving each other knowing glances while laughing to themselves secretly. Finn, who obviously didn’t know, stood there confused in his fish pjs.
“Oh I see the blush on your face man you soooo like him back.” Gigi joined in with the teasing. Gigi’s comment only made Finn’s face flush a deeper red. Blush didn’t mean he liked his friend, right? It just meant he thought it was cool. Being in love was turtle-ly different. You’d think about them all the time, and you’d love to stare and look at them. You’d also have sweaty palms being around them. At least that’s what Finn had read in the romance novels Brightney lent him. Finn hadn’t even thought about him that much! (Shrimpo’s name is mentioned 39 times before this fun-fact) Not to mention his palms were only sweaty sometimes. Finn had never even had time to stare at Shrimpo as well.
But instead of him using all of this evidence, his face just got redder.
“…!!” Flutter chimed in, agreeing with Connie and Gigi. Finn was now a flustered mess, and he didn’t even know what it meant.
“Anyway man, we just gon hang out in your room today.” Connie said, already making her way into Finn’s room before he could give an approval or declination. Gigi and Flutter followed behind the ghost, to where Gigi sat on one of Finn’s beanbags to make herself comfortable.
“Yup, we can also talk about the Shrimpo thing a little more when we’re all seated.” Poppy, who came out of nowhere, chimed in as they all sat down. Poppy was a bit nosy, due to her being a more gossipy toon. So no one was really surprised when she made her way into Finn’s room with the rest of the other toons. In her defense, she had originally been invited to hang out, however, she had been drafted into a run which got canceled earlier today.
“So, fill me in on what I missed! What happened with you and Shrimpo today?” Poppy asked eagerly and attentively. This might have been the most interested Poppy was in a discussion since 99’.
“Whale, Shrimpo just came by and delivered me some food, and now I haven’t been herring the end of it!” Finn explained, fighting back the blush that threatened to make itself visible. He had expected Poppy to agree with him, and to nod in agreement that the interaction did not mean love. But again, Poppy was a gossip toon, so any trail of romance was interesting and something she agreed with.
“OH MY GOSH! THAT'S SO CUTE! HE'S SO INTO YOU!” Poppy squealed excitedly. She ran up and squeezed Finn in a tight hug, to which Finn sat confused trying to figure out what was happening.
“It’s just what friends do!” Finn reassured Poppy, although he sounded as if he was trying to reassure himself mainly. Shrimpo didn’t seem like the kind to have crushes and like other toons. Especially men. But it didn’t matter to Finn if he did like men. But
thinking about Shrimpo liking him made that feeling come back. Gosh, feelings were way too confusing especially since Finn had no clue what they meant.
Poppy just chuckled in response, and gave Gigi and Connie a look like they had given each other earlier. They were most likely going to tell Glisten about all of this, which only made Finn blush a little bit more. Finn’s feelings weren’t intense, just small little outbursts here and there. But he surely wasn’t in love. He would show it. He would do everything for Shrimpo if he had liked him. He wasn’t perking up his head in every conversation mentioning around the shrimp, so he was fine. It was all fine. Everything was Fish-tastic.
—-
Connie, Gigi, Flutter, and Poppy had all left a while ago now to probably gossip with Brightney. Finn was sure that the whole romance thing cod be described with Connie and Brightney as they were always talking about each other. Connie was always obsessing over Brightney and acted shy around her. If you had asked Connie about this, she would practically melt with flusteredness and brush off the question. Brightney was also always trying to impress Connie in any way she could, to which if you asked her about it she would just say it was natural. So Finn relayed all this information to Gigi and now the gachapon was on her own mission to get them together. (This will probably be another fanfic… so stay tuned XD)
Finn had enjoyed today as not only did he get a few extra hours of sleep, but he also was able to hang out with friends and then fish after at the same time. The toons of Gardenview obviously didn’t have access to the outside, so he used the fake dock that they had which was mainly surrounded by fake grass and forever stationary boats. It was always really calming to the aquatic toon for when he had a bad day, and even when he just felt bored and wanted to do something different then his regular routine. Although his fishing was so frequent it had technically become part of his regular routine.
He liked the calmness, as it gave him room to think about all his marine biology books. They had been gifts from Brightney, and he had enjoyed reading them while learning some new fish facts. He had then told those facts to no other than Shrimpo and maybe Looey if he would listen.
Finn definitely would like to dwell more on Shrimpo listening to his facts, but perhaps that was a thought for another time. He could feel his eyelids getting a tad bit heavier as the seconds went on, and his vision threatened to go dark. He had a reely long day, mainly filled with confusion and laughter. But he had hopes that tomorrow, it would be even better with Shrimpo. He would get more answers, maybe. He would even figure out maybe about how Shrimpo felt about him!
Because of course, tomorrow is a new day.