Chapter Text
“Come on little one, it’s time for your checkups.”
The white jackets call from above as they crack open the lid to my enclosure, gloved hands grabbing me and hauling me out of the water and dropping me on that cold metal table.
I stretch my arms and tail, having been squished in the miniscule tank I’ve called home for the last near 20 years. I gasp as the white jackets roughly grab my wrists, hard enough to bruise, and strap them down with more cold hard metal, locking them in place. They do the same for my long and thick tail, partially hanging off the table as it’s pinched into place.
I coo softly with a hint of worry up at Hellion, the same white jacket human who runs the check ups on me. His smile is sharp as his too white teeth flash at me, his large and rough hand cupping my chin and lifting my head up.
“Are you going to be a good girl for us this week? Or are you going to misbehave like last time?” I shake my head no quickly, but I notice his smile is odd, as if he hopes I misbehave and I get punished again. Bubbles run up my scale flaked arms as I shiver, the dark bruises on my back and neck still sore from last week's lashings and beatings.
“Good. Start the process doctors.” He waves his hand at the other white jackets and lets go of my chin.
The process is the same as every week; a chunk the size of a large sand dollar gets sliced out of my tail and dropped in a clear container. Several needles pierce my arms, sides, neck and tail, some injecting their mysterious liquid into me while others take my blood and various other samples. They wheel the table I’m on through a large tube and it makes a loud ear piercing and annoying sound as it works, scanning me they said. I squirm and writhe a bit at the loud noise, wanting to cover my flared ears but I can't since my hands are pinned down.
Suddenly Hellion's voice, as if speaking from the tube, the MRI machine they said, echoes by me. “Stop moving 819, you are misbehaving and making this much more difficult than it needs to be.” He sounds agitated, like he got smacked in the face with my tail. I stiffen and bite my lip, thinking happy thoughts to try and ignore the loud whirring noise. After a few minutes it’s finally over and I’m met with the harsh and bright lights above me as I get wheeled back out.
I get flipped over, my back exposed as they examine my white speckled markings and draw them out. Hellion told me that they change often which should be impossible, but I don’t really notice since I can’t see them. Him and the other nurses have mentioned something about ‘stars’ and ‘the moon cycles’? Once they’re done Hellion flips me back over and starts wheeling me back to my lonely and empty enclosure. I whimper sadly and peer up at him, hoping I get to stay out a bit longer and not be stuck in the cramped enclosure, this is my only time interacting with others. The white jackets, doctors Hellion called them, said that it’s a fairly big size and that I shouldn’t complain.
Just before I get dumped in, I spot a green haired human walk over with a stern look on his speckled face. The doctors haven’t put the frosted glass lid on my enclosure so I peek my head out a bit as I listen on with curiosity, wondering why he could be upset.
“Doctor Midoriya, what brings you to our side of the lab? Aren’t you supposed to be dealing with that lionfish you rescued a few days ago who got a few nasty injuries from hunters? He sounded too aggressive to be left alone.” Hellion asks with a raised brow as he cleans up his bloody metal tools with a smirk.
“Doctor Hellion, we have already discussed your inappropriate methods of taking samples from the refugees here.” Midoriya was his name, grits out, seeming very upset but trying to keep calm.
”It’s just an overgrown fish with long hair Midoriya, she doesn’t have any feelings.” Hellion scoffs and tosses his gloves into the trash bin. I flinch a bit at the harsh words. ’Refugees? What are those? I know I haven’t spent time with anybody else, but I know what feelings are. Do I?…’ My long tail twitches a bit as it’s curled up against my hips and waist in my small tank.
“Doesn’t have feelings? I will have you know that merfolk are very intelligent and emotional creatures Doctor Hellion! Have you even been paying attention to any of your research?!” The green haired man growing more furious at Hellion. I coo softly and peek a little bit more out of my tank, catching the attention briefly of those big green eyes and freckled face. Doctor Vane, Hellion’s assistance, shoves me fully into my tank and pinches the lid shut rapidly, not giving me a moment to process as I swipe away at the bubbles swirling around my face.
My webbed fingers paw at the frosted glass lid, wanting to hear more. I flare out an ear and press it against the glass wall closest to them, their words muffled but still able to be deciphered. “Of course I’ve been paying attention to my research Midoriya! I’ve been trying to get her to lay eggs for years now but her stubborn empty-headed self is incapable of understanding that!” Hellion yells furiously.
“Eggs?!” I hear Midoriya exclaim. “She’s still an adolescent and has been alone her entire life! She’s never mated so how do you expect her to do—” I lean forward to the wall, curious why he stopped talking. “You know what Doctor? It seems that you are unfit to care for her any longer. Thankfully I have already put in a transfer request and gotten approval to take her into custody in my wing. Permanently.”
‘Eggs? What are those? Transfer? Where am I going? Hellion always said that this was the only area for me.’ I jolt as my tank shifts and bumps. “Doctor Hellion?! Have you seriously been keeping her in here her entire life!? She can’t even extend her tail fully! Let alone do a single turn! This is barely bigger than the size of a human’s bathtub!” I see Midoriya’s green fluffy hair through the lid, tilting my own head in curiosity.
‘Mister Midoriya has a lot to say about Hellion’s processes. This is a fairly big tank Vane has always told me whenever I mention a cramp in my tail. What’s a bathtub?.’ Suddenly the voices overlap and increase in volume, making it difficult to differentiate under the lid and soaked in water. My hands fly to the sides as my tank shifts up and the water sways as I get relocated, the metal braced ceiling of the building passing over my lid.
I bump into the sides and the water sloshes, the lid popping off a bit. I peek out a bit and see Hellion blocking the path of this big black and yellow machine carrying my tank a few feet in the air. “Who the hell do you think you are huh Midoriya?! Taking her from me like this?! She needs me!” I spot Vane on the other side, arguing and pushing someone else in the seat. It seems like that spot controls what is carrying me as it starts jerking back and forth as they fight.
Midoriya and Hellion argue and yell on the floor on my other side. Vane and the other man seem to be too busy wrestling to notice that they’re driving me around, just barely missing Hellion’s head. I peek out a bit more and open my mouth to call out, hoping they would stop as I’m starting to feel queasy, my stomach churning with the water. Before I can speak, a loud metal clank is heard and my tank drops as I yelp, the impact startling me. My home shatters into several jagged pieces as it crashes into the ground and I tumble, sliding on the water and tile flooring, glass shards slicing my back and hands a bit. Hellion starts blaming Midoriya as he rushes over, a gentle yet loud splash heard a few feet away as I start sliding towards a large pool with several white jackets working around the edge.
I try to stabilize myself but there’s nothing to grab onto, still slipping and sliding across the floor. I fall into what seems to be deep water, tumbling and slowing to a stop underwater as bubbles rush around me. My eyes sting a bit at the bubbles and new ‘taste of water’ still swirling to a stop around my face, still balled up as I float all tensed up, my tail coiled around itself.
The water around me is warmer, the lack of a cold glass tub 3 inches from my face and surrounding me no longer submerging me in cold water. The tendrils of my thick and long tail drift slowly, and that’s when I realize I can fully extend my body and tail, my arms stretching high above my head for the first time in ages, my tail flicking down as I do a little twirl up.
I halt immediately and tense up again as a flash of white, orange, and black swirls around the large enclosure rapidly, the rocky walls and large faux shipwreck noted in my head as I swivel around a bit. A spiky tail nearly grazes my side as this large new creature finally stops swimming around. I blink as a gorgeous merman stops and floats in front of me. Someone else like. . . me.
His spiky yet soft looking blonde hair sways a bit at the small currents in the enclosure. His tail is strong and powerful, spikes in place of a dorsal fin and some on the sides of his hips like a lionfish, or at least what I was shown in those little picture cards Hellion would show me. Orange, white, and black scales are scattered all over his tail, some on his shoulders and back, orange translucent webbing in between his strong fingers. Tan and sculpted muscles stare at me, abs and biceps flexing as he occasionally flicks his tail to stay afloat. his broad shoulders tensed in meeting me. But his eyes are what draw me in, those deep red and intense eyes peer at me in quiet curiosity and hesitation.
I blink and he reaches for me.