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"So did you feel it when we drowned?"
The line hit so hard that Hummer physically took a step back. Wifies seemed to clock that instantly and his expression shifted from roiling anger to guilt as he took a step closer to counteract Hummer's.
"Hey, look, I'm sorry," he apologized, his pretty, dark eyes fixing onto Hummer's somehow through the tinted screen. "I'm sure we can find most of the information that was there elsewhere. I never even fully read through your library."
Hummer took a deep breath and nodded, shaking off the last of the shock from Wifies' earlier outburst. "Yeah," he responded. "Yeah, good idea."
Wifies nodded back at him and gestured for Hummer to follow him off the side of the large boat and into a much smaller one, the boat they used to row to shore. Hummer ended up in the back, with nowhere to put his arms because Wifies was using the paddles. He debated what to do for a moment before tentatively placing his hands on Wifies' hips and leaning ever-so-slightly closer to the other researcher. The second his fingers touched that gray hoodie, Wifies tensed, and Hummer prepared to move his hands away from him. Before he could, though, Wifies relaxed, leaning subtly into Hummer's grasp. Neither mentioned it.
Once they got back to shore, they both exited the boat, Hummer picking it up and stashing it in his inventory. They entered the house together but quickly parted ways, with Hummer heading upstairs toward the bedroom and Wifies going down to the library.
Hummer walked through the hallway and dining room before eventually making it to his bed. (Well, more like beds. With two right next to each other, he could probably fit Wifies on here too! Not that he'd ever get the courage to ask...and enough about the beds.)
Hummer sat down on his bed and took off the TV, revealing a slightly distorted human head. He glanced at himself in the mirror on the wall and sighed.
Hummer's eyes were too large and had almost no sclerae, with massive yellow irises—similar to a cat's—taking up nearly all of the space. His teeth were too long and sharp, and barely fit in his mouth. Plus, his skin had a slight green tint with patterns of scales that looked painted on. (He wore gloves to mask the abnormalities on his hands.)
In short, Hummer's face was nothing like a normal human's. Certainly nothing like Wifies'. His face was perfect. Properly sized eyes with properly sized pupils, just the right dark color to get lost in; pretty pink lips; and pale skin that seemed to have makeup on it twenty-four seven. (Honestly it might, he'd seen a makeup bag in Wifies' pocket more than once.)
Oh sea, he's got to get rid of this habit of trailing off so much.
Hummer tore his eyes away from the mirror to set his TV head on the nightstand. Afterwards, he kicked off his shoes and crawled under the covers, burying his face in a pillow and instantly conking out. He'd been up for about a week at this point, and the day's events had tired him.
Hummer woke up in a warmly lit room and foolishly assumed that it was still afternoon. After a short moment of disorientation, he realized that the light was coming from the wrong side of the house, and that it was actually morning. A quick glance at the clock (what a handy invention!) told him it was actually ten a.m. and that he needed to get to water fast. He was even more violently reminded of this as he stood up and his skin stretched and cracked.
Usually if he was out of water for more than twelve hours he would grow unbearably dry, so he'd built a (what's it called?) vertical water spout in the corner of his bedroom. Hummer stumbled underneath the (oh!) shower head and turned the crank. Tepid water washed over him, mending his skin and soothing the aches that had come of it.
He sighed as he turned off the water and grabbed a towel to wipe off the worst of it. Hummer was drenched head to toe, and he was still fully clothed due to his impromptu flop into bed yesterday. He'd never even taken off his vest.
Hummer squeezed the hem of his sleeve and droplets of water came pouring out of the blouse, hitting the floor in a cacophony of plink-splish-splats. Despite this, he smiled—being wet meant he had a reason to sit outside in the sun on the beach, which was just about his favorite pastime. (Second, of course, to none other than spending time with Wifies.)
Hummer gave himself a final once-over with the towel in an attempt to not track water all over the house, then stepped out and grabbed his boots, slipping them on. He also snagged his TV head from the side table and plopped it in place. After a quick glance at himself in the mirror, he headed downstairs.
Wifies was huddled over a table in the corner, his head resting on his hand as he read over one of the many report books in Hummer's library. Hummer stopped for a moment, staring like an idiot, before realizing that was creepy and quickly heading outside. He carefully closed the door and turned his attention to the beach, smiling again as he walked over to his favorite spot.
Hummer stretched out across the sand, his limbs spread out like a starfish. He'd learned that it was the best way to dry quickly, and that it warmed his whole body, rather than just certain sections.
He stayed like that for a long while, long enough for his clothes to dry most of the way, before sitting up. Hummer wasn't in the right spot for laying in the sun anymore, so he moved over towards the water. With a glance at the door, he removed his glove and stuck a hand in, instantly feeling each and every slight movement in the water. Using this, he was able to locate a little fish struggling in the water, tangled in seaweed.
Hummer dried his hand on his blouse before putting his glove back on, only to get it wet again when he put both of his hands in the water. He reached towards the struggling fish and began gently unraveling seaweed, pulling the strands away and slowly freeing the fish. The moment it was out, it swam away, not seeming to notice it'd been freed by the lord of the ocean himself.
Hummer smiled softly as he watched it flee, proud that he'd been able to help it. Watching it swim reminded him of flitting around in the deep, and he was struck with a deep nostalgia. Hummer glanced at the woods nearby and wondered if he could sneak away to take off his TV head, and maybe take a dip in the ocean. He looked at the closed door and then back at the woods, and stood up.
A little walk couldn't hurt, could it?
Hummer sat at the edge of a cliff, legs dangling over the ocean. His TV head was discarded on the grass behind him. Hummer tilted his head so the sun could warm his face, like a cat in the sunshine. He glanced over the edge, wondering whether he could risk a quick little swim—not as himself, but as the Leviathan.
Hummer stared at the water for a long moment before turning to look at his TV head. He smiled, and tilted off the cliff.
His form hit the water in a jumbled mess of limbs and fins and tails as it twisted and grew into a massive dark green creature, much more suited for the depths than this shallow water. Even with its belly on the seafloor, the dorsal fin on the Leviathan's back stuck out of the water.
Whatever, it could make do. It just felt nice to be in the water again, all let out like it used to be.
Not that it didn't like the Hummer form—this just felt like home, because it was home. Before everyone started looking for it, the Leviathan had been perfectly content to slink around alone in the deep. Before Wifies, it'd had no reason for a human form. But now, it couldn't even think of giving that up.
It couldn't go back to the deep. At least not alone.
The Leviathan swam—well, more like rolled around—in the water for a long while, long enough that what stopped it was the realization that the sun was no longer in the east. It lurched towards the beach and its form shifted as it tumbled onto the sand, Hummer rolling to a stop onshore.
He ran for the cliff, struggling slightly while climbing it but eventually making it to the top and slapping on his TV head. Of course, he put it on backwards and had to awkwardly rotate it until it fit correctly, not unlike flipping a shirt around.
Once he was situated, he noted that his clothes weren't wet like he expected them to be, just covered in a heavy dusting of sand. He brushed most of it off easily, and figured the rest of the sand would come off in due time.
As Hummer walked back towards the house through the forest, it sunk in how risky of a move he'd just taken.
Taking a swim as the Leviathan was just the surface level—he'd also left his TV behind in such a way that Wifies would have found it instantly had he been in the area, and Hummer wasn't even very far from the house! A thousand blocks at best.
Soon, he spotted the house's roof over the treetops and hurried towards it. Once he arrived, he flung the door open with decidedly too much force, making Wifies jump from the table in the corner.
"Sorry," Hummer apologized, closing the door much more gently and making his way over to Wifies.
"No problem," Wifies replied, rubbing his eyes. They were bloodshot and had purplish rings underneath them—that was a sign of fatigue, right? Wifies himself also looked a little rumpled, like he'd been picking at his hair too much.
Wifies stood up and put the book he was holding back on the shelf, swaying a little before his knees completely buckled and he crumpled into the shelf.
Hummer, surprised and quite concerned, rushed to steady the bookshelf before it could topple onto them. Then he knelt down next to Wifies.
Thoughts raced through his head as he wracked his brain for what could be wrong. "Fell, not moving, bad, bad, bad, dead, maybe, check check—" Wifies exhaled, and Hummer relaxed. So he was okay—well, not okay, but alive.
Hummer sat down on the floor with his back to the wall and pulled Wifies' head into his lap. Wifies' eyes were closed, and he looked to be asleep, but that was not how humans usually fell asleep. Unless this was normal and Hummer hadn't been paying enough attention? No, he'd seen Wifies fall asleep before, and this wasn't it. He'd have to ask Wifies when he woke up.
If he woke up.
Hummer shook his head, trying to shake the thought away, but it only served to throw his TV out of alignment. He pulled Wifies farther into his lap, with the guy's head resting against his chest, so he could use his hands to fix the TV head.
Once he was finished with that, Hummer realized he'd effectively trapped himself under a sleeping Wifies and resigned himself to sitting there until Wifies woke up.
Wifies woke up slowly, with the first sense to come back being touch. His cheek was pressed against something smooth but with small patches that felt almost...embroidered? He laid there for a moment, trying to figure out what in the world he was laying on, before trying to open his eyes.
Everything clicked quickly as he took in what he could see. His head was on some green fabric, bookshelf in the background, and...an arm covered in flowy cream sleeves.
He was laying on Hummer.
Wifies' breath caught and that was apparently what made Hummer realize he was awake. He felt the body under him shift as that damn TV head turned down to look at him and briefly considered pretending to still be asleep. He ultimately decided against it, though, as Hummer had likely already seen his eyes open. Wifies yawned and pushed himself up a little, no longer resting on Hummer's chest, but still in his lap.
"You okay?" Hummer asked, his TV head tilting slightly. "You fell asleep standing."
Wifies rubbed his eyes with one hand while using the other to keep himself upright. "Yeah, sorry I passed out on you, I, uh..."
Hummer's focus didn't waver as Wifies' voice trailed off while he tried to find words. "Um, I...didn't sleep last night."
Hummer's head tilted to the side once again, further this time. "So you fell asleep while standing instead?"
"Yeah, people do that sometimes. Am I, like, the only person you've talked to or something?" Wifies replied, joking.
Hummer straightened. "Uh…no, I've just never seen someone do that before." He let out a nervous laugh that shook Wifies gently as he was still in Hummer's lap.
Ah, right. He was still in Hummer's lap.
Wifies' face heated up as he awkwardly scooted onto the floor. Hummer, possibly noticing his discomfort, moved as far as he could while already near a corner. There was now maybe half a foot of space between them, and Wifies let out a breath to release what tension he could.
"You good?" Hummer asked, his head tilting slightly once more.
"Yeah, just tired. Should probably get some real sleep," Wifies replied, bracing his arms to lift himself.
"Hang on," Hummer said, motioning for him to sit down. Wifies obeyed, watching in mild confusion as Hummer stood up himself. This confusion was cleared up quickly, though, when Hummer leaned down and grabbed both of his hands, gently pulling him to his feet.
Wifies swayed as the head rush hit, leaning into Hummer's arms. Once the dizziness faded, he realized this and stepped backwards. Hummer let go of his right hand, but kept ahold of his left, leading him toward the stairs.
"There's a bed you can sleep in upstairs," Hummer explained, gently dragging a sleepy Wifies up the stairs. (There was a lot of tripping involved.)
Once they'd finally made it through the upstairs and to the bedroom, Wifies let go of Hummer's hand and sat down on the mattress.
"Wait, is this your bed?" Wifies asked, slightly concerned that he hadn't connected the dots earlier.
Hummer nodded. "Yeah, but you can have it for the night."
Wifies stared blankly at the wall behind Hummer as his tired brain processed the words. "I don't want to take the bed from you," he said, the words slightly mumbled. Hummer looked up from where he was wiping a bit of water off the shelf.
"It's fine," he tried to say, but Wifies frowned.
"You could sleep on this side and I'll sleep over here," Wifies suggested, patting the bed next to him. Hummer hesitated, but once Wifies fixed him with his most pleading stare, he relented.
Hummer sat down on the bed next to him and watched as Wifies crawled under the covers, slowly copying him. Oddly, he kept his TV head on. Wifies, tired and with no working filters, could not resist the urge to voice his question.
"Do you sleep with your TV on?" he asked, his eyes lazily noting how Hummer tensed.
"Not usually, but, uh..." Hummer gestured to the other man in his bed. Wifies got the idea that Hummer didn't want him to see what he looked like underneath, and flipped over to face the wall.
"I promise I won't look," he assured, closing his eyes at the remark. "Just want you to be comfortable."
For a few seconds, all he heard from Hummer was silence. Whether it was from shock or hesitation, he couldn't tell. Then, he heard rustling and the soft clunk of metal on wood.
"...goodnight," Hummer offered, and Wifies returned the sentiment.
"Goodnight..." he mumbled, as he slipped into unconsciousness, the regular way this time.