Chapter Text
“You sure about this Emily”
“I don’t have a better idea, do you?”
“No. But man if this doesn’t work the people in management are going to have your hide”
“Let’s hope it works then”
I was used to being in enclosures, I had grown up in one after all, but this one was especially strange.
Typically they were big enough that I can move around, but this one I can’t even stretch in. Even stranger, the walls were glass, so I can feel the vibrations from outside, feel the heat of the sun, and see what the humans were doing.
Right now they were running around a large enclosure and yelling at each other to do something.
Suddenly, someone lightly tapped on the rim of my dear little tub. I drifted to the surface and cautiously stuck my head out, making sure to not touch the rim. In my old enclosure that was how you got zapped.
“Hello there” said a man with thick glasses, smiling gently at me.
“You must be awfully confused, I heard they never got around to explaining what was happening to you, but hey, that’s why I’m here right?” he continued, his smile warm.
“Thank you” I whispered back, and his eyes went wide.
“You can talk?” He hushed, his goofy smile amazed.
“I guess so” I said, smiling back, which caused him to nearly jump in excitement.
“Wow, okay, this is really cool” he gushed, and immediately I liked him. I couldn’t help myself, this little guy was adorable.
“So basically, you were getting into fights with your sire” he explained, and I felt my smile drop. I knew that, obviously, but it wasn’t like I could help it. I love him, of course I do, but every second he was near me I wanted to tear his face off. I had heard other people talking about it, how I had reached maturity and needed my own space.
I sent out a quick low surge that the humans couldn’t hear and received nothing in return. I had hoped that when they moved me that they were going to be moving all of us into a bigger space but clearly that was false.
“And this enclosure is safe and large and really empty now so we thought we should just move you in with them. There’s even one inside that’s your age, so we’re hoping the socialization will make him lighten up a little bit and stuff…” he drifted off, shifting from side to side.
It would be nice to meet new people your age, wouldn’t it? You’ll finally get a choice in something, finally get to choose anything at all.
“How many people are in the tank?” I interrupted, leaning forward on the edge. The man jumped to awareness before bumbling out an answer.
“Well, only three currently but I’m hoping to bring more people in and make it how it was before…” his eyes seemed to fade slightly before he jumped back up “also, now I know you can talk, we’ll be checking on you every once and a while and you can tell us how the others are doing. I know the middle one is sick but the eldest won’t let us get close and he likes me but he still doesn't trust me but that’s alright because now we have you! Might I just say, you are miraculously fluent considering your vocal chords are completely different”.
“Oh, thanks? But like, who are these mers you’re talking about?” I asked, confused by the words that were being told to me.
“Oh, well they’re slightly different species than you”, he says, fingers barely apart before catching my anxious expression “but like it will be totally fine”.
I stared at him for a solid minute, looking at this dumb mothertrucker. Just because we’re both Mers doesn’t mean we’re the same. Not only will we have obvious different biologies, we’ll also have different cultures, and instincts. How is any of this gonna work?
“The youngest has a green tail, the middle one is blue, and then the eldest is red. We don’t know too much about them nowadays, but we’re hoping they’re recovering from everything” He concluded, his smile seeming faker every second.
“Recover from what? And speaking of, introduce people into how it was before? What does that mean?” I ask and the man's face wavers, before turning around to talk to other people. Ropes are attached to the side of the crate and as it is lifted into the air the entire thing shakes. I quickly sink to the bottom and watch in fear as I’m lifted high into the air. Under my arms I can feel my gills flutter around panicking.
Suddenly there is a loud thunk as the small crate clicks into place, then the bottom slides out to the side. Clear oxygenated water rushes in and I breathe deeply, trying to allow myself to calm before swimming down into the cold depths.
I’m in another box
“Oh come on!” I call in Mer, banging my fists against it as I feel a deep snarl vibrate in my throat.
“Thanks, Blondy, love the new cage, must really get a lot of visitors in here!” I scream up at the man, knowing it’s probably too high pitched for him to hear even if he could understand it. Solemnly, I look around the room.
The place certainly isn’t the saddest enclosure I’ve been in, in fact it’s rather nice. Everything seems very natural, even the rock formations that make up three of the walls. Plants grow in along the floor in groves, streaming up to the surface. Fish dart in and out of the grass, hiding under rocks and behind coral when they notice my presence.
There’s no safe place to sleep or rest, and even less to do. Out of other options, I approached the fourth wall, and was surprised at how thin it is. I can see, feel, and hear everything on the other side, the only reason it seemed like a wall in the first place is the strong vibrations it sends off. I press my hand against it and am surprised by its strength. I press harder, moving forward with all my might and am met with nothing.
“It’s not going to work. Mikey has been trying to tear it down for days and he’s a lot stronger than you” a young voice said, and I’m surprised to meet a young mer. She’s small, with a bright green tail and even brighter eyes. Her sharp teeth flash to me in a cunning smile, her golden hair flowing behind her with a kelp bow holding it out of her face.
“What happened to hello?” I asked with a kind smile, and her eyes immediately narrowed.
“You sound funny, what’s wrong with you?” she interrogated, swimming closer to the fence.
“Well you sound funny to me too” I retorted despite myself, and she seems pleased with my reaction. Primly she tightened her bow and made a move to swim closer, but another figure quickly approached, his gills coiling and uncoiling constantly.
“Get away from him Lizzy! Michael told us not to go near here and he doubly told us not to talk to strange people who just wandered in. He’s gonna be so mad if he catches us here!” The young boy whined, his stubby blue tail resting on the ground.
He really did look sick. His sister's skin was pale but comparatively his colouring seemed almost see through, and not in the natural way. He had large eyebags and his scales seemed dule beside the lime of his sisters. Of course, some mers were just naturally less vibrant, but if his sister looked like that I somehow doubt that was the case.
“What are you two imbeciles doing?” Said a cold voice, ringing through the air. I quickly lurched back at the large Mer that approached the fence. His fins flare up as he growls out insults at them through his teeth, the red of his scales shining dangerously in the cool light. I carefully tasted the water, my nose flooded with his rage.
The children's discrete emotions were quickly drowned out, until I could feel the almost metallic taste of his in my mouth. His eyes flick to me, the deep blue of them glinting dangerously as his pupils turned to slits to meet my gaze.
“So you’re the researcher's new pet?” he asked sardonically, his smile cruel.
“Just as much as we all are” I answered with a shrug, only for the wash of anger to douse me again. Even the smaller ones look unamused, moving back and pulling closer to their brother.
“Enjoy your new cage fishie” He snarks, pulling his siblings by the scruff along with him.
This is going to be a long thing, isn’t it?
I feel a slap echos down into the water, and begrudgingly drift to the surface. I wonder for a moment if this is even worth it, but then they slap the water again and stick my head out.
“What do you want?” I asked, my annoyance creeping into my tone. The glasses man pulls his hand away, as if he only now realises how dangerous that was.
“Well I realised our first meeting was a little rushed, so I just wanted to properly introduce myself. My name is Henry Emily and I’m the sort of manager of this enclosure” Henry explains, rubbing his hand over his neck. I pick at my teeth and attempt to look as bored as possible.
“So we are just waiting to see their reactions to you. That’s why the fence is up first to introduce you to the other Mers. We’re hoping this will lower the negative reactions” He continued to explain.
“What negative reactions?” I asked, my eyes narrowing at him.
“Well, um, you know, fighting?” He mumbled, his smile tightening.
“Fighting! You put me in with savage Mers! What the hell is wrong with you” I snarled, pointing my finger at him.
“No! I assure you, they are not savage, at least not all of them, but even the eldest is just a bit grumpy…” he whispered, flinching away from my reaction.
“He’s the savage?! He’s so much bigger than me, how am I supposed to fight him off?!” I asked, throwing my hands up in the air.
“He’s actually not, he’s really just taller than you, and with your physiology you should be a good deal stronger than him, but that’s not the point” the man bumbles on.
“No, the point is you put me in a tank with a dangerous Mer!” I yelled at Henry, gritting my teeth at him.
“Again, not that dangerous, two, that’s whats the nets for” He explained calmingly, though he does take a small step back.
“How do you know he’s not dangerous” I ask, pushing myself higher into the air.
“I taught him sign language when he was little to communicate with me. I think I know him better than you” he explains, his eyes crinkling from his far too happy smile.
“Than why are they completely alone in the biggest tank I’ve ever seen?” I ask, attempting to grapple a little higher on the wall.
“It’s complicated” he refuses to elaborate, “But either way that net is coming down tomorrow. I suggest you be ready”.
“You little bitch!” I scream but he pushes some sort of button and the wall leans, causing me to slid off into the water, watching as the walls continue to rise.
“Ooh, you scared Uncle Henry” the little green Mer chuckled, smiling deviously. She lies on the bottom, curling her hair with one hand and picking up stones with the other.
“Leave me alone” I tell her, turning on her grinning face.
“Nah, you’re too fun to mess with. The names Elizabeth by the way, never got to introduce myself properly” She revealed, throwing a stone at the netting.
“Not sure you’re feral big brother will be pleased with that” I say, frowning at the guppy.
“You mean Mike? Who do I care? He’s no boss of mine” she declares, spinning up with crossed arms.
“He really wouldn’t like that I’ll bet my shiniest shell” I say, raising an eyebrow.
“You really do sound funny, with your sayings and all” she frowns, sinking back to the bottom to sit on her tail.
“Well I am a different type of Mer from you” I admit, finding myself strangely calmed by her presence.
“Really? Wow, that’s coolsies! I guess that explains why your so colourless and shiny” she admits, fluttering closer to me.
“Why thank you?” I guess, confused about the nature of that statement.
“Welcome” she preens, weirdly proud of herself.
“Oh my goodness Lizzy, do you want Michael to get mad?” the small Mer asks, his eye bags seeming even larger than the day before.
“If I say yes will you be a tattle and get me in trouble?” she retorts, throwing a stone at her brother. He just barely dodges it, his paleness making his following blush even more red.
“Anyway, this is David!” Elizabeth introduces, bringing her brother close to her.
“Hello David” I answer, smiling warmly at the tiny guppy. He pouts at Elizabeth before finally meeting my gaze, giving a little wave.
“My name is Jeremy” I resolve, waving back. He finally gets a good look at me, frowning in confusion.
“Why do you have such big scales?” He asks, swimming closer to the fence than even Elizabeth did.
“I’m a different type of Mer from you guys. I don’t know how different, but decently different it seems” I smile at him, swimming closer so he can see better.
“So you really are a fish than?” A cruel voice murmurs, appearing from the dark. With his fluid movements he leaves very few ripples in the water, which explains how he got so close. His rage quickly fills the water, and I crinkle my nose.
“Can you tone it down for two seconds” I asked, waving the water away.
“You first” he demanded, the rage only growing thicker, but something was hidden underneath.
Fear.
“What do you mean, I’m holding mine down, it’s you with the huge problem” I tell him as he attempts to grab his siblings without breaking eye contact.
“I don’t smell anything” Elizabeth said, and was met with an instant rebuttal.
“You bang your nose against a wall ever other day, you can’t smell at all” David comments, much to Elizabeth’s frustration.
“You’re the one who can sire here, why don’t you figure it out than?” she remarks, flinging a rock at him with all her force.
“Well I’m sick or something so…” David offers, moving away from Mike’s reach.
“Omg, just admit you can’t you scaredy fish” Elizabeth offered, pulling close to her older brother as if that would help her win.
Me and Mike stared at each other for a while, moving slightly to allow the other to get a sense of our size. Mike wasn’t nearly as big as I thought he was, though he was a couple inches taller. His body mass seemed centralised in his tail, meaning he was probably a better swimmer than me. He flared out some of his fins a little, and I flared mine in return. He gave a low surge from his throat that the little ones probably couldn’t hear but I definitely could.
This is mine. Leave it alone. You can’t have it.
Like I wanted to be here in the first place.
“I know, I don’t want it, get over yourself” I muttered, turning away. I was pleased to hear the screech that followed.
“Bye Jeremy!” Elizabeth called, and I turned to wave goodbye. I was even more pleased to see his fins had gone wide, shifting rapidly in the water out of rage. It was nice winning once in a while.
Of course this meant tomorrow I was probably gonna have to fight off a pissed most likely mature Long Toothed Mer, but I would cross that trench when I came to it.