Chapter Text
“No.”
“Mate-”
“I said no , Philza.”
“Hear me out-“
Techno snarled, sails flaring as he warningly flashed his fangs, the tip of his tail flickering irritatedly in the shallow water, drenching parts of the wooden floor.
Philza didn’t even flinch at the threatening display. His calm gaze steady, and expression neutral as he silently watched the irritate mer. He didn’t try to overvoice the unspoken threat to be quiet, acknowledging and respecting Techno’s role in their Pod.
Techno hesitantly relaxes, eyes narrowed into slits, his yellow iris nothing but thin gleams.
“Protector,” Philza only crooned after a beat, the cheater.
Techno exhaled through his nose, but reluctantly lowered his sail in response to the verbal pander. As much of a ‘go-ahead’ as he’d ever give.
Philza perked up, the slightly guarded smile turning into a beaming grin as he stepped away from his overflowing desk, careful not to accidentally topple any of the staggering stacks of papers that almost seemed to physically weigh down the polished wood.
Techno eyed the man as he clumsily sat down on one of the few dried patches by the edge of the water, his dark green pant legs already rolled up to his knees as the man thoughtlessly slipped his feet into the pool, painfully aware that Techno could so very easily curl his hands around an ankle and pull , but trusting the mer not to.
Humans couldn’t breathe underwater, Techno knew that better than anyone. They were clumsy and helpless in the Ocean’s grasp, despite their tricks and attempts to compensate for the lack of gills and fins.
But Phil was Pod, Techno’s Pod, and as such he’d never know the Ocean’s cruelty, not like the rest of his kind would if they ever got too cocky.
“He’s just a pup,” Philza tried again, unrelenting. “Wilbur managed to get some shrimp into him, but it’s not enough. And none of the other mer seem to take to him.”
Techno flickered his tail again, the water splashing as the pink fins flared at the words before once again lowering. Passive, despite the steady thrum of irritation that hummed just beneath Techno’s scaled skin.
The angry mer pup stuck in the infirmary that wouldn’t eat. It’s all Techno seemed to hear about these days, the facility and its human inhabitants seemingly growing more vexed for every day that passed without the pup eating.
Techno didn’t understand the fuss. If the pup wouldn’t eat, and wouldn't bond to any of the adult mers housed in the facility, it would die. That's just nature.
“One sardine, Techno, that’s all I ask.” Philza begged.
Damn his Pod for taking the dying pup as a challenge.
“One sardine won’t matter,” Techno growled unhappily. “You’re delaying the inevitable, old man. The pup has made its choice, if it won't eat, it won’t eat. I could force it to eat, but it’d be useless in the long run. You know that.”
Philza went silent, the furrows in his brow deepening as he frowned at the water, seemingly stuck in some internal debate.
Techno sighed and slowly uncoiled from his curled up position, the sound of scales rustling against stone as he soundlessly slank into the water. Philza didn’t even twitch as he swam closer, an almost calculative light glimmering in his eyes as Techno pulled himself up to lean against the pool edge beside the man.
“I’ll make you a deal, Tech,” Philza began, almost deviously. “If you can get the pup to eat more than a handful of shrimp, I’ll promise to extend our trip by a whole month.”
Techno froze at the words.
Two months, two full months of his Pod on the open sea, reliant on Techno to bring them food, to steer the engine-less ship away from shallow grounds and rocky cliffs, to show them the beauty of tucked away beaches and coral reefs that Wilbur could dive down to investigate while Philza stayed onboard the ship, clad in the green robes and the sandals he only ever wore during those yearly trips. The closest their Pod could ever get to living like a proper Pod.
It was too good of an offer to turn down.
Angry hellion or not, pups were pups, if it came to it, Techno would happily force the sardine down the pup’s throat.
Techno pulled up to his full length with a feral grin, fins produly flared to show off every scar he’d earned throughout his many years in the wild. Philza watched him with glittering eyes, lips pulled up in the almost teasing smile he always wore whenever he felt like Techno behaved especially mer-like.
“Deal.”
The facility’s prized and world-renown pools for injured and rescued mers were like no other, boasting recreated coral reefs and complete ecosystems that had been carefully designed and meticulously maintained with every Mer variants’ comfort in mind.
Techno had never been one to care for human innovations beyond instinctual weariness, but even he found little fault to the miniature oceans that temporarily housed the facility’s mers.
The isolated pools were different, smaller in size with no decor or hiding spots, meant for the truly sick mers, and a mandatory quarantine to keep the new addition from infecting any of the facility’s mers with potential parasites and illness. Even Techno had to make a pitstop in one of the pools everytime he returned from the open sea.
The pool housing the pup was no different, with the only exception being the sparse structures left in the pool to offer the pup cover where there otherwise would be none.
Techno eyed the water, looking for something to give away the pup’s position, the impatient flickering of a fin, the end of a tail not properly tucked away.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” He heard one of the Pup’s handlers whisper to her co-worker. “What if this just spooks him and ruins all our progress?”
Techno withheld the urge to bare his teeth mockingly. Whatever progress they’d claim to achieve must’ve been miniscule if even that, judging by the rows upon rows of fresh teeth marks that lined every handler’s hands and arms in an almost mocking show of disregard. They were lucky that mer pup teeth are blunt well into their adolescence, their juvenile jaw strength barely enough to tear through the soft fish meat. Or else every single handler employed to care for the pup would have begun losing limbs by now.
Techno eased himself into the pool with a lazy flick of his tail, tension running through every inch of his body as he patiently awaited any sign that the pools occupant had noticed his intrusion.
He wasn’t disappointed.
A warning warble rang the still water, the threatening display entertainingly soft and clumsy from a pup. Techno flickered his tail, a responding hum resonating deep in his chest, the noise loud enough to hopefully knock the pup of whatever imaginary pedestal it had placed itself on.
It was a dismissal, and judging by the furious hiss, the pup knew it too.
Techno tilted his head as he felt the water shift , the tell-tale sign so much more pronounced in the enclosed space than it would ever be out in the open, something most wild-caught mers struggled with in the beginning. Techno bit back an exhale of frustration, but before he had the chance to start the tedious endeavour of hunting down the hiding pup, a flicker of pale gold in the corner of his eye revealed that the pup had thrown millenia of carefully evolved instincts aside in turn of facing certain death.
His first impression of the mer pup was that it was small. Small and spitting furious.
Logically, Techno knew that pups were small. There were countless different subspecies of mer, all in varying sizes and eating habits. But this one felt strangely small, even compared to the ones in the tropics.
Techno had travelled a lot in his youth, had encountered countless of different species and pods. Feral and civilised, warm and cold ocean inclined equally, and despite being a pup, Techno was pretty sure that this one was a bit too small for its age.
A runt then. The kind that got picked out first by the handful of predators that dared to gun for the overzealously protected mer pups at even the slightest hint of inattentiveness.
The little thing was still hissing at Techno, blunt teeth barred and lips pulled back in its no doubt best impression of an intimidating snarl. Thin, almost see-through fins, were flared threateningly as the pup kept its baby blue eyes furiously trained on Techno’s immobile figure, despite the fact that its first and foremost instinct should've been to turn tail and hide.
The fact that the pool didn’t offer any effective long term hiding places from Techno was inconsequential. All that would matter in the facility’s eyes was that the pup would’ve at least tried to hide, instead of sizing up a threat three times its size and come to the conclusion that it would be a battle it could fight and win .
Techno eyed it silently, quietly evaluating the still hissing pup, increasingly aware of how some of the handlers were glaring warningly at him while some stood tense by the pool edge, as if they were just waiting to jump in at the first sign of things turning ugly.
Incompetent fools , but fine. If they fancied themselves to be such experts on mers , Techno would make sure that at least one of them found themselves real close and personal with one of the more territorial males that the facility housed.
Preferably one who had yet to eat prior to the meeting.
Techno exhaled deeply, gills flaring as fizzing bubbles were released into the water, the cloud of bubbles immediately darting towards the surface. The distraction would’ve never worked on anything older than a pup, but luckily pups and their fledgling instincts were easily distractible, and despite the fact that this pup lacked a lot of the instincts that would otherwise keep him and their kind alive, he was still just a pup.
He tried not to grin too broadly when the pup’s attention immediately shifted to the bubbles. The hissing came to a spluttering stop as the pup’s wide blue eyes followed the air travel towards the surface, the almost see-through fins twitching distractedly, and that's when Techno struck.
He darted forwards with a powerful flick of his tail, crossing the mesley distance that must’ve felt comforting in the blink of an eye while the pup was preoccupied. One of the handlers let out a startled exclamation, but Techno didn’t hesitate, and quickly reached out, webbed fingers carefully curling around the pup’s neck, mindful to keep the almost talon-like claws from accidentally piercing the fragile skin. The pup looked down, blue eyes wide with surprise as they stared into Techno's red ones. The pup instinctively raised its hands with a high-pitched chirp, blunt nails just barely managing to weakly scratch at the hand wrapped around its neck before Techno squeezed .
A strangled squeak escaped the thing, the pup’s entire body twitching as it struggled to fight off the instinctive urge to go limp in the hold. Techno narrowed his eyes, grumbling unhappily as he lightly shook the pup by the neck, before sighing and reluctantly pressed the still struggling thing against his chest. The pup stilled, as if surprised by the sudden contact, the pup’s fins settling closer to its body, but Techno didn’t take the moment of weakness for granted. Hyper-aware that the stunt had at most bought him a couple of seconds of stunned silence before the pup would inevitably begin to fight again.
The pup eyed him furiously, dark blonde brows furrowed into what was a surprisingly vicious glare despite the lingering baby fat still clinging to the pup’s cheeks. Techno frowned, judging by the energy and general okay disposition, he had little doubt that the pup would’ve at least made it through the month before succumbing to starvation.
Bruh. They could’ve easily waited another week or two to call him then.
Techno sighed, another cloud of bubbles brushing over the glaring pup’s face that quickly slackened with surprise before indignant blue eyes snapped back to Techno’s face, a low sputtering growl rumbling against Techno’s chest.
The runt was persistent, Techno would give him that.
Techno quickly shifted his grip, fingers curling into a steady hold around the glaring pup’s nape. Blue eyes were still glaring furiously at Techno, but as if put under a spell, the pup immediately slackened into a limp pile against Techno’s chest.
It was a disciplinary hold, an evolutionary off-button meant to keep even the rowdies of pups in line, and despite easily being the most rebellious pup Techno had ever meant, the runt had little choice but to accept it.
Techno made a clicking sound and watched with idle interest as the pup twitched at the call, before its features wrenched into an even deeper scowl, the low growl picking up a notch. Techno frowned at the blatant show of disrespect, and carefully tightened his grip around the pup’s nape, gently massaging his thumb against the sensitive spot until the runt slackened into a useless pile of limbs, the growl ebbing out into silence.
Techno let out a pleased hum as he carefully adjusted his hold. The runt didn't as much as twitch as he carefully leaned backwards, pulling the pup along until it laid awkwardly sprawled out over Techno's chest. The position was a bit off, the pup’s arms hanging limply in the water, uselessly twitching as if the pup was unsure what to do with them. With a sigh, Techno pulled it back a bit and crooned approvingly when it instinctively tucked its thin arms underneath its chest, while its cheek came to rest against Techno's collarbone.
Techno had never been one to care for the pups, not even in his birth-pod, but even he had the instructions on how to wrangle pups neatly tucked in the back of his head. But even without those ancient urges carefully etched into his very core, Techno had seen enough pods hover above exploring pups, and sleeping pods either tucked away in a crevice or hanging by the surface with their youngest members pressed to their chests.
With a twist of his tail, mindful not to dislodge the limp pup pressed against his chest, Techno propelled them upwards, breaking the surface with little more than a splash. He began to slowly swim around in a lazy circle, willfully ignoring the handlers distant murmurs. Techno gently messaged the pup’s nape warningly. He had been steeling himself for yet another temper tantrum, but now the pup seemed almost docile, seemingly more than okay with the current situation.
Another croon rumbled deep in Techno’s chest, an instinctive reassurance. The pup’s tail flickered in the water, and Techno’s lips curled into a vicious smile as a low, almost breathy and far from smooth, rumble met his own. The runt on his chest purring like a machine, broken and spluttering, but nevertheless a purr.
Looks like Techno wouldn't have to spend his entire day with the pup after all.
"Are you ready to eat?" Techno asked gruffly, the words far too rumbly from the language switch. Most mer didn’t speak English, the vowels and consonants awkward to replicate in a larynx meant for high-pitched clicks and low growls, but understanding it was an entirely different story.
The pup angled its head upwards to blink almost lazily at him with calm eyes, as if the earlier ferocity and fury had been nothing but a figment of Techno’s imagination. Even so, Techno kept his fingers warningly curled around its neck. He was far too old to let a mere pup get the better of him after all.
“I’ll take that as a yes, then.” Techno muttered tiredly as he reluctantly swam closer to the handlers.
It took some manoeuvring, but eventually Techno managed to get one of the handlers to arrange, and reluctantly push a make-shift tray kept afloat by two tied together boat-fenders and spite, into the water. The thing wobbled as it shakily made its way towards Techno and the pup who lingered a couple of metres away from the edge, proudly displaying a variety of different cuts of fish.
The pup hadn’t moved, seemingly content to let Techno do whatever. Even so, Techno never let his hold around the fry’s nape slacken for as much as a second.
Techno eyed the fish, and grumbled unhappily at the clean and cut fillets. There was only one whole fish on the tray, a sardine of all things, that stared up at them through glassy eyes, the grey scales looking comically outlandish amongst the colourful fillets.
Ideally, pups would have their parents tear off the heads of wild-caught fish, removing some of the less easily digested bits for ease of eating, but that didn’t mean that they should be fed boneless meals entirely.
The mer distastefully plucked a slice of salmon from the tray, mentally making a note to inform Philza that there would need to be at least some clams and bones for the mer pup to chew on if they would ever hope to release it again, and kept his hand heavy on the runt’s neck as he dangled the soft meat just in front of the pale nose. Even if the fillet was more a treat than food , it would be the most likely thing in the sortiment to actually slink down the pup’s throat.
Distantly, he could hear the sound of the handlers murmuring amongst themselves, their doubt audible despite the words being lost over the distance. Techno bit back an irritated growl, carefully making sure that his expression stayed unreadable and body relaxed.
The pup stared intensively at the morsel, eyes almost cross eyed from how close it was dangling to his face. Techno experimentally swayed the fillet, huffing with amusement as the end of the bit brushed against the frozen stiff pup.
Techno just barely caught the switch as the pup’s eyes flipped from complex awareness to primitive hunger, the blue eyes lighting up with a sparkling gleam.
With a death rattle, far breathier than the deep, growly ones Techno produced, the pup struck, small teeth flashing as they buried into the shiny orange flesh, and tore it out of Techno’s hold. Techno only hummed, unfazed as the fillet was yanked out of his slack grip, the pup merrily chewing all the while it purred like a broken engine, the pale gold tail wagging lazily back and forth in the water.
“-Thank goodness…” one of the handlers exclaimed before the sound of excited voices began to overlap.
Techno felt another flash of irritation at the chatter and slowly shifted until he and the floating tray were moving away from the annoyance, tail giving a harsh flick as he hastily propelled himself and the pup towards the outer edge of the pool. Luckily the pup didn't seem to care less, the small body almost trembling from the broken purrs as it eagerly reached towards the tray with an eager chirp. Techno carefully kept the tray at a distance, a smile gracing his lips at the irritated clicking the motion provoked.
“None of that,” he scolded when the thing turned to face him with a glare. “Phil told me you haven’t eaten in days, you’re just gonna throw it up again if you try to choke everything down at once.”
The glare eased into a frown, but the series of disappointed clicks made the pups displeasure known. Techno ignored it, instead he reached for the only whole fish on the tray. From what he’d heard, the fry hadn’t eaten anything that the handlers had offered, not even the spoonfuls of salmon roe, a delicacy most mer would kill for, but it would have to learn to eat actual food too, not just the rare treats.
Techno considered the sardine, eyes critically eyeing the whole head and unseeing eyes. He sighed..
With a huff and two precise, bone crushing bites, he tore off the head, offering the newly headless fish to the eager pup who had watched the proceedings eagerly.
Normally, the pup's parents would be the ones biting off heads and ripping the tender meat apart into easily consumable bits, but for now, Techno’s help would have to do just fine as a substitute. He watched the pup eagerly nab the fish, blunt nails mercilessly digging into the grey scales as it guided the headless part to its mouth. Techno thoughtfully massaged the pup’s nape as he made a mental note to remind Phil that boneless fillets were tasty and all, but the pup would need more bone in their diet. If nothing else to practise jaw strength.
The pup was watching him with wide eyes as it thoughtfully chewed on the fish, efficiently working its way down the grey tail, just barely leaving behind the worst of the bone.
Techno hummed, and slowly, cautiously, eased the hold around the pup’s neck. It froze, fish tail halfway in its mouth before it continued to chew, relaxing as its tail slowly began to wag back and forth again.
Techno combed his claws through the fine, almost golden hair that laid flat to the top of the pup’s skull but curled charmingly against its forehead, coming to a stop just above the thin nose bridge, the blue eyes curiously peering out through the curly curtain.
Techno smiled, satisfaction curling in his gut as his deeper rumbles matched the pup’s breathy purrs.
“Looks like you might just get another chance at socialising, brat.”
Techno should’ve known it was too good to be true.
“Phil.”
“Listen-”
“Phil.”
“I know, but-”
Techno snarled, a deep guttural sound that revealed just how angry he was. Philza thinned his lips and fell quiet, but stayed annoyingly resolute. He looked ruffled, the suit-jacket he usually wore nowhere to be found and the white dress shirt askew.
Techno flickered his tail warningly.
“I fulfilled the deal. The pup ate. More than a sardine even. What happens after is none of my business.”
Philza visibly slumped at the words, and tiredly dragged a palm over his face with a grimace.
“I know, I’m grateful, mate, I am, but he’s stopped eating again.”
Techno frowned, fins flickering thoughtfully. It didn’t make much sense, he’d give Philza that. The pup’s almost docile state should’ve meant the end of the ridiculous hunger strike, but either way…
It had little to do with Techno.
“Did you adjust his diet like I told you?” Techno asked tiredly.
“I did,” Philza grumbled unhappily. “I even supervised the attempted feedings myself, just to make sure, but nothing. He won't even respond to the handlers anymore, and when Felicia tried to coax some shrimp into him earlier, he pulled her into the water and wouldn’t let her up. We had to wrestle him away from her, but it’s by pure fucking luck that she made it out of it with just a couple of bruises.”
Oh? Techno’s lips curled into a small grin.
“Baby’s first attempted murder,” he crooned teasingly, chuckling as Philza glared at him.
“Don’t even joke about that.”
Philza sighed again, ruffling his hair as he glared down at his desk, fingers agitatedly tapping against the wood.
“I’ve been thinking of reassigning Felicia.” Philza grumbled. “She keeps insisting that Tommy didn’t mean to, I can’t say that I can trust her to keep a healthy distance if I let her back.”
Techno blinked.
“Tommy?”
Philza blinked back, before a smile tugged at his lips.
“Didn’t I tell you? The pup’s name’s Tommy.”
Techno reeled back, lips curling into a grimace.
“Tommy? You named a mer pup Tommy?”
Philza only laughed, much to Techno’s frustration.
“Yeah, Felicia thought he looked like a Tommy so we went with that.” The smile turned bittersweet. “He responded to it in the beginning so we thought he liked it, but now he ignores everyone so who knows.”
Philza sighed again, slumping over the desk.
“I might have to assign the pup to Wilbur, but he already got so much going on, I don’t want him to lose more sleep than he already does over this.”
Techno frowned at the reminder. Despite the fact that Wilbur could be found on the facility pretty much around the clock, he technically only worked part time to earn some money on the side while he finished school.
Why, Techno had no idea. Wilbur had already proved himself to be more than competent at juggling feral animals, regardless of size and intellect. Not to mention that he got a standing invite to join Philza’s workforce permanently, regardless of whatever slip of paper Wilbur had repeatedly tried to convince Techno was important.
Techno huffed, tail flickering. It’d been a good while since he saw Wilbur, the brat, and he wasn’t particularly inclined to let Wilbur get even more distracted than he already was.
“And what of the plan to reintroduce him to other mers?”
“Completely fucking useless.” Philza grumbled unhappily. “They tried the same thing you did, but he never settled, not even once. We tried a whole day, with at least twenty mers, and he didn’t take to a single one of them. We had to put a stop to it early because he got too stressed out.”
Techno tilted his head with a frown, fins flickering in an attempt to dislodge a lingering water drop from the sensitive skin. He eyed one of the only two people he’d ever allowed himself to get attached to and sighed.
“Fine.” He grumbled, tail flickering irritatedly when the man looked up at him hopefully from the desk, the dark circles underneath the blue eyes tugging at Techno’s heartstrings more efficiently than any pleading whine from a pup had ever managed. Techno huffed, idly noticing that Philza’s blue eyes, just a shade or two darker than the root of his current headache.
“I’ll see what I can do,” he grumbled unhappily, “but Phil?” Philza sat up properly, a worried sheen to his eyes as he hesitantly watched Techno.
“Yes?”
“If this doesn’t work, if the pup still refuses to eat, and won’t accept any mers as his guardian.” Techno paused, eyes calm as he stared into Philza’s troubled ones. “Then accept that it might be time to let him go.”