Archive of Our Own ^beta

Ranboo, in all honesty, didn’t want to be here right now.

He’d rather be at home, spending his summer doing things he actually liked doing, rather than wasting time in a tiny town that he’d never heard of before being dragged here.

His parents apparently had a random aunt that he’d never heard of. His parents hadn’t heard of her either, and they hadn’t been aware that she apparently had enough money to own an expensive beach house in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere.

They’d gotten a letter in the mail two weeks ago, right after she’d supposedly died, that they’d inherited that beach house. In the spur of a moment, Ranboo’s parents had announced that they’d be going there for the entire summer.

So, instead of hanging out with the few friends he had from school and reading books at the library, Ranboo was stuck in a tiny coastal town that he’d never heard of, in the middle of basically nowhere, with nothing to do.

They’d arrived yesterday and while it had been entertaining at first to explore the massive house, Ranboo had quickly grown bored once he’d seen it all.

His boredom had led to now, where he was walking along the shore, kicking up sand with his black and white tennis shoes. He hadn’t felt like wearing sandals, he never liked the feeling of sand on his skin.

The sun was halfway up the sky, showing that it was sometime around mid-morning. Seagulls screeched and waves crashed against the sand. It wasn’t quite hot yet, but Ranboo knew it would be by the time afternoon rolled around.

The beach was mostly empty and the town wasn’t too crowded either. From what he’d heard, this place didn’t have enough of a population to be much of a tourist trap, so Ranboo supposed it’d probably always be a bit empty.

Despite its isolation, the town was still somewhat pretty.

All of the buildings were clearly old, made out of chiseled stone and bricks with colorful wooden accents. The areas between sidewalks and roads were lined with baskets of bright flowers and the breeze always carried the soft scent of the ocean through the air.

Gentle, rolling hills of beautiful green forests surrounded the town on three sides, towering over the deep valley that it was tucked into. The ocean beside it was a gentle shade of teal-blue and the waves were just as gentle as the color.

It would’ve been a nice place to live, if it weren’t so isolated and if it weren’t so far from everything Ranboo cared about.

Honestly, he’d give a lot to be at the library right now instead of pointlessly walking down a random beach.

His musings about the town were sharply ended when he abruptly walked right into someone.

“What the fuck man!” The person exclaimed, stumbling backwards on the sand.

Ranboo whipped his head back towards the area in front of him and found himself meeting eyes with two teenagers about his age.

The one who yelled had bright blue eyes- which were currently narrowed in anger- and fluffy blonde hair. He was wearing a red and white shirt and jean-shorts, which seemed extremely out of fashion, but Ranboo chose not to comment on it. The teenager was obviously a bit tall, but not nearly as tall as Ranboo, who was well over six and a half feet tall.

The second teenager was shorter than them by a decent margin, with forest green eyes and brown hair that lightly fell over them. He was wearing a dark green shirt and black shorts. Although, more notably, there was a huge burn scar that covered the majority of the left side of his face.

“Are you going to say anything? Or are you just gonna keep fucking staring?!” The blonde teenager continued at Ranboo’s lack of reply.

Ranboo swallowed nervously. “Uh- sorry. I didn’t see you.”

The blonde teen rolled his eyes. “Yeah, sure. Not like you totally just somehow didn’t notice us walking down the beach right in front of you.”

Ranboo shrugged helplessly. Despite being several inches taller than the other teenager, he couldn’t help but feel small. He’d never liked confrontation. “I’m really sorry. I was distracted.”

The blonde opened his mouth to give another harsh response, before the brown haired teenager cut him off. “Tommy, don’t antagonize him. It’s not a huge deal.”

The blonde teen- Tommy shook his head. “But he ran right into us, Tubbo! That makes him a fuckin’ wrong’un in my book.”

The other teenager, or Tubbo, rolled his eyes at Tommy. “It obviously wasn’t on purpose, dumbass. And he said he was sorry, so what does it matter?”

Tommy huffed, clearly wanting to hold onto his anger. But when Tubbo leveled him with an even harsher glare, he folded. “Fine. I guess it doesn’t matter.” Tommy said, voice still harsh.

Tubbo shook his head in exasperation and turned to face Ranboo again. “Sorry about him, he’s being a bitch today. I know you didn’t mean to bump into us.” Tubbo stated kindly.

“What! I’m not a bitch!” Tommy exclaimed, now glaring at Tubbo, although he no longer looked genuinely angry. “I was just being honest earlier! I was way within my rights to be fuckin’ upset.”

“Sure.” Tubbo drawled sarcastically.

Tommy rolled his eyes before his gaze landed on Ranboo, although this time it wasn’t harsh. There was a wild amount of chaos in Tommy’s eyes now. “You know what, Tubbo? I think I’m just going to hang out with our new friend over here, since you think I’m such a horrible bitch!” Tommy said, voice full of mirth.

“I thought you said he was a wrong’un?” Tubbo questioned with a raised eyebrow.

Ranboo bit his lip. “And weren’t you just angry at me a second ago?” He added nervously.

“It’s all been forgiven and I’m not angry anymore!” Tommy protested. “At least, not at him. I’m angry at you, Tubbo. So therefore, I’m making a new friend!”

“Who said he wanted to be friends with you, after you just yelled at him?” Tubbo asked, shaking his head in fond exasperation.

Tommy rolled his eyes. “I say he does!” He turned and faced Ranboo. “Am I right?”

Ranboo fidgeted anxiously. He was definitely faced with a choice here. Either he could remain angry at Tommy for the earlier argument or he could join in on their banter and pretend, just for a moment, that they were all friends.

“Uh- sure. We can be best friends and all that.” Ranboo replied awkwardly. Even with uncertainty still stirring in his gut, it felt more entertaining and worthwhile to just play along with them.

“Great!” Tommy beamed and Ranboo suddenly had a feeling that he’d agreed to much more than he thought he had. “Now I’ve got a new best friend! How does it feel to be alone, Tubbo?” Tommy joked.

Tubbo rolled his eyes. “Tommy, even if he agreed to be your friend or whatever, he still looks about ready to collapse from anxiety.” He pointed out.

“I-I’m fine.” Ranboo stammered, shoving his hands into his pockets to hide the way they shook. He was definitely nervous, because he’d never been good with new people. He didn’t know how to act in situations like this. He never had. But he couldn’t let them know that.

Tubbo shook his head. “You don’t look fine. Take a breath, king. Nothing bad is gonna happen. We’re all just fucking around.”

Tommy looked over at Ranboo again and with slightly narrowed blue eyes, seemed to come to the same realization Tubbo had.

“Yeah. You really need to take a deep breath. You look like you’re gonna pass out, man.” Tommy added after a moment.

Ranboo felt frustrated at how his panic had so easily dismantled the banter. He hadn’t meant to ruin that, especially when it seemed like the other two had been having fun. But all he could do for now was take their advice and take in some deep breaths of salty air.

A few beats passed with Ranboo trying desperately to get his lungs to function normally, before finally, he was breathing just fine again. “Sorry about that.” He muttered helplessly as soon as he could find his voice.

Tubbo shrugged. “It’s fine. We all get overwhelmed sometimes, yeah? I’m sorry that we caused that.”

“And I’m sorry that I got angry at you and just- expected you to fucking forgive me and go along with everything else I said.” Tommy said, looking embarrassed.

“It’s okay.” Ranboo replied.

And really, he didn’t mind. Because at least the social pressure, banter, and conversation had been something interesting. Maybe it wasn’t particularly fun to panic that much, but it wasn’t technically their fault.

Plus, Ranboo had a feeling that if he got used to them, the same way he was used to his friends back home, that maybe he could’ve joked around as easily as they did.

More silence overcame them. The only noises were the crashing of waves against the nearby sand, and a few seagulls screeching nearby.

It was an awkward sort of quiet. None of them quite knew what to say or how to break it.

Finally, Tubbo spoke, breaking the silence. “Well, if you don’t hate us yet, then do you wanna come to the arcade with us? It’s just down the shore, and while it’s not big, it’s like- the only entertainment we have here aside from the beach.”

Ranboo took another deep breath. “I…I don’t know. I don’t want to be a problem.”

“Nah, you’re not a problem at all.” Tommy reassured. “It’ll be nice for us to have someone new around for once. Nobody new ever fucking comes here.”

Truthfully, when Ranboo thought about it, he didn’t have much else that he could spend his day doing. Tubbo and Tommy weren’t bad to hang around with either, when they weren’t yelling at him.

Still, Ranboo wasn’t sure what in world possessed him to say: “Sure, I’ll hang out with you guys for a bit.” .

“Great!” Tommy replied as they began to walk further down the beach, closer to the central area of town. “Oh and by the way, what’s your name? I don’t think you ever said it.”

“I didn’t.” Ranboo stated, still feeling acutely nervous but to a much more manageable extent than before. “I’m Ranboo.”

Tommy smiled. “Nice. I’m Tommy. Or if you prefer, you can call me the biggest man in the entire world.”

“Yeah, I don’t think he’s gonna call you that.” Tubbo said, although he was smiling. “You can and definitely will call me Tubbo though.”

Tubbo’s introduction sounded vaguely like a threat, and Ranboo for some reason, wasn’t even surprised. At this point, he was pretty certain that everything about the two teenagers was fairly strange. But he didn’t know what else he should’ve expected from two people that lived in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere.

“Uh- alright.” Ranboo responded. “Cool.”

Part of him wondered if he’d regret this. He wondered if this would only cause him more panic and if maybe being bored would turn out to be better than making friends with two random people he ran into on the beach.

However, when Ranboo looked at the matching chaotic smiles on Tubbo and Tommy’s faces, he thought that maybe everything would turn out alright.

———

A few days passed after the original outing where Ranboo had met Tubbo and Tommy.

After going to the arcade and surprisingly, actually having a good time, Ranboo had gladly accepted their offers to exchange phone numbers on the way home.

They’d hung out a couple times since then.

He’d gone to an ice cream shop with them which definitely hadn’t resulted in Tommy and Tubbo throwing their ice cream cones at each other, further resulting in them having to spend ten minutes cleaning it all up while the angry shop owner glared at them.

Ranboo had also gone to the arcade with the duo for a second time and they’d all gone to the beach a few times too. An assortment of other chaotic things had happened at both places.

Tommy had tried to fight a seagull, Tubbo had attempted to rig one of the arcade machines- and succeeded until one of the employees caught him- and Tommy had stolen a live hermit crab from the beach, taken it home, and named it Henry.

Despite how Ranboo didn’t participate much in the chaos, he could admit that it was pretty amusing to watch Tubbo and Tommy go at it from the sidelines.

They kept encouraging Ranboo to join in, but each time he politely declined. While it was entertaining to watch, he would prefer to not end up in trouble with his parents for anything.

When they weren’t causing chaos, Tubbo and Tommy still proved to be good company. They all had fun, lengthy conversations together. Each one was filled with laughter, easy smiles, and banter that thankfully didn’t result in Ranboo feeling any panic.

Things were nice. They were simple and easy.

For once, Ranboo didn’t hate the idea of being here for the entire summer.

———

One night, about two weeks after that fateful day on the beach, the three friends found themselves back on the shore.

It was fairly late, but not late enough for Ranboo to be worried that his parents would be upset at him for being gone.

The sky was a solid shade of midnight blue and bright white and fuzzy yellow stars glimmered within its depths. There were far more visible stars and constellations here than back in Ranboo’s hometown. Although, he supposed that was because this beach was in the middle of nowhere.

The sea lapped gently against the sand, creating a gentle noise in the dim light that shined down from the moon and flickered over from a few lampposts along the nearby road.

Ranboo was sitting in the sand with Tubbo and Tommy on either side of him.

They were all exhausted from yet another day full of adventures and stories they’d probably never tell their parents- unless they wanted to risk being grounded.

All three of them had fallen into a peaceful silence. Their eyes fixated on the stars above, and the sea and town below.

“How long are you going to be staying here, Ranboo?” Tubbo suddenly asked through the silence, sand shifting as he changed position. “No offense, but you definitely aren’t from here.”

Ranboo sighed. He hadn’t really addressed anything about why he was here with either of his new friends. He’d known the topic would come up eventually though. “Yeah, I’m not from here, you’re right. I’m just here for the summer and then I’m going back home, way up north.”

“Damn.” Tommy muttered. “I was hoping you’d stick around longer.”

Ranboo shrugged. “It’s just how it is. My parents inherited a house from some random aunt we had and they decided we should try to spend the summer here. But after that, I’ve still got friends back home and a high school to graduate from, ya know? I can’t really stick around, even if I wanted to.”

Tubbo looked up sharply, his green eyes meeting Ranboo’s brown and green ones. “What do you mean ‘even if I wanted to.’ Do you not want to spend more time with us?”

“I-It’s not like that.” Ranboo stammered, caught off guard. “You guys are probably the best and the only good thing about this town. But aside from you, there’s not much to stay for.”

Tommy nodded slowly. “Yeah I get that. There isn’t much to fucking do aside from the beach or the arcade. That’s why Tubbo and I started doing so much random shit. It makes it a bit more bearable. But yeah, I don’t blame you for not staying. If I could, I’d leave too.”

Ranboo was honestly, a bit caught off guard by the last part of Tommy’s reply. “Why do you want to leave? Aren’t you from here? I thought this was your hometown.”

“It is. I’ve lived here my whole life.” Tommy shrugged. “But like I said, it’s fucking boring. Plus, all the old sailors tell some goddamn freaky stories about the ocean sometimes. Which, that is entertaining, but it’s also some crazy ass nightmare fuel too.”

Tubbo rolled his eyes. “I’ve lived here my whole life too. But unlike Tommy, I don’t believe in any of those spooky stories the sailors tell. They’re all ridiculous.”

Ranboo shook his head, raising a questioning eyebrow. “What kind of stories do they tell? Even if they’re stupid, Tommy said they’re interesting.”

“Well, most of it is a bunch of bullshit about mer and sirens. Basically these half-fish people who try to lure you into the water, drown you, and steal your soul.” Tubbo began, before Ranboo cut him off.

“Fish people? Like- a person’s body with a fish head? That sounds gross and not really like nightmare fuel. Just nasty and a bit too far-fetched to ever be believable.” Ranboo wrinkled his nose in distaste at the image.

Tommy snorted in amusement and shook his head. “Nah, not a fish head and human body. The other way around, man. A human with like- a fish tail instead of legs. Scales dotted all on their face, fins everywhere, sharp claws. That sort of shit. Something that kinda looks like a normal human, until you look closer.”

Ranboo grimaced. “Okay, yeah. Now I can see what you meant about them sounding scary. That sounds right out of a crazy horror movie.”

“Or right out an old senile person’s brain.” Tubbo remarked. “Seriously, I have no idea what solitude does to those sailor’s brains, but once they’re above thirty or forty, they really start going on about insane shit, bossman.”

Tommy smiled, his eyes lighting up with a memory. “Oh yeah! The craziest thing one of the sailors ever said was that he saw a regular human get turned into a mer. Isn’t that even more far fetched? Changing species is not a possibility. Not that fish-people were a possibility either to begin with. Even if Tubbo likes to think that I believe they’re real.”

“You have nightmares about them! There’s no way that you don’t even partially believe that bullshit!” Tubbo protested.

“Just because it maybe scares me, doesn’t mean I think it’s real.” Tommy huffed. “Tell me, Tubbo, do you really believe your dreams about soviet experiments are real?”

“Hey! Brutal experiments did, historically, actually happen in the soviet union! Fish people, did not and have not ever existed!” Tubbo pointed out, gesturing wildly around as he spoke.

Tommy smirked. “But did those experiments ever happen to you? I’m gonna be honest, I don’t think you’re old enough to have been alive during world war two.”

“Okay yeah, they didn’t happen to me specifically! But they still did happen.” Tubbo replied.

“Mhm sure.” Tommy hummed in false agreement. “Whatever you say, Tubs.”

Tubbo threw his hands up into the air, clearly exasperated. “Ranboo! Help me out here!”

Ranboo pretended to think for a moment. “You know, I think you’re both wrong. Both of your nightmares are really illogical and not real.” He stated confidently, a stark constant to the way he used to interact with the two when he first met them.

“Oh fuck off!” Tubbo exclaimed, frustrated. “You’re both so annoying!”

“Right back at you, bitch.” Tommy shot back.

Ranboo shrugged. “I was just giving my honest opinion.”

They were all obviously joking. The whole conversation itself was a joke, a simple bit of passing banter that would inevitably be forgotten about in a few minutes time when they moved on to another topic.

Yet, Ranboo couldn’t help but temporarily feel warm.

Even though he had friends back home, none of them spoke this freely to him.

They all handled him like he was made of glass. They spoke to him like he was a fragile fragment of a stained glass window. The way they interacted with him suggested that Ranboo was constantly on the edge of shattering.

And maybe, although he was confident in showing his personality to his other friends, he truly was an easy person to shatter.

Panic attacks and overwhelming situations were common back home, in the city. It wasn’t an uncommon occurrence for Ranboo to have to rush into a school bathroom, his parent’s car, or his own bedroom, in order to catch his ever-racing breath.

In some ways, Ranboo didn’t blame his other friends for treating him the way he did. Even though he hated it, with every fiber of his being.

Despite the way things had begun here, Ranboo couldn’t help but appreciate the way they’d progressed.

Tommy and Tubbo didn’t treat him like he was fragile, even though they’d seen the panicked side of Ranboo before. They treated him like he was just as strong as they were.

As he turned his gaze to the stars twinkling above, to the sea lapping against the shore, and the quiet little town, Ranboo couldn’t help but wish he had the ability to stay in this moment forever.

———

Of course, as soon as things were good, they’d begin to go wrong.

As days went by, the trio began to notice people in town acting strangely around them.

When they went to the ice cream shop, the owner scooped their ice cream as fast as physically possible, wearing a strained smile throughout the process. When they visited the arcade, the workers seemed to avoid them like the plague, not even protesting when Tubbo hacked one of the machines again.

The weirdest part was that it wasn’t even the townspeople who had begun to act strange.

Ranboo’s own parents were being weird.

They kept skirting around him and seeming desperate to please him in turns. Sometimes they’d ignore him, other times they’d be practically begging him to tell them if he wanted anything.

The only reason he could think of as to why they’d all treat them weird was because of all of the pranks, chaotic schemes, and general craziness his new friends sometimes caused.

Even then though, most of the townspeople seemed used to Tubbo and Tommy’s behavior. And Ranboo’s parents didn’t even know about everything they’d been doing.

It didn’t make any sense.

But for now, all Ranboo could do was pretend that things were normal. Hopefully, whatever was happening was temporary.

Still, it took him a lot of effort to shrug his anxieties away. And even afterward, they continued to linger underneath his skin, buzzing steadily in the background like electricity waiting to snap outward.

———

About a week after the strangeness began, Ranboo found himself standing beside the ocean, watching the waves roll over the sand in a steady rhythm. He was tempted to reach his hands out to run them along the seafoam that swirled at the edges, but he held himself back.

Tubbo and Tommy were supposed to show up anytime now. They’d all agreed to meet on the beach last night and spend yet another day hanging out together.

While the original plan had been to spend most of the day outside, Ranboo had a feeling that their plans were going to change, based off the dark clouds he could see rolling in on the horizon.

Just as Ranboo turned his gaze away from the sky, Tubbo and Tommy came into view, walking along the shore together, caught in what was probably a wild conversation.

“Ranboo, what are your opinions on cheese?” Tubbo asked in lieu of greeting as soon as they were within earshot.

“Uh… it tastes good?” Ranboo said, having no idea what he was getting into.

Tommy rolled his eyes at Tubbo. “Be more specific, man!” Tommy turned to Ranboo. “Sorry, Tubbo is a dumbass. What he should’ve been asking was what your opinion on Italian food was!”

Ranboo blinked. “It tastes good? I dunno, I haven’t had it that much. Also, Tubbo, why did you think asking me if I liked cheese would get you a good answer?”

“Because Italian food has a lot of cheese! It’s like- in literally all of their shit. I just thought it would be simpler and easier to process if I said it that way!” Tubbo exclaimed, scrambling to defend himself.

“I’m gonna be honest with you, Tubbo. Nobody’s brain works the same way yours does.” Ranboo replied and then paused. “But honestly, it’s a good thing. Never change, man.”

“Thank you?” Tubbo said, although it sounded like he was having a crisis. “I don’t know if that’s a compliment or insult?”

Ranboo shrugged, smiling. “Up to you.”

After a beat of silence, where Tubbo still seemed to be having an internal breakdown and Ranboo was quietly trying not to laugh, Tommy sighed and broke the silence.

“The whole point of that was we think we probably shouldn’t spend too much fucking time outside because of- well, you know.” Tommy motioned to the dark clouds still approaching on the horizon. “So, we were gonna ask if you wanted to go have lunch. There’s this Italian place in town that’s one of the only places here that isn’t seafood or isn’t straight up shit.”

“Oh, that sounds good but,” Ranboo took a deep breath, the smile fading from his face. “I don’t have any money. My parents gave me some, to spend for the summer. But I ran out since we’ve been going to the arcade so much and I don’t want to ask them for more.”

Truthfully, his parents probably would give him more money than even he wanted if he asked, especially because of how weird they’d been acting lately. But them acting weird was exactly why Ranboo didn’t want to ask them for anything.

Tubbo and Tommy exchanged a glance before Tubbo responded. “That’s fine. I’ve got some extra cash to spend anyway. I’ll pay for you, bossman.”

“Are you sure?” Ranboo questioned nervously. He didn’t want to force his friends to do anything for him.

“I’m sure.” Tubbo nodded.

Tommy starting walking away. “Alright, now that that’s settled. Let’s get fuckin’ going.”

Tubbo rolled his eyes fondly and began to follow. Ranboo did the same, watching as the beach got further and further away as they turned onto the streets of town.

———

“I can’t believe they’re treating us weird here too.” Tommy mumbled, glaring at the table as the waitress suddenly appeared at their table for the third time, asking if they needed anything.

Like his friends had said, the restaurant wasn’t too bad. The free garlic bread that the waitress had scrambled to give them when they’d sat down had been good, Ranboo could admit. The decorations weren’t bad either, mostly being Italian flags and random fake plants that looked like they could use a good dusting.

But Tommy was right, they were being treated weirdly, yet again.

The waitress kept rushing to ask them how their food was, trying to refill their water as soon as they had even one tiny sip of it, and looking scared, like she was about to jump out of her own skin.

As soon as the waitress was gone again, Ranboo replied. “Yeah. It’s creepy.” He kept his voice low. “What did we even do to cause this? It doesn’t make any sense.”

Tommy shrugged, expression pinched in thought. “I have no fucking idea. Sure, we’ve done a lot of dumb shit before, but it’s never resulted in this. Most of the town is used to us by now. I don’t get it.”

“I don’t get it either.” Tubbo said quietly. “It’s dumb, because what did we do to deserve it? They look at us like we’re criminals or we’re going to hurt them! It’s so stupid!”

Ranboo opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by the waitress returning to their table with their food. Her entire body trembled in fear as she unloaded the plates from the large tray she’d been carrying them on. The waitress set their food down on the table with a painfully fake smile.

She mumbled something along the lines of ‘enjoy your meal, sirs’ before she scrambled away, disappearing between the various nearby tables and booths.

“Did she just call us sirs?” Tubbo hissed. “What the hell was that?!”

Tommy nodded. “She totally fucking did, oh my god. What do they think we are?! The mafia or something?!”

“Maybe.” Ranboo responded. “Although, in fairness, you two could be part of the mafia and I would probably have no idea.” He added jokingly, attempting to lighten the mood.

Tubbo rolled his eyes. “I doubt Tommy could ever be part of the mafia. He would definitely crumble after like- two seconds of interrogation from a police officer.”

“Hey!” Tommy exclaimed. “I would not! And guess what, you wouldn’t be a good mafia member either because you’d argue with all the higher ups!”

“You’d argue with them too!” Tubbo countered.

Tommy shook his head. “I would not! I’m too much of a big man for that! I’d know, in my heart, when they’re right and trying to do their best for me. So I wouldn’t protest!”

Tubbo raised an eyebrow. “So what you’re saying is that you’d submit to total, worldwide government control because you’re such a ‘big man’? Arguably, that’s worse.”

Ranboo choked on his water at Tubbo’s reply. And based on the way that Tommy’s eyes immediately went wide, that wasn’t the comeback either of them had been expecting.

“What the fuck?!” Tommy said.

Tubbo shrugged. “I said what I said.”

“Okay yeah, but you didn’t need to say it!” Tommy pointed out after a moment.

Before Tubbo could respond, Ranboo cut in. “How about we move on from that? I feel like maybe that’s not a debate we should have.”

“I never said we should debate it.” Tubbo stated. “But sure yeah, we can move on.”

After that, they quickly began to banter and talk about other, less controversial subjects. The food wasn’t bad and while they kept getting weird looks from the restaurant staff, the trio did their best to ignore them for the most part.

The rest of the day was filled with laughter and warm memories.

Even when it inevitably began to rain, Ranboo found that he didn’t mind. Because he was with his friends, having fun, and he decided that for today, nothing mattered.

———

When he entered the house later that evening, with rain drumming against the windows, Ranboo couldn’t help but shiver.

There was something inexplicably wrong with the feeling inside the house. It was tainted, it was warped, it was wrong.

As he turned to head up the stairs to his temporary room, Ranboo heard footsteps coming towards him.

His mother soon entered the room, her green eyes meeting Ranboo’s green and brown ones. Her face was covered in nervousness, her body was tense, as if waiting for a hit that would never come.

It hurt to see his mother looking at him like that. Like Ranboo was dangerous, someone to be feared. Especially when he knew that just two weeks ago, she’d only looked at him with love.

“Do you need anything, Ranboo?” His mother asked, voice carefully even. “Anything at all?”

Ranboo immediately felt like he was going to be sick. “No.” He forced himself to say, arms itching to hug his mother and try to comfort her, try to figure out what was wrong. “I’m fine.”

Before she could reply, Ranboo half-ran up the stairs.

It felt like his entire world was spinning. Panic choked his lungs and his vision was blurry. He swung open the door to his room as soon as he could and slammed it shut behind him.

He’d tried so hard to distract himself when he’d been out with Tubbo and Tommy. But as soon as he was home, the strangeness of everything was weighing on him again.

The shift had been so sudden. One day, everything had been normal, and the next it had been wrong.

Ranboo didn’t know what to do. He didn’t even know why this had happened. Evidently, his friends were being treated the same way and didn’t know why either.

It was anxiety inducing and extremely nerve wracking.

At this point, Ranboo didn’t know if he wanted to find out what had caused this, or if he just wanted things to go back to normal.

———

Ranboo and his friends were spending another late evening at the beach.

Waves crashed against the shore and the air was filled with the distinct smell of ocean salt. The sun was mostly done setting, the only evidence of it existing being a dim yellow glow lingering on the horizon line. The rest of the sky was a dark shade of blue.

The sand underneath them was prickly, yet also soft. Ranboo couldn’t help but run his hands along it idly here or there as the trio sat and talked.

“All I’m saying is, we should totally go sneak onto a boat sometime! Imagine all the stories we could tell after being stowaways!” Tommy exclaimed, in the middle of a heated debate with Tubbo and Ranboo, as usual.

Ranboo shook his head. “I wouldn’t want to be a stowaway. I’d get caught for sure. Plus, I still have to graduate high school, man! I can’t exactly just get on a boat and leave.”

“True.” Tubbo nodded. “Not only that, but how the hell would any of us get food? We’d be stuck in a cargo box or some shit. Wouldn’t exactly be a place with much food. We’d all probably end up with scurvy.”

“You think so lowly of me, Tubbo.” Tommy said dramatically. “I am not weak! So therefore, I would simply be too strong to starve or get scurvy. And even if I couldn’t survive without food, I’d still be able to steal it just fucking fine.”

Tubbo huffed disbelievingly. “Nobody can survive without food, Tommy.”

“And you’re always so loud that I bet anyone who’s near the food sources would hear you as soon as you got nearby.” Ranboo added.

“I’m not loud!” Tommy protested, loudly enough that a few nearby seagulls flew away, screeching their displeasure.

Tubbo laughed, motioning to the seagulls now circling overhead. “I think not only would me and Ranboo care to disagree, but those seagulls would too.”

“Fuck off.” Tommy mumbled, although it lacked any serious heat.

They gradually fell into a calm silence afterward. Each of them drifted into their thoughts, enjoying the others company even if they weren’t talking anymore.

A breeze blew by, ruffling Ranboo’s white-streaked black hair. It felt nicely cool against the summer heat. The waves nipped at his feet, splashing his shoes with little droplets of cold ocean water.

For a moment, it was peaceful. For a moment, he could pretend that everything was normal again.

But the mood was quickly shattered when Ranboo noticed the water not far from the shore begin to ripple oddly, like something large was lurking in it’s shallow depths. After a few moments it stopped, but not without leaving a lasting impression.

“Did you fucking see that?” Tommy asked, eyes narrowed on the place where the rippling had occurred.

Ranboo nodded. “Yeah, whatever that was, it was weird.”

“It was probably just a big fish swimming into the shallows by accident. But yeah, it was kinda weird.” Tubbo said thoughtfully.

Right as Tubbo finished speaking, the water began to shift again, this time further away. As it did, Ranboo swore he saw the tip of a massive, shimmering green tail peek out above the waves.

“What the hell?!” Ranboo exclaimed. “You guys saw that too, right? Please tell me I’m not crazy.”

“You… aren’t crazy.” Tubbo replied slowly, just as confused and shocked as Ranboo was.

Tommy took a deep breath. “I saw it. And now I’m wondering if we’re all hallucinating. There’s no way we actually saw that, right?”

More shifting occurred underneath the waves. All of sudden, the arc of a huge pink dorsal fin swept up and out of the water before slinking back down.

Ranboo gasped and opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by the way that the ocean’s surface began to shift rapidly and erratically, like something large was heading through the nearby shallows.

Panic began to flood into his system and Ranboo hastily stumbled to his feet. Tubbo and Tommy quickly did the same, eyes wide in shock and fear.

Just like with the people in town and with Ranboo’s parents, all three of them knew intrinsically that something was wrong.

The fear that rushed through their bodies felt like instinct, a long lost reaction of prey to an unknown, deadly predator always lurking just slightly out of sight.

Each one of them knew that something horrifying, something awful was about to happen. They didn’t need to be told. It was automatically known.

Ranboo looked frantically over his shoulder, searching the nearby beach and town beyond for anyone else nearby. But his wide eyes didn’t find any other soul within their vicinity, only an empty beach and equally empty streets.

“Oh fuck.” Tommy muttered. “We’re totally fucked, aren’t we?”

Ranboo swallowed nervously, trying to control his already erratic breathing. “I-It’s probably nothing, right?” He said, despite clearly not believing himself.

“If it’s nothing, then we must be drugged to shit right now.” Tubbo replied humorlessly.

Shimmering scales flashed beneath the nearby ocean, swirling around in the hazy water and twisting seafoam. Ripples waved on the surface, rapid and sharp.

Silence curtained the air for only a few seconds, although it felt like eternity.

The wind seemed to still, the seagulls paused mid-flight, the waves went quiet in their normally relentless crashing. Right as the sun finished setting and slipped beneath the horizon, the moon taking its place in the sky.

Everything was frozen. Stuck suspended in between one breath, one subtle shift, and the next. Waiting for the a new beginning. Or for some, a horrific ending.

It was broken by the sound of a voice. A voice that was singing in a language that no human knew, echoing through the new night, beautiful in all of the eeriest ways.

Still, it was all that the trio could hear.

Life continued its pursuit around them, but all they could hear was the song.

It urged them forward, towards the water. It whispered to enter the ocean, to enter awaiting arms that would make them a home in the depths. It promised safety, a rescue from apparent abandonment of the society they knew.

The voice whispered relentlessly, steadily, in their ears. It weaved itself into their thoughts, clouding their eyes over, turning off all rational thought.

Without knowing what he was doing, Ranboo was stumbling forward, into the waves.

Salt water sunk into his shoes, then it sunk into his pants, and then it was soaking through his shirt. Suddenly, it was surrounding him and he couldn’t breathe. His lungs stuttered, choking on the one thing that the song was insisting was safe.

Ranboo could feel two other bodies moving alongside him, struggling within the water that consumed them. It hurt, stinging his eyes and his lungs in equal measure.

Just as it felt like Ranboo was going to run out of air, the song shifted. It became lower, steadier and less high pitched and eerie than it was before.

It was so deep that it felt as though it shook Ranboo’s bones as it traveled through the water. Despite its near violent strength, the song felt almost gentle. It felt soothing, like coming home.

As the voice rose and the song reached its crescendo, Ranboo felt two large arms encircle him, pulling his weak body to a steady, scaled chest. The song continued as he was held close to an unfamiliar wall of pink and red scales.

The voice entered Ranboo’s thoughts again, but this time it was urging him to sleep. Pinpricks of pain, distinctly not from his struggle with the water, began to appear across his body and Ranboo couldn’t help but blearily agree with the voice.

Just as the song began to taper off back into nothingness, Ranboo took a deep breath.

And as the world faded away, water moved seamlessly through his airways. As if it were always meant to be there.

———

Someone was humming, far away, distantly. It sounded warbled and unfamiliar.

The air was shifting around strangely, in a pattern, that while steady, was nothing like the wind. It was too heavy, too weighted to be a breeze.

Ranboo groaned, feeling like he’d just been hit by a bus.

His entire body felt both numb and sore at the same time. Pain ricocheted through him, even as he struggled to feel his legs, which felt distinctly prickly and absent.

Although anxiety wanted to flare, Ranboo knew that his legs were still there. It’d be ridiculous to consider anything else.

Blinking open sticky eyes, Ranboo squinted as he struggled to adjust to the strange lighting of wherever he currently was.

His first thought once his eyes finished adjusting, was that the air around him seemed awfully blue. Everything had a strange tint of blue to it, which was foreign and slightly off putting.

Not to mention that instead of being inside of the house, Ranboo was laying inside of what looked to a cave. Walls of stone rose up around him and little bits of plants were stuck to it in multiple spots.

It was weird. Ranboo couldn’t remember ever going inside of a cave.

With that thought, Ranboo realized he didn’t remember going inside at all.

His memories from before he’d been asleep were blurry, fragmented and distorted. He could vaguely remember sitting on the beach with Tubbo and Tommy. He could remember them bantering, as usual, laughing at some dumb jokes the others made.

But after that, all Ranboo could recall was a distant sense of abrupt panic, an eerie voice calling to them, and then nothing else.

Nervousness and fear coursed through him. Like before, when the people in town started treating them strangely, Ranboo knew instinctually that something was wrong. But this time, it was even more off than before.

Something had gone horrifically wrong. He just hadn’t realized what it was yet.

Trying to shove away his lingering drowsiness, Ranboo tried desperately to look around and figure out more about where he was.

He quickly realized that the plants he’d seen earlier weren’t plants that came from the surface. They were clearly aquatic. And so were the strange pieces of what looked to be some kind of furniture: tables, chairs, and other assorted items, scattered around. They all looked to be made of various ocean materials, like brightly colored coral or smooth pearls.

Ranboo was almost certain he was hallucinating and the feeling got worse when he realized that if he was underwater, he shouldn’t be able to breathe.

Yet, the water around him easily circulated through his body, as though it was perfectly natural for him to breathe it in. As he took a breath, he felt something unfamiliar along his neck shift with the motion.

Swallowing nervously, Ranboo reached up a shaking hand and felt along his neck. His hand met what felt like a smattering of scales and floppy bits of skin, which he knew without needing to be told were gills.

Ranboo could feel the gills stuttering with his panicked breaths as he whipped his head down to look at the rest of his body, feeling like he was hallucinating.

As he looked down at his hands, which he’d now pulled away from his neck, he saw that his palms were covered in a mixture of black and white scales that shimmered in the low light. His fingers each ended in a sharp claw, hooked at the end.

Gasping for air as horror took him over, Ranboo looked down at his legs, which he’d noticed earlier had felt distinctly absent.

Just as he’d hesitantly expected, his legs were gone. They’d been replaced by a large, black and white scaled tail that was covered in thin, delicate fins that flowed out, through the water that cradled them. The white scales shined like fresh pearls and the black ones reflected light like a smooth stone would. The tail would’ve been beautiful if it weren’t so terrifying to see.

Ranboo forced himself to yank his gaze away from the tail. His breathing was still harsh, erratic as he struggled to take in any form of air- or water now, he supposed.

Through panic-blurred vision, he searched for Tommy and Tubbo, who he had a sinking feeling were here too, and had likely met the same fate he had.

After a few moments, Ranboo’s gaze landed on a lump of forest green scales only a bit away. Based on the puff of brown hair he could see, he knew it was Tubbo.

And not much further away, he spotted a shape made up of bright red and white scales, alongside messy blonde hair. He knew that it must be Tommy.

It was a struggle for Ranboo to gather enough control over his frightened thoughts to open his mouth to say something, scream something to them. As soon as he did, the words tumbled out of him. “Tommy! Tubbo! Wake up!” He borderline screamed, shocked at how his voice carried so easily through the water.

Not only was his voice shockingly clear despite the water surrounding him, Ranboo could also tell that whatever language he’d just automatically spoken was, it wasn’t English.

The words hadn’t been made up of the syllables he’d known all his life. Rather, they’d been created from a series of chirps, whistles, and clicks. Not too different from the noises a dolphin would make, just with more pitch variation and more specific intention.

His brain had somehow understood that language and he’d instinctually used it, as if he’d known it all his life. And based on how sharp and differently shaped Ranboo noticed most of his teeth now were, he supposed it wasn’t possible for him to speak English anymore anyway.

He wanted to panic more at the unfamiliarity of his words, but Ranboo forced himself to push his fear aside. Right now, all he needed to do was wake up Tommy and Tubbo.

Ranboo didn’t know what they’d do or where they’d go. He just knew that he wanted them to get away from whoever had done this to them.

“Wake up!” Ranboo screamed again. “Wake up!”

He tried to pull himself up, off the bed of seaweed he realized he’d been half-laying on, but Ranboo found himself struggling. He had no idea how to move his tail and all of the fins that covered his arms, the sides of his tail, and his back. They all moved clumsily, severely lacking any sort of coordination.

Gritting his teeth, Ranboo shoved himself forward, and quickly fell through the water, ending up at the edge of the bed.

He took a deep breath. “Tubbo! Tommy! Please, wake up!” Ranboo shouted for a third time.

Finally, he saw one of his friends move.

Tubbo’s tail twitched, the spikily finned end of it flicking. Then, Ranboo saw Tubbo raise his head, his now unnaturally bright eyes meeting Ranboo’s.

A beat passed before Tubbo’s eyes went wide and the fins that Ranboo noticed had taken the place of Tubbo’s ears stood on end. “What the fuck?!” Tubbo shouted. “Wh-What the hell?!”

Ranboo didn’t say anything. He didn’t know what exactly he could do to explain. Because he knew about as much as Tubbo did.

While Tubbo was still panicking, Tommy seemed to have finally woken up and he was already attempting to escape his bed, his tail flicking up and down uncoordinatedly as he shimmied forward.

“Oh my fucking god.” Tommy was muttering as he moved forward. “What the fuck happened?!”

“I don’t know!” Ranboo exclaimed. “I just woke up here!”

“Well, no shit.” Tommy replied. “I just did too!”

Tubbo gritted his teeth. “All I know is that somehow, we’ve become mer. And I’m about half certain that maybe I’m hallucinating!”

Before they continue or even hope to plan for an escape, two huge mer swam into the room.

The larger of the two had pink and red scales, long pastel pink hair, and red eyes that seemed to glow. He was covered in scars, the most noticeable being a thick one on the bridge of his nose. He was well-muscled, well enough to easily snap most of the trios bones in half if he felt like it. The thought made Ranboo shiver.

The smaller of the two was clearly older, despite not being nearly as large. He was scaled in a dark, almost black shade of green, and he had straw blonde hair paired with icy blue eyes. He also looked rather strong, despite being less intimidating, and was clearly also able to easily hurt the trio if he wanted to.

“Who the hell are you fuckers?!” Tommy shouted, the whistles and clicks sharp.

To Ranboo’s surprise, the pink mer laughed. “We’re the ones who turned you, kid.”

“What the fuck do you mean, asshole?!” Tommy questioned. “Are you the bitch who did this to us?”

The pink mer shrugged. “I’m definitely one of them. But if I’m honest, Phil probably did most of the work. He’s a better singer than I am, that’s for sure.”

The green mer- Phil laughed. “Yeah, I suppose I did most of the work. But you’re still the one who caught them before they sunk too deep, Techno.

“I guess.” Techno, the pink mer agreed.

“Anyway,” Phil began. “You’re probably wondering why you’ve all been taken here, yeah?”

Still shaky with confusion and fear, Ranboo nodded. “Yeah.”

Tommy and Tubbo both gave two more replies, which were a lot more aggressive than Ranboo’s and included various insults.

“Alright. Starting off, you’re mer now, congratulations!” Phil said, despite clearly knowing that none of the trio thought of this as a good thing. “Basically through our songs, which are magic, we are able to turn humans in mer. Mer like us can’t reproduce naturally, so we have to multiply through turning.”

There was a pause, then Phil continued. “Techno and I have been wanting to add to our family for awhile. So, we scoped out some humans who we might enjoy having here. Mer can create human forms through our magic, that allow us to blend in with them. But these forms aren’t real and thus, can only exist for a temporary amount of time. Eventually, we have to return to the water to survive.”

“Wh-What the hell?!” Tommy shouted, cutting Phil off before he could keep going. “Did you guys stalk us or some shit?!”

“Kinda.” Techno replied. “But it was necessary.”

Phil rolled his eyes. “What Techno means to say, is that we didn’t want to stalk you, but we had to. How else were we going to sure that you’d be a good fit here? Plus, we weren’t going to take any children who were being properly cared for. So, we made sure you’d be alright here and would get a better life.”

“Wait, are you implying what I think you’re implying?” Tubbo cut in. “Because my aunt Puffy is not a bad parent.”

Phil shook his head. “Tubbo, we saw how she was never home. How she was working all the time and you never saw her. How she left you every day to take care of yourself and left you to wander the streets alone, looking for something to do.” He turned to look at Tommy next. “And Techno and I saw how your cousin Sam treated you, Tommy. Like a burden. He was tired all the time and wouldn’t talk to you. He’d tell you go to go away when you asked for help.”

“You’re wrong!” Tommy shouted. “You’re a fucking asshole! That’s not true! Sam took me in when my parents died, he loves me more than anything!”

Tubbo didn’t reply, only shaking his head at Phil. There was a grim sort of acceptance in Tubbo’s eyes, like he knew that what Phil was saying was true, but didn’t want to hand the mer another victory.

Ranboo couldn’t help but flinch when Phil’s gaze landed on him last. “And you, Ranboo. Don’t you know how wrong it is that your parents never helped you? When you had panic attacks, they never comforted you. Sure, they’d let you run to their car after school to escape the overwhelming noise, but they’d never actually offer you any words. They never got you a therapist or medication for anxiety like they should’ve.”

“But they’re still my parents!” Ranboo protested. “And they still loved me!” He added, desperately. He knew Phil was right, that he was treated poorly, but Ranboo didn’t want to admit it to himself.

His parents always looked at him like he was a failure. They didn’t like that Ranboo struggled in social situations, in rooms where the noise was too loud, and how he wasn’t perfect in his academics.

They treated him like glass, ready to shatter. They’d look at him with pity, not love.

And when Ranboo once asked if there was anything that could be done to make his panic stop, his parents had said no. Even when Ranboo knew that there were solutions, just not any that his parents were willing to provide.

Techno sighed, then said; “Maybe they were. And maybe they did love you. But that didn’t mean that love was good for you or that they deserved to be your parents at all.” His voice was even and monotone, leaving no room for argument.

“Basically, the point is, even if you don’t agree, all of your guardians weren’t taking care of you like they should’ve. In our eyes, that means that we can step in and give you somewhere better to live and a better, more attentive, more caring family. Even if you don’t like it.” Phil cut back in, crossing his arms and staring all three of the teens down with a challenging gaze.

Nobody said anything in the quiet that followed. Ranboo wished he could disappear.

Everything felt so confusing. It felt like he was hallucinating, with how weird this whole situation was.

Him and his friends had been kidnapped by two strange mer and had even become mer themselves. The stories that the sailors always told were true, and now they were going to experience it all firsthand.

There were still a few questions lingering in Ranboo’s mind though. Questions that he thought he might be able to get answers for. “How did you find me though? I’m not from here, but you talked about me like you’d seen me before. I’m from way up north in the city, not anywhere near this town. And… why was everyone in town treating us so strange before this happened? Did you cause that?”

“I can answer one of those.” Techno stated bluntly. “I was on a business trip up north, basically making sure that all of those idiots running big corporations don’t pollute the water here. And then I saw you. I knew Phil had been lookin’ for someone to turn and I didn’t know about Tubbo and Tommy at that point.”

Techno paused for a moment, his red eyes boring into Ranboo’s green and now red ones. “I figured out your name, followed you around a bit, the usual. I thought you’d be a decent fit. Then, I had to figure out how to get you here. I did some research, found out you had an aunt living over here. I maybe threatened her into changing her will so your parents would get her house, and then I…” Techno hesitated, clearly trying to find the right words. “Made sure she was out of the way.”

“What the fuck is wrong with you?!” Tommy exclaimed. “You stalked him and then killed his aunt!”

“I… didn’t really kill her, kid. I just made sure she was out of the way is all. She’s fine, just a little bruised and probably a bit traumatized. But it’s what had to happen.” Techno replied, shrugging nonchalantly.

Tommy shook his head. “That’s still fucked up!”

“And what about Ranboo’s other question?” Tubbo said, with narrowed eyes. “I wanna know the answer to that too.”

“I’ll answer that one.” Phil replied. “Basically, we wanted to make sure nobody messed with you guys before we could turn you. So… we maybe threatened some people. We didn’t tell them we were mer. I think they thought we were part of the mafia or something though. Point is, we definitely went overboard with it but we made sure that everyone knew that you’d be gone soon and that they couldn’t do anything to stop us.”

“That’s also messed up! Holy fuck!” Tommy shouted. “You guys are literally insane!”

Tubbo nodded. “This whole thing is fucked up. Just let us go home! We didn’t ask for this!”

“Well, even if we wanted to, you can’t go back. The turning process can’t be undone.” Phil responded, seeming very satisfied. “Eventually though, you’ll learn that this is the best outcome you could’ve gotten. You won’t be neglected, you won’t be hurt. You’ll be taken care of and you’ll have a home.”

Tommy hissed, a noise that sounded distinctly animal rather than human. “Fuck you! I’m never going to accept this!”

“Yeah! We’re not going to just- lay down and let you do whatever you want!” Tubbo agreed, his new tail lashing and fins standing aggressive and tall.

Ranboo only nodded, his breathing already too fast for him to say anything. He wished he could though. He wished he was as confident as his friends were.

Still, Ranboo knew that even with his nervousness and fear, he wouldn’t let Phil and Techno win. Not in a million years.

———

Days, months, weeks, must’ve passed.

It was hard to tell, being stuck in the ocean and stuck inside a cave. Which, while it definitely was a cave, Phil and Techno always insisted that it was their house and it was their home.

Ranboo wasn’t too certain about it being his home yet. But at the very least, he could begrudgingly admit that things hadn’t been too horrible over the past few weeks or months.

The trio were given three meals a day, regardless of if they did anything wrong, like trying to escape, lashing out, or arguing with Phil or Techno. They all had warm beds to sleep in, a roof over their heads, and company whenever they wanted it.

It was strange, Ranboo wasn’t used to this much attention being given to him or so little punishment for breaking rules.

Back home, on the surface, his parents had always been quick to take away his dinner if he broke too many rules. It might’ve been a harsh punishment, but he was used to it. It was normal, even though Phil had told him that it shouldn’t have been.

Things here, in the ocean, were weird. Phil and Techno were always nice, always patient, and always willing to engage in banter or give them comfort.

It was clear that Ranboo wasn’t alone in having no idea how to deal with it.

Even as they were all taught how to function with their new bodies, their new tails and fins, Ranboo was still struggling to come to terms with everything.

But he could admit, as each day passed by, his resolve was breaking. He knew that Tubbo and Tommy’s were too.

All three of them had already caught themselves breaking their promises of not giving in a couple different times. Neither Phil or Techno had made any comment about it, but Ranboo could still see their eyes shine with satisfaction or happiness whenever one of them engaged in conversation, thanked them for small things, or even so much as smiled about something that didn’t have to do with arguing or escaping.

If he was honest, Ranboo was tempted to fully give in, sometimes.

He could admit, deep down, that things were better here. He didn’t have to deal as much with ‘panic attacks’, as Phil called them, because one of the older mer could simply sing at Ranboo to keep him calm. Phil had even promised that eventually, when the trio didn’t need to be watched constantly, he’d go to the surface and get Ranboo medication for it.

Ranboo knew that both of his friends also knew that things were better here too.

He knew it in the way that Tommy had to fight away a smile when Techno didn’t brush him off when he asked for help with things. Ranboo knew when he saw how Tubbo looked noticeably happier about not being left alone constantly.

Ranboo supposed though, that it was a hard thing to fully admit. That their kidnappers were taking care of them better, they were better family than any of their actual families had ever been.

If Ranboo was honest, Phil was right, they’d probably accept this eventually.

It was only a matter of time.

———

It had been a year since they were taken.

The cave- or house, as the older mer always insisted it should be called, was peaceful. The waves were gentle today and the water was pleasantly cool.

Ranboo could hear the sound of Phil and Tubbo talking, somewhere further inside the house. He could vaguely make out the noise of Techno turning another page in one of his weird waterproof books, and Tommy swimming around nearby.

In this moment, Ranboo felt content.

Recently, Techno had been teaching Ranboo how to hunt in the reefs outside of their house. It was hard work, the fish were always fast, hard for Ranboo to catch in his claws. But he was starting to get the hang of it.

And Phil had started to teach him how to sing, in the magical way that mer did. Ranboo wasn’t very good at it yet, struggling to get the right tone. But Phil had reassured him that it was a difficult thing to do and with time, it would come to Ranboo as easy as breathing.

As he sat on the edge of his bed, spacing off, Ranboo noticed someone else swimming over to him.

He turned his gaze towards them and met eyes with Tommy. With a sigh, Tommy sat down next to Ranboo. A moment later, Tubbo swam into the room and after seeing them sitting side by side, he joined them.

They did this sometimes, when their thoughts were too much, when they needed a break. When they needed to talk about their past with the people who shared it.

“I can’t believe the year anniversary of us being here was last week.” Ranboo said. “It feels like yesterday and forever ago at the same time.”

Tubbo nodded. “I know what you mean. It doesn’t feel right, that it’s been a year.”

“I’m just surprised mer are actually real and those sailors weren’t fucking insane.” Tommy grumbled. “All these years, I thought they were seriously crazy. And now, I’m a mer and apparently they’re actually sane. Its so shitty.”

Tubbo laughed. “Yeah, you used to rant about them and all the nightmare fuel stories they told us.” His tone, although full of humor, had an almost wistful quality. They all knew by now that they wouldn’t be seeing those sailors again for a long time.

“I was so freaked out when you first told me about those stories.” Ranboo added, tail flicking idly. “It still is kinda freaky that we’re basically fish people now though.”

Tubbo rolled his eyes. “You’re making it sound worse than it is, bossman. Like yeah, we are basically half fish. But we’re still mostly human, ya know? Our brains aren’t literal mush like an actual fish.”

“True. I think I’d just want you to kill me, honestly, if my brain ever became mush.” Ranboo replied, wrinkling his nose at the thought of being a useless fish.

“Will do.” Tubbo responded, smiling.

“I’m just glad that Phil and Techno aren’t child traffickers or some creepy shit like that.” Tommy said, picking at the scales that covered his palms. “They’re actually nice and it’s kinda weird sometimes.”

Ranboo hummed. “I don’t always get it either, but that’s okay I guess.”

“I’m… alright with being here, I think.” Tubbo added. “But I’ll never forgive them for taking us like that.”

“Me too.” Ranboo stated quietly.

Tommy nodded. “Same here.”

They fell back into silence after that, content to just sit in one another’s company.

After a few minutes, Ranboo could hear Phil’s voice calling for them to come eat dinner. The clicks and chirps of the words echoed through the house.

Ranboo looked at his friends, his eyes searching their faces for a moment, and they looked back. A beat passed, and then they each gave one another a single, steady nod.

Even if things weren’t perfect, they were okay. And they were going to continue to be okay.

Things were better here, all three of them knew it.

The ocean was their home, just as Phil and Techno had said it would be.

Although he wouldn’t ever forgive them, Ranboo did at least appreciate them and even acknowledged them now as his family.

And he supposed, that’s all that mattered.