The Fastest Little Sailfish

WHO: Tommy Shepherd, You
WHERE: Around Temba
WHAT: Playing Around (Hide & Seek or Races), Collecting Pretty Baubles
WHEN: Mermay
WARNINGS: None

I. Play Every Day

The waters are a perfect temperature. The light from the sun is perfect for basking around the edges of the bubble. There was good food in the morning thanks to Tommy absolutely rocking up some great sushi and amazing kelpy salads. Even with new difficulties with cooking that he can't really explain (why does he wish the fish was warm?), today is perfect. It's always perfect. Life is fucking amazing.

And so it's no surprise that once Tommy has his chores for the day done he's doing the exact perfect thing to make him happy. So of course anyone heading to the center square will find a joyous mer waiting there. He's definitely more fishy in shape than the traditional mer, his body lines long and sleek, his tail more fish in lay out, like a shark.

Like a sailfish, the fastest damn fish in the oceans. Or one of them. His belly scales are a silvery white, grading up to a bright green until it faded into something darker and more evocative of his hero costume. Of course the scales don't end on his waist either, continuing up his whole spine and speckling the back of his neck and arms. The ones on the spine make sense, as they provide for the large, spined sail on his back, an iridescent purple-blue with faint black spots along it, a pattern replicated on all of his other fins. The sail is fully up in the moment, excited as he is. Because hey, he's just seen someone!

"Hey!"

He moves with a single powerful flick of his tail, and damn he's fast. Already there, swimming a tight spiral around whoever he's found.

"Hey, wanna play a game? Race? I promise not to go too fast. We can set a whole course. I could go twice as far if you want. Or how about hide and seek. Come on! Let's have some fun!"

II. Shiny Baubles Are Good

Well, if people won't play with him, and he has nothing to cook, clearly he needs a new hobby. Something to fill the hours with fun and excitement and adventure.

Yes, swimming to the bottom of the bubble and sifting through sand to find really pretty rocks, or cool abandoned shells is exciting. He even found a really shiny purple crystal earlier. Well, a fragment of one. Who broke an energy rod? Does it matter, not really. Because he loves the faint purple glow of it.

"Ooooh, what if I put it on a necklace? Or made a belt of them? They'd look wicked cool next to my sail."

You better believe he's now intent on making a really cool belt of pretty stones and shells. And other shiny things.

Strange that his reaction to being a merman was apparently corvid levels of 'shiny must have to look impressive'. Or maybe he's just trying to keep someone's attention.

"Man, I wish I had some gold to go with this."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"So that someone can put their hands around your waist?" Keith smirked.

What? Tommy doesn't blush but the large sailfin that runs down most of his spine does fully stretch out involuntarily.

"I'm not some small girl that someone can just put their hands around my waist."

Keith's smirked shifted into a grin when he saw the reaction.

"So... come on... who's the lucky person?"

"You're really presuming a lot there," Tommy points out, but he is smiling to himself about it. "We aren't talking about it yet. Not ready for that."

"But you're still trying to get their attention," Keith pointed out. "So, there's something going on, yeah?"

God why does everyone have to be fucking perceptive all the time.

"Yeah, there is," Tommy allows at last. "And that's why I have to look good for him."

"I get that... but, something tells me that, if he's as into you as you are into him, he's not really gonna care if you look good like that."

Okay but what if he isn't as into Tommy?

"Well a bit of glitz doesn't hurt, you know? To make me more appealing."

"You're starting to sound like Lance." Keith was teasing, but Lance was definitely all about dressing for his partner. Keith, on the other hand, was a lot more casual.

"Or maybe Lance sounds like someone who is actually cool, like me," Tommy counters, mischief in his grin. He is clearly the pinnacle of cool after all.

Sorry, Tommy, but that just got one hell of a belly laugh out of Keith. Look, he loved his husband, but Lance and 'cool' didn't always go in the same sentence.

"He's a dork, and he knows it," Keith finally said. "But uh... yeah. I like that about him." And that was about as soft as Keith was going to get about Lance towards someone else. He wasn't good at doing the whole doting partner thing.

Lance and cool probably rarely go in the same sentence. But Tommy? He's always cool as hell.

"Well, mine isn't a dork. We're cool for cool."

"Well, I'd believe you, but..." Keith shrugged. "You won't tell me who it is."

"Of course I won't," Tommy says, rolling his eyes. "Because it's just... It's just for us right now."

Keith smirked a bit, but that shifted into a softer look as Tommy finished his statement.

"Okay, yeah," he said quietly. "I can get that." He nodded. "But, when I do find out, that means I get to tease you about it."

"Nope, you don't," Tommy says with a smile. "Because I'll be immune to your teasing."

Happiness could be like that for him.

"Just 'cuz you'd be immune, doesn't mean I won't still tease," Keith shot back. He laughed and kicked off the sand with a flick of his tail.

"Well, have fun, man. I hope your target likes what you're showing off."

"You know, that's a pretty accurate statement. I can't stop you," he agrees with a nod. But he won't really do anything about it.

"I'm not showing off for anyone!" he insists, but he's still smiling. Because he hopes so too.

The Fastest Little Sailfish

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