#.... wait--

[vivianquill]

Tango really needed to stop waking up in strange new places. At least he didn't seem to be beaten black and blue this time. Or maybe the jerks who'd kidnapped him weren't as rough as the pounding surf.

His head was still all fuzzy, but he wasn't dizzy or nauseous and he was lying on the floor of some sort of tidepool. Maybe? it wasn't sandy. And he was underwater. Probably. Tango couldn't help but let out a soft warble as he rubbed at his face, squinting up at the surface.

The water was deeper then where Impulse and Skizz and Zedaph had been keeping him, maybe two body-lengths deep, instead of only half of one. The ground sloped up off to the far end of the tidepool, with a shelf that made up a large part of the height. Tango twisted over to lay on his front for the time being, hopefully his dorsal fin hadn't gone to sleep.

There were other people, at the shallow end of the pool. He could see a-- a yellow and blue mer's tail, but only part of it. The angle was wrong, and they must've been sitting on the edge, like Tango often did when he would talk with his humans--

Impulse would be fine. Probably. Right? Impulse had to be fine, otherwise he was going to drown the humans who'd done that and taken him away and-- Well it wouldn't be pretty.

Tango couldn't see who the humans were-- that the yellow mer was talking to-- everything was too fuzzy around the edges still, and the distortion of the water just made them two blobs of color. Well, as long as they weren't going to be paying any attention to him, then he would simply curl up and--

They'd even changed the splint on his wrist. Why would they do that?? Tango huffed out a mouthful of bubbles, frustrated to no end but not really having the energy to get properly mad about it right now.

So instead he just curled up on his side, watching the yellow mer and the blobs above the water and wondering how long it would take them to realize that he was awake.

Turns out, Tango managed to doze off before they noticed that he'd woken up. He only knew this because he startled back awake when he felt movement in the water.

Well, it certainly burned away the last of the drowsy fog clinging to every bit of him.

And it certainly let the other mer know he was awake.

"Oh, hey--"

Tango jerked, twisting around to face the voice, almost toppling over. It was the mer he'd seen earlier, staring at him with bright blue eyes.

"I'm glad you're awake. How're you feeling?" The mer pushed off the shelf where he'd paused, drifting down to Tango.

"Who are you." Tango narrowed his eyes, coiling his tail underneath himself. It would probably be a bad idea to try and take them in an outright fight, but Tango was quick, and the tidepool here was much much larger than the other one. He'd be able to maneuver better.

"My name's Jimmy. It's-- uhm." Jimmy flicked his tail, settling on the tiles a little ways away from Tango, "There's probably been a misunderstanding, yeah? You're safe here, nobody's gonna hurt you. What's your name?"

Tango let out another mouthful of bubbles, "Did the humans steal you too? Where are we?"

"We're at a house, a safehouse-- the ocean is about fifty or so meters that-a-ways--" Jimmy pointed in what Tango assumed was the ocean, "I wasn't stolen-- well. I was stolen but that was like years and years and years ago, but no. The human here is nice, and so is Scott. They're my pod, they're here to help."

Tango blinked, a little put off by just how relaxed Jimmy was. He believed what he was saying, but that didn't mean Tango did.

It-- wasn't that Jimmy had a human in his pod, because admittedly, Tango had started to consider Impulse and Zedaph and Skizz a part of his pod, if only for the fact that they had been the only way for him to get food, and medicine, and companionship--

Well, now that he thought about it, considering those three as part of his pod probably wasn't a good thing. His pod would call him crazy, surely.

"You-- thought I was in danger. . . ?" Tango frowned, "With the other humans-- is that why yours stole me? They thought I was in danger?"

"You're hurt! And they were keeping you in such a small pool--" Jimmy was mirroring his frown now, "Didn't they take you from the sea in the first place?"

"No! No-- I mean, yes, they took me-- but there was a storm. I got separated from my pod and caught in a fishing net, and Impulse found me on the shore. I would have died if it wasn't for them!"

Jimmy let out a puff of bubbles, "They wouldn't have let you go. Humans don't let mer go."

"So you're here against your will too?"

"No!! No. If I wanted to I could leave. I can leave any time I want--"

"Then how do you know that my humans wouldn't have let me go?" Tango was posturing now, he knew that he was, all puffed up and fins out wide and Jimmy was reacting in kind, even if the other mer wasn't aware of it.

"Because they don't!! Look at you, you're practically all healed already and yet they still had you in that dumb little fishbowl."

"I'm not stupid. There's a reason i didn't tell them about my pod." Tango bared his fangs, trying to get Jimmy to back down, "They hadn't put me back yet because my wrist is still broken and a lone mer who can't hunt or defend themselves is a dead mer. They didn't want me to end up dead--!"

Jimmy threw up his hands in frustration, "Fine, whatever. You don't have to get so snippy about it. It doesn't matter anyway, it's not like you're going to ever see them again. We'll stick you back in the sea tomorrow and you'll never see any of us again if that's what you really want."

Jimmy's words hit Tango like a slap to the face. He turned away, pinning his frill back and ignoring Jimmy as the other mer swam back up to the shallow end of the pool.

Tango didn't move until the water had stilled again. But when he did, he couldn't see Jimmy anywhere. Even when he'd mustered up his courage to poke his head above the water, Jimmy wasn't to be seen. Had he dragged himself off somewhere? Tango didn't know, and he almost didn't care. He mostly didn't care.

They'd taken him from his humans, without asking if he was in danger or needed help! They'd maybe killed Impulse! And now he'd pissed off the first mer he'd seen in what felt like moons.

Great. Nice going Tango, your temper sure has come in handy once again.

[kyne-grotto]

Goopy boi with a saber

Simple Nightmare by @simpletale-officiale

[deckofclubs]

NOW HOLD ON ARE YOU LIKING THAT POST CAUSE YOU SYMPATHIZE W THE FEELING OR ARE YOU LIKING CAUSE YOU WANT TO SHIP

[fireshot]

I can't believe they SHOT my GURL.................................................................................................

LOOKS AT URL

[mias-back-from-the-dead]

tbh i think the funniest phenomena that's been happening in the last couple years is "youtuber, having gone too deep into the research hole, has been made an investigative journalist against their will"

[many-sparrows]

I'm very tired of this "queer college students should stop supporting Palestine, they'd kill you there!" I watched a hijabi ask a trans man, "but what name do you want to go by?" A butch giving a woman their hoodie so that she could keep her hair covered after the cops took her scarf. Muslim girls making sure the lesbian couple got through the system together. Religious men making sure purple haired protestors got out safe. I don't want to hear it. Solidarity forever, free Palestine.

[transxfiles]

cant talk rn obsessed over the design concept of this 2017 production of pinocchio as a stage play where pinocchio is the only character played by a human actor and the rest of the cast are portrayed as puppets ,,,

[bookwyrminspiration]

god I would be UNSTOPPABLE if I was capable of consistently initiating tasks. just you wait. you'll be waiting a while but just you wait

[trashy-greyjoy]

really love dynamics that are like 'it honestly doesn't matter if you view them as romantic or platonic, the point is that they love each other. the type of love is inconsequential, all that matters is that it's there'. gotta be one of my favorite genders.

[noonbeam17]

theyre in a polycule

[isawiitch]

ok NOW we can all freak out marvel vfx workers voted to unionize thank god

article here

[stonelions]

he thinks he's being so smooth with his little face on my leg. i SEE you, villain

[mudanonaito]

[blazeball]

"okay kid, i have a doctors appointment, you can handle this big fuckoff bus, i believe in you, keys are in the ignition, this thing DOES NOT HAVE INSURANCE so DON'T GET PULLED OVER, have fun"

[sparebutton]

(Across the Spider-Verse spoiler)

[pangur-and-grim]

I'm turning 30 this month, and for some reason have become suddenly interested in material possessions. like what if,,,,,,,,my couch was nice. what if my sheets were nice. is this what happens to you??