#Danny who doesn't speak fish: Holy shit! shapeshifting fish!

[starwrighter]

I am not a baby!! (yes you are)

(Ao3) (Masterpost) (Previous) (next)

(Part nine)

He lied. he's not fierce, or dangerous! He's very small, scared, and would like to go home please, thanks!

What the fuck do you mean this guys a juvenile?!!

How big do these motherfuckers get?! Danny didn't want to know. Where there's a baby, a parent is usually nearby. Danny darted further into the tube, crouching with his knees pulled tightly to his chest. All he could do was hope this guy was stupid enough to forget they saw Danny. The PDA told a different story. A brain capable of both high intelligence and sentience doesn't mean they're friendly. Danny knew dozens, if not hundreds of sentient beings that were pricks. His entire school was full of them.

This could be a local checking in with the new neighbors, or it could be a pissed-off local ready to murder whoever invaded their space. The PDA said this guy's habitat is in deeper waters. How did he already manage to piss off the locals into pulling up to his house?! Did the peepers snitch? He'd been chasing them around an awful lot, but they'd been chasing him too! Ramming into him with their stupid sparkles that stuck to his skin. If he'd known they'd call in backup he'd have left them alone!

...No he wouldn't have.

Tap...Tap...Tap

"Go Away!" He shouted. The thought was nice but Danny was gonna have to raincheck on the welcoming party.

Tapping away at his PDA, Danny rushed to the window tapping tom was chilling at, fabricating a rod and curtains.

There! That should do it. Problem solved!

_________________

"..."

"Damian, what happened?" Dick called out.

Damian could only stare blankly at the now blocked-off tube. The baby's silhouette visible through the barrier.

"He's hiding," He hummed. "I'm going to check the other side,"

__________________

Danny walked away from the curtain, turning focus to sorting his storage. It mainly consisted of sorting rocks into different lockers. Any fabric material was used on the curtain. Keeping tabs on his materials was easy with the PDA, but it also made him realize he had no food or water. Dying of dehydration or starvation didn't sound like a good time.

He turned to the other window. As expected, his not-so-little visitor had his face pressed up against the glass. Claws rapping against the glass, Danny became concerned for the integrity of the seabase. Starting over wouldn't be that hard, but he didn't want to be forced to rebuild because a sea monster got tap happy.

Tap...Tap...Tap

That's it! Welcome party or not, he had to establish dominance!

__________________

"Damian, please, you're obviously scaring them," Father started, concern erupting through every string of the bond.

"You know how fragile they can be," It's true, all the hatchlings were pathetically fragile. There's no reason it wouldn't be the same for this one.

"Mine!" Damian didn't even get a chance to respond before teeth attempted to sink into his arm.

The baby, now out of the tube, was trying to bite him. His teeth too tiny to break through scales, though he still tried regardless. Upon discovering biting wouldn't work on him the hatchling began circling him.

"go way!" The baby charged at him, slapping him with his soft, clawless hands. Anything Damian said fell on deaf ears the baby either too young to receive telepathic messages or too young to understand them.

"I don't think he's scared. He's trying to attack me," Considering how many died from being unaware of their environments, a territorial hatchling was good for them. Except this hatchling greatly overestimated who he could take in a fight.

Deciding to humor the little guy, Damian dragged himself away from the baby's nest.

"I Win" The hatchling circled the area before it quickly forgot the fight and started chasing Peepers. Catching the fish with his teeth, the hatchling picked up salt rocks and cut up bits of coral tubes. The behavior was confusing, but the hatching seemed happy with himself, so Damian felt no need to interfere.

"I'm coming over there," Dick announced.

"I recommend against that," Not only were the shallows way too small to fit both of them in this form, but surely seeing two of them would freak the child out further. Dick's scales were like armor-plating. The baby would surely hurt himself trying to bite him,"

"But I wanna see the guppy," Dick whined.

Damian rolled his eyes as he continued observing from afar. The hatchling didn't eat the fish he caught, stuffing it away into the pouch on his back until it was full of fish and rocks before swimming back to his nest. Maybe he was like father? Hoarding an abundance of materials just for the fun of it.

Complex buildings like that must take a lot of materials to build and maintain. Not as complex in design as the precursor buildings, these creations wilted within a matter of years without constant maintenance. The buildings were intended for someone who knew how to take care of them, just like the rest of their tools.

He himself once wielded a deadly weapon left behind. Sharp as a sea dragon's claws, glowing a bright red that charred the flesh it sank into. Only useable in his second form, Damian had fallen in love with weaponry. The now dull, rusted blade lay somewhere in his nest. Hopefully, the baby could spare a knife or two. The ones he'd managed to make just weren't as smooth or sharp.

Hopefully, he could convince the child to bite Drake instead of him.

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