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Underwater

Okay so this day 11 of @hiddendreamer67 October prompts but I really liked the idea and I had to finish it even though I didn’t have any time to do it on the actual day. I’m very bad at following daily prompts but please take this.

Also my first post on my new Tumblr blog! Yay!

Words: 1171

Warnings: Unsympathetic Patton, (brief) non-consensual kiss, Panic

Sand crunched softly under Virgil’s feet as he occasionally tossed stones into the rolling waves of the ocean, focused more on the water than what was around him. It wasn’t until he heard a small squeal coming from his left that he looked over and saw two kids crouched over a tide pool, one in green swim trunks and the other in red.

“Come on! Catch it!” the one in green exclaimed and shoved his brother’s shoulder, water dripped from his curls that were pointed in every direction and soaked band-aids were peeling off his skin, revealing scraps and scabs. The one in red had his hair pushed back out of his face and even from where he was standing Virgil could see the large freckles covering a good portion of his skin; he was pushing a plastic pail through the water, obviously trying to get something in it. 

Virgil rolled his eyes and chucked one of the smaller pebbles in his hand at the kid with the pail, “Hey! Leave the poor thing alone!”

The kid yelped as the pebble hit him and looked over his shoulder, eyes widening at being caught by an adult. Virgil tossed another, which bounced harmlessly against the green one’s head. “It’s an attack!” he shouted and he grabbed his brother’s arm and hauled him away, causing him to drop the pail as he did.

Virgil smirked at his accomplishment before taking careful strides closer to the pool, making sure to not accidentally step on anything. He bent over to pick up the pail, dumping the rest of the water back into the pool.

“Thank you!” a voice chirped from below. Virgil’s feet slipped out from under him as he jumped, making a startled screech. There was a soft giggle before the voice continued, “Oops! Sorry, kiddo, didn’t mean to scare you so badly.”

Virgil looked down into the pool for the first time. There, with his arms crossed over the stone edge, was a tiny merman. “Holy shit..”

“Not everyday you see one of me, huh?” He giggled again. Water splashed softly as his cerulean tail swished absentmindedly, “You really helped me though, getting rid of those little rascals, I’d be in some pretty hot water without you.”

Virgil was frozen for a moment as his brain processed the new sight before he finally processed the words and snorted, “Was that a pun?”

“You know it” The merman answered with a wink, “And for your troubles, can I give you a thank-you kiss?”

“Uh.. sure?” Virgil replied. He twisted and lowered himself down to lay on his stomach, his head dipped down and resting on his crossed arms for the merman to reach. 

He expected the merman to jump up and give him a quick peck on the cheek, instead he popped up and pressed his lips against his. Virgil lifted away immediately, cringing and wiping the water off his mouth.

“What was that for-” he exclaimed before cutting off as his eyes landed on the merman. He had taken to sitting on the edge of the tidepool, his tail flicking the water gently as the scales faded away and he was slowly growing in size. Virgil was so captivated with the merman transforming in front of him he didn’t realize his own diminishing size till his jacket hood fell over his head heavily. He yelped as his heart beat rapidly against his chest and his now rapid breath wasn’t taking in any oxygen. He tried to scramble out from under the heavy material but his legs weren’t cooperating like they should, leaving him flailing and grasping to pull himself forward

It wasn’t until a giant hand reached in and pulled him out, only to deposit him in the small tidepool- which was now as big as an above ground pool- that he realized his lack of breath was due to new gills along his sides and his movement was restricted due to the brand new glittering tail that started at his hips and frilled out like a beta fish. He stopped breathing all together as he watched the purple tail move as he twitched the muscles were his legs used to be. 

A giggle above him drew his attention away from his new features as he looked up to see the smiling face of the merman. Well, the ex-merman, “Aw, you’re a little cutie!”

Virgil opened and closed his mouth lamely, trying to think of something- anything to say. He watched the man grab up his swim trunks and slip them over himself clumsily with the new legs, then pull on his shirt and tie his jacket around his shoulders. 

The ex-merman stood up and Virgil began to panic again, jerkily swimming to the surface, “Wait! Don’t-”

He was cut off by a laugh, “Don’t worry kiddo, I’m not gonna leave you here.” He picked up the red pail and Virgil went white as he backed away from the edge. The ex-merman dipped the pail in the water and Virgil tried to move out of the way but he was scooped up easily. “Good thing they dropped this, huh? Wouldn’t have been much fun to try to get you out of here without it; ‘would have been better than being a seagull snack though.”

As the pail moved Virgil found himself being easily thrown around in the water and he thunked against the plastic walls more than once. He whimpered and it took a moment for him to right himself and find the top again, swimming up to the edge. He barely had time to grab the edge of pail before it was swung as they started walking along the beach. He swallowed and looked up at the man, who was looking cheerily ahead; he did glance at Virgil every so often and would smile down at him like this was the most normal thing in the world.

As they came closer to the docks Patton’s face lit up with recognition and he started in a sprint forward; Virgil slipping and flailing back into the pail, “Logan!”

It was a few moments before the shaking stopped and a conversation started above as Virgil tried to hold in his lunch. “It’s good to see you as well Patton, I see you found someone to switch with.”

“I did! Look!” The pail was thrusted up and Virgil tumbled a moment. “He’s so precious like this! I can’t believe I was this small.”

Logan chuckled, “Yes, now let’s get going and start accustoming you to human life.” Virgil managed to once again pop his head out of the water, “What-? What about me?”

“Don’t worry, you’ll adjust to your new life as well,” Logan answered in a reassuring tone.

“That’s not-!” Virgil shouted but Patton caught him off by tapping his head. 

“Shush kiddo, you’ll be fine!” He pushed him back into the pail as he started to follow Logan off the beach. Virgil sunk to the bottom of the pail and didn’t come back up.