sea monsters, land monsters | sbi merpeople au

3 | mr. mediator

ok would you believe me if i said i had a valid excuse for this taking so long. bc first i was away from my pc for a week then i forgor then school started then i forgor again then my pc was out of commission for two more days. also my shitass brain decided that this wasn't where the dopamine was coming from so i wasn't allowed to work on it until i was so bored it felt like my brain was rotting. fun!

cw

- fighting

- minor blood/injury

"She wants to see you," Phil said, sinking under the surface again to see two wild mers with tilted heads.

"'She'?" Techno narrowed his eyes.

"The human," Phil rephrased.

"What for?" Tommy demanded, blowing bubbles.

Phil hesitated. "To check your wounds. She won't hurt you, but you can't hurt her either."

"I can check 'em myself," Techno said, grasping his brother by the shoulders and pulling him close. "What could she know that I wouldn't?"

"Significant details about your anatomy and biology that make it safer for her to treat you," Phil said, giving the barest hint of a smile. "If she does anything to intentionally hurt you, nobody would blame you for fighting back. It won't take long, either, I promise."

"D-"

"Actually, don't waste your breath. You don't actually get a choice. I'll drag you if I have to," Phil cut off.

"I'll bite you again," Tommy threatened. Techno only gave a dark glare, ears fanning and setting his feet on the bottom of the pool for support. Out of the two, the adult mer was far more threatening, only slightly smaller than the antarctic Phil.

Phil groaned, masking his nervousness with annoyance. "I really do not want to fight you over this. Can you just--?"

Techno answered with a barking growl, teeth flashing. His injured tail made fast lashes, rippling the water behind him with bubbles. Tommy's eyes locked on the his defensive brother, freezing him in place while his brain tried to process the scene. When he seemingly regained motor function, the young mer pulled himself along the wall until he was perched behind Techno, claws on the handholds and flat feet bearing his weight on the material. Phil didn't process the baby's low brr, instead reaching his own conclusion about the scene in front of him.

"Oh, shit, shit-" Phil backed up slowly, bringing his hands tight to his chest. "I did not intend to start a fucking fight!"

The best Phil could figure was that he probably made Techno think he was taking over Tommy's care. Or whatever. And, like, yes, he was probably going to have to do that at some point to ease the guy out of parent mode so an older, more experienced mer could link up with that mess and help them survive but he did not intend to do it right then. Right then, when he was trying to get them to agree to be treated, and there was a human woman in the room to whom he'd just said Techno was not feral to.

Fucking- fuck that, actually. That was bullshit.

"Shit, mate!" Phil flinched away from Techno's snarling impact, pink claws scrabbling for a hold between the antarctic mer's scales. Phil tried to push him to arm's length, but only succeeded in getting a deep scratch on his arm. He screeched, kicking and spinning away, struggling to reorient himself when Techno leapt on him again, having pushed off of the wall. Both mers spun through the water, leaving a bubble trail. Phil could vaguely hear Tommy's stressed squeak.

Phil's eyes locked on Techno, tunneling his mind on fighting. He gave off his own, rougher snarl, digging strong teeth into the shoulder of his attacker. A ground-shaking roar left Phil stunned, barely feeling the beating of a strong wild mer's tail on his face. He shook his head, grabbing and yanking on said tail, ripping through the bandaging and tearing off a few oil-stained scales. Phil managed to swing his feet on top of Techno's shoulders, pushing himself up and ignoring the ripping wounds on his tail as he shot through the surface. He clambered out of the water clumsily, holding his breath in the raw air.