capeandcowllogs

Entry tags:

betta

WHO: Shark & Yuma.
WHERE: (on the way to & at) The pet store.
WHEN: The 28th, Friday.
WARNINGS: Fish
WHAT: Shark & Yuma talk. Shark tests his powers on unsuspecting goldfish.
FORMAT: whatev

(from here)

Okay, so this wasn't how he'd planned the afternoon, but it sure was better than the original plan of "sit at home and contemplate how much everything sucks", so the impromptu trip to the pet store was sort of a welcome distraction. Sure, it felt ridiculous, but it might actually prove useful.

The whole powers thing was new territory but probably the kind of new territory that was important to know, considering that was meant to be their purpose or whatever. If there was any chance the fish deal was related to his powers, then it wasn't something he was going to put off.

Shark locked the door behind them, making his way to the stairwell without waiting up.

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"I don't think that's it," Shark started, thinking. "It could be, but... no, it's something else. Something doesn't feel right."

He looked at the tanks, the filters, the plants, the fish, and then turned back to Yuma and the orca. What was different? Aside from the whole scale being smaller... why would he have such a power, anyway? Yeah, his deck used fish, and he was 'Shark', but... he felt like a moron.

"Hmm..."

He looked once more at the fish, trying vainly to piece it together, but all Yuma could come up with was Kotori could figure this out. Or Feferi, maybe, but between her amnesia and his dying, he hadn't had the chance to reconnect with her. Calling her up for a favor now would just be weird.

Puzzles like this weren't for Yuma; he crossed his arms, scuffing the toe of his shoe against the linoleum floor. Who would have thought fish could be so complicated?

However, Shark was staring at the orca plush. The aquarium... he knew he was missing something big, like it was at the edge of his mind, and it just couldn't coalesce itself into an actual thought.

He sighed. "I'm leaving. There's nothing here."

Back outside, Yuma was no closer to an answer than before. "What the heck's so different about house fish and ocean fish?" he questioned, not directed at Shark or anyone else. Hell, even Astral would be able to figure this out, obsessed with nature documentaries as he was. But as for Yuma, he was clueless! At this rate, they were going to have to go to the aquarium itself for answers.

"I don't know! It doesn't make a--"

Shark stopped abruptly, running Yuma's question over again. Something had struck and pushed that thought over the edge of his mind. The difference between house fish and ocean fish was...

"The ocean. That's the difference."

The abruptness caught Yuma by surprise, but...

"It is?"

How did that make any sense? It was just water.

"Do you have a better idea? The ocean is salt water. Different things live there, it's a completely different environment."

It seemed right. It sounded right.

Things Yuma didn't know: the log: the thread: the lifestyle. But Shark sounded pretty sure of himself, and if he was confident in it, then Yuma would be, too.

"So where to now?" His voice had more energy in it now, getting more pumped up. "The aquarium? The docks?"

Despite Yuma's enthusiasm and the breakthrough(?), he still felt like an idiot. If he was wrong, then they would have just spent a whole bunch of time on a wild goose - fish? - chase. So then, where to next?

"...I'm going back to the apartment."

"What?"

From what Yuma had seen, there were neither house fish nor ocean fish at the MAC, and definitely not in Shark's barren apartment.

"Why?"

"Because I should do this myself."

If anyone was going to deal with standing at the docks calling out to fish, it would be him alone. There was no point dragging Yuma through anything else today - and, really, he still isn't used to real actual company. The fact that Yuma was the one who suggested the trip was completely disregarded.

Yuma shook his head immediately, crossing his arms with a huff; the orca stuck out from the crook of his elbow. "No way. I am definitely going with you."

Shark scowled, moving to properly exit the store.

"I don't need you to babysit me," he deflected Yuma's insistence, despite some part of his brain recognising the fact that Yuma would probably get his way anyway.

And Yuma, persistent and stubborn as ever, followed behind.

"It's not like that," he insisted--even though there was some measure of truth to the accusation. Hey, sometimes people liked shoving other people over railings overlooking water in the hopes of drowning them, and maybe it would've been nice to have had some help getting pulled back to shore. "I want to see what you can do, too."

"I don't even know if it's going to work. I'll do it later, I'm going back."

Actually, he wasn't going back at all, although he contemplated going and getting his motorcycle gear to try and shake Yuma off. The docks weren't far enough, he figured, to justify driving though.

But Yuma didn't seem to be buying that excuse -- or any of them, really. "We've already done this much, we should finish now. Or, are you embarrassed or something?"

"I'm not-!"

Well, actually, he was a little bit. Even if it worked, his power would be revealed as rather anticlimactic and kind of lame really.

"What if you do come and it doesn't work?"

"Then it doesn't work." Yuma shrugged a little, his crossed arms coming free to gesture as he spoke. The poor orca continued to be flung around for emphasis. "Figuring it out's the fun part."

"Yeah, fun."

After that flat bit of sarcasm, Shark was silent for a few moments before turning on his heel and walking in the direction that he thought the docks were in. That one annoying part of his mind was happily screching 'I told you so'.

"Don't blame me if you regret this."

"Regret? What would I regret?" Yuma scoffed, hurrying to keep up with Shark's determined pace. "You're not gonna try drowning me or anything, right?"

"Of course not!" Shark called back, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Would I waste my breath telling you not to come if that was the plan?"

The vehemence probably shouldn't have taken Yuma by surprise, but he flinched at the volume, baring his teeth and shrinking back a little into his shoulders.

But, of course, turned right around and tried stretching himself taller and less cowed, hands in the air for a brief moment. "A lot of people say one thing and mean another, you know!" Shrinking once more, he continued walking with his arms crossed again, almost huffy, continuing with a quiet mutter under his breath. "Wouldn't be the first time someone's tried."

Shark had been about to snap back something at Yuma after the first comment, but held his tongue just barely long enough to catch the next one. Hearing enough to make him pause his walking, turn just slightly, and glare - if there was things to mention beforehand, this was definitely one of them.

"Someone's tried to-- where, at the docks?" Shark spoke much quieter, less accusatory, still angry but with worry slipping into his tone.

Oh.

Had he said that aloud?

Immediately, as if it would somehow lessen just what he'd said, Yuma looked off to the side, avoiding Shark's glare. Deflection and self-preservation at its most transparent. "Sorta, maybe. It was a long time ago."

"Go home," Shark growled through his teeth, turning back away and beginning to walk again. "'Cause I'm not pulling you back out if someone tries that again."

It wasn't a very convincing threat, but Shark was past trying to reason with Yuma. If a prior experience like that hadn't deterred him from the docks, nothing would, especially not anything Shark could say.

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