#alliumstrickortreating

“What are you doing?” Tommy finally asked, twisting to roll onto his side, crossing his arms to lay his head on top of them. Tubbo glanced towards him, a considering look on his face before looking away.

“I wanted to befriend that siren down by the caves.” Tubbo responded with a pout, his voice quieter than normal. And for very good reason.

Tommy hissed lightly, moving as if he could push himself away from even the idea of it as he twisted for a moment. Tubbo made a face at him, holding his shell close to his chest as if to protect it from Tommy. Tommy thought it was a stupid idea, but he wouldn’t stop his friend from trying. He would just have to go with; just to make sure that nothing bad happened to him.

“Why would you want to do that?” Tommy asked, eyes wide. Tubbo shrugged, looking down at the shell and rubbing his thumb over it with a frown once he’d decided that Tommy wasn’t going to try to take it or break it. Tommy wouldn’t even think about trying, he would rather steal it for his own collection before he would ever think about breaking a shell.

“They seem lonely.” Tubbo answered with a shrug. Tommy made a face, but to be fair to Tubbo, he was an amazing judge of character and hated for anyone to be lonely. Tommy made a face, his tail twisting in discomfort. He’d heard stories about siren’s and how dangerous they could be. His uncle seemed almost wistful whenever he talked about them though.

“Fine.” Tommy mumbled, and Tubbo brightened up. Tommy had been lonely once, Tubbo being his first friend and everything. “We’ll go down, tomorrow though? Uncle Tech said I have to be in early tonight.” Tommy uttered, Tubbo nodded quickly.

“Remember to find a shell! You have-have to have one too.” Tubbo told him, and Tommy made a face. He sighed but nodded anyway. Tubbo was serious about befriending this siren, and Tommy supposed he should be too. Siren’s were about a lot more about respect than Mers were.

“I’ll find one.” Tommy nodded, though Tubbo made a face at him.

“Let’s look for one now!” Tubbo exclaimed, and Tommy made a small face. He didn’t want to look for one now. He wanted to spend time with his best friend. But when Tubbo had his mind set on something, he had his mind set. There was nothing that would change it. “You’ll forget otherwise!”

“Yeah yeah,” Tommy pushed himself up, flicking to get a boost further up in the water, already starting his small circles as Tubbo pushed himself up too. Tubbo was still holding his shell in hand, and there was an excited light in his eyes. Even if they didn’t find a shell, Tommy was pretty sure that there was a shell he could find in his collection.

Even if it absolutely pains him to take one from there.

Tommy yawned as he swam back into his den. It was quiet, despite the late time, meaning that his uncle was probably out hunting. It wasn’t new, but it was a little lonely and probably would be for at least the next hour or two. Tommy had no clue nor indicator on when his uncle left. He and Tubbo hadn’t managed to find a shell that felt right to Tommy, though Tommy did have a couple new shells for his collection.

Tubbo of course teased him about acting like a siren, collecting things for a collection. Tommy wasn’t insecure about that, as much, anymore. Tubbo was just teasing in good fun, but it was something that often left Tommy thinking.

Tommy tried his best to ignore the thoughts that left him wondering, like why he never knew his mum or dad, or why he never fit in with the other pups in the pod, or why Tubbo seemed so curious about Tommy when they’d first met… or why Tubbo had gifted him a shell when they’d first met. Mers only really gifted shells when they were close to one another, whereas Tommy knew Siren’s to be the opposite.

Tommy shuddered, shaking his head as he swam to the carved out cave his uncle had done when they’d first settled with this pod. It was big enough for Tommy and for his most of his collection; though Tommy had slowly been chipping away another area for the more important shells. Like the one Tubbo had first gifted him, a cone shaped one that Tommy thought reminded him of what people on the surface ate when it was particularly warm. He’d only ever been to the surface once, therefore only seeing that particular thing once, but it reminded him of it. Or the one that Techno had given to him when he was a small pup, which he had called a ‘Kings Crown’. And the first one that Tommy had ever collected himself, a ‘Banded Tulip’.

Tommy hummed, unlooping the woven kelp bag from over his head, gently resting it on the seaweed bed that he wanted to immediately fall down onto so that he could sleep. Though if Tubbo was really determined to befriend this siren, then that meant that Tommy had to be serious about it. He needed to search his collection.

He also had shells to add to it, and that meant that he needed to place them where they felt best. He hummed, trilling every so often as he looked around the carefully and painstakingly carved out shelves in the den walls. It had taken him a cycle on every shelf, and Tommy was nearly 15 cycles. Techno had to help with the first four, because Tommy had only been a 6 cycle old pup when he figured out what shelves were and heard how to make them.

Tommy made sure the bag was securely in his grip before swimming towards the top shelves, they were the empty ones because Tommy liked seeing most of his collection further at the bottom. Not that his den was very big, but it took two flicks of his tail to reach the top. He had various shells scattered at the top, not many, but enough to sort through as he added six new shells. Everything needed to look perfect, even if no one ever saw them.

And if he stumbled upon a shell that felt right, one of his more abandoned ‘Banded Tulips’ that just felt right, then only Tommy had to know that as he carefully set it in his bag. Tubbo would be happy that Tommy had tried and succeeded to part with something from his collection. Because Tommy was very much aware that if the pod they’d settled by suddenly didn’t like them, he would lose most of it.