#outertale papyrus

// ship-Hue (Undertone Papyrus) x Comet (Outertale Papyrus), m/m //fluff. Mention of injuries. merfolk. Skeleton //

He fumbles for his key card to swipe and hurries through to the labs biggest recovery tank. The short call he had gotten from his coworker informed him the recuse team had found a Whitetip Reef Shark Merfolk caught up in discarded netting very far from any reef. The Mer was too hurt to simply release back to his natural habitat so now he waits in the recovery tank. Comet could not be more excited (and slightly saddened to hear of the conditions the Mer was found in). He’d always been especially intrigued by the merfolk unit in his studies and now he gets to see one in real life?! This will be the pinnacle of his career.

Comet stops right outside the door to take a deep breath and calm his racing mind, finally he enters the observation room while trying to be as professional as possible.

He greets his colleagues and wanders over to the double layered glass wall of the tank. There he was, pressed up against the back wall of his enclosure, clearly trying to hide from his captors stayed one of the biggest marine creatures Comet had ever seen in this tank. Despite this being the largest tank in the facility it almost looked too small for such a creature, no where near enough space for him explore or swim freely. It seemed like enough room for him to turn around and that was it. Comet had never see a more unhappy fish.

“Oh wowie…” He breathed in awe. Observing how the Mer’s skeletal figure morphs into a shark body.

“Incredible, right?” One of comet’s colleague remarks, coming to stand beside him. “Adult, male, measured in at 6,2 in just the shark part alone! far larger than his animal counterpart, 10,3 all up. Unfortunately he refused to cooperate and get on the scale so we don’t have a weight yet.”

Comet chuckles, he hadn’t even see the Mer move yet and he already seemed pretty sassy- or you know, not fond of being abducted and manhandled.

“He doesn’t seem to happy to be here,” he glances around the tank, seeing how the food provided to the Mer has been left untouched. “He’s not eating?”

“No, we’ve giving him all the usual diet for a Whitetip but he seems uninterested…” his colleague frowns. “We hope he’s just getting used to the new environment rather than it be an underlying health problem. Maybe you can convince him to eat over tonight. You sure you want to stay watch overnight? It’s your days off.”

“Of course I want to be here! This is an incredible find, and I refuse to leave this creature alone while he’s this hurt,” Comet scoffs. “Day off or not, you can rest assured that I will care for him in your absence.” He promises. His colleague smiles.

“Heh, you’re always so committed, Comet. Alright just make sure you record anything that happens in the system. We’ll be back in the morning so you can fill us in then.”

Comet see off his colleagues and sets up his work station. He’s got his laptop and notebook ready, a hot chocolate and snacks and his chair facing directly towards the tank window to watch for the Mer’s activities. He also lowers the lights as much as he can, one, cause he can’t stand the big light being on and two, to allow the Mer to see it’s nighttime. Being trapped in a lab sometimes confuses creatures circadian rhythm.

And he sits, and waits. Not long after the lowers the lights the Mer starts to explore the tank a bit more, mostly sticking to the bottom but clearly observing the whole area. His eyes land on the food, floating just outside the window. Slowly he swims closer to inspect the food before choosing a squid from the options and snacking on it. Comet immediately writes down his actions, quite pleased that the Mer his eating, and so soon at that. Looking back up to observe more and it’s obvious the Mer was hungry as he’s eaten most of the pile already.

“Oh, of course! You’re nocturnal.” This Mer’s animal counterpart hunts at night and hides in cave during the day, it makes sense the Mer works do the same. Comet keeps watching as the Mer finishes off the food, devouring the rest of the cuttlefish and squids like he hadn’t eaten in days- And to Comets knowledge he might not have. Looking a bit closer Comet can see the cuts and marks left from the netting the poor Mer was caught in. There’s red lines all over his body, some of the netting must have dug in deeper than other parts cause there’s heavy cuts all down the Mer’s left side. Comet takes note of that too, though he’s sure his injuries have already been recorded. He sets down his pen and slowly getting up, moving closer to the glass.

The Mer seems to be looking around again, still acting hungry. Now he’s closer Comet can see the Mer much better. Red crosshatching cuts cover his body, his fins look badly damaged though Comets unsure if it’s effecting his swimming or not. He appears to be using his arms to getting around but Comets unsure if that’s because his injuries, just how he swims or if it’s an easier way to manoeuvre in the smaller space. The information on merfolk is not something that’s easy to come by. Comet also notices some bite marks on the end of some of his fins and his arms. Perhaps he was attacked while vulnerable in the netting, although he seemed to have fought off his attacker. Comet had spent so long staring at the Mer, mesmerised by its presence he hadn’t realised the Mer was staring back. He suddenly feels very vulnerable, despite the two layers of thick glass that separates them.

Comet flinches seeing the eyes of the Mer locked with his own. The sudden movement startling the Mer and he dives back to the floor for the tank, looking for a safety cave to hide in, unfortunately the observation tank had to remain clear so the scientists could observe so the Mer was only meet with disappointing discomfort.

“Oo! Sorry..” Comet cringes at his actions. He feels rather bad for the Mer, having been left out in the open like this would be uncomfortable for any creature but especially ones that are meant to live in a protected reef environment. It’s also a little uncomfortable having something this close to being a person in what is essentially a cage.

Comet decides that maybe feeding the Mer will help gain him some trust, plus, he seems hungry still. Comet wanders up the stairs to the open top of the tank. Grabbing a squid from the feeding box and walking to the edge of the pool. Looking down through the water he can see the Mer staring up at him from the bottom of the tank, watching curiously. Comet offers the squid, chucking it in the water for the Mer. As soon as he sees the food the Mer shyly swims up and snatches it, swimming back down a safe distance from the surface to devour the squid. Comet smiles. Clearly the Mer was still hungry so Comet carries over a bucket of feed over to the pool and throws another piece of food in the water, a bit closer this time to see if the Mer will get closer. Sitting down criss-cross applesauce at the edge of the pool to observe the Mer’s behaviour.

To Comet surprise the Mer actually did get closer, before snatching the food and swimming away again.

“Progress!” He cheers to himself. He places a chunky crab in the water, just within arms reach to really see. The Mer seems wary but does approach, he surfaces a few meters away, glancing between Comet and the food. Comet smiles gently and reaches out pushing the crab a little closer to the Mer. He flinches nervously but soon relaxes and grabs the crab. He doesn’t swim off with it this time, instead he stares at Comet as he eats the entire thing in one bite.

Comet gulps. Now the Mer was this close he realised just how big the creature really was. He felt tiny compared to the shark. A little nervous, he places another squid in the water.

‘He’s probably more scared of you than you are of him. Besides he’s a reef shark, they aren’t know to attack with good reason.’ Comet thinks to himself as the Mer warily approaches. ‘Just don’t give him a good reason..’. The Mer quickly scoffs down the squid before swimming to the edge where Comet, and more importantly the bucket where, lifting himself slightly out of the water to look in the magic food bucket. The bucket which was sat right next to Comet.

“WOAH! Ah-hi!” Comet panics, ever so slightly terrified. The Mer shrinks again, backing away with wide eyes. “Ah- no, no it’s okay,” Comet tries to comfort, taking another crab out of the bucket and placing it on the edge for the Mer. “See? It’s okay..”

The Mer relaxes again and takes the crab and chomps down before eyeing off the bucket again. “Hungry, huh?” Comet smiles and picks out another crab for the Mer, holding it out to him on an open palm.

Hand feeding the healing animals was one of the great joys for Comet in this job, really makes him feel like he’s bonding with the creatures and earning their trust. Which probably would have happened if the Mer didn’t have arms of his own. He happily takes the crab from Comet and chows down, leaving Comet feeling slightly embarrassed about forgetting the creature had limbs.

“Ah-right. That’s like, your defining trait..” He blushes slightly, a pretty indigo blue subtly covering his cheeks, he makes a mental note to make sure he doesn’t repeat this in front of his colleagues. The Mer seems almost amused by Comet blushing, making a little chittering noise at him.

“What? You think that’s funny?! I mean you can’t blame me most of my patients only have fins, and flippers- maybe a tentacle at most, well 8 at most but still. ” Comet tries to defends himself but ends up just rambling about random animal facts to which the Mer chitters again. Comet smiles, and passes the Mer more food. He swims a little closer, no longer focused on the bucket or the food, simply holding the snack in his hands. “Mhm? You’re not hungry anymore? Or… are you trying to eat me?” Comet jokes, or at least hopes it’s a joke. The Mer seems to smiles and place the food on the edge of the pool and positioning himself right in front of his gracious food giver. He chatters a clicks like he’s trying to talk to Comet, and his soul almost melts. “Aww~ you seem happier now my little- not so little friend,” He holds his hand out to the Mer, his fear of the larger creature now completely forgotten. In turn the Mer presses his face into his palm, slightly damp but surprisingly smooth for a creature with that many wounds. He pulls away and comes to rest on the edge of the pool, looking up at Comet, his tired eyes still showing curiosity for the land dweller. Comet shifts his sitting position to he can take a better look at the Mer, gently running his hand over the creatures skull. It was surprising how many aquatic species enjoy being pet, this one seems no different as he lets out a soft coo and closes his eyes for a moment.

Much to the disagreement of the general public Comet finds almost all the animals he looks after in the centre rather cute but this one, this sharky-skeleton hybrid, something about him made Comet feel warm inside. Maybe it was the fact the Mer’s shark half couldn’t be seen from this angle but having this cuties man cuddling against his hand strongly reminded Comet why he had to 🌈come out🌈 in the first place. Blushing a little he continues to pet the Mer, watching him try to fight off sleep as he makes a low humming noise, almost like a soft purring.

“I bet you’re exhausted after all that, being caught up in a net and removed from your safe reef… only to be brought to an unknown, unnatural tank,” Comet frowns when the Mer stop purring and glances at him, looking anxious. “It’s for your own good, I promise. We’ll get you fixed up and figure out which reef you used to swim in, then we’ll take you back, okay?” The Mer’s eyes shift slightly, looking slightly hopeful for a second before he shoves his face back into Comets hand and coos, looking like he could almost fall asleep right there.

Comet gives a half smile, trying to hide the disappointment he felt from knowing he’d have to let this beautiful creature go once he’s healed. He forces a smiles, it would be a good few months before his wounds would heal, he’d have plenty of time to spend with the Mer.

“You should go catch up on some rest,” Comet tells the Mer, gently tilting his head to see as he blinks sleepily at him. The Mer’s cheeks turn a light amber and he turns away, nodding.

He gives Comets head one more little nudge before submerging back into the water, the wet sensation feeling cool on his face and arms as he’d began to dry while leaning on the edge of the pool.

Comet puts the unwanted food back in the bucket before heading stands back up and drags it over to where it belongs. Heading back down to the lab floor he glances through the window to watch as the Mer curls himself into a little comfy ball on the bottom of the tank. He smiles and goes to write down his discoveries, though he decides to leave his feelings on the creature out of his report.