#toatem

(Hi! I’m not dead! Sorry for the SUPER long wait! I wanted to properly go through the adoption process with @dragonessloves to get three new additions to the family. I’ll be trying to update daily again, but be prepared for mini breaks as I adopt even more children. As always, don’t forget to give @vex-bittys the love she deserves! Without her, these drabbles wouldn’t be a thing; can’t have bitty drabbles without a bitty after all! P.S. be prepared for a post dump, as always, I’ve been liking things instead of reblogging so I don’t bury my previous post under an avalanche of stuff. If you don’t want to dig through my mountain of stuff, be sure to check out my Bitty Drabbles blog, it focuses around the drabbles and bitty topics. And without further delay, here’s the newest drabble! :3)

My victory was bittersweet. Yes, Crim knew that he wouldn’t like coming to work with me every day, but that meant that Crim would still be sad while I was at work. Yeah, he had Kin, but Kin wasn’t always great company. He never participated, only watched from a distance with calculating eyes. It was almost like not having anyone there at all. Almost as if on cue, my phone pinged.

I open it up and it’s a message from Vex. Well, message would be too personal. It was more of a poster. There was a new adoption area, though it wasn’t hers. Run by DragonessLoves. I almost overlooked it until I saw that she didn’t just carry lamia. Though Crim had run off to the TV once we got home, he seemed to sense that I was mesmerized by something and came over to my spot at the table. Kin followed close behind.

I lowered my phone screen to look through the available bitties and their bios. Crim seemed hooked. He scrolled through and skipped over the lamia entirely, but he couldn’t stop staring at the mer. I smiled down at him.

“Would you like to start an aquarium, Crim?” He tilted his head. “Think about it. We could get a few mer to keep you and Kin company while I go to work. We could convert your aquarium to house them. Your heat rock and sleeping area can go in the closet. I’m sure Kin would like that too, since he won’t be out in the open anymore.” I looked down at Kin who was staring intently at my phone screen. Crim contemplated carefully before questioning my motives.

“Not replacing?” I waved my hands immediately in dismissal.

“No, of course not! I just don’t want you to be alone while I’m gone for work. I was thinking of getting maybe a calm white? I know how much you like jokes, so you two could be joke buddies. Then maybe a Mother-tee.”

“You’re Mom!” I chuckled and stroked his skull.

“Yes, I know. I’m your mom. That’s why I want to get her. She could be the mom of the tank. That way you don’t need to worry about the Calm White taking me from you. She’s also supposed to be good with jokes.” Crim nodded and I mused, “I don’t really want to put too much technology in there, so maybe instead of a heater, we could get a Toatem. He’d also be like a small light source, so the room won’t get too dark. I know how you like to have the TV on at night.” Crim blushed and I patted his head again. He wasn’t afraid of the dark, it was easy enough to see for him, but he still liked it for comfort.

“Yeah, ok.” It was almost as if those were the magic words. A soft chiming sounded from the backyard, almost like a soft whisper. All three of our heads turned. Kin narrowed his eyes.

“Magic.” Magic? It sounded again, almost like it was calling to us. I picked up the boys and headed towards the sound. Behind the house, hidden behind the blackberry bushes, was a pathway. It shouldn’t have existed, usually there was a brick wall back there, separating our backyard from the neighbors’ but there it was. Wary of the thorns, I entered. Once I could stand, I was in entirely new surroundings. I looked behind me only to see that my yard was gone, replaced by forest. A woman stood before me, looking as if she were expecting us.

“Hello. Beige, correct?” I nodded dumbly. “Right this way, I have just what you’re looking for.” I followed tentatively, looking around. We were walking up to a series of pools. The trees seemed to grow even taller and more imposing over to the right, a symphony of bird calls echoing through the area. To the left was the mouth of a cave, the interior seeming to be lit by grooves in the rock itself. We were stopped at the edge of one of the pools.

“You said you wanted a mother-tee? I must warn you that most do not take kindly to fell bitties such as your chain.” I looked over to Kin resting on my shoulder. He had a glare on his face. Crim didn’t know how to look, he kept turning his head to look at everything.

“Are there any who might set aside their animosity to befriend Crim, here?” Crim suddenly looked up at his name being called. The mysterious woman gestured to the pool we stood before.

“Try asking them yourself, however try not to get too close, the Mother-tees will adopt anything and would be likely to try and add Crim to their list of offspring.” I took her warning close to heart, stepping close to the pools, but not crouching low enough for anyone to grab the Coral from my shoulders. Many furry white heads had already broken the surface. Many were staring at Kin worriedly, however there were a few who only had eyes for Crim.

“Hello there. Would any of you be willing to come home with me? This is Crim, and he needs someone to keep him company during the day when I’m gone. Of course, Kin here lives there too, so if that’ll be a problem, then you shouldn’t come.” A few heads disappeared back under the surface, probably to go back to those they’d adopted, but several continued to stare. Finally, one of the mother-tees hoisted herself out of the water, sitting at the edge of the pool.

“Would you like to come home with us?” She chuckled and patted the hand I offered her.

“My child.” I blushed. She wasn’t talking about Crim. The mysterious woman gave a knowing smile as she began to walk again. I picked up the mother-tee before following.

“The Calm Whites are right over here.” The mother-tee seemed to perk up at this. Before I could bend down to have another meet and greet, the mother-tee leapt from my hands, diving gracefully into the pool. Many of the calm whites moved away, keeping a safe enough distance while also making themselves seem calm and aloof. Though Calm Whites and Mother-Tees are known to get along together according to their bios, mother-tees could be a bit stifling, and Calm Whites like at least some space to themselves.

One calm white didn’t bother moving away, and the mother-tee scooped him right up. He didn’t struggle as she swam him back to us.

“This one. He’s mine.” I smiled and picked them both up.

“Well thanks for helping us choose.” The calm white cracked open one eye, closing it again after taking in the situation. I took that to mean he was ok with going home with us. I turned to the woman. “And the Toatems?” She smiled and nodded, almost gliding through the area to yet another pool

“Be careful. Pick them up by their crater. They are made of lava after all.” I nodded and looked down to the slightly glowing pool. I could see several pairs of eyes staring back up at me. I waved with my one free arm.

“Hello there. I’m Beige. Would any of you like to come home with me? I wanted someone to light and heat up the tank for the other bitties. I’d understand if none of you would be comfortable with that though. Just let me know.” I waited for a few moments, but none of them said anything. Before I could stand again and just leave them be, a small lava ball broke the water’s surface, only to plop back down again. When I looked back, there was a toatem pointing to himself. I smiled as I bent down to scoop him.

The water wasn’t too deep, but it was fairly warm, probably on account of all the other Toatems in the same area. The other Toatems were courteous enough to try and scoot their craters away enough so that I wouldn’t touch them by accident. I held him carefully, my entire arm soaked, but I wasn’t too worried about that. Crim was staring intently at the three new additions to our household. The mysterious woman smiled as she saw how I stared as well.

“It seems everything is in order. You can leave wherever you want. All paths lead to the same place.”

“Wait, what is this place?”

“It’s where I help people find bitties who want homes.”

“Who are you?”

“I thought that was obvious.” She flashed me a toothy grin. “You can call me Dragoness.” DragonessLoves, of course! She gestured to the trees. “If ever you need me, the gateway shall reopen. Do take care though, if any of those bitties gets hurt,” Her pupils, so human before, flashed into dangerous slits, “you can kiss you life goodbye.” Her voice had dropped an octave lower, almost like a growl. Even Kin was too stunned to respond. A blink later and her eyes were once again normal, and as she spoke, so was her voice, almost too cheery after that outburst.

“Now go on, you have a lot to do to get that tank of yours ready, don’t you?” I nodded dumbly, walking to the trees before me. I turned around to ask something more, but the clearing was gone. I quickly turned once more to make sure we were on the right path, but instead of forest, I could see my backyard. I was mindful of the thorns once again and once I stepped out of the tunnel, it was once again a brick wall. I did a double take, and it was the Calm White that snapped me out of it.

“Well that was a turnaround.” I blinked down at him before chuckling at his joke.

“Let’s get you guys inside. We’ll give you the grand tour.”

·        Toatem

Classic Grillby

Mer Type: Lava/Volcanic Elemental

Size: Crater is 3 inches (doesn’t change), 9-11 inches without crater

Personality: Despite being branded a hothead, Toatem’s are very calm and provide tank mates with both a sympathetic ear and suitable warmth that most of the other mer require. All this mer really needs to be happy are a nice corner to ‘set up shop’ and other mer to entertain.

CAUTION

(I should not be allowed in pet stores if I have the ability to actually adopt animals, because you bet I’ll leave with something XDDD Why do you think the first thing I did when I discovered online adoptions this happened? Thanks again @vex-bittys and @dragonessloves, I love my children. I hope you enjoy the second part of the recollection of the day where I had no self control. X3)

The bettas, they were so gorgeous! So many different shades of so many different colors! There were so many different fin types, from twintails to half moons. I was mesmerized. I looked at every single fish, gushing over each of its defining traits. Instead of being jealous, I think Crim shared in my enthusiasm, pointing them out.

Of course, we looked through the males first, but then when we got to the females, there was one that I just couldn’t tear my gaze away from. Of course, being a female betta, her fins weren’t as long or luxurious, but her coloration was gorgeous. She was a halfmoon, so her fins ruffled out elegantly.

Her body and fins were a deep, but shining, navy blue, but the tips of her fins, they were the most eye-catching shade of red that faded right into the blue seamlessly. I picked up her painfully small container to examine her further. The store had to be feeding these fish bloodworms for their colors to be so vibrant, and I just couldn’t seem to put her down.

She was pretty cheap for a halfmoon, even if she was female, but I think Crim liked her too. He actually crawled from his spot in my scarf to climb my arm and examine her in her container up close. Before I could put her back down, Jay came over looking dejected.

“She got adopted. The kitten I wanted, she got adopted before I could get here.” I walked over and patted his back with my free hand.

“I’m sorry, Jay. Do you wanna look at the other cats they have?” He shrugged and I took that as an ok, so I grasped his hand in mine and walked him back over to the adoption area, fish still in hand. When we got there, the woman in charge of watching the cats in their enclosures noticed the fish and had me place it at her desk before entering. I felt that that was fair.

Each cat had its own description. The kittens all seemed to be highly energized. I let the woman know about Kin and Crim. As long as they weren’t part of the store’s stalk, they were ok to be in there. She thought it was a good idea that we’d brought them, as she agreed it might be a hazard to bring a cat home if you didn’t know if it would attack other already established pets.

Jay went off on his own, looking at all the cats they had available. He kept his eyes on the kittens. I went over to the older cats. You never knew what you’d be getting with kittens, but older cats already had their personalities mostly worked out. I made sure to hold up Crim to see the cats’ reactions to him. Any who seemed like they wanted to pounce I moved away from. It was safe since they were all in cages.

There were only two older cats who seemed mellow enough around Crim. They glanced over and just went back to lazing about. Both had been there a while and probably didn’t have much hope of leaving any time soon. The male, Big Jack, was all black. He was a big boy and his description reminded me of the corny’s from back when I adopted Crim.

The girl, she was a gray tabby named Tilly. She spent her time gazing out of her enclosure and through the glass that separated her from the rest of the store. Her paper said that she hadn’t taken well to being put in the small cage, but back in the foster home, she was a cuddle bug. I interrupted Jay’s search through the kittens to suggest the two.

Jay waved me off at first, but after going through each of the kittens’ bios, none seemed to be what he was looking for in a cat. Yes, they were cute, but they also had boundless energy. We wouldn’t be able to keep up with them, and in boredom, they would undoubtedly tear up the house. I was finally able to wrench Jay away from their area and pull him over to the adult cats.

He didn’t want Big Jack. Even if he was super cuddly, males had a chance to spray, and neither of us wanted that. The woman was surprised when we asked to see Tilly, but he complied and opened up the cage. It took a little coaxing, but once Tilly realized that we wanted to pet her and show her attention, she came right over, rubbing her face against us. That was all Jay needed to fall in love.

Papers were signed, things were bought, and we soon had a cat to our name. Then I remembered the fish, going to the desk to pick her up. I held her up tentatively to Jay. He chuckled lightly at me. He may not have had enough money to get Tilly himself, but he did have enough to buy my fish. I still hadn’t gotten my paycheck yet, so I was over the moon.

We were both satisfied as we walked back to the car. Jay had a new cat and I had a new fish. Crim had pet Tilly’s fur, against the wishes of a tense Kin, but once Kin saw that Tilly was a gentle giant, he relented. He still glared and kept a close eye, but Tilly didn’t know he was being hostile, so no harm done. Crim stared at the fish as we were driven home.

“Name?” Crim was pointing to the fish. I hummed and stared at her.

“I think I’ll call her Undyne.” Crim smiled. He seemed to like that name. I thought it fit too. Jay and his dad spoke about Tilly the whole drive back. I was just super excited about Undyne. With how Crim stared, I’m sure he was too.

(Hey! I hope @dragonessloves is ready for another ask, because this chapter introduces a new potential addition to the family. A family that was started by @vex-bittys X3 I hope you enjoy!)

A few days passed and things were becoming routine. I’d go to work and when I’d come home, I’d be greeted by everyone. I did notice a slight change in demeanor from the tank though. Tiki was the same as ever, but then Maki started cracking less and less jokes.

Depression is a bit difficult to spot in the best of people, but it’s a little easier when you know what to look for. These were classic signs in regards to sans-type bitties. It was only further supported by the way I caught Mamati glancing over her shoulder at him, checking up on his condition.

I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it, so I waited for a day when Ella could sufficiently distract Crim, and by extension Kin, in the kitchen. Even then, I tried to tread lightly. Maki was lounging on the basking rock.

“Hey, Maki?”

“Hmm?”

“Are you ok?” His classic smile dipped for a moment.

“Water you getting at?” I didn’t laugh at his attempt at lightening the situation.

“You’ve seemed down the last couple of days.” He looked away a bit, then sighed.

“I miss my brother.” This was news to me.

“You had a brother?” He nodded. Mamati looked on sadly. Maki didn’t seem like he was going to continue talking, so Mamati took over for him.

“Maki and I were friends, that’s why when you said you wanted a Calm White, I picked him. When we first met, we just told jokes to each other from different pools. Then I decided that I wanted to adopt him, so like any good mother, I went to go pick him up and bring him home.” Maki seemed to crack a small genuine smile at that.

“After a while, he became sad. I asked him why, but he wouldn’t tell me. Eventually, one day, a Prancing Pony came to our pond. The other Mother-Tees and I were so stunned that someone came to us alone that none of us went to claim him immediately.  He scanned the area quickly and when he spotted Maki he yelled at me. He demanded that I return his brother at once.

“Of course I was ready to protect my young, but Maki tensed up. He demanded that the Prancing Pony leave before it was too late. I took in the situation and realized that this was probably the reason why Maki was so sad all of a sudden. Right then and there, I declared both Maki and his brother as mine.

“Before much more could be said, I grabbed Maki and swam up into an adjacent pond. There, we struck a deal. Maki and his brother would be under my protection, whether it be from other Mother-Tees or actual hostile mer, and I would be able to visit Maki in his pond to tell jokes every now and again. Both were grateful that I was willing to claim them from a distance.

“I’m sorry, Maki, I didn’t mean to take you away from your brother for a second time.” I was almost in tears myself. What a heart-wrenching story, and now it was my fault for their separation. I had to make this right. I told the two that I would be right back. Mamati began to console Maki, who wasn’t even putting up much effort to smile anymore. A rarity for any Sans bitty. I hoped that I could fix this situation.

(Sorry for not posting guys! Wednesdays are my long days at work and I pretty much passed out right when I got home! It was just supposed to be a quick nap, but Jay [yes, he’s real, I just alter his real name for safety reasons] decided to let me sleep in. Granted, I needed it, falling asleep right when I got home actually gave me the eight hours of sleep I’m supposed to get [the perks of having to wake up around four in the morning, yes, that tidbit from the work drabble is also true], but that meant I couldn’t post for you guys like I said I would! Maybe Wednesdays will be my no post day, but taking that nap was a freak occurrence so probably not. Anyways, sorry about that and onto the drabble. Ah, and as always, be sure to check out @vex-bittys and @dragonessloves :3)

Jay was surprised when he got home, but he wasn’t upset. I told him I would pay him back for the supplies I bought, but he just waved me off. He thought Tiki was cool and loved the setup. He was surprised when he heard that Crim had picked out the gravel color. It was my favorite after all. Tiki’s light was just right for us to sleep to as well.

I had work the next afternoon. I would be learning how to close. Thanks to that fact, I didn’t have to wake up at an ungodly hour. I still woke up before Crim did, though I suspected that Kin would be awake by now. I made my way over to the tank. Maki was basking in the heat lamp. Mamati had her arms on the floating island, and the two were quietly throwing jokes back and forth. They stopped when I approached.

“Hey there. I have work in a bit, so I was hoping you guys could keep Crim and Kin company? Mostly Crim… He gets lonely without me here. That’s actually why I came to Dragoness’ forest. Would you be ok with helping Kin keep him distracted while I’m away?” Tiki made a single nod and the other two just smiled.

“I’m sure he’s got a great poisonality, I’m really hard to hiss off.” Mamati and I both laughed at Maki’s jokes, but Mamati reassured me.

“Do not worry, he will be safe and happy with us.” I sighed in relief.

“Thanks. I’ll be back around eight tonight.” They nodded, resuming their back and forth punning as I started getting ready. Crim was awake before I had to go, and to make things better, Ella arrived. I, may have neglected to tell her about the new additions to the family. She nearly exploded in excitement when I told her I got even more bitties. I had to introduce her before I left.

“Oh, they’re so cute!” All three mer smiled and chuckled at her observation. Introductions were made quickly as I had to go and catch my bus. I made sure to give Crim a good cuddle before leaving out the door. Seeing Crim try and more thoroughly introduce Ella to the aquarium dwellers made my heart swell. Yeah, they would be fine.

I was exhausted when I got home. Jay opened up the door for me. Ella would already be gone by now. I needed to sleep, but my priority was checking up on everyone in the room. Jay started on microwaving something while I went to open the door. There was giggling coming from the other side, so that was good.

“I’m home.”

“Beige!” Crim slithered to the edge of the table facing me, opening up his arms wide. “Welcome home!” I smiled and walked over, scooping him up into my arms.

“You’re quite chatty tonight, what’s up? How was your day?”

“Titi teaching me!”

“Titi?”

“Mamati. Teaching me talk better. I teach her signing.” I walked over. Tiki was in his usual spot. Maki seemed to be taking a nap on the surface of the tank, just floating on his back, Mamati was right up against the glass, as if she and Crim were talking before I came in. Looking around, I spotted Kin leaning back against the side of the tank opposite to the door. We caught each other’s gazes, but his wasn’t sharp like usual, just… lazy? It was strange seeing him so calm, usually he was on high alert.

“So, you’re teaching Crim to speak better?”

“Indeed. He tried to communicate to me using his hands, but quickly found that I didn’t quite understand him. He had a bit of trouble explaining their meanings, so I offered to help him with his speech. He seemed excited at the prospect.”

“And the Titi thing?” She blushed minutely.

“That is a nickname he came up for me. His tongue would get a little tied if he said my full name too much.”

“Ok, Titi.” The blush deepened. “I have a few books in the house you can use to help him. They’re not like english textbooks or anything, but they’re something.” Her eyes seemed to shine at the prospect. I took that as an affirmative and left to go grab them from a shelf in the living room. Crim came with me naturally. I set them next to the tank. I didn’t get any books too big for the boys to open themselves. They could just sit on the pages to keep them open.

“You mind helping Kin out too? He’s not very talkative himself.” Kin seemed to get a little rattled at that, but he responded well enough.

“I learn. Don’t worry.” I put my hands up in defence.

“Ok, ok, I won’t say anything more. How was everyone’s day though?” Crim, of course, was the one to answer, giving me all the details of what happened while Ella was here, what happened after she left, and what his lesson of the day was like. He seemed happy, and I was happy for him.

I was glad that I was able to find more friends for Crim. I wouldn’t be able to thank them enough for keeping him entertained. It was my second ever best decision, topped only by the adoption of Crim himself. He was certainly a guiding light in my life. I wouldn’t have traded him for anything else in the world.

(I know, I know, this chapter is up pretty late. What can I say, I work weird hours. At least it was posted on the right day [for me at least]. As long as it gets out there right? Well, as always, shoutout to @vex-bittys and @dragonessloves :3)

Jay started setting up cat stuff when we got back. I went into the garage to dig out my old fish supplies. I remembered idly that my bigger fish bowl had been broken, so I settled for a smaller one. The aquarium was being used for the mer, so that wasn’t an option. Though I’m sure that the mer wouldn’t harm her, bettas are territorial and I knew that if I put her in there, she would attack the mer, even if she couldn’t really do much damage.

A bowl it was. I scooped some gravel from the big tank, took a small plant from the middle of the aquarium so the setup wouldn’t look lopsided, then started on putting water into the bowl. Of course, you had to be patient with this kind of thing, so Undyne wouldn’t be going in until the water was room temperature.

In the meantime, I explained everything that happened to the curious mer. They were slightly worried about the introduction of the cat, but when they saw what a lazy pushover she was, they calmed down. Tilly, she was like a whole new cat when we brought her home. The first thing she did when we let her loose was go under the bed, but it was more an exploration than her trying to hide from us.

After about a minute, she came out and hopped onto the bed. Jay and I were already sitting and she sat right between us, folding herself into a cat loaf. She started loudly purring when we began to pet her. Crim came right over to join in the fun. She sniffed his skeletal hand and laid her head in his lap. He laughed and started petting her face.

She was super gentle with him, but though Kin trusted her well enough to let Crim be that close, he didn’t come over himself, staying a safe enough distance away, while still remaining close enough to grab Crim should the need arise. Everything was ok though, and we all just sat there and pet the new member of the household as she fell asleep.

After a while, I deemed the water ready enough to start acclimating Undyne. She was upset at being moved to a bag for better floating, but looked around almost excitedly at the big space around her. It wasn’t ideal in my eyes, but it was still a big improvement from what she was in before. Crim watched as she swam around, trying to break through the plastic barrier before her.

After about half an hour, I set her loose and Crim stared as she zipped around, claiming her new territory. She ended up tiring herself out, resting near the small plant taken from the mer enclosement. The bowl was on the same table as the aquarium, so Crim wouldn’t need to go far if he ever wanted to watch Undyne swim around. She was quite the feisty fish.

Everyone went to bed happy and I again had the day off, so I was able to greet Ella at the door the next morning. She practically ran to the room to meet Tilly, having seen the post Jay had made the previous evening. Tilly was happy to receive the attention, rolling over so that Ella had the chance to thoroughly pet her. Once she was done with that, I introduced her to Undyne, who was swimming around her new territory briskly.

Ella was super excited about all the new additions to our house. She hoped we added more, since she wasn’t able to add anything to her own home. I told her that she would be the first to know if we added anyone else to our quickly growing family. It seemed likely though, since there was a lot of room yet left in our house.

As long as Crim was ok with it, I wouldn’t mind anything else that would come. In fact, with how these additions were affecting him, I’d almost encourage it. We’d get to that whenever it came though. For now, it would be best to just take things one step at a time.

(Ahh, It’s still technically today for me! Who am I kidding, it’s so late, haha. I really need to get into the swing of updating again. I am now proud to say that I have two people to consistently shout out. @vex-bittys and @dragonessloves. Check them out, guys, they have some pretty cool bitties up for adoption. :3)

Crim seemed super excited now that everything was official. Because the mother-tee and calm white were already close, he didn’t feel threatened by their presence. The mother-tee humored him as he described everything in the house. She put on quite the calming aura. Not once did she give Kin a glare, despite his best attempts to bore a hole through her skull with his own icy stare. I did catch the calm white eyeing him up though. The toatem was fairly silent throughout the whole ordeal, nodding politely when appropriate.

When we were done, I decided to get started on the tank. I thoroughly scrubbed it in the tub, placing all of Kin and Crim’s items in the closet, then filled it up with water. While it got up to room temperature, I put some water in a bucket. We were going to the pet store.

There was one right down the street so we didn’t need to call an Uber and awkwardly ask if we could bring in a bucket of water and five foreign creatures with us. Though they specialized in birds, they would have what we needed.

Off to the side, I picked up necessities like water purifiers, a filter, and plant conditioners. I had Crim help pick out the gravel color, and he chose Blue surprisingly, in between aqua and a deep ocean color. The mother-tee and calm white were throwing fish puns back and forth. I chuckled.

“You know, someone I knew once had a fish named fishimi.” both howled with laughter. When they were done, the calm white was pointing to himself.

“Sushi?”

“What, you wanna be called sushi?” He shook his head.

“Something like sushi.” I hummed in thought.

“How about Maki?” He shrugged, a wide grin on his face.

“Eh, good enough.” I laughed.

“Maki it is then.” Once we had all the necessities, we went over to the decorations section. Surprisingly, the Toatem pointed at something. “Huh? You want the Tiki Totem pole?” I chuckled, “how am I not surprised?” I picked it up then pondered for a moment. “You like this stuff, right?” A brief nod. I flashed a toothy grin before suggesting, “How about we call you Tiki then?” His face flushed tiny blue flames for a moment before he nodded. I would have pet him were he not made of literal fire.

“Well then, it’s very nice to meet you, Tiki. And how about you then? While we’re on the subject of names.” She folded her arms.

“I am Mother.”

“Yes, a mother-tee, but don’t you want a nickname at the very least?” She turned up her nose until Crim came to the rescue.

“Mama-tee?” She looked up. There was no resisting the cuteness of Crim. I hummed, adding in my own input.

“Hmm, how about Mamati? Like Mama-tee, only shorter?” Crim put a smile on his face after making sure no one in the store was looking and the mother-tee blushed.

“Alright, Mamati then.” I chuckled.

“Pleasure to meet you, Mamati.” She rolled her eyes, but helped scan for more decorations. We picked up a heat lamp and basking rock for them before heading over to the aquatic plants section. After picking a few up, We walked home, everything bagged away and resting heavily in my elbows. I was relieved when I could set it all down.

“Ok then, let’s get started!” The three mer watched me from their bucket as I set up the tank, rinsing the gravel before laying it out. I then placed the decorations and buried the plants in the gravel. Setting up the filter, heat lamp, and basking areawent smoothly and I put in the water purifier and some vitamins for the plants to finish it off. even with our trip to the store, the water was less than warm.

“All done, but would it be too cold now, or?” I could hear Tiki make a fire crackling sound from the bottom of the bucket. I looked inside and he was motioning for me to pick him up. I did so carefully and he pointed to the tank. I smiled. “Will you be heating up the tank then?” He nodded and I asked, “Where would you like to be placed?”

He looked around at the setup, then decided he’d like to be near the left side of the tank, a little under where the filter ran. He probably wanted to use the current to waft his warmth throughout the tank. I carefully set him down where he requested. He seemed to purposefully make his flames larger to help speed up the process. Crim was right next to the tank, staring inside with his hands and face up against the glass. I chuckled at his antics.

“Give them some room, Crim, they’ll be around for a while.” He huffed at me, and stopped touching the glass, but he didn’t stop staring. Mamati giggled at our interaction. After a few minutes, I held up the bucket to the edge of the tank. Mamati took Maki into her arms before sliding into the tank. She sighed in delight, gliding through the water.

Crim’s focus was trained on anything that moved within the glass confines. I let him be. Kin watched Crim slither around the tank, watching the three mer as they settled in. The very tip of his tail wagged back and forth, showing that despite his stoic face, he was happy with the situation. I smiled at them both, leaving them be. There was still a living room to clean. Well, that’s what happens when you drag the hose through the house…