Fic: From Fins to Wings (3/?)
Info and Warnings are posted in Chapter 1, Chapter 2
Chapter rating: PG13
Misha was afraid, the ground he was on was moving and bouncing. “It’s okay,” Jensen was crouched beside him, pulling the clinging membrane back over his head when he realized he was looking out. “We’ll be home soon, I know you can’t breathe well but it’ll be okay.”
Misha sighed at the cool water poured down his back, shifting as the membrane kept his gills from opening fully. A webbed hand reached out, wishing he understood Jensen. Jensen jumped when Misha’s hand touched his arm, making Misha jerk back, fearing he’d done something wrong. “It’s okay, you just spooked me.” Confused blue eyes watched Jensen reach out to take a webbed hand and squeeze it. “We’re gonna get you in some water, make sure yer okay and then we’ll let you go in a few days after we’re sure you won’t go into shock from all this.”
Misha gave a short yelp, spreading out as the floor jerked to a stop. “You’re so lucky they got the truck running…” the floor was moving the opposite way now. Misha whined softly at Jared looking back at them from inside the odd enclosure.
“Just take it easy Jay, he’s already under a lot of stress.”
“Yeah, yeah,” the floor stopped moving again and Jared disappeared from view. Soon after a growling groan made Misha jump and pull his tail away from the predator he couldn’t see.
“It’s okay, we’re here,” Misha gave a high pitches sound as Jensen slipped hands under his arms. “We’re gonna pick you up so we can get you in the pool. So don’t thrash okay?”
Something touched his tail, making him jerk. “Shit,” Jared got smacked in the chest, sending him flying backward into the pool.
Splash. Misha stilled at the sound, water. Squirming until he got free of the membrane and Jensen’s grip he looked out at the odd pool of water. A few happy notes sounded as he squirmed and clawed at the odd floor until he was at the edge of it, reaching out to touch the water.
“Jared, you okay?”
Jared popped up above the water line, coughing and sputtering, “Yeah, just knocked the wind out of me… You owe me a new phone…” Jared jerked away from the splash as 7+ feet of merman hit the water.
Misha took a deep breath, sighing softly at the warmer water before quickly circling around the small pond. He ended up smiling at Jared floundering toward the shore before swimming over to watch as he kicked odd duel fins.
Jared was reaching out to grab for the edge of the pool when he was suddenly pulled downward. He flailed, striking the rim of the pool with his hand before he was suddenly released to pull himself up, Jensen hovering like a worried mother as he coughed and sputtered.
“You okay?!”
“Yeah,” Jared snorted and lifted his right knee to pick his sock foot out of the water. “I lost my shoe…”
Jensen started laughing and couldn’t stop. “Don’t worry, he’ll probably give it back.”
Misha blinked up at Jensen laughing, smiling before surfacing, “Jeeeeenseeeeeen,” he frowned at the odd fin cover before setting it on the odd shore and frowning at the odd color of Jared’s fins. “JaaaaaRED,” Misha blinked at them laughing. Had he said it wrong?
“What was that?”
“Sounded like a whale trying to bark…”
Misha frown at the two laughing before blinking at the odd texture of Jared’s uncovered fin. What’s this? The coloring was weird, Misha jerked back when the fin wiggled, indentations showing. Fin cramping?
Jared jumped when Misha grabbed his foot, twitching as fingers started rubbing the bottom of his foot. “Stop it, that tickles!”
Misha blinked, the fin was moving too much to be a fin. A high pitched yelp sounded as the fin slid off, he let out a string of dolphin chatter as he flung it away. Parasite! Leech! Fin eater! He quickly flicked his tail and made it up on the bank with the others, pulling his tail close to keep the creature slowly sinking into the water, away.
“What the hell’s that all about?” Jared laughed and reached out to grab for his sock.
Misha let out an ear piercing note before slapping the evil thing away. Parasite bad! Eat fins, drain fish!
“I think he thinks it’s alive…” Jensen blinked at Misha patting at what would be his thigh.
Evil! Eat fins, hurt! Jensen was frowning at an old scar nearly hidden by dark scales. Kill…
“That looks like it hurt,” Misha stilled at Jensen touching the old mark, scales shifting under the searching finders.
No fins? Misha lifted Jensen’s hand to look at the unconnected digits. Attack? Parasite? Predator?
“What’s he doing?” Jared took the opportunity to retrieve his sock while Misha seemed enamored with Jensen’s fingers.
“I think he’s… worried. My hands are different than his,” Jensen smiled at the worried frown as Misha tugged his fingers until they spread out then turned his hand to see the back of it.
“Jeeeeeenseeeen?” Misha frowned and threaded his webbed fingers through Jensen’s, making him shiver at the odd feeling of connected fingers gripping his.
Jensen jerked away from the obviously unconscious flick of Misha’s tail sending water spraying over them. “Hey, watch it,” Jensen shook off the water dripping from his hair while Misha continued to watch him. “What?”
Misha reached out without warning, burrowing a webbed hand in Jensen’s damp shirt. Not skin? Covering? He could clearly make out the end of the cover and yanked it up, exposing a tanned chest flexing as Jensen tried to pull his shirt back down. “Hey, personal space dude.”
Misha let out the most mournful sound Jensen had ever heard as he twitched away from the webbed hand running down his ribs. Gills? What happened? There were not scars, not even dimples where gills should be.
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know, stop that tickles!” Jensen finally shooed Misha’s hands away and pulled down his shirt.
Gills. What happened to gills? Misha sat upright and ran fingertips along his side to show the indentations that occasionally fluttered on either side of his sternum.
“Oh… He thinks I’ve been hurt or something because I’m different,” Misha was frowning at Jensen and Jared talking to each other. “I’m okay, it’s the way I am, see?”
“Hey!” Jared yanked his shirt back down the moment Jensen pulled it up.
“Just show him so he’ll stop worrying.” Jared rolled his eyes and lifted one side of his shirt, flinching when Misha reached to repeat the process.
No gills either… Misha was startled to feel even more alone than the moment he was captured. He was truly a fish out of water…
Chapter 4