An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Nutritional Difficulties
Summary: Blue discovers that being responsible for a life is not as easy as he thought.
He was dozing, his head resting on his folded arms and his lower half hidden inside his den, when a shadow appeared covering the warm light filtering up to him.
Opening an eye socket, he stared with annoyance at what had interrupted his beautiful nap. He growled annoyed at the sight of the shape floating above him.
Another one of those damn ships!
How dare they continue to invade their territory?! It was to be expected that after destroying so many, those annoying creatures had learned their lesson and dared not venture into its waters, but it seemed that the lesson was not yet fixed.
All right, he'd just have to teach them one more time.
His tentacles felt around the edge of the cave that was his hiding place. Pressing against the rock he propelled himself out and forward, like a missile toward his target. A few meters before crashing into the hull he opened his tentacles, cutting off his advance. Spinning around, he extended his tentacles to the bottom of the ship, attaching himself to the hull.
The ship rocked, but it was big enough to support him... for now.
He spread his tentacles, covering as much as he could, ensuring a good grip before starting to snake them down the sides.
As soon as the tips broke through the water, they threw themselves against the rail, gripping the sides tightly. Its suction cups clamped down, ensuring there was no way for his “prey” to escape.
Smiling madly, he started to squeeze. At first nothing happened, but then he felt the hull creak. He put in more pressure and even underwater he heard the crack as the hull broke like an egg.
His work was done! But just in case, he released his tentacles, leaving only two attached to the vessel, and propelled himself to the bottom. For a moment the boat resisted, like an animal that has not yet realized which wounded one was. With a little more momentum he felt it give way and finally begin to sink.
As soon as he felt that the ship began to try to drag him, and not the opposite, he released it and walked away to a safe distance, watching the ship sink faster and faster, going to join the rest of the others.
As soon as the ship hit the bottom, kicking up a cloud of sand and debris, he launched himself at it again. Groping with his tentacles he soon found the crack, and with just a little more force, he increased it a little more.
A tentacle crept into the crack, feeling around until it found a small solid shape. Letting out an appreciative sound he wrapped it around and dragged it out to his waiting hands. Holding the small form, he brought it to his mouth and took a bite, savoring his booty.
***
-I told you he would like it! Erroctopus are dramatic bittys and, like all Error types, they need to cause a certain level of destruction to stay healthy!
Blue finally turned his lights away from the aquarium and faced his friend Ink. He hadn't really taken faith that it would work, but being the protector of the multiverse, Blue supposed he knew a thing or two...
Bullshit! He thought it was all Ink's invention, but he'd gotten to the point of desperation that he'd try anything to feed the tiny meroctopus, even go along with a crazy idea of the ink-stained skeleton.
(and he didn't entirely dismiss the idea that the whole thing was invented on the spot, but since Ink had created it, it had somehow come true. After all, he didn't fully understand the artist's powers and his relationship with the so-called “Creators”)
At first he had tried to feed him directly, handing him small pieces of food, but one bite later taught him not to leave his fingers anywhere near the bitty.
He then threw the food into the water, hoping that Erroctopus would pick up the pieces by itself. When he declined the taco pieces, he took Dream's advice and tried fish, which were equally ignored (Ha! He knew his tacos weren't the problem! Who wouldn't like magnificent Blue's fantastic tacos?). He had tried several things, but the food had just sunk or floated untouched.
His brother had suggested that the bitty was a wild type and that he might prefer his food “fresh” (which caused an argument, after all was Papy insinuating that he was feeding the little one nothing more than the best and freshest food? ). After much consideration, he'd given in and gone to the pet store in search of something for his picky bitty.
He had come home with a bag of small fish, which now decorated his brother's room. He couldn't just throw them in the aquarium and let them be devoured! It was just wrong!
(Yes, he was aware that he was being hypocritical when he went to the market and bought fish, but it was one thing to buy the animal already dead and sliced and another to see them alive and happily swimming and knowing they would be devoured soon)
It had been almost a week since bitty had arrived and he hadn't eaten anything he offered (except for a piece of chocolate that Chara had thrown in, but to this day Blue didn't know if it was because bitty liked it or because of Chara's challenge, who had told that bitty was too stupid to appreciate something as divine as chocolate).
He'd tried everything, he'd bargained, begged, and even cried (and even went so far as to offer more chocolate, but was ignored, though the bitty hesitated on this one), to no avail. He was terrified that one day he would come home and find Bitty's dust floating in the water (or foam. Ink had reported that some versions of merskeleton turned to sea foam).
Monsters didn't need to eat as often as humans, didn't even need it to be "traditional" food, but bittys were creatures with different rules, despite still being a species of monster.
He knew that bittys depended on the presence of a “greater” soul to sustain themselves and stay healthy, but like any living being, they needed food to sustain themselves too, and taking into account that the little one didn't allow Blue to touch him or get too close without growling and trying to attack him, he imagined that his presence didn't do much to help him in that regard either.
So he must have needed even more food to sustain himself (and since he had no idea when bitty's last meal was, it only made the whole situation even more desperate).
One day he came home to find the half skeleton half octopus lying in a corner of the aquarium, its black tentacles limp around it with the tips almost transparent, he was desperate enough to ask Ink.
(Being the Keeper of the AU's he should have had some knowledge of this specific bitty type – especially with all the obsession he had with Error – just hope he remembered)
When Ink had told him his idea, he'd almost scoffed and dismissed it as pure invention by the artist, but he'd come this far, and he'd tried everything, so why not?
(After all, desperate situations call for desperate measures)
The first boat had been nothing more than a hastily made raft of ice cream sticks and homemade glue. He piled some chopped raw fish on top and carefully placed it in the aquarium.
At first the meroctopus ignored it, and Blue was already considering taking Cross's ironic suggestion seriously and asking either Error (the "original" destroyer of AU's) directly, when suddenly the bitty lunged towards the raft.
It had all happened so fast that Blue could barely see (much less believe that the apathetic creature from seconds ago had wreaked such havoc). One second there was a small platform floating and the next just pieces of wood and fish slowly sinking.
The bitty picked up a few pieces of meat and went to hide in the small artificial cave that he had put as a hiding place for him.
Blue exploded with happiness (and relief) and ran to Muffet's to share the good news with her brother (and anyone else in the coffee shop). When he returned a while later, still vibrating with contentment (and the cider that Muffet insisted on drinking to celebrate) the remaining pieces of fish were gone, leaving only the pieces of wood behind.
(he picked up the floating pieces of the sticks with tweezers. Very long tweezers)
He still wasn't 100% convinced, but as the days went by, and the small boats (that had gotten more elaborate over time, going from simple rafts to small boats) were destroyed and the meals inside them devoured, he had to give up and admit that Ink was right.
-Hum... I'm glad you managed to feed the prag... I mean bitty, but I think you might be exaggerating, bro...
Grumbled Stetch from the couch, scanning with growing disbelief all the magazines, books, and art supplies that Ink had brought and Blue had collected from other AU's on his visits as one of the Star Sanses.
-Nonsense! – he looked at the tall skeleton with his hands on his hip bone – What if he gets tired of the models? The magnificent Blue has to be prepared for any eventuality!
-He seemed pretty satisfied with the ice cream stick rafts... - Stretch grumbled through the lollipop stick.
(At least he's been following the no-cigarettes-in-house rule ever since bitty arrived)
-If he likes boats then I, as his guardian and provider, must provide the best options! - Blue announced in a full stop tone.
He never imagined building boats model as a hobby (particularly he preferred rockets and space models) for him, but if that was what he needed to do to take care of the little one, then he would become the ultimate transport miniature builder world seafarer!
(No, from the Multiverse!)
-Of course, bro... but... submarines?! – Stretch asked incredulously lifting one of the magazines.
Huffing, Blue walked away from the big aquarium (dragging Ink with him. He didn't trust his friend with anything smaller than a large dog) and went to the couch to explain to her brother about the importance of entertainment and exercise to keep bittys healthy (something her brother could practice too, even if he's not a bitty). Ink jumped into the conversation/lecture, offering suggestions and generally fueling Blue's excitement and his fetched ideas.
As the three skeletons laughed and argued, the merocotopus finished its meal and lazily crept back to its cave, feeling satisfied and sated... for an hour at least. He had protected his territory and feasted, later (hopefully) he would probably have to repeat the entire feat.
Grumbling, he settled on the soft sand, spreading his tentacles across the smooth interior of the cave. With luck the next ship would be a little harder to destroy.
Smiling, he lowered his head on his folded arms, already dreaming of rough seas, screams of despair and the sound of thunder, not coming from the clouds, but from the wood bursting under his tentacles.
A dramatic bitty indeed!