Also, do you pls have more octo!jay in the research centre?? I'd love to know how Dick and Jay bond more while Jay is recovering 😊🥰😱
Generally, Dick took over the research of the octomer - he practically bullied his way into heading the project even tho Bruce was all “You are too invested, Dick,”:[ and he was “This is the first octomer even caught who can I be not invested?!”:O
Jay wasn’t eager to help them with the research, not at all - even though they could communicate using the sign language, the octo was unwilling to reveal any information. Getting his name took a healthy while.
Did they live in packs? Could they survive on land? Were they strictly carnivorous? (that one got an answer since the researchers needed to know what to feed their octo and Jay wasn’t about to let himself starve) Were they life-bearers? Did they lay eggs?
That question got Dick very defensive reaction - why did you need to know?! -and Jay curled up on the bottom of the tank pretending to be a rock.
God, he was amazing at pretending to be a rock :O Dick was amazed by the way his skin changed colour and texture - even the human part did it, something unusual amongst the mer. Was he in the wild, Jay would be pretty much invisible. No wonder he chose the reef to hide in - the place was riddled with rock formations and cracks and all kinds of hidey-holes.
With every day Dick was more and more fascinated with the creature and Jay’s obstinacy became endearing to him rather than annoying. They argued - and Jay, curiously, never missed a chance to argue back, even if he stormed away in a huff, he usually returned pretty quick to argue some more. It was one of the ways to keep him engaged.
Another, Dick discovered after a while, was to get the octo interested in humans - an exchange of data, so to speak. He managed to get a bit of an interest with his legs -as usual, the mer did seem to share the fascination with human mode of locomotion;] He started to bring Jay things for a little show and tell every day -hair brush, a flashlight, an apple, a spoon and a cup of noodles, a ballpoint pen...whatever he could find that could be used as a human artefact and easily explained in a short session. In exchange Jay answered some of his questions, but totally ignored the other ones.
Reproduction was a hot no-no topic and Dick steered clear of it for a while. So was the social structure - octomer apparently lived solitary lives (just like their non-humanoid counterparts) and were downright aggressive towards their own species - even mentioning them brought on a dangerous change in Jay’s colouration.
Dick also took to bringing enrichment tools to the tank - it was empty and boring for both Jay and Robin, and Dick didn’t want them to start looking for fun outside. The rubic’s cube was so far the hit with the mer and the octopus was having great fun with a series of pvc pipes of different sizes it could squeeze through repeatedly:)
The wound on the octomer was also healing and it was Tim’s job to check on it - the stitches were self-dissolving, so there won’t be a need for removal, but a thorough check every other day was a necessity to keep the mer healthy.
Jay didn’t understand it - he was not bleeding and he was healing, why would they doubt his survival? Tim had to explain the idea of infection. Jay never had one.
Fascinating, could they get a blood sample?
Jay was a rock again. Bummer.