"What am I supposed to do? There's no way I can survive out here with this thing!
No, Keith, calm down, you'll be fine; it's only been... shit, who knows how long... but Shiro will find you. He's your brother.
But he might not find me! I don't even know where the hell I am!
Just... it'll be okay. I hope." Keith groaned when he realized he was speaking out his internal conflict. "Who am I kidding... I am so gonna die out here. And I'm stuck with some weird ass fish person---creature... thing."
A slap to his cheek snapped him out of his panic. He looked down to find yet another scratched up fish in his lap. The creature glared at him with its brow arched and arms crossed tightly.
Understanding what happened, Keith gave a weak grin. "Heh... hi. So uh, I'm guessing you heard that?" The blue eyes shut and the creature turned its nose up at him, a gesture that clearly said I'm not talking to you. Keith rubbed his arm, biting his lip uncomfortably. "Right, um, sorry about that. I'm just really upset right now. I was forced out here on the ocean, then some stupid storm comes out of no where, and now I'm stuck here in some cave with no clue on how to get home."
It flinched at Keith's words, then looked down guiltily and flicked a pebble; Keith figured it must've felt bad for him.
Interesting, it knows what sympathy is.
Giving a sigh, Keith set the fish aside, not wanting to eat anything at the moment. He pulled his right knee up to his chest, knowing he shouldn't move his left (or else he'll be scolded). The creature studied Keith's movements, its ocean blue eyes taking every inch of Keith in.
"You're more of an observer, huh? Don't talk much?" Keith grinned gently, but then scoffed at himself. "Not like you talk much, Keith. All you do it sit at home and avoid any human contact. Even with your own brother." It cocked its head and beamed at him, like it was enjoying watching Keith scold himself. "What? You're happy cause I'm doing this lecture for you?"
Shaking its head, the creature pulled itself up to sit on the edge of the pool, then brought its hands up to cup its ears.
"You mean... you like listening?" Keith got a nod, and he didn't expect himself to feel warm. "Wait... like---like listening to me? Just talk? About... stuff?"
It clapped, eyes twinkling, then it looked down at his leg. Keith was in awe of how the creature looked in its thought process: brows furrowed, lips puckered, and a nail scratching its chin. Then, it pointed to the dry seaweed; Keith blinked before looking from the wrap to the being.
"Oh! You want to see my leg?" It nodded, and it brought Keith's leg onto its lap (lap? Can tails have laps?). The nail suddenly grew longer into a sharp claw, and it was lowered to his leg. "Wait...what are you-" Keith squealed in fear when he heard a tearing sound, but luckily, it only used its claw to cut through the seaweed. It gathered the dry algae and dove underwater. Keith let out a relieved breath and plopped on his back.
Eventually, the thing returned with fresh new seaweed and did its whole process again.
~~~
After however many days of being stuck in a cave, Keith was still wary of the creature, but it was his only way of survival. He had no idea where he was, what he should do, or if there was anything he could do. Keith sat against a large rock, staring at the ground. He didn't know how long he'd been out there... the one thing he really needed was water; he was beginning to feel light headed, and his mouth was dry, and now he was having the worst headaches. He was lost in thought the next time the creature came back. Every morning, it brought Keith a fish, every afternoon, it brought Keith a fish, and every night, it brought Keith a fish.
