#Kii isn’t on this blog yet but members of dogsquad will know them

[homicidalfantrolls]

Things had changed.

Merkii couldn’t quite place when or how, but it was obvious they had. It was difficult to point out with the constant buzzing of his psionics clouding his thoughts, but Merkii was certain all the same they used to see their siblings more than this.

Most sightings now were just in passing, a ruffle of his hair or a disinterested greeting. It didn’t really count as a greeting, though. Dad had always said that a hello was a welcome or sign of recognition. “I see you and I acknowledge you.” But pointedly avoiding Merkii’s multitude of eyes and electing to walk away before they could even say hi back? It wasn’t seeing. And it surely wasn’t acknowledgment.

As he scribbled over pages of a fleet textbook he’d found (in an unlocked bedroom), ripping out pages once they were sufficiently defiled, Merkii couldnt help but feel a deep pit in his stomach. They could recall explaining the sensation to Dia once, mentioning a long defunct amusement park they’d attended and the strong desire to return. “It’s called nostalgia, Kii,” their brother had said.

“Nawtalgia,” the psionic grumbled to themselves, the word muddied by the tongue sticking out between their fangs. This time opting to simply make the book shred itself into pieces, purple electricity singing a couple of pages and psionic dampening headphones singing in warning. A soft melody that they’d grown used to. Dia had learned quickly that a sudden beep would have a very much opposite affect of dampening psionics. If nothing else, cleaning up the remains of his work table had offered the lime some time to think of a solution.

As Merkii flopped back onto their massive bed, they took note of the well loved plush shark nestled in the pile of other plushes from various endeavors.

Reaching over, the Monark took the stuffed animal into his hands. It was almost as big as him and assuredly had a price point to match. It had been intended for his dad. But giving his dad a stuffed shark instead of the real one he’d originally intended on felt underwhelming. Should have just grabbed the stupid thing with my psionics, they’d thought bitterly after Twitch tugged them away from the shark tank towards the gift shop. It would’ve been faster and I could have done it without her seeing. But even if she did see Twitch loved their psionics! Whenever Kii whipped then out, she always got back so she could see better. She loved the sight of them so much she doesn’t even care when he accidentally breaks some of her things; just smiled and cleaned them up, assuring Kii it was fine. Sure, after they got the shark out they would have had to find a place to put it in for the ride home without it suffocating, but that bridge could be crossed later.

By the time they’d reached the ship once more, the plush shark had decided it belonged to Merkii and the chocolate bar they had gotten for Beloved as a consolation prize for a non living present had been half eaten. But Dad wouldn’t mind; he never did.

Even after they had gotten back to the ship, Twitch didn’t leave. They’d watched some movies, Merkii’s sister taking the initiative to explain every fish before eventually the eventful day took a toll on the psionic and they’d fallen asleep sprawled across her lap.

Nothing that fun had happened in awhile, Merkii thought bitterly as they threw the shark against the wall. Watching it fall to the ground on top of the charred pieces of paper that used to be information, however, dug a deep put in his chest.

With a frown, they stood up and knelt down to take the shark in their hands, watching the reflection of their four eyes in the reflection of shark’s own. Ears pinning back, Merkii flopped back into their bed, shark hugged tightly to their chest. Their pan was spinning, struggling to think of any solution.

Suddenly, the psionic lurched back forward, ears perked. The sudden excitement had the headphones beeping rapidly until…nothing.

Frowning, he removed the now smoking dampening headphones. Some of the plastic was melted, one of the small light bulbs having exploded entirely. Shit.

Wait. This could work. Devious grin tugging at their lips, Kii hooked the headphones around their neck, shoved the shark in their backpack and left the block.

—

“They broke,” the psionic explained simply, watching as Dia’s bright eyes examined the device with an emotion completely unreadable. He looked…tired. Even behind the cool glasses he usually wore, Kii could see the dark circles under his eyes.

“They just exploded? All by themselves?”

“Yep,” Kii agreed, trotting passed Dia to hop onto his bed, legs crossed under them as they dug in their bag.

With an unseen roll of his eyes, Jodiah sat at his work table to begin the repairs. If it was anything else, he probably would have just told the troll to fuck off. But Dia knew the importance of the dampeners and, frankly, he was grateful for a distraction.

“You didn’t bring your switch, right?” he asked, beginning the disassembly of the headphones. His ear twitched in wait for a reply that didn’t come. A brief glance over his shoulder answered him. Merkii was already laying entranced on his bed, scribbling away in a coloring book. There had been countless offers of a gift of a blank sketchbook, as the psionic ignored the lines anyways, which had always been vehemently denied.

With another roll of his eyes, Jodiah returned to his work. Shit. Kii had really fucked them up this time. The motherboard was charred, wiring melted.

“You know this isn’t a quick fix, right? You totally fried them. This is gonna take at least a couple hours, Kii,” the limeblood sighed, mentally preparing himself for the tantrum that was as inevitable as the lightning following thunder.

But the boom didn’t come. “Did you hear me? They’re gonna take a few hours, Kii. I dunno how many books you brought.”

Nothing.

“Kii?” Dia repeated, turning his chair to face their sibling, expecting the young psion to be unconscious or completely enveloped in coloring.

Instead, he was neither. Merkii was once more sitting cross legged, but instead of a coloring book, they were instead holding a stuffed shark. Kii had an ungodly amount of plushies, but for some reason that one looked familiar.

Oh.

Fuck.

Before Dia could even open his mouth, Merkii spoke. “I want to go to the aquarium.”

The lime was grateful for the mask to hide his grimace. Of course they’d want to go to the aquarium. Of fucking course.

“Kii—“ he started, but stopped dead when his eyes locked with his siblings’ Normally the multitude of solid colored sclera were cute, but something about this hard stare was…unsettling. It certainly didn’t help that his visor shorted immediately after. A small exclamation point flashed at the corner in warning.

Swallowing, Dia slipped the visor off his mask and set it carefully on his desk. With no headphones to dampen the incredibly powerful psionics of his sibling, the ground had immediately become unsteady.

“Kii, Twitch is—“ he began again, but once more was immediately cut off.

“Twitch doesn’t have to come,” Merkii said, voice icy.

Dia sighed. “Kii…” he began, but this time it was not the other that stopped him, but Dia himself.

Merkii was looking down at the shark, ears pinned flat against his head as he rubbed the left fin. Judging by the wear on that specific fin, it definitely wasn’t the first time they’d done such a thing. The air felt thin with the smell of ozone, like the sparks emitting from the psionic’s eyes, shining ever so slightly, were about to turn the same electricity Dia himself used to get what he wanted.

Fuck.

“Alright,” the lime relented, digging around in a box under his desk to offer a spare pair of headphones to his sibling. There was no way he would be going anywhere with Kii without assistance.

Like a switch being flipped, the air immediately softened with the grin on Merkii’s face. They happily slipped on the headphones and shoved the shark and coloring books into their bag, barely letting Dia put on his shoes before they were rushing out the door.

—

As they headed back, Merkii clinging to his bag and nibbling the chocolate bar Dia had gotten him, the lime couldn’t help but smile softly under his mask.

It was a good distraction. The way Kii got so excited with every fish they’d seen a million times never got old. And while it was certainly an unexpected annoyance having to chuck something called a sarcastic fringehead (he was shocked none of his siblings had given him that nickname). back into its tank after wrestling it away from Merkii, getting soaked in the process, there was no denying it was better than sitting and contemplating the imminent death of an innocent at his sister’s hands.

By the time they’d arrived back at the ship, Kii had long since passed out. It was interesting navigating the sleeping psionic into a piggy back ride without waking him, but Dia managed.

At least for a few steps until there was the telltale sign of glass shattering. Wincing, Dia glanced at the ground to see what happened, only to see the ground sparkling with shattered glass and…water. The destroyed remains of a snow globe.

It was impossible not to smirk. Evidentially, Merkii had been successful in a heist, albeit a much smaller one. Maneuvering his passenger carefully so as not to wake them, Dia crouched down to retrieve the ruined knickknack. The glass orb was completely demolished, but thankfully the inside display remained intact. A deep sea exhibit. Angler fish, a vampire squid…and that damn sarcastic fringehead.

After depositing Kii in their block, Dia began his work.

Later that evening, when a violet returned to her block, a small box awaited in front of the door. A frown on her tired face as she opened it, inside was a snow globe from the aquarium she volunteered at. And next to it was a half eaten chocolate bar.