"Rise and shine, big boy. That's enough sleep for you."
A small smile spread across Doctor's face as he returned to consciousness, welcomed by the familiar sound of Jack's voice. His eyes fluttered open and he yawned, blinking until his vision cleared. He was propped up in his bed, his friend lying horizontally across the foot of the bed with a lazy grin on his face.
The prince rubbed his eyes before sitting up and stretching, wincing at the soreness in what seemed to be every part of his body. "Ow," he complained.
"You got a bit battered," Jack explained with a shrug, sitting up as well. A flash of concern crossed his face, revealing for a moment just how worried he'd been despite his casual demeanor. "We thought you were dead, Doc. I mean…a storm like that, when you were in the water…"
The memories came flooding back. "Someone saved me," he recalled slowly. "He was there when I woke up, and he sang to me…" He gasped in surprise. "Jack, he kissed me!"
His friend wasn't entirely convinced, and he gave the prince a little shove to nudge him back down. "Yeah, okay. Are you sure you weren't dreaming, because no one was with you when we found you. I would have noticed if a guy like that was around, assuming he was mysterious and attractive." There was a short pause. "He was mysterious and attractive, right?"
"Very mysterious and attractive," Doctor agreed with a little sigh, falling back against the mattress. It hadn't been a dream…had it? He would have been able to tell the difference. Though now that he'd said it out loud, he realized it did sound rather outlandish. Where would that man have gone, if Jack and Don hadn't seen him?
The next day, everyone noticed something was different about King Rassilon's youngest son.
For one thing, he'd missed the concert. And it hadn't been just any concert, it had been his debut concert. It had been his chance to shine and show the other merfolk that he had the best damn voice in the entire ocean, which, of course, he did.
For another thing, he was terribly distracted, even more than usual. He hardly paid attention at his father's lecture, instead humming cheerfully and worrying a loose scale on his tail. When a frustrated Rassilon finally gave him permission to leave, he did so rather dreamily, retreating back to his grotto and singing to himself the entire way.
His dream-like state was interrupted by the yellow-and-blue flounder blocking the entrance to his grotto. "Someone's got his head up on the surface," she remarked with a little laugh.
"Good morning, Jo." Master couldn't help but beam at his friend, taking her by the fin and giving her a twirl. "It's awful, I think I'm well and truly gone."
Jo giggled a bit, letting out a few bubbles as she twirled. "I have something for you."
Master paused, surprise crossing his face. "Do you really? And what might that be?" He was terribly curious. After all, Jo hadn't ever really gotten something for him before. Her company was more than enough, after all.
"If I told you, that would ruin the surprise."
The merman followed his little friend into his grotto, hardly glancing around at his rather extensive collection of human objects he'd found from sunken ships and other such places. It really was impressive, but he wasn't paying attention to that at the moment.
"Ta da! Look." Jo held up a strange cylindrical device made of…metal, that was the word, the tip bright blue.
"Ooohh, what is it?" Master took it excitedly, turning it over in his hands. There was a button on the side and he pressed it, dropping it in surprise as it lit up and made a strange noise.
"I have no idea," the flounder admitted. "But it's his. That human. It fell out of his pocket and…I thought you would like it." She hadn't gotten around to telling him yet that she'd followed him last night, and it embarrassed her slightly that she'd sort of spied on him. He just…hadn't looked like he would appreciate an interruption.
The look he gave her was anything but annoyed or angry, just quietly amused. He dived to pick up the strange device again, clutching it in one hand as the other gave the fish a gentle stroke. "It's wonderful, thank you."
"I need to find him," Doctor fussed, picking at his food. "I'm going to."
"Who?" asked Don a bit blankly, glancing over at the prince. Jack had talked Doctor into inviting a few friends down to the dock for a picnic, but so far the idea hadn't been working the way he'd wanted it to. Jack sighed.
"His imaginary boyfriend," he replied in a long-suffering voice.
Doctor pouted. "He's not imaginary, nor is he my boyfriend!"
"You'd like him to be," Jack pointed out.
Roger rolled his eyes and exchanged a look with Don. "D'you mind explaining?" he asked huffily, running a hand through his blonde hair as he glanced over at the pair at the edge of the dock.
"There was this man who saved me," Doctor muttered, slightly embarrassed. "I have no idea who he is, but…I owe him my life. I just remember waking up to his face, and hearing him sing, and then he was gone." He sighed. He was honestly starting to doubt himself having ever seen the man in the first place, but the silence that met his words was more thoughtful than it was skeptical.
"Did he have a great big fish tail?" There was a loud laugh from behind them as the dark-skinned Mickey approached, clearly amused at his own joke. "Come on, Doctor, Don and Jack would have seen 'im. Where did he go? Into the sea?"
Roger frowned slightly. "You know, Mickey, that's a thought, actually. There's all sorts of stories of merfolk saving sailors, though I can't say I've ever heard of a merman."
Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Now you're just poking fun at me. Someone saved me, alright? And I just…want to find him."
Master was playing with his newfound gadget when a loud noise caught his attention. He spun around with a quickly repressed flash of panic, heart thumping to see his visitor was none other than his father.
Well damn. He was in trouble.
"Oh. Father. I see you found me," he said awkwardly, hiding the object behind his back. Jo sunk into a corner.
"What is this?" Rassilon boomed angrily, glaring around.
What do you think? Master forced himself to be somewhat polite. "My collection," he explained flatly.
He caught a flicker of movement behind his father, taking in the small red crab behind him, with his stupid mustache and red beret. Damn Brig.
"Brig followed you last night," the other merman fumed. "You saved a human? You know that's forbidden!"
Irritation made him snap. "Do I look like I care?" Rassilon's trident glowed orange, never a good sign, but Master was too angry to care at the moment. "I'm not a child, Father! Yet you still insist on acting like I am one! Lectures and punishments don't work on me, haven't you noticed?"
The Sea King's eyes flashed, and his lip curled in anger. "Then I will find something that does work!"
It happened too fast for Master to even register it until it was too late. The trident was bright orange, shooting bolts of bright yellow light at the carefully arranged collection. Anything that the light touched burst into a thousand tiny pieces.
He was too shocked to fight it, too hurt to even resist as everything he spent so long caring for and collecting disappeared, reduced to worthless pieces. Not a sound fell from his lips, though he was shaking violently by the time Rassilon finished.
With a final spiteful snort, the Sea King turned his tail on the massacred objects and exited, leaving his youngest son to lament over the loss.