Over the next week, Tony tried to be nicer to the human. He made sure to put in an appearance at the sunny rock at least once a day and when the human called for him, he swam up to the side of the tank and let himself be petted.

Being petted was surprisingly enjoyable. The human had small hands and his claws were nonexistent, but that meant he was great at gentle touches. Something about the way the human lightly ran his fingers through his hair or stroked under his chin made him feel relaxed and content.

Most of the time, the human was so pleased with himself at getting Tony nice and sleepy that he left him alone after that to curl up on the sunny rock and take a nap. But there were a few times the human lingered, waiting for him to wake up so he could make him touch the stupid bar again.

Tony decided to turn the stupid task into a game. He jumped high enough to touch the bar and always made sure to land with enough of a splash to get the human wet. He had stopped wearing good suits to see Tony so he just laughed as he shook water out of his hair.

The human had also decided to bring another beach ball for Tony to play with. Tony was dubious at first, but the human convinced him that as long as he didn't touch it with his claws, it wouldn't pop. They spent almost an hour tossing the ball back and forth. The human would throw the ball over the glass wall and Tony would hit it back with his tail. It was a fun game and the human always rewarded him afterwards with a plump trout or salmon so Tony got excited whenever he saw the human show up with the ball.

But then the human suddenly stopped showing up so often. Tony was miffed the first few times he surfaced and the human wasn't there. He had been in the mood to play and it annoyed him that the human was off in his cave somewhere doing other things when they could be having fun together. Tony couldn't think of anything that could be more important than him, but whatever it was, it was keeping the human for most of the day. Tony was lucky to see him once early in the morning and once late at night.

And then one day the human didn't show up at all. Tony stayed out of the water for most of the day, hoping the human was just late for his morning visit. But he was forced to admit defeat when his stomach started growling. It was the first time in weeks that Tony had actually had to eat one of the tropical fish. He had gotten used to the bigger fish that the human fed him.

The human didn't show up the next day either and Tony started to get anxious. He had thought he and the human were getting along a lot better. The splashes were supposed to be playful. Had the human somehow viewed it as an attack and decided he didn't deserve treats anymore? Tony was distraught just thinking about it.

It was three days before Tony saw the human again and he immediately swam to the side of the tank with a delighted chirp.

"Missed me, have you?" the human said with a chuckle.

Tony growled and shoved his head into the human's hands for a petting.

"I'm so sorry, my pet," the human said soothingly. "But your master's been hard at work so he can afford all those delicious fish you crave."

Master, huh? Tony's eyes narrowed. He wouldn't exactly call the human his master. Sure, he built the tank Tony was living in and provided the fish….

Well, maybe. If his tank was inside the human's cave, technically the human owned him. But Tony didn't like giving the man that much authority. He was just so plain and uninteresting. And kind of wimpy looking, if Tony was really being honest. He didn't even have claws to defend himself. But somehow, this pathetic human had gotten himself a nice, spacious cave and put Tony in he had to be doing something right.

"You're lucky, my pet. You don't have to deal with lazy employees, long business trips, and tedious negotiations. Ah, but it's all worth it for a look at these beautiful scales." The human chucked Tony under the chin.

Tony leaned halfway out of the water to pluck at the human's fancy suit. Since he was so dressed up, it sadly looked like Tony wasn't going to get any playtime today.

"Later, my pet," the human assured him, taking a step back and smoothing down the front of his suit.

Tony huffed. Later, he said. What the hell did that mean? Later today? Later as in later in the week? They had had a nice routine for just about two weeks now and the human had to spoil it all by leaving for several days. He didn't know how he could trust him now. At any moment, he might decide he was going to disappear again and then Tony would be left wondering when he'd see him again.

"As fond of you as I am, there will be times I have to go away for business," the human said, carefully rubbing a thumb over Tony's cheekbone. "But had I known my absence would cause you this much distress, I would have arranged for some of my scientists to come up and keep you company. They probably would have enjoyed the opportunity to see their work in action."

Tony turned his head to the side. No, whatever. It was fine. The human could come and go as he liked. But really, was it too much to ask for that he had some warning before he left for day on end? Tony didn't do that to him unless he was mad at him. So if the human really wanted to be his master, he should know how to be more responsible.

"Don't be cross with me, my pet. Look, I've brought you some presents." The human held up a long metal rod.

Tony's eyes narrowed. Really? Another fucking metal bar? Why the hell was he supposed to be excited about that? The only good thing about playing with the stupid metal bar was that he got to splash the human afterward.

"And for a little variety, I picked up a hoop."

Tony perked up a little as the human held up a large plastic circle. Okay, so that was at least more exciting than the bar, but he still didn't know exactly what the human wanted him to do with it.

"Let me change into something a little more casual and then we'll get started," the human said. He leaned forward to hold the circle over the tank. "I'll let you familiarize yourself with your new toy while I change."

Tony curled his claws around the hoop and pulled it into the tank. It was a lot lighter than he expected, but awkward to hold on to because it was so big. After a few moments of turning it around and examining it from all angles, Tony decided it was boring and gray and he couldn't be bothered to hold it any longer.

To his delight, once he let go of the hoop, it stayed at the top of the water instead of sinking as he expected. He nudged it with his tail and still, it kept floating.

The human showed up a few minutes later in a baggy t-shirt and smiled as Tony lifted the hoop part way out of the water with his tail. "Already having fun with your new toy, I see."

Tony bobbed his head. This was so much better than the metal bar.

"Put it down for a moment, my pet. I want to show you something."

Reluctantly, Tony let go of the hoop and watched it float off in the water. If the human interrupted his play time with more metal bar nonsense, he was going to be very disappointed.

"Now, my pet," the man said. "Since the hoop will stay floating on the surface of the water, I think we should see if you can come up through the middle of the circle."

Well, that sounded ridiculously easy. Hardly a game at all. Tony sank beneath the water and resurfaced inside the hoop.

The human smiled indulgently. "Well, that's one way to do it. But I think you can handle something a little more challenging. Let's try jumping up through the hoop this time."

Tony huffed, but he dove back under the water. Jumping up through the hoop required a lot more distance than merely surfacing through it so Tony made sure to swim down a few feet. Looking back up at the hoop made him realize it would actually be difficult to leap up through the circle. If he disturbed the water below the surface preparing for the jump, the hoop would float away. But he had to do some fairly strong swimming to build up enough momentum to clear the water.

No matter, he liked a challenge.

Tony swished his tail slowly back and forth as he regarded the hoop. He could do it. He would just have to be quick. Not give the hoop time to float away.

With a few powerful thrusts of his tail, Tony cleared the water, tucking his arms close to his side as he passed through the hoop. He didn't get much height in his jump, but he still felt pleased with himself as he landed back into the water.

The human was all praises when Tony popped back up. "Excellent form, my pet. Your athleticism surpasses all my expectations."

Tony preened. Yeah, he had mastered the human's game on the first try. It had been a fun challenge, to be fair, but still no match for his skills.

The human tossed Tony anchovy after anchovy, smiling as Tony caught all of them in his mouth effortlessly. "You really are incredible, my pet. You learn so quickly. I'm sure in no time at all I can have you perform an entire routine for me."

Tony swallowed the last anchovy and cocked his head to one side. Routine? What the hell was the human talking about?

"Some other time," the human assured him. "For now, I want to spend some time reacquainting myself with my pet." He beckoned Tony to come closer.

Reluctantly, Tony swam over to the glass wall.

The human scratched Tony's scalp with gentle motions. "I've missed you, my pet. You're such a welcome sight after a long day of work."

Tony's eyes went half-lidded under the human's touch. He had missed the pettings too. And the tasty fish. But that was all going to be remedied now that the human was back. Hopefully since the man had abandoned him for two days, he was going to spoil Tony extra to make up for what he missed.

"Your master has some more work to do, but I'll be back tonight, my pet," the human promised. "I've bought you a nice, plump salmon for dinner."

Tony was a little disappointed for the petting to stop, but he was definitely looking forward to the salmon. He liked all the fish the human gave him, even the tiny little anchovies that were barely a bite, but he liked salmon the best.

The human gave him one last pat on the head before he left to do something about writing a report. It sounded boring. But what did Tony care? As long as the human showed up to feed him every day, it didn't matter what the man did on his own.

So Tony put the human out of his mind and went about enjoying the rest of his day. The human had left the hoop floating in the water and Tony took turns surfacing up through the hoop and jumping into it. And when he got tired out from all the jumping, he floated lazily on his back and lifted the hoop overhead with his tail. It was so nice to have a toy to play with. It definitely helped soothe the feelings of abandonment.

By late afternoon, Tony was worn out from all the playtime and he sprawled out on the rock for a nap. He knew that the human would be coming by soon with his delicious salmon so it was the perfect time to be at the surface.

The human returned just as the sunlight was starting to dim and Tony eagerly jumped off the rock and swam over to greet him. Disappointingly, the human didn't have the salmon in his hands, ready to give to Tony, which meant he'd have to do some nonsense to earn it. After all the human had put him through, Tony didn't think he needed to earn his food, but the human was annoyingly persistent about making him do tricks.

"I though we would do something a little different tonight," the human said. "I know how good you are at touching the bar. You can do it effortlessly every single time. But I think you can do better than that. I think you can jump over the bar."

Tony snorted. The human was utterly insane. There was no way he could jump that high.

"We'll start a little smaller," the human said. He adjusted some mechanism on his side and the bar lowered by a few inches. "But by the end of the week, I expect we'll be able to work our way up to the original position."

Tony didn't share the human's confidence.

He twitched his tail and glanced from the bar over to the human.

"Yes, my pet," the human said encouragingly. "I know you can do it. And there's a nice, juicy salmon waiting for you if you can make the jump."

Well, that was comforting at least. Just one jump and then salmon. If the human tried to make him do a higher jump after that, Tony would be able to ignore him and eat his fish.

Satisfied with that thought, Tony laid back and just stared at the bar for a moment. It was still a pretty high jump, even though the human had lowered it a bit. Being able to reach up and touch the bar was one thing, but getting his whole body up and over the bar was another thing entirely. He wasn't sure he could do it. And if he fucked up, he would hit the bar and possibly hurt himself.

But the human liked looking at him and he wouldn't make him do anything he thought would damage his perfect body. There was still the possibility that the human had vastly overestimated Tony's abilities, but Tony didn't want to think about that. He wanted to keep believing everything he did was beyond the human's expectations so he'd keep showering him with fish for being so awesome.

Tony took his time figuring out the jump. He dove underwater aways, popped back up to the surface and assessed a few times before he felt confident enough to make the jump.

His heart was hammering as he rocketed towards the surface, still anxiously turning over the trajectory of the jump in his head. But then he was soaring out of the water and over the bar and he had never felt more exhilarated in his life. Hell yes, he was amazing.

He was grinning from ear to ear as he bobbed to the surface and he looked eagerly at the human for confirmation.

"Incredible," the human said. He hoisted the salmon into the tank.

Tony sank his teeth into the fish, feeling song bubbling up in the back of his throat.

What a perfect end to the day.