Once he was fully patched up and fretted over by Roier for at least another twenty minutes, Foolish went to take a much-needed nap. He curled up further on the sand, looking both uncomfortable and at peace at the same time as he drifted off. No one could blame him for it, he had lost quite a bit of blood, and the adrenaline crash surely robbed him of the last bit of energy he had. The humans were much the same, once the adrenaline and panic had settled down.

This was not at all how they expected this little mission to go. This was supposed to be just scouting, checking out the area. Even if there were dangerous creatures, the plan had been to stay far enough away so no one would get hurt. He had even promised Pac and Cellbit that there would be no danger. Now Foolish is injured and had almost lost his life, just because they made him go into a territory the humans were interested in.

Tubbo refused to leave his side, working through black hair aimlessly as he chatted to their large friend, not even caring if he was awake or listening to him. Although it did seem like Foolish was giving it his best attempt, eyes fluttering open every now and again as Tubbo rambled on, still softly rumbling as he did. He only stopped when Techno had to drag Tubbo inside to refuel his oxygen tank, the rumbling stopping as he seemed to melt into the sand below, chest slowly rising and falling with every intake of air through his gills.

Roier remained restless, constantly on guard and patrolling the surrounding area. While Techno is confident that with Foolish, the rumbling meant that he's actually purring, Roier is most definitely growling as he was swimming around. It was intimidating, and one of the main reasons why currently, all five of them were staying inside their base, now that they have Tubbo inside because of the oxygen. None of them even knew of Roier was mad at them or not. During the travel back he seemed fine towards them, but he's also been avoiding them for most of the time since coming home.

Not that any of them could blame him for it either, he almost lost his dad because of them.

"You think they have an actual nest somewhere?" Tubbo was sitting by the window, combing his fingers through his own hair has he stared out the window at Foolish. All of their hairs were starting to become increasingly messy and tangled, even with them trying their best to work out all the knots. "Maybe, they probably had some sort of cave or little valley where they went to sleep. Especially while having a kid. They are both far too territorial otherwise." Fit stood next to Tubbo, staring out into the waters as well. He was starting to grow his hair back as well, a little bit of fuzz covering his head. He had already started complaining about it.

Pac was slowly massaging the stump of what remained of his leg, grimacing at the soreness. The wound itself was healing, whatever magic salve these plants have reducing the pain, but the wound was still too fresh to lose any of the stinging along the stitches. "What do we do now?" Fit turned his head almost instantly, which would have made Techno snort if he were in a better mood. "What do you mean?" The younger Brazilian sat up a bit straighter, biting back the wince that came with the flaring pain. "We need a new goal no? The ship is no option, so what do we work towards now?"

It was an attempt to distract them all, try and lighten the mood a little. At least someone was trying, with Cellbit and Techno just silently brooding about god knows what and Tubbo mostly concerned for Foolish. "I guess one of the things I want to do is instal the radio and fabricator down here. Maybe remove the beacon from the pod so we can attach it to the base. That's about all I have planned, just get everything we need so we don't care about the pod anymore." Pac nodded, reaching over to try and snatch up the PDA from the floor, where it had been left after breakfast.

"That has been the plan for a little bit, yes. And after that?" Now Fit was silent, just humming and staring out the window again. Pac could see his reflection on the glass, how his brows were furrowed in thought. He lifted his hand and scratched his chin, where stubbles of a beard were slowly showing as well, just like with all of them. Even Tubbo had a bit of facial hair, although very faint. "I don't know... Survive I guess." "We need a set goal, we'll go insane otherwise."

Fit glanced at him through the reflection, something almost like pity in his eyes. The Brazilian knew exactly why he was giving him that look. "The days blend together, and you will lose sense of time. The first steps of losing sanity. We need a set goal, something that distracts us and doesn't make every day the same." The others were now looking at him too with varying levels of concern and he made the conscious effort to not look at Cellbit right now. He wouldn't be able to stomach the guilt he'd see there.

"I guess that makes sense..." Tubbo decided to chime in again, still trying to untangle his hair. "We still need to expand the base a little, get some useful things. Especially beds. That could be something to focus on for a bit? Even without actual blueprints we can improvise something, I don't know." Techno hummed his agreement, subconsciously starting to comb his fingers through the ends of his hair as well. Fit looked down at his metal arm, flexing silver fingers as his brows stayed furrowed in thought. "A leg prothesis shouldn't be hard to make either..."

Pac didn't know why his chest suddenly started feeling warm. That's the first thing he thinks about? Making a new leg for him? "That can wait, it's not like I can do much anyways... and it would still hurt too much to put on my leg I think." "Nonsense, even if the wound still needs to heal, we can start working on a prosthesis. It will take a while to finish anyways." The Brazilian stammered something almost sounding like a thank you, trying to hide the rising blush that came with embarrassment and fondness. Fit just smiled at him, then gently kicks Tubbo as he tried to tease Pac for said blush.

For a while, everything seemed to return to normal, as if nothing major had happened. They talked and bickered and teased, even if Cellbit and Techno didn't partake much. Cellbit silently stared at the window, lost in his own thoughts somewhere. Pac reassured them that it happened sometimes, even long before the crash and that they should just let him be. Techno occasionally chimed in with some comments, but continued to mess with his hair, growing increasingly frustrated by it. It was tangled and matted and almost impossible to somehow work through.

"Fuck it. Fit, help me chop this off." The oldest barely glanced at him for more than a second before shrugging and walking over. Tubbo on the other hand stared at him with his mouth open, as if he had just spoken the greatest insult the teen has ever heard. "Techno what-" "Sure, how much do you want off?" Techno gathered it all behind his head, feeling for the worst tangles that definitely need to come out. "About here for now. I think that gets rid of most of the annoying parts." He held his hand just above his shoulders, right above the last large knotted area.

"That's so much!" "It will be easier to take care of this way." Fit knelt behind him, taking the knife from Techno's hand and gathering all of the hair into a ponytail. "I'll try not to graze you with the knife. Hold still." After a bit of hesitation and eying the area Techno wants him to cut, Fit moved his hand a little lower to still have the hair pulled taunt, but a bit more even so the cut area won't be absolutely scuffed. "Any second guesses?" "Just cut it before I do it myself. And if I do it myself it will look even more shit."

And with that, long pink hair started falling to the floor.

It was only a little difficult to cut somewhat straight as Fit carefully moved the knife like a saw, until the last strands joined the rest on the cold metal below. He did flinch a little when a chunk of hair made a louder noise when plopping onto the ground, showing how tangled, matted and heavy it had been. Once done, he took the time to ruffle the ends a bit, knocking off any last loose strands before handing the knife back to Techno. "And done. It's all off. Honestly not too bad for a survival knife haircut." It's by no means a good haircut, it's uneven and messy, but it does it's job. Techno's hair falls just above his shoulders and his head, strangely, felt a lot lighter.

"I can't believe you actually just chopped it off. How dare you."

"Tubbo, I told you before, I can just regrow it."

"But now you look all weird!"

"Wow, thanks a lot."

"Don't blame me, I've only ever known you with long hair!"

"I think you look nice Techno."

"Thank you, Pac."

Techno began running his fingers through his hair, the last few tangles and knots far easier to get out. It should be manageable to at least not get it matted again. Tubbo began to playfully bicker with Pac about preferred hairstyles, with Fit ever so helpfully adding baldness to the suggestions. Once he was satisfied with the state of his hair, Techno tied it together into a tiny ponytail to keep it out of his face.

A flash of blue and red zipped by the window, signalling that Roier was once again doing his rounds around the territory. He really needs to take a break, he has done nothing but constantly swim around, growling at anything that moves. With Foolish asleep, he probably hasn't stopped to hunt himself food either. Maybe they could try and calm him down, offer him some of their food...

"Hey, how much of the fish do we have left? The pile that Foolish brought us yesterday." Tubbo stopped his bickering first, shrugging as an answer. "A good bit, it was far too much for us all. Why?" "We should offer some back to them. At least to Roier if Foolish is still sleeping. Maybe he'll settle down for a little while and rests too."

Tubbo turned to look out the window and managed to spot Roier circling nearby, checking out a cluster of rock and coral. "He's still nearby, we could call him for food." "If he listens", Fit adds. "He might be mad at us, I don't know. But we can try, I don't think he'll hurt us, just ignore us at most." Techno grumbled something about 'massive predators' and 'pets' under his breath, but did get up to help whatever plan they want to set up now.

Much to everyone's surprise, Pac started to push himself up as well, using the wall to keep his balance. That startled Cellbit to finally join the realm of the living again, jumping up to help his friend stand. "What do you think you're doing?" "I want to help. I told you before we went out to the ship, I hate being stuck in here doing nothing." Fit already opened his mouth to join Cellbit in protesting against it, but the look of sheer determination in the other's eyes made him click it shut again. He can respect it, the will to keep going, now that he sees they have a chance, not allowing his new handicap to slow him down in contributing to the group's survival.

It reminds him of himself, not too long ago...

Techno pats Fit on the shoulder, giving him a smile before he began to gather his equipment. Why a food offering requires all five of them to go outside is beyond him, but he won't complain. Not right now at least. Instead, he made sure that Tubbo' tank was refilled properly and securely attached to the mask.

They had to wait a few moments until all of them were through the airlock system. There has to be a better and faster way for them to enter and exit the base, especially if there is an emergency. Maybe a bottom hatch, so the water can't spill into the base. He'll talk that over with the others later when they are back inside.

The fish they had, which weren't that many if you compare them to Roier's size, were piled on the sandy floor near Foolish in the hopes that the close proximity to his father allows their friend to be somewhat reassured that he is safe while he eats. Techno stopped Tubbo from trying to go near and touch Foolish, as he didn't want the teen to accidentally wake him up. "He needs the rest Tubbo." "I was just making sure he isn't bleeding anywhere." The amount of care he has for the large creature was worrying... but also quite endearing. Thinking he could and will protect something so much larger than himself, despite Foolish being more than capable to defend himself without any help.

This relationship as a whole with the two large creatures was... interesting. They gained nothing from protecting the humans, if anything the best thing they could do for the two leviathans was becoming their next breakfast. Yet here they were, protecting the group and their home like they were their nest full of babies. Who knows, maybe Foolish does see them as babies and thinks they will grow as big as him. There is no way of knowing, with no real way of communicating with either of the creatures outside of simple words and gestures.

Communication would be quite helpful right about now, with them trying to make some sort of peace offering in hopes of making Roier not hate them anymore, if he even does in the first place.

When the pile was completed, Pac took to exploring the surrounding area a little bit, much to the annoyance of his companion. He also insisted he wants to try and swim a little by himself, pulling himself forward with his arms rather than moving his remaining leg too much. It contradicted what they had agreed on in the morning, with Pac having to use his won strength as little as possible. But it seems like he changed his mind and wants to start exercising as soon as possible, at least a little bit. He does laugh at how close Cellbit and Fit stay to him, even though they respect his wish to try and swim by himself.

Near death experiences cause quite different effects in people...

In the end, they didn't have to call out for Roier, as he came back on his own as soon as he noticed that they were outside of their base. Unlike before, he greeted them with a chirp again, the growling and nervous pacing fading out of existence. That's a good sign right? "Hey big guy. We got you some food." The young leviathan looked at the pile of fish that Techno was pointing at, then at each of the humans. He lingered especially long on Pac, watching as he slowly swam around, almost looking like he is attempting to play very slow tag with his two guard dogs, escaping their close proximity as much as he can.

The calm, almost normal behaviour of all the humans seem to calm him down, so that's a bonus. His fins relax and he sinks down to the floor, slowly starting to eat the offered meal. Every now and again he would glance over to the sleeping form of his father, making sure he's still there and unharmed. Is if he could just get up and leave without anyone noticing. Techno stays there and sits on the ground, the weight of the oxygen tank making it pretty easy to not drift away. Tubbo, after a little while, decides to join the trio swimming around and starts making little challenges for Pac, most of which immediately get shot down by Fit alone.

It felt... nice. Seeing them like this.

Itfelt like a home, almost.