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What the hell...?

Taavi had been cursed all his life by being a light sleeper. So when the knocks came on his door he was up and out of bed in an instant, going for the door. "I swear, if it's the goddamn neighbor kids again, I'm gonna start shanking the little bastards in their sleep..." He threw open the door and looked out, then down.

Of course, what lay silent at his feet startled him. A basket, with a blanketed bundle- Surely this happened only in the movies! He ignored the paper, grabbing the basket and taking the bundle inside. It wasn't moving. Dear Posideon, don't let there be a dead baby on his table...

The child didn't move once he pulled back the blankets. Eyes closed, scarily thin with a deathly palor, Taavi's heart sank. The child was dead.

"Oh, little one." He murmured, stroking thin hair gently. "Like was cruel to you."

"...nyeh." The noise was tiny. Taavi opened his eyes and looked up. The child was still motionless. He caressed the child's cheek.

"NYEH!" The baby shrieked, and Taavi jumped back as the eyes opened. All he could see was pupil, no iris.

"Holy s**t, zombie!" Taavi watched the child. Now that it was awake it started to fuss, little tiny noises and shifting. He moved closer, finally getting the note that was pinned to him. He read it, getting more annoyed as the letter went on. So, there was some nut just dropping off babies at houses? Did not sit well with him at all.

"C'mon, child." He said, carefully pulling him out of the basket. The baby made a schriek every time he was touched skin-to-skin. Taavi was willing to blame that on the difference in temperatures between himself and whatever this child was.

On the back of the blanket, written in marker, was the name 'Calaveras'. It appeared he already had a name. Taavi sighed, looking about for his pants. This child would need to be shopped for. But who in their right mind would name a baby 'Calaveras'? Did they purposively starve him to resemble a skeleton?

"I'll call you Cal for now, little one." Taavi said, sighing. Cal watched him, those eyes creepily intelligent for one so young.

Oh well. Taavi had been raising misfits most of his life. One more couldn't hurt.

No, Cal, no kit- Fine. Pet.

Taavi was pushing the carriage back towards his home after the swimming outing. The merman wasn't paying attention as he pushed, and jerked back to his senses when Cal screeched.

"What? What is it?" He asked, leaning over. Cal gave him a look of 'Er, Dumbass, I can't talk' and pointed. Taavi followed his finger. It was a cat, a little calico with a strange thing poking out of the top of it's head. The poor girl was thin, obviously a stray.

"Cal, no. No cats. Animals don't like me." He told the baby. The child thought on this a moment before he deciphered the words. No was what he was told when he screamed, or did something else that Taavi didn't like. 'No' meant that the delightful fuzzy couldn't come with him.

Calaveras did not like this. He wanted that fuzzy. He wanted it.

"Nnn..." That fuzzy. He wanted it! "NYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" He screeched, flailing. This drew looks from other passers by, taking into account the thinness of the child. Taavi found himself with quite a few glares. He sighed, grabbing the kitten, which bit him, and offered it to the boy.

"Here. Just stop it. People will think I abuse you." Taavi sighed, staring to push him back towards home. The people already thought that he starved the boy, what with his thinness.

Cal crooned, petting the fuzzy. what a delightful texture it had! The fuzzy blinked it's eyes at him and made a happy noise, licking his cheek. Such a rough tongue! Amazing! Cal giggled, petting the kitten happily as Taavi wheeled him home.

Taavi sighed and added 'Cat food, dishes, and litter' to his mental things to buy. If it made the grouchy, quiet boy happier, he was willing to put up with a kitten. Even if it seemed after his blood.

“You know, Cats eat fish. And I'm a merman.” He said. Cal just gave an uninterested sound.

Curious...

Cal screeched as Taavi undressed him for his bath, as the boy normally did when touched. Taavi ignored that and the kitten attacking his shins as best he could.

However, when he got the child undressed, he paused, gently dragging his fingertips over large, black bruises. Cal screeched and tried to wiggle away but Taavi held him in place.

“What in the world...?” He murmured, trying to think of how Cal could've gotten bruises that bad on his side. Unless he'd recently started to sleepwalk and beat his child, which was unlikely, going with how lightly Taavi slept. He murmured to himself and thought harder.

Well, the area was where Brisby had prodded Cal the other day... But no baby could inflict that kind of bruising on a child! The kitten gave him a particularly furious bite to the shin and Taavi yelped, finally putting Cal in his bath water.

“You are a strange one, little one.” Taavi sighed, washing that thin hair. Cal nibbled on the washcloth, eyes watching him. Taavi cleaned him, taking note of more bruises that were nearly terrifyingly dark. What was happening to his child to make him bruise so black?

Cal didn't seem to notice them, he was far too busy taking note of his washcloth, blank eyes going over the color before he examined the texture with fingers and lips. He finally took interest in his 'Father', slowly reaching out to touch the opalescent scales on his hand. What an interesting shade... Not too pleasant of a temperature, but an interesting shade.

When he removed the child from the bath, Taavi was sure to be extra careful with him, making sure that there was nothing in his crib that could possibly be harming him before putting him to bed. The merman stayed up late watching him. It was time for him to find a doctor. Wonderful. Taavi was excellent with Doctors.