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When Floyd was little, his mood swings used to be much worse than what they were now. He would wake up sometimes, completely upset and annoyed with everything for no reason, other than the world was just stupid and loud.
His father and mother, despite the fact that their species wasn’t known for being the most caring to their young, always took the time to try and work with Floyd during these tantrums. They tried everything from talking to him and trying to find out the problem, to holding his wiggling body still as he writhed and wailed about how much everything sucked and hurt in that moment.
Sometimes, he would just leave before it got to that point, always looking for a way for everything to stop, but unable to do so. Jade would always be close behind, protective and worried about his twin. Despite the fact that they told everyone there was no older or younger between the two of them, their parents had labeled Jade as just a few moments older than Floyd and the other took it seriously, constantly worried about him and trying to make sure that his more carefree twin was looked after, even when he didn’t need it.
But eventually, his mood swings started to even out a bit more, especially when his family realized that the reason he would complain about noises some days was because he was just overstimulated, but Floyd never expressed it in a way they could understand, thus his tantrums.
That was when they met Azul and found a new friend.
Azul wasn’t quite used to Floyd’s mood swings when they first met, but he was even more lost on the days that the younger twin was completely overstimulated, until he introduced a new way for the little eel to cope with the little eel to cope when he was overstimulated and couldn’t deal with everything.
⸻
Blue eyes took in the whining, curled up form of Floyd, Jade hovering not too far away from the other. “What’s wrong with Floyd today?”
“...he’s overstimulated.” Jade whispered, his ever present smile gone as he moved closer to Azul, wincing slightly at a slightly higher whine from his brother. “Sometimes, when Floyd’s overstimulated, it can be pretty bad. Sometimes he’ll throw tantrums and sometimes he just…sits like that. I think because of how far your home is from everyone else it isn’t that bad, but it was really bad before we went to school earlier.”
“Oh…” Azul frowned slightly, chubby cheeks poking out a bit more as he looked at his two first friends. Floyd’s shaking figure was curled up so tightly that the octomer almost thought he was going to tie himself into a knot.
Steeling himself, Azul went closer to Floyd, fingers brushing against his arm, only to pull back when the moray flinched from his touch. “Floyd, can you follow me? I want to try something to help…”
The silver haired merchild watched anxiously as Floyd sat there for a moment longer, before he slowly began to follow the shorter. They went deeper and deeper into the little cove Azul and his parents called home, until they got to Azul’s favorite crevice, Jade not far behind the duo.
“What are you planning, Azul?” The older twin asked.
“Well, when I don’t want anyone to bother me, or the bullying becomes too much,” The octomer started, moving into the hole and pulling out a large cauldron. “I usually go into one of the sunken pots as you already know, but I think if I just do a little adjustment to these….”
Casting a silencing spell on the cauldron, before moving and grabbing the softest pieces of seaweed that lingered in the area, before frowning. “Jade, can you run and get more seaweed for me? As much as you can carry, please.”
The other nodded, turning and swimming back the way they came as Azul used the bit of seaweed he had to coat the cauldron on the inside. When Jade returned, he handed the gathered items to the younger, who hummed in approval and filled it into the cauldron as well. Once finished, he turned back to Floyd and gestured to his project. “You can get in it. It has a silencing spell on it, so no sounds go into or out of it and the seaweed makes it a little softer for you.”
Floyd blinked, the little bit of tears that still clung to the corner of his doe eyes trickling away into the ocean before he slowly moved over to it and climbed in, curling up into a neat coil and laying down. Instantly, the two watching him saw his entire body relax as he began to decompress within the cauldron.
After that, whenever Floyd had a bad day, he would go into the special cauldron Azul had given him and hide until he felt a little more prepared for the world outside of that safe space.
⸻
When they came to the land, his bad days had decreased the older he’d gotten…or more so, he’d just gotten better at handling it, rather than throwing destructive tantrums or shutting down all the time.
That’s not to say that he didn’t still have days where being around so many other students and the constant stress of their new life didn’t get to the more violent twin.
But even if he did get overstimulated, they thankfully had something to combat that as well.
Jade checked his phone once more, a frown on his face as he noticed that it was well past the time that Floyd would come out of his room. Worry gnawed at him from the inside and he went to go find his twin.
Upon arriving at the door, Jade knocked three times before going in, his worry only grew when he didn’t see his brother at first, but he calmed himself. Entering the room, the Vice of Octanivelle made his way over to Floyd’s closet and opened the door to see his brother in eel form curled up in a large cauldron in the dark room, water covering his body as he sat with a soggy, but fuzzy blanket covering him, two plush stuffed animals clutched tightly in his arms as he slept.
“Well, I guess today is a bad day…” He whispered, reaching down and gently brushing his fingers through his younger twin’s swaying hair. Floyd’s eyes flickered open briefly, before he smiled softly and closed once more.
Jade turned and left, already texting Azul that Floyd wouldn’t be going to class or to his shift at the Monstro Lounge.
It would be okay for his brother to comfort himself while they handled it for the day.