Matthew woke up to an empty bed, his cold side missing the other body that was usually pressed up flushed against it. That in itself was strange. Gilbert usually had to be bribed out of his cozy nest of covers and pillows with promises of pancakes before he deigned to even show a fin. For having never slept in a bed before, the shark man had taken to the concept quite well, nearly to the point of addiction it would seem. It was the most reliable place to find the shark man, usually buried under a fluffy mountain of his own making.
Which made Matthew wonder where the hell Gilbert had gotten himself off to. The lighthouse keeper strained his senses to their utmost limits in an attempt to locate his strange other without having to leave the warm comforts of the bed. Gilbert wasn't the only one who loved to lounge in bed and Matthew rarely got the opportunity to do so anymore due to his duties to the lighthouse and now apparently, keeping an overly curious shark man out of trouble.
Cracking an eye, Matthew confirmed that Gilbert was not in the bedroom and it didn't sound like he was in the bathroom either which meant he had to out and about somewhere else in the kitchen or living room. Matthew was hoping for the later. There being far less breakable things in the living room and his kitchen counter was still sporting a jagged bite mark in it, thanks in part to his twin Alfred.
Trying not to think about his lot in life or relatives that had the tendency to break his things, Matthew reasoned that he must of fallen back asleep because the next thing he knew, something heavy and wet was being placed in his lap. Needless to say, it woke his ass up real quick.
"Eh?", Matthew groaned as he fumbled for his glasses from the relative safety of the nightstand. The sodden mess that now took up the majority of his lap resolved itself into a tray full to the point of spillage, each plate upon it having some sort of sea life still very much alive occupying the porcelain. It was accompanied by a shark man who was grinning like a madman with all his jagged teeth on display. If Matthew wasn't so used to it, it would have been frightening, Gilbert's 'I'm awesome' face easily confused with his 'You're not swimming fast enough, fish stick' face.
Admittedly it was a very colorful serving of sea life. Kelp was piled up high in a bowl, the dark green strands still dripping saltwater. Another bowl was filled to its brim with tiny crabs, a mixture of blue and bright red in color, all of which were trying to make their escape back to the sea via the comforter. One stopped to nibble off of Matthew's toe before scurrying off. A large fish with beautiful silver scales appeared to be the main course. Unlike it's marine brethren, it was very much dead. The belly of the fish sported a large familiar bite mark, neatly gutting it. An octopus glared back at Matthew from the tall glass it had been placed in, distain etched into all of its many appendages as it tried pulled itself out of the glass. Unsuccessful in its attempts for now, it amused itself by wrapping its tentacles around all the cutlery which was comprised up of three forks, many spoons of various shapes and function, and a whisk for some reason.
In spite of all the wildlife chaos soaking into one of his better sheets, a cup of still steaming coffee sat neatly off to the side in a corner of the tray, smelling and looking oddly normal. Matthew arched a questioning eyebrow of suspicion at it. With his luck, it was probably made with saltwater. Gilbert tended to forget that human couldn't drink straight from the ocean like he could.
"What is all this?", Matthew asked carefully. Admittedly this was not his most ideal way of waking up, but Gilbert looked so proud of himself, Matthew couldn't bring himself to get upset about the mess or the method to the madness.
"I made you breakfast in bed.", Gilbert said, "I saw it on the telly-o-vision.". Which explained everything to Matthew who, once again, instantly regretted introducing the shark man to daytime programming. It had seemed like such a good idea at the time. Matthew's job kept him busy and Gilbert could only be allotted so much time by himself before something bad happened to the lighthouse or the features within it. The walls were still recovering from the whole crayon incident.
"Oh, thank you.", Matthew smiled carefully, torn between laughing out loud and sighing. He didn't want to hurt Gilbert's feeling even as he felt the octopus slip off the tray and onto the bed with a moist splat of victory. "It's very…very alive. Fresh. Yes, very fresh and moving. Mostly". Matthew poked at the fish as if to confirm it was fully dead and wondered idly what kind it was.
"I remembered you don't like the guts in fish. I don't know why. It's the best part.", Gilbert sounded miffed about such a notion. The strange ways of human still threw him for a loop sometime but Gilbert felt he was learning to adept quite well. He could even wear clothing now, though pants were still evil things that made his new leg skin crawl. The long sleeved green sweater was his latest acquisition from Matthew's closet, though like the rest, its lifespan would be short-lived. Gilbert's sandpaper like skin, though softer than an actual shark's, still ruined fabric after extended wear.
"I can see that…..", Matthew trailed off, watching the shark man out of the corner of his eye. Gilbert looked as if he were waiting for something, his crimson gaze fixed and intent upon him. Matthew distracted himself from it by urging the octopus off the bed with the wired aid of the whisk. The octopus got in the last word on the matter by spraying ink on the floor, leaving a swear across the tile as it exited the room. Matthew really didn't have it in his heart to blame it after suffering such an indignity.
When Gilbert started to fidget, Matthew realized that the shark man was waiting for him to begin eating. Staring down at the tray in dismay, Matthew considered his options which were fewer now that the crabs and octopus had left. The dead fish stared morosely back up at him. Returning the look, Matthew doubted that he could stomach raw fish first thing in the morning and he wasn't sure if the kelp was even edible for human consumption in its current state. That left the coffee that may or may not have been made with salt water because Gilbert tended to forget that humans could only consume fresh or to Matthew's knowledge, knew how to work the coffee maker.
Choosing the lesser evil of the three, Matthew tentatively sipped at the coffee. Much to his relief, he found it be very good and best of all, normal. Letting out a sigh of relief mingled with caffeine fulfillment joy, Matthew leaned back against the pillows, Gilbert resuming his usual spot at the lighthouse keeper's side.
"We can share.".