Ducky Takeover (Art + Lit Combo)

"Alright, who the fuck infested quarantine tank with god damned rubber ducks?"

"It's not an infestation, Hank, its enrichment!"

"Don't enrich that little asshole, he's being punished!"

"Aw, you're just mad cause Wilde likes Dana and not you."

"I'm not 'just mad'. He fucking bit me!"

"Its not his fault your fingers look like tasty sausages..."

"What was that?!" .... The conversation trailed off into the distance.

Wilde, a rather feisty oscar, swam idly in his tank. It seemed almost like his eyes were following the bickering zookeepers as they left the room. But then again, it always felt like Wilde was giving you the eye. It was part of his natural charm. No one ever knew for sure what was going on his fishy little brain.

The young oscars gaze shifted to the top of the water in his tank. There were several new, fascinating shapes bobbing around, being pushed by the gentle current of the filtration system. One of them had flipped upside-down, its 'head' submerged in the water. Wilde approached it cautiously, giving it a tentative bonk with his nose before backing up rapidly. The rubber duck simply bobbed. This confused Wilde. How dare the shape not respond to his prod?

He approached again, a little more firmly this time, causing the duck to spin gently in the water. It went on like this for several minutes. As Wilde became more comfortable with the duck, he began biting and splashing at it, causing it to spin and bob all over the top of the tank. He hardly noticed when the zookeepers came back into the room.

"Aw c'mon, don't be like that!"

"I'm sorry Carl, you heard the boss. The ducks have gotta go." The one who was Hank made an attempt at sounding empathetic, but in truth he seemed just a little too pleased to be approaching Wildes tank with a plastic bag. Carl sat in a corner, dejected, while Hank began plucking the ducks from around the tank and placing them in the bag.

As the zookeeper moved on to the ducks floating in the water, Wilde sensed the disturbance and ceased his play, backing towards a corner to watch as the shapes disappeared. The intruder kept picking the shapes out around the one Wilde had been playing with, and the fish began to get nervous. He was having such fun with this new shape, he didn't want the intruder to take it!

Moving closer to 'his' duck, Wilde kept a keen eye on the shadow that hovered above the water, snatching away the new shapes. Soon, a bunch of fat, fleshy looking shapes descended in the water around Wilde's new toy. And just as soon...

"OUCH!"

"Hah! That's what you get! See, he likes them!"

"Grr...." Hank clutched their sore finger in their other hand, checking for bleeding. "Fine. He can keep the one. Damn bastard fish..."

The two zookeepers continued to bicker as they made for the exit again, bag full of 'infestation' in hand, while Wilde's wary gaze followed them the whole way out.