Giles helped you by following the Amphibian Man in your absence, keeping a watchful, if nervous, eye on the creature while you were at work, watching Richard Strickland go crazy with paranoia, trying to identify the traitor who abducted the creature. When you got home, you walked Giles to the door, bidding him a quiet goodbye as he retreated to his own sanctuary down the hall. The moment the lock clicked shut, the silence of the apartment wrapped around you: heavy with the scent of rain and river water.

The first thing you did was go to your bathroom. You pushed the door open gently. Even though the white porcelain bathtub was much smaller than the pressurized cylinder or the brutal concrete pool in which he was kept at the lab, he felt clearly freer here. The salt you had added to the water dissolved into a brine that mimicked his home, and the darkness of the room was soothing compared to the harsh fluorescent glare of the facility.

He is immediately happy to see you. As you step onto the tiled floor, the water in the tub churns. His sleek, scaled head rises from the surface, water cascading off the ridge of his skull. His large, golden-amber eyes widen, the translucent nictitating membranes flicking back to reveal a gaze of pure, intelligent recognition. A soft, guttural trill vibrates in his chest, a sound like a purring cat submerged in water, and his gills flutter rapidly, flushing a deep pink against his teal skin. He reaches out a webbed hand, his dark claws retracting carefully, simply wanting to touch the air near you, anchoring himself to your presence.