Chapter Text
The way he was looming over you was obviously supposed to be intimidating, with his needle sharp teeth bared and his claws in full view. And you did, technically, deserve it after flash banging him 15 times.
To be fair, you were pretty impressed that his sight seemed to have recovered so quickly.
You were also impressed how long his tongue was. It seemed to be forked, from the angle you were in, and you could hear a thin, reedy growl brewing in his throat. Err, chest? You had no idea where growls came from.
But then again, you couldn't exactly hear all that well. Your ears were ringing like crazy from the 15 consecutive blasts of sound. You were pretty sure that wasn't healthy.
You were, however, not deaf enough to miss the sudden hiss, or blind enough to not notice the way his jaw seemed to unhinge, giving him the perfect space for one hell of a chomp.
You didn't move.
You weren't sure if it was fear or a sense of resignation, but your feet were rooted in place and all you could do was blink slowly up at the monster before you.
"Smash."
" What ?" You've never seen someone physically recoil so quickly. The way his jaw snapped closed like a trap was particularly entertaining.
"I said smash." Did Hadal Blacksite monsters know Internet words? Did he know what it meant? He reacted like he knew what it meant.
“I heard you the first time.” Even with his snarky response, he still seemed a bit dazed as his arms went lax with his third arm propping itself up on his hip, no longer pinning you in place. Maybe that was from his corneas being burnt? With a slight huff of exertion, you sat up, brushing off your shirt. Even when he'd retreated a safe distance, his expression was still guarded. He didn't seem to be in any hurry to jump you anymore, but the way his shoulders were tense told you he was ready to pounce the moment you so much as breathed wrong.
"Are you stupid? Why didn't you run?" His voice was low, a little hoarse. He probably needed a drink. You knew you did. "People with actual survival instincts – no, common sense – would GET OUT, like I told you to after you fucking BLINDED ME."
"I'm not a very good runner. Plus, I kinda deserved it."
"'Kinda'?"
"Okay, maybe a lot. But you started it!"
" I started it?"
"You were the one making fun of me first! I was just defending myself!" You were getting a bit heated now, despite the fact that he was obviously bigger, stronger, and had very large teeth.
"I would've believed you if you'd only done it once . But you didn't stop! Doing it once is one thing, doing it twice is another, and doing it 15 fucking times is batshit insane and I hope you're locked up!"
"Why do you think I'm in prison, genius?! I swear to whatever god is down here, I will fucking--!"
"Okay, okay," He leaned forward a bit, hands raised to either side of his head, palms up facing you like he was trying to soothe an agitated animal. "How about this? We call a truce, and I don't have to eat you. You give me data, and I give you supplies. That sound good?"
"You were going to eat me ?!"
"Is that what you’re focusing on? You did try to permanently damage my eyes."
"You can't just eat people!"
"Watch me."
"That is... That is so messed up. This whole place is messed up. This whole situation is messed up!"
"No shit," Said the insanely mutilated fish-eel-guy. Fair enough.
"But... fine, whatever. Truce."
"Fantastic. I'm glad we're seeing eye to eye. Figuratively, of course." He says, as you crane your neck to the fullest extent to even try and meet his gaze. You tried to ignore his grin. It looked sharp and predatory and made your blood feel a bit too warm.
"If we’re doing this.. partnership, as I’ll call it, I should introduce myself." He said, extending a hand.
"What, you're not going to tell me to get out?"
"You've proven yourself to be an idiot, but I don't want you to die. I'm not a complete bastard. So, my name is Solace. Sebastian Solace."
"Gee, thanks." You roll your eyes, and shake his hand. He's careful not to nick you with his.. nails? Claws? Whatever.
For a split second, you debated telling him yours. Did you want to tell him your name? Would it matter if he knew? Would you even ever see him again?
Regardless of that, you introduced yourself anyways. It didn't matter if you were.. expendable . You were probably going to die down here anyways - might as well make the most of it.
"What are some nicknames for Sebastian?"
"Don't."
"Sebbie."
"I will murder you."
"Sebs, Sebbie, Sebbles, Seb-seb."
"Do not." He growled, his lip curling into a sneer. "Call me that."
"Sebs." You grinned, and he let out an irritated huff.
"I'm going to bite you. I'm going to rip off your face."
"With what, those cute teeth?"
" Cute ?" He spluttered.
"Yup, those ones. Those are some cute.. Chompers." God, okay, that made you cringe a little.
"My teeth aren't cute." He hissed, baring them in an almost comical fashion.
"I think they are. They're like a shark's, I think. They’re probably serrated. You should let me look.”
"No. They're not cute." He insisted, and you were a little taken aback by the sincerity of his statement. "They're -- they're any other definition in the book."
"Uh huh. I like cute better."
"They're not supposed to be cute! They're for eating meat, tearing it apart. For hunting, for -- for killing ."
There was probably something going on under the surface regarding that, maybe some type of complex? Maybe some kind of inferiority, self-confidence, body image? But that was neither here nor there, and it was none of your business since you weren't his therapist.
"Yeah, well, they're not scary to me."
"That's dumb. You're dumb. You're stupid, actually. Why are you even down here? You don’t really think Urbanshade is above lying to you about the money and reduced sentence shit, right? They sent you down here to die . You’re –”
“ Expendable , I know. I’ve heard it more in the past few days than I have my entire life.” You ran your hand over your forehead, wiping away the thin sheen of sweat and grime that was there. You hadn't even realized you'd been sweating.
He had a point. You were, basically, dead weight. If he hadn’t found you, or had decided to eat you instead, you would have been dead meat. Pun intended.
You'd already accepted the fact that you were going to die, but hearing it out loud made it a lot more real.
It was terrifying, if you were honest with yourself. You weren't suicidal, no, you weren't okay with dying. You'd had plans, and dreams, and things you wanted to accomplish.
But all that had gone to hell when you'd been arrested for petty theft.
Petty theft.
You couldn't even afford groceries and you'd been caught stealing food.
It had only been a sandwich, and even that was five ninety-nine. It hadn't even been good .
Your pride had taken a heavy blow.
Being sentenced to prison was the final nail in the coffin, so to speak. You had no money, no support, and no future.
Maybe that was just the punishment for existing.
"Hey." He said, his voice low. It was soft, which surprised you. It had only been a handful of seconds, but his tone was a far cry from his previous, borderline aggressive manner. "It's gonna be alright."
"What? Are you actually comforting me?"
"Look, just because we're not friends or anything, doesn't mean I have to be an asshole about you. And it's not like we're not working together, either."
"Oh yeah, 'partners in crime', or whatever."
"Exactly."
You'd never met someone who could be such a dick and still sound sincere.
"Okay. Thanks."
"No problem. I'd hate to work with someone who's a mess."
"Gee, thanks. I'll just... go ahead and die, then."
"That was a joke."
"Oh." You blanched.
"Yeah."
You sat together in silence. It was surprisingly comfortable, considering the situation. You could hear him breathing, and the end of his tail swished idly across the floor, back and forth. He was very.. long. Eel, maybe? Sea snake?
"Are you done looking me over?"
"Not yet."
"Well, can you do it a little less obviously? You're being creepy."
"Shut up."
You watched him, and he seemed to be staring off into space. It was a little hard to tell with the whole three-eyes thing, and the fact that he had no pupils or irises. They were so glowy. Almost made you want to look closer...
...And that was what it felt like to be a fish about to be eaten. Bioluminescence really did work.
Hey, wait, weren't those lures only in female--?
"Alright, I'm done." You needed to stop thinking before you strayed into a place where you could not return.
"About time."
"Do you ever smile?"
"Why would I?"
"I don't know, happiness?" Sebastian stared at you for a solid 5 seconds, his unnerving grin pasted onto his face.
"..Okay. Yeah. Dumb question," You mumbled. "So. What now?"
"You'll stay here for now. Eventually, of course, you'll need to go out there to gather data and try and get that crystal, but I need to give you some.. information, first." He hummed, crossing his arms. "A lot of info is restricted, though, since Urbanshade is a shady fuck. Pun intended. I can only reveal it to you the more you encounter certain things down here. Just, try not to die, and I'll try to not be a total dick."
"Wow, thanks."
"No problem. Now, how about that data?"
"Right."
And that was how you, trapped in the Hadal Blacksite with countless monsters out for your blood, gained a new ally.
"Hey, Sebastian, do you know what a 'gyatt' is?"
"How about we stop talking for a little while."
"Would."
You were going to get through this. Somehow.