Ara Asks

In the darkness of the thick blood, something disturbs the flow of movement. Looking closer, it becomes apparent that it’s a… bubble? An impossible air bubble, and inside holds a person… somehow.

Ara’s eyes shined with stars, they shuffled over until they were just inches away from where the blood was pressing against the shore.

Ara’s grin grows, and they lunged out to grab Simon’s hand. The world shifts and distorts, before the feeling of falling enveloped them both.

In the darkness of the thick blood, something disturbs the flow of movement. Looking closer, it becomes apparent that it’s a… bubble? An impossible air bubble, and inside holds a person… somehow.

Ara’s eyes shined with stars, they shuffled over until they were just inches away from where the blood was pressing against the shore.

In the darkness of the thick blood, something disturbs the flow of movement. Looking closer, it becomes apparent that it’s a… bubble? An impossible air bubble, and inside holds a person… somehow.

“Oh! Well I was on the shore, but there wasn’t anybody around so I decided to get in the ocean. Obviously I can’t breathe down here, so the bubble.” The person chirped, not explaining the mechanics of the bubble or how it exists at all. Like it was just common knowledge.

“Same way I get everywhere! I-… come to think of it, I’m not entirely sure how it works. Need to think of an answer to that. One minute I’m in the dark in-between place, name pending, next I’m somewhere new! And this is certainly somewhere new.” A pause to breathe.

Ara notices Simon’s dilemma, and fixes it by jamming his hand, and part of his arm, through the bubble to shake Simon’s clawed one. They pulled their hand back, observing their now blood-red and dripping sleeve.

“Oh, so you haven’t always been like that?” Ara hummed curiously, pressing his gloved hands against the side of the bubble, visible eye shining impossibly in the darkness.

“Uh, no. I haven’t.”

“Soooo, where’d you come from if not from here? I didn’t see any people or houses up top, although I could’a missed them.” Ara asked, trying to cut through the odd melancholy feeling that had twined itself into the conversation.

“That’s not very nice of them, whoever they are. I was one a space station once, or twice? They had similar names. The captain was kinda weird, didn’t talk like at all even though their head engineer did nothing but talk.” Ara rambled on.

“Hm? Oh yeah! I do need that. Hmmm, but going up means leaving you down here.” Ara ponders something, before reaching up and taking the sun hair clip out from their hair.

With that, Ara wiggles around in a way that seems to make the bubble rise. It was almost funny, like a hamster ball defying gravity.

“Mother fucker…” Simon growls, swimming after Ara and grabbing onto him, wrapping his arm around them. Up close, Simon’s a lot bigger than he seemed at first. He turns to face the eel, who stopped going after them to simply look at Simon. He hisses, baring his fangs.

Oh! The weird scary fish can… talk? Talk adjacent? Communicate. Obviously Ara was missing context for its statement, but they knew about the space station and how Simon got forced down. How did this eel know about it though? Were they once friends?

“I’m a human.” He responds. His gaze shifts down to himself; his claws, tail, spines. “…Well, I used to be.”

Ara’s head was spinning with all the new information. Or maybe it was the fact he was slowly suffocating. Either way, they felt far out of their depth. Hah. Okay definitely starting to border on delirious.

He senses Ara’s urgency, and gives them a reassuring squeeze. He inches away, keeping his eyes on her.

The moment Ara’s head is out, he’s gulping in air. They sputter once or twice, distantly remembering to not make himself hyperventilate. He clings to Simon a bit longer, the warmth of the other a siren’s call against the sudden change in temperature.

Ara curled up on himself a little, legs to chest and chin atop knees. The blood was lazily dripping from his hair onto the ground, probably the reason he’d yet to notice his eye.

Ara deflated a little. If Simon wasn’t upset about it then he didn’t have any right to be either. Now wasn’t the time to play knight-in-shining-armor just cause something reminded him of something else.

Ara froze, mulling it over. Simon had been forced to lay his traumas out with the eel, maybe it would even the playing field a little if Ara at least showed the result of his?

“I can, yeah. I can kinda see better out of it actually, like I can basically see stuff behind me if that makes sense. When I use this eye… everything’s more clear too, my memories and whatnots. Dunno if I pavloved myself into that or what.” Ara explained with a hum.

“Interesting.” He comments, resting his chin in his hand. “I’m totally blind in my left eye. Sometimes I wonder if the eel can see out of it.” He half-jokes, chuckling. “…I’m not sure if I was ever told her name.. I’d ask, but I think she would probably just yell at me for ‘focusing on such forgettably human things such as names.’” He hisses in imitation of her voice, and rolls his eyes.

Ara laughed at Simon’s impersonation, a small but genuine sound that seemed to bury its way into everything it touched.

“Cool, can you bring things or people there? Or just yourself?” He asks, beginning to feel nervous about asking so many questions, but this is the first time he’s ever been able to ask a question without having to pay for it, so he’s going to take a slight advantage of that if he can.

“I can bring anything, or anyone, with me! I have been told that traveling to and from feels very uncanny but nobody’s ever gotten hurt.” Ara’s chirps happily, glad he can give a proper answer this time.

An odd shuffling can be heard, the sound bouncing off the walls of the Eleutheria and filling the space. It continues for at least a few more minutes, before stopping entirely. Suddenly-

Ara wiggles around, making a few noises that made it clear he was struggling before a heavy thud rang out. They quickly righted themself up, shaking out not unlike a dog.

{he smacks his side with the cane, and then just sighs.}

Even as lanus walked away, Ara followed. Their footsteps were quiet and they were far away enough that his presence was easily ignorable. But it was there, trailing behind like a shadow.

{he walks a few feet, and then stops and turns around.}

Ara blinked, not moving closer but not moving away. Maintaining that same distance like it was practiced. Far enough from that cane’s reach at least.

{he changed direction and went straight into the kitchen instead, swatting a chair and pointing to Ara.}

Ara grins, moving to curl up on the chair, crisscrossing their legs. There’s a gleam of satisfaction in his eyes, like this was the intended result.

"My name? Depends where you're from."

“Where I’m from? You have multiple names too?” Ara tilts their head in confusion, either oblivious or ignoring the hostility entirely.

"I-"

Ara seemed to mull over the two names, but reached a decision pretty quickly. It was easy to see which name the other favored given how he spoke, and something about the latter made something old inside him squirm in protest.

"... Not my name."

“Oh! Is it a title then? Or an alias?” Ara couldn’t help being curious, not when Lanus seemed so interesting.

"No it- it's got an I. Not an L. I'm not a software."

Ara facepalmed, of course it was an I and not an L. English was so strange, having two letters that looked so similar which made messing them up inside speech and memory so easy. At least it had gotten simpler in more recent years, ye old English had been a nightmare.

An odd shuffling can be heard, the sound bouncing off the walls of the Eleutheria and filling the space. It continues for at least a few more minutes, before stopping entirely. Suddenly-

Ara wiggles around, making a few noises that made it clear he was struggling before a heavy thud rang out. They quickly righted themself up, shaking out not unlike a dog.

{he smacks his side with the cane, and then just sighs.}

Even as lanus walked away, Ara followed. Their footsteps were quiet and they were far away enough that his presence was easily ignorable. But it was there, trailing behind like a shadow.

{he walks a few feet, and then stops and turns around.}

Ara blinked, not moving closer but not moving away. Maintaining that same distance like it was practiced. Far enough from that cane’s reach at least.

{he changed direction and went straight into the kitchen instead, swatting a chair and pointing to Ara.}

Ara grins, moving to curl up on the chair, crisscrossing their legs. There’s a gleam of satisfaction in his eyes, like this was the intended result.

"My name? Depends where you're from."

“Where I’m from? You have multiple names too?” Ara tilts their head in confusion, either oblivious or ignoring the hostility entirely.

"I-"

Ara seemed to mull over the two names, but reached a decision pretty quickly. It was easy to see which name the other favored given how he spoke, and something about the latter made something old inside him squirm in protest.

"... Not my name."

“Oh! Is it a title then? Or an alias?” Ara couldn’t help being curious, not when Lanus seemed so interesting.

An odd shuffling can be heard, the sound bouncing off the walls of the Eleutheria and filling the space. It continues for at least a few more minutes, before stopping entirely. Suddenly-

Ara wiggles around, making a few noises that made it clear he was struggling before a heavy thud rang out. They quickly righted themself up, shaking out not unlike a dog.

{he smacks his side with the cane, and then just sighs.}

Even as lanus walked away, Ara followed. Their footsteps were quiet and they were far away enough that his presence was easily ignorable. But it was there, trailing behind like a shadow.

{he walks a few feet, and then stops and turns around.}

Ara blinked, not moving closer but not moving away. Maintaining that same distance like it was practiced. Far enough from that cane’s reach at least.

{he changed direction and went straight into the kitchen instead, swatting a chair and pointing to Ara.}

Ara grins, moving to curl up on the chair, crisscrossing their legs. There’s a gleam of satisfaction in his eyes, like this was the intended result.

"My name? Depends where you're from."

“Where I’m from? You have multiple names too?” Ara tilts their head in confusion, either oblivious or ignoring the hostility entirely.

"I-"

Ara seemed to mull over the two names, but reached a decision pretty quickly. It was easy to see which name the other favored given how he spoke, and something about the latter made something old inside him squirm in protest.

An odd shuffling can be heard, the sound bouncing off the walls of the Eleutheria and filling the space. It continues for at least a few more minutes, before stopping entirely. Suddenly-

Ara wiggles around, making a few noises that made it clear he was struggling before a heavy thud rang out. They quickly righted themself up, shaking out not unlike a dog.

{he smacks his side with the cane, and then just sighs.}

Even as lanus walked away, Ara followed. Their footsteps were quiet and they were far away enough that his presence was easily ignorable. But it was there, trailing behind like a shadow.

{he walks a few feet, and then stops and turns around.}

Ara blinked, not moving closer but not moving away. Maintaining that same distance like it was practiced. Far enough from that cane’s reach at least.

{he changed direction and went straight into the kitchen instead, swatting a chair and pointing to Ara.}

Ara grins, moving to curl up on the chair, crisscrossing their legs. There’s a gleam of satisfaction in his eyes, like this was the intended result.

"My name? Depends where you're from."

“Where I’m from? You have multiple names too?” Ara tilts their head in confusion, either oblivious or ignoring the hostility entirely.

An odd shuffling can be heard, the sound bouncing off the walls of the Eleutheria and filling the space. It continues for at least a few more minutes, before stopping entirely. Suddenly-

Ara wiggles around, making a few noises that made it clear he was struggling before a heavy thud rang out. They quickly righted themself up, shaking out not unlike a dog.

{he smacks his side with the cane, and then just sighs.}

Even as lanus walked away, Ara followed. Their footsteps were quiet and they were far away enough that his presence was easily ignorable. But it was there, trailing behind like a shadow.

{he walks a few feet, and then stops and turns around.}

Ara blinked, not moving closer but not moving away. Maintaining that same distance like it was practiced. Far enough from that cane’s reach at least.

{he changed direction and went straight into the kitchen instead, swatting a chair and pointing to Ara.}

Ara grins, moving to curl up on the chair, crisscrossing their legs. There’s a gleam of satisfaction in his eyes, like this was the intended result.

In the darkness of the thick blood, something disturbs the flow of movement. Looking closer, it becomes apparent that it’s a… bubble? An impossible air bubble, and inside holds a person… somehow.

“Oh! Well I was on the shore, but there wasn’t anybody around so I decided to get in the ocean. Obviously I can’t breathe down here, so the bubble.” The person chirped, not explaining the mechanics of the bubble or how it exists at all. Like it was just common knowledge.

“Same way I get everywhere! I-… come to think of it, I’m not entirely sure how it works. Need to think of an answer to that. One minute I’m in the dark in-between place, name pending, next I’m somewhere new! And this is certainly somewhere new.” A pause to breathe.

Ara notices Simon’s dilemma, and fixes it by jamming his hand, and part of his arm, through the bubble to shake Simon’s clawed one. They pulled their hand back, observing their now blood-red and dripping sleeve.

“Oh, so you haven’t always been like that?” Ara hummed curiously, pressing his gloved hands against the side of the bubble, visible eye shining impossibly in the darkness.

“Uh, no. I haven’t.”

“Soooo, where’d you come from if not from here? I didn’t see any people or houses up top, although I could’a missed them.” Ara asked, trying to cut through the odd melancholy feeling that had twined itself into the conversation.

“That’s not very nice of them, whoever they are. I was one a space station once, or twice? They had similar names. The captain was kinda weird, didn’t talk like at all even though their head engineer did nothing but talk.” Ara rambled on.

“Hm? Oh yeah! I do need that. Hmmm, but going up means leaving you down here.” Ara ponders something, before reaching up and taking the sun hair clip out from their hair.

With that, Ara wiggles around in a way that seems to make the bubble rise. It was almost funny, like a hamster ball defying gravity.

“Mother fucker…” Simon growls, swimming after Ara and grabbing onto him, wrapping his arm around them. Up close, Simon’s a lot bigger than he seemed at first. He turns to face the eel, who stopped going after them to simply look at Simon. He hisses, baring his fangs.

Oh! The weird scary fish can… talk? Talk adjacent? Communicate. Obviously Ara was missing context for its statement, but they knew about the space station and how Simon got forced down. How did this eel know about it though? Were they once friends?

“I’m a human.” He responds. His gaze shifts down to himself; his claws, tail, spines. “…Well, I used to be.”

Ara’s head was spinning with all the new information. Or maybe it was the fact he was slowly suffocating. Either way, they felt far out of their depth. Hah. Okay definitely starting to border on delirious.

He senses Ara’s urgency, and gives them a reassuring squeeze. He inches away, keeping his eyes on her.

The moment Ara’s head is out, he’s gulping in air. They sputter once or twice, distantly remembering to not make himself hyperventilate. He clings to Simon a bit longer, the warmth of the other a siren’s call against the sudden change in temperature.

Ara curled up on himself a little, legs to chest and chin atop knees. The blood was lazily dripping from his hair onto the ground, probably the reason he’d yet to notice his eye.

Ara deflated a little. If Simon wasn’t upset about it then he didn’t have any right to be either. Now wasn’t the time to play knight-in-shining-armor just cause something reminded him of something else.

Ara froze, mulling it over. Simon had been forced to lay his traumas out with the eel, maybe it would even the playing field a little if Ara at least showed the result of his?

“I can, yeah. I can kinda see better out of it actually, like I can basically see stuff behind me if that makes sense. When I use this eye… everything’s more clear too, my memories and whatnots. Dunno if I pavloved myself into that or what.” Ara explained with a hum.

“Interesting.” He comments, resting his chin in his hand. “I’m totally blind in my left eye. Sometimes I wonder if the eel can see out of it.” He half-jokes, chuckling. “…I’m not sure if I was ever told her name.. I’d ask, but I think she would probably just yell at me for ‘focusing on such forgettably human things such as names.’” He hisses in imitation of her voice, and rolls his eyes.

Ara laughed at Simon’s impersonation, a small but genuine sound that seemed to bury its way into everything it touched.

In the darkness of the thick blood, something disturbs the flow of movement. Looking closer, it becomes apparent that it’s a… bubble? An impossible air bubble, and inside holds a person… somehow.

“Oh! Well I was on the shore, but there wasn’t anybody around so I decided to get in the ocean. Obviously I can’t breathe down here, so the bubble.” The person chirped, not explaining the mechanics of the bubble or how it exists at all. Like it was just common knowledge.

“Same way I get everywhere! I-… come to think of it, I’m not entirely sure how it works. Need to think of an answer to that. One minute I’m in the dark in-between place, name pending, next I’m somewhere new! And this is certainly somewhere new.” A pause to breathe.

Ara notices Simon’s dilemma, and fixes it by jamming his hand, and part of his arm, through the bubble to shake Simon’s clawed one. They pulled their hand back, observing their now blood-red and dripping sleeve.

“Oh, so you haven’t always been like that?” Ara hummed curiously, pressing his gloved hands against the side of the bubble, visible eye shining impossibly in the darkness.

“Uh, no. I haven’t.”

“Soooo, where’d you come from if not from here? I didn’t see any people or houses up top, although I could’a missed them.” Ara asked, trying to cut through the odd melancholy feeling that had twined itself into the conversation.

“That’s not very nice of them, whoever they are. I was one a space station once, or twice? They had similar names. The captain was kinda weird, didn’t talk like at all even though their head engineer did nothing but talk.” Ara rambled on.

“Hm? Oh yeah! I do need that. Hmmm, but going up means leaving you down here.” Ara ponders something, before reaching up and taking the sun hair clip out from their hair.

With that, Ara wiggles around in a way that seems to make the bubble rise. It was almost funny, like a hamster ball defying gravity.

“Mother fucker…” Simon growls, swimming after Ara and grabbing onto him, wrapping his arm around them. Up close, Simon’s a lot bigger than he seemed at first. He turns to face the eel, who stopped going after them to simply look at Simon. He hisses, baring his fangs.

Oh! The weird scary fish can… talk? Talk adjacent? Communicate. Obviously Ara was missing context for its statement, but they knew about the space station and how Simon got forced down. How did this eel know about it though? Were they once friends?

“I’m a human.” He responds. His gaze shifts down to himself; his claws, tail, spines. “…Well, I used to be.”

Ara’s head was spinning with all the new information. Or maybe it was the fact he was slowly suffocating. Either way, they felt far out of their depth. Hah. Okay definitely starting to border on delirious.

He senses Ara’s urgency, and gives them a reassuring squeeze. He inches away, keeping his eyes on her.

The moment Ara’s head is out, he’s gulping in air. They sputter once or twice, distantly remembering to not make himself hyperventilate. He clings to Simon a bit longer, the warmth of the other a siren’s call against the sudden change in temperature.

Ara curled up on himself a little, legs to chest and chin atop knees. The blood was lazily dripping from his hair onto the ground, probably the reason he’d yet to notice his eye.

Ara deflated a little. If Simon wasn’t upset about it then he didn’t have any right to be either. Now wasn’t the time to play knight-in-shining-armor just cause something reminded him of something else.

Ara froze, mulling it over. Simon had been forced to lay his traumas out with the eel, maybe it would even the playing field a little if Ara at least showed the result of his?

“I can, yeah. I can kinda see better out of it actually, like I can basically see stuff behind me if that makes sense. When I use this eye… everything’s more clear too, my memories and whatnots. Dunno if I pavloved myself into that or what.” Ara explained with a hum.

In the darkness of the thick blood, something disturbs the flow of movement. Looking closer, it becomes apparent that it’s a… bubble? An impossible air bubble, and inside holds a person… somehow.

“Oh! Well I was on the shore, but there wasn’t anybody around so I decided to get in the ocean. Obviously I can’t breathe down here, so the bubble.” The person chirped, not explaining the mechanics of the bubble or how it exists at all. Like it was just common knowledge.

“Same way I get everywhere! I-… come to think of it, I’m not entirely sure how it works. Need to think of an answer to that. One minute I’m in the dark in-between place, name pending, next I’m somewhere new! And this is certainly somewhere new.” A pause to breathe.

Ara notices Simon’s dilemma, and fixes it by jamming his hand, and part of his arm, through the bubble to shake Simon’s clawed one. They pulled their hand back, observing their now blood-red and dripping sleeve.

“Oh, so you haven’t always been like that?” Ara hummed curiously, pressing his gloved hands against the side of the bubble, visible eye shining impossibly in the darkness.

“Uh, no. I haven’t.”

“Soooo, where’d you come from if not from here? I didn’t see any people or houses up top, although I could’a missed them.” Ara asked, trying to cut through the odd melancholy feeling that had twined itself into the conversation.

“That’s not very nice of them, whoever they are. I was one a space station once, or twice? They had similar names. The captain was kinda weird, didn’t talk like at all even though their head engineer did nothing but talk.” Ara rambled on.

“Hm? Oh yeah! I do need that. Hmmm, but going up means leaving you down here.” Ara ponders something, before reaching up and taking the sun hair clip out from their hair.

With that, Ara wiggles around in a way that seems to make the bubble rise. It was almost funny, like a hamster ball defying gravity.

“Mother fucker…” Simon growls, swimming after Ara and grabbing onto him, wrapping his arm around them. Up close, Simon’s a lot bigger than he seemed at first. He turns to face the eel, who stopped going after them to simply look at Simon. He hisses, baring his fangs.

Oh! The weird scary fish can… talk? Talk adjacent? Communicate. Obviously Ara was missing context for its statement, but they knew about the space station and how Simon got forced down. How did this eel know about it though? Were they once friends?

“I’m a human.” He responds. His gaze shifts down to himself; his claws, tail, spines. “…Well, I used to be.”

Ara’s head was spinning with all the new information. Or maybe it was the fact he was slowly suffocating. Either way, they felt far out of their depth. Hah. Okay definitely starting to border on delirious.

He senses Ara’s urgency, and gives them a reassuring squeeze. He inches away, keeping his eyes on her.

The moment Ara’s head is out, he’s gulping in air. They sputter once or twice, distantly remembering to not make himself hyperventilate. He clings to Simon a bit longer, the warmth of the other a siren’s call against the sudden change in temperature.

Ara curled up on himself a little, legs to chest and chin atop knees. The blood was lazily dripping from his hair onto the ground, probably the reason he’d yet to notice his eye.

Ara deflated a little. If Simon wasn’t upset about it then he didn’t have any right to be either. Now wasn’t the time to play knight-in-shining-armor just cause something reminded him of something else.

Ara froze, mulling it over. Simon had been forced to lay his traumas out with the eel, maybe it would even the playing field a little if Ara at least showed the result of his?

In the darkness of the thick blood, something disturbs the flow of movement. Looking closer, it becomes apparent that it’s a… bubble? An impossible air bubble, and inside holds a person… somehow.

“Oh! Well I was on the shore, but there wasn’t anybody around so I decided to get in the ocean. Obviously I can’t breathe down here, so the bubble.” The person chirped, not explaining the mechanics of the bubble or how it exists at all. Like it was just common knowledge.

“Same way I get everywhere! I-… come to think of it, I’m not entirely sure how it works. Need to think of an answer to that. One minute I’m in the dark in-between place, name pending, next I’m somewhere new! And this is certainly somewhere new.” A pause to breathe.

Ara notices Simon’s dilemma, and fixes it by jamming his hand, and part of his arm, through the bubble to shake Simon’s clawed one. They pulled their hand back, observing their now blood-red and dripping sleeve.

“Oh, so you haven’t always been like that?” Ara hummed curiously, pressing his gloved hands against the side of the bubble, visible eye shining impossibly in the darkness.

“Uh, no. I haven’t.”

“Soooo, where’d you come from if not from here? I didn’t see any people or houses up top, although I could’a missed them.” Ara asked, trying to cut through the odd melancholy feeling that had twined itself into the conversation.

“That’s not very nice of them, whoever they are. I was one a space station once, or twice? They had similar names. The captain was kinda weird, didn’t talk like at all even though their head engineer did nothing but talk.” Ara rambled on.

“Hm? Oh yeah! I do need that. Hmmm, but going up means leaving you down here.” Ara ponders something, before reaching up and taking the sun hair clip out from their hair.

With that, Ara wiggles around in a way that seems to make the bubble rise. It was almost funny, like a hamster ball defying gravity.

“Mother fucker…” Simon growls, swimming after Ara and grabbing onto him, wrapping his arm around them. Up close, Simon’s a lot bigger than he seemed at first. He turns to face the eel, who stopped going after them to simply look at Simon. He hisses, baring his fangs.

Oh! The weird scary fish can… talk? Talk adjacent? Communicate. Obviously Ara was missing context for its statement, but they knew about the space station and how Simon got forced down. How did this eel know about it though? Were they once friends?

“I’m a human.” He responds. His gaze shifts down to himself; his claws, tail, spines. “…Well, I used to be.”

Ara’s head was spinning with all the new information. Or maybe it was the fact he was slowly suffocating. Either way, they felt far out of their depth. Hah. Okay definitely starting to border on delirious.

He senses Ara’s urgency, and gives them a reassuring squeeze. He inches away, keeping his eyes on her.

The moment Ara’s head is out, he’s gulping in air. They sputter once or twice, distantly remembering to not make himself hyperventilate. He clings to Simon a bit longer, the warmth of the other a siren’s call against the sudden change in temperature.

Ara curled up on himself a little, legs to chest and chin atop knees. The blood was lazily dripping from his hair onto the ground, probably the reason he’d yet to notice his eye.

Ara deflated a little. If Simon wasn’t upset about it then he didn’t have any right to be either. Now wasn’t the time to play knight-in-shining-armor just cause something reminded him of something else.

In the darkness of the thick blood, something disturbs the flow of movement. Looking closer, it becomes apparent that it’s a… bubble? An impossible air bubble, and inside holds a person… somehow.

“Oh! Well I was on the shore, but there wasn’t anybody around so I decided to get in the ocean. Obviously I can’t breathe down here, so the bubble.” The person chirped, not explaining the mechanics of the bubble or how it exists at all. Like it was just common knowledge.

“Same way I get everywhere! I-… come to think of it, I’m not entirely sure how it works. Need to think of an answer to that. One minute I’m in the dark in-between place, name pending, next I’m somewhere new! And this is certainly somewhere new.” A pause to breathe.

Ara notices Simon’s dilemma, and fixes it by jamming his hand, and part of his arm, through the bubble to shake Simon’s clawed one. They pulled their hand back, observing their now blood-red and dripping sleeve.

“Oh, so you haven’t always been like that?” Ara hummed curiously, pressing his gloved hands against the side of the bubble, visible eye shining impossibly in the darkness.

“Uh, no. I haven’t.”

“Soooo, where’d you come from if not from here? I didn’t see any people or houses up top, although I could’a missed them.” Ara asked, trying to cut through the odd melancholy feeling that had twined itself into the conversation.

“That’s not very nice of them, whoever they are. I was one a space station once, or twice? They had similar names. The captain was kinda weird, didn’t talk like at all even though their head engineer did nothing but talk.” Ara rambled on.

“Hm? Oh yeah! I do need that. Hmmm, but going up means leaving you down here.” Ara ponders something, before reaching up and taking the sun hair clip out from their hair.

With that, Ara wiggles around in a way that seems to make the bubble rise. It was almost funny, like a hamster ball defying gravity.

“Mother fucker…” Simon growls, swimming after Ara and grabbing onto him, wrapping his arm around them. Up close, Simon’s a lot bigger than he seemed at first. He turns to face the eel, who stopped going after them to simply look at Simon. He hisses, baring his fangs.

Oh! The weird scary fish can… talk? Talk adjacent? Communicate. Obviously Ara was missing context for its statement, but they knew about the space station and how Simon got forced down. How did this eel know about it though? Were they once friends?

“I’m a human.” He responds. His gaze shifts down to himself; his claws, tail, spines. “…Well, I used to be.”

Ara’s head was spinning with all the new information. Or maybe it was the fact he was slowly suffocating. Either way, they felt far out of their depth. Hah. Okay definitely starting to border on delirious.

He senses Ara’s urgency, and gives them a reassuring squeeze. He inches away, keeping his eyes on her.

The moment Ara’s head is out, he’s gulping in air. They sputter once or twice, distantly remembering to not make himself hyperventilate. He clings to Simon a bit longer, the warmth of the other a siren’s call against the sudden change in temperature.

Ara curled up on himself a little, legs to chest and chin atop knees. The blood was lazily dripping from his hair onto the ground, probably the reason he’d yet to notice his eye.

Ara deflated a little. If Simon wasn’t upset about it then he didn’t have any right to be either. Now wasn’t the time to play knight-in-shining-armor just cause something reminded him of something else.

In the darkness of the thick blood, something disturbs the flow of movement. Looking closer, it becomes apparent that it’s a… bubble? An impossible air bubble, and inside holds a person… somehow.

“Oh! Well I was on the shore, but there wasn’t anybody around so I decided to get in the ocean. Obviously I can’t breathe down here, so the bubble.” The person chirped, not explaining the mechanics of the bubble or how it exists at all. Like it was just common knowledge.

“Same way I get everywhere! I-… come to think of it, I’m not entirely sure how it works. Need to think of an answer to that. One minute I’m in the dark in-between place, name pending, next I’m somewhere new! And this is certainly somewhere new.” A pause to breathe.

Ara notices Simon’s dilemma, and fixes it by jamming his hand, and part of his arm, through the bubble to shake Simon’s clawed one. They pulled their hand back, observing their now blood-red and dripping sleeve.

“Oh, so you haven’t always been like that?” Ara hummed curiously, pressing his gloved hands against the side of the bubble, visible eye shining impossibly in the darkness.

“Uh, no. I haven’t.”

“Soooo, where’d you come from if not from here? I didn’t see any people or houses up top, although I could’a missed them.” Ara asked, trying to cut through the odd melancholy feeling that had twined itself into the conversation.

“That’s not very nice of them, whoever they are. I was one a space station once, or twice? They had similar names. The captain was kinda weird, didn’t talk like at all even though their head engineer did nothing but talk.” Ara rambled on.

“Hm? Oh yeah! I do need that. Hmmm, but going up means leaving you down here.” Ara ponders something, before reaching up and taking the sun hair clip out from their hair.

With that, Ara wiggles around in a way that seems to make the bubble rise. It was almost funny, like a hamster ball defying gravity.

“Mother fucker…” Simon growls, swimming after Ara and grabbing onto him, wrapping his arm around them. Up close, Simon’s a lot bigger than he seemed at first. He turns to face the eel, who stopped going after them to simply look at Simon. He hisses, baring his fangs.

Oh! The weird scary fish can… talk? Talk adjacent? Communicate. Obviously Ara was missing context for its statement, but they knew about the space station and how Simon got forced down. How did this eel know about it though? Were they once friends?

“I’m a human.” He responds. His gaze shifts down to himself; his claws, tail, spines. “…Well, I used to be.”

Ara’s head was spinning with all the new information. Or maybe it was the fact he was slowly suffocating. Either way, they felt far out of their depth. Hah. Okay definitely starting to border on delirious.

He senses Ara’s urgency, and gives them a reassuring squeeze. He inches away, keeping his eyes on her.

The moment Ara’s head is out, he’s gulping in air. They sputter once or twice, distantly remembering to not make himself hyperventilate. He clings to Simon a bit longer, the warmth of the other a siren’s call against the sudden change in temperature.

Ara curled up on himself a little, legs to chest and chin atop knees. The blood was lazily dripping from his hair onto the ground, probably the reason he’d yet to notice his eye.

In the darkness of the thick blood, something disturbs the flow of movement. Looking closer, it becomes apparent that it’s a… bubble? An impossible air bubble, and inside holds a person… somehow.

“Oh! Well I was on the shore, but there wasn’t anybody around so I decided to get in the ocean. Obviously I can’t breathe down here, so the bubble.” The person chirped, not explaining the mechanics of the bubble or how it exists at all. Like it was just common knowledge.

“Same way I get everywhere! I-… come to think of it, I’m not entirely sure how it works. Need to think of an answer to that. One minute I’m in the dark in-between place, name pending, next I’m somewhere new! And this is certainly somewhere new.” A pause to breathe.

Ara notices Simon’s dilemma, and fixes it by jamming his hand, and part of his arm, through the bubble to shake Simon’s clawed one. They pulled their hand back, observing their now blood-red and dripping sleeve.

“Oh, so you haven’t always been like that?” Ara hummed curiously, pressing his gloved hands against the side of the bubble, visible eye shining impossibly in the darkness.

“Uh, no. I haven’t.”

“Soooo, where’d you come from if not from here? I didn’t see any people or houses up top, although I could’a missed them.” Ara asked, trying to cut through the odd melancholy feeling that had twined itself into the conversation.

“That’s not very nice of them, whoever they are. I was one a space station once, or twice? They had similar names. The captain was kinda weird, didn’t talk like at all even though their head engineer did nothing but talk.” Ara rambled on.

“Hm? Oh yeah! I do need that. Hmmm, but going up means leaving you down here.” Ara ponders something, before reaching up and taking the sun hair clip out from their hair.

With that, Ara wiggles around in a way that seems to make the bubble rise. It was almost funny, like a hamster ball defying gravity.

“Mother fucker…” Simon growls, swimming after Ara and grabbing onto him, wrapping his arm around them. Up close, Simon’s a lot bigger than he seemed at first. He turns to face the eel, who stopped going after them to simply look at Simon. He hisses, baring his fangs.

Oh! The weird scary fish can… talk? Talk adjacent? Communicate. Obviously Ara was missing context for its statement, but they knew about the space station and how Simon got forced down. How did this eel know about it though? Were they once friends?

“I’m a human.” He responds. His gaze shifts down to himself; his claws, tail, spines. “…Well, I used to be.”

Ara’s head was spinning with all the new information. Or maybe it was the fact he was slowly suffocating. Either way, they felt far out of their depth. Hah. Okay definitely starting to border on delirious.

He senses Ara’s urgency, and gives them a reassuring squeeze. He inches away, keeping his eyes on her.

The moment Ara’s head is out, he’s gulping in air. They sputter once or twice, distantly remembering to not make himself hyperventilate. He clings to Simon a bit longer, the warmth of the other a siren’s call against the sudden change in temperature.

In the darkness of the thick blood, something disturbs the flow of movement. Looking closer, it becomes apparent that it’s a… bubble? An impossible air bubble, and inside holds a person… somehow.

“Oh! Well I was on the shore, but there wasn’t anybody around so I decided to get in the ocean. Obviously I can’t breathe down here, so the bubble.” The person chirped, not explaining the mechanics of the bubble or how it exists at all. Like it was just common knowledge.

“Same way I get everywhere! I-… come to think of it, I’m not entirely sure how it works. Need to think of an answer to that. One minute I’m in the dark in-between place, name pending, next I’m somewhere new! And this is certainly somewhere new.” A pause to breathe.

Ara notices Simon’s dilemma, and fixes it by jamming his hand, and part of his arm, through the bubble to shake Simon’s clawed one. They pulled their hand back, observing their now blood-red and dripping sleeve.

“Oh, so you haven’t always been like that?” Ara hummed curiously, pressing his gloved hands against the side of the bubble, visible eye shining impossibly in the darkness.

“Uh, no. I haven’t.”

“Soooo, where’d you come from if not from here? I didn’t see any people or houses up top, although I could’a missed them.” Ara asked, trying to cut through the odd melancholy feeling that had twined itself into the conversation.

“That’s not very nice of them, whoever they are. I was one a space station once, or twice? They had similar names. The captain was kinda weird, didn’t talk like at all even though their head engineer did nothing but talk.” Ara rambled on.

“Hm? Oh yeah! I do need that. Hmmm, but going up means leaving you down here.” Ara ponders something, before reaching up and taking the sun hair clip out from their hair.

With that, Ara wiggles around in a way that seems to make the bubble rise. It was almost funny, like a hamster ball defying gravity.

“Mother fucker…” Simon growls, swimming after Ara and grabbing onto him, wrapping his arm around them. Up close, Simon’s a lot bigger than he seemed at first. He turns to face the eel, who stopped going after them to simply look at Simon. He hisses, baring his fangs.

Oh! The weird scary fish can… talk? Talk adjacent? Communicate. Obviously Ara was missing context for its statement, but they knew about the space station and how Simon got forced down. How did this eel know about it though? Were they once friends?

“I’m a human.” He responds. His gaze shifts down to himself; his claws, tail, spines. “…Well, I used to be.”

Ara’s head was spinning with all the new information. Or maybe it was the fact he was slowly suffocating. Either way, they felt far out of their depth. Hah. Okay definitely starting to border on delirious.