midnight zone

Two days ago the blacksite froze over in the dead of summer. The expendables soon found out that it was to slow down or completely exterminate “certain individuals”. It left everyone wondering, or rather dreading, if they’d be trying the opposite test. The idea of a near boiling Blacksite made you wince. It would be especially worse because there wouldn’t be any reason to go back to cuddling with Sebastian. You or him would overheat.

You really wanted it to get cold again, you hated that you wanted that. Sebastian clearly had a hard time that day and was using you as a last resort to not freeze to death. Unfortunately your feelings towards him and the constant replaying of that memory clouded your judgment (and how much suffering you endured). Maybe you were just lonely, you had been in prison a long time and everyone around you was cold and apathetic. Sebastian was the first to be nice, albeit for his own gain. Maybe it was just some form of a one-sidesd relationship. Either way, you decided it would be best for you to not make what happened awkward. You’d rather have a trusting “friend” than someone who you have to avoid each run.

Your runs had been quite frankly horrible these last two days, the switch from freezing to normal was too much for many people and thus decreased your skills. That and you kind of didn’t want to talk to Sebastian after what happened…

Over the course of the entire day yesterday, you only managed to get about 30 doors in then died. This was likely due to the fact that the mutants here were trying to catch up on their usual routines. Today though, you locked in and it got you right where you were most dreading to be, Sebastians shop. Normally you’d look forward to it, but after last time you saw him you felt like it might be awkward to see him again. After all the two of you did get kind of affectionate.

You opened the door to see the familiar vent and spotlight. “Hey… friend.” He said hesitantly as the vent opened up. You gathered your bearings then headed in.

“Theres the little heat pad, haven’t seen you in a bit.” He grinned, you couldn’t help the warmth coating your face, his lure flicking to life. “Just making sure you dont miss me,” you sarcastically respond trying to keep the atmosphere light. “Im sure thats the reason,” he remarked. His items were on his tail again. “Good to see you’re quipping again and not just getting grumpy at every thing i say.” You retort teasingly. “Just makin’ sure you don’t miss me,” he replied with a half eye roll, parroting your earlier statement which made you chuckle.

You felt his eyes on you as you browsed his items. You had all you needed but often times you’d buy from him regardless.

“…well.. miss me more than you already do.” He continued making you stop in your tracks. “What?” You keep a smile, asking with a nervous chuckle. “Come on, you basically forced my hand into letting you cuddle with me for another hour. You can’t tell me you don’t miss me when you leave.” He smirked breaking the ice on what happened, his serpentine tail curled around them. It didn’t touch them nor squeeze them. It was just a leg high wall keeping them from leaving. Instead of letting yourself play the embarrassed secret admirer, you threw the accusations right back. “You were nuzzling into my neck even after it warmed up- You were purring, do you purr around everyone?”

He scowled at the memory, “its not like that-“

“Then what is it like, because it looked like you liked cuddling with me a whole lot.” You grinned, though your heart was pounding as if your life was on the line. You were sure your cheeks were as red as it was warm.

“I don’t think you can accuse me like that while your face looks like that.” He called it, his claws came to your chin, tilting your head so he could look at it better. Suddenly you couldn’t fight back, how unfair. “Where was this when you were keeping me warm?” He continued to make fun of you, taking great pleasure in their fluster. One issue, a deeper blue shade which caressed from his nose to his ears when he looked into their eyes.

“Aren’t you one to talk?” They grinned, he looked confused for a moment before they clarified. “You’re blushing too,” those words caused him to stare at you before leaning away towards a picture frame, looking at himself in the glass.

You grinned, “what can i blackmail you into doing now?” He narrowed his eyes at you before chuckling, “What do you want me to say? That im somehow in love with you because you cuddled with me one time?”

“You could say I’m in love with you period.” You really hoped you were making the correct assessment here. He seemed like he was about to protest before his eyes locked with yours again and something softened.

“Fine. Im in love with you,” he tried to play it off reluctantly but just the admission itself made your heart do somersaults. “..but only if you stay when it gets cold again, i have a feeling that wasn’t the last freeze over..” he sighs.

“Your love for me is circumstantial, thats a shame. Well i guess you have my promise that ill be back if it happens again.” You respond, he laughs quietly. Once it dies back to silence you feel the tail surrounding you wrap around your legs tight, they buckle causing you to sit down on his scales. He leans over you. “You know, i never paid you back for the help..” his expression became playful.

“Mm.. I think a kiss would suffice,” you act like you had any high ground here. Your answer was the one he was looking for, slowly he leaned forward and his lips melted onto yours. His lips were cold, he leeched off your warmth eagerly. His hands met your hips, probably would have slipped under your clothes if you weren’t wearing a jumpsuit.

A team of male expendables walked out of the main area, bumping shoulders with you as you made your way to the submarine. You wrinkled your nose and threw your hands out, one laughed. “Bring a jacket,” the statement alone made you stop in confusion. Unfortunately you should have taken that as a genuine warning, though the staff didn’t actually offer accommodations for temperature changes, the shock might have lessened if you took it seriously.

The water at the dock was freezing over, a thin layer of ice had formed which made a shattering sound assaulting your ears upon arrival. The door opened and you were hit with a cold wave of air, your breath fogged in front of you.

You stepped out, wishing you came with a group to share warmth with… or a jacket…

You trudge through the first few rooms, your face was going numb, your arms wrapped tightly around eachother. It was the perfect temperature for snowing, you thought.

Eyefestation appeared at about ten doors in. It was moving sluggish, and you could actually look at it with only a small migraine. You placed a hand to the glass, the poor shark was probably suffering way more. On the flip side, Anything computer related was working way faster with a lesser chance of overheating. You hoped that it would aid you as much as it was bothering you when a turret moved way faster than it should.

Thankfully soon you reached Sebastians shop, except the vent was already open. More interestingly, two bodies halfhazardly thrown out into the middle of the hallway. Sebastian growled out, “Just get in here..”

You crawled in, “it’s me,” you announce. You hear him shifting, when you get in you notice quite a couple changes. The items are on one of the tables instead of on him, why? Because he was tightly curled up like a snake, his fluke hanging off the edge and his upper body resting on top of the coils, arms acting as a pillow for his head. “Hey,” he croaked out. You frowned, it made sense he’d be taking it pretty badly, he was a cold blooded mutant like just about everything here. “You ok?” You question. “Do i look ok?” “No, thats why i asked.” He seemed grumpy. “Whats with the bodies outside? New decorations?” You walk forward towards the tables. “They tried to climb on me.” He grumbled, you hummed.

“Any idea why it’s so cold?” You ask, a small shiver going through you. “Yeahh no clue, i figured it was winter topside.” He remarked sarcastically. “Its the middle of summer.” You replied, “maybe Urbanshades experimenting with new tech.. or-“ Sebastian cut you off, “or its cold because its the bottom of the ocean. Maybe they just turned the supersized-heaters off and now we’re all paying the price.” He bundled up further in his coat. You suppress the urge to ‘awww’ at him. “Sorry, wish there was a way to help you,” you say and pick up a flash beacon. Maybe you could attempt to rewire it into a handwarmer? You walk over to hand him the data, you see his ear flick and his esca light up for a moment. “Actually… you can,” he propped up on his elbows. “You wanna join me?”

You were somewhat stunned at the proposition. Man you really wanted to say yes and totally not because you had a crush on him. It just looked so comfortable and you were willing to do anything to warm up. He also probably needed to warm up more than you.

“Uh- sure.” You try to seem casual but you swear he rolls his eyes at you. You aren’t sure where to go from here, you stand awkwardly before he growls, picks you up and drags you onto him. You were sitting down, walled in by scales. He wasn’t done. You felt his claws move to the belt of your diving gear, you try to protest but nothing happens. “Its the scrambler, no signal here,” he dismisses and tosses it across the room. “I.. see,” you say. Without warning his upper body is placed on you, he slowly pushes you down so you’re laying and wraps his arms around you, soaking in the little warmth you had which he didn’t.

You cant see anything other than him and the broken, still ceiling fan above, if anyone walked in they wouldn’t see you even if he sat up. You hesitantly wrapped your arms around him, already warming up from the little space between the two of you. You felt him try to get even closer as if him just laying on you wasn’t crushing you already. His large face nuzzled into your neck shamelessly, he was certainly more bold than you.

You begin moving your hands over his back before traveling beneath his jacket to warm your hands. That which he didn’t mind, you were fairly certain he was falling asleep which wasn’t the worst idea.

You lean your head against his hair and close your eyes, his earfins flutter. You let yourself drift into a light sleep, aided by the new warmth and the already prevalent exhaustion in your body.

You weren’t sure how long your nap lasted, occasionally you picked up Sebastian speaking to expendables quietly or felt him move off you so he wasn’t vulnerable. At some point you woke up to him speaking to a group of loud expendables.

You found that it was warm in the room now, though he was still loosely curled up around you. They heard one of the expendables leaving through the vent while one continued to berate Sebastian. Why wasn’t he shooting them?

“Just shut up and go..” you caught those words, still dazed from sleep. The expendable giggled while leaving. You quickly closed your eyes, not wanting to leave just yet despite being fully awake. You soon feel him lay on you again. But why? The heat was back on. That train of thought his the breaks when you hear a soft, vibrating sound coming from him. He was purring. He could purr? Well now you knew he just wanted to cuddle with you.

Without thinking your hand comes up to pet his head and it stops entirely once he realizes what you’re doing and that you’re awake. You crack your eyes open to see three wide cyan circles staring right back. “Can i blackmail you into staying a little longer?” You ask teasingly.

Platonic

• Immediately starts to chastise you the second he can smell the blood on you

• He doesn't have a nose, so how he scrunches it up is beyond you

• Your med kit isn't free, so you definitely owe him and yes, he will remember you owe him

• You can't refuse tho, he's already patching you up before you can really do anything about it

• What are you gonna do, fight him? Fight a thing more than 5 times your size with claws like steel knives? I don't think so.

• He's pretty good at patching wounds, and stays relaxed the whole time he's doing it

• The motions are practiced and easy as he cleans and gauzes and wraps you up

• "Because I pity you, I'll even let you lay on the cot in the corner of my shop, hmm?"

• Understands you are useless and stupid and small, so he guesses he can help you out and demand whatever extra data you have I'm your pockets about a week from now

• He isn't exactly the most concerned with your well-being, but does go out of his way to help you and take care of you sooo...

• You must mean something to him right?

If you're not together but he likes you

• Actually gets a little worried

• He flusters easily, the crush he has for you making it a little bit more difficult for him to think clearly

• That crush making his harsh reactions harsher and his soft ones hard to verbalize

• He grabs you

• I don't have any other way to put this, he literally just reaches out and grabs you before he really thinks about it

• You don't get an explanation, you don't get scolding, he just huffs and gets pissy while he's patching you

• "I thought you were better than this- You REALLY ended up this hurt over something so easy to get away from?"

• Yes, he knows the foul mouth he's got is tanking his chances of ever actually being with you, but he already figures you're never going to want to kiss a fish so why should he care?

• Even if rejection is imminent and unavoidable, and even if he feels the constant need to be mean to you so he can protect himself, he'll still take care of you

• He does like you for a reason- a lot of reasons. And he thinks about those reasons quite a bit... Of course he wants you to be okay

• You're his favorite person, and he would rather die than admit that but also would 100% prioritize your medical care over working his shop

• Him being so fast to grab and tend to your wounds is probably one of the only things you've ever seen from him that's made you sure he doesn't hate you

• Look, there's no way this man would be smoothing his thumb over your newly applied bandages and looking upset at the notion you'd be hurt without you being SOME kind of important

• It doesn't matter how stupid you are, dummy or not, this shit is painfully obvious when he's getting vulnerable over the idea of you getting a nasty enough scar

• Will not let you leave the cot in the room until you're all better, so get ready to be defensively degraded by your favourite shopkeeper for several consecutive days!

If you are together

• Open. Meltdown.

• Panicking, throwing the door on his little store closed and coddling you like you'll fall apart if he's not treating you with the utmost care

• Even scraped knees and bumped elbows get treated like they need full medical, so you can imagine the sort of reactions you're getting to actually bleeding

• Part of him immediately blames himself while he's frantically tending to your injuries, thinking he should have watched you better today, thinking that he should have protected you right

• The next part of him promises he'll be getting whoever or whatever did this to you back for it just as soon as you're all mended and comforted

• He's a mess, a muttering, coddling mess

• You get little kisses to the bandages, as well as some quiet murmurs that attempt to get onto you for not being careful

• The grip you've got around this man's heart is too much for him to be angry, nor pretend to

• You may nearly make him cry if it's bad enough, and his hands may shake at the sight of you so hurt

• Will threaten you if you even THINK about dying, remember he can do worse to you and will if you don't shut up, he can't cope with thinking about losing you shut up shut up shut up-

• Until you're healed, you aren't leaving his bed. He puts you in HIS bed and cuddles up to you any chance that he gets

First off, getting him drunk isn’t gonna be easy

His body is significantly bigger so it’ll take a lot more alcohol than a normal human person

That and he could already hold his drinks well, so it’ll take some work to get that man actually drunk instead of just buzzed

Don’t try to match him drink for drink, you WILL die of alcohol poisoning unless you’re an alcoholic

Which wouldn’t matter he’d still out drink you based on weight/size alone, so I guess try not to die is the only goal?

Doesn’t feel comfortable drunk around most people unless you’re BOTH that kind of tipsy or he’s already close with you

When you do actually get him drunk?

The flirtiest, giggliest drunk you’re ever met

Sebastian will laugh at literally everything, it makes him so much easier to talk with

The world is sunshine and rainbows as long as he’s really fucked up

Honestly? He deserves it. He’ll smile at you so softly and actually fully listen when you talk. Maybe he’s not the brightest, or most talkative, but he has weirdly good advice

Though he is super giggly and playful, he does flirt

Usually they’re kind of fun. They’re not meant to really invoke any real feelings

“Hey there hot stuff, you lookin for a chair?” As he pats a portion of his tail.

He WILL forget that he flirted with you later, so don’t try to corner him on it as some kind of gotcha moment. He won’t believe you.

It also doesn’t reflect his feelings entirely…well unless he really likes you.

He’ll get a bit tongue tied and may even let it slip that he thinks you’re just gorgeous

His flirting gets very personal if he has a thing for you, but it’s less frequent because the man is too busy squirming from just sitting with you

Think flustered school girl energy

If he likes you he will do ANYTHING you ask

Please don’t try to fuck the fish, he isn’t very smart and he’s not gonna be able to top you

You’d have to do 100% of the work, and he wouldn’t remember most of it tomorrow anyway

He will probably just fall into a fit of giggles at the offer, honestly, so the likelihood of it happening is like nothing

So unless you’re both so drunk you’re not thinking straight? Don’t do it. Dont even try it.

If he doesn’t like you in that way? You might actually die for attempting it. It’s not worth it.

Speaking of not worth it, that man loses so much motor function. His tail is apparently weirdly hard to control all the way

Will prefer to just sit with you and not go anywhere as he will not have the control necessary to do damn near anything

He tried only once to go do something while really fucked up

Stupid fishman got stuck in a vent for a few hours

Worst experience of his life, (drunk fishman claims) he would never ever do it again

He’s the kind of man that sings when he’s drunk too, but only if you do it with him. He mimics like a parrot.

Or if you manage to play songs with him somehow, he might sing them if he vibes with or knows the song

Get a man to sing your favorite songs horribly at an octave that outright hurts

Idk something like California Girls by Katy Perry? Have fun with it

He can’t exactly dance really well but he might do a fun little shimmy if the music pleases him enough

Have fun doing your shared little dances, drinking to forget (always remembering), and laughing about nonsense

I’m sure, as long as you get him something strong and a whole lot of it

The both of you will get along fine!

“you’re going out tonight? sweetheart, you do realize it’s pouring outside, right?” sebastian questions you in a rasping tone, head turned in your direction. he makes no effort to move besides that, perfectly content in his slumped position on the couch. he also happens to be bare, which isn’t necessarily abnormal, but it still flusters you each time. you tilt your head away when blush begins to rise.

“…i’ll be fine, i have an umbrella.” you hold the aforementioned up to prove your point. he deadpans, clearly not impressed by your lousy excuse. he scans your form top to bottom, and you tense beneath his stare.

“and who’s gonna clean up your vomit when you magically get sick from the cold?” his tail fins flap after he finishes speaking, showcasing his slight irritation at your stubbornness.

you sigh, unwilling to fight his resistance. he’s right; you probably should be wearing more layers. of course, you aren’t going to admit that. rather than arguing, you move to your shared bedroom to partially comply with his request, leaving your umbrella behind on the kitchen island.

you search your closet for anything fitting the occasion, settling on a fuzzy black sweater and a heavy coat. sebastian lingers somewhere in the room, having followed you here. your back is facing wherever he is, leaving his position up to your sense of hearing. you’re well aware his gaze is on you, the weight of his three eyes fills you with a strange comfort.

when you finally turn around, he’s peering at you with an unreadable expression. though, he doesn’t prevent you from leaving the room. he inevitably follows you once again, silent as you reach the door leading outside.

the metal knob cools your warm hand, reminding you of the temperature outside with a shiver. you turn the knob, lifting your hood over your head with your other hand. you are making the decision to sit in the rain, but ideally you’d still prefer to stay as dry as possible. you also have the decency to say goodbye before leaving the house, as one would.

“i’ll be back in a bit. don’t wait up.” you call out while opening the door. the sound of plummeting rain reverberates in your ears, but it doesn’t obscure the sound of sebastian’s voice echoing from behind you.

“wait up? sweetheart, if you think you’re going alone you must’ve hit your pretty head.” his volume increases as he approaches, smirk plastered on his unbelievably handsome face. a laugh of disbelief escapes your throat, akin to a sarcastic scoff. despite that, your lips still upturn in a gentle smile.

“i was wondering when you’d start following me out. didn’t think you’d last this long, honestly.” you tease in return as he leans on the door, opening it fully. naturally, he towers over you in this position, but you hold your ground. his face conforms into an unamused expression at your remark.

“keep talking and i’ll throw you in the ocean.”

you playfully put your hand to your heart, pretending to be offended—you’re pretty sure he’s joking after all. “you wouldn’t dare.”

(un)fortunately, your attempt to instigate sebastian works. he flashes his pointed teeth in cheshire cat grin, wrapping a hand around your waist and hoisting you on his shoulder with unmatched speed. you yelp and hold onto him for dear life as he drags you out into the rain.

“sebastian, wait i was kidding—please!” you plea desperately in between bursts of uncontrollable laughter. he neglects a response, instead you feel him hug you tighter. you see a slight smile gracing his face in your peripheral vision, illuminated by the cerulean glow of his own eyes.

being in his arms brings you such an irrevocable joy, and you wish you would’ve invited him out sooner. you should probably be more concerned about being submerged though, but that doesn’t stop you from planting a small kiss on his cheek. he pauses, momentarily distracted, and gives you a knowing look.

“you’re not getting out of this.”