Chapter Text
She coughs, and blood comes out. A whine leaving her mouth at the pain flaring in her face, and dripping down in the form of red, warm blood. It's almost cute the way she still looks up at me.
“Ready to talk yet?” my voice is near a purr. My voice is like sweet honey, swirling into the brain and dripping over their thoughts.
She swallows around the blood dripping into her throat and I can practically see the thoughts move sluggishly behind her eyes. Her pupils are blown out wide and she is starting to barely sway back and forth. She put up a fight, but all ears fall to sirens eventually.
“Awww sweetheart, cant think at all can you?” as more thoughts slide away at the pet name. She’s trapped, and I know she is when a smile slowly spreads across her face and no blue iris is visible past the blown out pupil.
“You broke her” comes a deep rumble of a voice behind me. I spin around to face the familiar person behind me. Putting hands on my hips with an annoyed sigh, ready to defend myself.
“I did not, i just made her easier to manage” I narrow my eyes at him and set my mouth in a firm line. My eyebrows pushed together and my tone dripping with a weak, fake malice.
He returns my statement with a scoff. “This isn’t a very good interrogation technique, he looks like he can't remember his own name” brown eyebrows quirking as he waits for my rebuttal.
I have none so I look away from his blood colored irises and give his arm a shove. It's like pushing a wall and he doesn't even have the decency to pretend to be pushed.
“He’s easier to move to a safer location?” I offer. I'm met with a non committal hum as he walks around me, pacing back and forth behind my victim for several moments. I try to wait him out, but I get impatient. “Tech-”
“I’ll let Wil know. We can work with this still” Technoblade says as he stops pacing, his gaze once again falling to me. I nod at him and he accepts this, staring at the wall to contemplate. He looks so out of place in this warehouse near the abandoned docks. Long sweeping pink hair, brown roots just barely poking out of his head, clean black boots, and a big black jacket. A boar skull mask hangs in his hand, since I've seen his face and my victim is too ditzy to remember it. The gator style mask still pulled up over his nose.
He’s anxiously tapping gloved fingers together, thoughts whirring past his eyes. The first time I offered to slow them down for him I got a lecture. I don’t hold it against him though, there was too much fear in those blood pool eyes to stay angry at him.
The eyes are the windows to the soul and sirens are soul readers. Some eyes are haunted and dipped in forest leaves, some are shallow pools of ink. Everything I would need to know about a person is trapped in those windows.
“You go, I'll handle this. I need a day out of the office anyways” Technoblade says after a moment with a resigned sigh. He runs a hand partially through his hair and looks far too old for someone barely peeking 26.
“Who is it this time?” I ask as I walk to where I left my bag, and dig around in the pocket for the keys to the van. “Hands” I call as i toss him the keys. They land in his palm as he raises it to meet them. A key tosses back at me, one for his car. I always make sure to return it the next day, even as he insists i worry about it too much.
A few unsavory memories slide past his eyes but he lingers on none of them. “Just tired of everyone, I'm going to have dinner at my place with a friend. You want to come?”
“Who's the friend?” I ask with a raised eyebrow. A smile playing slightly across my blue tinted lips.
“Squid” he says, after I watched a few names pop up in his irises.
“Picking the safe bet?” I tease. His cheeks flush a hint in embarrassment, just barely showing above his mask.
“Yes” he kneels to clip handcuffs onto my victim, who’s still swaying with not a single thought left in her head.
“I’ll stay home tonight, but thank you” I pushed open the creaky door to the outside world, glancing at his reaction. I get a nod so I step out and shut the rusty door behind me.
The sea gently crashes against the docks as I walk down the cement towards the black van and Technoblades dark colored car. It’s not my van, but it’s convenient for driving struggling victims around. The smell of bitter salt and the caw of seabirds is achingly familiar. I want nothing more than to fill my gills with the ocean's water, swim and dance all the way out to the kelp fields. I haven't got the time so I have to settle for my pool once I'm home. Besides im eager for dinner.
As I sit down, adjusting the seat closer to the wheel, I glance at the mirrors of the dark car as I adjust the pack holding my water recycling system. Sirens breathe water, and with the wonders of modern medicine, we are able to leave the oceans and lakes behind. Some sirens get surgery to adjust their lungs, but they can never swim like we used to. I just got a tube that travels up my nose and down my throat to help me breathe.
Once I can breathe clearly again I turn the key in the ignition. Flicking the heat up, and pressing the gas slowly to carefully glide me away from the docks. I have to get out to open the gate, and get out to close it after me, but I don't lock it so Techno can get out.
I pull into my driveway about forty minutes later, and it’s less than ten minutes till I pull off my breathing machine and dive into the pool. The tube has to stay since it rests in my lungs, but I can finally breathe delicious salt water again.
I'm planning on floating here forever, or maybe just an hour. Just under the surface, salt water breathing into my nose, fins slowly unfurling from my arms and legs to float lazily. Staring up at the stars as a face appears to obstruct my view. I chose to ignore the familiar face and simply close my eyes. I know he’ll wait til I'm done.
After what could’ve been seconds or minutes I give my arms a little flap to push my head out of the water. With the water now coating my lungs I can talk outside of it for a minute, and just dip down if I need more. My leg fins give a little push and it lets me rest my arms on the edge of the pool. Resting my head on my arms as my hair drips onto the concrete.
Eret sits on the smooth stone surrounding my pool, crossing their long legs over each other. They’re wearing loose green pants and a black crop top that shows off the bottom of the medusa head tattooed onto their stomach. Like its owner, the eyes are pure white. Erets eyes seem to glow a little and it’s always rather unnerving at first. The blank lamps in their skull are trained on me, and despite their hostile nature I can still read thoughts and emotions behind the curtain of their eyelashes.
“Techno told me you were home alone” she starts, her voice deep and tying sleepy knots into my brain “i brought dinner and wine” the offer hangs in the air as i dip my mouth and nose back into the water to breathe it in again slowly. Company wouldn't be bad, especially not Erets, but I'm tired of fixing my air box.
“Only if we eat in the pool” i usually eat in my pool, putting my plate on the edge and trying not to spill. Eret smiles at me, her lip piercing catching the light of the pool lights to flash silver at me.
“I brought my bathing suit!” He kicks off his sandals by the bag placed on one of my pool chairs, and grabs the tupperware out of his bag. “I made lasagna for dinner, and i got the good white wine”
He sets the box down with forks, and I open it. Sighing happily at the smell, there is a lot Eret is good at but gods they could be famous for their cooking. I lift my eyes back over to them as they lose their loose shirt and pants to fold them neatly and set them on the chair. Wearing a normal bathing suit that I've seen hundreds of times, and I pretend not to look at the webwork of tattoos. Walking back over to the pool and setting the glasses and the wine down.
She sits with her feet dangling in the water and pours us glasses. “Did you hear what happened at the office today?” Picking up her fork and waving me on to dig mine into the meal.
“No i didn't, but Techno said something happened. What's up?” happily digging my fork into the pasta dish.
“Phil got mad at Tommy and asked him to stop making some god awful noise, and Tommy started yelling at him back.” He stops for a sip of his wine “Tommy gets practically banished to the ship bay to cool off with Tubbo, but then he punches some random D-List”
“Oh shit-? Really?” The meal is so delicious I barely stop eating to talk. It's not unlike the youngest brother to get violent, but it is practically unheard of for him to attack without reason. Sometimes his logic is flawed, but he always has a reason.
“Yes really” her feet slowly kicking back and forth to stir the water around. “Phil sent him home with Wilbur. He’s pissed.” A few thoughts float past Erets blinding eyes, mostly comments about how scary Phil is when he’s angry.
I snort a laugh. “Phil isn’t scary”
“Oh yes he is! You haven’t seen him in action. I was working with him when Craft Inc was still Old English Inc” I often forget Eret is almost ten years older than me. She doesn’t look it, and I still often joke about asking for her skin care routine.
“You’re like a dinosaur! Phil is ancient !” I smile as I pull a laugh from her lips, the sound deep like her voice. Her eyes crinkle at the corners when she smiles and give me a glimpse of the crows feet he’ll have in a few years.
“What was Phil like when he wasn’t big and in charge?” I ask, swirling my wine glass before I take another sip. Thankfully I've now spent enough time in the pool that my rib gills have opened and are filtering water, so I can keep my head above water.
“Still sweet as he is now, but he was scary anyways! There is a very good reason he’s called Death's Angel. A bit more bull headed then he is now” they swallow more of the wine, “and bold as all hell. You should’ve seen him in an interrogation room! That poor person would have never stood a chance!” she drains the rest of her glass and sets it down. I can watch her consider drinking another as she digs her fork back into the meal.
I often forget the nature at which Eret was recruited. Many come from family lineage, or defect from other companies, but Eret came to this job covered in blood and screaming for Phils murder.
I slide the conversation towards the topic of friends, “How’s Foolish holding up? I know his last mission rocked him a bit” letting a soft smile play on my face to help calm her.
“He’s good! Started seeing a therapist that isn’t Puffy, he’s way too close to her. It’s been going good, he wants to try joining the force again in a week” He doesn’t pour another glass so i know this isn’t a sleepover.
“That’s really good, send him my love” I offer. I don't know the sergeant well, but he’s really close with Eret. I have no idea how that happened, since They’re both sweet and gentle but Foolish is the type to throw himself into a project and forget to eat for two days. Eret couldn’t focus even if you leveled a gun at them.
We spend the whole night in similar casual conversation, and Eret only leaves when the skin on their feet are wrinkled from the water, and it's cold enough they have goosebumps. I am loath to leave the pool but I remind myself that soon I'll have a whole underwater section to my new house.
It’s only once I'm curled up in bed with my sleep breathing mask on, that I remember I never found out what Technoblade did with my victim.