Chapter Text
“That will be all, Huntsman.”
After he got that mirror, that thing has been giving him chills. Hopefully this will be the last mission she’ll send him on, at least for a few days. A scent other than the underground cavern they lived him reminded him of a memento he got.
From,
That guy.
What did he even give him? It smelled sweet but earthy, looked to be a mix of herbs in a small bag. He assumed it was supposed to be some sort of food, ignoring the implications to a blind man's kindness.
“Huntsman!”
The annoying voice of Syntax snapped him out of his thoughts, he was standing outside his lab.
“What’re you being a weirdo for?! Leave me be.”
Huntsman made a face at him as he walked away, Syntax doing the same.
He made sure Goliath wasn’t around when he made it to his sleeping quarters. He didn’t really have much on his side of the room, he wasn’t a fan of clutter, compared to Goliath always collecting little trinkets he finds.
For some reason, he couldn’t seem to just throw it away even though he had no clue what to do with it. The bags sweet scent kept driving him to try something.
Syntax already had Huntsman disturb him once but now the only thing he could hear was a mix of water running and someone coughing, he left him alone for only about a minute before getting up to see what was going on.
The sight in front of him was Huntsman trying to drink as much water as he could directly from the tap while he was still coughing, the kitchen having a very distinct smell of tea.
What the fuck?
“You dying in here or what? Use a cup you moron.”
“
Not the time Syntax.”
“What were you even trying to do, smells you threw tea all over the walls, I’d almost call the smell an improvement actually.”
“ What time is it?”
“Like 7:20pm? Why”
“I have to go.”
“Go
where? You just got back.”
Syntax was brushed off as Huntsman walked right past him, a wave of Chamomile following him out the door.
“Can he ever be in a good mood?”
The scientist inspected the kitchen still smelling something sweet when he saw a ripped open teabag, not that many herbs were in the bad with the top torn open.
“ DID HE TRY TO EAT IT?!”
The air ran chill against his face, Huntsmans hands stuffed in his pockets for warmth as the hollow sound of the wet dock was one of the many sounds he could hear.
The docks were a strange mix of both quiet and busy, nothing to truly hear but you can slowly take in each boat knocking against the wood every once in a while, every ripple from beneath the harbor. Each creak of the old wood that still seems to hold up strong
His tread ended at the most colorful vessel, mostly light blues with small splashes of yellow, red and even some green. The large crane on top swaying with a creak in the dark evening breeze.
“This is dumb.”
He kept the tag from the packet.
An object so small it should be meaningless to someone like him.
But this hero tried to poison him, and he wasn’t going to let it slide.
Cold metal stung only for a second as he knocked on the door, it let out a low but quick rumble. Some more high pitched noises came from inside until the door finally peaked open.
“ You.”
“Wha? Oh! It’s you!”
“Yeah its
me
, what? Did you think your little trick would finish me off?!”
Without a second thought, Huntsman took a few steps inside to confront the man. Only to find himself tripping over what had to be some sort of Lesser Demon. It was cat-like but bright blue, hissing at him. He shoved himself away from it’s claws as the large man picked it up, holding it back.
“Ugh, you might as well take this back.”
He threw the small piece of cardboard back to its owner, it was deceiving. A warm smile promising Huntsman friendship, all just a ploy to poison him with whatever that stuff was.
Huntsman shot a glare but the river demon only looked more and more confused, looking back between him and the tag.
“I’m sorry but- what do you mean?”
“You should do your research, whatever was in that trap of a bag doesn’t work on Spider Demons.”
One more glance and Huntsman felt insulted.
This guy just started
laughing
Chuckling under his breath as the Lesser Demon seemed to finally calm down, giving the spider a glare before sitting on a nearby cat tree.
“What are you laughing for?!”
“Look I’m-, I guess I should've known but listen to me ok? I didn’t try to poison you.”
“
Then you're terrible at making food.”
“No, its tea. You’re not supposed to
eat
the leaves inside the bag, you put it in hot water.”
“You
what?”
“It’s easier if I show you, come on in. It’s cold outside isn’t it?”
He couldn’t tell what was more sickeningly sweet, the scent of the tea or his actions. Huntsman walked in ready to kill him.
Now he has about three cats rubbing up against his legs.
“You don’t have to come in if you don’t want to but could you at least close the door? I don’t want the cats to get out.”
An open Invitation
But also a perfect chance to leave
He could just go and never look back.
Maybe it was the warmth of the houseboat
Or the outside breeze pushing him in
But he shut the door, with him still inside.
Huntsman look down to try and step over the cats, when he looked up he saw that intoxicating smile again.
“Grab a cup, I’ll show you what to do.”
Looks like there’s no going back now
Huntsman chose a simple gray mug, his first choice was a regular green cup but Sandy told him it was better to have something with a handle so hot tea wouldn’t sting your hands.
“Great, to be honest there isn’t only one way to make tea but I’ll show you the most simple one, okay?”
“You’re acting like I even know what we’re doing.”
“Don’t worry, it’s just two steps.”
Sandy pulled out what he called a kettle, it seemed pointless to have a whole gadget to make something as simple as hot water but he went along with it for the time being. His apathy started to fade more and more as time went on.
“Then you just have to put the bag inside.”
“Really?”
“There’s probably at least 20 different ways people do it, with different types of teas, steeping, cold water, mixing it with other drinks- Sorry, I guess it’s weird to see me rambling about tea huh?”
“
Yeah.”
“
Well all we gotta do now is wait for the tea to mix with the water.”
The houseboat felt oddly warm, not something to make him sweat but more the opposite, it was the perfect temperature for him here. Being cold-blooded meant he had to deal with the majority of warm-blooded populations preferred heat.
“Sandy, right?”
“Mhm?”
“Are you cold-blooded?”
“Yep! Fish demon, you are too right? Being a spider and all?”
“Yeah, it just felt weird to be somewhere-”
“Somewhere extra warm right? I feel you, im just lucky my cats also like it warm.”
“Wait, how do you walk around without a shirt half the time when you’re
cold-blooded?”
“
I find it easier to just keep active! I’m also usually just in the sun so it’s not a huge problem for me.”
“Hm.”
“Let’s not stand in the kitchen, let’s go sit down and you can try
actual
tea!”
Huntsman didn’t feel a need to protest as he followed Sandy to his couch, the smell of saltwater and something similar to fresh laundry was the only thing he could smell. Sandy introduced the blue cat from before as “Mo”, who still looked like he didn’t like Huntsman being in his territory.
“Try it, I promise it’s better than just the leaves.”
Adjusting his grip on the mug, he could smell the sweet scent that enticed him earlier. He looked back to Sandy who was taking a sip as well to show it wasn’t anything bad.
Ah fuck it
Huntsman lifted it to his mouth and took a small sip, it really was its own taste, less sweet than it’s smell but calming all the same.
Everything about this place was
Way to good
He was in the middle of a third sip when he realised how relaxed he was and in front of the enemy .
This place was doing something to him and he needed to leave fast, the spider discreetly opened his communicator to check the time.
9:43pm
Shit
He abruptly stood up from the couch, the cat that had settled on his lap quickly scurrying off.
“Huntsman?”
“I- Need to go. My team is probably worried.”
“That’s alright but, wait!”
Huntsman already made a break for the door, he had the doorknob halfway when he came to a haunting realisation.
He didn’t want to leave
Sandy was stopped a few steps away, making sure to give his guest some space. Sitting in silence as the same creaking from Sandy’s crane could be heard. Huntsman would be back out on the cold harbour, with deafening silence rather than the comfortable quiet that was this god-forsaken boat.
“You can come back tomorrow. Or just another time.”
“...sure, maybe.”
“Ok, my doors always open.”
Sandy waved, but the only thing Huntsman could do in return was a subtle head nod as the door clicked shut. Back into the cold.
He let his guard down, the worst part was he enjoyed it.
A boat knocking
Water splashing
Creaking Wood
And a beating heart
This fish was gonna be the death of him.