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It was a rough introduction, to say the least.
Sitting up and rubbing the back of his tender head with a small groan of pain, Abe blearily blinked the dark spots out of his eyes and did his best to look around, flinching when the bright light of the sun hit his eyes directly.
It wasn't the HARDEST he's been hit, but man, did it never get easier!
Surprisingly, an answering groan- one more higher pitched and yet…croaky, as if gone unused- sounded a few feet somewhere in front of him. When he could see once more he blinked owlishly at the unfamiliar figure.
Well…unfamiliar wasn't quite right, he had just seen it- them, a mere minute prior.
"Er…you okay?"
After a moment the figure- Munch, managed to sit up, rubbing their head as they did. They blinked and- woah, their eyes were a mix of bright pink and purple! He'd never seen anything quite like that-
An almost curious yet shrill sound was aimed at him, making him flinch back. It took him a moment to realize it came from Munch themself and seemed…almost intoned like a question?
Huh. A language barrier maybe? Eugh…this just got more difficult.
He put his hands up as his best display of peace, giving his new partner- a partner! He's uh, never had one of those before- an awkward smile that he hoped came across as disarming.
"So uh, can you…understand me? I'm- my name is Abe! Uh…you're…Munch, right?"
Munch had their head tilted curiously and their eyes narrowed in suspicion and- intrigue? He supposes he couldn't blame him, he heard Gabbits tended to not get out (of the water) much. They only reacted when their name was mentioned, straightening up in what appeared to be shock.
Munch pointed at himself, eyes wide and focused intensely on him.
"M-Meee..?"
It was still higher pitched than what would typically be considered normal by many surface dwellers, and there was a slight hissing at the end there, but..! He could relatively understand that.
He perked up and nodded quickly, stumbling to his feet.
"Yea! You're eh…probably wondering how I know that, huh?"
Munch watched him warily, though seemed to understand he wasn't any danger to him- probably because of his awkward and foolish stumbling around- and relaxed much more than a minute before, nodding to his question.
"Well uh…that's an interesting story, a bit of a long one, as well. How about we leave this place before those creeps-"
He took a moment to point up at the very place he had just attempted to reach, watching as Much looked up and immediately covered back. Poor little guy. Who knows what those creeps did to them.
"Come lookin' for ya, huh?"
Luckily there was no argument, and he was quick to lend a hand- or more like his arms- to the sea-dweller since they couldn't very well walk with a fin.