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It was a cold January morning, fresh snow from last night’s storm laid barely undisturbed on the ground outside. The streets had long since been plowed, leaving the roads to be much safer to traverse and left little excuses for a pair of childhood friends turned lovers to keep putting off a much needed shopping trip. Leading to where one Sebastian Solace, and Samatha “Sam” Faroh to be wandering through the aisles of a local store, and having a rather… serious conversation as they walked.
“Soo, how’s “Honey” sound to you?” Sebastian asked, pushing the shopping cart along as his girlfriend was looking between two different towel sets. His dark blue and gray winter jacket made him feel a little too warm within the well heated store they were in, as his black and brown winter boots squeaked against the tiled floors.
“Dunno… sounds a little, I dunno… too common?” Sam sighed, her golden brown eyes narrowed and brows furrowed in thought. Her arms were crossed and almost emphasizing the fluff of the old aviator jacket she kept from her father’s belongings, as she turned the thought in her head a little more. “It just… doesn’t feel like it matches us ya know.”
Sebastian sighed, knowing all too well. They had only just started officially dating about a couple weeks ago after their absolutely cringe worthy confessions to each other. 13 long years having known each other and being best friends apparently did not smooth out the whole confession part, what with Sebastian himself blowing up every previous attempt at asking Sam out by impulsive adding “As Friends of course” at the end while she basically echoed it in, looking back at it now, a strained enthusiasm… and not to mention how they actually confessed was Sam having to start them off with “So uh, hypothetically… there’s this guy I like” and it kinda snowballed from there. But hey, they actually managed to finally confess at the end of that dumpster fire of a start off point! Now they were officially dating… yet even now they still seemed to be trying to figure out just how… well, different they should be now that they’re romantically involved rather than being long time best friends.
“Speaking of matching… We want standard blue, or do we wanna go a little out there with these cute cat shaped hand towels?” The brown haired girl held up both sets she had been looking over. The new couple had been making plans to move out of the Solace family home as roommates, even before their confession, now that they were both 18 and Sam only had like three months left till she graduated. So here they were, buying a few small amenities for an apartment near Sebastian’s college they had been eyeing that was in their price range.
“Ooh, a tough decision indeed. How are we ever going to choose?” Sebastian drawled, pretending to think it over for all of a single second. “The cat’s obviously. How can anyone say no to those faces?”
Sam snorted, and seemed to make a point in holding up the plain blue towels. “I dunno, the blue is kinda calling me.”
“Oh is it now?” With a hum, Sebastian raised a hand up to his ear, the cool metal of the spiked stud piercings in his ears brushed against one of his fingers as he pretended to listen to something. “Sounds to me like it’s saying you’d be an idiot to not pick the Cat Towels.”
“Hmm, you know what, now that you’ve mentioned it. It really does sound like that’s what it’s telling me.” Nodding along, Sam then dropped the cat towel set into the cart and dropped the plain towels back where she found them. “Sayonara ya plain ass piece of shit.”
“You’re such a dork.” Sebastian laughed, brushing some of his curly black hair out of his face to tuck behind his pierced ear, all while pretending to not notice the fact Sam was sticking her tongue out at him.
“Pretty sure you’re the biggest dork here.” Sam was grinning, brushing her loose brown hair behind her own pierced ears. The rounded studs and rings were fewer in number compared to Sebastian’s own, but was slowly getting closer to the same amount he has.
Sebastian snorted slightly, a small smile on his face at the familiar banter. They’d had this running joke for years as friends by this point…
But… is this what couples are supposed to do? The nagging thought slipped its way to the front of his mind, and a small, concerned frown crossed his face. I thought couples are supposed to be constantly on each other… or like proclaiming their love for each other every chance they got. Yet here we are, just… the same as we were before, maybe a little more touchy than normal, and definitely kissing here and there but still just… us. Are we… doing this right?
“Seb?” Sam looked concerned, making her way to be right next to her boyfriend and lightly touching his arm. “You… okay?”
“… are we doing this dating thing right?” Sebastian finally asked with a deep sigh. Looking at the shocked look on Sam’s face made the aspiring engineer’s heart hurt so he clarified. “I don’t regret us getting together or anything! I mean, we’ve been fumbling to get to this point for like 2 years at least. It’s just… it feels like we should be doing… I dunno, more?”
“I… kinda get what you mean.” Sam sighed, leaning in close enough for her arm to be touching Sebastian’s own as they both leaned over the shopping cart. “Tv shows and movies make dating seem more… I dunno. Like dating should be a bigger deal? But like… what’s supposed to happen if the people dating already know everything about each other?”
“Right?” Sebastian exclaimed, only to immediately quiet down when he noticed the stares from a few other customers being directed towards them. “Everything makes it seem like being a couple is supposed to be so… I dunno magical and different. But nothing tells you what it means when things already feel… just plain normal. Like this was supposed to happen?”
“Right? I mean like… dating has just basically been like when we would just hangout all the time, but now we can just kiss and get a little more physical.” Sam sighed. “It just… I dunno, it feels more natural I guess. Like when we’re watching random movies now, I don’t really need to pretend I’m paying attention to most of them anymore.”
“Wait. You weren’t paying attention to the movies? Not even the Saw ones?” Sebastian looked genuinely baffled, they had just watched a Saw movie marathon last week and he was pretty sure that Sam had looked really into it the whole time.
“I mean, I do pay attention when it’s a new movie I haven’t seen before, or whenever you get really into the movie.” Sam snickered, lightly bumping her elbow with his. “I definitely paid special attention to your little geek outs on how you could totally break out of a Saw trap with the tools around you. It was really cute to watch, especially when you’d pause the movie and point at the exact stuff you’d use.”
Sebastian felt his cheeks heat up as he couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled up, as he leaned into Sam’s smaller shoulder, and tilted his head closer towards the brown haired girl. “So you think I’m cute when I’m geeking out huh?”
“It’s one of your many quirks that make you absolutely adorkable.” Sam snickered, tilting her own head closer to Sebastian’s own to the point that the tips of their noses were almost touching.
“Oh, I see. So it’s kinda like how adorkable you get whenever you spot a “fluffy baby” out in town?” Sebastian snickered, remembering how bright eyed and squeaky voiced Sam got over the last stray cat they saw wandering around town. They had nearly been late to their job at the movie theater that day due to Sam insisting on snapping as many photos as she could of the little guy and trying to get it to let her pet it.
“Oh, like you don’t get excited about them as well.” Sam laughed, her golden brown eyes crinkled with the large grin on her face. Her hand practically wrapped itself around Sebastian’s own with her thumb gently gliding over his knuckles.
“Pretty sure I get excited about a cat in the same way anyone else would. You pretty much start crying over how cute they are, and that you can’t take them home with you.” Sebastian smirked, before snorting a little at the pout that formed on Sam’s face just before she stuck her tongue out at him. Though after she muttered a light hearted sounding “jerk” Sebastian couldn’t help the light laugh that came up, and leaned in enough to give his shorter girlfriend a quick little kiss on the forehead. “You also make the most adorable faces when I tease you.”
Sam’s face heated up, she also seemed to stammer a bit while trying to find something to use as a proper reply. All the while Sebastian couldn’t help but watch every little thing his best friend did, from brushing some of her loose hair behind her ears, to how her eyes darted from his face to the cart and even sometimes down to their own entwined hands.
She’s trying to figure out what she wants to do next. Sebastian thought, giving Sam’s hand a gentle squeeze and it seemed as if the moment he did, she was finally able to settle on what she wanted to do next.
Golden brown eyes met his own cyan for a moment, before they did a quick glance down to his lips and Sebastian immediately felt his cheeks heat up at the silent question. Leaning forward for his answer Sebastian got surprised by the fact Sam leaned forward at the same time, though neither of them thought to turn their faces so their noses bumped into each other. Both pulled back with quick little apologies, Sebastian having to rub at his nose and feeling the scar along the bridge of hit feeling a little pinched.
“Oh shit. Seb I’m sorry.” Sam apologized again, the hand that wasn’t already holding Sebastian’s own was raised up and gently touching around one of the corner ends of the barely 2 year old scar. “It’s not still tender is it? Do you need me to grab something cold or-“
“Hey no, it’s okay Sammy.” Reaching up to the hand she placed on his face, Sebastian gave it a gentle squeeze, the same with their other hands. “It’s not that bad. Really. The pain’s already going away as we speak.”
Sam frowned in concern, but didn’t try to argue… mostly because another customer in the store asked them to move so they could get a better look at some of the towels in the aisle. So the young couple had to start walking through the store again to keep the pathways a bit more clear, and attempt to knock off more items from their shopping list. Though… Sam was quiet as she took over pushing the cart and they both went through a second aisle, with Sebastian taking his turn to pick out something for their apartment.
She’s still feeling really bad… Se bastian thought to himself with a small sigh, barely paying attention to the shower curtain options with his own concern. Just as he was about to try and reassure his girlfriend that their little accident didn’t affect his scar that badly, Sam was the one who ended up speaking first.
“Hey Seb… could you come here a moment.” When she spoke she also motioned for him to come over, to which he complied with a curious frown on his face. His confusion stayed once he was within arms reach of her, though a faint idea of what Sam wanted from him started to form when she motioned for him to lean down a bit.
The moment the taller boy leaned down, Sam practically reached up to cradle Sebastian’s face in her hands, got onto her toes, and planted a quick, but careful kiss on the edge of the long scar on his face. Even though Sebastian had kinda expected it… it felt like there was a lingering, soft feeling left behind from where her lips had touched that left him feeling all warm and fluttery on the inside. Especially with the soft smile that was now on Sam’s face after she kissed him and her hands still lingering on his face.
“You know, after thinking about it a bit. Maybe we are doing this right after all.” The brown haired girl grinned, a soft laughter in her voice while her thumbs traced along the edges of Sebastian’s jaw line. “The whole dating thing. We’re just doing it our way, one step at a time.”
Sebastian snorted slightly, reaching up and cupping one of the hands still on his face. “One step at a time huh? You know… I think I like the sound of that.”
The two shared a laugh, before leaning in towards one another and giving each other a proper kiss on the lips.
As soon as they had finished their kiss, they went about their shopping in high spirits. Cracking jokes here and there and getting as much of their list checked off all the while, though Sebastian’s mother Isadora would be a little disappointed that they mostly chose cat shaped or themed items to decorate their apartment with when they got back to her home, while Sylvia joked about how they were going to be the crazy cat couple of the family… the couple didn’t care in the end. It was just one step forward into their lives as adults, and together as a couple.
…
There would be many more steps for them to take along the way. And to the young couple, they looked forward to each step that they would take… at least for the next two years of their lives before a tragedy would befall them, all in the form of a false imprisonment and wrongful conviction. Ending in what one party thought was the other's unjust death, while the other was subjected to years of horrific experiments that left him visibly twisted and horrifically changed.
Now, almost 11 years since that horrible court day they had been reunited thanks to a mission from one Deluge Labs, and the efforts of both Sam’s older brother Curtis and Sebastian’s twin sister Sylvia to get Sebastian and his AI companion Painter out of the nightmare that was the Hadal Blacksite.
Now on the surface and reunited with his family, even finally meeting his daughter for the first time since he had learned of Sam’s pregnancy, things were supposed to start feeling better.
Yet here he was, late at night unable to sleep from the nightmares that continued to plague his psyche… and still trapped in his deep sea nightmare of a body. Sebastian was out on the backyard deck of Sam’s small home she built for herself and their daughter Izzy, looking up at the moon and having a smoke to try and calm his nerves… yet nothing was soothing the frustration that built up inside himself.
Things were supposed to get better after we got out… He thought to himself, glaring down at the cigarette that looked almost comically small being carefully held between his clawed, hard shelled fingers. He’d been trying to hold it all together, but between the culture shock of having to learn everything he missed over the last decade and the paranoia of Urbanshade sending someone after him for escaping… Sebastian really felt like he was on the verge of having a melt down… but the reminder that everything around him belonged to people he loved and who still loved him kept him from lashing out like he used to down in the Blacksite.
“Hey.”
Sebastian’s fins flicked, and lure instinctively turned on as he turned his head to look at Sam who stood in front of the sliding glass door. Her brown hair was loose and hanging around her shoulders, while a robe was wrapped around her fluffy looking pajamas. She was missing her piercings and he could see the faint bottom lines of her ankle tattoo through the small space between her long pajama pants and a pair of black and white cat paw looking slippers. The golden brown eyes he used to love looking into all those years ago looked tired, the beginning of dark circles just under them as she looked up at him.
“Couldn’t sleep huh?” She continued, leaning against the doorframe and trying to look casual… though Sebastian could tell from how she stood, shoulders stiff and trying her best not to pointedly lean loser towards him, that she was concerned over him. That at least seemed to be one thing that hasn’t changed between them after all these years.
“What about you? Last I knew you loved sleeping in any chance you got.” Sebastian pointed out, taking a slow drag from the thin burning stick, resting his two left arms carefully on the railing and leaning down on them a little. His tail coiled close around him, as a way to aid in his attempt to try not to put his full weight on the small wooden railing… and also clear up a bit more space on the deck.
“God I wish that was true now.” Sam laughed, a sound almost like music to his ears after so long without it. “Insomnia’s been a real bitch to me on and off again for the past decade now.”
Sebastian couldn’t help but chuckle a little in response. “I feel that… Sleep hasn’t been a good friend of mine in a while.”
“Sadly enough I can believe that… though honestly I’m more surprised you kept up the smoking habit.” Sam pointed out, stepping onto the deck and carefully making her way closer, till she was next to him and also leaning against the railing. “No offense but Urbanshade doesn’t strike me as a place that particularly cares about the desires or habits of its…”
“Fucked up monsters?” Sebastian offered in a very dry tone the moment Sam paused, causing the much smaller woman to flinch and look up towards his face with wide, almost hurt looking eyes. The mutated man’s fins lowered a bit, feeling a bit guilty for causing that look but decided to continue anyways with a deep sigh. “... you don’t need to sugar coat it Sam… I know what I am…”
“... I was going to say prisoners Seb.” The brown haired woman muttered, a sad tone in her voice that only seemed to hammer in the guilt stabbing into Sebastian’s heart.
“... they sometimes gave little “treats” whenever I behaved for them.” Sebastian sighed, forcing himself to look away from the woman he loved and towards the small pond, just beyond the fence that marked the border of the back yard. The full moon reflecting off the surface gave it a rather beautiful glow… then again a lot of things were prettier to him now after so long deep underwater. “They mostly gave me a single pack of a pretty shitty brand, like, once a week or so for complying with examinations and doing an “adequate” repair job around the site with minimal complaint. Pretty sure they expected me to go through the whole pack in a day with how big I am, but I made them last. It sucked, but it was one of the few things that took the edge off when shit got too rough down there.”
“… why do I get the feeling you still rarely got them in that case.”
Glancing down he saw how Sam was now next to him at the railing, though there was some distance between the two of them, and looking up with a raised brow and the faintest hints of a smirk on her face.
“Hey, I can play nice when I want to.” Sebastian snorted, leaning down enough now so his chest was practically touching one arm that was resting across the railing, as an attempt to feel more at eye level with the 5’3” tall woman… yet even now he still felt like he was towering over her. The light from his lure was not helping his perception either as it almost felt like he was a low hanging ceiling light.
“And how often did you really want to?”
“Whenever I was running low on cigs of course.”
“Dork.” Sam snorted, and started reaching over to possibly playfully push at his smaller arm… but she stopped short the moment Sebastian flinched, and she retracted her hand. A guilty look crossed her face and Sebastian could only curse himself internally for his own body’s reaction. “Sorry… I wasn’t thinking.”
“Don’t be sorry…” Sebastian muttered, glaring down at his own hands and hating how he felt the light of his lure dim with his own feelings. Reminders of everything wrong with him now seemed to just keep popping up, not just with the obvious signs on the outside… but even in the little things, there were just so many things wrong that he couldn’t even relax enough to enjoy just a simple little touch from someone he loved. “I should already be getting over this… I know it wasn’t going to hurt. But this stupid body-”
“Sebastian. Look at me. Please.”
His rows of sharp teeth clenched, for a second almost expecting to see hundreds of glowing green eyes staring at him… but was instead met with the worried look on Sam’s face. She looked as if she was going to say something, but stopped as her eyes went from his face to his arms… before they went back to look him in the eye, all as she took a calming breath.
“May I… see your hand for a moment?” She asked, slowly and carefully holding out one of her hands towards him.
Sebastian hesitated for a moment, but slowly held out his smaller third hand out towards her. He shuddered a little when Sam’s much smaller hands carefully took hold of it. It… was one of the warmest things he’s felt in a long time. Next to the group hug he got when both Curtis and Sylvia had found him again… this felt a bit more softer and intimate as her fingers gently rubbed against the hard shell of his hand. It was different… yet so familiar to all the times back in the past when she would rub her thumb along his knuckles, or rub circles on the back of his hand every time they used to hold each other’s hands. She did however stop near the scar that used to be covered by bandages not long ago, with a contemplative look on her face while Sebastian had to fight the urge to try and hide it away from her.
“... I can’t even begin to imagine everything you’ve been through.” Sam murmured, her fingers lingered near the harsh scarring, a surprisingly pleasant feeling shiver ran through Sebastian’s body at the touch. “But I’m… not surprised it would have left a lot of scars behind. And I don’t mean just the physical ones.”
Sebastian felt his face heat up and the light of his lure brighten as Sam placed a very gentle kiss near the edge of the mostly healed scar. The rest of his body was practically frozen and unable to move under her touch, yet he felt warmed entirely by it as well.
“I wish there was a way I could help take all that pain away from you… Or at least help you heal from it quicker. You…” Sam’s head turned and looked away from the scar on his third arm, only to look along his long scaled body at the other scars that were not covered by his shirt. From the bullet wound scars and burns from the initial breakout, to even some surgical ones from long ago, and even the tares and holes in the fins that replaced his ears… each mark was filled with nightmares Sebastian never wanted to relive… and while looking at them all tears began to fill in Sam’s eyes. “God… you didn’t deserve any of this.”
The moment the first few tears fell, Sebastian had already snuffed what little was left of his smoke out, before leaning down as far as he could go and pulling the smaller woman into his arms. Sam almost immediately reached up and attempted to wrap her arms around the mutated man’s neck to return the hug while burying her face into his shoulder. He held her close, feeling the tears through his shirt, and wishing he could stop them… when the dam on his own tears started to crack as he felt a few beginning to crawl down his scaled face… even some getting into his main eye from the smaller, third one he liked to forget about.
A sense of mournful nostalgia filled Sebastian… they had been in a position like this a few times before… first back when Sam’s parents died. Then like this once again after his own father succumbed to his diagnosis a few years after. They had held each other close and tried to give each other comfort in those moments, yet both of them always were crying into each other in the end. Sometimes one was able to speak through the tears, other times both wouldn’t be able to say a word for a while… yet one thing they always knew in the end, was that each of them could always count on the other to be there for them.
“We’ll… we’ll find a way through this.” Sam whispered, literally near his ear with a watery sounding voice. “If it takes weeks or… or even years. I wanna be there to help you along the way…”
“… one step at a time?” Sebastian whispered, his own voice almost equally choked up and watery.
Sam pulled a little away from his shoulder, to better angle herself so she could have one of her hands gently cup his cheek and gave him a soft, teary eyed smile.
“One step at a time.”
Sebastian smiled a little, nuzzling into the touch a bit. One of his fins flicked as a snort soon escaped him.
“You know… that might be hard to do, considering I don’t have legs anymore.”
The loud snort and slight pressure of Sam attempting to push a little at his face got a playful fang filled grin to make its way into his face.
“We were having a moment you dork.”
“And I felt like the moment needed a joke. Did ya lose your sense of humor over the years?”
The two slowly devolved into laughter, their hold on one another less about trying to comfort each other and now more enjoying each other’s company… and sharing their love for one another through small touches, and light kisses.
Eventually though, Sam had to mention how she needed to get their daughter to school in the morning. Needing to be awake enough to operate the car, and basically offering for Sebastian to join her inside for her routine of trying to help herself get back to sleep. To which, the fish man couldn’t say no as he slithered and slipped into the home behind her.
…
Izzy yawned loudly as she padded her way into the living room. She knew she would find her mom wide awake and already waiting for her like every morning. Fully ready to start the day with her usual question about breakfast, the young girl blinked her golden brown eyes at the sight of her mother and mutated father holding each other on the floor of the living room. The tv was on low and empty mugs rested on the table, while her parents slept peacefully within her father’s coils.
I thought mom never slept… Izzy thought to herself in surprise. After all, her mother was always wide awake at night as the young Solace girl would already be in bed… and Sam would always be wide awake in the mornings just before Izzy woke up. It had been that way for the near 11 years she had been alive, so of course she was surprised.
Looking from the peaceful expression on her mothers face, to the large relaxed one on her fathers as he slept… Izzy got the distinct feeling neither of them would wake up for a while.
Looking to the digital clock near the tv, she had about an hour before she would usually leave for school… when a stray thought crossed her mind.
If I leave them like this… They might just sleep through drop off time and I can get a free day off from school!
A little mischievous smile crossed the curly brown haired girl's face as she began tiptoeing her way back to her room. Completely missing how a single glowing blue eye opened up and watched her sneak away and silently giggling to herself.
“… does she really think we didn’t hear her coming?” Sebastian whispered, getting a small snort out of Sam, who snuggled closer to him.
“Probably. You wanna be the one to let her know?”
Sebastian hummed before closing his eye again and holding his lover closer.
“Let her think she got away with it for five more minutes.”
Sam snickered, and placed a small kiss on Sebastian’s cheek.
“Five more minutes.”