Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

CURRENTLY CLOSED !!! WILL OPEN BACK UP AFTER 5 MORE FICS ARE COMPLETED

hey gangggg u dont know me but the ao3 sebastian solace fanfic drought is real and im starving for content so its time i jump in ig…… here to serve the people…..

so i am taking requests ! gotta learn the posting curve tho cuz ive never posted here before… i promise im a decent writer :3 BTW I DO EVERY SINGLE SUGGESTION !!!!!!

requests dont have to be just oneshots !!! im a yapper writer so it may happen anyway lol

im pretty open to most ideas !!! even the weirder ones. JUST NOTE: i WILL deny any suggestions i am uncomfortable with if its from the no no section !!! ALSO i try to do suggestions in the order they are requested (kinda like a queue), but that may change depending on the suggestion (like if its something im really interested in writing)

all my fics will always try to be 1000+ !!!!

the yes's:

-angst

-fluff ofc !!!!

-violence/blood and gore

-sickfics

-sebastian or other pressure characters interacting with oc's (give me oc lore, facts, and reference sheet if they have one)

-crossovers (if its a media im not well versed in, please give me a summary of the lore and the character u want in the fic)

-suggestive/spicy (not genuine nsfw like with genitals n stuff)

-romance

-first person/expendable pov/you pov

-solace family bonding time….. :3

-death but i will cry bc i like happy endings

the no no's:

-nsfw (specifically sex or genitals)

-pedo, zoo, non-con/rape, or underage

-transphobia/homophobia/racism/sexism UNELSS it is to advance the story

Chapter Text

The tick of a clock, the monotone humming of a refrigerator, and the occasional shuffle of slippers rubbing against a hard kitchen floor were about the only things disrupting the otherwise quiet and somber house.


It was far into the night, at around three A.M when Camila had last checked. She didn't really care for the time at this hour, she just wanted to sleep. Which, for whatever reason, she just couldn't. It was a little frustrating, not being able to do much at this time of night. Sleep was a tricky thing on occasion. Her bed would make her stir, her thoughts would not let her settle, and her throat would go dry whenever she thought of— well, him. How could she not?


Camila latched onto the warm cup of hot chocolate to ground herself, and took a rigid sip from her mug. The taste helped bring her back, and as she swallowed she looked around the house to think of what she needed to do tomorrow. Maria and Zoe—who moved into an apartment together as friends a while back— will be coming to visit tomorrow, so she needs to clean up the mess of blankets and pillows Ian—her grandson—had left out in front of the TV in the living room yesterday. He said something about how its for a ‘fortnight’ or something before she rushed him off to bed, though Camila couldn't remember clearly. The young boy is having his two friends come over in four days for a three day sleep-over as well, so he needs all the rest he can get in order to play for three days straight. He's quite the rascal.


She took another sip. The drink was cooling down. She should return to bed soon.


And yet, she couldn't bring herself to. Because then she would remember. The clock ticked on with its bird inspired appearance, and she thought that maybe she could get some flowers from her garden and give them to her neighbors; she knows they'd like that. Groceries need to be done, too, as the house is running a bit low.


Camila sighed and glanced at the practically ancient avian clock. Three thirty-two A.M. She looked back at the kitchen table she was sitting at, an old finger tracing the carved wood easily in her boredom.


April is approaching. Nicholas’ birthday is coming up soon, the first. (A running gag in the family, of course. How could it not be? Sebastian used to—ah, nevermind). Speaking of him, he wasn't home at this hour, due to working late into the night at a local gas station to get some extra cash. She and the family are planning to go on a vacation to a tropical and beachy environment since he's always loved the warmer places, to surprise him. They were thinking of Hawaii, but haven't decided on an island yet. She knows he'll enjoy it; he's always loved the sea and its pool of paradise critters. Especially whales—


Tap. And muffled shuffling, then a thump. From outside, near the back door. Camila froze.


Something was outside.


She let go of the mug she had been holding onto and slowly turned her head around towards the back door. She shifted out of the wooden chair as quietly as she possibly could, but the shuffling quieted as soon as she stood up.


Now, Camila is no coward. She's always been a fighter and she's got the scars and the words to prove it. Even to the locals and neighbors she is known as an incredibly protective ‘mama bear.’ But even so, the idea of something or someone messing around in front of her most sacred place in the middle of the night is a bit, well, unnerving to say the least. But she pushed forward, because her grandchild was sleeping here and that was enough to spring her into action.


As she shuffled towards the corner that held her trusty bat and the trash can, she swears she saw a faint and dim light shine through the kitchen window before it quickly disappeared. A flashlight. She grimaced in growing anger for the situation at hand. Someone is on her property.


Camila grasped the bat, flexing her hands to grip it harder as she made her way warily to the back kitchen door. The previous shuffling had long since ceased, but that doesn't mean the trespasser was truly gone yet.


She was face-to-face with the back door now, and she flicked on the backyard light and the bright little hanging ones as she settled her hand on the handle. This probably isn't the smartest thing to do, but she's come so far so she might as well press on.


Tensing for a single moment, Camila gripped that doorknob like her life depended on it (Which it kind of did) and threw it open with the bat ready to strike and a loud yell.


“WHOEVER IS ON MY PROPERTY… LO JURO POR TODO LO BUENO… BETTER GET THE FUCK OFF RIGHT NOW!!!” Camila roared, looking around the well-lit yard wildly despite the darkness in the corners.


When she turned her head right, what she saw made her think this must've been a dream, because it just had to be.


Because standing over—or rather hunching over— a few feet away near the edge of the house was what could only be described as the loch ness monster met the little mermaid.


An old piece of dirty turkey leg stuck dumbly out of its jagged, toothy mouth—was it going through her trash? Gross…— as it stared wide-eyed at her despite the lack of pupils, glowing blue orbs illuminating its seemingly shocked gray face. A scarily familiar scar was twisted on its snout, accompanied by what could have only been a million other tiny and big scars littering the skin she could see, as well as incredibly small, bioluminescent blue dots akin to stars in the night sky. It appeared to be wearing some sort of pirate inspired attire; although it was clearly hanging on for dear life and practically beyond repair. Long inky black hair sat atop its head, terribly messy and greasy, undoubtedly tangled and knotted to death. It used its front arms to keep it propped up off the ground as if it were quadruped, and she noticed a torn trash bag in between its claws. So it was going through her trash.


Its jaw dropped, the half-eaten turkey leg falling out of the monster's jaws and hitting the ground with a dull thud. Vivid bright blue eyes stared straight into her very soul. Silence.


And then she screamed and threw the bat straight at its face and by some miracle hit it smack dab in the middle. It yowled in pain and surprise and flinched harshly away, eyes closing shut on impact. It scraped at its poor face with its clawed hands and cowered closer to the floor with a pathetic, dog-like whine. The esca on its forehead dangled as it spasmed on and off like a faulty lightbulb.


"Santa mierda, santa mierda, santa mierda-” She swore in fear, inching back closer to the door; her escape, she needed to escape this was her chance—


“No!” The beast hissed and apparently it talks, as it surged forward on both front arms and she yelled again as it got closer. Camila grabbed at the door handle to try and get it between her and the monster somehow, gritting her teeth harshly. It crawled closer and she kicked at its face a couple times. It only gave a few grunts of pain before grabbing her leg with a third hand and stopping her with a sudden gentleness, as if it didn't want to hurt her.


She was crying, now, because the beast just looked so haunting and she really didn't want to die. She didn't want it to hurt her family, can't let it, so she pushed the fear aside and let out a battle-cry because that's all she could really do.


Its ear-fin-thingys flinched backwards and it squinted its eyes—was that a third one?— in reaction to the shriek. It must have sensitive ears.


“Stop– just– please, listen to me–” it begged, its face oddly familiar as it scrunched up in what must have been inner conflict. And yet, she continued to struggle, trying to break free in any way she could. It looked torn before it finally gave in and did something she would have never expected; it hugged her. Or at least, it tried.


Its large face squished up against her as if it wanted to be smaller, its arms wrapped shakily around her in order to keep her upright and balanced despite the massive, almost comical size difference. Its hanging light bounced around as it moved, incredibly dim now as the creature wrapped itself around her in a pathetic manner. Camila stopped moving and screaming entirely. What on earth is this thing doing?


It appears her inaction wasn't the correct response, because it pulled back to stare at her with impossibly wide, miserable blue eyes. Although, it still held her in place, and alarm bells started going off louder in her head. What on earth is this thing doing?


And then it croaked in a low, hauntingly familiar smoky voice.


It sounded heartbroken. It sounded at peace.


“Mom?” And in this very moment, her soul crushed. What a cruel, cruel world. It will never change. This is just another nightmare.


“What?”


Silence. The beast looked miserable. So lost. Like its suspicions were confirmed and it doesn't know what to do from here.


It visibly wilted, lips down-turning even more so, esca going dark and planting both their faces in darkness. The glow of its eyes lit them up enough to see each other, but even that seemed to dim.


“Mom.” It said more insistently. before swallowing through what must have been a terribly dry throat and continuing, tears shining on all three of its unnaturally bright eyes.


“M-mom, it's me. I-it's Sebastian. I'm h-here.” It—no, he— warbled quietly, on the very edge of breaking down completely it seemed. Seemingly unconsciously, he allowed her to properly stand on her own two feet. A few tears slipped down his flat face.


“What? Sebastio- what???” Camila was at a loss. Just how in the world is this aquatic beast her Sebby? Unless— no, it couldn't be…


And yet, the way he looked at her was chipping away at her resolve. The pure, unfiltered and raw emotion he expressed… it was undeniably real, and hurting her heart at that. Could this being really be her son?


.


.


.


It wouldn't hurt to believe, if even for a little bit, now could it? It was starting to feel real.


A single tear escaped down her face, and then the dam broke.


“My son. Mi hijo. Ay, hijo mío. Where have you been, sweet baby? What has happened to you?” Camila whispered, pushing aside the wariness and approaching the other. That was the right decision.


Her son let out a sob, and then started wailing animalistically as he leaned forward into her chest again like a wounded child, wrapping all of his arms around her in a messy embrace, noises akin to dogs and reptiles escaping his vocal cord. His vocal cords. Camila returned the gesture, maneuvering her own, slightly muscular arms around his huge—yet, oddly small in the moment— body. Her fingers couldn't even touch. Tears escaped her eyes.


“Oh, Sebastian. Sweet baby, I've got you, mama's here, little one. We're right here.” Camila hushed, as he howled as if all the emotions had bent pent up for years, and yet it had. So he let it all out.


He blubbered nonsensical words, as if trying to tell a story, but she shushed him anyway. The only thing he should be worrying about is crying.


“Shhh, my baby, shhh. Estoy aquí, mamá está aquí. Just cry, my darling. Just cry.” Camila soothed, moving her arms up and down his clothed back in a hopefully grounding manner. She felt his back twitch in response, and he nuzzled deeper into her embrace as he wept, tears and snot and spit staining her jade green nightgown. His fists clenched the fabric, almost nicking her with those fierce claws, but she didn't care. The savage turmoil Sebastian was experiencing hurt her more than any physical wound could ever.


After what felt like an hour that could have only been fifteen minutes did he pull back enough to see her face again. He looked exhausted, but happier than ever. Sebastian let out a bone deep sigh, slumping over quite a bit as the fatigue hit him like a speeding train.


No words were spoken as she loosened her arms and managed to snake them in between each other in the air, hands outstretched as a silent request. Slowly putting the dots together, he subtly nodded, physically stopping himself from recoiling away as she laid her palms delicately on his scaly face.


Camila let out a dumbfounded huff that this was even real, and gently massaged and felt around his changed face. Oh, how he had changed. But she just couldn't be happier he was alive and here.


The tension from his body melted away as his eyes lowered, seemingly growing more tired by the minute. A heavy rumbling started up, echoing in the space around him. If she strained her ears, she could distantly hear a repeated thump, thump, thump on the ground behind him.


Growing bolder, she traced the bridge where his nose should've been to find the healed scar across the ridge. Camila smiled to herself, letting out a somber chuckle. His faint freckles were still there. “Oh, still my sweet little boy, aren't you? After all these years, you're still my sweet little Sebby.” She cooed, tears recovering her vision as she gently tightened her grip on his beastly face. The glowing dots on his face and the rest of his body brightened.


He let out an exasperated giggle, teeth re-entering the scene as they poked out. “Mamá,” Sebastian trilled just because he could, ear fins expanding and pointing forward, eyes crinkled in pure unbridled joy that he's still his mamá's little boy.


“Mi bebe,” Camila croaked, bumping their foreheads together fondly. His eyes slid closed, soaking in her powerful warmth. His purring vibrated through her core, and she felt around his ear fins. She swears the purring got louder.


After a few moments of silence only interrupted by sniffling and repeated reassurances and Sebastian's animalistic noises, she decided it was finally time to get this silly fish man inside to warm up. Camila pulled back, which caused Sebastian to open up his sky blue eyes in silent question. When did they close?


“Okay, let's get you inside, sweetie, you're so cold. And don't you dare fight it!” She scolded gently as he had begun to open his mouth in clear objection—he can't not safe not safe at all he'll be seen and then he'll go back to them— but quickly snapped his jaws shut in order to avoid being grilled by his mother. She may be caring, but damn it if she isn't intense sometimes, something he missed dearly.


He sighed in tired resignation, slumping even more if that were possible. “Okay,” he relented, and she grinned as she hurriedly dragged him inside. He barely fit and she could barely move him without his consent, but he squeezed through the doorway as gently as he could and slithered after her like a shy child clinging to its parent.


Camila flicked the backyard lights off as they went by, and took a long glance at the serpentine tail trailing into the house before stopping as Sebastian stopped as well. Under her gaze, he grew ashamed. Who could really love this?


She peeked her head out of the still open door just to see how long he really was, and was already coming to terms with the fact vases and glasses would have to unfortunately retire as long as Sebastian stayed here. Oh well, a necessary sacrifice.


At the very end, she spotted a big fluke very similar to a whales, the few differences being his was slightly more jagged and sharper and had scars flaking across it, big and small. It swayed gently across the backyard grass as he waited for Camila to process the true extent of his transformation, fidgeting with his segmented digits in nervous apprehension.


Flicking her gaze back up to Sebastians, she gave him a grin. “Don't worry about the furniture sweetheart, just make yourself at home, yeah?” She eased, settling a hand on his scaly flank, where the scutes of his underbelly met the scales of his hide.


Sebastian physically melted, letting out a breathe didn't know he was holding. His mind more hopeful, he returned the grin, albeit smaller. The gentle touch sent shivers down his long spine, even though he waited for a strike that would never come. Sebastian gave her a quick nod, and looked around the house. An archway in front of them and by extension the back door led to the living room, which the floor was covered in pillows and blankets near the TV. Odd. To the left of the living room was the hallway to the front door, and to the right were all the other rooms elsewhere in the house. What he assumed to be the basement door was on the wall to the left, facing the fridge.


It wasn't the same one he grew up in, but he was glad to be somewhere safe anyhow. That's all that really mattered.


As Sebastian was lost in thought Camila moved over to the living room. For once, she was thankful for Ian's mess, even if she allowed it in the first place. The pile of cushions and sheets will have to do for now.


She worked away in the comfy dig-site, pushing the couch away to make room for Sebastian's large frame. He watched her silently, not sure if he should help due to the sharpness of his claws and the, at times, uncontrollable strength he possessed. Camila was content to work by herself, anyway. He needed to rest.


Once she finished making the little nest, she gestured for him to slither on over. He did so cautiously, very mindful of the fragile decor and furniture.


“I can go get more blankets while you get yourself comfortable, okay hijo?” Camila instructed, and he gave her a simple nod. It seems like a genuine conversation was out of the question for tonight. That was okay.


Sebastian watched as Camila disappeared down the right hallway, darkness quickly overtaking her. It made him a bit nervous now that she was out of his sight, but he refrained from calling back for her. In doing so, he looked over at the comfortable nest, sliding over with care.


He lowered himself down, using his arms to keep him off the floor as he sniffed the cushions, taking in all the different smells, old and new. Home. He huffed out a breath of exasperated joy, his mutated vocal cords emitting a natural, soft reptilian trill on instinct as he nuzzled into the pillows. Sebastian's instinctual, primal brain was cooing and chirping all the while because he was home home safe home warm safe finally safe.


Growing bolder, he crawled into the pillow den. There was no way in hell his entire body would fit even if he was neatly coiled up, so only his torso and about a chunk of his tail could fit in the bedding itself. Even so, it was still incredibly soft, and Sebastian found himself purring and buzzing as he curled up in the warmth, rubbing his face against a pink pillow with closed eyes. Home.


It didn't take much longer for Camila to finally return with a basket full of blankets and a couple more fun pillows, and there may or may not be a few plushies or two... Thank God Ian sleeps like the dead, she thought while letting out a puff of air, before stopping in her tracks before smiling as she observed her son.


He was so delicate and gentle despite his gnarly appearance and strength. Sebastian kept nuzzling the same pink pillow, while a gentle hum permitted the air like whale song along with the near constant rumbling coming deep from within his chest, perhaps even his soul. This must have been some sort of animal song that only he could sing, a song of comfort. She is so proud of him.


Camila then made her presence known, stepping purposefully loud on the wooden floor so as to not spook him. Sebastian's weathered ear fins twitched, and he raised his head to gaze at her with tired, dazed eyes. She gave him a soft smile, setting the basket down and gathering some of the fluffy contents and making her way to his little pillow kingdom.


“I got you some more blankets, sweetie, a few of the longer ones should do. I'll put them on for you,” she said, and flapped a heavy blanket open and tossed it over his upper body and torso. Any small amount of tension left in his body dissolved in seconds as the fabric settled on him.


“Mmm, thank ‘ou, mamá,” Sebastian mumbled, the haze of sleep already getting to him. He hasn't slept in a comfortable, safe place in years.


Camila smiled, and settled another blanket on his tail, right where the other one ended. “Of course, hijo,” she hummed, giving his tail a couple comforting pats. His scales were hard and cool to the touch, clearly meant for a tough environment. Well, not anymore, she thought with determination. Sebastian will heal if it's the last thing she does. And so, she settled a white snake plushie over his tail.


As Sebastian remained in limbo between sleep and consciousness, Camila covered him shoulder to tail in thick blankets and placed a couple more pillows around his tail. Hopefully this should keep him warm throughout the rest of the night.


When she finished, she looked over to Sebastian's tired face. His eyes were closed, but his esca was dimly lit. Was he asleep or not? She did not truly know, since he is just so different now, so she shuffled over and sat down slowly on the pillows next to him, a fuzzy orca plushie in hand, an old favorite of Sebastian when he was younger that she had kept.


She gently tapped his shoulder, barely stirring him but his eyes slid open just a fraction anyway. She held out the plushie to him, and his eyes widened as he sleepily grasped it from her. Sebastian gave it a couple of sniffs, before quickly cuddling it up to his chest with a primal rumble. His eyes slid back closed. She pulled the blanket back up to his chin, tucking him in.


Lifting up her left hand, Camila settled her palm gently in his dark hair as he settled with his newfound furry friend. It was so far gone that she worried for a moment that he'd just have to go bald and start over, but then she remembered the rebellious phase of when Maria never brushed her hair and it was, quite literally, a true rats’ nest. But hey, she never had to shave all her hair off, so maybe Sebastian will have the same outcome.


She shifted her hand to just be petting his hair instead of scratching his scalp, and began to hum a tune of an old lullaby they both remembered.


As Camila lovingly and easily moved her hand across his head, he leaned into her touch, shifting a big scaly arm to surround her and bring her closer to his chest and into his blanket, esca dimming until it was black as he fell into a deep, well-earned slumber. The rumbling continued, although much quieter.


Camila cooed at the action, and bent down to his face to give his forehead a precious kiss. She swears he leaned into the action just a little bit.


“My sweet little one, oh how I've missed you.” She whispered, closing her eyes with a true smile, her body and mind finally ready for sleep.


Nothing had been the same when Sebastian was taken from her and the family. But now, they have a chance at rebuilding everything they had lost.


It would take quite some time, that's for sure. But now, they have all the time in the world to mend and bandage their wounds.


.


.

.


Oh, right. Zoe and Maria are coming and Nicholas will be home soon. Shit.

Chapter Text

Small rays of muted sleepy sunlight filtered in through any gaps it could find, despite the closed blinds designed to keep it out. And yet, enough of it managed to hit and frame a gigantic lump in a pile of messy blankets and pillows with its subtle glow. It was very early in the morning, the sun had gotten up just enough.

Heavy snores and rumbling originated from the mound, giving off the impression a dragon was sleeping on its nest of treasure. And funnily enough, you wouldn't be far off in assuming that. Just… this dragon is rather fishy. And also not rich whatsoever. And smells terrible.

Sebastian shifted, taking in a deep inhale and letting it out right after. He registered a wet spot near his mouth as he stirred, ew. He was slobbering in his sleep, his brain supplied. Very gross. Not cool. His eyes slid open in a tired squint. The bags carved under his eyes still remained, and so did the fuzzy orca, near his face. Sebastian had rolled onto his chest in his sleep, head propped up by a few placed pillows.

In his sleepy and drowsy state, he didn't notice the heavy footsteps approaching him and eventually stopping. What he did notice, however, was the gentle hand settling into his curled hair, closer to the base of his esca. He began to purr at the soft scratching, eyes only opened a fraction. He looked like a very content cat.

“Goodmorning, hijo, how did you sleep?” Camila greeted, sitting on her knees next to his neck with a palm on her legs as she carefully coaxed him awake. She wanted to talk to him.

It took him a few moments, but he forced his eyes open more and scooted his head closer to her direction. Sebastian cleared his parched throat a couple times to speak past the happy rumbling. “Mmm, I slept good, mamá. Thank you,” he said, nuzzling his head into her active hand.

Camila smiled. “Good, good,” she replied, wanting to prolong this warm moment, but the risk of Ian waking up or Nicholas coming home soon is far too great, with it being almost eight o'clock. I mean, how do you exactly explain that your long lost brother slash uncle came back from the dead as a depressingly malnourished forbidden mermaid man thing? There isn't a step by step guidebook for this.

And so, she came to the perfect conclusion that she had to hide him in her bedroom, at least until they figured out how to appraoch all of… this.

“Sebastian, I need you to wake up, honey. Would you like to continue resting in my bedroom?” She suggested, soothing back his frazzled black hair. She hates to admit it, but he honestly stinks. She's going to have to use over-the-top sprays to even dream of getting rid of the smell.

The siren chuffed, clearly content to simply lie here for the rest of his days. Is he part cat as well? No, he's just always been stubborn, she thought fondly.

Camila huffed in slight exasperation. “Sebastian,” she said in a warning tone, before poking the space in-between his eyes. They shot open with surprise. That got his attention.

He groaned. “Whaaaat? I haven't slept in days, mamá, have you no mercy?” Sebastian grumbled, his bratty behavior making its slow return. It made her laugh at his antics, and also worry a bit about what he implied. It will be good to have him back. Ian will come to absolutely adore him.

“And you'll be able to go right back to sleep when you are not a life-threatening log in my living room, tonto, so come on, we don't have all day,” she urged in a teasing and yet stern manner, lightly tapping his forehead to keep him grounded and awake.

He scrunched up his face, grimacing. “Fine, but where do you expect me to stay, exactly? Unless you have a closet to Narnia, I doubt you have a room big enough for me.” Sebastian drawled, wiggling around til he was leaning on his original arms. The pose caused him to tower easily over his mother, and she shuffled to the side to give him some room to move. His words didn't have the usual bite.

That was… a good point, unfortunately. Even just imagining Sebastian trying to get into the hallway bathroom is a stressful thought.

Camila hummed as she considered her options. Any family member rooms’ are undeniably off the table, and there's no way he's getting up in the attic. The basement is a maybe, but everyone goes down there all the time… so there's only one genuine possibility; her room.

“Hm, maybe not, but there's no way in hell am I putting you back outside. Here, come, you can stay in my room for now until you've settled in and we figure out what to do next,” she offered, before pushing herself to her feet and onto the blanketed floor. The living room has become quite the fuzzy mess.

In response, Sebastian groaned dramatically with mild exasperation, and was promptly shushed by his mother. With a sleepy and pupil-less eye roll, he obeyed, pushing himself up using his primary arms. His third one was suspended uselessly in the air, following him around like a terrible ghost.

Cough. Moving on.

By the time he was up and on his, well, tail and ready to go, Camila had already started moving stuff out of the hallway. She was quick on her feet, but it didn't really surprise him anymore with how much she had to catch him because he was quite… rambunctious when he was younger. And still kind of is, just with the added crime and monstrous look.

He was knocked out of his stupor when his mom snapped her fingers to get his attention. His head swiveled to stare, eyes wide and a little haunting with his ear fins stretched out and on full display. It was, naturally, quite ghostly. For a moment, Camila had a jolt of primal fear, the sudden urge to hide.

The moment passed as quickly as it had arrived however, because she reminded herself internally that this otherworldly being is the same old toothy and wild kid that terrorized every single babysitter he's ever had.

Such a thought warmed her heart, and so she gestured to the hallway. “You should be able to fit in my room, just be quiet, yeah? Ian is still sleeping and Nicholas isn't home yet,” she instructed, before shuffling to her bedroom door and disappearing inside.

Who is Ian? Sebastian thought, before sneakily slithering right after her. He'll just get his answers when this ‘Ian’ wakes up, he supposes.

Because he is just so awesome and cool, Sebastian only knocked over three things and bumped into the wall four times! His mother shushed him for a total of eight (new personal record, huzzah!)

Now finally arriving at the end of the hallway and subsequently his moms room, he ducked a bit lower— although he was already hunched over anyway —in order to peer into said room.

The first thing he noticed? There were plants everywhere. A few pots hung from the ceiling, a lot of them were in big and small jars placed on desks and other suitable ledges, and possibly some on the windowsill. He couldn't tell because the curtains were pulled closed. Some might have been fake, but one whiff from his far superior nostrils proved that quite a few were real. Besides all the leafy green plants, the room was painted with a lively reddish brown theme, covered head to toe in random memorable items and treasures she's received from her children and friends.

Quite a bit of said trinkets, he noticed, were from him when he was a child or before prison days.

Now, Sebastian wouldn't be able to tell you the names between two different species of plant even if they're the basic starter ones. He was never really a plant guy, but he still appreciated their greenery and life nonetheless, of course. The task of taking care of something while he could hardly take care of himself just wasn't a wise idea for his wallet, nor did the hobby interest him as much as it did his mother. But with what he's been through, he's definitely come to appreciate them way, way more.

Sebastian ignored how all the plants reminded him of the DiVine and their gardens, and how it brought about a strange feeling in his gut that he'd rather not decipher (he remembers particularly bad days, wandering into their gardens in a daze. The feeling of their grassy bodies hugging his own fucked-up one may never leave him be).

During his intense examination of her room, Camila had stood a little awkwardly in the corner, next to her bathroom.

When he seemed about done, she cleared her throat.

“Make yourself at home, here. This is only temporary, and then we'll figure out a proper place for you to sleep in. Sorry about the mess, by the way. Don't worry about adding to it, just don't go breaking down my walls,” Camila informed with a teasing lilt, a warmth twinkling in her gaze.

Sebastian hummed in gratitude before speaking, “Thanks, mamá,” he bowed his head to look down at her, a small smile gracing his fishy features.

Camila returned his grin easily.

“No problem, hijo, just try to get as comfortable as you can, alright?” Camila cooed, before shuffling her way to the door and literally having to step and slide over his tail like a log to escape. Damn these old bones.

Sebastian turned his head and slithered a little more into the room once she passed over him, now next to the bed. His flukes were just about in the room, and they remained flat on the floor with barely a twitch.

Camila turned around to face him once she was back on her feet, “I'll be in the kitchen if you need me. I'll come check up on you in a bit, and try not to be too loud. Just stay in here till you feel like you can see the rest of the family, okay sweetheart?” She offered, that warm smile of hers never leaving her face as she held eye contact with him.

It made him feel buzzy, and he kind of wanted to bounce off the walls like a cat with zoomies.

“Aye aye, captain, your room will be cleaner than before I got here.” He gave a cheeky salute, teeth poking out from his own toothy smile.

His mom rolled her eyes fondly. “It better be,” she huffed a quiet laugh, and he pulled his flukes in so she could shut the door with a quiet, barely audible click.

And now, he was alone. With his thoughts.

Ew.

Well, it probably is as good a time as any to do some mental rebooting and processing what the fuck happened in the past twenty-four hours.

So, first things first, he came back home without even realizing it. All Sebastian had been trying to do was to find something to eat, and this house just so happened to be his next unfortunate victim of the night.

The same house that harbored the few people he thought he'd never see again.

And, fate was funny, because he genuinely thought the last memory he'd ever have of his family was when he was screaming and being taken away. But now he's back, and actually inside of a house.

It's actually nauseatingly scary how it's been a little over a decade since he's been inside of a normal human house.

Inside of a proper home. One where he knows when he's getting a tasty meal, one with toys and entertainment, one with a real bed.

Just the thought made his eyes well up with tears, and since crying is a little awkward with three eyes, Sebastian went limp and face-planted onto the bed in front of him.

He's going to ignore the sound of groaning wood. Shh.

Moving his arms onto his head, he tangled his primary hands into his night-time hair and just shifted it between his claws as he went back to thinking. Sebastians third arm remained slack against the orange sheets.

He didn't really do anything, for a minute. Just thought about unimportant things, like taking in what all the rooms looked like. How it smelt, and how it confused him.

Ever since his mutations, he'd gained a predator's sense of smell. Intense and vital, far more superior than a person.

He knew when an Expendable was coming through not only their loud ass screams and running down the metal hallways, but also due to his great, new and improved olfactory sensors.

What he's trying to say is that while he's never smelled his loved ones as intensely as he does now, it still feels familiar and like he always has.

It's weird.

And he's thinking about all of this because there's a new scent in the house he's never met before.

The mysterious scent must be this ‘Ian’ his mom mentioned.

Which made him deeply curious, because this Ian smelled awfully familiar in a way that didn't make sense.

Whatever, he'll meet them properly later. Right now, he needs to make sure he has everything on his person still.

I can't believe I haven't checked sooner. Man, I really am slipping up. Urbanshade would be giggling and kicking their feet like a highschool girl if they found out, he thought with a hint of grim displeasure, before pushing himself up with his strong arms and lounging back on his tail in his pathetic version of sitting on a chair. A really scaly chair, that is.

He quickly checked his pockets on his jacket and clothes, pulling out seemingly random objects before putting them back in their confines. Sebastian would give his sigh of relief after this procedure, he wasn't about to jinx it.

Sticking a hand inside his jacket hurriedly, he pulled out a white USB and felt the tension he didn't know was there melt from his body entirely.

All the bags on his body could wait, because by far the most important thing he had taken with him was the little ivory stick.

I'll get you situated soon enough, buddy, just hang on a little longer. We're finally home.

Sebastian brought the most important thing in the world up to his face, the glow from his lure making the USB stick seem like a shining angel, and his eyes crinkled with barely contained glee even if his friend couldn't see his giddy smile.

And it may just be wishful thinking, but he's sure his partner is smiling right back at him, too.

Letting out that deserved sigh of relief, Sebastian lowered his arms and pocketed the item, and went about checking the rest of his strapped satchels covering his long body.

He's so taking a nap after this. It'd be a crime not too, and he was but a filthy criminal.

__________________________

A grogginess only achieved after having the coolest dream of your life was what greeted Ian when he awoke from his frankly marvelous slumber.

(You will never hear him use any of those words in his entire life.)

Turning over in his very cool dinosaur-themed bed, Ian gave a heavy yawn as he now faced his bedroom door.

Blinking open his bleary and tired eyes, he looked over to the clock. The digital numbers displayed the unfortunate time of eight forty-nine in the morning. Evil clock.

With a heavy and definitely not dramatic groan, Ian rose from his comfortable grave. Stretching out his limbs, he then rubbed his eyes so he could actually see.

Sunlight streamed in where it could through the dark blue curtains, staining everything it touched in a golden glow. Always a welcomed sight, of course.

Throwing the dino blanket off of his awesome eight year-old body, he tossed his legs over his bed and hopped onto the floor with fluffy socks. The clothing made him feel like a ninja with how he made little sound.

And, logically, whenever he made it to the hallway, he would need to act like one. Obviously.

But for now, he simply put the sheets back over his bed as best he could. Which was perfect.

(It didn't look any better than when a living person was in the bed.)

Once he did that honestly dumb task, he moved onto making his way to his bedroom door.

Once he breached the threshold, he would need to be as silent as possible.

He was a boy on a mission.

Ian grabbed a hold of the doorknob and turned it as quietly as he physically could, sliding it open near silent besides the occasional unavoidable creak of wood.

The sound of pots and pans and the aroma of a simply divine breakfast meal was what greeted him once the door gave way.

Ian got into the iconic sneaking position, mastering the sound of silence almost perfectly. He made his way slowly down the corridor, intending to round the corner and enter the living room—

When all of a sudden he heard a thump come from behind him.

What?

Now, they don't have a cat or a dog, but rather a snake named Dagon. And she was a rather chill snake, and definitely didn't or shouldn't be making loud noises like that. She's not even that big, just a little corn snake.

Unless she fell out of her enclosure, which she also shouldn't be doing unsupervised. Ian may be an eight year-old boy, but his dad made sure that he knew how to handle a snake.

So, he turned around, and made his way to his dad's room.

Once he opened the door, he walked over to the big tank that housed the beloved family pet, and stood in front of it as he looked for her.

To his surprise when he found her, Dagon was curled up neatly on a large stick. She flicked her tongue out once, and stared at Ian with her thoughtless eyes.

Which was… weird… because they don't have any other pets inside the house, his abuela is making breakfast, and his dad comes back at eight thirty.

Ian furrowed his brows, and with one last look at Dagon, quickly fled his dad's room and politely shut the door.

Once he was back in the hallway, he went to the bathroom mirroring his papá's room. Nothing unusual there.

Retreating back to the hallway for the last time, he looked at his abuela's room. It was closed.

It wouldn't hurt to check and make sure there was no robber in the house, right? He is the man of the house when his dad is gone, after all.

Even if he's asleep for most of the job, but still. Man of the house.

And if there is in fact a bad guy in there, he'll just sick Dagon on him.

(She won't do anything. She'd run into the same wall four times before she'd run into another wall for another four times. And then she'd sit and stare into your very soul.)

Walking quietly over to her door, he raised a hand to grasp the knob with a small hand, turned it, and pushed forward.

Except, the door didn't move?

Uhh.

Blinking in confusion, Ian frowned, slightly upset that the door didn't open like he wanted it too.

He pushed again, and still, the door barely budged, as if something was blocking it and preventing it from opening properly.

Ian sighed sharply in annoyance as his shoulders raised and dropped simultaneously, growing frustrated with the pale white door.

Oh well. Maybe his abuela left something in front of the door by accident, and will come fix it later.

Ian decided he would investigate this matter after breakfast.

Giving the door the meanest stink-eye he could muster, Ian then dashed down the corridor so he could greet his grandma.

As he pounded his little socked feet down the hallway, the heavenly smell of bacon and eggs hit him in the face. Yay! Food!

He rounded the corner into the kitchen like a homing rocket, and nearly crashed into Camila as a result. Oops.

“¡Oye! ¡Más despacio! What's got you in such a hurry, huh?” Camila scolded in a teasing light, easily ruffling his dark brown hair with a single hand to stop him.

Ian gave a very toothy grin, giggling as she targeted his curls.

“Stop it abuela! My hair!!! Ahh!!!” Ian squealed with a giggle, ducking away from her and going on her other side to escape the attack and peer at what she was cooking instead.

“Try not to run into walls, nieto, and I wouldn't have to make your bed-head worse!” She chided, scooting the pan of scrambled eggs she had been cooking away from the overzealous child.

“Now, go get a drink and sit down at the table. Breakfast will be ready soon.” Camila instructed, reaching for the pepper and salt and adding a small amount to the yellow curds.

Ian gave an obedient nod of his head. “Okay!” And scrambled off to the fridge. He pulled the handle and dug through the refrigerator til he found the beloved carton of milk inside.

He rushed over to the table (and was subsequently warned to slow down) and set the milk down. Now, he just needed a glass.

As Ian got himself a cup and filled it up with milk, Camila had transported the scrambled eggs into four plates, all of them already having a sausage or two applied with a handful of bacon.

However, Ian noticed something strange.

“Why are there four plates and one has a lot?” The boy asked, squinting his eyes in dramatic suspicion.

Camila paused, then proceeded to smoothly deflect the accusatory tone.

“It's left-overs. I made too much this time, cariño, and if you want some extra you can have some, yeah?” She informed, moving to place his plate and her own on the table. After, she moved the third plate into the fridge. That same plate was for Nicholas when he returned.

Ian let out an ‘ohhh’ at her reply, and nodded his head seriously. “Okay. Can I have some later?” He asked.

“Sure, kiddo,” Camila responded, her smile warm but guarded, although he didn't know that. She'd have to give this food to Sebastian when Ian wasn't paying attention.

Which would be a piece of cake.

As the two dug into breakfast, they settled into a familiar and playful banter and conversation. Well, as much conversation as you could have with an eight year old.

Neither would have ever noticed a shifting tail moving out of a certain bedroom door's way.

__________________________

Around ten minutes later, the two had generally gone their separate ways. Camila had taken their plates and set them in the sink to be dealt with later. Ian had retreated to the living room to start the TV.

While he was there flipping through channels to get to Cartoon Network, Camila snuck down the dimly lit hallway with the fourth plate in hand.

Ian was none the wiser.

When he finally found his favorite channel, he gave a happy cheer and raised his arms in victory.

“Abuela! Abuela! Come watch with me! I started the TV!” Ian exclaimed, tossing the remote onto the couch and skipping over to peer into the corridor she was in.

Camila quickly exited her doorway, shutting it with a click. “Alright, sweetie, what did you pick?” She asked with a grin, excited to spend some time with her grandson.

The little boy gave a childish smile, “Gumball!! They've got Gumball on!! Hurry hurry!!” he declared, already darting back to the couch and hopping onto it, mindful of the remote.

Camila laughed, following after him. “Good choice dear!”

She sat down on the couch as well, in a much more smooth and coordinated manner.

Though, literally a second after she got comfortable, her phone started ringing.

Hushing Ian's loud ‘awww’ she answered it, putting the device up to her ear.

Nicholas’ tinny voice replaced the ringtone.

“Hey mom. Just got off my shift and I'll be going to the store real quick. Need anything specific from there?”

“Oh, yes, hi dear! Yeah I've got a list, I'll go and get it real quick. Hold on, Ian, I'll be right back. Stay here.” Camila repiled, waving her hand at Ian's pouting face as she retreated to the kitchen to grab the list of groceries they've been needing.

Ian sat there, completely abandoned, with a huff. She's missing out on Gumball for Pete's sake! (Poor Pete.)

Though, after his abuela had left the living room, he heard a rather odd sounding loud thump come from down the hallway.

Uhm, that's a little concerning, thought the eight year-old child.

Ian paused, and looked to the entrance to the corridor. From his vantage point, he couldn't see all the way down the hall, just the beginning of it.

He got off the couch and walked to the hallway.

Ian glanced over Camila's way. She was still on the phone talking to his dad.

He turned back around, and shuffled a little nervously down the suddenly tense corridor.

Now it was definitely time to utilize his ninja skills. and utilize them he did.

Once he snuck down the dim corridor and planted himself in front of his abuela's door, he put his ear up against the wood to listen.

It was muffled, but he swore he heard… breathing? Or something?

And shuffling. It was quiet, but there was definitely something moving around in there.

Uh oh.

He tensed, furrowing his brows anxiously. Ian peeled himself away from the door and reached for the handle.

For a split second he was rigid with nerves, before he turned the doorknob and pushed it open a fraction.

Firstly, he'd like to say he didn't freak out or scream. But his breath definitely did hitch.

Because holy macaroni why is the Loch Ness Monster in his grandmother's room???

Sitting curled up a lot like Dagon was a giant, fishy man thing with three eyes and three arms and a huge finned tail and a long dangly head-thing and gray blue scales and teeth lots of teeth and— uh—

“Uhhh. Hi?”

Ian's wide dumbfounded eyes blinked once in complete shock and surprise.

But despite that, he was raised to be polite.

“...Hi.”

Silence. The creature blinked its three eyes, its bigger arms held in front of it like it was caught and didn't know what to do with them. The third smaller one gave a weak wave.

“What the heck are you?? And why are you in my abuela's room??? Are you stealing???” Ian sputtered, opening the door more. The thing looked a lot like Dagon, if he squinted a lot and was also dumb.

The fishmans mouth dropped a bit, and did what he assumed was its version of furrowing its brows in confusion, before a somber realization settled on its face.

And then it looked downright offended.

“Excuse you! I am not stealing! I would never steal! I am above that!” It hissed, crossing its arms with a pout. The third arm planted itself on what looked to be its hips.

Ian glared at the creature before him, “Well, you look very criminal-y right now! Mermaids don't just stay in the rooms of grandma's for no reason! And you've got a bunch of bag thingies… perfect for stealing with!”

Ian exclaimed, pointing directly at the thing in an accusatory manner.

“A mermaid?! Did you just— I am not a mermaid!!! I am—” It stopped, and quickly switched tactics.

There's no way a little kid is actually pissing me off, Sebastian thought with a sense of disbelief.

“—What I am is cool! I am a very cool individual!” It cried, arms waving about as if it would help improve its argument.

Ian huffed. “Whatever. Can you leave my house now?”

The monster's face went flat, clearly done with it all as its ear fin things went slack.

It closed its eyes, and let out a heavy sigh, before reopening then.

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because.”

“Because why?”

“Because— ok, ha —I said so.”

“...Why?”

“You little—” it clapped its hands together, “Okay! No more talking! Talking time is over!” It said with a fake grin.

“No! I'm gonna talk if I wanna!” Ian declared, crossing his arms and copying the mermaid guy.

It uncrossed its arms and put them on its hips, and its mouth opened to speak; before it hesitated, and then smiled sweetly. Too sweetly.

“Okay then, how about a game? Kids like games, right? Right! So let's play my favorite game of all time, yeah? It's called the quiet game; and whoever is quiet the longest wins! On my mark… ThreeTwoOneGo!” It barked, and stood there—more uncurled now—with a devious grin, like it won or something.

Which it didn't. Ian wouldn't allow it. He'll show this idiot a real winner!

And so, he stayed quiet. For all of one minute.

“I decided that I win! Ha! Loser!” He exclaimed. One minute, one winner!

The beast sputtered indignantly, “What?! That's not even how the game works!” It whined, face pulled into a tight frown. The dangling light from its head buzzed in irritation.

Before it paused, and stared at him. It narrowed its blue eyes, analyzing his every move it seemed. Calculating. Deciding. The sudden change in atmosphere was like whiplash.

“You don't seem very frightened of me. Why?” It challenged, expression now guarded. Though, Ian paid little mind to that.

The boy raised a brow.

“You look like my pet snake and she's rather silly. I don't know, you haven't really been all that scary.” He shrugged, finding it as simple as that.

Though this snake person definitely had an attitude problem worse than his own, but he wasn't going to say that.

The creature seemed a little baffled at this statement, its hands held out with the tips of its claws tapping against each other in thought. Each tap resonated with a soft clack, clack, clack.

“Well, that… kind of you, I guess.” It repiled, voice quieter. A little more timid.

“What's your name?” The creature asked, ear fins wiggling ever so slightly as it gazed at him cooly.

“My name is Ian. Do you have a name?” Ian supplied, trailing into the room a bit. The air was tense, but also more comfortable than before.

“That's a nice name. Mine is—” It froze, then shook its head as if to rid of its thoughts like flies. Bracing itself.

“My name is Sebastian,” Sebastian said.

“Oh, that's funny. I had an uncle who had that same name too! I never met him though,” Ian responded, wilting a little near the end of his words.

It kind of made Sebastian want to cry.

But he didn't, because one: first introductions are important and two: he doesn't think he'd be able to stop once he did. And three: if his mom busted into the room while he was crying, he'd probably cry harder.

And crying is… exhausting. And he's already so tired.

“Do you know what happened to him?” Sebastian asked, hunching over a bit so he could be closer to the young boy's level. His hands clasped together easily, waiting intently.

“Not really, all I know is he went to jail and… didn't come back.” Ian said gloomily, eyes downcast. “I wish I got to meet him, the family makes him sound so cool.”

What he missed was the slight widening of the creature's eyes, and the small smile resting on his face.

“Well, I don't really know how to word this without coming across as insane, but… uh…” Sebastian stuttered, a third hand reaching up to scratch at his chin out of habit.

“I'm— uh. I'm kind of like— him. Your uncle. The cool one.”

Ian's eyes shot up to stare, eyebrows shooting up.

“Nuh uh. My uncle isn't a mermaid.” He refuted, shaking his head in denial.

People don't come back as mermaids. This isn't a fairytale.

The beast looked a little lost and also agitated at the comment. Sebastian decided it was time to hone in on his greatest skill of all; sarcastic honesty.

“Well, that's weird, because my full legal name just so happens to be Sebastian Solace and also my mother's name is Camila Solace, and I'm assuming whichever sibling decided to have you as their successor would either be Nicholas or Maria—”

Sebastian grunted as he felt something tackle the area past his hips, where his body was entirely snake-like.

His eyes widened impossibly so, ear fins stretched out in surprise as he looked down and saw the little squirt hugging him.

Sebastians arms remained suspended uselessly in the air, and only the smaller one moved down to rest on Ian's back when he felt a designated wet spot on his tail. Despite his third arm being the smallest, it still managed to engulf almost all of Ian's back.

Then, his hearing picked up the sad sounds of sniffling.

Oh.

Sebastian frowned, lowering his primary arms down til he grasped Ian under the armpits and lifted him into the air.

The kid was taken aback, of course, and wiggled a bit to get free, but ceased his struggling when Sebastian brought him into a gentle hug.

“I'm… not exactly the best at comfort anymore. But I'm sorry, little guy. For not meeting you sooner.” Sebastian muttered, letting a clawed hand carefully card through dark brown locks.

The child cried yes, but never wailed like he honestly expected him too.

He was kind of glad. Shit would hurt his ears for sure. Also, he didn't want his mom to think he said something unkind to the kid.

And, it was nice being able to hold a body the good way.

After about a few minutes of silence besides the occasional sniffle and ruffling of clothing, Sebastian started doing something he usually never let himself do willingly; he purred.

It was a comforting sound, and it pulsed all around Ian. It made him feel happy and buzzy, and it was so loud but in a good way.

Ian pulled back a bit and Sebastian let him so they could greet each other with their eyes, and Ian spoke first.

“Does abuela know you're here?” He asked innocently. Sebastian laughed softly.

“Who do you think let me inside of the house?” He replied, giving a toothy grin.

Ian giggled in return, shaking his head. “Okay smarty-pants. Does this mean you'll be staying with us?”

Sebastian hummed. “I hope so. If you'll have me, then yes. I will.”

The little boy cheered, and Sebastian cringed at the shrill sound. He still smiled, though. “Yay! So— how did you become a mermaid—” “Not a mermaid.” “—and where have you been? And do you have any cool powers because you look like this? Are you like a siren from Norse mythology? And—”

“Whoa there, kiddo, one question at a time please. First, I'm not a mermaid. Second, I've been at the bottom of the sea for the past ten years. Third, no cool powers in the way that you're probably thinking. Fourth, it's Greek mythology, and no, I am not a siren either.” He drawled on, eyes lidded as he easily deflected and answered each rapid-fire question with a lopsided, relaxed grin.

“Hmmm… okay, but what are you—”

“Ian! What are you doing in here?! I told you to stay on the couch!” Camila cried, expression a bit frazzled.

Sebastian laughed at Ian's pout and Camila's outburst, waving a third arm back and forth. His tail gave a couple wags, too.

“Chill, mamá! Little man is alright. In fact, I'm a little offended that you appear to be assuming I can't handle the little runt.” He shrugged, and Ian sputtered.

“Run— I am not a runt! Not a dog! No!” He rejected, eyes fiery and fists clenched in mock aggression.

Sebastian cackled at the display. “Oooh we've got a little spitfire here! Careful, mom, he looks like he bites!” He teased, giving Ian a squeeze before bending down and setting the boy back on his own two feet.

Camila laughed with a hand attempting to stifle her chuckles, eyes crinkling in joy at the silly interaction before her. “Aye, he does!” She warned playfully, ignoring the glare sent her way.

“That's it— I challenge you to a match on Fortnite!” Ian announced, arms crossed with a dramatic pout.

“...Fortnite? What's that?” Sebastian tilted his head in a very dog-like manner, eyes squinting.

“...You're joking.” Ian uttered, truly exasperated.

“Oh, Sebastian, you're really in for it now.” Camila sighed, having a feeling somehow this day would come.

“Okay, now I'm worried. Stop it.”

“As you should be, mer-siren!”

“I AM NOT—”

Chapter Text

hey everyone !!!!

first off, i would like to apologize for the absence !!!! ive been too busy to write as much as i would've liked lately.

when i started posting here, i was in a writing class that slowly overtook the time and motivation i had to write anything at all, so things have come to a complete stop because of that. but now that schools out, i have more time to write !!!

of course, since i am a bit embarrassed about my family or friends finding out i write and read fanfiction (and not family friendly ones at that lol) i dont write around them and only really have time to do so near midnight.

but !!! that wont stop me from writing. :]

i have plans on writing more pressure fics, and also expanding into other fandoms that i love (ex. the wild robot, ninjago, doctor who, murder drones, maybe even godzilla..... who knows) and want to write more of. anyway ! enough of the rambling, i have an important decision i'd like the people to decide.

so, we need to address this requests fic. i fear i have gotten to attached to the setting that ive established, and i would like to turn it into its own series where sebastian finds his family and gets used to a 'normal' life.

as much as i love the requests ive been getting, i feel like ive been putting so much effort into every single one that it takes forever to get to each one.

i feel like if i just develop the series as my main priority and having the requests be a side thing for when im bored would be a better flow than what ive been doing. because of the length of each fic ive been writing, ive been getting burned out faster and thats no bueno.

so ! would you all like for the current storyline that we've got so far to become its own series, with the requests being shorter and more diverse in the timeline (with aus) ? or would you like it to be kept the same ? please let me know in the comments !!!! 🫶

Chapter Text

Shortly after Sebastian and Ian had officially met (and remained in her room chatting about whatever came to Ian's magical little mind), Camila realized she had a very big problem.

And, unfortunately, she couldn't make it go away. She already tried coming up with other ideas, and none of them would really work in the long run.

Because said problem was rapidly approaching and would arrive in twenty minutes, and she can't really demand him to stay out of the house for no reason. He literally lives here, after all.

With her foot repeatedly tapping against the floor in a tense rhythm, she kept telling herself that he won't run off, won't do anything irrational or insane.

…even if the reaction was totally justified because it isn't everyday your brother who's supposed to be dead comes back as the world's ugliest mermaid. (Sorry, Sebastian.)

With a heavy sigh, she released her phone that she'd been clutching. She needs to warn Sebastian before that damned door opens.

She hesitantly peeled herself away from the kitchen counter, inching her way closer and closer to the other family members residing elsewhere in the house.

The occasional deep and gruff chuckle followed by high-pitched giggling became the only other sounds beside her soft footsteps as she approached her bedroom door. It was still open, and the voices within only got louder.

“...and you really don't know what Five Nights at Freddy's is?”

A heavy, clearly exasperated sigh followed.

“For the last time, squirt, no I don't know what that is! Is it some sort of sleep-over thing?” Sebastian rambled, and when she poked her head through and made her presence known his gaze immediately latched onto her. Ian noticed and turned to her as well, having decided to sit on her bed to converse with Sebastian instead.

With a toothy smile, his eyes crinkled as he greeted her with a wave. Ian did the same but with more energy.

She returned both waves with one of her own. “Hey boys, having fun are we?”

Ian nodded firmly. “Mhm! But abuela, he barely knows anything! He doesn't even know what half the popular games are!” The boy cried. This was clearly a very huge problem that needed immediate solving.

Sebastian had a look of fabricated annoyance, and it was more for the theatrics if anything. He was always a dramatic, over-the-top soul.

Camila huffed a laugh, and decided to help the kid out. “Isn't that a good thing? That just means you can teach him all that you know, and wouldn't it be fun to have a new gaming buddy?”

Ian paused, and considered it for a very long moment.

While he was zoned out, Sebastian looked like he had just won the war and he sighed in great defeat.

It made her laugh, before her face turned a little more serious.

“Sebastian, uh, I don't mean to frighten you, but your brother is almost home and… well, if he sees you, he is definitely going to have either questions or a weapon, maybe even both.” Camila informed, gaze protective. While she loves Nicholas to death, she didn't want him to spook Sebastian into either running away or lashing out like a cornered animal.

He isn't human anymore, and she has to accommodate whatever instinctual behavior Sebastian may have picked up. For all of their safety, she thought grimly.

Sebastian nodded slowly, soaking it in that his brother would see him sooner than he initially thought.

It was scary, but he felt this was as ready as he was going to be.

“I see. Uh, I don't mind… seeing him, just, let me know when he's outside, yeah?” He voiced, his expression strained but firm in his decision. Guess he can't really put it off anymore, he supposed. He didn't really notice that his posture deflated a bit, fins drooping.

During the interaction, Ian remained surprisingly quiet through the whole ordeal. He raised a small hand and patted the scutes on the underside of his uncle's tail in sympathy and a show of child-like support.

He would never admit how such a simple action struck a deep, hidden chord nestled within him.

His fins wiggled upward in appreciation, and he turned to Ian and gave him a thankful, small smile. The kid returned it earnestly, and even gave him a thumbs up as a bonus.

“It'll be okay! I’m sure my dad will understand! And if he doesn't–uh, then we'll make him!” Ian boasted, his supportive smile twisting into a gleeful, devious smirk as ideas of terrible pranks popped into his little head. It made Camila and Sebastian laugh.

The older woman shook her head and let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding, “Alright, will do. In the meantime, you two have fun—and don't break anything!” She chided, before making her exit and disappearing down the hallway.

After she left, it was silent for about a second or two, til Ian turned to Sebastian fully and proposed a deal.

“Hey, so like, you've been gone for basically a million years—” “It was only ten???” “—and missed out on a lot, and it is very important you understand the basics, so I am going to teach you. Okay?”

Sebastian was very lost already, and with his expression conveying such emotion, he nodded slowly as if to understand. His lure bobbed along with his head, and his fins gave a little wiggle unconsciously.

“...Alright, what exactly is it that you are teaching me?” The fishman asked, eyes narrowed suspiciously.

“You'll see.” Ian informed with zero information, and then suddenly, hopped off the bed and scurried out of the room and down the hallway.

Sebastian remained in the bedroom, absolutely dumbfounded, mouth slightly agape. Was this his life now?

Huh.

The sounds of crashing feet and a loud yell from Camila telling him to slow down in Spanish quickly filled the air, and for a moment he was worried the boy had tripped and hurt himself—but before he could slither more than a few feet the kid had already bounded back into view with a dangerous amount of enthusiasm.

The boy raised his hand, which was now clutching a phone with a blue and purple striped case. Ian then vaulted himself onto his abuela's bed with no amount of grace whatsoever.

It made Sebastian laugh. Again.

Ignoring Sebastian's obnoxious cackle, he shifted til he was sitting with crossed legs. He turned on the phone and quickly unlocked it.

“Behold! The best thing to ever exist. Come closer!” Ian exclaimed, gesturing at Sebastian in order to further insinuate on what he wanted the big bad beast to do.

Almost cartoonishly, he obeyed. The scenario honestly reminded Sebastian of ‘How To Train Your Dragon,’ except with him appearing more serpent and fish-like while being the kid protagonist’s new primal guardian.

Sebastian maneuvered his body in a way where a bit of his lower, more snake-like body was laying on the bed, and propped himself on his elbows in order to view Ian's mobile device, clawed hands cupping his chin as he leaned heavily on strong arms. Doing this sort of pose required him to wrap himself around the eight year old, and the rest of his large tail dangled off the bed. It's a miracle the bed didn't break yet.

Again, he felt a lot like Toothless right now.

Once Sebastian had settled, Ian leaned back on the siren's torso and got comfortable. It took every fiber of his being for Sebastian to remain relaxed and not tense up instinctually.

Ian, unaware of Sebastian's freshly stirred inner turmoil, swiped his thumb on his phone till he found what he was looking for, and tapped what appeared to be a search engine. He wasn't able to catch the name of the app, he was too focused on not jostling Ian off the bed on accident.

Ian, absolutely unaware of Sebastian's tenser form, then paused what he was doing and regarded Sebastian with a child-like glee, “Okay, let's go easy. Do you know what ‘Five Nights at Freddy's’ is?”

Sebastian hummed, “No. What is it?” He inquired, simply choosing to cut to the chase.

Ian looked like he could barely keep it together. “Well it's—it's complicated, uhm. It's like a game where you are a guard and you have to survive five nights at a pizzeria, and it has these animatronic mascots. There's Foxy the pirate fox, Bonnie the bunny, Chica the chicken, and Freddy the bear, and they're all trying to kill you. They've become really popular and cool but like in a funny way too, and when people see Freddy or a normal bear they go like—like, ‘har har har har har’ because Freddy sings a song like that—and it's funny and you should totally do it whenever you see a bear.”

Sebastian, in all of his years living in Hadal Blacksite, has never been more confused in his entire life.

Silence followed, and Ian turned his head to see his new-old family members’ reaction. Sebastian looked very, very, very confused. And dare he say, terrified. Oops.

“Uh, that's… cool.” He uttered, his third arm raising with hands curling into a sluggish thumbs up. He looked kinda mortified, but Ian was either oblivious or just didn't care.

Ian huffed, “It's more than cool. You'll see soon, but the English language has changed a lot since you've been gone.”

Sebastian's horror quickly changed to slight indignation as he frowned and his eyebrows furrowed (or rather, eyebrow. Cursed third eye made it look like he didn't have two anymore. Which he did, by the way. Feels as weird as it sounds). Of course, the emotion was just a hoax and to simply entertain the boy, which was incredibly easy to do as the kid giggled at his expression in earnest.

“It's fine, it took me a while to understand it too, and abuela even longer, heh. Have you heard of ‘Skibidi Toilet’?”

What in the world?

The fact that toilet was apart of the name already was enough to trip the alarm bells off in his head, because what the fuck. Okay. Cool.

He's actually kind of worried for the English language now.

Even so, he leveled Ian with a deadpan look, “I've been locked away for ten years. What do you think?”

He tried to not be as snarky with the kid as he would be with the average Expendable, but he couldn't help his bruising personality bleed out a little.

A terrible trait that only worsened over time and got meaner, but hey, at least it made him funny in hindsight.

Ian, thankfully, only seemed mildly irritated as he rolled his eyes and let out an annoyed, yet playful, huff.

“Okay, smarty-mc-no-pants, no need to be a party pooper. Do you even know what a meme is?”

Sebastian only grinned and flapped his ears automatically. “Of course I know what a meme is… Sorry to be a buzzkill, Mr. Memelord, but you have yet to impress me with your oh so vast knowledge. Toilet humor only goes so far.”

Ian shook his head. “Okay, but you still don't know what it is—allow me to fix that!”

And so, for the next however long, Ian info dumped the entire ‘Skibidi Toilet’ lore to the poor, inexperienced mermaid who could barely comprehend what he was hearing.

Good Lord.

After Ian finished his long rant, he started to delve into other meme related topics. Such topics included what rizz was, being the alpha, sigma, and brain rot. A lot of brain rot.

It was very jarring compared to what he remembered was funny back in the glorious 2000's and early 2010's, and he never thought he would miss Annoying Orange as much as he did. But here he is, missing it dearly.

But, throughout the worst conversation of his life, Ian apparently made it his life's mission of making sure Sebastian understood every single thing he spewed out.

“So, L-plus-ratio means you aren't cool or you lost, and gyatt is— well, I'll just show you ‘cus I don't wanna be chewed out by abuela again for my incredible slang usage.”

That actually got Sebastian to laugh, as much as he hated to admit it. Meanwhile, Ian was busying himself by showing him a YouTube video about todays’ meme culture.

The man on the screen, who appeared to be in his early or mid 20's, was droning on and on about certain memes and their new definitions. Every few seconds or so it would change to a funny image related to the subject.

Sebastian was absolutely enamored by it, blue gaze locked onto Ian's little device. He forgot how much he missed watching YouTube.

He is so binging as much as he possibly can. God, he missed watching Markiplier and Pewdiepie at ungodly hours of the night so damn much. He has so much to catch up on, clearly.

Honestly, as dumb as this video was and how it wasn't funny at all to him honestly, it almost brought him to tears—

—but before that could happen his mom slid into the room fast and sudden, looking quite frazzled and announced for all to hear, “He's here! Nicholas is here! Ian, go and distract him. Sebastian, just prepare yourself.”

Ian nodded seriously, sliding himself off the bed and running past his abuela and disappearing in a matter of seconds down the hallway. Such speed had scary implications for the future, Sebastian thought distantly.

Sebastian made a noise akin to a sharp yelp involuntarily, carefully slithering himself off the bed and holding himself up on his primary arms. Such a pose rendered him taller than the bed still by a few feet.

Camila, during this, had left as well, leaving Sebastian temporarily by himself.

Which scared him. He doesn't know why this scares him.

Snout curled in a way that indicated he was sniffing the air, and he pulled himself forward on his arms to peek out of the door and into the hallway. His lure dangled naturally as Sebastian tilted his head into the hall, fins stretched out in order to listen to all that he could.

The sounds were loud and annoying when he listened properly, but over time he got used to the grating intensity of his hearing. Even still, the shuffling and scrambling and thudding were awfully overwhelming to hear and his heart rate spiked.

It totally didn't remind him of the scientists desperately running to take notes of his monstrous transformations; or for their sad little lives before he crushed their very cores.

But he needed to remain calm and composed. As scary as it was reuniting with his big brother again, he had to be the peaceful one. Couldn't let it escalate. Screaming at best, physical at worst.

He inhaled and held it for a few seconds before letting it out. He's got this.

If his ears weren't already hyper aware and locked on the front door, he might've missed the gentle click of it unlocking. The sounds previously went dead quiet, and a hushed voice or two could be heard.

Eventually Nicholas either entered by himself or by the help of Camila opening the door. Either way, distant chatter ensued, in the form of happy greetings and light small talk before delving into the stories of his time at work and the grocery store.

At some point Ian joined in, letting out a squeal and Nicholas in turn let out his own very gleeful hello.

Sebastian tried to not throw up from his damned nerves. He felt all tingly, like those terrible parasites at the Blacksite were digging into his flesh yet again in order to consume his shitty body.

His lure flickered, and Nicholas' foot came into his line of view. He retreated like a scared animal into his temporary sanctuary, feeling incredibly startled at the simple reveal of Nicholas’ form.

His brother's voice soon drifted into his ears, and oh how he missed it. Obviously over the years it became gruffer, but it was still oh so familiar. It simultaneously gutted his heart and filled it whole.

“Sorry that I couldn't find any paper plates, they were all out. Got the lemons you wanted, though.” “That's fine, thanks Nicholas.”

Shortly after Ian's little voice filtered through, “Yes! Goldfish! Thank you, dad!”

At the mention of goldfish, his fins waggled to full attention and he couldn't help himself but drag his body back to where he originally was, and peeked out of the room just barely; totally not because Goldfish sounded absolutely divine right now, no, not at all.

His stomach may or may not have rumbled a bit, and he inwardly cursed. Thankfully there was too much domestic, casual noise happening in the kitchen and living room already.

Sebastian narrowed his eyes, trying to zero in and pinpoint each individual, which only took a few seconds longer than normal. Unfortunately, those Expendable bastards apparently made it their mission to ruin his eyesight, and to his dismay, being flashed so many times and with all the different swirling DNA fucking up his body made it to where his vision was greatly damaged and blurry.

Still, such a handicap did not hinder him when his incredible sense of smell and hearing was improved upon as he learned how to properly utilize them.

Like how, when he flicked out his forked tongue, he scented the delicious smell of meat.

Unfortunately for everyone involved, being jammed with a bunch of different meat-eating carnivores only amped up his desire for the red muscle. And with another flick, he concluded that it was beef.

Ugh, he was getting distracted. He needed to get it together.

Sebastian shook his head, and inched out a little further into the hallway, fins fluttering and his tail coiled tensely behind him in the small space.

He wanted to tell Camila to send Nicholas over instead, but he needed to gain her attention first. Which looked a lot harder than it sounded, because he's actively trying to not gain the attention of Ian or Nicholas. (The kid would accidentally rat him out so fast, he fears. He's a kid after all.)

And so, for the next thirty seconds, Sebastian kept trying to gain his mother's attention by darting out when she had a better chance of seeing him, and instantly retreating once Nicholas or Ian came into view. It was like a stressful game of whack-a-mole, but instead it's whacking his heart and peace of mind.

Eventually, by some miracle, he caught her eye, and she immediately excused herself by saying she forgot her phone in her room, and strolled over to his hiding spot.

He backed away further into the room. Camila followed before looking behind her, then spoke in a hushed voice.

“What is it, hijo?”

He deflated a bit, a little embarrassed and suddenly more spiteful of his appearance. “Could you tell Nicholas to come to your room instead? I… don't think it would be smart if I just—sauntered out of here unannounced.”

Camila nodded with a look of understanding. “Of course, we'll be right back. I'll still be here if anything goes crazy, okay?” She assured, before slipping back down the hall to approach her other son.

Sebastian wiggled in nerves as he watched her leave, and just had to close the door. Was it to prevent the inevitable just a little bit longer? Maybe. He felt childishly safe behind the door, at least.

It only took a few minutes, but finally, finally, voices seeped in through the door right behind. His mom, and his brother. He assumed Ian was either quiet or elsewhere in the house.

“Okay, Nicholas—I know what I'm about to say is going to sound cryptic as hell, but seriously, please, don't freak out for your mamás sake, okay?”

“Uhh… okay? Mom what's—what's going on? Is everything OK?”

“More than okay, sweetie, just be kind, alright?”

“I—okay, okay, I'm chill,”

The door started to open. Sebastian almost, almost snarled like a caged animal. Laughably fitting, he thought.

His ear fins pressed against his wavy knotted hair in growing anxiety. He was basically crouched, lowered to the floor in a way he hoped wasn't too intimidating.

It's not like it worked very well, because when Nicholas opened the door enough to see him, and he let out a terribly loud, “WHAT THE SHIT!!!” and screamed in horror.

Sebastian reflexively flinched backwards and narrowed his eyes, letting out an animalistic moan of pain from the shrill noise pounding against his brain. He sounded like a beast.

He could barely make out Camila's distressed, “Nicholas!!! Stop, calm down!!!” and Ian's surprised yelp in the background.

All he could make out was the way his chest heaved out anxious chitters, and when he 5felt his tail being scrunched up against the wall in a way that was almost painful. Officially cornered.

(Well, he could always tear a hole through the wall. Again.)

“NO What the FUCK IS THAT THING?!—” Nicholas cried, trying to push their mom into the hallway with Ian and attempting to grab the knob on the door to close it with an urgent fervor.

Though Sebastian may be overwhelmed as all hell, that doesn't mean he was entirely useless. Case in point; he tensed his muscles, preparing to spring, and then launched himself towards the door and thankfully beat Nicholas to it.

Nicholas didn't appreciate this, because he only screamed louder and fell backwards and tried to scramble away, giving up on any chance of shutting the door.

Unfortunately, Sebastian soon found out that he didn't appreciate this either, because he smacked his forehead and the base of his lure into the wall above the door and yowled in pain, his tail squirming and rippling behind him at the terrible sensation. Two sharp clawed hands flew up to cradle the aching bruise, eyes squinted and glistening with newfound tears.

In his weakened state, Camila rushed past Nicholas and hesitated before him, hands outstretched in a placating gesture intended to calm him—really, the entire fucking situation—down.

“Sebastian! Hijo! Look at me! You're okay, baby, you're okay! Eyes on me!” She assured the anguished Sebastian hurriedly, flapping her hands about wildly with a frantic expression.

Sebastian, having at least a little bit of awareness, quit his pitiful animalistic whimpers of pain, opening his eyes a fraction to squint down at her through his blurring vision. Shit.

He was overreacting. Maybe ten years of constant trauma and abuse really did fuck him up more than he initially thought if he's already on the verge of tears over so little as to bumping his head. It doesn't help that he's quite literally an entirely new species with entirely new instincts, either.

But, he did as told, and tried to slow his breathing by sucking in a breath, holding it, then letting it out slowly.

He ignored Nicholas’ frankly stupid looking expression as he lay crumpled on the ground expecting to be mauled, and instead focused on the sudden tingly sensation of touch on his underbelly scutes and his scales. He wanted to shake it off, but also soak up the warming touch like a thirsty plant.

Sebastian did the breathing technique for a few more seconds, before finally returning to the land of the living.

His lure had darkened considerably, and he rubbed at the sore spot on his forehead for a moment before glancing down at his mom.

Her hands were stationed on his body, and rubbed soothingly on his damaged body. She mapped out the small area with featherlight touches, like she didn't want to push his unspoken boundaries as she felt the way his hide flexed and twitched beneath her hand.

Sebastian was thankful, however, that was not what he should be focusing on right now.

With that thought in mind, he returned his gaze to the shaking Nicholas who stared at their mother in shock, before quickly snapping his widened eyes up at Sebastian's familiar face.

Nicholas didn't know if what he was seeing was real or not.

Sebastian didn't either, but at least he had enough confidence that this was their new reality to share.

For a few moments, no one said anything. It was only until Sebastian wetly cleared his throat did he speak.

“Hello.”

Nicholas’ eyes widened impossibly so.

Camila turned her head to her other son, and with a bright, teary-eyed smile she addressed Nicholas.

“Can you believe it, hijo? He's home. Your brother is home.”

Said brother gave a very timid and meek wave with his third arm. Nicholas didn't know what to say.

“You—huh?!”

Ian stood off to the side, hands clutched in what must've been a nervous response.

Camila huffed and rolled her eyes in a teasing yet stern manner, “Oh, quit your blubbering and get over here, would you? He came all this way to see us again,” She urged, reaching out a hand and waiting for him to take it.

It was his choice, he knew deep down. She wasn't forcing him, that was just her personality. He knew it because of the gleam in her eyes saying, “come when you can.”

Nicholas sagged and relented. It wasn't really much of a struggle anyway, the way the creature was boring into his skull wasn't something he could possibly ignore.

With his gaze never leaving the sea beast, he got up to his feet, his legs spread apart in a way that looked like he was ready to run at a moments’ notice.

He never did pf course. He instead approached the two with a shaky step, til he was close enough to grab his mothers hand. She gave it a squeeze, and he squeezed back.

His eyes never left the creature's sad, yet hopeful face.

Camila then gestured to Ian, who came over quickly and stood next to his abuela. Nicholas was ready to tell him to stay away for his own safety, but one stern look from his mamá shut him up pretty quickly.

“Nicholas, I know it's hard to believe, but—you have to believe it's really him. Please.”

Nicholas stayed quiet. Sebastian opened his mouth as if to say something, before thinking better of it and closing.

But he reopened his maw after he seemed to find the courage, and spoke once more with an achingly familiar cigarette-eating voice.

“Ten years only made you slower, huh?”

Nicholas had an affronted, baffled look before it flashed with recognition.

“What??? No—I'm—I'm not—oh my God it is you.”

Nicholas almost laughed at how absurd this all was. Almost.

So he cried instead.

“It's—shit—w-what—”

He warbled, before slipping out of his mother's grasp and slowly approaching his returned kin.

Nicholas reached out to touch his serpentine body, placing his hands on his scutes before giving his very fishy brother a delicate hug. Sebastian let him.

Nicholas heard his brother's strong beating heart under all that muscle, and it made him burst into tears. Alive, alive, alive.

Distantly he felt arms wrap around him, and he soon registered as his mamá's and his own hijo's.

Sebastian bent down and tapped Nicholas’ shoulder, encouraging him to look up and gaze rather pathetically up at him.

Sebastian, in turn, gave him a very, very wobbly toothy smile. A few tears may or may not have rained down.

“How about the real deal instead?” And without warning, promptly slithered his talons under his older brother's arms and lifted him high up in the air. Nicholas almost yelped, but soon dispelled any noises of surprise when Sebastian curled around him in a wonderfully bone-crushing hug.

It was only right that he returned the gesture with as much force as he could muster, and stuffed his face into his baby brother's rather pirate-y shoulder and cried.

Sebastian did so silently, esca flickering on and off like a bulb that needed changing.

With snot and tears dripping down his face, he lifted his head enough to whisper to Sebastian that, “Those clothes look so stupid on you.”

Sebastian broke into a small bout of laughter, rocking Nicholas back and forth. He could feel his little brother's cackle rather than hear it.

He almost felt dumb referring to Sebastian as his ‘little’ brother now.

Sebastian, with his huge lungs, let out a deep, wayward sigh.

The hug felt like it lasted forever, but in reality only lasted for about five minutes. Not like either party was complaining, of course.

But, unfortunately, Sebastian eventually had to let Nicholas go. He untangled from his brother and held him out halfway. He held him out like a cat, and grinned at him as his eyes scrunched from rising glee. His fins waggled up and down.

Nicholas returned the smile at the display, just as elated to have his brother finally back home, no matter how fishy he had become.

The moment was broken when Sebastian's traitorous stomach shattered the silence with a loud, demanding growl, and his fins pinned in embarrassment as his grin wavered.

Nicholas laughed at his misery wetly. Camila exasperatedly talked about how he had just eaten not long ago. Ian cheered at the possibility of more food and showing Sebastian new snacks.

“Sorry… sometimes one forgets when he has a bigger stomach,” He chittered, and finally bent down to set Nicholas back on the floor. He made sure that he didn't stumble, before retreating to his usual upright position.

“I think only you could forget that,” Nicholas fired.

“Well, fuck you too,” Sebastian scoffed, ear fins fluttering in delight as he rolled his hidden eyes. Camila tsk’d.

“Oh hush it now boys, children are present!” She scolded, finger wagging as she detached from her middle child's form and walked to the hallway. Ian giggled at her statement, and jokingly put his hands over his ears. She gestured for the rest to follow, and they did, with Ian managing to take the lead.

“Sorry, boss,” Sebastian saluted amusedly, letting the others go before him. Nicholas seemed hesitant to have his back to him, but walked ahead anyway.

Sebastian bent down this time to avoid that cursed board, carefully slithering out into the hallway with a skillful precision.

“So, Sebastian, what are ya hungry for?” Camila asked when he reached the living room. Nicholas had sat down at the dining table, desperately needing a minute. Ian was rummaging around in the kitchen cabinets and pulled out what appeared to be random, colorful snacks.

The fishman hummed.

“Dunno, not up to the times yet, heh. Whaddya got?”

“Hm, well, there's some left-over lasagna, uhh a steak I can cook, bacon too—”

“Would it be too much to ask for all of the above?” He asked, peering into the kitchen. His serpentine body was slowly becoming a tripping hazard as it lay limply behind him.

Camila nodded. “That's fine. Here, I'll get you the lasagna. Nicholas, Ian, you want anything?” She asked while rummaging through the fridge, eventually dragging out the fabled left-over lasagna.

Nicholas snapped to attention and dismissed her, “Uh, nah, I'll make my own food,”

“No thank you!” Ian said with his arms full of snacks, and dumped all the bags and boxes of treats onto the table. Nicholas sighed.

“Ian, what are you doing with those?” He asked his son, raising a brow. Ian grinned.

“Gonna show uncle some snacks, duh!”

Nicholas sighed. “That's sweet of you, Ian, but have you uh, asked him yet?”

“Asked me what—ooo!”

Sebastian, while shamelessly listening in on their interaction, couldn't help but intervene when he saw the vivid packaging, slithering over and hunching to peer down.

Ian shook a package of Skittles in emphasis, grinning from ear to ear cheekily. Nicholas was wary that all this sugar would kill his brother on the spot.

The siren flicked his fins in growing curiosity, staring down like a dog begging for food. “Can I have some?” He asked, hunching down to Ian's level with his claws poised like a T-Rex.

“‘Course!” The kid chirped, pushing a pile of candy over to the hybrid mutant fish thing.

Sebastian smiled brightly, about to grab the packet of M&M's, before Nicholas destroyed all his hopes and dreams with a firm clearing of his throat.

“Sebastian.”

His name on his tongue sent a bittersweet jolt down his spine, just like when he heard his mother say it for the first time in ten years.

But even so, he quickly adopted a faux grumpy expression as his eyebrows furrowed with his esca and fins slumping.

“Yyyyyyes?” He groaned.

As much as he truly does love reuniting with his older brother whom he hasn't seen in years, said brother interrupting his candy crusade before it even started, after a decade of not having a lick of sugar, kind of pissed him off.

“If you don't mind, can I ask you a couple of questions?” Nicholas asked, expression carefully neutral.

Sebastian glanced over, tilting his head ever so slightly with squinted, inquisitive eyes.

“Sure, fire away,” he agreed, waving a flippant clawed hand lazily. With another, he gripped the M&M bag and opened it with two digits. It looked comically tiny when held in his sharp fingers, despite being a family size.

“Sorry for my bluntness, but—where have you been?” His brother asked, voice and expression become filled with emotion the longer he interacted. A mask slipping, one could say.

Sebastian paused just as he was about to pour the little chocolate candies into his mouth, taking on a thoughtfully grim look, frowning a bit.

Then, he answered, mindful of the child still present and peering up at him,

“A very bad place resting on the ocean floor.”

And then, to break the tense air, he tipped his head back and dumped the bags’ contents into his jaws. Chewing was a struggle because of how small the treats were and how large his teeth had become, so he accidentally just swallowed a lot of them down. The strong taste of chocolate blossomed in his mouth when he did manage to pierce a few, though. Yum.

Camila's voice filtered into their little bubble as she called for Ian to come help her make the food, and the boy quickly skittered over, leaving the two adults to themselves.

Nicholas was a bit perplexed at Sebastian's response as he watched Ian leave before returning his gaze to the fish hybrid. “Are you… going to elaborate?”

It took Sebastian a few seconds to reply as he chewed and swallowed.

“Not yet. Is—is Maria still around?” He asked, guarded.

Nicholas was taken aback, but quickly understood what that question really meant. He wanted to tell everyone at the same time.

“Yes, yes, actually, she's—she's coming to visit today near dinner-time. Like eight or seven, I believe. Uh, Zoes’ coming with her as well.”

Sebastian choked on his spit and M&M's, harshly wacking his chest with a fist a few times in order to clear out his struggling, poor esophagus. Nicholas remained awkwardly seated. Once he was all good, he spoke anxiously.

“Today? At eight? Shit, uh, okay—better late than never I guess—”

“What's wrong? Are you good?”

“I just… didn't expect to meet literally everyone so soon and on the same day. Especially when you look rather uh—fishy and kind of monstrous. Like me. Heh.”

He muttered, a bit flustered and anxious as he tapped his claws together in a nervous tick. He doesn't know why he suddenly hates how he looks even more, his fins and esca bowing down as his distress rose.

Nicholas wasn't going to lie, he didn't know what to say to make Sebastian feel better. Yes, he did look like a monster, but did that make him one?

Nicholas hoped not.

So, instead, he gently slid a packet of gummy worms as a truce and to maybe hopefully shift his focus away from lamenting on his physical appearance.

“Uh, yeah, sorry. But uh—we'll be there to… y'know. Support.”

It was weak and he knew it but that's all he could do.

His pathetic attempt at encouragement didn't really do its desired effects as his target still sulked, but the offering of food sure did as Sebastian's fins flicked upward when he saw and reached for the little package, easily tearing it open with a flick of his claw. The fishman gave his elder brother a quiet ‘thanks,’ before he downed the contents in as little as five seconds and chewed slowly to savor the sugary gummies so as to not accidentally stab himself with his own sharp teeth.

Funnily enough, he still hasn't gotten used to them yet.

“So, uh, whaddya doin’ for work lately?” Sebastian asked. The awkwardness was literally about to kill him, he thinks.

Nicholas, thankfully, jumped on this topic change as fast as a fish seeing a shadow move. Heh, fish.

“Oh nothin’ too special, just working at a library and a local gas station for some extra cash.”

“S'cool, that's cool.”

“Yeah.”

A small spell of quietness was bestowed upon the room before it was broken by Sebastian once again.

“So, I'm guessing Ian's your son, huh? He's a sweet kid.”

Nicholas managed to crack a small grin at that.

“Yeah, he is. He's loud and proud but I wouldn't have it any other way.”

Sebastian hummed. “Definitely.”

“We… I… named him after you, by the way.”

Sebastian was only a little shaken. (A total lie. He would've been weeping at that if he hadn't already exhausted his tear ducts to bits.)

“Oh! T-thank you. I'm… I'm honored, seriously.”

Nicholas nodded his head, body stiff as a wooden log.

An awkward stretch of silence lingered, while a satisfying click, click, click originated from Sebastian's claw tapping against the table, one of his many nervous ticks. It was only a few more seconds before Nicholas took a breath, and spoke hesitantly.

“Look, Sebastian uh, I want to make things perfectly clear. Things between me and you might be a bit weird because, well, this is honestly fucking insane and I feel like I'm dreaming, but I just wanted to let you know that—that no matter what happens, you're still my brother… and I—I hope that we can go back to being brothers again someday, too. Just give me some time to adjust to all of this, okay?”

He purposefully pulled his gaze up to meet Sebastian's eyes, his expression sincere and genuine. It almost made Sebastian throw up from pure anxiety.

Instead, his eyes welled up with tears, and he nodded his head feverishly. His esca and fins bobbed along. It made Nicholas’ mouth form a watery grin.

“I, heh, yeah, that's okay, more than okay. That's actually quite fair to feel like this. Uhm,” Sebastian responded, clasping his claws together in an awfully familiar gesture. “I also would like to say that I'm… I'm not going to hurt you. Or anyone here. I—I am stable just—heh, well, you know. Scary lookin’.”

The more he rambled on the more agitated and worried he got it seemed, with the way his obviously fake smile wobbled and his eyebrows creased downwards. Don't get him wrong, Sebastian understood and frankly expected Nicholas’ hesitation. It was realistic and downright smart. He didn't exactly look human or normal anymore.

He just didn't expect it to hurt as much as it did, but he understood.

Nicholas, by all means, did not.

“What? No—that's not what I'm referring to. I will trust you, Sebastian, I just honestly need a nap and a coffee and a few extra days to wrap my head around all this. You… you are still my little brother, no matter how ‘scary’ you look like. This has nothing to do with looks, got that?”

During his little speech, Nicholas had moved his hand to rest it atop Sebastian's stationary third one on the wooden table. He gave it a gentle squeeze as he spoke, even though this teal hand was big enough to clasp his entire bicep—and this was his smallest hand. Said hand turned around to clasp the two different appendages together.

Sebastian would never admit that Nicholas’ gaze was downright kind of terrifying in a strangely warm way.

His lips wobbled in inner conflict, before he submitted and sighed out all the tension in his now-deflating body.

“Yeah. I do,” He said, flicking his gaze earnestly back to the other. When did he look away? “Thanks.” Sebastian spoke, bobbing his head in a rather puppy like way.

It made Nicholas smile, which then made Sebastian smile.

The fishman broke the moment however with his next carefully chosen words.

“I'll tell you guys everything that happened when the others are all here. I promise.” He announced, giving his brother's hand a small squeeze. It squeezed back quickly in return.

Nicholas nodded his head.

“Alright, just, whenever you're ready. No pressure, yeah?”

Sebastian grinned. “Yeah.” No pressure.

Unfortunately, the moment was cut short when Camila's voice filtered into the room, “Food's ready!”

Sebastian wasn't sure how he was totally oblivious to the mixed smell of bacon, steak, and lasagna. Wow, he's getting old or getting stupid.

Reluctantly he let go of Nicholas’ hand and turned his head to look over as the older woman walked into the room with the steak and lasagna. Nicholas copied his actions and jumped up to help as well, grabbing the plate of nicely cooked steak. Ian was holding the plate of bacon like it was some ancient artifact.

Sebastian gave the air a few sniffs, ear fins wiggling in growing excitement at the mere idea of food that wasn't disgusting, probably rotting lab meat.

Once all the food was set on the table, two family members with legs took their seats. Sebastian remained ‘seated’—ahem, sitting on his tail—on the scaly muscle. Nicholas remained standing and retreated to the kitchen to prepare his own breakfast once everything was settled.

Sebastian was quick to voice his gratitude with a rumbly ‘thank you.’

Now, Sebastian was going to be honest, the whole meal in its entirety probably wouldn't be considered the correct amount of protein he should be eating now that he's a big fish monster. But he wasn't going to push it; he doesn't know how sensitive his stomach is now, and how much his family can afford for food and whatnot.

So if the meal didn't meet his nutritional needs? Well, then nobody but him and Painter needed to know.

(Speaking of, he needed to ask about an available computer for the little guy. Couldn't leave him out for too long, he wouldn't hear the end of it.)

It looked like Camila and Ian weren't going to eat anything, so he carefully dragged the plates closer together in front of him.

Ian was chowing down on some more Skittles, and it was about time Sebastian did the same with his own food. He raised his left claw and scooped up some bacon, and carefully bit into it.

The action resulted in some flakes cracking off and flooding his taste buds with the unmistakable power of bacon.

He let out a happy trill at the taste, and very quickly and very greedily grabbed some more bacon and shoved it into his toothy jaws.

Once he was done with the bacon—because unfortunately there wasn't a lot—he moved onto the steak, and quite literally ripped into it with teeth and claws, the juices overwhelming his senses and kicking his primal brain a little too close to the steering wheel of his mind.

As he dug into his carnivorous meal, he was unaware of the dumbfounded stares he was receiving from his rather animalistic display. Camila looked like she was beginning to worry for her wallet while Ian looked like he was watching Jurassic Park for the first time; alarmed but in awe of primordial power.

And when he finished with the steak, he easily moved onto the lasagna. Since it was only a little bit left, it took him only seconds to grab it with his bare claws and eat the slice entirely.

When he was done with his strange breakfast, he spoke. “Thank you again, mom. Uh, sorry for the mess,” He said sheepishly, his esca twitching once or twice.

Camila was quickly pulled from her exasperation and sent a warm smile his way.

“It's no worries son, just go wash your hands and take those to the sink. You don't need my help, after all.” Camila teased gently, referring to his third arm.

If he was fresh out of the lab, it would've stung. Instead, said third arm gave a thumbs up and all the clawed hands grabbed each messy porcelain disk.

“You got it boss.” He said, slithering carefully to the kitchen and ducking under the arch to enter it. Nicholas was off to the side by the microwave as it hummed its monotune buzz.

He looked over once his serpentine brother arrived at the sink. “Hi. Was it good?”

Nicholas rolled his eyes playfully at the distant, ‘Of course it was good!’ from their mother. Sebastian huffed a laugh as he set the plates in the metal dip.

“Yeah, really good. What're you gonna eat?”

He put a single large digit under the lever, slowly pushing it up to turn the water on more and more. Once it was on, he put his hands under the running liquid and let the grease and juice rush off.

“Just some scrambled eggs, bacon, and sausage from earlier.”

“Ah, nice. That's good. Mhm.”

It was quiet besides the chatter from the dinner table and running water from the tap. Sebastian carefully pressed some soap into a hand and rubbed them together, before cleaning the third one too and rinsing off the soap.

Nicholas watched as he turned off the tap and dried off his hands very cautiously on the towel with practiced precision.

The microwave shattered the atmosphere with its loud beeping, and Nicholas addressed Sebastian as he grabbed his food out of the box.

“So, me and Ian are going to play Fortnite later, if you want to join or watch. It's a fun game, I think you'd like it.” Sebastian has always been competitive, afterall.

Sebastian hummed. “Ah, sure. Got nothin’ else to do, I guess. What's it about, anyway?”

He gestured for Sebastian to follow, walk and talk. “It's like a shooter game but in third person. A battle royale, kind of like a free for all. Real competitive, last one standing wins type of game. I feel old explaining it, so I'll just have to show you.”

Sebastian snickered. “You are old, a fossil really, but alright. Impress me.”

Nicholas took that as a challenge, and turned to his son.

“Ian, when you're done over here, wanna play a quick few rounds of Fortnite and show it to Sebastian?” He asked, standing next to the table.

Ian cheered. “Yes yes yes! I'll go start the Xbox!” He exclaimed, and bolted for the living room like his life depended on it. Camila was too lazy to call him out to be careful and instead rolled her eyes teasingly.

“Alrighty, while you three do that, I need to go do some laundry downstairs. Call me if you need anything!” She said, getting up from the table and soon vanishing down the stairs swiftly.

Nicholas then gestured for Sebastian to go sit with Ian.

“Living room will be more comfortable for you, anyway. I'll be in my room and on the phone with Ian, so I'll still be here.” His brother informed, before he too disappeared down the hallway, plate in hand.

Sebastian heard the sound of a door shutting as he slithered over to where Ian sat on the brown couch holding an orange controller. The slightly obnoxiously bright light from the TV only helped to diminish any nearby shadows.

When he got closer Ian smiled brightly, then turned his gaze back to the TV while still addressing Sebastian.

“Hi uncle! Me and dad are gonna show you how to play Fortnite. It's really fun! My dad says you'll probably like the game.”

Uncle. God.

“He's that confident I'll enjoy it, huh? Well then, let's see what it's got in store for me.”

Sebastian poised himself to lean on the floor with his two elbows propping him up via his head and chin, while his third arm had sneakily clutched a bag of gummy worms. He curled his tail as much as he could behind and around the couch, which ended up with his large flukes hovering near Ian's head.

The loading screen for the game disappeared and was replaced with what seemed to be a menu, with Ian's assumed avatar in the middle of the frame. The avatar looked like a giant lizard standing on two legs, with blue spikes and lines carved into it.

“Who's that?” He asked, squinting his eyes.

“Wh—that's Godzilla. You know who Godzilla is right?”

“Well yeah I do, but why does he look like that?”

Uh oh. Looks like he chose the wrong dialogue option.

Without acknowledging Sebastian further, Ian called his father on his phone. Once he picked up in the next second and was put on speaker phone, Ian exclaimed his worst fear,

“Dad!! Sebastian hasn't watched the Monsterverse!!!”

“What??? You're kidding.”

“No! I'm not!”

“Oh dear.”

“Yeah! This is an outrage!”

“Well, we'll show him the movies soon, yeah? We'll do a marathon!”

“Yes! Good idea!”

“Uhm, hello, one genre at a time please. I just got here.”

Two sorry's and a shrug from Ian answered him.

He sighed.

A new character popped up on the screen, this time with something he was familiar with.

“Is that fureaking Peter Griffin from Family Guy?”

“Yup!”

“Yessir. Fortnite's great, am I right?”

Sebastian really hoped Nicholas didn't give a shit if his son learned a few new curse words while he stayed.

“Right… whatever helps you sleep at night.” He said, still skeptical.

Suddenly, the Peter Griffin avatar started doing a dance accompanied with its own music. Okay. That was weird.

“What in the world is he doing?”

“The griddy! Here—I can do it too!” And now Godzilla was doing the same stupid fucking dance alongside the Family Guy protagonist.

“What even is this game, dude.”

“Its cinema is what it is!”

“You tell ‘em, son!”

“Good Lord.”

__________________________

Once they finally loaded into a match, the gaming had begun. Ian had landed at a gas station called ‘Burd’ and looted it before getting in a car and driving away.

Nicholas and his stupid avatar was nowhere to be found yet, but Ian was rapidly approaching him in his incredibly fast vehicle.

“Hey dad, let's go fight the boss at the mountain.”

“Sounds good. Pick me up, I've got half decent loot on me.”

“Okay. On my way!”

Sebastian sighed.

“When do you start fighting? I need action.” He asked impatiently, afterwards dumping the last of the gummy worms into his mouth with his third hand and setting the trash aside.

“The action could be anywhere… among us… so don't worry! We'll be fighting other people soon, right now we needa get the good stuff first.”

“Mmmkay.” Sebastian hummed.

“Oh yeah, pay attention also. ‘Cause you're playing after this match!”

His eyebrows ascended. “I am?”

“You are!”

“You've been chosen Sebastian, there's no escaping now.” Nicholas chuckled from the speakers.

A dramatic sigh with snide words followed. “Oh great. But how can I even play? Have you seen my hands? They aren't exactly made for Xbox controllers.”

Ian looked over with a thoughtful gaze after switching seats and letting Nicholas take the wheel, before he brightened with an idea. “Hmmm… oh! I can give you a bad controller that's probably gonna die out soon anyway! So you don't gotta worry about breaking it!”

Sebastian was hesitant, but willing to try if it meant making the kid happy.

God, he's already gotten wrapped around the boy's finger, hasn't he?

With a slow nod of his head, he relented. “Okay, I guess that could work.”

So for the next thirty-ish minutes, Ian and Nicholas taught him all that he needed to know about this game. From mats meaning materials, to shotguns, and a little bit about building. (Which terrified him, but that was unimportant.)

And when they were in the top ten remaining players, things got heated fast.

“No—that guys’ got a sword!”

“Holy—knocked his teammate! Covering you now—”

“I see a car! Another duo!”

“Aw man! Any other time!”

“They've got a medallion too!”

“Crap!”

It was a little overwhelming, but entertaining nonetheless.

And it was only right that he was their very supportive hype man.

“Ooooo, tear them to bits! Rain down bullets! Blow up their car!”

The speeding car blew up, knocking and kill them both.

“Yes!!!” Sebastian cheered, ear fins wiggling in anticipation as his esca brightened.

Ian giggled. “Now it's one duo left!”

“Woooo! We got this!”

“Heck yeah!” The kid exclaimed.

Sebastian grinned, his sharp teeth and jagged mouth giving him a rather uncanny appearance. Thankfully, Ian didn't care in the slightest.

He felt oddly normal despite it all.

Anywho, the two gamers pressed onwards, currently hunting down the last duo left. Things were quiet as of now, but it wouldn't be for much longer.

“Whoa—look out! They're on the roof!”

“I got ya, go inside!”

They ushered inside the digital building, crouching and practically crawling their way up the stairs as the other two players stomped above them.

Sebastian scoffed. “Idiots.”

“Right?” Ian giggled.

Not even two minutes later they secured their victory and roared in triumph.

“LET'S GO!!!”

“YEAH!! Awesome job Ian!!!”

“Thanks dad, that was epic!!!”

Sebastian snickered at their antics. He definitely could relate to the joy of winning a game.

Ian then turned to Sebastian after conversing about their highlights of the match. “Wanna try a round Sebastian?”

The fishman hummed his agreement. “Sure, why not?”

The pure glee on Ian's face was worth the inevitable loss of the next match Sebastian mused.

And so Ian darted over to the TV then pulled out a drawer with a bunch of controllers in it. He took one out that looked like it had seen better days, and handed it over to Sebastian.

“Here you go! I'll tell you what to do if you need help.”

“Thanks.”

And so, the next thirty minutes was spent with Sebastian failing miserably at the damn game and Nicholas having to mute in order to hide his annoying snorts and giggles at his own expense. Ian wasn't fairing much better, having to constantly remind Sebastian on what to do and where to go.

It was an ego-killer, and he hated to admit that it was kind of fun despite how he had to concentrate on not shredding the controller the whole time.

“Sebastian—behind you! There's—”

“I know! Where??? I can't—fuck.”

They placed #89, somehow. Nicholas had died earlier on by the same group that had chased Sebastian to his death.

Sebastian let out a low hiss at the screen, before taking in a deep breath.

“Well,” He looked at Ian, “that was fun. I'm down for one more, alright? Then it's time for this old man to go learn how to be a functioning member of society.”

“Old man he says…”

Sebastian, very politely mind you, ignored him.

Iam giggled. “Okay, sure. But this time listen to meee! And then you'll actually win for once!”

Sebastian snorted with an nonexistent eye roll. “Yeah, yeah, whatever you say tiny man.”

“Hey! I'm not tiny! I am normal sized!”

“Yeah, totally, for sure,” Sebastian nodded very seriously with a lax, teasing grin.

Ian pierced him with a dead-eyed stare before preparing the game for the fishman's next match. Nicholas’ character was doing some dumbass dance in the background until it loaded into the battle bus and they glided across the digital sky.

“Well, let's hope fate is feeling merciful today, shall we?” Sebastian said, gently grabbing the somehow intact controller in order to continue playing the digital game.