Work Text:
The city of Wandercrab does not suit Abyss Monarch Cookie, they conclude fiddling with the stem of their drink at the one and only tropical juice bar under the sea. They could not feel more foreign amidst the loud neon signs and buzz of merriment forever permeating the area. Wandercrab had its fair share of rogues, sure, though they all carried their own brilliance of color contributing to the wonderful mosaic that was the city. Abyss Monarch was simply that: abyss. A black hole that eats at people, societies, worlds. They feel others must sense it, too- the gravity they harbor that nullifies light and sucks the very song from the water around them. Which is why they’re sitting alone. Which is why no one’s attempted to fill that void. That is, no one but him.
They discreetly direct their gaze across the juice bar to Electric Eel Cookie. The blood of the city’s body. Truly, the epitome of Wandercrab. All color, all noise. And of course, there’s that precious light Abyss can’t live without. Its effects reconstruct a world fortified in crystal sugar glass and stainless white floors, taking them back to a time when their cheeks still flushed with color, their body was decorated with golden valor, and their life still had purpose.
At least, that was Abyss thought at first. Now, they understand his light is infinitely more blind than Sugarteara’s. It extends to all those that the city rejected- the poor, the needy, and undesired. In doing so, it is charged by every influence there is to collect. It therefore imparts an effect greater than anything Abyss has ever touched, felt, or seen- one that twitches their fingertips and runs their heart with its mere vastness. It’s a motion that makes them simultaneously feel like flying and falling, by his side. They recognize this movement is what transforms static ashes into wild life, so it is through him that they live again.
And Abyss is addicted to that feeling of life thrumming through them. If a person had the privilege, they had the entire universe in their palm. It means that even after the harshest frost, the ground is still sown for the possibility for happiness, for sadness, for grief, for resolution, for longing, and fulfillment- each status blooming a flower of its own unique color and composition. To live was to look upon that field and see it lush with blossoms of every variety, all products of light and, therefore, all beautiful. But without movement, everything is dormant. They can’t yield anything without his influence.
Suffice to say, they feel disgusted by their own dependence. While others can swell their lungs and lift their song freely, fed by a glow all their own, Abyss stays hungry. They’re forever fixed chasing that light which they’ll never be able to hold, themself, anchored to its pursuit just like the moon is anchored to the earth. Just once, they want a taste of a strength all their own- to defy the cosmos and exist outside of that planet’s gravity.
All this is what occupies the cookie’s mind as they sit in this vibrant sensory overshow, feeling like an anemone cast to land but rooting there, nonetheless. Others are occupying that space around him, perhaps feeling that same thing void consumes gluttonously. More moons… And he entertains them all the same. He’s benevolent with his warmth and shows no apprehension distributing it to the people. Abyss thinks someone will make him regret that, someday, with great speculation that the ‘someone’ in question is themself. They’re more than tempted to sate this hunger and thereby test his resolve- to pit their endless vacuum versus his compounded white light. Concurrently, they fear what they’ll find at the end of this contest.
“You think you’re being subtle?”
Anglerfish Cookie interrupts their thoughts, idly rubbing the inside of a glass with a washcloth. “Join them, you’re embarrassing me looking at him with those longing sort of eyes.” There was a time the bartender was fearful of Abyss, or the ‘deep-sea monster’ they came to be known as, at least. Though it was a great relief they were quick to abandon those feelings to accept the octopus before them without a trace of wariness, the occasional snide comment the anglerfish elicits compel Abyss to reinstate this fear. They bury the urge.
“I won’t dance. I’m not in the mood.”
“Tsk, tsk,” Anglerfish chides, “I’m sure you’re not. Which is exactly why you should. Dancing’s the best cure for a rotten mood.”
They think of Electric Eel with the cookies from before. No space for them, there. And the warmest touch incites the coldest farewell. Their incredulous mind habitually prepares for the worst, grappling for independence in little ways such as this.
“... My decision is final. My legs are locked.”
“Pouting, are we? I wonder if that attitude would change, should a certain person ask you instead.”
They won’t defend themself from this claim. It was child’s work, bait such as the light that shines from the anglerfish’s lure. And yet, this light is not pure enough to tempt them, and they’re not ignorant enough to bite. They merely sit in their stool and wait for the world to keep spinning, unconsciously combing the noise for the sound of a certain eel’s voice, the smallest ray of life. And to their surprise, his voice seeks them in turn.
“Abyss!” He shouts, from his position near the jukebox. “Dance with us?”
They continue facing their drink, refusing to look him in the face. If he shows them an earnest expression- his most basic countenance, they’ll surely crush under the weight of those sparkling eyes. There’s no sane way to communicate that they need to live through him, but they feel so compelled to whenever they catch that smile. For his sake, and theirs, they leave the matter unspoken.
“No... As a matter of fact, I was just leaving.”
They arise from their seat and place their fare swiftly on the counter, eager to get their legs moving before their body can even recognize its own rigidity. The octopus barely makes it a few steps before they feel a noticeably warm hand envelop their own, electricity exciting their every nerve. They make the mistake of looking their captor in the face, thereby seeing their reflection caught in a certain eel’s lavender eyes. His expression is disarmingly tender.
“Wait! There’s something I have to tell you before you go. Next blackout, don’t go below the mechanical hermit crab to fix it. Seek me out, if I’m not by your side already. I have something I wanna show you. It’s super cool, you’ll love it!”
Abyss seriously questions Eel’s ability to discern their taste. The things he found pleasant… dancing, the cityscape from above, Wandercrab- they could never come to adore these items the way he adored them. But when he says they’ll love whatever he has in store for them, with all the mirth one spares for the moon, for living, for pearls, and other items they treasure most, they want desperately to believe him. So, they nod curtly and bid him farewell, walking into the bar’s exit to once again face that darkness.
…
It happens sooner than they’d think. There’s an emotion locked from them when they feel it coming- one they can’t understand in their mind but can feel embedding in their throat and stealing the oxygen from their gills. And that is all there is to recognize before everything around them becomes nothing.
Then, a new scene trickles into view. They’re fed sounds and sights before their mind can think to digest them. There’s that warmth coupled with electricity, so the first thing Abyss can understand is the thrumming movement of their own heart, accompanied with the flowering terror and relief of life . Its effects slowly hush whatever nightmare they’ve just woken up from. It takes some time to color in the edges, to comprehend where they are, who they are, what they are, but eventually, they gather the sense to push away from Electric Eel’s grasp. They don’t say anything when they do, but neither does Eel.
In the pitch black that now reigns over the once colorful city, he is the only thing they can perceive. In little ways, it was always like this. He had that habit of eclipsing all their senses.
“Oh! Right!” He says, terminating the silence. Silence wasn’t something they shared much of, before. That was mainly due to Eel’s own efflux of whatever spontaneously generated into that strange mind of his. That’s steadily changing, however. Now, he has secrets . Abyss finds it more than a little agitating. What could be worth depriving them of his voice?
“You’re good now, right? Ready to go?” He hunches slightly to peer at their face.
“... I am… fine.”
“Awesome! Follow me.”
He leads them through the narrowed streets of his precious city, ducking here and there to avoid the tattered edges of pipes and walls reaching out for them. A short climb sprinkled with more backward glances later, they find themselves faced with an enormous ceramic thing, settled on its side. Eel unfastens the lid, then looks to Abyss expectantly. They were not expecting to face muted, green lights cast down on them upon stepping inside. They are comforted by the image, nonetheless. And they hardly notice the silence in that lights’ presence. That is, until Eel coughs awkwardly.
“So, uhhh…. I could tell it could get a bit much for you… The city. And somewhere along the way, I imagined you’d wanna leave, eventually, but I…. didn’t want that. We’re like a family, y’know? I really like having you here. So, I selfishly got a little relieved whenever I found out it was the light that kept you stuck here… Like that was my crutch.” He inhales sharply, and he has the audacity to reach his hand towards his neck in a play at shame for his former actions.
Abyss doesn’t say anything.
“You remember when Sea Fairy came to town, right? Whenever she described the reason why she couldn’t stay, the moon and the stars… I thought it was really exciting. Like she’d fallen in love with the night sky, or something. I thought if I could remake it here- and actually get you to fall in love with it, too- you wouldn’t ever want to leave... But I don’t think that, anymore. I don’t want you to stay in Wandercrab ‘cause you feel like you need to, or that you’re obligated ‘cause of pretty, delicate lights like stars. I want you to stay because you actually want to….. So if you decide to leave, you can have these things. I found a chunk of ‘em on the ground during a blackout not too long ago. They keep their glow after being around other lights for so long. They should be supercharged, after staying in an awesome place like Wandercrab,” He laughs crudely, before his tone settles into something softer. “You can carry them with you, so you never have to worry about being stuck in the dark again.”
“...They continue to glow…. even in oblivion?” Abyss looks up at that faint green aurora. So fragile and yet, persisting to fight and kill the silence of darkness.
“Uhh, yeah. I guess that’s one way of putting it?” He once again leans over to peer at their face a little better.
And then shadow meets light, kindling realization. It was something delicate at first, just like the first glow of the stars. Then, it was resounding and impossible to ignore. Even if they were to leave Wandercrab and never see Eel’s face ever again, they’ll never unlearn the happiness they felt with him. Even if they were to never touch again, they’ll continue to carry that warmth with them- the temperature of love, residing in their heart and on their skin. And because this love refuses to leave Abyss in that eel’s absence, its lingering presence is sustained by a source solely their own. Then, they possess a light solely their own.
And this realization dominos into others, ultimately forging a new lens which they view their world. The little details they’d never noticed before stand chiefest- the gentle current flowing away from them, the smell of copper in the water, the hum of the city settling around them. So abruptly, life sings a symphony through these features. And it is a serenata all for them.
“You’re CRYING!? I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to-” Eel scrambles.
“I see you, colored with the effects of my own affection, and I can’t understand how I was so foolish, before…. Perhaps we’re not opposites at all. Perhaps you are my mirror.”
“What?” He asks, almost frantic, like he’s absorbed all the mania Abyss is experiencing and recognizing it as his own. “Mirror? I don’t really get what you’re saying, but- Wait a second- Affection!? You actually like me?”
The shock in his voice wildly amuses Abyss, so they let a bit of air pass through their lips. “That is… one way of putting it, yes…”
His eyes blow wide and brighten astronomically. He bounds forward and captures them before they can react, picking their feet off the ground and swinging them into multiple circles, comfortably crushing Abyss in the process.
“You laughed!” Eel boisterously cries, “I actually got you to laugh!”
Then, Abyss’s adrenaline settles to pick away at that comfort, highlighting a few features that warms their blood to blazing, namely the proximity between the two of them and the dizziness the motion inspires, leaving them feeling an ever giddy, frenzied, and overheated fish.
“Aw man, that’s such a good sound. It’s my favorite sound in the world, I think.” He finally slows down his movement, but he continues to hold them, completely oblivious to the tempest happening inside Abyss. And oblivion suited him. So oblivious, he will stay.