Chapter Text
You lean against the glass of your 'enclosure', feeling like a zoo animal. A month of quarantine has taken its toll; you're only allowed to see Sebastian and P.AI.nter through glass or in strictly supervised visits. Necessary, they keep telling you. Your body is a mess of untreated injuries: broken ribs you'd somehow worked through, a torn shoulder muscle you'd ignored. The doctors seem horrified by how severely malnourished you are, by all the damage you'd just pushed past during the escape.
"This sucks." P.AI.nter's doodled face frowns. They've confined him in his own enclosure across from yours, severely limited any of his network access, the display casting shadows in your sterile room.
You shrug at P.AI.nter and turn back to the glass, you watch Sebastian endure another round of tests. They're cycling through different sedatives, trying to find something, anything, that will help him tolerate the endless medical procedures. Nothing works. His drug resistance is astounding and warrants studying in itself, but one thing at a time. The only thing that keeps him calm is being able to see you and P.AI.nter, but even those moments are strictly controlled. You expressed anger at the inability to hear him, to talk to him through the glass. The doctor’s reasoning was bullshit you couldn’t even care to think about. You knew they were just interested in him. How Urbanshade changed him, made him into this.
You cry after these sessions, though the benzos they give you help dull the edges. For weeks, your thoughts have circled back to the hadal blacksite, to the people you left behind. Does Lacey's void-puppeted corpse still stalk those dark halls? The carefully controlled medication takes the edge off these thoughts, and you welcome the chemical calm.
"Hey," P.AI.nter's display flickers. "Got some actual good news. The acquittal came through."
Your hands press against the glass. "They did it?"
"Innovation Inc. kept their word. Magical evidence appeared, your crimes disappeared." A pause, then: "They're also moving forward with the other thing. The custody proceedings."
Your throat tightens. What you're letting them do, using corporate power to essentially kidnap your own son, should feel wrong. But after everything you've survived, everything you've lost...
"I don't care," you whisper, watching Sebastian press his clawed hand against his side of the glass, matching your position. His lure pulses erratically, fighting whatever sedative they've tried today. "I know it's selfish, but I want my son back."
"Not selfish," P.AI.nter's face softens. "I think they’re feeding me the information because it’s softer coming from me. It’s all very controlled with what I can access."
Sebastian shifts slightly, trying to be calm despite his obvious distress. Even through the barrier, he's still trying to comfort you. You press your hand harder against the glass, wishing you could feel him instead of this sterile barrier.
"Just a little longer," P.AI.nter promises. "We've survived worse than this.
"It's been almost a month," you murmur against the glass, your nursing training kicking in as you watch the staff move around Sebastian. You've been carefully observing their routines, their body language, the way they document their findings. Little tells that another medical professional would recognize. "I had a minor infection but I’m finished the antibiotics now."
"Using those nurse super-powers of yours?" P.AI.nter grins with amusement.
You manage a small smile. "Forty thousand dollars in student debt, never go to college P.AI.nter."
Through the glass, you see Sebastian and you can tell he’s being snarky. He's getting less sick from the copious amount of drugs they’re giving him, and you can see the medical team noting his improved control in their charts. They're switching from restraint protocols to behavioural management, another good sign.
"The night shift supervisor was talking about discharge planning," you continue, years of hospital work helping you piece together the clues. "They're coordinating with Innovation Inc. about some kind of secured living arrangement. And they've started decreasing my benzo dosage, they wouldn't do that if they planned to keep us here much longer."
"Look at you, reading all the medical tea leaves," P.AI.nter comments.
Sebastian presses his hand against the glass again, he smiles at you, getting less tense. The nursing staff exchange approving glances, making notes about his improved response to environmental stressors.
"Soon," you mouth the words to him and yourself.
-
The modern house feels surreal after the sterility of quarantine. Through the frost-edged sliding glass doors, you can see P.AI.nter occupying himself on the living room's massive screen, absorbed in creating detailed digital landscapes of winter scenes. The soft glow from his artwork mingles with the harsh February moonlight reflecting off the snow.
You're technically under house arrest, or "protective custody" as they call it. The legal teams are still untangling the mess of your existence, figuring out what to do with a nurse who committed arson and manslaughter, an AI who paints landscapes and a genetic marvel of a man.
But right now, bundled in one of Sebastian's oversized sweaters on the back patio, none of that seems to matter. Sebastian's tail curls possessively around you as you lean against him, watching him take a long drag from his cigarette. The ember glows against the star-filled winter sky, his lure casting soft light across both of you in the frigid darkness.
"I didn't know you smoked," you say, breathing in the mixture of tobacco and his unique scent, feeling safe in the cocoon of him despite the biting cold.
He snorts, lure flickering with amusement. "Where exactly did you think I was going to get cigarettes in the facility? Let-Vand Zone's only underwater convenience store?"
You laugh, your breath visible in the cold air. His free hand traces patterns along your arm through the wool of the sweater, claws gentle. You're both still healing; his medications reduced but not eliminated, your body slowly rebuilding its strength. But here, in this moment, wrapped in his arms with the stars crystal clear in the winter sky above you, you can almost pretend you're normal.
Sebastian nuzzles against your neck, his gills fluttering slowly, intimately. The cigarette forgotten, he pulls you closer, and you melt into his embrace, finally able to touch him without glass between you. A shiver runs through you that has nothing to do with the cold.
"Inside," he murmurs against your hair, extinguishing the cigarette in the snow-dusted ashtray. "You're freezing."
The warmth of the house envelops you as Sebastian slides the door closed behind you, P.AI.nter discretely dimming his display to cast the room in soft shadows. Sebastian's hands are already sliding under your sweater, surprisingly warm against your chilled skin.
"Still can't believe you're real sometimes," he murmurs, backing you toward the couch. "Keep expecting to wake up back in the blacksite, all of this just a hallucination."
You press closer, hands sliding over the scarred skin of his chest where his own sweater rides up. "If I were, I'd be a cute hallucination," you whisper.
His response is to lift you effortlessly, settling you onto his tail. The move draws a soft gasp from you; even after everything, the casual display of strength still affects you.
"Here," he agrees, one hand cupping your face while the other two support your back. "Safe." His thumb traces your bottom lip. "Mine."
The possessive growl in that last word makes heat pool in your stomach, chasing away any remaining chill. Through the windows, snow begins to fall, but neither of you notice, lost in each other's touch after so many weeks of careful distance.
"I need you so fucking badly," he growls, burying his face in your neck.
You wrap your legs around him as best you can, drawing him closer. "Show me. Show me how much you've missed meee~."
His response is to capture your mouth in a kiss that's all heat and need, careful of his sharp teeth but not holding back the passion that makes your head spin.
The kiss deepens as Sebastian's control starts to fray at the edges, the bioluminescent parts of his body casting a glow through his gills. Each point where skin meets skin seems to spark with electricity. His claws carefully shred through your shirt; he'll apologize later, replace it, but right now neither of you care about clothes.
Your hands explore every inch of scale and skin you can reach. Sebastian's breath comes in ragged gasps against your neck, interspersed with growls that seem to vibrate through your entire body.
"Fuck," he murmurs, pulling back just enough take in a full view of your body. His claws trace down your sides. The contrast between his raw strength and careful touch makes you shiver.
You gasp as he shifts, using his greater size to pin you more firmly against the lounge. When his third hand slides between your bodies, finding your core, claws so gentle, your back arches off the couch. Fuck you haven’t been touched in what feels like forever, you’re so sensitive.
"Need to see you," he growls,"Need to watch you come apart for me." His voice has that deep resonance that seems to bypass your ears and vibrate directly through your bones.
Your response dissolves into a moan as his fingers find their target, thumb roughly rolling circles on your clit, his free hand tangling in your hair. His third arm squeezes your thigh, pushing it up, holding you open for him as his touch becomes more focused; more demanding.
"Sebastian," you gasp, clutching onto his arm, shaking with each touch. He shudders, his own control visibly slipping as time starts to melt.
"Say it again," he demands, his movements becoming more urgent. "I can’t hear you."
You cry out his name as the white hot feeling builds, your body responding to every careful touch, every controlled motion of his claws. He watches you with an intensity that should be frightening.
When you finally break, it's with his name on your lips, pouring from your mouth like a hymn. He holds you through it, growling praise and possession in that deep voice that makes you shudder all over again.
But he's not done; you can feel the tension in his muscles, see the way he hasn’t settled. As you come down from your high, you reach for him, pulling him into another kiss that makes him groan.
"Fuck me," you whisper against his mouth, swallowing a moan, using you teeth to nip at his tongue.
He shifts, positioning himself between your thighs. You’re breathing hard, head turned to the side, you see the glow of his dual cocks on your skin. The feel of them, cool and hard against you, draws another moan from your lips. He pauses there, trembling with the effort of control. It’s killing you how slow he’s taking this but you understand why.
"Tell me if I hurt you," he manages, remembering that your ribs may still be tender.
You answer by reaching to wrap your arms around his neck, drawing him closer. "Please fuck me," you repeat, and his control finally breaks.
The first thrust draws matching cries from both of you. Sebastian's size makes him move carefully at first, but your body remembers him, welcomes him, both cocks stretch you to your limit but you breathe through it. His third hand grips your thigh tighter, using the grip to angle you perfectly as he establishes a rhythm that makes you writhe in untold pleasure against his body.
"Missed this," he growls against your neck. "Missed you. Watching you through that glass, not being able to touch..." His words dissolve into a rumbling groan as you clench around him, your nails dragging down his back.
You can feel the careful restraint in his muscles even as he moves deeper, harder; always aware of his strength, always protecting you even when lost in passion.
"More," you gasp, and he groans in response. He shifts, lifting your hips slightly, and the new angle has you crying out his name, hitting a depth that has you blinded by stars. The sound makes him shudder, it spurns him on, the sound from your bodies is unholy and so lewd had you been not fucked out to oblivion you’d be embarrassed.
"Mine," he growls, the word full of possession and promise. "Say it. Need to hear it."
"Yours Yours Yours," you manage between gasps, and his lure flares blindingly bright. He captures your mouth in a kiss that's all teeth and need, swallowing your moans as he drives you both higher.
Your second climax builds faster than the first, every nerve ending alive to his touch. Sebastian's his own control splintering as he feels your cunt tightening around him. His claws squeeze your thigh in time with his thrusts, adding another layer of sensation that has you arching off the lounge.
When you cum this time, it's with a cry that echoes in the sparsely furnished living room. Sebastian follows immediately, his whole body shuddering as he fills you impossibly full. Opalescent cum flowing past his cocks and dripping beneath you.
For several long moments, there's only the sound of shared breathing. His cocks stay buried inside you, supporting his weight on trembling arms, pressing gentle kisses to your face and neck.
"Love you," he murmurs against your skin, tongue creating soft waves of light between nibbles.
You run your fingers through his dark hair, feeling the last tremors of pleasure ripple through both your bodies. "Love you too," you whisper.
He shifts to pull you against his chest as he settles onto the sofa, his tail now wrapped protectively around you, his body surrounds you completely.
"We should probably go to bed," you murmur eventually, though you make no move to leave his embrace.
His grins with amusement. "Probably," he agrees, nuzzling your hair. "But not yet. Just... let me hold you a little longer."
"We’re naked in front of a huge window" you muse drowsily, tracing random patterns on his chest lazily.
He snorts, the sound rumbling through you where you're pressed against him. "I doubt anyone’s on the water to see." His claws drag gently through your hair, making you shiver. "Though P.AI.nter probably got an eyeful."
As if on cue, the living room screen briefly flickers to show P.AI.nter's avatar rolling its eyes before returning to his landscape painting. Sebastian chuckles with amusement.
"We did invade his living room," you say, pressing a kiss to Sebastian's chest where his heart beats strong and steady.
"It’s everyone’s living room, he has to share," Sebastian rumbles, but there's fondness in his voice. His free hand traces the curve of your spine before settling on your ass, making you arch slightly. "Still can't believe we're here. Actually here. Not behind glass, not being monitored by doctors..."
"Well, technically we're still being monitored," you point out, though you snuggle closer to him. "Just by friendlier watchers."
"Don't care who's watching. You're here. You're safe." His voice drops lower, possessive. "You're mine."
The words send another shiver through you. "Yours," you agree softly, feeling his chest rumble with satisfaction.
"God, those researchers probably think I'm the biggest freak," you say, tracing the vivisection scar across his abdomen. "All that careful observation, all those psychological evaluations, and here I am letting you raw me."
His laugh is deep and rich. "Pretty sure they added some interesting notes to your file after our supervised visits." His claws sink into the softness of your ass, squeezing enough to make indentations. "Especially that time you couldn't keep your heart rate down when they were doing your vitals."
"Not my fault," you protest weakly. "I hadn’t seen you in a while and I missed you." Your cheeks flush at the memory; the knowing looks from the medical staff as your pulse refused to stabilize.
"Should have told them about your dad," he teases. “Fishing is just in your genetics I guess.”
"Jerk," you say, but there's no heat in it. "I'm sure there's a whole section in my psych eval about my 'concerning attraction to non-human entities' or something equally clinical." You press a kiss to his chest. "They thought it was just some weird chemical reaction, or trauma bonding, or..."
"Stockholm syndrome," he rumbles, though his patterns remain soft and peaceful. "Heard them discussing that one. Right before you got really angry." His chest vibrates with quiet laughter. "Pretty sure that got added to your file under 'aggressive defensive responses.'"
You smile against his skin. "Well, she was trying to argue that my attachment to you was pathological. That it couldn't be real." Your fingers trace a particularly sensitive scar on his side. "As if they could explain this with their clinical terms and diagnostic criteria."
His face tilts down to look at you, his lure flickering with mixed amusement and exasperation. "No clinical diagnosis for this," he agrees softly, before his voice takes on a more pointed tone. "Well maybe a little bit of brain damage, you hit the floor pretty hard WHEN YOU FUCKING JUMPED OFF OF A FORTY-FOOT CATWALK."
You can't help but burst into laughter at his obvious lingering frustration over that incident. "You're never going to let that go, are you?"
"Let it go? You literally shouted 'Sebastian, catch!' and launched yourself into the open air!" His ear fins flatten in agitation, though his tail stays gentle where it's wrapped around you. "Do you have any idea how much that terrified me? I have never moved that fast in my life."
"But you caught me," you point out affectionately. "Perfect catch, actually."
"That is not the point," he grumbles, though he nuzzles against your hair. "The point is that normal people don't test their partner's reflexes with surprise trust falls from lethal heights."
"Well," you say with a grin, "I guess I'm not exactly normal." You tap his forehead lightly. "And neither are you."
The light of his lure dims, his voice warming. "No, we certainly aren't."