Vision full of shapes and lines, lungs screamed for burning reprieve. A voiceless shout wants to leave her mouth, but water has already claimed its place. Panicked fingers flying up to grab something, there's nothing to save her. All abilities regarding swimming take a high leap out the window once she's engulfed and the fight for oxygen begins.
This mishap a horror on another spectrum, she never considered a day where her phobia would eventually consume her.
That, or Beta-507. Lara wanted to bitterly smile at the fleeting thought, but she couldn't feel her lips.
Yet, maybe that was because suddenly, they were occupied with another's.
Flickering eyes shooting wide amid the hazy cushioning of weightless fluid, 507 hesitantly loomed her body, and Lara found it incredibly hard to digest what was happening rather than potentially dying.
Rational judgement pending, she tested the gap by stretching an arm out to place a soft touch along his cheekbone. Although visibly stiffening on the contact, he didn't recoil.
Good.
Becoming bolder, she used all the strength she had to push herself forward and to him. Latching both arms around his neck and shoulders, he was her sole, saving grace if he possessed the mercy. Her life in his hands, she tightened in a noiseless plea.
It was only then did she acknowledge that she no longer relied on oxygen. At least, she didn't crave the ignition for air she had moments ago. Mystified, her head raised in a crinkly-eyed daze to his.
Instead of validating Lara's confusion, he centered both his arms around her midriff and rested slender fingers under her rear before hoisting.
Eliciting a gasp, of course nothing but water filled the orifice.
She had no time to let go when he burst towards the surface, effectively causing her to chain a desperate grip on him once more.
Was he really willing to help?
The answer came with a gush of fresh air. Plowing through the top of the tank, Lara released an exasperated breath. Hands flailing to keep her body steady, she secured a hold around the unclad chest shoved into hers. Support mitigating, he went to set her on the rim.
She took this as her cue and grappled for a circular corner. Fingers sliding across a sleek surface, she yanked herself up with a painful hit of her knee on the metal trim. Holding in tears and your common curse, she expelled an anguished groan.
Lying in a desolate heap of soggy clothes and panting, she rubbed the areas hair had fallen to get an adequate view.
Rising and sinking in rhythmic motions, Beta-507's contracted, steel colored gaze spoke of ridicule and shaming. Should she thank him? He wasn't exactly allowing a slot for appreciation, nor did he seem necessarily interested in anything she had to ramble off. Scooting backwards, calves came against her thighs. His expression didn't have to guilt-trip her for Lara to know she had royally screwed up. They did, however, make it worse.
She didn't know where to start. Having gotten herself to stand, she stabilized her footing as an apologetic, remorseful look directed itself at his still form. "Sorry about that. And thanks for, you know, saving my ass."
She was positive that she would get an earful later on once the security tapes were scrutinized by beady eyes that had nothing better to do than point their pathetic fingers at anyone that so much as looked at them wrong.
Yes, she wasn't going to get over some things. Yes, she probably had a massive chip on her shoulder to weigh it down in the process. No, she wasn't going to take those words back.
Her peripheral catching movement, water eagerly let the creature through. Close enough to lean on the rim, he situated his head on an extended palm whilst curiously sizing her up.
Fizzling out of incessant thoughts, she silently waited for signs that he would do something. Haphazardly, her head turned to peer behind a shoulder to make sure the door was locked and secured before going back to him.
A sharp grin pulling at his mouth upon her glance, perhaps she shouldn't have been recklessly blatant in the assurance. In a way, she didn't particularly care. If she died, maybe the facility would override her negligence and deem her a hero for keeping everyone else self.
One had to wonder.
Then again, why kill someone after saving them? She supposed a sadist would. She didn't know what he was capable of. As far as she knew, he preferred playing with his dinner. And there was a huge possibility she wouldn't walk out of here uninjured. Or alive for that matter.
How could she have been so careless?
Oh, right... Easy labor.
She decided to sit down. Curling into a ball, Lara rocked herself to a downcast lull. "So, are you going to officiate this and kill me?" Peeking from under hair, she caught a glimpse of misplaced mirth and an element of gratification cross his veneer.
She huffed. "I know you understand what I'm saying. Don't act naive."
Withholding amusement, a resonant, accented voice rumbled from the tilted corners of pursed lips, "You are an unfathomable piece of work."
She expected something sage-like to fall from his lips. Something that would set humans and the merfolk apart.
Not this.
Lara had wanted some kind of vocal interaction so she could ease the prospect that she had been imagining everything. Still, she gaped.
She couldn't determine what accent he had. Needless, its melody was soothing in texture. While she candidly stared him down, the merman took on a look of regretful debate, like he had picked the wrong person to converse with.
Shaking her head, Lara untangled legs to shakily stand. "You can talk."
Submerging in water, drying sections of grey hair resurfaced in saturated disorder. Taking a withering breath, he then climbed over the side. Lara's heart lurching; she stepped back from the developing proximity.
Putting a safe space between her and 507, she eyeballed the sheen surrounding emerald, spotted scales. The ends of his tail inside the tank, what would have been his thighs and upper body were exposed to bugging eyes. It was weird to see him this personally. Without a crowd or heavy glass in the way, it was as exhilarating as it was terrifying.
An agile finger dipping into sloshing water, he twirled it diagonally, tracing a liquefied groove to the edge. In a whisper, he finally confirmed, "I can."
How was she to handle that? What was there to say? This only managed to render Lara more speechless.
On to her, guilefully, he pried, "Is the tail an issue?"
Her heart continued to pound away. Setting a perturbed stare on the face that had come up to examine hers in a pesky array of perception, she grimaced. "The tail is a start to my issues with you."
"Am I allowed to feel the same?" he parried. Lara had to halt her vehemence at the condescending replica of a meaningless question. Guiding his head to the locked entrance, she nibbled her lip. "You are the one who contains the information to unlock that door there."
Good thing it didn't require keys. Because she suspected that this conversation wouldn't have existed if she did. Not with the unsaid understanding that her hands and legs would have long been ripped from her body had he found them.
It was a tad surprising that he remained calm. No speck of vengeance or hate sputtered onto his features. No break in posture or tone. Which solely served to make her wonder what he was hinting at.
Rescuing her or not, that information was to be protected at all costs.
"What do you want?" she croaked.
His eyes formed nice, mocking slits. A small, forced smile boasting unexpressed intentions, he moved his head to look over the waters again. "How about what I did not want?"
Crossing her arms, Lara spat, "You could drive a person crazy."
"Crazy?" as if new to his vocabulary, he sounded the word out. A morose laugh spewed, he lowly reflected, "No. Insanity is having been enclosed in this forsaken bowl. When your entrails are prodded through for the sake of nonsense, come back to me. Then we will discuss what crazy feels like."
Now, she could hear anger fostering. Getting down on her knees, Lara coaxed a tentative palm to the ground. "Is that true?" Bringing a calculative gaze to her, he refused to clarify. Balancing jittery hands so that she could squat, she pushed, "Are you experimented on like that?"
It made disgusting sense. How else were they to find out more about these creatures unless they delved into their internal biology. Had his food contained the sedatives necessary to incapacitate him so that they could carry out these atrocious acts? Was she partially responsible for aiding and abiding without her knowledge?
Her voice shattered in the lapse of remorseful dread, "I'm so sorry. I... I swear I didn't know."
He wasn't sympathetic to her ignorance. Assuming he wouldn't divulge her, a strangled whisper shimmied from her throat, "Are you dangerous?"
A noise clutched between a snort and a laugh softly escaped him. "Now you ask?"
A rush of fearful, conflicted emotions took hold of her, and she trampled every one of them. "I don't want this for you as bad as you don't. I'm not saying you should trust me, but like you said, I have the access you need." She pinned a hardened stare. "So, are you going to comply, or ignore my questions?"
He breathed. And with that, popped back into the water. Briskly, she blinked for a moment to absorb the explicit action that told her to piss off. Standing up on her feet, Lara anchored disdain to the basin.
"I'll be back tomorrow," she curtly stated while wiping her hands together to rid of excess moisture. "Maybe by then, you'll have had enough time to think about it. Or stay and enjoy the experience of being pulled apart. Whatever floats your fins," she finished to the formless water.
Lara wasn't prepared for this. It wasn't her obligation, but she wasn't going to sit by and pretend this was okay. Even if the person she was trying to help was less than cooperative, if they were to switch seats, she couldn't picture a trustful bone she'd have in her body, either.
One thing stood in certainty; her facility really needed to be careful on who they chose as volunteers.
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