A World Once Familiar, Redux (Splatoon/Subnautica x Male Reader)

2: Sweet Escape

  "Many things. Language, history, cultures..." You shrugged, writing out one more note. This was the extent of the Calamari Inkantation you knew by heart. Or at least, what you could bring yourself to remember without feeling pain in your chest.

  Folding the paper in half, you held it up, hesitantly pushing it out of the slot you normally received food through. As it fluttered to the ground, a green crayon fell shortly next to it, bouncing a single time before rolling over to hit the rubber sole of Ashleys shoe.

  "Hey, Y/n, it'll be a few days before I get to, but..." Ashley reached over to take the paper, looking up from it to meet your blue eyes with her own green orbs for a moment.

  "I want to hear some of the history behind Ink Humans." She told you.

"I'll teach you about some human history if you can tell me some stories." She offered. Your response admittedly took a moment, processing the offer and translating some words in your mind over the course of half a minute to get a complete picture of what she was asking.

  "O...Okay." You lightly nodded, standing to walk away from the two humans, scooping your rubber ball off the floor with a single, fluid motion. With Frank watching, you took a low pitch, tracking the ball as it hit the floor, bouncing up against the wall, and then into your waiting hand.

"..." Frank watched your movements with interest as Ashley finally opened the paper you had slipped through, studying the music you had written out. The light hum of the Calamari Inkantation as she read through it almost caused you to tense up reflexively, as if expecting something instant to happen. Of course, it didn't. This was only someone humming the song. A song you never fully enjoyed.

A song you'd never get to try and surpass again.

...

The sun was bright this morning. An almost offensively incandescent glow that seemed to shine off every lightly-colored surface around you with one purpose: shining into your face to wake you up, dragging you from your slumber back into the waking realm.

  "Ugh..." Your mind was going at a slugs pace, something not helped by the lingering pain that laced across your back. That fight with the Oven yesterday was a bitch, and that burningly hot strike on your back still held its toll.

  If it weren't for that, maybe you'd have better luck forcing yourself to stand and face the square you had fallen asleep in, as opposed to the soft—

  "...!" Your eyes, once heavy and difficult to open, were now wide open, looking down. This wasn't the street you had fallen asleep on. You were... in a bed. One with a large, soft mattress, and blankets that had been carefully laid out, as if by a loving mother...

Raw, unbridled terror struck your mind for half a second as you snapped your body around, your breath quickening with every new detail you took in.

A large set of windows in front of you gave the immediate view of the occasional tree, but not much else. You were on an upper floor.

The actual room was large, rectangular in shape, with the bed you were in situated so the headboard was against one of the longer walls. A few shelves stood scattered, holding mainly books and the occasional accessory item, such as a figurine or stray magazine. To your right was a large door, which currently stood shut, keeping you away from the outside. On the opposite side of the room, just out of sight, a second door lay shut, with its only clear purpose not being an exit.

  This was not where you fell asleep. You'd been squidnapped. Where were you now? Where was this? This wasn't another ship, was it? Those were real windows, right? Not a screen to convince you to feel comfortable? You wouldn't be shocked if that was the case.