nice to sea you again

its just like their dreams. their feet are churning desperately as they wrestle to stay afloat, and a cold vice seems to grip their limbs and flood their veins, rendering them helpless against the waves crashing into them. in any other situation they’d have succumbed to it, would have frozen up and likely sunk to the bottom out of sheer blind terror. but Strai. Strai.

their head whips back and forth as they search frantically for his shape, their mind filling with static with every second that passes without hearing his voice or seeing his face. “STRAI!” they scream out, so loud their throat aches with it. “ASTRAIOS!” and then, as though resulting from some divine intervention, they spot him just as he sinks below the waves, eyes clenched shut and blood gathering at his temple.

for one terrible moment the world seems to slow down, everything thrown into sharp relief as they watch their friend slip from view. and then they’re churning wildly through the water without even registering their movements, kicking furiously. it’s as though they’re reacting on instinct, like something involuntary has gripped them and they’re helpless to do anything but just keep. pushing. forward.

sucking in a trembling breath, they duck their head below the water and kick downwards, their blurred gaze darting frantically as they search for his sinking figure. there. he’s drifting limply to the floor, and for a terrifying moment they fear he’s already dead. they shove the thought away so viciously it feels like a physical action and kick further downward, their legs burning with exertion.

somehow, miraculously, they reach him. somehow, they manage to sink their teeth into his scruff and wrap their paws around his shoulders, pulling him to their chest as they fight back up to the surface. he’s impossibly heavy, given his large size and his waterlogged fur, but they’re so desperate they don’t even let themselves even fathom the possibility of dropping him.

when they finally break the surface, Spider gasps in a deep breath and splutters, coughing loudly. they manoeuvre Strai so his head is also above the water and begin to swim for the shore, their heart pounding a terrified staccato against their ribcage with every stroke. don’t you dare die on me, you grumpy bastard. i swear to the stars i’ll never forgive you if you die.

"Speech"