Hedgehogshipping (Kajiki Ryota/Yami Marik)

. . .

Ryota heaved himself out of the pool, his hair hanging in thick spikes of soaked locks around his face. Only his goggles managed to keep the hair from really drooping over his vision, and he sighed as he pulled himself onto the side and got to his feet, leaving puddles dripping around him.

Behind him, he heard the faint splash of the Lapis', the orca, tail smacking the water. He sighed. She was getting anxious, he thought. Or, well, she was always anxious, he supposed. How else was a creature like her supposed to feel all cramped up in a tank that was barely big enough for her to swim in circles in?

After her trainer had fallen ill a day ago, he had only really planned on hanging around for a little while, just to help her get back on her feet again. But seeing this...horrid excuse for an aquarium was getting him all tense. Orcas shouldn't have been put into tanks in the first place, but at least the other aquariums he had been to and worked at had bigger fucking tanks. He didn't feel like he was going to be leaving here for a while. Not until he could see what he could do for Lapis.

He turned back around towards the water. Lapis hung just below the surface, her white eye spots glimmering at him as though she could see with them. He crouched by the side of the water, hand hovering above the pool as though he could send some kind of calming vibrations to her through his palm.

"It's okay, girl," he murmured. "I know...I'm pretty tense too."

Lapis didn't respond, obviously, but he felt like she was looking at him, maybe listening to his voice. He moved his hand away from the water and stepped back out of her range. She really was tense, and he didn't want to provoke her. Going in to check on that scrape she had gotten from banging into the side of the tank was probably stimulus enough for one day. If she went after him, it'd be his own fault.

With another big sigh, he turned back towards the doors at the other side of the room. Time to get changed out of this wetsuit, and see about getting something to eat.

He stopped in his tracks all at once. A crawling sensation, like a hand on his spine, dragged down his back.

There was someone standing in the doorway.

There shouldn't be anyone in this arena, he thought, his whole body tensing. It was late, and there hadn't been any shows today anyway; the whole arena was blocked off while Lapis was healing from getting banged up on the tank.

From this distance, and in the darkening evening sky overhead, he couldn't quite make out who was there. They were probably a little bit taller than Ryota, their shape obscured by the long dark cloak around their shoulders.

"Excuse me," Ryota called out, taking a few steps forward. "This place is locked off for a reason, you know. You need to leave."

The cowled face stirred, lifted just a bit. He couldn't quite see the face under the shadow of the hood, but he couldmake out the tanned skin, darker than even his own. One hand moved out of the shadow of their cloak up under their hood, as though to press at their temples.

Ryota moved forward again, squaring his shoulders.

"Are you listening to me?" he called again, anger leaking into his voice. "You can't be in here. Didn't you see the employee only signs?"

A sound behind him made him pause, and he blinked, glancing over his shoulder.

Lapis was poking her head out of the water, her mouth popped open to show her teeth—or rather, her sad lack of them, drilled holes where gleaming incisors had once been. She bumped her head lightly against the side of the pool, tail flapping against the water. She bit the side, and then moved back to pop her jaw again.

Why is she threatening?Ryota thought. They usually only do that to other orcas, but there aren't any at this aquarium, and we're not close enough for her to think she has to do that—

A faint, uneasy hiss seemed to fill Ryota's ears, and he found his gaze moving back towards the man in the doorway.

His hood had fallen now, and Ryota could see that he certainly wasn't from around here. His tanned skin implied the Middle East, his jewelry reminded Ryota of middle school projects about ancient Egypt. His hair poofed around his head in thick, platinum blond spikes, and his eyes were...

Ryota shuddered. Those eyes looked flat. As though there were nothing behind them, as though the man standing in front of him wasn't actually alive—but a dead person walking.

Those eyes flicked over to Lapis, where she continued to pop her jaw, and flap her tail with agitation.

A brief, eerie smile twisted the man's face as his eyes moved back to Ryota.

"Sorry," he said, something like a laugh coloring his tone. "I think I went to the wrong place."

His smile widened, showing of teeth so sharp that they could have been an orca's.

Then with a snap, he turned around in a rush of purple fabric, and disappeared into the shadowy hallway.

Ryota didn't move. His hands were trembling, his throat was dry. Behind him, he could hear Lapis settling down, the water stilling around her.

After a long moment, Ryota slowly, slowly lowered himself down to a sitting position. His legs were shaking too badly for him to stand. He laid his hands in his lap and stared at his palms.

What the hell had just happened here?

. . .

A/N: Idk this was just an excuse for me to write about an orca to be completely honest. Next will be Headdressshipping (Priest Mahad x Priest Set).