Ship In A Bottle

My Strange Hiring Journey

He's alone again.

It's barely been an hour and he's already missing you. Desperately.

He's not in his enclosure. Rather, a smaller, more secluded tank he recognizes after a moment of thought. It's where the humans put him when he has a relapse. Namely, when another member of their race gets caught in the crossfire and, more often than not, horrifically mauled beyond repair.

That's why his room was, to his knowledge, some sort of restricted area.

Yet you still found him, even when the odds were stacked against you.

A soft purr rises in Skull's ribcage at the thought of you. Stars, you were so close.

He wants more.

Much, much more.

But they took you from him. He doesn't bother stifling the possessive growl at the memory of that worker touching you. No one deserved to touch you—you were too good for all of them, him included.

But he was selfish. He needed you with every fiber of his being, them some.

And he would have you, because, deep down, you needed him too. You had to. What kind of creature wouldn't love their SOULmate, the one built so perfectly for them?

He did, however, know that true love was earned, never bought. He would earn your love, just as you would earn (you already had) his love. Time wasn't a concern, because he knew, sooner or later, you would fall.

he'd escape this stupid prison.

And he would be right here to catch you.

he'd find you.

Even if it took forever.

he'd a l w a y s be there for you.

***

"(Y/n) (L/n)?" The woman asks. "That's your name?"

"Yup."

A sheepish feeling burns your cheeks as you shift in your seat. You've been here for five minutes and the urge to rush past her and hurl yourself out the window is nigh unbearable.

"...That's me."

It's easy to not be proud of yourself. Especially when that's all people have told you.

"Uh-huh," she says. The sound her computer makes as she types grates your soul. "Hang on— you applied here."

"...Yup."

Silence.

The lady types some more.

"Well... you certainly made an impression."

She chuckles.

You don't. Your body is too stiff to manage such a feat. This is where she sues you and you go to jail because you can't afford to pay much of anything. You'll lose your boat and your money and your dreams. Which, to you, is just as good as death.

So, in short, this is where you die—in an "under-the-sea" themed room by a woman you can only assume holds enough power to end your life for going into a restricted area and provoking a giant siren, which caused said siren to repeatedly smash the viewing class with enough force to render it almost useless. It doesn't matter that he stopped in the end, only that you were the (assumed) perpetrator.

Why else would she be talking to you?

"I'll have you know that our team checked the security cameras to see exactly what went down. You put your hands on the glass and yelled 'stop'... and Skull stopped. You made him stop."

Your head shoots up.

What?!

There must be a hilarious expression on your face, because she chuckles. Your metaphorical hackles lower against your will.

"No one's come close to doing what you've just done, so I'll offer you a deal: either be banned from this aquarium and fined for damages or work for us as a siren keeper and make double what you applied for."

Excuse me?!

If you weren't surprised before, you definitely are now! The world seems to phase out of existence as you process the situation.

"I'd choose the second option if I were you," the lady supplies helpfully.

You know you will.

It just seems so sudden. So unexpected.

"This is..." you manage to choke out. "...why?"

"Because you have skills," she says. "And you're exactly what we need."