Beso Toxico draft - 2022/10/30

   In the beginning, Terra knew only land. There was water, of course, but only in rivers and lakes and streams. One day, however, people came from the sea- Ægir, so they called themselves. They lent their aid, their resources, and their knowledge to the coastal country of Iberia. Iberia learned of the sea, and the people of Iberia grew strong through the sea and the people that came from the sea.
   One day, monsters rose from the sea. A great wave of these monsters washed over Iberia's shores, consuming all in its path. Settlements, lighthouses, coastlines, and even their vaunted naval fleets were lost to the sea. In the monsters' wake, Iberia was but left a husk of its former glory, the first sacrifice to the sea.
On that day, Iberia learned to fear the sea, and all born of the sea.

   The sea.
   The sea. The sea. The sea.
   Water all around. Dragging down, down, down into the awaiting abyss.
   Yes, no place for light, so back into the darkness, where nothing would be perceived.
   The sea, the sea, the sea, the-sea-the-sea-the-sea--

   Blue Poison bolts awake in a cold sweat, panting hard. She looks down at her hands tightly gripping her comforter- Still fleshy, with a tinge of rosy pink, though red at the tips. In other words, she has normal hands. She takes a deep breath, holds it in, lets go of the comforter with a sharp exhale, and turns her palms up to look at them. She touches her face, feels the soft, well-maintained flesh concealing her head. Mercifully, they are also perfectly normal for the time being.
   She sighs, and recites to herself the same mantra as always whenever nightmares like these happened.

   "I am an Anura from Iberia," She speaks aloud, but there's only herself to listen. Instinctively, her eyes look down at her still-shaking hands like she was reading off of a Lateranian religious text, which would probably be a lot easier for an Iberian like her to talk about than this, "I work for the pharmaceutical company Rhodes Island as an Operator. My code name is 'Blue Poison'. My specialty is in toxicology. While I primarily assist in treating toxins and toxicants as well as researching the potential adverse effects of various chemicals and substances, I can use my extensive knowledge of how to administer over one hundred different poisons, analytical skills, and personal experience with anatomy to... effectively dispose of enemies."

   With this final article stated, Blue Poison sighs and flops onto her side. Her hands reach for the comforter, pulling it over herself and gripping it tightly. After a while of facing towards the window, she turns away from the warm sunlight that now peeps into her room through the blinds. Her eyes fall on the full glass of water still sitting on the folding table. Reluctantly, she shrugs off her comforter, slides out of bed, drags herself over to the table, picks up the glass in both hands, and downs half of its contents in one gulp.
   She lowers the cup from her mouth. One hand absentmindedly leaves the cup and brushes up against the patch of black and blue scales along her neck, feeling them pulsing, almost breathing a sigh of relief as her body rehydrates. Blue Poison rears her head back, tips the cup back up, and downs the rest. Her arm slams the cup back down with a loud enough thud to make her flinch. She shakes her head, dragging her hand along the table for support as she pushes her body towards the bathroom door. Her hand reaches for the control panel, but then the door slides away without her input- A young girl with long, wheat-blonde hair nonchalantly peeks out from behind the door, blinking at Blue Poison's sudden presence. Though she's mostly-dressed, her hair's still a little wet from the shower, and her scaly tail shyly wraps around her leg.
   The girl's jugular is easily accessible. She knows how easily her hair tangles, impedes her movement. It would be easy to knock her off-balance and then--

   "Oh. Hey. Sorry, Indigo," It takes a second for Blue Poison to remember that she was standing in the way of her roommate who just came out of the shower, and she stumbles back from the door to give the other girl space.
   "It's alright," Indigo offers a shrug as she walks out of the bathroom, walking past Blue Poison and tilting her head again. She pauses, dwelling on if she should point out that Blue Poison didn't even use her real name, Aria, but she simply decides to not. "You had a rough sleep, or something? You're up before Glaucus, usually. She got a bit fussy that I was the one waking her up this time- she had to hurry for a meeting in Engineering today."
   "Mm, yeah. That's about right. Just a bad dream," Blue Poison absentmindedly tucks back a lock of her bubblegum-pink hair. She steps towards the bathroom, but then lingers at the door to look back at Indigo, one hand holding onto the doorframe. "Glaucus must've gone to one of those department meetings, huh? I'll have to make it up to her somehow."

   A hot shower should do it. One that really gets the little mirror by the sink all fogged up. Maybe she'll use some of that nice-smelling conditioner that Glaucus got for her, too. She remembers not the name or the brand, but Glaucus was right; The conditioner smells flowery and indisputably pink. Glaucus was usually right about these sorts of things in her own little way, even if Blue Poison didn't really get it at first.
   She finally steps out of the shower feeling clean and alive and without the unpleasant subconscious thought that a monster would burst out of her chest like in one of those horror movies. By the time she gets out of the bathroom, Indigo's still sitting in front of the dresser mirror, brushing her hair. Blue Poison helps with untangling it.
   They hum a faint tune together- Indigo leads, she follows. Blue Poison had quickly learned that Iberian Operators at Rhodes Island saw their homeland differently not just from her, but often from each other, too. Despite that, Blue Poison found solace when Indigo hummed this familiar melody while taking care of her hair. Since then, they took mornings like these to console each other with the music of their homes.

   "So, what's the plan?" Indigo breaks the silence of their ritual finishing, sliding herself off the chair and picking up her staff by the dresser. "Gonna try to bribe your way back into her good graces with baked goods? It was cake pops last time. Any new ideas?"
   "Hey, I can do more than just bake, you know," Blue Poison rolls her eyes, grabbing her jacket hanging off of the back of a chair by the folding table, looking back at her while she slides it on with one smooth, trained motion. "I was thinking of spending some time with her. Maybe take her shopping. I took a look, and the city we're docked at has a nice place downtown that she'd like. Wanna come with?"
   "I'd love to, but they've got me looking at the Originium reactors again today," Indigo shakes her head with a sigh, sauntering over to the door's control panel and leaning against it while it opens to look back at Blue Poison before continuing, "Besides, I wouldn't want to ruin it; Three's a crowd, and this is between you two."

   Toxicology has a bit of overlap between Engineering and Medical at Rhodes Island, so Blue Poison knows her way to the Engineering Department. She keeps her hood up, hands stuck in her pockets while she walks quietly, outer rim of her foot coming down before the rest of her weight.
   It's not that she's afraid of someone seeing her. Even she can't help but glance at a pair of Kurantas stacked up, one riding on top of the other, running through the halls with a boisterously drawn-out "yeehaw". They wave at her from a distance, and she waves back, but says nothing. It'd be so easy to stick a foot out, even roll one of her darts in the way. She wouldn't even have to especially disable them afterwards- They would collapse under their own weight. Two darts, and so would be their end. It's as easy as--
   She shakes her head, and they leave her sight, thankfully. She hurries onwards, navigating up a few corridors to find a small conference room. The door is left ajar, but even so, the window at the front of the room would have shown its sole occupant at the time.
   A somewhat unremarkable young girl, about the same age as she, maybe a little older, sits at a chair along the side of the meeting table (just two folding tables placed end-to-end), fiddling with the mechanical braces around her legs. The room is well-ventilated, and her blue turtleneck sweater made Blue Poison envy her comfort just a little. Under the black beanie hiding her ears, her hair came in a myriad of blues and two buns at her side. If Blue Poison focuses on her any further, she's sure to find even more about her.
   She raps against the door, which gets the girl's attention. She pouts, however, and resumes messing with one of the buckles on her braces.

   "Here, lemme help you," Blue Poison whispers, walking a bit faster than before to kneel by the girl. Buckles refitted, straps redone. The girl stands once more, but doesn't look at her. "Um, sorry, Glaucus. I just--"
   "You're late," Glaucus mumbles while she walks up and hugs Blue Poison. She hugs her back, gently patting her on the back. They hold it just for a little longer, but inevitably, they must let go.