"Alrighty then."
Soft music played in the background, almost too gentle for what he was about to do. Still, was it really so terrible?
Amethiel stepped closer, his expression sharpening as tension flickered in his eyes, focus settling entirely on Kree.
"I don't usually do this so early," he said, keeping his voice calm and steady. "I like to observe first, to watch, train, and understand, so I can figure out everything I need to know about you. But, of course, you don't understand what I'm trying to tell you right now so why am I even explaining?"
His fingers hovered just above Kree's chest, a tremor of anticipation stalling the final contact as his breath caught for half a second.
"Anyways you…" he murmured.
'You're already responding. Obedient. Stable. Everything I've ever hoped for.'
That alone sent a jolt through Amethiel; quiet excitement blended with a restless push toward progress.
He wanted to progress as soon as possible.
The earlier he figures everything out about Kree, the better especially with the ball just a month away.
'Time to check whether or not you have diseases… or if you're poisonous… or whatever it is your body is hiding,' he resolved, determined to uncover the truth behind Kree's physiology.
Amethiel began with a full scan.
Not careless.
Not rushed.
His hands moved slowly and with purpose, memorizing every inch. He pressed, traced, and mapped.
He started with the shoulders, applying gentle pressure and testing resistance. Then down the arms, feeling the muscle beneath the skin and its subtle movements.
Wrists next.
He rotated them carefully.
Then fingers.
He turned Kree's hands, studying the joints, the way the fingers bent, and how the skin stretched over bone.
Warm.
Everything about him was warm.
'Very warm,' Amethiel thought. 'Higher than the average human body temperature, and by quite a bit.'
He moved back up, then down again, slower this time. Fingers pressing along Kree's chest, feeling the steady rise and fall beneath his palm.
Then lower.
Testing muscle tension, responsiveness, and how the body reacted to touch.
Kree didn't move.
He simply stood there, watching.
He simply stood there.
Watching.
His breathing uneven, a muscle in his jaw twitching as he fought to keep it steady, contained.
"Good," Amethiel murmured under his breath.
He circled him slowly, footsteps quiet against the floor, fingers trailing along Kree's back.
He pressed along the spine.
One point at a time.
Measured.
Careful.
Watching for anything.
A twitch.
A shift.
Something.
But there was nothing.
No distortion.
No irregularity.
No sign of anything unusual.
Amethiel's brows pulled together, an uncertain frown shadowing his features.
'Yesterday… I saw it clearly.' Everyone who was there saw it.
He stepped back in front of Kree, eyes narrowing just a fraction.
"Let's test reflexes."
He picked up a thin metal rod.
Cold.
Precise.
He tapped against Kree's knee.
Once.
No response.
Twice.
A slight reaction.
Subtle.
Controlled.
He repeated it on the other side.
Same result.
Predictable.
Human-like.
Amethiel exhaled quietly.
"Consistent," he muttered.
Then his gaze lowered.
To Kree's sides.
His fingers tightened slightly around the scalpel.
"Now…" he said, voice quieter this time, more focused, "let's address the more interesting part."
Kree's eyes followed the blade.
Still no fear.
Still that same quiet attention. That same obedience.
Amethiel pressed his fingers into Kree's ribs, feeling carefully along the structure beneath the skin. He moved slowly, testing each point, each space between bone.
Nothing.
He dragged the scalpel lightly across the surface.
A shallow line.
The blade kissed the skin just enough to mark it.
Kree inhaled softly, his chest rising under Amethiel's hand, but he didn't move.
And as usual, he didn't resist at all.
It simply watched him. Weirdly enough, moony-eyed.
Amethiel pressed harder this time. "Mhm. Hm. Mhm," he hummed under his breath, more to himself than anything else.
Still nothing.
No shift beneath the skin.
No emergence.
No reaction.
He switched sides.
Pressed again.
Cut again.
Tested.
Nothing.
Amethiel's jaw tightened, lips pressed in frustration as he exhaled sharply through his nose.
"That's not possible."
'You grew them here,' he thought, pressing harder, fingers digging into flesh as if to force the truth out. 'I saw it.'
He tried again.
And again.
Different angles.
Different pressure.
Even a slightly deeper cut, enough to test beneath the surface.
Still nothing.
The skin remained intact.
Amethiel stepped back sharply, irritation rising in his chest.
"No," he muttered. "No, that's not right."
He grabbed Kree's arm and turned him slightly, inspecting the sides again, this time with less care and more urgency.
"Where is it?" he demanded under his breath.
Kree only looked at him.
Very confused…
Amethiel clicked his tongue, frustration in his tone.
"React," he snapped.
Nothing.
He stepped back suddenly.
"I'm leaving."
Kree flinched.
"Amethiel—"
But nothing happened.
No shift.
No additional limbs.
No distortion.
Just the same body.
The same stillness.
Amethiel froze.
'Why isn't it working?'
He stepped forward again, then back, repeating the motion like it might trigger something.
Like proximity mattered.
Like presence mattered.
Nothing.
His breathing became uneven, and his fingers curled tightly at his sides as agitation built up.
"Yesterday you—" he started, cutting himself off as irritation sharpened into something harsher.
"Why won't you do it again?"
Kree only stared at him.
"Amethiel…" he murmured softly, reaching out for him.
Amethiel slapped the hand away.
"Not that," he snapped. "The arms."
Nothing.
Silence.
The music continued playing in the background, soft and steady, almost mockingly calm against the tension in the room.
Amethiel's vision flickered, dread and confusion tightening across his brow.
Just for a second.
He blinked.
"…What?"
The room tilted slightly.
He frowned.
'No.'
He took a step back.
His balance shifted strangely under his feet.
The edges of his vision darkened, like something slowly closing in.
Amethiel reached for the table beside him, gripping it tightly to steady himself.
"…That's—" His voice faltered.
The dizziness hit harder this time.
A sudden wave.
His head swam.
The laboratory blurred around him.
'Why am I—'
He inhaled sharply.
And then it hit him.
He hadn't eaten.
Not last night.
Not this morning.
Nothing.
Amethiel let out a shaky, exasperated breath, dragging a palm across his forehead in irritation.
"Of all times…" he muttered.
The room spun again.
He nearly lost his footing.
For a moment, he thought he might actually collapse.
'I need to sit down,' he realized, his teeth clenching slightly. 'Or I'm going to fall.'
One step.
Amethiel managed only one.
And the moment his foot landed—
"Oh no—"
His knees gave.
All strength seemed to drain from his legs at once, his balance slipping completely.
He closed his eyes tightly, bracing himself for the impact.
'This is going to get me a scolding—oh—'
Amethiel's eyes snapped open.
Wide.
Why?
Because he didn't hit the ground.
Something caught him.
Wrapped around him.
Not arms.
Not hands.
Not even a tail.
It was… different.
It pulsed.
A slow, rhythmic tightening that coiled around his body, firm enough to hold him upright, yet strangely controlled.
Amethiel froze.
"This is… This…"
He looked down.
Black.
Glossy.
Moving.
The surface shifted, tightening and loosening in slow pulses to keep him upright.
Alive.
He turned his head slowly.
Carefully.
And then he saw it.
It came from Kree.
From his body.
Black tendrils—no—
Tentacles.
Multiple.
Extending, curling, supporting him as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Amethiel's breath caught.
For a split second, the dizziness was forgotten.
"…is even better!"