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Tank Ocean, the lonely aquarium, woke up in a cold sweat. Another nightmare in which he was engulfed by the cold, dark sea, salty water permeating his lungs.
He was embarrassed to keep having nightmares about drowning. After all, he was supposed to be an adventurous diver. And he was no stranger to nightmares, but ever since he was left alone, with no more fish or plants or life around him, within him, he felt empty, cold. Like he was drowning. After the human’s fish died, he was reluctantly left in the attic to collect dust, never to host another life.
But he was determined. Determined to find another fish, determined to start getting the attention he was given before, and determined to get over his fear.
The next night, he had decided to stay awake as long as he could to avoid the fears plaguing his mind. It was particularly stormy that night, and the power had gone out. Darkness creeped into the corners of the room as lightning occasionally drove it away. And then he saw someone. Someone he had never seen before, as he was a relatively new addition to the house.
“Oh!” He startled, “Hey dude! I’ve never seen you before. I’m Tank,” he spoke in a sort of surfer-dude accent. He cracked his knuckles somewhat nervously, his lack of sleep catching up to him.
“Oh, um, I’m Skips,” the shadowy, wispy-haired man looked up at him.
“Nice to meet you, brah!” He flashed a crooked smile, confidence returning. “So lemme guess… wait, don’t tell me! You’re the uhhhh…. Okay, tell me”
“I’m the shadows,” he looked down, a little embarrassed to be met by this new object in this form. He shook off the feeling, “and you’re the aquarium, right? I think I remember hearing your filter bubble at night when you still had…”
“Goldie,” he tried to smile. “She was… a great fish. But they can be high-maintenance, can’t they?” He tried to justify the human’s actions. It’s not like they knew he had feelings. Yet.
“I wouldn’t know, but that sounds… about right.” He offered his best sympathetic look, “So you’ve been pretty alone, huh? I mean, you’ve got the other objects in the attic, but… I know what it’s like to not exactly get along with people.”
“Yeah,” the room was silent other than the tinny sound of the rain tapping against the window, and the distant bellow of thunder. All the other attic objects were somewhere else, sleeping or otherwise busy. It would have been a calming moment if there wasn’t so much of an odd… tension in the air. “I could maybe,” his eyes flitted down to Skips’ lips for the most fleeting moment, “use some company….” He ran his hand through his perpetually wet, dark blue hair. “Oh, if you’re not busy, of course!”
Skips swallowed, a light gold dusting across his cheeks. “Did you have anything in mind?” He grew slightly nervous as ideas trickled through his mind.
“Well, it’s a little embarrassing, but… I’ve been having these nightmares. About drowning. And I’m supposed to be this awesome diver, but… since I lost Goldie, I’ve felt, ugh. I’ve been scared of the water. ‘S fuckin’ stupid,” He kicked at some dust on the floor.
“God, that’s terrible,” Skips offered, unsure of how he could help other than lending his ear.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to get frustrated there. Anyway, I have an idea. You’re shadows, right? So you can, like, manipulate them?” Skips nodded in response. “ Sweet! Okay, so, I think if the shadows, like, ‘drown’ me,” he air-quoted, “and I turn out fine, it should, like, make my brain less scared of real drowning!” He explained enthusiastically.
“Umm,” Skips considered. He knew using shadows wouldn’t help Tank get over his fear of drowning. Those things were just too different! But, maybe, this was Tank’s way of roleplaying? And Skips knew how good it felt to have someone to roleplay with, even if it was just for fun and not to get over a major fear. At the very least, it would help Tank feel less alone. So, what the hell? “Sure, why not?” He looked at Tank’s beaming face, feeling good about his decision.
“Okay, lemme just…” Tank struggled for a minute to peel off his wetsuit, revealing his swim trunks underneath. “Alright, this is more like how it is in the dreams,” he explained as he adjusted himself.
“Oh! Okay,” Skips tried not to stare as more gold blush threatened to creep across his face. There’s nothing weird about this, he tried to convince himself. When he looked back he saw Tank on the floor, propped up on his elbows, eyes closed in concentration. Picturing the water, Skips thought, stealing another glance at Tank’s happy trail and- Oh my GOD he has a happy trail. Skips forced himself again to be normal about this because this was normal and-
“‘Kay, I’m ready,” Tank looked up, mercifully interrupting Skips’ string of thoughts. Skips closed his eyes, trying to focus on pulling the shadows from the corners of the room towards Tank’s sweet bod. He distracted himself with his control over the darkness in the room.
“ Oh, ” The slightest noise escaped Tank as Skips’ darkness ghosted over his bare skin.
“Are you alright?” Skips worried, not wanting to scare Tank.
“Mmh, sorry, yeah. It’s a little cold.”
“Sorry, should I stop?” Skips panicked.
“Nah, nah, um,” Tank blushed slightly, glancing up at Skips, “it feels good.”
“Oh. Oh! Umm, good,” He flushed at the eye contact, still awkwardly standing over the diver.
“But,” he hummed in thought, “doesn’t feel like the water. It is cold, which is right, but it should be rougher, ” he said as he got up to his knees. You got this nightmare shit to deal with, you might as well see if you can bang this emo nerd, he thought, finally deciding to take advantage of the situation. Of course, he loved emo nerds, but he wouldn’t call Skips that to his face in case he would be offended by it. “I don’t really think you can recreate drowning with shadows, ” he admitted. “I just thought it’d be nice to finally be touched…. ” Skips fidgeted nervously with his nails as Tank rested his hand on Skips’ hip, coming face-to-dick with him.
“Tank…” Skips whined as he felt the diver reach to unbutton his pants.
“Can I?” He stopped moving, waiting for Skips to shakily nod, face nearly glowing with gold blush.
“Good,” Tank hummed as he hooked his fingers into Skips’ waistband, pulling his jeans and boxers down in one motion. His jaw fell slightly agape as he revealed a dark tentacle, glistening in what little light was left in the room. He sighed a breath of disbelief, breath hot around the sensitive appendage.
“S-Sorry if it’s not, uh, what you expected,” Skips muttered apologetically. Tank cut him off by giving the tip an experimental lick, and Skips whimpered. The sound went straight to Tank’s already throbbing cock.
“It’s better than what I expected,” Tank praised as he started to kiss along the shadowy shaft. Skips whined and tried to stabilize his slightly shaky hands by gently locking his fingers into Tank’s hair, hips grinding forward involuntarily.
“Tank, please…” Skips managed before falling breathless again, chewing his lip. As fun as it would be to make him beg , Tank thought, I don’t wanna scare him off just yet. To find a balance, Tank held Skip’s hips in place with both hands and took the whole thing in his mouth in one swift motion, just as merciful as it was startling. Skips gasped sharply and dug his bitten nails into Tank’s scalp, causing him to moan around Skips’ leaking dick. Skips could’ve sworn the vibration went through his whole body as Tank started diligently throating him, seemingly without even the idea of gagging. If his mind wasn’t too clouded with pleasure to even form a thought, he would’ve thought Tank was some kind of cock-sucking angel. The sound of Skip’s dick slamming into Tank’s throat, or rather, Tank’s throat slamming down on Skips’ dick filled the room, only muffled by the still heavy pour of rain against the roof, walls and window. Skips was moaning and whining louder by the second, legs beginning to shake. Tank slowly pulled his mouth off the tentacle, not wanting to let Skips go just yet. Skips looked down at him, whimpering at the loss of contact, of feeling.
“Wait, not like this,” Tank huffed, getting to his feet. He sighed in relief as his knees were just beginning to ache. He pushed Skips so his back was against a dusty wall, rough enough to send a shiver up Skips’ spine but cautious enough to avoid hurting him. “Is this okay?” He made sure to ask before pulling his trunks off.
“Anything,” Skips sighed as his eyes fluttered closed.
“Good,” Tank hummed again as he pressed a light kiss to the corner of Skip’s mouth. He hooked his thumbs under his waistband and finally let his aching dick come free, tossing the trunks somewhere on the floor. He held his hand up to Skips’ face. “Spit,” he requested firmly. Skips gave what little moisture he had in his mouth, which had been left dry from moaning just moments before, but Tank found it adequate. He gave himself a few relieving strokes before starting to grind his rock-hard cock against Skip’s still wet tentacle. Skips threw his head against the wall, moaning out loudly. Tank’s head fell forward against Skips' shoulder, teeth grazing the warm skin as he kept grinding against the shadow beneath him. “God, you feel so good,” he grunted. “Wanna fill you up next time I see you. Want you to know I’ve been waiting.” Skips clawed at Tank’s neck and hair in response, voice a shaking stream of loud moans and high whimpers. Tank knew he wouldn’t last long with this scrawny shadow moaning out his name like his dick was water in the desert. Skips was about to die of dehydration, but Tank was drowning. He had so much to give and Skips was so willing to take it. Take it for him.
“T-Tank, I-” was all Skips could manage before finally releasing what could only be his cum. It was dark and airy like the rest of him, but it was warm. Seeing this unfold was enough for Tank to come undone with him, hips still bucking and grinding as he and Skips came all over each other. Skips slumped against the wall, panting as Tank did his best to hold him up with his own body going limp. He laid the shadow down on the floor as gently as he could and laid next to him. After Skips caught his breath, he left as morning was approaching. Tank lazily threw his trunks back on and fell asleep on the floor.