Creativity Must Be Present {Oneshots for The Boiz(tm)}

Subnautic Danger

Armin Arlert x Male Reader

(Subnautica AU!!)
((P.s, I know the Seamoth is designed for only one person—as there's only one player in the game(you), but for purposes of this oneshot, it'll be built for two people.))

"Ah, damn..," Armin mumbled, gazing down at his tablet with a troubled expression.

"What's up, Ocean Man?" You asked, curious of the blonde's concern.

"This recipe, it says we need some brain coral samples." He sighed, analyzing the nearest deep cave to find them.  "Nearest deep cave is—"

"In the Kelp Forest." You finished before him, smiling up at the blue-eyed cutie from the moon pool. He looked back at you with that same amount of admiration he'd had since the day you both first met.

With a few remarks here and there, you exited the moon pool and shook off a little, then proceeded your walk to the lockers.

You each grabbed what you needed, loaded it into the Seamoth, and headed out.  Of course, it didn't take very long to find a cave in Kelp Forest.

Seeing that the Seamoth wouldn't fit through the opening, you decided to leave it where it was "parked," as you liked to call it, and swim down manually instead.

Continuing to descend, you felt an odd presence... suddenly, a mechanical voice spoke.., and you were instantly drawn to its source...

"It is your primary directive to swim closer to that beautiful creature..." The robotic voice slurred. Turning your attention towards the voice, a slightly blurry image started getting closer and closer.

It just..,

"It looks so pretty..."
"It looks so pretty..."

"Seriously? Look, I'm appreciative of this planet and all of the incredible scenery it has to offer but, it's just a bunch of- (Y/n)!" Armin exclaimed, dropping his inactivated beacon to rescue his partner.

"Swim closer now..."

"(Y/n), stop! You're gonna run out of oxygen!"

"Do not resist..."

Armin frantically swam towards you, trying to pull you away from the Mesmer and snap you out of its hypnosis.

"(Y/N)!" Looking into your eyes, the blonde noticed your blown pupils and entranced expression; it was then Armin realized he couldn't pull you out, so he'd just have to attack that attention-seeking fish instead.

"This is why..," he grumbled, "we never enter deep caves.." He pulled out his thermal blade and drew back his arm.

"Alone!" With that, he stabbed the Mesmer, keeping his grip tight when he felt it begin to squirm and struggle.  He wounded it again and again until, finally, it floated lifeless in the water.

You blinked and shook your head, quickly you knew exactly what would have happened had Armin not been here with you. Or vice-versa — the same thing would most likely have happened to Armin had you not been here.

"(Y/n), are you okay!?" He asked, tugging you into a tight embrace.

You felt the delayed dread bubble up in your stomach as your heart beat faster from the panic, but you wrapped your arms around Armin nonetheless, squeezing him in your hold.

"I'll be alright..." You trailed off, deciding you be well off not letting your mind wander towards the variables; the "what if's."  Suddenly, you realized something, your (e/c) eyes blowing wide.  "Did you-?"

"Drop the beacon? Yeah..." Part of him felt the urge to sigh, but didn't want you to feel like it was your fault — because it honestly wasn't. Instead, he peered over the ledge they had stopped at, cringing a little at the lack of field of vision.

"We could go down and get it," you suggested, taking a glance down into the ravine as well.

"I don't know. Down there, there's a high chance it can lead to the Lost River. That's over nine hundred meters down — almost a thousand." He recalled, turning back to face you with a cautious underline in his expression.  "We don't have the next depth module; the Seamoth can't make it that far"

Your eyes flickered back and forth between nothing in particular, the lightbulb could practically be seen levitating over your head when you came to an alternative option.

"The Seamoth won't," you started, "but the Prawns can." You smiled a little, proud of your distinct memory in this moment.  "We just installed the new module in Pinkie and Pepper last week..! We can make it."

"Even if we can make it, you know what's down there, (Y/n). We both do." Armin reminded.  A list of threats immediately flashed through your memory; the two that stood out the mist were Crabsquids.., and the Leviathan.

Right as you thought that, the blonde before you noticed your conflicted features. You knew it would be dangerous, but it's been a while since the two of you had faced danger head-on.  Not like the Mesmer, of course, you don't mess with Mesmers. But, Crabsquids? The Ghost Leviathan?   You felt a rush travel up your spine as you shivered.

Seeing that look on your face.., it always sparked some sort of... deep embedded urge within him. With a silent sigh, he lead you back to the Seamoth.

"Let's pick up some supplies from the base; double check the storage in the suits and sort everything out. Plan a route—"

"And a backup route," you added quickly.

"Of course. Can't have that happening again without something to fall back on." Armin smiles lovingly at you as you hop into the vehicle.  "Grab our laser cutter tools, scanners, sea-glides — with the holo-map module," as he listed off the necessities the two of you would need to succeed in this retrieval mission, you grabbed your tablet and went to work on copying the list.

Both of you knew damn well it would be much simpler — much more simple — to just make a new beacon.., but Armin didn't want you to feel too stuffy or cooped up. Considering the last time you did that, you went out on a midnight trek and came back with a nearly shredded Seamoth and a little more than a sliver of consciousness remaining.

"You're really gonna do this with me?" You asked the (taller/shorter).

"Of course. I'll always be here beside you." He smiled at you, you smiled brightly back at you.  "Now, off to gather our supplies..!"

Short, but I wanted to finish it^^ if y'all want a part 2, would mind :)

I'm tired, you guys know the drill~