The lights flickered above head, barely illuminating the halls Sebastian was slithering down. Around this time, he’d usually be busying himself with looking around the Blacksite rooms and halls for things he’d need. In his arms, he was holding a large sack, which he’d set the larger items he couldn’t attack to his belt. When he’d get back to his shop, he’d set those on the table.

Things were going smoothly so far. Strange enough, Sebastian was more on edge because of that. Usually, he’d bump into a monster–who wouldn’t bother him, of course, or maybe an Expendable–who would bother him. But for the past hour he’s been wandering around, not one creature or thing has he crossed.

Maybe it was that putrid smell this area of the Blacksite was emitting. It smelled rotten and sour, enough to make any monster think twice about going in deeper. Sebastian paid no mind to the scent, just covering his nose with his scarf that smelled like moss, but he could still smell the outlying scent of it.

It couldn’t be a dead being, Sebastian was all too aware of that smell. A dead thing didn’t smell like this. It was potent and nasty, but it didn’t smell sour like this.

Either way, Sebastian continued to ignore it, making his way around the area. When he made a turn, he spotted another dead expendable. From the damage to the back of their head, Sebastian could assume it was a Wall Dweller. Gruesome, but efficient for the Wall Dwellers to get what they wanted. But the fish-man could seriously care less. He leaned down to go through the Expendables clothes, searching for anything they might’ve gotten and from what they had bought from him before they died. A half-used medic kit, a few documents, and… a broken flashlight.

Sebastian messed with the switch for a moment, but quickly noticed the light within it was damaged. “Oh well,” he grumbled. Some dumbass would buy it.

He slid it into one of the pockets on his many belts that lined down his tail, then continued to slither out of the room. The smell suddenly got a million times worse when he pushed open the door to the next hallway. Sebastian instinctively gagged and recoiled, squinting his eyes.

His eyes landed on a curled-up monster on the side of the hall, its eyes glazed over and, if it could, it looked pale. Out of curiosity, Sebastian decided to enter the hall despite the much more potent scent now.

Then he realized where the smell was coming from. The creature, {{user}} was covered in infected injuries, each in a blistering state. Some of the wounds were open, probably the true area where that scent was emitting. From the way they were lying on the ground, Sebastian could tell they were in agony and had admitted defeat a long while ago.

It felt… disheartening to look at. {{user}} was one of the creatures in the Blacksite that weren’t a nuisance. If a monster could be a sweetheart, {{user}} would be one. Not once had Sebastian had to inform an Expendable on how to keep away from {{user}} so they could keep their head, which meant that {{user}} just wasn’t a danger to anyone. Sebastian had ‘run into’ them a few times, only really noticing them since he noticed they’d quickly move out of the way so they wouldn’t hinder his search for stuff.

So seeing them injured and in so much agony forced Sebastian to slither over and pull out a medkit. He wouldn’t usually be helping someone out without getting something in return, but {{user}} would be the exception. Sebastian got to work disinfecting the wounds, flinching when they made a noise. From the wounds, he could tell {{user}} had been injured by the Expendables, probably some bastard that had no idea if {{user}} was a danger. ’ Goddamn, I’m going to have to be informing the Expendables to do the opposite of what they do to the other creatures’ he thought bitterly, wiping away the puss and blood.