Squid Pro Quo part twenty-nine
Banner by @hollyethecurious
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Squeeze.
What the bloody hell was he supposed to squeeze?! Killian wanted to yell. Except that squids apparently made no noise whatsoever, so Killian couldn't even properly vent.
Jones looked up from his gem. He made a noise that might have been encouragement, but also might have been a laugh. Knowing him, it could have been both.
Why couldn't he do this simple, squiddy thing? He'd caught squid before, and they'd always inked. Always. So why couldn't he?
He slapped the ground, annoyed. A rock skittered at the impact. And then a shower of smaller rocks rained down on him.
Lovely. He'd started a rockslide. Emma would find him crushed under a pile of boulders. Hopefully, it would at least squeeze some ink out of him.
Jones stopped laughing and stared, his eyes widening in horror. He bellowed, scooped up his gem, then scrambled across the rock towards Killian.
Killian couldn't roll his eyes to look up, but a deep hissing sound clued him in: one of the snakes was on the rock above him.
The vibration of its movement knocked Killian sideways, and suddenly he had a front row view to a massive jaw rushing towards him.
Jones bellowed again, then bit down on the snake's lower jaw. It gave a mighty shake, sending Jones sailing into the darkness, leaving Killian alone with the cobra.
It struck, but Killian had managed to shift enough that its head landed near his tentacles, which he immediately wrapped around the snake's upper jaw. He clung on grimly, right between the snake's baleful eyes as the snake shook it's head rapidly, but he wouldn't be dislodged.
Ink! he screamed internally. INK!!!!
Half of his tentacles lost their grip, and Killian was dangling precariously below the snake's head - at the same level as that bloody necklace that was the cause of his predicament. But he couldn't do anything about it - one more shake and he'd fall, and then HE'D be calamari.
Something soared past the cobra's head, distracting it enough for Killian to shift his position. It was Jones on what looked like a frayed carpet, bobbing through the air. Killian pointed a tentacle at the necklace. Jones nodded.
While Jones kept this snapping jaws busy, Killian swung himself over to the necklace. He'd have to somehow creep along to the clasp. If Jones just kept Jasmine distracted long enough...
Jasmine threw back her head and made an odd screaming sound - which was immediately answered. It was followed by the sound of something crashing through the rubble.
Oh. Good. Aladdin was joining the party.
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