Chapter Text
In the moment, Gus doesn’t know what to think.
For one, he’s flopping around. Sucking in breath after breath of air that only seems to make the black spots in his eyes grow bigger, and two. Two, well…he’s dying, innit?
It fills him with blinding rage.
His home is gone, shattered beyond repair with bits of rocks sticking to his scaly skin the more he flips around. The familiar water he’s cycled through millions of times seps through the wooden floorboards that will soon be his finally resting place.
It’s terrible…unimaginable, fucking unfair.
He’s been a good fish.
Gus is a very good fish, a very well mannered one. Despite living with a complete knob- though he would never admit that- Gus never thought he would ever want to lash out in anger, or think of the most vilest things until his little mind exploded. It was just not in his nature to be easily irritated, and he sort of prided himself on that because…well, he’s never had a problem with being slow to anger before.
But now? He’s never felt such fury. And the jabs of rocks digging into his sides doesn’t help much.
How did he even get here in the first place? And why him, why subject him to his fate?
What had he done before to deserve this?
One moment, he’s trying his absolute best to soothe a fish- a fish that reminds him of a waning moon- out of the short existential crisis he seems to be going through. And, yeah. He is going through it.
Then- the next, he’s here.
Dying.
Oh, what cruel unjust, karma he’s befallen upon.
How terrible…wicked, ugly, stupid-
Before Gus can take another breath, a gentle hand scoops him up. The motion feels like flying, his body almost jet lagging with how quickly he’s whisked away from the ground and then- and then plopped into a body of water that’s a few degrees too cold, and tastes like copper.
Though, no matter how utterly seething he might be in the moment, he takes his first gulp of pain free air gratefully for the first time in what felt like ages.
Sucking down gulp after gulp, the black spots slowly fade away.
‘ Holy…holy shit.’ The more he calms down, the quicker the realization starts to hit him.
Did he…did he just almost die?
Gus wiggles around in his new space, uncomfortable by the fact that…that it’s so small.
‘ what the fuck, what the fuck-‘
His panic halts as an object plops straight down in front of him.
A few pathetic bubbles escape him as he tries to flee, but after bumping head first into the side of the end of his new…’tank’, Gus is quickly reminded of his now limited space.
‘ Great,’ He flicks his tail angrily.’ Great fucking great-‘
‘ Oh! Gus!’ Steven emerges beside him in a mess of anxious wiggling. ‘ Are you ok? Are you hurt? What happened?’ He asks question after question, barely breathing or allowing Gus enough time to even reply.
Steven swims around Gus in a frenzy, flapping his fins against the orange scales to rid them of any left over pebbles or muck that might be stuck.
‘ I’m so sorry, I don’t- your little home.’
Gus tugs away when Steven’s rambling starts poking at the bear in his mind.
‘ Don’t worry about it. I’m fine, you’re fine. Right?’
Steven bobs hesitantly under Gus’s gaze.
‘Y..Yes, but-‘
Gus flaps a fin in the others face.
‘ but nothing…We both had a brush with death, so what my home is…is gone.’ Saying it pains him, but it’s the truth.
He blows a few sad bubbles.
‘ At least we’re alive.’
Steven wiggles.’ Yeah…Guess so..’
They remain quiet for a while. Not really speaking to each other, but not ignoring one another either.
The new, empty home they’ve found themselves in- probably some sort of tin, as Steven had offhandedly mentioned to him- is still small. No matter how many times Gus tries to evade bumping into Steven, he can’t.
It’s…it’s almost humbling. Reminding him of the crowded beginnings in that tank of millions he had first come to before Steven found him.
He should be thankful it’s only him and Steven…and not thirty other fish that look just like him.
Gus wonders if any of his tank mates were as lucky as him…but that only makes him sad. So he stops thinking about it. Restlessly, he flicks his tail and blows a few bubbles.
Steven- not completely dumb to small changes in emotion- notices his friends discomfort.
‘ Gus, are you alright?’ The white fish almost blends into the background of their tank, making Gus’s eyes go cross a bit before the settle on the splash of black on Steven’s fin.
‘ What’s wrong?’ He’s jerkily stopped in front of Gus’s mouth to avoid another collision, but with the way Steven’s tail seems to act on its own, they bump heads anyway.
‘ Oh dear,’ Steven swims back a bit, embarrassed.’ I apologize for that…My tail-‘
‘ It’s fine. Steven.’ Gus sighs. ‘ I’m…fine.’
Steven stares at him emotionlessly.
Gus rolls his eyes.’ Fine, I’m good. Ok? I’m good…Just leave me alone for a bit, ok?’
His tone might be a bit harsh with the way Steven seems to flinch- but Gus’s heart is not in at t moment to try help fix…whatever mess.
He’s a bit tired. A bit sad, really sad…actually.
Gus turns away before he can say anything else. Leaving his back to Steven.
It’s an unfair thing to do- to ignore the one person he’s stuck with…but Gus’s mindset has changed drastically within the past twenty minutes. He doesn’t think he can take on the weight of comforting someone when he- himself- knows he needs to be comforted.
It’s just exhausting.
Luckily, Steven seems to understand…at least, maybe a bit.
The other fish does throw worried glances at him time to time, or reaches out a fin before quickly wiggling away…but he doesn’t push. He doesn’t bombard him or overwhelm him.
He leaves Gus alone.
And- even though it might not feel like much- it’s the best thing Steven could ever do for him.
For now.
___
Jake’s shoes are ruined. He’s shucked them off long ago, now wearing nothing but a pair of ill-fitting socks on his feet, but the feeling of cold, tank water still chills the tips of his toes.
Oh, he’s also been banished to the farthest side of the room.
His ass squished into a chair two sizes to small and nose nearly scraping the wall he’s been…‘assigned’ to.
Jake knows he doesn’t have to force himself away from whatever conversations happening behind him- he’s a grown fucking man- but the outcome of reintroducing himself is less painful than sitting in a stupid chair. Staring at a stupid wall.
All without his stupid fucking, wet shoes.
He grumbles something unintelligible, causing Marc to quickly turn his head from where it’s been positioned on the white, ceramic casserole dish in front of him for the past thirty minutes.
“ Fucking talking to yourself?” Marc shouts from across the room.” Mind sharing with the class?”
Jake smiles tightly and turns so only Marc could see half of his face.
“ te destriparé.”
Marc’s face remained unamused.” Shut up.”
He turns back to the bowl without another word, leaving Jake alone and with his thoughts.
Layla is stuck between the two. She bites at her lip, opens her mouth, and then bites her lip again. Fighting with herself, she eyes between Jake and Marc, and then back to Jake.
She, too has had a close eye on the bowl for the time being. Watching in slight fascination, and pity, as the two fish swim around in circles.
She winces when the two brush against each their with every lap of the bowl they make, and guilts herself into trying to search for another- bigger- bowl.
But sitting there, eyeing the array of hastily throw about kitchen supplies, Layla knows that the casserole bowl is the biggest thing in Steven’s small kitchen.
And maybe one of the newest, she cringes. Remembering that there was still a barcode sticker on it makes her willing to remind herself never to eat anything out of the white dish in the future- if is even still here.
Marc’s sigh brings her out of her thoughts.
“ What is it?” The man looks up at her with a raised brow.
“ Whats what?” He asks, as if there’s not a problem with the way he hands have migrated to cupping each side of the bowl.
Layla rolls her eyes.
“ You’re thinking.”
“ What? Am I not allowed to think?”
Jake snorts from his place in the corner, earning two well deserved glares from Layla and Marc.
Layla turns back to Marc.” I didn’t say that, it’s just…When you think, you’re usually up to something.” She leans across the table they’ve sat at to hesitantly enter-twine her hands with one of Marc’s. Her thumb rubbing the top of his palm in little circles.
“ Can you tell me what you’re thinking about?”
Marc pulls his lips to the side, his thumb now rubbing back at Layla’s hand with equally sized circles.
He watches sadly as the two fish he saved almost an hour ago- though the fading adrenaline in his body keeps bumping at his mind as if it were only seconds ago- and sighs.
Marc pulls his other hand away from the bowl to place it over Layla’s.
“ I don’t know what ‘m thinking about,” He takes a deep breath. “ Maybe, a lot of things…Yeah, but…you’re here, you were there when Khonshu popped up and dropped the stupidest of bombshells on us.” Marc avoids looking at her in fear of seeing any concern.
“ Why don’t you tell me what I’m thinking about? Maybe it’ll get my head straight.”
“ Que asquerosamente triste.”
“ Shut up!” The two shout in union, only arousing more chuckles from the man in the corner.
Marc rolls his eyes while Layla just grimaces.
“ I have a feeling that him being here is going to be more of a problem than we hoped it would.” Layla extracts one of her hands to dip a finger into the bowl of water. She twirls it around a bit, taking care not to frazzle the fish, and then pulls it out with a shake of the hand.
“ Don’t you think?”
Marc ignores the question entirely to also dip his finger into the bowl. Only, instead of purposefully ignoring the fish, he gives Steven’s little head a soft bump.
The contact makes Steven’s body wiggle around the width of Marc’s finger, but he soon becomes bored and swims around Marc’s finger just to ignore Gus.
Who’s strangely swimming in tight circles on the opposite side of the bowl.
Marc frowns and extracts his finger from the bowl, wiping it off on his shirt.
“ What’d Khonshu say about helping us?”
Layla quirks a brow. “ Uh, you were listening, weren’t you?” She taps at the table, face morphing into a bemused smirk at the shy glance she received.
Marc felt his cheeks heat up.
“ I was,” He coughs into his fist. “ I was too busy, er, with…” He gestures to the bowl of his in front of him and says nothing more. Face practically pleading for Layla to continue the conversation so he doesn’t have to.
She smiles at the ridiculousness of it, but a deep pit opens up in her belly as she recounts the flurry details that happened within their moment of panic.
Of course, Khonshu started it.
The big bird- while blind to Layla’s eye- created a noticeable presence in the room. It left her breathless, and the other two possibly too stunned to move.
She’d stayed quiet as Marc and Jake both dealt with the gods appearance in different ways.
Marc in the form of defense, his fists raised. And Jake in the form of…fascination? The look on his face was anything but emotional…though, if Layla twisted her memories just right, she might think he almost looked…relieved.
Which, he’s a bit strange already anyway, so the disgust in reaction to his reaction is not very surprising…but it is weird.
Layla can’t recall what actually happened next- just that the tank had broken and Marc and Jake were now fighting again.
Over what? Over the dish to put Steven in.
Jake had been the first to scramble away in his wet shoes, taking care not to step on any fishes, and hastily grabbed a frying pan.
Marc, of course, was horrified at the choice and pulled out the casserole dish from atop the cabinet.
He had been the one to actually save Gus and Steven from their waterless doom. Scooping them up quickly, one after the other, just to plop them in the bowl before the sink had even filled it halfway.
Layla recalls her hands shaking, but Marc’s put her nervous energy to shame with how erratically twitchy they were.
“ I left a note, did I not?” Khonshu awkwardly pushes Jake away as the man gets up close to him. A weird, personal smile on the third alters face.” What is the problem?”
Marc is hyperventilating. His arms nearly embedding the casserole bowl into his chest with how tight he is grasping it. It is a sure sigh- Layla knows from experience- that he won’t be present for conversation. Leaving her, unfortunately, to confront the bird.
The bird- god- that she can somehow now see. . . And somehow gather enough courage to yell at.
“ What the hell, you turned our friend into a fish!” She gestures to Steven swimming around in the bowl.” Why?”
Khonshu shakes his head.” I left a note, was it not read?” Without eyes Layla knows Khonshu is eyeing Jake, a grumble rising in the gods chest as he uses his staff to push Jake away. Again.” I believe I was very clear about my decision.”
Layla frowns.” Not. . . Not really. You just made him a fish, why?”
“ Political reasons. . . Mostly.” Khonshu tilts his head to think.” The gods were not pleased with my decision to keep Spector as an avatar, much less an avatar with two other separate identities. . . So, they gave me an ultimatum.”
Layla goes to speak but quickly grabs the back of Jake’s jacket and thrusts him away from the god.” Go sit in that goddamn chair.” She points to the corner of the kitchen, a wooden chair left there beneath all the clutter. She raises her brows when Jake tries to talk back and stomps her foot.” Go. Now.”
Jake slouches and leaves without a word. Though the way he purposely pushes all the junk off the chair seat, making a loud ruckus, proves that his silence is indifferent to what he is feeling.
Khonshu chuckles with a hand over his beak, trying to pathetically hide his amusement from the scowling Layla.
“ What was it? The ultimatum?”
Marc is less out of it than before, stumbling closer to Layla as he whispers apologies into the bowl.
“ you’re ok, you’re gonna be ok-“
Layla gently pushes his towards the kitchen table. A deep sigh deflating he chest as the situation weighs down on her.
She hides her face behind a hand while Khonshu tsks.
“ A shame a simple magic can do to humans, it is as if you have lost a part of yourself.”
Layla glares at him between her fingers.
“ What was the ultimatum?”
Khonshu leans onto his cane. Staring down at Layla with a crooked head that makes it looks like he is smiling.
“ Well, for one, I was either supposed to give up my avatar. Find another one worthy of me but . . . I had grown fond of this one.” He points his beak at Marc.” I didn’t want to let him go.”
Layla huffs and crosses her arms.” And you decided turning Steven into a fish would help? Please, save it.”
Khonshu’s chest rumbles.” It was not my first choice, I was thinking of a worm. Rather fitting I would say.” The Jake falls flat as Layla remains unfazed.” Oh, well. I told the gods I would not give up my avatar, and they set about a way for me to accomplish that.”
“ And?”
The god pauses for a moment.” Hmm, If I wished to keep Spector, I would have to rid him of his identities.”
Layla rolls her eyes.” Obviously.”
“ Yes, obviously.” The god replies back, copping Layla’s attitude.” And, I had believed my best option was to create them their own lives, give them freedom but. . . I miscalculated.”
“ What does that mean?” Layla looks down at the wet feeling seeping into her shoes, the fish tank water finally reaching her toes as it crawls forward. She takes a step back with a grimace.” Gross.”
The god clears his throat.” I thought my power would be enough to create two bodies to house Jake and Steven’s souls, but I was to weak. After creating Jake’s body I only had a drops worth of strength left. With it I had to make a decision to either place Steven’s body with Jake or…” He looks at the fish bowl before Marc, the man watching the two creatures swim around with a haunted look on his face.
The god sighs and looks back to Layla.
“ Or create a simple form. One that could house his soul long enough for me to gather my strength back.”
“ So,” She scratches a place on her calve with the bottom of her shoe. Her nose scrunching as a bit of muck chills her skin.” How long will that take? A few hours, two days?”
Khonshu grips his staff. A nervous look coming to his splotched posture.
Layla has a bad feeling in her stomach the longer the god is silent. Her hands scrunching and pulling at the collar of her shirt.
“ It, it won’t take that long. . . Right?”
Before the god could answer, his form starts to flicker. It phases in and out like a broken tv before, ultimately, disappearing.
“ What the fuck?”
Coming back from her re-encounter of the past few minutes, Layla watches Marc’s eyes flicker between her and the ‘fish bowl.’
She sighs an taps the table.” Yeah. . . I have a bad feeling this might take longer than we would have hoped.”
“ No shit- sorry,” Marc apologizes at Layla’s glare. His head bowed as it flushes.” It’s just, how? How are we gonna do this? I could barely keep Steven’s first fish alive, let alone this one!” He gestures to the other Gus.” That was Steven’s job! How the hell am I gonna take care of two fish?”
“ You won’t.” Layla smiles at Marc’s confused head tilt, her hands going to clasp over his closed fist.” I’ll help you. WE will help you.” She says that directly to Jake, still sitting in the corner, and gets a grumble in return.
“No quiero cuidar de ningún maldito pez…”
Layla and Marc roll their eyes.
“ Jeez, I know he is a part of me but. . . I kind of don’t like him.”
Layla rests her chin in his hand.” You’re telling me.”
They go silent for a moment. Eyes busy watching the two fish swim around before Marc sighs and pulls his hand away from Layla’s.
“ So,” He starts.” What now?”
Layla hums.
“ We should probably get another fish tank.” She cringes while looking back at the pathetic mess created my a mix of Khonshu’s presence and Jake’s careless ness.
“ And, and clean that.”
Marc groans.
“ Ok. . . Let’s, let’s get started. Don’t really want this place smelling like fish water more than it already does.”
Jake muffles a laugh and Marc slaps the back of his head when he walks by.
“ Shut up, dumbass.”