Chapter Text
Alit with the pale glow of sea lanterns, Meris Hollow welcomed Gem for the first time. Breathing in water was a strange sensation, but she adjusted, after her breath was taken by the sight of a vibrant, submerged civilization. Stars were left in her eyes as she scanned the cavern, a mix of scavenged homes and natively-built structures mixed marvelously, dotted with the occasional muted color of coral or bioluminescent plants.
Grian led the way, though his familiarity was barely better than her own. Some key locations were of ease for him to find again, however, notable among them being an eclectic café of sorts—Lizzie’s Eatery. The concept struck her as familiar, perhaps the tug of a similar memory from her land life.
“Lizzie!” Grian greeted, pulling Gem in behind him.
“Oh! Hi, Grian,” the woman returned, peering curiously toward Gem. “Um. I’m sorry, we’re closed for the day.”
“It’s fine, she’s a friend,” he clarified, “not a customer. I wanted to introduce you two—she’s new here.”
Gem waved timidly, looking over the light-haired woman. Her frilly fins waved gracefully as she gestured along with her words. “Interesting,” Lizzie said, offering her hand out with a smile. “Nice to meet you then. What’s your name?”
“Gem,” she answered, shaking the woman’s hand. Oddly formal, she thought.
“Lizzie runs this place,” Grian began explaining, “and she’s technically my boss.”
“You work here?” Gem broke in, eyeing the café interior. “What do you… do?”
Lizzie fought a laugh and lost.
“What do you mean ‘what do I do,’ I do a lot! I cook, I clean, I—”
An unfamiliar voice broke in—a man, leaned against a doorframe leading further in, commented, “You’re making it sound like you’re my wife’s housewife, Grian.”
Rolling his eyes, Grian gestured vaguely to the newcomer. “Gem, this is Joel,” he introduced.
Brief bouts of conversation like this were the cornerstone of Gem’s first day here—meeting acquaintances of Grian’s across the city, although many of them hardly seemed to know him. Assorted traders in town—one of enchanted books, another of miscellaneous land trinkets. They were nice enough, Gem reckoned. Everyone in the city seemed rather nice—passersby would occasionally offer a smile as she passed, if she waved.
“There’s one last place I want to show you,” Grian broke into her thoughts. He paused, casting an uncertain look toward the residential district. “Assuming the two of them don’t want to bite my head off the second they see me.”
“You sure do know a lot of people,” Gem laughed. “I’m all for making friends, but my god, I’m—”
“Gemstone!” An enthused shout forced the pair to shift focus, the energy in the air converting from still to lively. With a large wave, the black-haired mer from which this exclamation sourced began to make his way over. “And you tried to tell me you can’t swim,” he tutted. “I knew it was a lie!”
Grian and Gem exchanged a look.
“Uh—do I know you?” she asked.
“‘Course you do! It’s your ol’ buddy Skizz!” He beamed, placing a hand up and stage-whispering, as if it were something to keep secret, “Pearl introduced us at the Fest, up top, remember?” Skizz pointed lightly upward, to which Gem glanced at the cavern roof, seeing nothing of note. Grian responded to an expectant look from Gem with a shrug, her feeble hope that he might know more than her squandered in one motion.
She let out a nervous giggle. “I don’t think I remember—can you jog my memory?” she tried.
Skizz’s shoulders sagged. “Wow, I thought I left a pretty good first impression,” he said, sighing shortly before beginning again. “You, me, and Dipple Dop spent a while standing around and chatting—lot of it was about you being a mer, in fact, and—ha, I guess we’re out workin’ the night shift, huh?” He chuckled, shooting her a pair of finger guns, as if this was a joke she was supposed to be in on. She made an uncertain sound, leading him to add, “You kept being all hush-hush about it, using sneaky codewords. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten everything you did when you were walkin’ around up there!”
Grian narrowed his eyes in consideration, asking, “You and Gem knew each other on land, right? And you remember all that?”
“Psh, obviously! Why wouldn’t I?”
Gem’s eyes widened, a spark of interest lit in an instant. Her breath caught in her chest.
If Skizz remembered both of his lives, then…
She glanced over at Grian, who’d frozen in place, brows furrowed in contemplation. Gem caught his gaze and he nodded minutely before exhaling slowly and saying, “That’s interesting. You’ll have to tell us about it sometime.” His voice wavered ever so slightly at the beginning, but he fell back into his usual tone by the end, plastering on a friendly smile.
“Wait— ” Skizz paused. “You’re not weirded out by the land talk?”
“Not at all,” Gem answered, despite the question being aimed toward Grian. “Neither of us are. We’re both pretty big fans.”
“Right,” Grian agreed, tone twinged with annoyance. Readily, however, he moved on. “It’s Skizz, right? Look, can we talk again sometime later? You can find me at Lizzie’s—I work there.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, I don’t think we have the time to get into all of… everything right now, but definitely come find me literally any other time,” he implored.
“Busy day? I see, I see—well, I’ll be sure to keep that in mind? But could I have any idea of what you want to chat about?” he requested, a chuckle behind his words.
“It doesn’t— ”
“I should be there too,” Gem added suddenly. “I’m also taking a job there, if I can.” That was not a true statement until she said it, but what was a little spontaneity among friends, right? She wanted to be there for that conversation. To think, she could have both her land life and her sea life, without the risk of memory loss. Grian, too—and a thought came to her at that—”Oh, and next time you’re on land, you should talk to Scar about all the mer stuff! We’re good friends. He’d love to hear about it, I’m sure.” She smiled.
Skizz blinked, hit with a lot of information at once. “Sure thing, Gemstone and… other one. What’s your name?”
Grian grabbed Gem’s hand, beginning to swim off already. He called behind him, “Name’s Grian! Bye!”
Skizz watched them for a while before he seemed to have a sudden realization. “Wait—Grian?!”
But they were already off.
“Think he knew you, too? Or, land you?” Gem asked.
“Maybe. Not enough to recognize me, though, so clearly not very well, if he did.”
“Hey, your only point of reference is Scar. It would look like nobody’s ever heard of you in comparison to how well he knows you,” Gem pointed out, chuckling.
Grian shrugged. “Yeah, I guess,” he conceded, his pace slowing. He let go of Gem shortly thereafter, tense as he swam ahead. He scanned a few of the homesteads but ultimately stopped before a quaint house, a coral garden affixed to the wall, although aesthetically it acted as though it hung from a swirling metal art piece above it.
Gem brought herself to a stop just behind him, looking over the place curiously.
What kind of friends were these, she wondered, if they made someone like Grian so cautious.
The sandy-haired mer took a deep breath before raising a hand to knock.
“Coming,” a voice answered from inside. The door creaked open after a moment, revealing a blond mer of green scales, a coral headpiece nestled in his light hair. Eyes widened in surprise, he gasped, “Grian?”
“And company,” Grian added, motioning behind him. “Gem—she’s new here.”
The blond looked Gem over then nodded slowly. “Ookay. But more importantly—” He drew out that last word, lowering down a bit before launching forward to attack Grian with a hug. “You’re alive!”
In a mix of nervousness and surprise, Grian laughed. “I—yeah, I am! Sorry I made you think—Martyn, I can’t breathe!” By the end he was only squeaking out the words.
The green-scaled mer—Martyn—then pulled away, chuckling out a quick apology before shouting further into the house, “Scott! You’re not gonna believe it!”
Grian sighed and shifted backward, linking his arm with Gem’s as he offered her a reassuring smile. “These are the two that gave me a place to live when I first found myself here,” he told her. “I think you’ll like ‘em.”
Based on how this was the last place they’d visited, Gem came to a conclusion. “Did you—what, do you think they’re going to do the same for me?”
He nodded, scratching the back of his neck. “If you want it,” he said with a shrug. “I dunno if you’ll want to return to the land anytime soon but for now… think of it as a home away from home.”