Chapter Text
Upon arrival at SeaCaster Manor the party was quick to make their way inside and into Fabian's room, giving greetings to either Hallariel or Cathilda on the way. Fabian was not in said bedroom, he was downstairs in the pool house, eating what looked like an orange. He was in his swim trunks but didn’t look like he’d actually gone in the water yet.
Fig was the first one in the pool house, the sounds of her platforms slamming on the pavement as she shouted something along the lines of “Woo! Pool Party!” and started pulling her shirt off. Fabian jumped a good half a foot in the air, which evoked a fit of giggles from the rest of the Bad kids as they too filed into the pool house.
“Oh yes, please do come into my home uninvited and take part in a pool party I didn’t plan,” Fabian said, his tone tinged with what Gorgug was able to read as humorous sarcasm.
“Thanks, man, ‘preciate it!” Fig shouted, walking out from behind a changing rack, pointed tail flicking behind her. “Maybe swimming’ll get you out of the dumps, Besides, Cathilda said we could come over.” She stuck her tongue out at him as she walked out onto the pool deck.
Fabian looked around at the rest of the party, still pulling slices off of his orange to munch on every so often. He looked both mildly amused and also like he wanted to bash someone's skull in. He didn’t say anything, though, just kept to his orange.
Adaine was the first to speak up after Fig left. She sat down next to Fabian and cleared her throat.
“We heard about what happened, from Gorgug and Riz, and also Cathilda. They said you got in a fight and now you’re all sad, wanna talk about it?” Her tone was soft, a gentle look on her face. Fabian looked in the opposite direction, more towards Gorgug. He shot a glance toward Adaine before speaking.
“Not to you,” When Adaine’s face shifted into mild disappointment, he corrected himself, “At least not about this, it’s a personal thing I think, nothing against you..” His eye never wavered from where he was looking at Gorgug. Adaine nodded briefly before motioning for Riz and Kristen to leave the pool house with her, which they did, leaving Fabian and Gorgug alone. An uncomfortable silence leached from the walls, causing Gorgug to begin toying with the cords to his headphones.
“I’m suspended for a week. That kid's blood got all over my favorite tank top.” Fabian’s face was twisted into a cross between disgust and mild enjoyment, like remembering a long past battle. “He shouldn’t ever even think about coming near you again, though. Took care of that much.”
The silence returned. I t was almost deafening in its quiet. Gorgug could see Fabian’s ears turning on swivels, trying to catch any sound he could. The rest of the Bad kids could be heard outside, shouting and splashing in the pool, throwing a mini party. Once Gorgug had started blocking out the sounds of them, the silence returned, and discomfort began to settle in the air again
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Fabian's voice was soft, “Why didn’t you tell me? ” He looked up to Gorgug, his eye brimming with tears. He wasn’t quite sure how to respond. Fabian didn’t cry, ever, not since Leviathan, and only ever once before that: at his father's funeral. Fabian SeaCaster didn’t cry, not ever. But here, in this moment, in the silence between them, there he was. Crying.
Gorgug remained quiet, instead lifting an arm and offering the seat next to him to his friend. Fabian was still for a moment before pulling himself up and sitting against Gorgug’s side. Carefully, Gorgug began running a hand through the other boy's hair, gently pulling the tiny knots out of silver curls. Trying to figure out what he could say to explain himself.
“I didn’t want to bother you with something as small as that. I didn’t think it was that important…” Gorgug spoke calmly, he didn’t want to make Fabian more upset than he already was.
“Oh...”
“Yeah, sorry I didn’t tell you. You deserved to know what was going on...Everyone did.”
Fabian shook his head, “No, it was your right to keep it secret,” he paused, “I guess I’ve just been concerned about you. You have so much… confidence in yourself. I don't want you to end up hurt because you just wanted to be you, y’know?”
Gorgug nodded. Fabian was worried, and in a place like Elmville he had every right to be. People could be cruel, they’d all seen how the church treated Kristen and Tracker, how some adults looked at Riz and Fabian when they rode the HangMan together. How Dayne had treated Ragh after he came out about his feelings. It was bad. Elmville wasn’t a good place for the kids who didn't conform to what was expected.
The pool house was quiet again, Adaine was shouting something about sunblock and why it was necessary, and Fig was telling her about how she didn’t need it because she was “resistant to fire damage”. Gorgug was pretty sure that that wasn’t how that worked, but he didn’t feel like getting up to tell her at this very moment. He wanted to be here with Fabian, at least for now. He glanced down at his friend, who was finishing his orange, staring at the wall opposite to them.
“You know,” Gorgug started, “I knew this guy, you might know him. He was part of that group that killed Kalvaxus.” He smiled when Fabian looked at him. Gorgug didn’t like talking about that fight, but it was one of Fabian’s first large exploits, he loved it. “He’s like this cool pirate dude. Fought a dragon at prom. In a suit! Which is honestly wild.”
Gorgug trailed off for a moment, focusing on a particular knot in Fabian’s hair that he knew probably wouldn’t comb out. “I miss your twists…they were nice.” Fabian nodded, shrugging a bit
“I like the natural look right now, it’s more work but it’s nice...” He paused for a while like he was thinking. His hands remained preoccupied with the orange, though he wasn’t really eating it anymore, just playing with the peel.
He looked up at Gorgug for a moment, just examining his face, like he was trying to find something there…
“I would’ve beaten that kid to a pulp if you wanted. I’ve done worse for less. And if he ever screws with you again, I just might.”
Gorgug found himself chuckling a bit. He knew Fabian was protective, violently so at times. He just wanted his friends to be safe, happy, and protected. He was their knight; that’s the role he had chosen to take on when he joined the Bad Kids. Though at times, Gorgug wished that Fabian would just let himself be Fabian instead of being a sword all the time. Sure, he had reconnected with his heritage and started doing some good work as a bard and as a dancer. But he never prioritized himself, not really.
“I don’t want you to beat people up for me, Fabian. I can take care of all that on my own. I just wish you’d have a bit more self-preservation. Not everyone is going to be scared of you the way that kid was.”
Fabian gave him half a shrug, enough to acknowledge the words but not really any more than that. He was still upset about it all, upset he hadn’t seen the signs, hadn’t fixed everything sooner.
“I just- he harassed you. For who knows how longs, and we had no idea ! None! You’ve been off but I just assumed you were adjusting and I-”
“Fabian.”
The half-elf grew quiet, looking at Gorgug with furrowed brows, tears glossing his eyes again.
“No one knew. I didn’t tell anyone except Kristen, and that’s just ‘cause she found one of the notes in my bag… And I guess Riz found out at some point too, I don’t know when, though.” It was a weak defense; Gorgug knew that. He should have told his friends, should have made sure he didn’t have to deal with that alone. And his friends shouldn’t have had to find out about him being bullied through finding out that Fabian had beat the hell out of a dumb kid and gotten suspended.
“I’m sorry, I should have said something sooner. You all deserved to know.”
“I just wish you’d have let us help, you know?”
Gorgug sighed, giving a small nod.
“Yeah, yeah I know…”
Fabian didn’t respond again, letting himself sit in what Gorgug felt was now a comfortable silence. Then he stood, pushing himself off of the couch and turning to face Gorgug. A small smile on his face, just enough to be recognizable as such.
“Let’s go swim, yeah? I think we’ve left all of them to their own devices long enough.”