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“Where’s Gill?” Jay asked, leaning against the railing of the ship as waves lapped against the side, spraying a mist of saltwater into the air.
“Probably still below decks,” Chip responded, pulling at a rope connected to the sails, he elbowed himself in the stomach and yelped.
“Have you seen him at all today?” Jay raised one eyebrow, watching Chip massage his torso.
“Nope.”
“And does that not worry you?”
“Nope,” Chip tilted his head to the side, glancing over at Jay, “he’s a big boy, he can take care of himself. He did take a good half of shift last night so he’s probably sleeping in I don’t know.”
“I’m gonna go see what he’s doing,” Jay pushed herself away from the railing, she scuffed her boots against the ground as she walked by Chip. Chip shrugged and rolled his eyes. The palms of his hands were rubbed raw from the friction of the ropes.
Jay slammed the door as she shuffled below decks. The ruffles of her shirt tickled the underside of her neck as the wind from the sudden slam moved them.
She checked the kitchen first, figuring that Gillion could’ve just woken up late and is eating breakfast now. Not that Gillion woke up late for anything, it still might’ve been an option.
However, the only person in the kitchen at the moment was old man Earl, and Jay decided that she didn’t want to disturb whatever he was doing. His back was turned and it definitely looked like he had a knife. Not a good combination to walk in on, especially considering Jay valued her life.
She backed out of the kitchen and shut the door as quietly as possible, moving to the sleeping quarters. The waves were rough today, despite the clear skies which caused Jay to sway as she walked, leaning against the wall for a brief moment of support.
Nudging the door to the sleeping quarters open, Jay took a quick scan of the room. Chip’s hammock swayed with the boat and his blanket had been left on the floor from when he woke up. Jay had pulled the curtain back around her cot after she got up which meant that she couldn’t see in there. The other unused cot in the corner was neatly made, albeit there was a small puddle of water on the floor near it.
However, as she glanced at Gillion’s water barrel, she noticed that the lid was firmly shut. There were a few drops that spilled over the edge here and there when the water sloshed around inside.
Usually, Gillion kept the lid closed when he was inside. Jay stepped over a puddle of water and approached the barrel. She knocked on the top of the lid and waited to see what would happen.
Stillness.
She knocked again, unsure if she was wasting her time or not.
“Gill?” she called, not knowing if he could even hear her if he was underwater.
The barrel wobbled and the lid twisted. A head poked its way underneath the lid, lifting it up just a crack. Gillion’s blue eyes blinked back at her with a slight glow as he squinted.
“Hey, good morning,” Jay chuckled softly. Gillion pulled his head up enough that his gills could drain. There were bags under his eyes and he yawned, water spilling from his mouth as he rubbed at his face with a clawed hand. The lid of the barrel clattered to the floor when he didn’t catch it in time. Jay saw him flinch, a full-body twitch that caused water to splash onto the floor.
“Someone’s tired this morning,” Jay said, taking a step back as Gillion sat further out of the water, splashing it over the edge. He curled his hands around the side of the barrel, his claws leaving small indents.
“Good morning, Jay,” Gillion rubbed his eyes. His voice was hoarse, definitely lacking the usual boisterousness that Gillion had. He spat another mouthful of water out and snorted, wiping his face.
“You slept in, I was a bit worried.”
“Have I?” Gillion furrowed his eyebrows and he squinted, Jay saw something off in the hue of his eyes. The way that his pupils were contracted to barely slits and he seemed distracted. But Jay shook those thoughts out of her head, Gillion just woke up after all.
“Yeah, you missed breakfast,” Jay frowned, “C’mon, I think there might be something left for you.”
Gillion nodded, he stood up, water ran off his form in heavy droplets that left puddles against the ground. He gripped the edge of his barrel and stepped out, his feet slipping on the wooden floors.
Jay caught his arm when his legs nearly gave out, helping him with his balance. His finned tail slapped against the ground and he curled his fingers around the rim of the barrel, his claws digging into the wood. He took a deep breath, his lungs rattling and another mouthful of water ran down his chin.
He took a second to collect himself, swaying with the ship, gills flexing and contracting along his neck. Jay turned her head away, hoping that her staring hadn’t made him uncomfortable. She still hadn’t let go of his arm.
“I am alright,” Gillion urged without prompting, he took his arm away from Jay’s grip and stood up straight. He still looked wobbly but it might’ve been the rocking of the waves. Gillion’s balance never had been very good, and when the waves got rough he struggled even more.
“Okay,” she nodded, looking down at the small Triton. Gillion’s hair clung to his skin and dripped all over the floor. His face had a slightly darker blue flush than normal and his gills continued to flex. Jay figured that last observation was a bit weird since usually after he got out of the water, he’d take a second to get his breathing situated and his gills would relax.
It was fine though, he just woke up, he was fine. Usually, Gillion was the first to wake up so Jay never knew what his routine was when he did.
Jay led the way back to the kitchen, her footsteps echoing against the wood. Gillion trailed water as he walked, his tail dragged against the ground, flicking back and forth. Jay wondered if he ever got splinters.
Old man Earl had left the kitchen by the time the two got there. Jay didn’t know what he had been doing in here but the kitchen looked just like it had before. Nothing was changed and whatever evidence of what Old man Earl was doing was gone. That fact frightened her only slightly.
Gillion rubbed his eyes again, his ears twitched and he blinked tiredly. Jay wondered if he had actually taken the correct shift last night. She had taken the last one and hadn’t checked with Chip that Gillion had signed off at the right time.
He had a bit of a tendency to take longer watches than he needed to. Something that—if Jay took the time to try and figure out his logic—probably stemmed from his whole champion of the undersea deal. Which pissed Jay off to no end.
“How’d you sleep?” Jay asked, sitting down at the counter as Gillion grabbed a bun still left from breakfast. He sat down on the stool next to her, swinging his legs back and forth.
“I slept well,” Gillion responded, he sat with his back straight, staring down at his hands where the bun was clenched tightly between his fingers. His hands had dried enough so that it wouldn’t get the bun soggy.
“That’s good,” Jay folded her hands in her lap, she glanced at the door to the kitchen and wondered what Chip was doing now. Something was off about the way that Gillion was acting and a part of her wished that the other crew member was here to confirm or deny.
Gillion seemed sluggish and closed off, not up for much conversation. His shoulders were drooped and while he was sitting up straight, there was an air of tiredness to him. His pupils were still narrow slits and his ears kept twitching, folding, and flaring out with seemingly no correlation.
He rubbed at his face again, rolling the bun around in his hands and picking at the flaky crust.
“Did Chip come up for his watch at the right time?” Jay asked.
Gillion was silent for a long time, he furrowed his eyebrows and looked deep in thought, “He did come for his watch.” He spoke slowly, carefully, like he was thinking over every word before he said it.
“Did you go wake him?”
“No…?”
Jay just sighed and shook her head. No use in giving him a lecture right now. He probably already knew what she was going to say and repeating it would give no use. Most of the time, they gave Gillion the last watch since there was no one that he needed to wake up to change the shifts. That system worked pretty well usually, but last night they had switched something up for some reason that Chip hadn’t elaborated on.
Jay realized that Gillion still hadn’t taken a bite out of his bread. He was looking down at the countertop, his gaze far away like he wasn’t all there. The fins of his ears folded again.
“Gill?” Jay put a hand on his shoulder and Gillion flinched. He blinked and turned to her.
“Yes?”
“Aren’t you going to eat that?” She nodded her head to the bun in his hands. Gillion looked down at it like it was news to him that he had it.
“I am not that hungry right now, actually,” Gillion hopped off the stool, claws scraping against the floorboards, “I will make sure to eat later.”
“Okay,” Jay stood up as well. Gillion left the bun on the counter and marched out of the kitchen, leaving Jay to follow. She hurried up the steps to match his quick, determined strides and opened up onto the main deck.
The sun was shining brightly with barely any clouds in the sky which cast a harsh light on the surface of the deck. There was a slight breeze that blew Jay’s bangs in front of her face and provided some relief to the heat. She saw Gillion squint, almost shutting his eyes entirely since his eyes took a lot longer to adjust to brighter lights than either of them did.
Chip had finished with whatever he was doing with the sails and had taken his place back behind the wheel. He barely looked down when he noticed Gillion and Jay come up from the stairs.
“Hey Gill,” Chip called, “glad to see you finally awake. Get some good beauty rest?”
“You’d sleep until noon if no one woke you in the morning,” Jay called back, nudging Gillion in the side, hoping he’d appreciate the jesting.
“Good morning, Chip!” Gillion responded, completely ignoring Chip’s jab. He stumbled slightly on the deck as the waves pushed against the side of their boat. His tail whipped back and forth to compensate for the thrown-off balance. Jay caught his arm out of caution. Chip just sighed and rubbed at his face. He shifted his weight from foot to foot, gripping the sides of the wheel.
He said nothing but Jay knew that he saw Gillion stumble.
“Are you sure that you’re okay?” Jay asked, letting go of Gillion’s arm. His skin felt warmer than usual (and by that it meant slightly warm). Gillion swallowed thickly, holding his hands out in front of himself, looking down at the deck to keep steady.
“I am perfectly alright, Jay,” He smiled weakly at her, it was unconvincing, “I am just tired this morning.”
“Okay,” Jay nodded, raising one eyebrow “if there’s anything wrong be sure to let us know.”
Gillion said nothing. He turned his attention out to the open sea, the blue waves crashing against the side of the ship and the smell of saltwater in the air. His tail wagged back and forth and his ears twitched. Jay let him be, moving to find something to do on the deck of the ship while Gillion did whatever Gillion does when they’re peacefully sailing.
That probably included training for the next bad guy that they had to fight. Jay frowned and furrowed her eyebrows, walking up the stairs to talk to Chip for the moment since he seemed to be the only one in the mood for conversation today.
“What’s up with Gill?” Chip asked like Jay would know the answer as soon as she was in whisper distance. He looked at her in his peripheral vision.
“I don’t know,” Jay ran a hand through her bangs and shrugged, “he might be getting seasick, the waves are pretty bad this morning.”
She looked down from the helm, Gillion was standing by the figurehead. Normally he climbed over the railing to perch himself on the pointed front of the ship, but he stood on the deck for now. One hand was gripping the railing, the other hovering over the place where his sword would usually be.
Chip just hummed, pressing his lips together in a thin line. Some of his hair stuck out from underneath his bandana, falling over his forehead.
“Weird,” Chip shrugged, “you’d think for being from the underseas, he wouldn’t get seasick.”
“Being above the water is a lot different than being below it.”
Chip let out a breath, “I guess so.”
“He knows how to handle himself though,” Jay was mostly just speaking out loud, convincing herself of these facts to quell her growing worry, “he’d come to us if there was something wrong.”
Chip looked at her like he wanted to object, his eyebrows furrowed and a small grimace pulling at his lips, but upon seeing Jay’s expression, he closed his mouth and turned back to the open sea.
Jay sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.
Gillion mostly paced the deck all day, going back and forth between the figurehead and the base of the stairs to the helm. He went below decks a few times which Jay mostly noticed his absence more than anything.
He didn’t talk much, answering Jay or Chip’s questions when they asked him but walking away afterward. Conversations were short-lived and one-sided like that.
Chip and Jay found themselves in a game of chess on the main deck of the ship around mid-afternoon. Chip was losing, Jay was still distracted.
“This sucks,” Chip leaned back, his legs crossed in front of himself, he stared up at the sky, “You suck.”
“You’re losing,” Jay retorted.
Chip groaned loudly, he flopped down on his back, spreading his legs in front of himself. He nearly hit the chessboard and knocked all the pieces off, Jay moved it to the side just in time.
A few seconds passed and Chip tilted his head to the side, then he sat up and looked around.
“Hey, Gill hasn’t been up here for a while?” Chip pointed out, looking over his shoulder to the figurehead where there was a significant lack in any blue-skinned Triton.
“You’re right,” Jay agreed, she glanced at the door that led to the steps below decks. It had been at least a few hours since the last time the crew had seen him.
“I’m gonna go see if I can find him,” Chip stood up, kicking at the chessboard and knocking the pieces. Jay rolled her eyes but followed him. What a sore loser he was.
Chip walked loudly, his shoes thumping on the wooden floorboards. They had learned from many experiences that it was better to walk loudly when trying to find someone on this ship than to assume that they were paying attention. Too many times of having guns, or knives, or swords pointed at each other was enough to make them learn that everyone here was more paranoid than they seemed.
Even still, as Chip pushed the door to the sleeping quarter open, he noticed Gillion sitting on his cot, his sword in his lap.
He didn’t look up when they entered, he ran a rag along the blade of his sword with slow, rhythmic movements. His ears were pinned back and didn’t even seem to hear the two of them. Normally his ears would twitch if he knew someone entered but was pretending not to notice.
“Gill?” Chip called, stepping further into the room.
Gillion startled, nearly jumping out of his skin as he dropped his sword, the blade clattering to the ground and the Triton yelped, a gash beginning to bleed from his hand. The blue-green liquid dripped down his wrist as he stared at the two of them with wide eyes, his chest heaving.
Gillion clutched his hand, opening his mouth to say something but nothing came out.
“Sorry!” Chip exclaimed, his voice rising in pitch, he hurried towards where Gillion was sitting, Jay followed him.
“Sorry, I thought you heard us!” Chip shook his head, holding his hands out in front of himself in a placating gesture. Gillion mimicked the action, his jaw clenched. His hands were shaking and there was a darker flush to his face.
“Sorry,” Gillion coughed, his voice hoarse and Chip had no idea what he even had to be sorry about.
Before Chip could voice that, Jay shoved him out of the way, “here, I can heal that.”
Jay took his wrist gently and Gillion tensed, he tried weakly to pull his hand away, an unfamiliar sound bubbling up from the back of his throat. It was similar to a whimper but more gurgled. Jay frowned, her eyebrows furrowing with worry. She placed her palm over the cut, a light illuminating from her fingertips as the cut healed, leaving only a small scar.
Gillion was still shaking, he blinked at them, pulling his hand away from Jay, and curling it close to his chest, almost protectively.
“I apologize,” Gillion bowed his head, his gills flexed again, “I should have been more observant.”
“Don’t apologize,” Chip sat down next to him, “I’m sorry for scaring you.”
“Were you needing me for… for something?” Gillion asked, changing the subject. He picked up his sword from where he had dropped it, a small splotch of his blood coated the blade.
“Just… seeing what you were doing,” Jay explained, she sat down on Gillion’s other side, “we haven’t seen you in a while.”
Gillion licked his lips, he swallowed thickly and looked down at his sword, picking the rag back up. He ran it over the blade, wiping off the blood.
“I…” Gillion let out a slow breath, his chest rattled and he coughed, “I was performing maintenance on my sword.”
“We can see that,” Jay chuckled awkwardly.
Gillion stood up, sword in hand. The cot creaked and his tail slapped against the floorboards. His fins were ripped and torn like something had slashed at them and bit. Gillion shuddered, his fins shaking along with him.
Gillion lingered by his barrel, a tight grip on the hilt. He said nothing but Jay could see him shaking. He leaned his sword against the wall of the ship with a small thump. Pretzel rolled around in her orb, back and forth, her movements caught Jay’s eye. She seemed to do that when she was worried about something.
The Triton stood there, swaying back and forth with the rocking of the boat as he gripped the sides of his barrel to stay balanced. He took a deep breath, his chest rattled and he wheezed.
“I apologize to you both…” Gillion said suddenly, his ears drooped once more as he turned around. He frowned, eyes narrowed with something unknown behind them.
“What are you apologizing for?” Chip asked, tilting his head to the side.
“I have not been myself today,” he bowed his head politely, his tail twitched back and forth, dragging against the wooden floor.
Chip and Jay shared a look. Chip furrowed his eyebrows confused, and Jay shrugged, just as lost as he was.
“Gill, it’s okay to have off days,” Jay said slowly, spreading her hands, “if you’re not feeling well, you can rest and take a break.”
Gillion shifted his weight from foot to foot, opening and closing his mouth as he tried to figure out what to say. He put his hand on the orb around his waist, Pretzel chittered.
“I am just… thinking about my home,” he took a shaky breath, digging his claws into the palm of his hand.
“You miss it?”
Gillion had a clouded look in his eyes, similar to how he looked when he had just woken up this morning. He clenched his jaw and nodded.
A particularly big wave rocked the ship and Gillion stumbled, his hands thrown out in front of himself to keep him steady. His barrel wobbled with the force of his weight, maybe using a barrel filled with water for support on a rocking boat wasn’t the best idea.
“In that room… at the BLOCK you…” Chip hesitated, “you said that you had been—“
“I do not wish to talk about this right now,” Gillion interrupted, more curt than they had ever heard him. His tone was thinly veiling the tremor in his voice or the nervousness that shook his hands.
“That’s okay,” Chip dropped the subject.
Gillion let out a shaky exhale, he dropped to the ground and crossed his legs in front of himself. He leaned his back against the barrel, a shudder running down his spine.
“I apologize,” Gillion said again, he squeezed his eyes shut for a few seconds, “the rocking of the ship… makes me dizzy sometimes…”
“You should rest, then,” Chip said. Gillion gave no reaction besides a slight frown.
Jay saw the way he ran his hands over the fins on the back of his arms, pressing them down and digging his claws into his skin. It was something she had seen before, but the way he winced and shuddered was different.
“Are you feeling okay, Gill?” Jay asked slowly, unassuming, “besides the dizziness?”
She slid down from the cot, sitting on the floor across from him. Gillion looked up as she moved, his eyes following her.
“I am alright.”
It sounded like a lie. But Gillion never lied. The Triton shifted uncomfortably, dropping his hands away from his arms and letting his fins spread back out. Jay licked her lips and frowned. Jay scooted closer to him, the flush of his cheeks did nothing to reassure her that he was alright.
But, when Jay reached out her hand, Gillion flinched back, hitting against his barrel and causing a small amount of water to slosh over the side. His eyes widened.
“Sorry, I was just gonna feel your temperature,” Jay said, holding her hands up in a placating gesture, “your face is flushed.”
Gillion said nothing but nodded. He clenched his jaw tightly as Jay pressed the back of her hand to his forehead, brushing his bangs out of his face.
His skin was warm and drier than usual. Jay didn’t really know what she was checking for, since as far as she knew, Gillion could be perfectly fine. Maybe this was normal for Tritons.
“Do Tritons get fevers?” Jay asked, furrowing her eyebrows, she moved away from Gillion and gave him some space.
Gillion seemed to think hard about that question, fighting an internal battle with himself.
“Yes…” Gillion said after a long silence, “it does not happen often, but sometimes.”
Jay worried at her lower lip, “I think you might have one.”
Gillion tilted his head to the side, then he chuckled weakly, amusement in his tone “no, we’d only get fevers if we were truly sick.”
He ran his hand over his arm and continued on, “When I was younger, my sister and I both caught fin rot, I was sick for a long time because of it, very high fever,” he shook his head. Jay wondered if that’s what happened to his fins to get them to look so damaged.
“Fin rot…?” Chip scuffed the toe of his boot against the floor.
“It is exactly as it sounds,” he shrugged, “it’s not good. But not deadly.”
“Well… maybe you should rest for the day,” Jay said, “in case it is something serious.”
Gillion frowned, his eyebrows furrowing, he said nothing. Then, after a few minutes, “perhaps…”
It wasn’t a clear yes or no. But Jay figured that it was leaning more towards no. Gillion let out a slow breath, he coughed as his chest rattled. Pretzel chirped and spun around in her glass orb, pressing her tentacles against the cork to pop it off before climbing out.
She clung to Gillion’s arm and stared up at him with her small beady eyes. Gillion licked his lips.
“Why don’t we all take a rest for the remainder of the day?” Chip suggested, spreading his hands in a loose gesture, “I’m sure we all need it…” He looked around the room, glancing at Jay and Gillion’s expression. Jay could tell what he was doing. If he was doing anything at all, he never usually thinks about things that far.
Jay nodded and sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose, “yeah…”
Gillion didn’t seem too keen on the idea, but with a two to one, he didn’t say anything. Pretzel climbed higher up his arm until she was wrapped around the coral on his head.
“C’mon,” Jay stood up, extending a hand to Gillion, “you’re going to bed.”
“I am not a guppy,” Gillion said as he took her hand, letting Jay pull him up to his feet. He gripped her hand tightly, the dryness of his skin almost uncomfortable. Pretzel slid down his arm until she was clinging to Jay’s wrist, effectively transferring who she would be using for transportation. Gillion almost looked offended by this.
“Yeah, but even grown fish need to take rests,” Jay smiled softly. Chip made a noise of agreement, he pushed himself up from the cot and stretched his arms above his head.
Gillion rubbed his face, a deep frown etching lines in his forehead. She didn’t like the faraway look in his eyes like he was deep in thought. Cupping his cheek in her hand, Gillion’s eyes darted up to meet hers.
“I don’t—” he trailed off, clenching Jay’s hand tighter where their fingers were still wrapped around each other. Every once in a while, Jay wished that she could know what he was thinking, just to know what the right thing to say would be. But, since she didn’t know, she stayed silent, dragging Gillion towards his cot.
The feeling of Pretzel’s tentacles curled around Jay’s bicep made her shiver. Gillion sat down on the edge of the cot and wrinkled his nose.
“Can you sleep here for a bit?” Jay asked, “Just in case you are sick, it’ll make things easier.”
Gillion’s ears twitched, folded back, and then flared out. But he nodded solemnly. Chip had grabbed the pillow from his hammock and dragged his empty cot closer to where Gillion’s was.
Jay stared at him with a confused expression, Chip just huffed at her and tried moving the water barrel out of the way. But moving a several-gallon barrel, big enough to fit a small Triton like Gillion that was also full of water, was harder than it seemed.
Afraid of knocking the thing over, Chip left it and plopped down on his cot. Gillion, too, had laid down with his back to Jay as he tried to get comfortable without pressing down on his fins.
Jay put a hand on Gillion’s head, sighing softly as she brushed some of his bangs out of his face. His eyes were closed and he scrunched up his face more at the action. His tail flicked, hitting Jay in the leg.
“Get some rest,” she said, stepping over a puddle of water that Chip spilled. Gillion gave no indication that he had even heard her, but Jay knew he had.
Jay was surprised at how little complaint she had gotten from him, expecting Gillion to put up more of a fight to take a break. That’s how it had been a few other times, but there was something different now. Maybe it was because Chip had suggested they all take a break, the knowledge that it wasn’t just him slacking off reassuring. Or maybe he just felt awful enough to comply, an option that Jay hoped wasn’t the case.
As soon as she turned around, she was met with the dark, brown eyes of Chip boring into her soul as he settled onto his cot.
“What do you want?” Jay asked a lot harsher than she intended. Pretzel moved off of Jay’s arm, dropping into Gillion’s water barrel, now just a container of water. She splashed and rolled around.
“Well, now I don’t want anything anymore,” Chip tilted his chin up, rolling over onto his other side “if you’re gonna use that tone with me.”
“Oh shut up,” she said lightly, laying down next to him, and wrapping her arms around his midsection. Chip hummed happily, his shoulders relaxing as he scooted closer. Jay rolled her eyes but held him tighter.
Jay could hear Gillion’s rattled breathing, he coughed every few minutes and shifted. The waves of the ship rocked them back and forth, waves battering against the side. Jay furrowed her eyebrows, trying to keep herself awake as long as possible in case Gillion woke up.
But Chip was already asleep, his back pressed against Jay’s chest. The small rise and fall of his breathing and the light, rhythmic heartbeats that she could feel thrumming just underneath his skin were enough to exhaust her. His hair tickled the underside of her chin.
She told herself that they were safe. Because they were. And she told herself that they could take this moment of comfort and safety. Because they could. She told herself she’d wake up if something were to happen. Because she would.
The sleeping quarters were quiet. Jay found herself drifting off a lot faster than she had intended.