Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Get in the building, get in the proper protective suit, go to the lobby, wait for your turn, get in the helicopter, collect as many golden eggs as you can, get back in the helicopter, go to the lobby, repeat.

All. Day.

The cycle would go on for hours that would range from being agonizingly long like months to feeling like it was mere moments. Regardless of how lengthy or short it felt given the day, it still felt the same to leave the building only to realize the same cycle would be dawning the next day. Mostly a mix of exhaustion, frustration, and just a bit of hopelessness, knowing there would most definitely not be a time soon where it would end.

As Gar finished putting up the last of his things, claimed his ‘rewards’ for working, and prepared to leave, he was definitely feeling the exhaustion. He moved to push open the metal door only to be met with a torrential downpour. He stared for just a moment at the rain, unable to feel anything but just the smallest bit of disappointment. He was too tired to care, even as a rumble of thunder told him it was more than just a small storm. He opened his umbrella which he had started carrying with him everywhere since an… incident… one Thursday, despite that probably being a bad idea in a thunderstorm, he’d rather get electrocuted than deal with the sting of rain until he got home.

He began his trek through the rain and tried his best not to think about anything work related. Unfortunately that was hard when he felt the sting of a wound that would turn into a new scar on his leg, and was reminded that the only reason he had gotten said wound was because he wasn’t paying enough attention to his blind side. Salmon runs maybe weren’t the best idea when you only had one good eye, with the other being one he hadn’t been able to open for years, losing that one to three bad slice marks.

The longer he dwelled on that thought, he realized he couldn’t recall a time now where he had been able to see with both of his eyes. 

He wasn’t able to try to think any harder about it, when his good eye managed to catch the sight of two shapes huddled against a wall under an awning. He stopped in his tracks and squinted for a moment, trying to get a better view of what it was. He moved a bit closer and recognized the shapes as two inkling children that couldn’t be more than 4 and 2.

The closer he got the more worried he became. There were no parents in sight, the awning wasn’t providing much protection from the rain, they looked drenched and were shivering, and neither of them looked like they had eaten in a while. They both noticed him immediately, the older one throwing an arm over the younger one as if to protect them.

Gar stopped again and frowned as he tried to formulate the right words to say, translating in his head from octarian to inklish. It came to him easier than it used to.

“My name is Gar…” He started. They blinked at him.

“What are you kids doing out here? Where are your parents?”

The two looked at each other. He hoped they knew what he was asking, he hardly knew anything about kids, especially not the vocabulary levels based on age.

“Mom left us here weeks ago.” The older spoke after a long period of silence. There was another pause as Gar just stared blankly. “I don’t think she is comin’ back.”

Gar was reminded yet again, just how painfully cruel this world is. He was also reminded that 4 year olds don’t always tell the truth, but with the way they both looked, he doubted it was a lie.

Gar looked around for a brief moment, the streets were completely empty, with most seeking shelter from the rain. Like one was supposed to do in a downpour. He looked back at the children who were definitely shaking more than when he had first approached them, and he wasn’t sure whether that was from fear or the fact that the temperature was dropping.

“You’re sure she’s not coming back? Why did she leave you kids out here?” He figured he’d ask though he had a feeling there was a clock ticking somewhere with how long they had before these kids became nothing more than a puddle of ink from all the water they’d already been exposed to.

“Mhm. Dunno why she left us out here. She was mad though.” The older spoke again, but Gar could tell the kid definitely knew why. He wasn’t going to press though. There wasn’t time for that.

“You kids haven’t eaten in a while have you?” He said, crouching down to get on their level.

“No, ‘cept for kind strangers who gave us some lil bits.” The older tightened their grip on the younger.

Great zapfish, these kids were in worse shape than he thought now that he actually got a good look at them, covered in scrapes and dirt.

“Alright, tell ya what. Why don’t you two come with me, I’ll get you dry and have you eat some food, okay?” He said, absolutely sure they would turn him down.

Instead.

“Yes! Yes please!” The older said with an eager nod, the younger speaking for the first time with a simple, hardly intelligible “Pleases?”

Gar didn’t know whether to be relieved that that was easier than he thought, or disappointed that these kids hadn’t even been taught the notion of ‘stranger danger’. He couldn’t imagine what might have happened if someone else had found these two first.

Gar moved an arm to pick them up, knowing it’d be easier to carry them than try to get them to keep up with him. The two practically jumped at him and latched themselves comfortably in his arm. These two were extremely small, so at least he had one free hand to keep the umbrella up with.

As he stood up and started making his way back to the house, it occurred to him what he had just done. It also occurred to him that he couldn’t remember when he had last gone shopping. He didn’t even know if he had food to give them.

Guess that was something to deal with when he got home.

-

Gar unlocked the door after fighting with his key ring for about 5 painful seconds, and he kicked the door open. Of course, today had to be the day that the elevator was going through maintenance, and climbing three floors with two kids was harder than he thought it would be. He walked in and closed the door with his heel, then walked toward his small living space where he set the kids down on the not-so-great couch he owned.

The younger one immediately fell on their side and the older slammed their face into a pillow. Gar didn’t know if he wanted to ask questions about it.

“Okay, you two stay put, I’ll get you something to eat, okay?” Gar said, moving his hands in a gesture as if he was going to push them down to stay in their places.

The two didn’t say anything but they absolutely didn’t move from their new spots. Gar took that as a sign that they were listening to him.

Before he started cooking, he dashed to his bathroom closet and grabbed two towels to dry them up. He ran back to his living room and threw the towels over the two who started to bury themselves in the towels to dry themselves off.

Gar moved to the kitchen and dug through some of the food he had stored. He had heard from a friend that vegetables were good for children, right? But they didn’t usually like them. He looked back toward the living room. Hopefully they’d tolerate it. They needed something actually nutritious.

He grabbed a few other things from his fridge including some eggs, that counted as protein… right? Suddenly it was hard to remember that.

He worked to make the best thing he possibly could with what little he had, and he definitely didn’t have much. He managed to pull together eggs, made a salad with some of the vegetables he had, and made some bacon and crushed it onto the salad he’d made. Hopefully that would entice them enough to eat it?

He finally finished cooking and walked back to the living room to see that the kids had moved and were staring at him with huge eyes. They were both practically vibrating with excitement, which made Gar feel another twinge of sympathy for the kids.

He set the plates and forks on the coffee table and watched as they both tumbled to the floor and immediately worked toward demolishing the food. After all Gar had been told about how much kids tended to not enjoy vegetables, these kids didn’t seem to care, which was probably a good thing. They were eating, after all.

Gar ate a bit of his own food and kept a close eye on them, subconsciously worried one of them might choke with the way they were eating, he wasn’t even sure if they were chewing. He couldn’t blame them, there were times he came home and felt the same way, but he did ask them twice to slow down. The second time, they actually listened and started to eat at a reasonable pace.

“This is good!” the older one finally stopped for a moment to say. “Yum!” The little one added with a clap before they went back to eating.

“Glad you think so.” Gar said with a squint, slightly surprised that they enjoyed the food. Yet, wouldn’t anyone enjoy food regardless of how much they actually liked the food if they hadn’t eaten hardly anything in weeks?

Eventually they finished eating and Gar took up the plates, setting them in the sink, and then walked yet again back to the living room, leaning against his doorway.

“You have a tv! Do ya like movies?” The older one piped up almost immediately and pointed at the television Gar had.

Gar thought about the question for longer than he probably needed to.

“Sort of.” He shrugged. He didn’t get the point of the question. Weren’t there other things to talk about? Like maybe how they wound up under an awning in the rain?

“Love floor.” The younger spoke and fell against the floor, spreading their tentacles as if to hug it.

These kids were so weird.

“Glad to hear that.” Gar felt his eyebrow twitch. “Anyway. You kids really don’t think your mom is coming back?” Gar asked.

“Nope.” The older said plainly, shaking their head. “We waited! She didn’t come back.”

Gar frowned at the response, just imagining two toddlers waiting for their mom to come back was heartbreaking. He shook his head.

“Inkopolis sure is pretty though!” The older continued with a smile. “‘N people sure are nice! ‘Cept when a man chased us with a broom! Was scary. But a nice lady gave us some food after that, so ‘s okay!” 

Gar stared at the kid with deep confusion.

“Yep, yep! Nice lady.” The younger rolled on their side and stared up at Gar.

How were they making light of that.

“You kids mean to tell me you were abandoned by your mother, chased with a broom, and stuck in the rain and you’re still… You’ve seen the absolute worst this place has to offer. Yet you’re still here so... So full of hope and whimsy ?” Gar furrowed his brow. He just did not understand these kids.

“THAS IT!” The older one stood up clapping their hands. “SIS!!! SIS!!! I’LL BE HOPE!!! YOU BE WHIMSY!!!” The kid pointed excitedly and the younger one started nodding her head with excitement.

No. Gar did not just name these kids. He did not .

“You two didn’t have names?” Gar clenched his jaw, staring with deeper worry.

“We did. They were BORING!” The older… Hope… said with an eye roll, flopping on the ground. “We are gonna have so many cool aventures!! Av… Ad… Adventu… Yeah!”

Gar couldn’t help but slam his palm into his face and pull it down slowly. Yay! It was his turn to disappoint and let down these kids!

“No we aren’t. By tomorrow morning I’ll get you where you belong. Child services should know what to do with you.” Gar sighed.

“Aww… Really?” Hope looked at him with pure sadness.

Gar tried to remain unmoved.

“Yes. You can stay for the night in my sister's old room.”

“Okay.” Hope’s voice for once sounded drained of emotion. 

Gar looked at the clock and then back at the kids, still barely keeping his stern face despite how upsetting it was to see Hope shutdown like that.

“Let’s just. Get you to bed.” Gar sighed.

-

Morning came, and Gar woke up to a horrible cough from the youngest, Whimsy. He had rushed to the room to see Hope patting their sister’s back. 

“Mr.. Gar? Gar. She’s sick.” Hope said, continuing to pat Whimsy.

Gar frowned and rested his hand against her forehead. Yeah that was a fever. The rain probably gave her a nasty cold. 

“Are we going?” Hope asked after a moment. “Go-“ There was another nasty cough. “Bye-bye?” Whimsy said.

Gar contemplated his options. He could either force a sick kid to come with him to a child services building and sit through hours of paperwork and whatever else was necessary… Or he could let them stay a while longer until she felt better.

The latter sounded better for the kid’s sake, but it also meant he’d be taking time off work to care for her.

Gar leaned back and rubbed his forehead.

“Alright. A week. You can stay a week. We’ll get her better. Then you’re out of here, okay?” Gar said with a tired head shake.

Hope’s eyes seemed to sparkle at that notion and they started to shake Whimsy. “Ya hear that Mims?” Oh great they had already made up nicknames of their names too. “We can stay a week!”

“Stop shaking your sister.” Gar said standing up. “I’m going to go out for medicine… How old are you exactly?” Gar paused and looked at them. He probably needed to confirm their actual ages instead of guessing, since medicine instructions were different based on age.

“She’s two. I’m four!” Hope said almost boastfully, as if being four made someone the coolest squid in Inkopolis. Gar was surprised he actually guessed their ages right.

“Okay. You two do not go anywhere. I’ll be right back .” He said.

He really shouldn’t leave children this young alone. But for now he was just going to have to run as fast as he could to get this medicine and back, because he didn’t exactly have someone he knew would be able to watch them.

He spent the whole trip there and back wondering if he made the right call.

Chapter Text

A week. That’s what Gar agreed to.

But a week became two when Whimsy was still sniffling by Sunday, albeit getting better.

Two weeks became three when they couldn’t get a proper appointment with someone in child services.

Three weeks became four when Gar stopped counting the days accidentally and kept forgetting to make a phone call, because little kids were hard to take care of.

Four weeks stretched to five and now Gar was standing in front of his sister’s apartment debating turning around. He was broke as all hell for avoiding work for a month because these kids needed his attention constantly. Also he was pretty sure it was illegal to leave children this young unattended for extended periods of time.

And now he was down to the last of the money he’d saved. All those years of devoting himself to ridiculous amounts of overtime just to build up what he could hardly call a ‘savings’ was gone in one month. Because feeding three people, instead of just one who hardly ate anything aside from dinner, was way more expensive than he thought it would be.

So he raised his hand to knock on the door but it swung open instead, forcing him to make uncomfortable eye contact with his younger sister for about 5 whole seconds.

“Did you forget how to knock man? I saw you through the- Oh my cod.” She started and then stopped.

Gar tensed as his sister squinted at him. Piranha was always going to notice things he didn’t and he wondered for a moment if maybe one of those kids had thrown something at him that he hadn’t noticed yet.

“You look tired. ” Piranha said finally. “What have you been up to- and don’t say work cause, being honest with you, I have friends. Friends who haven’t seen you going to Grizzco in a month or so.”

“I have to talk to you about something kind of important.” Gar said, looking down the hall for a moment. “Can I..?” He gestured vaguely.

“Be my guest. Or whatever.” Piranha waved her arm forward and slid to the side.

“Is your roommate here?” Gar as he walked in and Piranha shut the door.

“No, left for the week- Why… Are you asking…?” Piranha looked at him with a suspicious gaze.

“Because-“ Gar started, then stopped, trying to find a way to explain what he had to. “There’s-“ No that didn’t work either.

Piranha just looked more confused.

“Okay. So there are two of them.” He finally managed.

“Two of what ?” Piranha said, her tone slightly desperate.

“Kids. Two of them. I really hate to ask this of anyone- you especially, but you’re the only person I can trust and I need you to watch them for me for just-“ Piranha raised a hand.

“Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on…” She gave a light laugh. “Gar- You’re not-“

“Look, please, I never ask anything of you and I’d like to keep it that way but I’m literally broke right now and I need to go back to work, I swear, I’ll pay you back as soon as I-“ He kept going.

“GAR.” Piranha yelled and he shut his mouth.

“As funny as it is to watch you do whatever kind of bit this is, which is really unlike you by the way, you seriously expect me to believe you have kids ?” She snorted.

“What’s that supposed to- Nevermind.” Gar huffed. “For the love of cod… THEY’RE NOT MY KIDS !!” He desperately tried to get it through to her by raising his voice just a bit .

“So what? You decided to dabble in kidnapping here and there now?” Piranha joked again.

Gar raked his claws down his face in frustration. “ NO .”

“Okay bro, calm down! You’re gonna give yourself another scar.” Piranha stopped for a moment, looking at him with genuine concern.

“ Please just tell me you heard me. ” Gar gave a heavy sigh.

“I heard you, I heard you. Let me take a peek at the kids then. We can go over right now, I’m not doing anything today! And I know how Grizzco works, if you wanna get out there that bad.” Piranha said, trying to take a more calming approach.

“And I do.” Gar nodded. “If you’re up for it?”

“Yeah. Can’t be that hard!”

-

As Gar unlocked and opened the door he felt every bad call he made leading up to this moment echoing in his head. He couldn’t figure out why he was so tense at this moment, usually he would relax when his sister was around. Right now? He was two steps away from launching himself over the edge of somewhat calm into pure panic.

His sister followed him in and he shut the door behind her, pausing for a minute as two of the loudest beings on the planet made their way toward them. For being two kids, they somehow managed to sound like a swarm of salmonids. Or maybe that was because he was so lost in his own thoughts that anything that wasn’t mental felt 10x louder at this moment.

He looked for a split second at Piranha, then at the kids who had settled themselves in front of the two and were looking up at Piranha.

“Okay…” He said, more awkwardly than he intended to. “This is my sister… She’ll be uh… Looking after you while I work, okay? Please behave.” Gar half grumbled the last bit.

“Gar.” Piranha turned to him, wide-eyed. “I was joking about the kidnapping thing but oh my cod.”

Gar buried his face in his hands, groaning for a minute before he managed to say: “I didn’t kidnap them. Their mom abandoned them in Inkopolis and I took them in because it was raining. Now they won’t leave.”

He could just barely see Piranha’s expression twist from panic to confusion.

“Hi auntie! You’re very pretty.” Hope said, interrupting the conversation.

“She’s not your aunt! I’m not your dad!” Gar finally let his hands fall to his sides again. 

“Pretty auntie.” Whimsy had a stupidly wide smile on her face.

“No! I’ve got to go to work.” Gar wanted to slam his head into drywall. Luckily for him this would more than likely happen at work, but with a metal wall or concrete.

Piranha seemed a bit more relaxed as she knelt down to the kids. “Alright, come to auntie! We’re gonna have some fun today!”

“Don’t encourage them!” Gar frowned.

“Yeah yeah, go to work Gar.” Piranha shooed him.

And with that, Gar turned on his heels and looked back only once… No… Twice… Three times. Before he closed the door and took a deep breath. They’d be fine.

… And yet even with that final thought as he left, he proceeded to think about it for the entire workday. For whatever reason. Surely it was just because he hoped his sister wasn’t annoyed. He wasn’t worried about how the kids felt. He didn’t miss them. No.

Never.

What a preposterous thought.

-

Gar was finally heading home, eager to see how Piranha had actually handled the kids. Or if his apartment was destroyed beyond repair. Or if his sister didn’t actually know how to take care of them. Or if the kids were still okay. And his sister. Now his thoughts were absolutely spiraling, stopped only by a voice shouting his name.

“Gar! Is that you?”

Gar turned around to see a familiar face looking at him.

“Oh it is you! I hadn’t seen you out in a while! I was getting worried.” The inkling started sprinting over.

“Tilly?” Gar watched as she made her way to him without moving.

It had just occurred to him that he hadn’t actually told anyone where he had been for pretty much a month. Not even Tilly. A kindergarten teacher. Who, despite being fresh out of college, had previously had experience doing volunteer work at schools. A person who would know stuff about kids. He didn’t. Tell. Her.

Yeah. Okay.

“What have you been up to? Not getting into any trouble I hope.” Tilly looked genuinely concerned as she slowed to a stop in front of him.

“Children.” Gar said before he actually thought about it. “I mean-“ He paused and then rested a hand on his forehead.

“What?” Tilly blinked. 

“You remember that bad storm about a month ago?” Gar asked, removing his hand.

“Yeah! They said it was the worst we had in a while, streets were pretty flooded after that.” She nodded.

“Well, when that storm hit I was headed home from work-“ Gar started but was abruptly cut off.

“Oh gosh! Did you get hurt?” Tilly had so much genuine concern in her voice that Gar felt slightly crushed by it.

“No, not really. But I found two kids in the rain and-“ Gar was stopped again.

“Oh no! That’s awful…” She looked at him, then froze. “SORRY! I’m sorry! I don’t mean to be cutting you off!” She put a hand over her mouth.

“It’s fine, Tilly. Uh… I found them, I guess their mom left them there. She wasn’t coming back, according to the older one. They seemed in pretty bad shape too. I took them in and… Did you know it's really hard to take care of toddler and a child who’s barely old enough to not qualify as a toddler?” He sighed.

“I can only imagine. Do you plan to put them into the system or anything?” Tilly asked.

“The… Oh. Well that was my plan originally.” Gar paused and then turned his head. “Now they don’t want to leave and I don’t know what to do. I think I will still… Eventually.”

“Oh. That system can be tough on kids, you know? Some never get out of it.” Tilly told him passively.

“… Yeah?” Gar could hear his own voice get noticeably quieter which made him want to mentally punch himself. Just a bit.

“Yeah. It’s sad, some of them go without family or stable households all their life. Getting someone to adopt them is hard. And foster life can be just as tough on a kid.” She nodded, then looked at Gar and quickly backpedaled. “BUT I’m sure you’ll make a good call, you always do… In the year that I’ve known you anyway.” She smiled.

“Yeah… Probably.” Gar looked back toward the direction of his apartment. “I should probably get going, my sister’s watching them and I’m not sure how she’s holding up with them at the moment.”

“Ah, I see! Well… Please do call me if you get the chance sometime! I miss you!” Tilly gave him another warm grin and a head tilt.

Gar nodded, unable to properly respond with words beyond “Bye.”

He started heading in the direction of home. A new image was forming in his mind, an image of Hope and Whimsy being stuck in bad home after bad home. Or stuck without a home at all. Or worse, getting seperated. That was a chance too, wasn’t it?

He didn’t know entirely why, but it made him feel physically ill to even imagine the scene. He shouldn’t care so much about these kids. They weren’t his.

Chapter Text

The cycle went on for the next 5 months or so. Gar would leave for work, he would leave his sister- who was actually very good at babysitting- to watch after the two kids, she would continue to drive this family narrative while he was gone, Tilly would stop him on the way from work and chat for a while, and then he’d be home. The weirdest thing might have been that he started asking Tilly more about what she knew about the foster and adoption systems. She would tell him more stories or possibilities that did nothing but upset him. He would go home feeling ill.

In addition to this, he would go to sleep dwelling on the thoughts. The haunting knowledge that he was going to have to get up and do the same work the next day was replaced by the large amount of nightmarish outcomes that could come from just one decision he could make. Maybe it was because he saw him and his sister in that situation, and thought about how they would feel then. Maybe it was some other reason. Whatever it was, it left him with little sleep and a sinking feeling.

He was thinking about it again today.

“GAR? ARE YOU LISTENING?” A voice interrupted his thoughts. “THE FLYFISH! CAN YOU- Oh my COD.”

Gar shook his head and looked back toward his poor coworker, Minnow, who was currently the target of said fly fish, dart back toward the egg basket in an attempt to get away from some of the missiles.

“Ah. Yeah sorry.” Gar moved into a position in which he could actually send a bomb toward one of the baskets. The other was taken down by another coworker, Paroon.

“Can you like. Focus. Because this is the second time today I’ve had to remind you of one of the top tier most-important-to-get-rid-of enemies. THAT’S YOUR JOB! YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO REMIND US !” Minnow was angrily yelling at him through their microphone and the temptation to just remove the speaker from his ear was slowly grasping Gar. Except that he wasn’t allowed to do that on the job, so he didn’t.

“I’m focused.”

“BULLSHARKS! You are usually the first to spot and take down a Stinger. AND WHAT THE FLIP IS THIS!!!” He could see Minnow a fair bit away from him, pointing at a Stinger with their jaw agape.

“Can you two stop fighting for like… Three seconds. Minnow take the Stinger down, you're literally right there.” Paroon’s voice came through.

“No, keep letting them fight! I’m trying to place bets on which one kills the other on the helicopter ride back!” Their fourth and final teammate, Atoll, said with his voice full of an excitement that Gar couldn’t understand.

“You’re so funny.” Paroon said again before falling silent, trying to get the last few eggs in the basket before the wave ended.

“I’m going to strangle Gar for eel if he doesn’t get his ships together. I’m about to lose it.” Minnow came over toward the egg basket, raising their arms above their head.

“Can you just say a cuss word already.” Paroon said, watching the last of the salmonid retreat.

“I’m focused. I swear.” Gar looked toward the sky. That was the last wave right. They should be going back? Where was that helicopter.

“I’ve never seen you so sloppy, actually, this is so funny!” Atoll gave Gar a big smile.

“Dude. What is wrong !?” Minnow grabbed his shoulders and shook him.

“Nothing! Okay. I was distracted. But it’s not for any important reason.” Gar grabbed Minnow’s wrists and lowered their arms off of him.

“MAN you are SO HONEST and CHATTY!” Minnow got louder sarcastically. “PLEASURE TO WORK WITH YOU! MR. TRUTH TELLER!”

“Leave him alone. As long as he can pull it together for the next few shifts.” Paroon waved her hand in dismissal.

“We literally almost lost all 3 waves because he can’t keep up. He’s never like that .” Minnow rolled their eyes.

“As if you’re a shining gold star and always attentive, Minnow.” Paroon shot them a look.

There was a fair bit of silence. Minnow stared at the ground and shot at it 3 times with the brella they were given for the round. Their silent frustration was getting more and more obvious, especially when one of their eyes twitched.

“WHERE IS THAT DAMNED HELICOPTER!” They shouted.

“There it is!” Paroon pointed to the sky.

“Wait really!?” Minnow looked over.

“No, I was talking about the curse word.” She looked over her shoulder at them.

“Oh. HAHA SO FUNNY!” Minnow laughed sarcastically.

“Anyway what’d you guys do this weekend? I went to the lobby and thought about doing turf war but then I ended up eating way too much and I didn’t feel like it anymore and I went home instead and my friend was mad at me.” Atoll attempted a casual conversation.

“I was climbing the ranks in anarchy.” Paroon said, not looking down from the sky.

“I was finding out that Tableturf is a sick and twisted game for people who hate themselves.” Minnow huffed and kicked at the ground.

“Just admit you don’t know a thing about strategy.” Atoll gave them a big grin.

“Shut up. Literally.”

A small period of silence. Minnow then looked at Gar.

“What about you, Mr. Talkative. What’d you do?”

Gar stared at Minnow for a long time. An uncomfortably long time, clearly, since Minnow started nervously swaying the longer he said nothing. Then they finally looked away from him and broke the awkward eye contact.

“I was at home.” Gar said plainly.

“Wow, that's just so fascinating.” Minnow clapped their hands. “Glad it took you an actual century to say 4 words. I’m so proud of you.”

“What did I say?” Paroon walked over to Minnow and slapped the back of their helmet, making them stumble. “Can you cut that out?”

“WHAT!” Minnow whined and waved their hands at Paroon to chase her away. It didn’t work.

“It’s fine.” Gar looked at them.

“If you say so.” Paroon backed away from Minnow.

“You guys are always fighting, I swear to Cod! It’s so funny. I love coming to work!” Atoll was giving another wide grin.

“You’re INSANE dude.” Minnow frowned.

“For liking work or for thinking your fighting is funny?” Atoll tilted his head.

“Both.” Gar answered for Minnow.

“This is ridiculous- I hate being here-“

“Shut up Minnow, the helicopter is here.” Paroon gestured to the distant shape circling slowly over the area. She gave another gesture and then promptly super jumped away.

Gar was the first to follow, then Atoll, and Minnow last, despite being the most vocal about being annoyed that they had to wait. Gar landed inside the helicopter and took his place beside Paroon, Atoll sitting next to him, leaving Minnow furthest away from him.

“I can move if you guys wanna start trying to kill each other.” Atoll said in his usual chipper tone.

“Atoll if you try to move I’m buying velcro and I’m going to start using it to latch you to the seat.” Paroon warned.

“I don’t think Minnow wants to die today anyway.” Gar said, blinking without abandoning a neutral expression.

There was silence for a whole minute.

“I could take you in a fight.”

“No you couldn’t.” Paroon looked at Minnow. “I’ve seen you try to lift a splatling. Gar on the other hand?”

“SHUT UP! I was just… Tired.” Minnow crossed their arms.

“You fell backwards!” Atoll laughed.

“I SAID SHUT UP, ATOLL!!!” Minnow raised their hands as if to start punching Atoll.

“I cannot do this. I have got to get better coworkers.” Paroon put her head in her hands.

“You love us!” Atoll waved his hand casually.

“You are so lucky I do. The amount of times I’ve had to save you from demotion is…” Paroon paused. “… Astounding.”

“Thank you Paroon!” Atoll swooned.

“You’re welcome. I guess.” She frowned and looked away.

“How many more shifts do we got?” Minnow interrupted whatever dialogue Paroon and Atoll were having.

“I don’t know. Maybe 1 or 2? It’s late.” Paroon nodded.

“What time is it?” Gar lifted his head.

“It’s 20 to 5.” She looked at her watch then at him.

“Huh. Wait- Gar you’ve never cared about the time? Why do you care now?” Minnow squinted.

“I have to go home sometime.” Gar gave them a shrug.

“Uh huh. Sometime.” Minnow said, standing up as the helicopter landed on top of the building, letting them all climb out and head down to the lobby.

Unfortunately, no more shifts were called for a whole 20 minutes, which was surprising. The group started to put up their things and get ready to go home. Before Gar could get out the door, Minnow stopped him.

“Wait Gar. We’re going out for some drinks and stuff. You wanna come?” They offered.

After the day he had just suffered through with Minnow constantly yelling, he really wanted to just turn around without saying anything. He didn’t feel like being that jerk right now though.

“No, uh. Thank you.” Gar said.

“Why not?” Minnow pushed.

“I don’t drink.” Gar blinked and Minnow stared at him.

“YOU DON’T?”

“No? Why is this a surprise?” Gar looked at Minnow.

“You’re a 22 year old man with a bad job.” Paroon said, looking at him in the eye.

“That doesn’t change anything.” Gar said looking at her. “Plus I have two kids at my house that I-“

“YOU HAVE KIDS????” Minnow stared at him wide eyed. “I’m sorry Gar but you can’t throw this at me like this. Dude. YOU HAVE A WIFE? OR GIRLFRIEND? OR WHATEVER?”

“What. You’re the second person who’s seemed surprised and I don’t- They’re not mine.” Gar shook his head.

“So you just have random kids in your house?” Atoll looked confused.

“Technically yes. I took them in during that bad storm-“

“SO THAT’S WHY YOU HAVEN’T BEEN AT WORK! THAT’S WHY YOU’VE BEEN DISTRACTED!” Minnow pointed at him.

“I guess.” Gar shrugged.

“No way.” Minnow’s eyes were wide and they put their hands on either side of their head. “You don’t have a girlfriend though, right? I’m about to flip my shit.”

“No.” He blinked at Minnow awkwardly. “Can I go- I have to meet a friend before-“

“YOU HAVE FRIENDS OUTSIDE OF WORK????” Minnow’s jaw dropped again.

“Can you stop.” Gar rubbed his forehead and closed his eyes.

“Minnow, stop being rude.” Paroon stared at them.

“NO NO IT’S JUST- Dude he’s got like no interesting qualities how does he have friends- I’m sorry Gar.”

Gar just stared at the ceiling.

“Yes he does, leave him alone! He’s funny and interesting.” Atoll said. “He’s just quiet sometimes.”

“He didn’t speak to us for like eight months when he started working here. And then when he did he said really basic phrases.” Minnow tried to argue.

Gar didn’t ever tell them he didn’t actually know how to speak Inklish for a long time when he originally started working. Thankfully Grizzco didn’t exactly require someone to be able to actually speak languages. Or really anything. Grizzco would quite literally let anyone walk in the door.

“To be fair we also don’t know a whole lot about him.” Paroon frowned.

“Yes we do, we’ve worked with him for 4 years!” Minnow yelled.

“And how much has he exactly told us in those 4 years?” Paroon asked.

“Enough.” Gar interjected. “There’s not much you needed to know.”

“Oh come on man, at least tell us a fun fact!” Atoll looked at him with a glitter in his eyes. “We tell fun facts about ourselves all the time! You gotta have something you haven’t told us!”

Gar stared at him. How long was this conversation going to run on for? Okay. Fun fact and maybe they’ll stop talking

“I have a sister.” Gar said plainly.

“Dude I know you have a sister! We all know! The boss probably knows! Get it a little more personal!” Minnow moved their arms dramatically.

“I have never participated in Turf War.” Gar crossed his arms and then every single one of them stared at him like he’d just said he hated the Great Zapfish.

“You haven’t what?” Paroon asked, looking genuinely confused, an unfamiliar expression to see her wear.

“I’ve never-“ He went to repeat.

“No we heard you- it’s just… what ?” Atoll looked completely lost.

“I don’t know, I just never found any interest.” Gar felt like his coworkers were staring right through him.

“DUDE WE HAVE GOT TO TAKE YOU TO TURF.” They all yelled at him at once.

Gar backed up, why did they have to be so loud about it? And what was so great about Turf War anyway? Why did everyone talk about it? Aside from the obvious reason that it was definitely a large part of the culture here. Tilly had said so herself. He still didn’t understand, the way his coworkers were talking about it made it sound like some sort of right of passage.

“PLEASE!” Atoll shook his hands in a begging manner, dropping to his knees. “COME ON MAN! You never do anything with anyone outside of work! Let us take you to Turf sometime!”

Gar couldn’t help but physically recoil. Atoll was always dramatic about things but he absolutely hated begging. “Uh… Maybe.”

“FOLKS WE GOT A MAYBE!” Minnow yelled, throwing a fist into the air.

“Great. I’m leaving. I’m going home.” Gar backed up, opening the door without turning away from them. “None of you are going to try to start another conversation.”

“Wait- I just thought of-“ Atoll started.

“No, Atoll, you didn’t.” Gar said quickly before darting out the door and shutting it.

His pace was near urgent and quick because he’d rather look like he was running away scared of something than be held captive in a corner stuck in another conversation where he was either going to be insulted or begged to do something. He had a feeling he was going to be held to that ‘maybe’ sometime. He didn’t want to think about it right now though. Not at all.

Chapter Text

Gar was making his way home, slowing his pace since his coworkers wouldn’t be able to catch up with him now. He kept his eye on the ground most of the time, a habit he had since he was little, one that hadn’t broken. He was imagining all the things he had to do when he got home, and he jumped when a voice called out his name and interrupted his thoughts.

Looking over his shoulder, he saw Tilly. He was pretty used to this by now, but he still couldn’t help tensing every time he heard his name yelled out through the plaza. She was walking over to him quickly, a wide smile on her face.

“Gar you’ll never believe this!” She started. “We had a faculty meeting today and they’re talking about prep work for next year- the age for starting kindergarten is being extended to 5 years so long as they have their 6th birthday in December!” She cheered.

Ah, yes. School.

Gar nodded in acknowledgement. “Sounds uh… Good? I think.” 

Tilly shook her head in agreement. “Yeah! Do you know when Hope’s birthday is? We could get ‘em in kindergarten next year if it’s in that frame!”

Gar didn’t know how to respond. He actually didn’t know the birthdays of either of the kids, and he honestly wondered if they even knew. Should he have asked for their birthdays…? Why was he even wondering about this? He hadn’t planned to keep them until next year, right…? Right…?

“Gar?” Tilly turned her head then froze. “Oh. Right! Right! Sorry, I’m thinking ahead and- well, there might not be an ahead, right?” There was a bit of excitement in her eyes that died a little.

“Uh. Yeah.” Gar shuffled a bit, putting his hands in the pockets of his jacket, if for no other reason than to discreetly dig his nails into his palms.

“Well- yeah, sorry!” She looked genuinely apologetic but slightly confused. “So uhm… Have you figured anything out yet? Where they’re going? It’s been quite a few months.”

He went silent again, trying to search for words. He was supposed to be a responsible adult right? Responsible adults didn’t put off phone calls for something important like that for 6 months if they had already made a decision. He should’ve called by now, or at least figured out what was happening. But he hadn’t. He didn’t even plan on it as far as he was concerned. But why? Making a call wasn’t that hard. Yet every time he so much as glanced at his phone…

“No.” He said.

Why did he tell her the truth…?

“Are you going to figure it out this week?” She asked.

“I don’t know.”

Why does he keep telling her the truth…?

“You don’t… Know?” Tilly blinked at him.

“No.”

He kept his gaze locked on the concrete and didn’t dare look up. He felt very unsure of himself, which wasn’t something he usually felt. He didn’t like this feeling.

“Well. I guess that’s that then.” Tilly finally stopped asking him questions.

“Yeah.” He glanced to the side, looking down the road he’d be walking along to get back home.

“Sooo…” Tilly cleared her throat after a moment of silence.

“So.”

Another moment of silence.

“I don’t mean to keep you from heading home-“ Tilly was looking past him at a building.

“You’re fine.” Gar took a hand out from his pocket to wave it as if dismissing the thought.

“Got any plans for the weekend?” Tilly asked, kicking at the ground a bit.

“No. I think my coworkers are going to try to take me to do a turf war or something.” Gar rolled his eyes.

“Oh that’ll be fun! I think you’d like it!” She smiled at him.

“… Why?” Gar asked.

She was quietly staring at him in yet another awkward silence.

“I don’t!… Know…” She put her hands together. She was definitely looking at something but he couldn’t place what it was. “You just. Seem like you’d enjoy it! The vibe you give off. Something about it.”

If he wasn’t so tired he might be tempted to ask more questions about what that was supposed to mean, but he didn’t particularly care enough. He opted to put it out of his mind instead and nod.

“If you say so.” He shrugged.

“Anyway! I should really get going!” Tilly clapped her hands. “I’ve got to do some more work for tomorrow… Friday’s gonna be a good day, I can feel it!” She said with a smile, turning.

“Wait-“ He stopped her for just a moment.

“Yeah?” She turned to face him with a look of curiosity.

Why did he stop her again?

“What about you?” He asked.

“What? Oh- this weekend?” Tilly looked at him and then nodded when she got the question. “Not doing anything really! Gonna see if anyone reaches out to chat or whatever! So you know. If you’re bored, you got my number, give me a call!” She said with another grin.

When he nodded, she turned back around. He watched her walk away for a moment before continuing back on his own route home. 

-

He entered the apartment, kicking the door closed as he went in. Hearing… Nothing. Which would have been a good and normal thing usually if he still lived alone! But now it was just worrying. He slid his bag off of his arm and set it by the door, slowly walking down the small entrance hallway to the living room and peeking out. He didn’t see anyone there.

He walked into the living room and looked around, still not hearing or seeing anything. Now he was deeply concerned.

Or he was, until his sister popped her head out of the kitchen and shouted. “GET HIM!” He admittedly jumped a bit when she yelled. Why was he so jumpy today?

The two kids barreled out of the kitchen and ran into him, each clinging to one of his legs, which would have knocked him over if they weren’t so small and he wasn’t so balanced. He stared at them for a minute and watched Whimsy fall to her side and stare up at him, not attempting to move. Then his gaze traveled to his sister.

“I am the coolest aunt.” She said with a smug grin. “I give the kids permission to attack you.”

“You’re hilarious.” He said sarcastically, kneeling down to lift Whimsy back into at least a sitting position. Hope was standing just fine.

“Yes I am.” She boasted.

“Hi dad.” Hope finally let go of him. “How’s today?”

“Fine. And yours?” Gar got back up to his feet as Whimsy sat up, then proceeded to fall down again. He kept his eye on her.

“It was good! Auntie gave us mac n’ cheese.” Hope looked up with a smile.

“You huh?” Gar looked at Piranha.

“Kids love the stuff! You gonna deny these adorable lil guys some of that?” Piranha gave him a smirk and raised her eyebrows.

“No. Please tell me that wasn’t all they ate though.” He squinted.

“Nah, they had some fruit too. Speaking of which- you’re running out.” She snapped her fingers and pointed at him.

“Figures. It’s the end of the week.” He sighed.

“Dad don’t buy vegi-tables this time. They taste horrible.” Hope looked at him.

“I’m going to. You need those.” Gar looked down.

“Hold on- Gar-“ Piranha caught his attention. “You haven’t corrected me on calling myself an aunt. You haven’t corrected the kids on calling you dad. You literally always do that.” she squinted.

Gar took a moment to process what she was trying to say and realized he, in fact, hadn’t corrected a single one of them. Not even once. He froze for a minute, staring at her without knowing how to respond. He wanted so badly to say he’d just forgotten, that it meant nothing really. But he couldn’t say it.

Piranha kept her eyes locked on him the longer he was silent. He felt like he might be on fire, but he might as well have been trapped in ice too. At least if he was really on fire, it would make him want to move.

“Oh my cod.” She put a hand over her mouth.

“Don’t.”

“Gar.”

Her eyes were getting wider by the minute. Her jaw was slightly agape and he wanted to walk over to her and shut it for her. He was still unfortunately paralyzed.

“DO YOU-“

“Stop.”

“WE BROKE YOU?”

Gar’s paralysis broke enough to manage to hide his head in his hands. He wanted so badly to just stop thinking, and he wondered for a minute if he could hit his head hard enough to actually stop thinking. He didn’t think that was possible without an outside object though.

“WE DID.” Piranha pointed at him. “YOU HAVE A SOFT SPOT FOR THEM!”

“Shut up.” He didn’t move his hands from his face.

“YOU DO! Oh my cod. Oh MY COD!” She started cheering.

He groaned and lowered his hands. “It’s been six months, I just…” He still couldn’t bring himself to say he forgot to correct them.

“And in those six months you got attached !!!” She pointed at him.

“No.” he groaned.

“Kids! He’s your dad now. It’s official.” Piranha claimed boldly.

“No, I’m not.” He took his hands off his face and looked toward the ceiling.

“YAY!!!” both of the kids cheered, Whimsy still on her side on the floor, throwing her tentacles into the air as a show of excitement.

“Why do you keep doing this?” Gar grumbled.

“What?” Piranha tilted her head.

“Getting their hopes up? You know I-“ Gar was stopped by his sister.

“Don’t even say that next sentence. You know it’s a lie.” She leaned against the wall. “You’re not going to do it.”

“I will.” He said firmly, then added quietly. “… Eventually.”

“And eventually is when exactly? Gar you’re not going to do anything. You won’t even pick up your phone.” She glared at him.

“Eventually could be now.” He walked toward the door, pulling something from his bag and turning to look at his sister.

“You won’t.” She rolled her eyes.

He would. He absolutely would.

He turned on his phone and looked for the number briefly before he started to put it in. One number after another. He was slowing his pace in putting each one in. He felt his sister staring at him. He felt Hope and Whimsy watching him too. The room was tense as he remained silent.

And then he stopped. His thumb was hovering above the call button. He felt every muscle in his body tense and for once he found himself unable to do a simple task. It was like his brain wasn’t connected to his hands anymore. He kept staring at the number until it was burned into his retina. He could barely hear his sister ask him what was wrong over the sound of every single thing Tilly had ever told him about the system echoing in his mind. The stories of siblings getting seperated, or never finding homes, or ending up in bad homes.

He looked at his thumb as if to will it to hit the screen. He was trembling. Yeah okay, screw it.

He shut the phone off and threw it over to the couch which he promptly went over to and sat down, pressing his palms into his eyes. He couldn’t do that. The minute the phone left his hands, the swirling stories in his mind started to die down.

“Wow. You really won’t.” Piranha finally said after a long pause.

Gar didn’t respond.

“Or maybe you just… can’t ?” 

Gar didn’t respond.

“You really do care, don’t you?”

No response.

He finally took his hands off his eyes and leaned back, staring at the ceiling, his one good eye's vision blurry and with sparks of color from the pressure he left on his eyes for so long. He didn’t know what to say, because honestly, he hadn’t intended to care. He hadn’t ever wanted to care. Yet for whatever reason, he did.

He did care about what happened to these kids he hardly knew.

And maybe he did want to know them.

And maybe he did want them to stay.

If for no other reason than ensuring that they would be safe.

He looked over at Hope and Whimsy who were looking at him with wide eyes- wider than he thought he’d ever seen them. He didn’t know what to say to these kids. Part of him really didn’t want to be responsible for children. He was 22, working a job that paid poorly, lived in a crappy apartment, and had no aspirations for anything more. Not to mention, he didn’t know anything about kids and had been bullsharking- as Minnow might say- his way through the last 6 months.

He didn’t know if he could honestly do everything that came with the responsibility of raising two kids.

But he didn’t know how he was going to navigate the surface with Piranha when they moved 4 years ago. Despite that, Piranha was now in college, he managed to learn a whole other language, and was living almost on the edge of stability. He could totally manage to raise two kids without any knowledge of how to do it… Right? He needed to stop asking himself questions he didn’t know the answer to.

“Gar?” Piranha was looking at him.

“I am going to be sooo in debt.” He grumbled, looking back up at the ceiling and closing his eye.

“YAY!!! What’s debt?” Hope cheered and then turned to Piranha.

“Nothing important. GOOD NEWS! You have a dad! And an official cool aunt.” She said excitedly, moving her hands as if to present herself.

“YAY!!!” The kids cheered again.

Gar tried desperately not to think about the full extent of the decision he just made. He really just wanted to go to bed now, and surely he would regret his choice in the morning. When he was less tired. And thinking clearly.

He hardly made it through the rest of the night without constantly dwelling on the millions of things he now had to do. Like the actual legal aspects of claiming guardianship of these kids. Or the fact that he would have to properly finish setting up a room for them. Or figuring out how to prepare them for school. Nope. Don’t think about it.

… By morning, he was surprised (but not really) to find he didn’t actually regret the decision he made... Even when the kids ran out of their room screaming something about a bug at 5:30 in the morning.

Chapter Text

Friday came and went, Gar spent most of his free time that night working out how the hell he was going to go about this. He actually managed to get some things scheduled and worked out, like getting this situation legal and all, though the full ordeal would take a while to be evaluated and processed. He went to bed at nearly 12:00 a.m. that night, sure, but at least he could put a bit of his mind to rest knowing he had a plan.

The following morning he received a call from Atoll asking him to come to the Lobby for turf, and saying that he could bring a friend. Atoll had added that Minnow and Paroon would also be there waiting for him. He didn’t exactly know many people, but his sister was coming over to look after the kids anyway… It wouldn’t hurt to get this whole turf war thing out of the way so his coworkers would stop asking.

He ended up calling Tilly and inviting her, just for the sake of not seeming like he had no friends, in the event that he had to hear it from Minnow again. He told his sister where he was going, had a brief conversation, and then was out the door.

Walking into the Lobby was easy enough. They had told him to bring a weapon he could use- or else he’d get stuck with something they gave him. He didn’t trust them in the slightest, so he brought a splatana wiper with him. Tilly had shown up with dualies, Minnow had a tri-slosher, Atoll with an inkbrush, and Paroon with a roller.

And then there was the matter of teams .

“Minnow you’ll go with 3 random inklings, okay?” Paroon looked over at them, shortly after everyone had said their greetings and got themselves ready.

“WHY ME?” Minnow stomped. “Why not her? She’s not part of our crew.” they waved to Tilly.

“She’s Gar’s friend. And Gar is staying on our team!” Atoll threw his fist up in a cheer.

“This is so unfair.” Minnow crossed their arms. “But fiiine! We’re gonna wipe you out anyway!” Minnow tapped a foot and huffed.

“Sure.” Paroon gave a grin.

“Gar doesn’t even know how to play, piece of cake!” Minnow kept getting more cocky, but it honestly just sounded like they were reassuring themself more than anything.

“You cover as much ground as you can, stop opponents from doing the same. Simple enough.” Gar leaned against his weapon. That was about all he knew about it, nothing else. He wasn’t going to say that outloud though.

Minnow glared at him for a moment, and then jumped the minute the match was called to start. Gar would’ve laughed if he wasn’t trying to not provoke Minnow anymore than he already had the past few days.

The whole system of the match wasn’t something he had looked into, or was used too. This whole thing with the coffee makers was something he hadn’t been made aware of. The fact that they would be hovering in the air for a bit before the match was also a bit of information he’d missed. He did his best to pretend like he was unphased.

He recognized the area as Hammerhead Bridge, at least.

As soon as the match started, his team- Paroon, Atoll, and Tilly, all excitedly ran forward, covering the ground and leaving trails, and he followed suit. 

“So the best way to do this, Gar-“ Paroon was saying as she went along, speaking to him as she caught up to him. “Get to the middle first- that’s gonna be the tide turner.” 

He nodded, then trained his attention forward again as Paroon flanked off further to the left, heading the same direction. When he finally reached the center, he watched 3 of the opponents come into view- one, unfortunately, being Minnow, with their gaze trained on someone else. He tried not to think too much about it, doing his part- covering the ground with ink and… This was… Easy.

Until he watched Tilly dart behind him, followed by Minnow. He turned toward where they’d gone just in time to see Minnow throw another shot from their slosher and.

Then Tilly fell to the ground for just a second before enemy ink covered the ground where she had been.

Gar froze.

—————

“GAR! Keep up! Is your head even in the game?” He heard his sister’s voice call from ahead.

“I’m coming! Maybe if you’d slow down.” Gar rolled his eyes, climbing up another stairway. “This dome is… so far away from the base. Why… Are we here again?”

“Gotta get the important tech, fishstick. You really don’t have your head in the game.” She grumbled.

“We have more than enough at the base.” Gar locked eyes with her briefly before she broke eye contact.

“Oh shut up, Gar. Not our place to judge their orders, just follow ‘em. Plus, sooner it’s done, the sooner I can get back to Piranha. She’s only 11 you know.”

“She’ll be in training until 4.” Gar kept moving, half shuffling. Man, he did not know what to think about this area. It all looked… broken.

“And? It’s 12.” She shot another glare at Gar. “I’m trying to think of positives.”

“Whatever you say, big sis.” He looked up ahead. “Is that the dome?” He paused.

A weak looking structure laid ahead of them. Most of it was cracked, there were a few glass panes that still looked like they were held together, a few metal supports appearing bent under the weight of the concrete dome. He looked toward his sister.

“This thing’s got a week on it, they said.” She said, looking over mission files.

Gar turned back toward the dome below, blinking for a moment. He scanned it for a bit, and then got a horrible idea.

He smirked. “Hey, race you to it.”

“What did you-?” His sister closed the file and Gar was already sliding halfway down the slope.

“KEEP UP!” He shouted back at her with a wide smile.

“YOU LITTLE-“ She called, an expression that clearly wasn’t truly mad, following him down quickly.

“You’re gonna LOOOOSE! And I’m gonna tell EVERYONE! ” He kept running ahead, picking up the pace as her footsteps kept getting closer “That you LOST to a FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD! ”

He slid into the doorway, hooking his arm around one of the metal poles and spinning around to see his sister just barely make it through. 

“AND SHE LOSES! Oh how tragic! What an awful day for Moray fans everywhere…” He dramatically flung out one of his arms. “Her poor officer must be so disappointed…”

“Shut up! You will tell no one.” Moray shouldered him and gave him a small laugh. “We really ought to focus on… Oh I don’t know…. The mission? ” 

“You’re no fun.” Gar huffed as she grabbed him and started tugging him along.

“Hush. Now, go gather any important tech you see, okay?” Moray let go of him. “That’s an order, soldier.”

“Uh huh.” Gar gave her a sarcastic smile and kept walking. “Ma’am yes ma’am.”

He kept an eye on her as he collected a few things that seemed important… radars, prototype devices, a few small computing things. Overall, there didn’t seem to be much aside from dirt and dust that had started to seep into the building through cracks. Something in the ground shifted under his feet. He didn’t think much of it.

He nearly tripped over something, his gaze shooting down to the ground. “What the shell is a huge wire doing right here ?” Gar kicked at it.

“It lead to the zapfish that powered the dome. It’s long gone now.” He heard Moray shout from somewhere else.

That made enough sense. Maybe if he followed it toward the end he could find the old container it was placed in? He followed the snaking wire through the building, not lifting his head. He finally reached the end and saw the capsule it was supposed to be in, long empty, the glass shattered around it.

There was dried ink on the floor, a yellow color with some splatters of pink-red, and lots of it . It seemed incredibly old, dry even on pieces of paper and machinery that were scattered around. He kicked around some of the papers, then his attention was drawn to a corner with something.

A splattershot was lying on the ground, an old splattershot. He hadn’t seen this particular model in the entirety of his life, but he could recognize it was one. He dropped down and picked it up. It looked broken, the line that would connect to an ink tank was possibly beyond the definition of severed . Whatever happened to it hadn’t been the best for it, obviously.

The ground felt like it shifted again, and he paid only a slight bit of mind to it. He stood back up, picking up an interesting looking device and heading back toward his sister. He caught sight of Moray gathering up another item.

“Did you find it?” She called over to him, not looking back at him.

“Yeah, looks like there was some kinda trouble with it though. Some old ink on the ground and a destroyed old splattershot. And I do mean old.” He trotted over to her, looking over her shoulder.

“Huh. Must’ve been a battle-” Moray was saying... But then there was a rumble.

Gar looked around, dropping his playful expression for a moment to try to pinpoint what made the noise. There was silence, not a single thing seemed to be moving, it didn’t seem to be getting darker. Maybe it was thunder, but he could’ve sworn the sky was blue?

Another rumble.

“Gar.” Moray was tense, her voice was laced with a warning. “Get ready to run.”

“What? Are we seriously playing this game right now-“

There was another, pebbles started to skip along the ground beneath them.

“This isn’t a FUCKING GAME GAR, RUN!” She pushed him forward, getting him to run. He never heard his sister swear before.

Just as they did, a large chunk of the ceiling caved in behind them. Gar could hear his sister’s footsteps behind him. He kept his pace to try and get just a bit faster. The machinery was heavy though, and definitely not helping him to speed up.

“DROP IT GAR! KINDA NOT THE PRIORITY ANYMORE! ” She shouted, and he dropped it immediately.

He kept running toward the exit as he could hear more of the ceiling cave in, chunks falling down in on themself. He was so close to that doorway, he could see the sky from the entrance. He was starting to slow down without thinking.

“Almost there…” He muttered.

“GAR. COD DAMNIT!” He heard his sister curse again. It shocked him as much as the first time and he felt her beside him.

“WHY WON’T YOU LISTEN ! I TOLD YOU TO KEEP-“ She barely managed to get the word out, the ceiling gave way, he pushed himself as hard as he could as a massive piece of concrete came down, the smash on the ground creating enough force to knock him off his feet and physically push him the rest of the way. Directly into a rock.

And then things went black for a while.

—————

Gar opened his eyes, dizzy with his memory a bit hazy. He was on the ground in dirt… He had taken naps on the ground before but there was something about this that wasn’t clicking with him. Usually it was on the floor of the base… And this sure wasn’t it.

And then he remembered.

He shot his head up and something seared down his right eye, and it wasn’t like him to scream exactly, but he couldn’t help it. He tried to open his right eye, but ink pooled in, and he couldn’t see anyway so he closed it again. He put one of his hands into his mouth, biting down to stop himself from making more noise.

He looked at the culprit, 3 perfectly spaced thin metal bars, something akin to claws. Aside from being obviously guilty as it was directly in front of him, it dripped with a bit of his ink like a trophy. He gave it a glare, before he took his hand out of his mouth, ignoring the deep bite marks he’d left. He stumbled up.

His sister was more important than glaring at the thing that blinded him right now. He quickly used his one good eye to look around for her, and he didn’t see her… Anywhere.

“Moray?” He called out, sort of quiet. No response met him.

“MORAY?” He shouted this time, running toward the flattened dome.

Piles and piles of concrete, a couple metal rods sticking up from the heaps. He scanned the whole pile, nothing. There was no sign of his sister. And then a hand.

He immediately ran toward it, seeing a steady stream of ink that had started running at least an hour ago. How… Long had he been out? It didn’t matter.

“MORAY! Moray! I’m gonna-“ He heaved a heavy piece of concrete out of the way. “I’m gonna get you out from under there okay?” He frantically moved aside rubble.

There were so many heavy pieces, and it was all stacked so high. He tried to slam against a heavier chunk of concrete, which kept a sharp piece of glass wedged in it that immediately dug deep into his shoulder. He couldn’t do much but muffle a pained wail, focused too hard on his sister to care. He couldn’t stop himself from crying, hardly able to see from his one good eye.

He kept digging, and digging, and digging. It was getting dark at this point. He knew she was dead. But he couldn’t just leave her here.

“It’ll be okay, we’ll go to the medic and-“ He heaved another piece of concrete off of the pile. “And we’ll go see Piranha! And-“ He tried to lift the last piece of concrete and found that, unlike the rest, he couldn’t even budge it.

Panic surged through him and he tried again. And again. And again. He couldn’t lift it. Not with all of his strength. He couldn’t even get it to shift from it’s position.

“NO! NO! NO. COME ON! ” He felt more tears well into his eyes to blind him. “PLEASE!” 

He spent yet another hour begging and trying with everything he had to move it. After he felt every last bit of his energy leave him, he collapsed against it. Looking at the ink along the ground. 

He should’ve listened. She was right. He should’ve kept running, he shouldn’t have let himself slow down. He should’ve dragged his sister with him if anything. They should’ve both made it out. He shouldn’t be sitting here digging his older sister out of rubble . This was his fault, wasn’t it? If he didn’t slow, she wouldn’t have slowed.

He sat there for another long hour, unable to move or do anything but cry. He kept his head down, ignoring the sting of his wounds.

—————

“It’s fine.” The officer said.

“Wh… Huh? How is that-“ Gar looked at the officer with pure shock. He didn’t know what to say.

“So your sister is dead. It happens all the time. She’s a number. Did you get her out?” The officer held a clipboard, swirling his pen in the air.

“No- I- I couldn’t lift the concrete and-“ Gar couldn’t get the words out. He couldn’t say them right. They felt foreign on his tongue.

“Okay. Then that’s her burial out of the way.” He checked off some sort of box on the paper.

“Wait what- You’re not going to go get her?” He jumped forward in his place, eye wide, feeling the wound pull painfully as he raised his eyebrows in fear.

“No. Seems she got buried enough, right?” 

The words made him shatter completely, he searched the officer for a sign that he wasn’t serious. But instead he just shrugged with a light laugh. She wasn’t even going to get a proper BURIAL?

“If you couldn’t dig her out, I doubt anyone wants to try. Plus that concrete weighs tons. I’m not going to send out the machinery to do so. Not efficient. People are dying everyday, one more doesn’t deserve so much ceremony.” He continued. “She’s just another soldier lost to a mission.”

“You said the dome had a week- you lied-“ Gar stared at the ground.

“I took a guess. No one knows for certain, that was the assumption. It was wrong.” He paused, then put his pen against the clipboard. “You’re not trying to challenge me here, are you?”

Gar frowned, looking in fear along the wall of weapons that lined the room they stood in. All sorts of dangerous looking tech, which reflected in the eyes of his officer.

“No sir.” He shook his head. “I just… Miss my sister…”

“Tough shit kid, she’s gone.” He picked his pen back up.

“Your mom, she died in the hospital when your little sister was born, right?” He asked.

Gar gave him a nod.

“Verbally.”

“Yes, sir.”

He could feel his entire body trembling. He didn’t think any day could be worse than that. He was wrong once.

“And your dad, he died the following year? Issue on a battlefield?” The officer asked again.

“Yes, sir.”

And then today, he was proven wrong again.

“That leaves you and your sister. Your family sure loves dying doesn’t it.”

He wanted so badly to punch his officer at this particular moment, but that might just prove the officer's point. He glanced at the E-liter hanging on the wall. 

“Well. Guess that’s that then. You look pretty beat up, go see the medic and the minute you’re done, join your sister in the sleeping quarters. I hope not to see you again for a while.” He clicked his pen and looked at Gar.

Gar nodded. “Yes sir.”

He held the officer’s gaze for a moment, a long moment. He wanted so badly to do something, to scream, to hit him, to yell at him until he understood just how much it hurt, and just how much he hurt. And then he remembered his sister telling him to listen. 

“That’s an order.”

“Sorry, yes sir.”

Gar lowered his gaze, turning on his heel and leaving the room.

They didn’t give a damn about the lives of those here, it was obvious. He had never known to what extent, he had never been to a meeting like this. The only one who had was… Moray. When she was younger. When their dad was lost.

He immediately wondered what would happen to Piranha if she was ever sent on a mission. The minute she turned 14, she would be at risk. She could…

He felt so heavy.

So. So heavy.

—————

“GAR, DUDE, CHILL OUT!” Paroon was yelling at him.

Gar brought his attention back to what was in front of him. Minnow was cowering away from him, looking at him with bewildered and frightened eyes. There was ink all around him.

“GAME!” A voice called, ending the match.

He looked at his splatana and fixed his gaze on the end. It was trembling. He was trembling. He quickly turned his head up to the sky, lifting a hand to his face. He wasn’t crying. Thank cod. When he lowered his head he saw Tilly looking at him, concerned.

It was silent as they headed back to the lobby. Paroon, Gar, Atoll, and Tilly’s team had won by a landslide. Minnow wasn’t even making comments about any of it the whole way back. Until they finally set foot in the lobby.

“WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?” Minnow yelled, stomping up to Gar. “YOU DIDN’T NEED TO TARGET ME LIKE THAT? FUCK, MAN!” 

Gar blinked at them, staring without knowing an answer. He didn’t remember any bit of the match past Tilly…

“I saw, he saw Tilly go down and bro. I think he had a vengeance!” Atoll said with a smile, which then faded into an unusual frown. “Uh… By the way, you okay, Gar?”

Gar stared for a long moment at Atoll. There was dead silence, he still couldn’t find the words. He didn’t know what had happened, or how Tilly had…

“Did they not tell you that in turf war, they have a system so you don’t like… Die ? It’s all just a little game. The coffee maker things make it safe.” Tilly explained, tilting her head. 

Gar felt dizzy, staring at Tilly. So that’s how she was back. It was a game. With no real-world consequence. Just a function of the match.

“You did not have to keep chasing me like that man!” Minnow was still mad, yelling but quieter now.

Gar focused his attention back on Minnow, then looked toward the sky lights in the lobby.

“Well, uh… We could always play another match and-“ Paroon was going to say.

“No.” Gar slammed the splatana on the ground, just enough to make a thud.

“What? Bro come on, it was one match! AND YOU WON!” Minnow complained.

“I don’t want to play a match again. Frankly, ever.” He looked down, glaring at Minnow. “I’m going home.”

“Dude- seriously, are you okay?” Atoll asked.

Gar turned on his heel and started walking toward the door, listening carefully to his coworkers and Tilly call after him. His head was still spinning and he felt like he might be sick. He had to eventually press his palm into his forehead just to keep himself from stumbling.

He left the lobby and went home, immediately setting the splatana against the door. He kept his head down as he walked to the living room.

“HI DAD!” The kids shouted. He didn’t look up to see them.

“Hey G-“ Piranha went to speak.

“Can you watch the kids for just a bit longer. I’ll be here but…” He gestured to his room.

Piranha raised an eyebrow. “What’re you-“

Gar lifted his face and gave her a pleading look. He saw the two kids watching him, looking slightly confused and just a bit worried.

“Yeah… No problem…” Piranha changed her approach, looking concerned.

“Thank you.”

Once he shut the door to his room, he heard Piranha talking to the kids.

“Is dad okay?” Hope’s voice came through.

“He’s alright, I think he just needs a nap.” Piranha was saying, using her soothing voice for once.

“He never naps. You sure?” Hope spoke again.

“Yeah, we all nap sometimes, just… some more than others! And not always everyday.” She said.

He could hear the voices dying down and the sound of the tv cutting on, playing something that faded into nothing more than background noise.

He spent two hours trying to stop himself from either being sick, crying, or getting so dizzy he couldn’t see straight. He spent far too long trying to even out his breath. He just held his head in his hands, pressing his palms against his face for a long, long time.

Chapter Text

“AGAIN! AGAIN! DO IT AGAIN!”

Gar took a moment to process the request before he lifted Hope up and gently threw Hope in the air, then caught her. This was a ridiculous thing to be doing on a Sunday, but he didn’t exactly care. Hope was giggling as Gar put Hope down on the floor again. 

“NO NO! Come on, AGAIN!” Hope protested.

“How are you still entertained? It’s been hours.” He wrinkled his nose, staring down at the kid who still had wide-eyes.

“Fun! Throw me!” 

“One more time.” Gar sighed, repeating the same motion he had been doing for hours.

He set Hope down and then immediately stood up from where he had been sitting on the floor. Hope looked up at him immediately and blinked at him very hard. He held Hope’s gaze for a moment before Hope looked away toward Whimsy, who had been doing her thing- laying on the floor on her side- for about an hour now.

Gar would never understand why Whimsy did that. He would try again and again to sit her up, she would fall back down on her side and stare at him with a wobbly smile. Hope didn’t do that, so he didn’t know if that was an inkling thing and Hope was weird, or if that was a Whimsy thing.

After everything that had happened yesterday, he’d preoccupied himself by focusing on the kids. It helped stabilize his emotions in a way he didn’t quite understand, though he assumed it was because they were very simple beings. They had simple desires- like being thrown in the air and caught repeatedly, or laying on their side on the floor. It was relaxing to not need to hold long or important conversations, or to be focused on trying to do an action that required skill and lots of thinking.

They were kind of funny too, in a way. Hope would say nonsensical things sometimes, and Whimsy didn’t say much of anything, but she had a habit of making odd noises that threw him off. Plus, they enjoyed his company. Maybe too much, since whenever he would get up to do something, they’d throw small fits, but it wasn’t like time to himself was exactly what he needed right now anyway.

He slowly zoned back out of his thoughts and immediately squinted, staring at Whimsy for a moment. He couldn’t quite get a good look at her suddenly- was she… He blinked once. Then again. And a third time. He could see Hope move over to her and give a head tilt.

Nope, she was definitely melting.

Wait.

She was melting.

Gar moved over to her as quickly as he could and dropped to his knees in front of her. He had no idea what to do in this situation. He was pretty sure melting wasn’t something that happened normally, right? Inklings didn’t tend to melt. He had never seen his coworkers or Tilly melt. Not really.

“What is she doing-“ He looked at Hope and Hope shrugged.

Why would he ask a 4 year old?

He tried to pick her up and found that she was still solid enough to lift, but now she was just dripping with ink which was freaking him out even more. What does someone even do in this situation? He wasn’t imagining this was he? No, he wasn’t.

He slung her into one of his arms and moved to find his phone, which was sitting on the coffee table. He quickly turned it on and flipped through his contacts for a moment- which he honestly didn’t have much of- and found Tilly’s number.

Yeah, she told him to call her, right?

It rang a moment and he held his breath, looking at Whimsy who seemed perfectly content to just be literally melting right now.

And then she answered.

“Hey Gar! What’s-“

“Tilly I have a question.” He said quickly, talking faster than he thought might be possible for him at this moment.

“Yeah? What’s up?” She sounded curious.

“Whimsy is melting. Do I- What- I-“ He couldn’t figure out how to communicate what he needed to. “ Hospital??? ” He said desperately.

“She’s melting you say?” Tilly repeats.

“ Yes .” Gar looked anxiously down at Whimsy, who blinked at him slowly.

“Is she super warm or anything?” Tilly asks.

“No- She’s just all…” He searched for the word. He couldn’t find it.

“I think it’s normal.” Tilly said dismissively over the phone.

Gar stared at Whimsy. There was ink on the floor and his shirt and he was getting more and more distressed the more he looked at it.

“Are you sure it’s normal? ”

“Do you want me to come over and see? I’ll only take a few minutes.” Tilly asked.

“Yes. Please.” He responded without exactly thinking.

“Alright, I’ll see you in just a bit.” Tilly said, ending the call. 

He dropped his Phone and lifted Whimsy up but panic struck him again when he saw more ink drip on the floor. He quickly put her back into one of his arms, sort of cradling her. He looked over at Hope who was still staring at him.

“What is goin’ on?” Hope asked.

“Uh… A friend is coming over. To look at her.” He turned his head back to Whimsy.

“Cool! Can friend play?” Hope gave an excited smile.

“That’s not what she’s coming over for.” Gar frowned.

“Oh.” Hope fell silent again.

Agonizingly silent.

And then Whimsy made an unintelligible noise that made Gar jump a bit. He couldn’t wish for Tilly to be any faster at this moment.

-

A few minutes felt like hours and finally there was a knock on the door that made Gar more than a little relieved.

“It’s not locked.” He said, just loud enough for her to hear.

He watched Tilly open the door and peek her head in, and wished for a moment that she would be just a bit quicker . She finally fully moved into the apartment, shutting the door. She walked over to Gar and stared at the mess that was Whimsy at the moment.

“Hello Ms. Lady!” Hope chimed.

“Oh, hello!” Tilly greeted Hope with a smile and wave.

“Help.” Was all he could manage, looking at Whimsy and then to Tilly.

“Oh! Yeah, I was right, she’s perfectly fine!” Tilly clapped her hands together after looking at Whimsy for just a moment.

“Okay-“ Gar paused. “But… Why? Just why? ” He held her out in front of him, letting Tilly get a good look at her.

“Sometimes inkling kids will do this! You know, swim forms are tricky. Especially for little ones, she’s got trouble staying in one form, that’s all!” Tilly said dismissively.

Gar blinked and looked at her. 

“How do I make it stop?” He asked, frowning.

“I don’t know that you can really?” Tilly tilted her head to the side.

“ When does it stop?” Gar felt like his tone might sound helpless.

“It’ll stop anywhere from an hour to three. Usually. It’ll be off and on, if it happens again.” Tilly’s voice held a soothing tone.

“Is this related to her laying on the floor on her side?” He asked her.

“No? What’s that about?” She looked confused now.

“I don’t know, she won’t sit up. Uh… Hold on.” He said.

He knelt down and tried to sit Whimsy up. The minute he took his hands off her, she fell slowly on her side and seemed perfectly content. Tilly laughed.

“Y’know Gar, I think that’s just her being her.” She said, looking at Whimsy in amusement. “I don’t genuinely think there’s an underlying thing to this. I think she likes laying on your floor.”

“Oh.” He looked at Whimsy. He did not understand children.

Tilly stifled another laugh and knelt beside Whimsy. Gar watched Hope slide over to her and he was slightly scared of what Hope was going to do. He made a silent wish for Hope to not decide to say something rude or scream. Hope had a habit of screaming for no reason on occasion.

“Hi miss. Who are you?” Hope waved a tentacle in front of her face.

“Oh! Hi! I’m Tilly… And you must be… Hope?” She smiled at Hope, resting a hand on Hope’s head gently.

“YEAH! Did he tell you? I’m the cool one?” Hope asked with eyes that seemed like they could be cartoonishly sparkling.

“He absolutely has!” Tilly gave a lighthearted giggle.

“I did n-“ He decided not to say that in front of Hope. “Right in front of your sister.” Gar shook his head.

“She’s the cute one.” Hope said with a tone that sounded frustrated and like she was tired of correcting him.

“Yah. ‘M cute.” Whimsy nodded from her position on her side on the floor.

He furrowed his brow and gave a vague defeated hand gesture.

“Looks like they’ve decided.” Tilly gave him a soft smile.

He sighed and looked at Whimsy. It looked like she was slowly beginning to stop melting. He had no idea how to clean up the mess that was on the floor and his shirt and his arms. It wasn’t like he hadn’t scrubbed ink out of clothes or floors before, but it wasn’t exactly like this. That was something different.

He shook his head and tried to dispel the thought before he dwelled on it anymore. No thinking about yesterday or 7 years ago or anything that related to either of those things. 

“How hard is it to clean?” He asked.

“Should be pretty easy. It’s like the stuff they use at the Lob- Yeah it’s easy to clean.” She stopped herself before she said the wrong thing, looking at him with anxiety.

He tensed at her near mistake and then nodded, moving to stand up. He tried to ignore the part about the lobby, and instead guessed he was lucky that she hadn't rolled all over the living room, even if Tilly did say it was easy to clean. He wanted so badly to go change his shirt but he honestly didn’t know if he trusted Tilly enough with the kids… Even though she knew more than he did.

“So…” Tilly was playing with one of her earrings. “About yester-“

“Don’t.” He shot a warning look at her.

“Yeah… Uhm… Sorry. Have you made any progress with the k-“

“I’m keeping them.”

“Oh, huh.”

He shuffled a bit, looking down at the kids.

“Does that mean…?” Tilly looked up at him.

“He’s our dad now.” Hope boldly claimed, sliding over to Gar and patting his leg.

He didn’t always enjoy some of the inputs Hope would give, but he didn’t mind this one. It was easier for Hope to say than it was for him. And it was much more straight-forward than he would have put it.

“Yeah I guess so.” He looked at Hope, then to Tilly.

“Well then! If you need any help with them, I’m always just a call away, you know?” Tilly gave a warm smile.

He sighed and gave a nod, verging away from the topic she almost brought up was relieving to say the least. “Uh… Thank you.” he said.

“You like to say ‘uh’ a lot.” Hope commented.

There it was, the type of input he didn’t exactly enjoy , but he wasn’t going to say anything. Hope had some sort of point, even if it was a point Gar wished wouldn’t have been made.

“Yeah I guess I do.”

“Yeah, you do.” Hope said with confidence and a smile.

“I should probably be on my way, since everything is sorted.” Tilly stood up, looking at Gar with a smile. “I’m glad you’ve figured things out.”

“SO SOON?” Hope shouted. Gar chose to ignore it.

“Alright, it was nice to… Talk.” He said awkwardly. 

He was not much of one for conversation as it stood. Tilly knew that, considering she’d been the one to teach him a majority of what he knew about inklish, and she still hadn’t heard him say half the words she’d taught him. He couldn’t imagine why she stayed in touch with him now.

“Well, see you later! Good luck with Whimsy!” She gave a wave and backed toward the door with a friendly head tilt before she turned on her heel and left.

Gar watched her leave, and when she had shut the door, his gaze traveled back to Whimsy. She seemed fine now, and was now rolling around in a circle, no longer looking like a horrific pile of hardly recognizable ink. He took a deep breath before he decided he should probably start working on cleaning up his floor. More busywork, but at least he would remain distracted.

Chapter Text

Things were pretty repetitive for about 3 years after that particular Sunday. Day after day it was the same thing, work and coming home to take care of the kids… Gar had actually managed to claim guardianship over the kids after he figured out how to get a lawyer and , after attempting to get in touch, was met with radio silence from the parents. The parents didn’t respond to any attempts to get into contact, and there was no real dispute in court over them. It had been easier than he thought it would be.

Getting Hope, and later Whimsy, into school was also easier than he expected, although Hope didn’t exactly want to go. Whimsy was thrilled about the idea of kindergarten despite having a fit the first day, and it was much easier to get her to go each morning than it was to get Hope to go. After a year or so, Hope had made some friends and was less of a challenge when it came to getting the kids to actually go to school.

He’d figured out how to actually set up their rooms to some extent, except the kids would occasionally fight each other over ‘crossing a line’ which was really just an imaginary line that constantly shifted in their room. Aside from that, the kids were pretty well behaved for being 5 and 7.

He admittedly did get a bit more attached to them over that time, and was finding it slightly easier to identify himself as their dad. They seemed to be very happy every time he would call them his kids. That made a bit of sense, they didn’t exactly have another person to call a parent, not really.

Which is why he was so confused when…

“I’m not your daughter!” Hope was announcing loudly to him in the living room.

“Huh?” Gar took a second to process what Hope was saying, but it wasn’t quite clicking with him. He wasn’t sure where this came from exactly, since they had previously been sitting in pretty much dead silence.

“I am not your daughter! ” Hope was saying.

“If that’s how you feel then that’s fine I-“ Gar was going to say, but was quickly cut off.

“NO! Like! Dad!” Hope’s arms were flung out. “I’m not your daughter! I’m a boy, your son! ”

Gar looked at Hope. He’d definitely heard of this type of thing before- because of Tilly- but oh what was that term… Did it matter what the term was called, actually? He didn’t know. He did know that now this conversation made a lot more sense. A lot of things were making sense actually.

“And- And!” Hope was saying, and Gar sat back quietly on the couch as Hope hopped up from where he had been sitting next to Gar and started pacing back and forth in front of him.

“I want to be called your son! And! I want to be… he… No. Yeah! HE and stuff!” Hope was saying. “I don’t want to be li… like… called a girl and… stuff.”

Gar let Hope continue to repeat himself for several minutes, since it looked more so that Hope was talking to himself rather than to Gar. He needed this, clearly. Gar tried his best to listen without saying anything or trying to reach out to stop Hope’s rapid pacing.

“And that! Is how! I feel!” Hope finally stopped after maybe 5 minutes of repetition.

“Okay then.” Gar leaned forward a bit.

“Huh?” Hope looked at him.

“Good to know.” Gar looked at Hope and offered a half-smile. 

Hope stared at him like he wasn’t making any sense so Gar tried again.

“I’m glad to have a son?” He tilted his head.

“You sound…”

“I’m only unsure because you look like I’m not speaking inklish to you right now.” Gar put his hands together.

“No way… So you-…” Hope looked at him with big eyes.

“I what?”

“Dad…”

It was quiet for a whole minute and then Hope opened and closed his mouth several times to speak, failed to get a word out, and then frowned.

“What?”

“YOU? COOL? WITH IT? YEAH?” Hope said very clumsily.

“Yeah. You said it yourself.” Gar raised an eyebrow.

“This is the best day of my life.” Hope stared at the ceiling.

“You say that everytime I give you ice cream, pick a day.” Gar looked at him.

“I DO NOT.”

“You do, Hope, you really do.” Gar laughed barely enough for it to be audible. “Do you still uh… Like that name?”

“YEAH!” Hope grinned and climbed up on the couch. “I have the coolest name.” He folded his arms in front of himself.

Gar rolled his eye and gave Hope a very tired stare. “Are you telling Whimsy or anyone?”

“You were the last person I told.” Hope said.

“Huh.”

“Don’t ask me why, I dunno.” Hope told him.

“I wasn’t really going to.” Gar blinked.

“GUYS.”

Hope and Gar turned to see Whimsy run out from the bedroom with wide eyes. Gar shifted to sit back up in a more alert position, she seemed ever so slightly scared.

“WHAT COMES AFTER H.” Whimsy was saying frantically.

“I.” Gar answered her plainly.

“You what?” Whimsy looked confused.

“No, the letter I. The letter that comes after H.” Gar put his hand on his forehead.

“OH. OH OKAY!!!” Whimsy nodded quickly and raced back to her room for a brief moment before she came back with paper and a pencil and proceeded to throw herself on the floor and start writing.

“What are you even doing ?” Hope leaned halfway off the couch.

“Alphabet.” Whimsy pointed at a paper which had messy letters scribbled on it.

“Wh… Okay.” Hope sat back up on the couch and gave Gar a look like he was unimpressed. Gar chose to ignore him.

“Is it going well?” Gar asked.

“NO! I hate the alphabet.” Whimsy glared at her paper and tapped her pencil angrily against the paper.

“Me too.” Gar stood up and walked over to her, sitting beside her. Hope quickly followed him and sat on the opposite side of Whimsy.

“Why.” Whimsy pressed her face into the paper in a defeated way.

“You wanna learn how to spell, right?” Hope looked at Whimsy. 

“Yes…” Whimsy grumbled.

“You gotta learn this. Trust me, I’m in second grade.” Hope held out two fingers.

“I know.” She didn’t lift her head up.

“Don’t they teach you a song?” Gar asked, genuinely. He could hardly remember, but he could’ve sworn that was a thing.

“Yeah! I hate that song.” Whimsy weakly slammed a fist into the floor.

“I think you’re just saying you hate things now.” Gar reached out and gently pried her out of her defeated position.

“NOOO! I hate it! So much!” Whimsy whined.

“You said that about the numbers 1-5.” Hope said.

“YOU SAID THAT ABOUT!!!… EVERYTHING!” Whimsy tried to make a comeback of sorts, and it failed.

“Okay we’re calming down now.” Gar sighed, sliding the paper away from her for a moment. “How long have you been doing this for?” He frowned as he saw a few drops, which were definitely tears, on the paper.

“Hours.”

“You didn’t come get me?” Gar looked at her with concern.

“YOU! Yeah.” Whimsy was going to say something and then stopped.

“Okay, well. Take a moment to breathe. Come back, we’ll do this later.” Gar told her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

“I want! To SCREAM!” Whimsy raised her voice.

“Please don’t.” Gar gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

“You’re what my teacher calls: dramatic.” Hope said to Whimsy.

“You were the exact same way. You are the exact same way.” Gar said as Whimsy let out a frustrated huff at her brother.

“WHAT? No I’m n-“

“Three digit subtractio-“ Gar started.

“NO STOP!! NOT THAT!!” Hope waved his hands out in front of him.

That earned a small laugh from Whimsy.

“OK Mr. perfect. Whatever.” Hope folded his arms and turned his head away.

“I can promise you I was just as dramatic.” Gar looked at Hope with a genuine expression. “But it was with shapes.”

“HA!” Hope laughed and pointed at Gar as if he had won. 

“I hated squares. I remember I-“ He paused for a minute, thinking back to the day he was sent back to his quarters with homework of sorts. Maybe telling his kids that he once set an entire worksheet on fire wasn’t the lesson he was trying to give them here. That was probably not going to go over well in the near future. Best not to give them ideas.

“I worked harder to understand them.” He opted for instead. Part of that was true, but only a very small part.

“Man. I hate working harder.” Whimsy muttered.

“I think you need to go take a nap.” Gar suggested. “I think you’d hate things less.”

“FINE! But only ‘cause I’m tired .” Whimsy stood up, stumbled, and then disappeared to the room quickly, but not before loudly slamming the door.

It took Gar a minute to realize what exactly just happened, considering neither of them ever listened without fighting when he would ask them to take a nap, though he didn’t do that much anymore since they were a bit older now. This was a slightly pleasant change despite being a late one, he thought. He looked over at Hope who looked like he was about to physically fight him.

“I’m not going to take a nap.” Hope practically growled at him.

“I don’t make you take naps anymore. You’re 7.” Gar shrugged.

“Give me a reason to fight you then.” Hope moved like he was about to lunge at Gar.

“No?” Gar squinted at him.

“Good enough...” Hope grinned.

“Don’t.” Gar warned.

Hope of course, did not listen. Hope jumped at him, trying- and failing- to tackle him or knock him down. He had a habit of doing this every now and then, in attempts to try and get Gar to rough house with him or something. Tilly had said this was normal for kids, but Gar didn’t need her input to know that was true. He had personal experience.

But also, from that personal experience, he knew it was not a good idea to encourage it or participate; if only because he couldn’t remember how many wounds he had inflicted on himself- and others- from doing that. Back when he did that. Before he stopped caring.

“COME ON! MOVE!” Hope tried pushing him down.

“No.” Gar gave him a slightly amused expression.

“You’re so boring.” Hope sighed.

“I know.” Gar said as Hope backed away, finding the most awkward possible position to lay in on the couch. There was no way that could be comfortable, but Hope seemed content.

Gar’s thoughts traveled back to their conversation from earlier as Hope finally stopped bothering him- and he didn’t have Whimsy crying over the alphabet. He was glad Hope seemed to find an identity he liked so early, and he certainly wasn’t going to discourage Hope at all. But he had no idea how to approach it, at the same time. Hope was very young and this was a complicated topic. He would need to figure out a way to encourage the exploration in a way that didn't make things feel incredibly stressful and permanent to Hope, should he discover something else about himself later.

He figured Tilly might know, she was similar in that way. Not the same, but similar. If nothing else, she might have advice about the future.

He managed to keep up with Tilly pretty well even after 3 years passed. She seemed perfectly comfortable keeping in contact with him, even when he didn’t have much to say. She still would call out to him whenever she saw him leave work, even if she was just going to give a big smile and wave. No matter how much he tried to understand why , he didn’t think he would fully get why she would actively choose to stay around him when he was not exactly an interesting person.

But he guessed Atoll and Paroon were sort of the same way. They still stuck around. So did Minnow but Minnow was different. He didn’t know if he would- or could- ever call what he and Minnow had a friendship…

Friendship itself was already a weird concept. He didn’t want to think about the ground he and Minnow stood on in relation to it.

He chose to stop thinking about Minnow entirely.

As he brought his thoughts back to Tilly, maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to mention this whole thing with Hope. She probably had more experience than he did. Definitely did.

And maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to talk to her about something that wasn’t oriented around the kids. They rarely had conversations about anything else. But then again, Gar couldn’t think of exactly what he would talk about otherwise. Maybe he could come up with something worth talking about on the spot.

He looked over at Hope who was staring at him.

“Hungry.” Hope said.

“You could say that in a nicer way.” Gar sighed, standing up.

“Food please?” Hope sat up.

“Try again later.” Gar made his way to the kitchen, hearing Hope let out small cheers as he went.

Chapter Text

So goes another 3 years, not without its challenges, but mostly mundane ones. Turns out- once most things are figured out, not a whole lot happens. Rituals form, and generally speaking, every day starts to blend into the others. There were some occasional changes to the daily habits, but not enough for Gar to consider them particularly significant events.

Most disruptions from the usual routines were when the kids would get bad nightmares and would wake him up in the middle of the night for comfort or to ask if they could sleep next to him. To his relief, the requests to stay with him overnight stopped a few years ago, so he would stop worrying about accidentally rolling over in his sleep and waking them up. Although, they would still come to him from time to time to get comfort, and then they’d go back to their room to sleep again. He didn’t ever really mind.

Tilly had helped Gar to figure out a few things for Hope’s sake, which relieved him since he managed to create a plan to help out Hope. Tilly offered any other help she could and started to call him first instead. Sometimes they even had brief calls which weren’t about the kids at all. He hadn’t heard much from her outside of the rare text or call in about 3 weeks or so though, and he wasn’t sure why.

His coworkers had long since stopped asking him about the Lobby, though Minnow still would occasionally bring up the fact that he had targeted them. Today’s shift was one of the fateful ones where Minnow would do exactly that.

The crew hopped off the helicopter as it landed again, all making their way downstairs. Minnow had been talking about it nearly the whole way back and everyone was just listening at this point, waiting for Minnow to drop it. They made it clear that was not going to happen until someone talked to them though.

“No, because I do deserve a rematch!” Minnow was saying.

“It’s been like 6 years, Minnow.” Paroon sighed and shook her head.

“I don’t care! It was not fair.” Minnow grumbled.

Gar looked over at Minnow and tilted his head to the side. “Not turf, but what about a physical fight?”

“Gar I don’t want to see Minnow get torn apart.” Paroon gave him a tired look.

“I would not get torn apart! I could take him in a fight.” Minnow claimed, stamping a foot down.

“You couldn’t.” Atoll gave them a wide smile.

“COULD! I COULD!” Minnow raised a fist at Atoll and he flinched.

“You keep saying that, do you want to find out if you’re right?” Gar set down his gear. It was about time to leave anyway, this wouldn’t take too long.

“Gar.” Paroon lifted a hand up to pinch her nose in frustration.

“Minnow will be fine.” Gar assured her.

He was so tired of dealing with Minnow’s every day banter and bold claims. It wasn’t like he had any intention of hurting Minnow exactly, but he definitely wanted to shut them up. He had an idea of how, in a way.

“Uh… Yeah! Y'know what. Yeah!” Minnow got into a stance like they were going to lunge at Gar.

“No-“ Paroon’s face was deeply concerned, but it wasn’t like anyone was going to listen to her at this point.

“YAY! They’re fighting!” Atoll cheered.

Gar didn’t move and watched as Minnow jumped at him, raising one of their arms in the air to hit him- or at least try . He grabbed Minnow by the wrist and Minnow froze. He lifted Minnow up and tipped his head to the side with one eyebrow raised. Minnow stared at him with wide eyes.

He didn’t do anything. He didn’t attempt to hit Minnow or throw them or attempt to hurt them in any way. He just kept them suspended in the air by their wrist. That was enough to make them start flailing once they eventually realized he wasn’t going to do anything else.

“LET ME GO- LET ME GO !” Minnow kicked at him a few times- not landing a single one.

“Okay.” He let go immediately and watched Minnow tumble to the ground.

“Wow.” Atoll stared at Minnow. “I was really hoping there would be an actual fight… He held you in the air like a couple a’ grapes!” Atoll started to smile again.

Gar heard Paroon audibly sigh.

“THAT IS NOT-“ Minnow was going to say.

“Fair?” Gar took a step toward Minnow and offered a hand to help them up.

Minnow scowled at him and stared at his hand for a minute. Finally they took it, their face turning the same color as their ink as they did. Gar pulled Minnow up a bit too fast and Minnow almost tripped and fell over- but barely managed to balance themself again.

“Are we done? I have a family to go back home to, I’d like to make the most of my half-of-a-work day.” Paroon tapped her foot.

“Oh yeah, how’s your son?” Atoll asked.

“Fine.” Paroon said simply. “But my husband won’t leave him alone when he naps so…” She rolled her eyes. “We’ll see how it goes.”

“Good luck with that or whatever.” Minnow grumbled. “I’m going home. To my tv. And fridge. I think.”

“Congratulations, hope the date goes well.” Paroon waved goodbye as she went to leave the building.

“OH YOU ARE NOT SERIOUS-“ Minnow was interrupted by the loud slam of the metal door.

Minnow then held out an arm and looked at Atoll as if they’d been betrayed. Atoll held Minnow’s gaze for a second and then broke it by loudly coughing.

“ANYWAY! I’m going to go get food! GOODBYE!” Atoll bowed and followed Paroon’s earlier display.

Gar watched them leave and then turned back to Minnow who was glaring at him. There was a long awkward silence of the two just staring at each other before Minnow took one step forward. Gar watched them carefully.

“So.” Minnow squinted. “What are you doing?”

“What.”

“After work, idiot.”

“Oh.”

Gar was confused by the question and debated on whether or not to answer honestly. Minnow never really asked questions without some ulterior motive.

“Nothing, that I know of.” Gar thought for a minute, not taking his eye off of them.

“So do you want to hang o-“

“No.”

“WHAT. WHY?”

“Minnow, you just tried to fight me.” Gar raised his eyebrows.

“Okay fair. But also- if we are being fair, you humiliated me in front of the entire crew.”

“Then why would that make you want me around?”

There was another period of silence and Minnow kicked the ground.

“Come on dude, you have nothing to do anyway.”

“Yes I do.”

“YOU JUST SAID YOU DIDN’T!”

“I have better things to do than be around you. We are not exactly friends .”

Minnow stared at him with furrowed eyebrows for a moment and then huffed. Gar wasn’t sure what emotion Minnow was trying to express but it wasn’t a good one.

“We aren’t?”

“You come into work to harass me.”

“Okay, and?”

Gar stayed quiet for a minute and hoped that what he said would sink in with Minnow. It didn’t. Minnow just stood there waiting for a response looking slightly confused.

“Friends kind of don’t harass each other.” Gar closed his eye and took a deep breath.

“WHAT? Bro have you never heard of like… friendly insults?” Minnow put their hands on their hips.

“You once said you hoped a train would somehow hit me on my way home.”

“That was friendly!”

“ That was hoping I died.”

“In a nice way!”

“How is that…” Gar frowned and shook his head.

Minnow was definitely an interesting individual. He would never understand their thought process, and he wasn’t particularly interested in trying. Not now anyway.

“Nevermind.” He gave a dismissive hand gesture. “I’m going home- you should too.”

“You really don’t want to-“

“No.” 

Minnow looked a little sad, so tried his best not to look at them for too long. He turned toward the door and moved to look over his shoulder at Minnow. They were staring at him, definitely still sad-looking.

“Go home, Minnow.” Gar turned his attention back to the street in front of him and left, starting to walk back home.

-

Gar walked toward the apartment complex, ready to go back and do… Whatever it was he was going to do for the rest of the day. He wasn’t usually one for getting off the clock early, but since not a single one of his crew was going to be there, he didn’t think it would be worth it to try his luck with random other strangers. It rarely ever went well, from his experience. Despite how much his crew fought, they were pretty good at their jobs- and worked well with each other.

He tried to focus on the things he could possibly do, but most of the things that came to mind were things he’d already done. Maybe he would just sleep for a few hours? He rarely took naps or time to himself, and it wasn’t exactly like he had anything better to do.

He then thought about possibly seeing if he could talk to Tilly. Maybe he would figure out where she’d been for 3 weeks, though he wasn’t too worried. He had disappeared for an entire month when the kids had first moved in, so maybe something had come up suddenly. He would be lying if he claimed he wasn’t at least slightly worried though.

“Gar!”

He turned. Speak of the spinetail devil.

Tilly was walking over to him with the big grin he had gotten used to seeing by now. Something was different about her though, and he wasn’t sure exactly what. Maybe it was the fact that she was walking much slower than she usually did.

“Hey! It’s been a minute, huh?” Tilly said as she caught up.

“Yeah,” There was definitely something different about her, it wasn’t just her walk.

Tilly fell silent as they stared at each other awkwardly. Gar was searching her face for something that might be different. It was starting to bother him, but he couldn’t exactly pinpoint it. He locked eyes with her for just a minute and her eyes were wide and full of an emotion he couldn’t read. And then he realized he had been staring at her, dead silent, for a whole minute.

“You seem…” He hesitated for a moment on the word. “Different.”

“Oh! Right! I forgot to tell you where I was. Must’ve slipped my mind!” Tilly looked slightly embarrassed for some reason. 

“Yeah?” He did not understand why she said it that way- she didn't exactly owe him explanations.

“I was uh- in surgery- and then of course waiting for healing and all that-” She was talking really fast. 

So that’s why she looked different to him. He hadn’t bothered to look past her face, for some reason he had been convinced it was something to do with her face. Definitely not that.

“-which SUCKS by the way!” She was saying. “You know, sitting there all cooped up! It’s awful… Have you ever been stuck in that kind of position?”

Gar moved his hand to his shoulder without really thinking. Suddenly his right eye felt like it was stinging. He had definitely been in that situation before, waiting on a wound to heal. So many times.

“Yeah.” He answered simply.

“Oh! Uh- Was it from any procedures or something?” Tilly asked curiously.

“Uh… No, not really. Stitches- a lot… Mostly stitches.” He thought for a moment.

“Lots of wounds from Grizzco?” Tilly gave a sympathetic smile.

“Something like that.” Gar frowned. A fair bit were, enough to make it true.

“What do you mean? Uhm- If I can ask?” 

“I was a reckless kid, to put it one way.”

“Ah, I see!” 

Gar tried to think of how to steer the conversation away from wounds and healing to something else. Maybe back to the conversation from before. How to get back to that was a bit complicated though.

“Did it go well?” He asked to break the silence.

“Yeah! Very well! Do you think I…?” Tilly’s voice trailed off.

Gar took a moment to process what she meant. She swayed back and forth for a moment and shuffled her feet a bit, looking at the ground.

“You look nice.” Gar answered, giving a slight tilt to his head.

“Really?!” Tilly seemed surprised and excited. Gar was tempted to take a step back with her sudden burst of energy but he managed to stop himself.

“Yeah, I mean it.” He blinked, kind of confused.

“I’m just so excited! I get to wear all those dresses now and it won’t sit awkwardly- AND! I finally just feel-!” Tilly stopped herself for a moment to clap her hands a bit. “Like me, does that make sense?”

“It does, I’m glad you feel that way.”

“Augh, I’m just so!” Tilly was physically shaking now, seeming more excited than Gar had ever seen her.

“Comfortable?”

“YES!” Tilly gave him a big smile. 

She threw her arms out to the side, not raising them up too high and then she took one step forward before stopping and looking at him with curiosity. Gar stared at her in confusion for a moment before she went to say something.

“Wait can I- Like…” Tilly paused for a moment. “Hug you?”

Gar squinted for a moment, processing exactly what she had just asked him. It wasn’t the question itself he was really confused about. Moreso, he wondered why she wanted to give him a hug in the first place. He wasn’t exactly a person people asked for hugs from. Unless it was Hope or Whimsy, but that was different.

“I’m just so- Excited! I like to give my friends hugs when I’m excited, but I don’t know about you-“ Tilly was saying.

“Uh. Sure.” He managed to force out after a moment.

Tilly took another few steps forward and gave him one of the most awkward side hugs he thought he’d ever endured. She seemed happy about it though, so whatever. She then backed away from him. He thought she looked slightly pink for a second.

“How have you been?” Tilly asked, breaking some of the strangeness of the moment.

“Fine, mostly the same.” Gar told her, wishing silently that he had something more interesting to say.

“You’re off work early you know, what’s up with that? You usually stay late if nothing else.”

“Crew decided to go home early today. Didn’t feel like pushing my luck.” He sighed.

“I’m still off for this whole recovery thing, I’m headed back next week! I just needed to get out of my apartment.” Tilly gave a small laugh.

“Fair enough, I’d get tired of sitting around too.” He vaguely remembered a medical visit he’d had to make after he reopened a wound because he refused to stay still. He was only 13 then, though.

“Yeah, I needed to stretch my legs at least. You up to anything?” Tilly asked.

“Not really.” He looked back toward his apartment. “Kids won’t be back for another few hours.”

He turned back to her and saw she was staring at him silently. She was looking at something on him but he wasn’t exactly sure what. He couldn’t follow her gaze either. Sometimes he swore she must be looking directly through him or something.

“Tilly?” He asked.

He was met with silence, she seemed like she didn’t hear him. She furrowed her brow and tipped her head to the side like she was thinking about something but wasn’t fully understanding whatever it was.

“Tilly.” He snapped his fingers in front of her twice and she jumped.

“AH! Sorry!” She looked at him with a startled expression.

“You okay?” He asked.

“Fine! I’m just fine! Must’ve spaced out there for a minute!” She gave a strained laugh.

He watched her face turn pinker again. Her gaze traveled to the ground. She cleared her throat after a moment and readjusted herself.

“What are you up to?” He asked to try to ignore how weird it got for a minute again.

“Nothing! Nothing. Just… Yeah.” Tilly sighed. “Don’t really have anywhere to go. Thought about going out and buying a little drink- like a coffee or tea or something, but I left my wallet at home. Go figure!” Tilly swung her arm in a slow ‘shot and a miss’ gesture.

“If you want, I could buy you one?” He shrugged.

She stared at him as if he was speaking Octarian to her and for a minute he thought he might have by accident. Then she seemed to actually understand what he was saying.

“Oh- Are you sure?” Tilly asked quickly.

“Yeah, it’s no problem.” He waved a hand.

“Oh then, sure! Absolutely!” She grinned.

-

The two had found a nice, small coffee shop somewhere down the road and managed to sit down at a table for a moment of peace. A moment . Because after just a moment, Minnow had somehow appeared in the building. Gar tried his best to ignore Minnow, hoping they would get a drink and be on their way without saying a word.

Today was not his day.

“YO! GAR NO WAY!” Minnow walked over.

Gar wanted to tell them to go away but opted not to for whatever reason. He just stared at Minnow from where he was sitting, silently.

“Man no way- Hold up-“ Minnow looked from Gar to Tilly. “Who’s this- WAIT” They gasped. “You’re that friend Gar brought to the Turf War!”

Tilly shot Gar a nervous look and Gar said nothing, leaning against the chair. He watched Minnow carefully. It wasn’t such a sore subject anymore, but he definitely still didn’t like the mention of it.

“I am, ha- You remember my name don’t you? It’s Tilly.” Tilly said with a strange falter in her voice.

“Yeah! I remember you, and you remember me right?” Minnow leaned forward.

“I think so, Minnow, right?” 

“YEP! That’s me.” 

Gar rested his hand against his cheek to keep himself looking up.

“What’re you doing here?” Minnow asked.

“Got a bit tired, he offered to buy me coffee so-“ Tilly’s smile came back.

“Speaking of- Thought you were going home, Gar?” Minnow turned to him.

“Plans change.” He shrugged.

“Fair enough.” Minnow said with an oddly quiet tone. “Mind if I join you?”

Gar wanted to say he did mind, but he really couldn’t care less.

“Go ahead, if that’s fine with you?” Tilly looked to Gar for confirmation.

As if his opinion mattered.

“Sure.”

Minnow made themself comfortable and slid uncomfortably close to Gar who didn’t say anything about it. Minnow started immediately talking about all sorts of things with Tilly- mostly about work and asking her questions about what she did or who she was. General questions eventually led into questions about mutual connections. 

Which eventually led to Minnow talking about Gar. They did a great job of describing their interactions or experiences they shared with him without once mentioning how many times they insulted him or tried to get him to fight them. He found their descriptions of him to be a bit suspiciously nice.

“-But there’s lots of stuff I don’t get about him.” Minnow was saying. “I’ve known him for what? 10 years now? I still don’t know some stuff about him.”

Gar looked at Minnow who immediately met his gaze and broke it in the same second.

“Like what?” Tilly asked.

“Most things, I’ve had some stuff I’ve wondered about for a while.” Minnow said, taking a moment to shoot a look at Gar.

“You could ask?” Tilly gestured to Gar who was still silent.

“As if he’d answer me.” Minnow rolled their eyes.

“He’s pretty honest about most things, I think.” Tilly blinked. “He’s… Also… Right there.”

“Fair point.” Minnow said and then shifted to face Gar. “So I’ve had a question in my mind for a while.”

Gar raised his eyebrows, waiting for Minnow to continue.

“What happened to your-“ Minnow gestured a circle in the air vaguely.

He stared at them confused. “… My what?”

“Your…” Minnow pointed at something.

“Stop and just say it. I can’t see where you’re pointing.” Gar was getting ever so slightly frustrated and was trying not to reflect it in his tone.

“Your eye.”

Gar held Minnow’s gaze for a full minute. He didn’t know what to say, it wasn’t a question people had ever exactly asked him. Before he moved to the surface, everyone knew. After he moved, he didn’t talk to many people, and rarely was asked questions about any of his scars. When the kids asked, they never specifically had asked about that scar, so he could say something general. If they ever did, he would always have the chance to lie. They didn’t know him as long.

He could feel a tug at the corner of his mouth from the memory that it brought with it.

“Gr-“

“Don’t say it was Grizzco man, that’s a load of bullsharks and you know it! You’ve had that ever since I met you. I worked with you on your first shift. Our first shift.” Minnow raised an eyebrow.

He glared at Minnow and their gaze darted away from him.

“Nothing special.” He tried to say, but his voice definitely fell short.

“Oh it absolutely is! Is it embarrassing?” Minnow pushed again. 

Gar looked at Tilly who was looking equally curiously at him. He felt the same stinging from earlier make a return, accompanied by an ache in his shoulder. He was hearing the echoes of the memories come back.

“Ask me something else.” His tone was full of warning.

“But-“ Minnow went to say and then stopped. “What was growing up like for you, wherever you came from?”

Terrible choice of an alternate question. He could definitely feel himself getting pulled in the wrong direction emotionally.

“Or- Maybe, what were you like growing up? Were you always this lame?” Minnow tried to land a joke. It missed, but Gar tried to at least manage answering the question as his mind kept careening.

“Nothing like I am now. I never did what I was told and I never listened. My sister used to tell me….” He trailed off. That was still the wrong direction.

And now happier memories were mixing with the bad ones, which only helped give him a further push.

“What?” Minnow stared at him.

“You know what?” Gar stood up after a moment, weighing his options.

There was no way he was going to say anything further without fully falling off the ledge into whatever emotion was slowly consuming him. He couldn’t recognize it, usually he felt a form of anger, but this wasn’t rage.

“I’m going to go.” he said.

“No- wait- what did your sister say?” Minnow reached out and grabbed his arm.

“Nothing. Not anything special.” He jerked his hand back from Minnow’s grasp. 

Those words were special.

“Dude you seem-“

“Drop it.” 

“But you haven’t told us-“

“I won’t.” Gar raised his voice ever so slightly and Minnow jumped.

“Uhm…” Tilly watched with a twitchy smile, clearly nervous. “Minnow, leave him alone-“

“But he didn’t answer a single question!” Minnow protested. “See what I meant? He doesn’t tell me anything ! It can’t even be that bad! He’s acting like someone died or something!”

There it was. Gar took a deep breath and backed up before he turned on his heel and walked away as quickly as he could. He couldn’t bring himself to say anything, his voice would fail him. He’d either end up yelling or going silent.

He heard Minnow and Tilly say something but at this moment he wasn’t processing words as he usually did. Too many things started to bombard his thoughts and he couldn’t help but be upset with himself that a few questions were just enough to make him spiral like this.

He tried to get to the apartment as fast as he could, feeling that same dizzy feeling from the night after the turf war. Something was biting at the corner of his eye.

-

He fumbled with his keys for a moment while he tried to unlock the door, hardly able to coordinate. He felt a few tears fall down his face, which he would normally be more frustrated with and fight harder to keep in, but the kids wouldn’t be home for another hour or two. He finally managed to unlock the door and half-stumbled in. He leaned against the door and shut it slowly. He stayed pressed against it for a moment until he walked to the living room.

He sat down on the couch and buried his head in his hands. 

“SURPRISE!” Hope’s voice rang out as Gar watched Hope and Whimsy jumped out of their room and grinned at him with some form of giddiness.

Gar was silent, staring in shock for a minute, and then he shifted. “Why are you h-“

“WE HAD A HALF DAY! THAT MEANS WE CAN-“ Hope suddenly stopped and stared at Gar.

Suddenly both the kids' expressions fell from excited to worried. He hated those expressions on them and he wanted them to stop looking at him like that. He wanted to will himself to stop crying at this exact moment, to stop his lip from trembling slightly. He couldn’t. He hated how hard it was to stop crying once it started.

“Dad? Are you okay?” Whimsy asked.

“I’m fine.”

“You’re crying-“ Hope took a step toward him. Gar leaned away from him.

“I’m fine. I just got something in it. Don’t worry.”

“You look sad.” Whimsy said, frowning.

“I’m not-“ Gar heard his voice break and stopped.

They all stared at each other for a moment and Hope eventually turned and looked at Whimsy. Gar didn’t know what to do in this situation. He just felt frozen. The only people who had really seen him cry for an emotional reason were his sisters, and that was rare. He never wanted to look weak to these kids, he was supposed to be the one taking care of them- protecting them. Yet here he was.

Hope and Whimsy walked over to him and climbed up on either side of him and leaned against him. He wanted to push them away, but he couldn’t. His hands were shaking and he felt his tears build up faster. Comfort always managed to do the opposite of what it should before it actually worked.

Gar felt Hope give him a light pat on the shoulder and he hid his eyes in his hands. He thought that might make him feel at least a little better, they wouldn’t see him cry. It only served to make him feel weaker.

“I dunno what’s makin’ you sad but it’ll be okay.” Hope said.

Gar recognized Hope was definitely repeating something Gar had told him when he was sad.

“AND AND!!! It’s okay to cry.” Whimsy added.

That was another thing he absolutely told both of them when they were upset.

"'S okay." Hope repositioned himself to give Gar a hug, Whimsy did the same.

Gar didn’t know what to do at that moment. He didn’t want to move or do anything that would risk throwing the kids off- especially if it hurt them for any reason. He didn’t want to stay there and have his kids listen to him sob. He’d never been in this situation before, and he wished he never would have been put in this situation, but here he was.

“I’m sorry.” Was all he could say to the kids.

He felt like he was currently failing them. He was supposed to be strong and untouchable to them, and now he was crying in front of them. He was supposed to be the one thing in their life that would never hold any negativity. He tried his hardest to be that invincible person for them. And now he was losing that image he’d built up for 6 and a half years.

“You don’t gotta be sorry. Everyone cries, you told me that. Makes people strong or somethin’.” Hope said.

“Yeah, you always say that.” Whimsy nodded, not letting go of him.

That was something he always said.

Every time either of the kids ever cried, he’d always told them that they were strong for being able to come to him for comfort. That they were strong for being able to be so open with their emotions. He started doing that when Hope once told him he didn’t like to feel weak.

And Gar had related to him in a way.

But Gar had always thought the people that were more in tune with their emotions, or could express them, were stronger anyway. His sister, Piranha, was strong in that way. Moray had been strong in that way. He used to be strong in that way.

And he never forgot officers that never led by example. They always expected obedience and laid down rules they didn’t follow themselves. They would tell him he had to do something, or that he had to act a certain way, but never displayed those behaviors themselves. He remembered hating them for that hypocrisy. 

He didn’t want to imagine a world where he was anything like those people.

He couldn’t stand the thought of his kids hating him for being a hypocrite.

And he wasn’t invincible.

So if he wanted to genuinely believe people were strong for crying, if he wanted his kids to believe he genuinely thought that, and he did, he would have to apply the same rule to himself. Which meant he wasn’t weak at that moment.

He sure didn’t feel exactly strong .

But he wasn’t weak.

So he sat there for a moment, thinking it over. He let himself cry a bit more, though he kept mostly silent, letting a few tears flow. He hadn’t let himself do this in years. Even on the night of the turf war, he’d held most of it in.

And it felt terrible to be crying- the ragged breathing and the way his eye stung with the tears and the blurred vision and the warmth of his face.

But there was some form of relief that was slowly taking the place of that as he managed to breathe a bit again. He took a deep breath and managed to take his head out of his hands. He looked at the ceiling for a minute, letting his head stop pounding from how long he’d held his breath trying to be quiet.

“You know, I cried once in school because I tripped on a book. It was sabotage.” Hope was saying. “I think it put itself there on purpose.”

Gar stifled a small laugh. What was Hope talking about?

“Every week I see that same book, too. I swear. It's like… In every classroom.”

“Isn’t that how class books… work?” Whimsy stared at him.

“I’m in 5th grade, it's different.” Hope huffed.

“No it isn’t…”

Gar shook his head and listened to them argue over whether or not 5th grade was different from 3rd grade. He thought it was nice to listen to their conversation, even as it devolved into wildly different topics. Somehow they managed to get to the topic of lunch, and he wasn’t exactly sure how they got there, but it was still amusing.

“The mozzarella stick things are the best.” Hope was saying.

“No, the nuggets.” Whimsy disagreed.

“You have no taste. Those don’t even taste right.” Hope frowned.

“But the spaghetti is bad. You get that right.”

“Oh yeah. That stuff is more water than pasta.” 

“Exactly.”

“They never even have the good stuff.” Hope rolled his eyes.

“You could pack a lunch.” Gar finally managed to say something after finding his voice again.

“Wait, really?” Whimsy looked up.

“I can get you things for it.” He closed his eye for a minute as the sting from earlier subsided.

“YES. CAN WE DO THAT PLEASE?” Hope asked. “My friend Stella always brings sandwiches. I’m so jealous.”

“Do we get fruit cups?” Whimsy said as if she was about to bargain with him.

“Sure.” He finally looked down from the ceiling.

“YES!” Whimsy did a small cheer.

“Finally…” Hope muttered, his tone somewhere between celebratory and relieved.

“Wait- are you okay?” Whimsy looked up at him.

“Yeah, I’m fine now. Just… Needed a minute.” Gar sighed. “Thank you.”

He was managing to think a bit clearer now. Some of the mental fog that had fallen over him for what he felt like was too long seemed to have cleared a bit. He wasn’t sure exactly why that was, but he definitely felt better than he did this afternoon.

That was definitely the kid’s fault.

Whether it was the comfort or the odd, short conversation they got into, it was definitely them who made him feel better. He didn’t know if they’d ever know just how often they managed to cheer him up. Or how much they’d changed for him- and not for the worse, even if raising kids was hard. Maybe he’d tell them one day, whether or not they took it to heart or believed him.

Not now though, he would surely trip over his own words. Just because he was feeling a bit better didn’t mean he was ready for some deeply emotional discussion, or that he was capable of saying what he wanted about it. He would wait until he knew the words.

For now he was just grateful.

“You’re welcome.” Hope gave him another hug, followed by Whimsy.

“You know what always makes me feel better?” Hope said, getting a mischievous grin.

“What?” Gar already knew the answer.

“Ice cream. Just saying.” Hope folded his arms. “It’s basically medicine. But for sadness.”

“Is that right?” Gar looked at him.

“YES it actually is. My uhm… Teacher said… so.” Whimsy added quickly.

“I feel like you two are just trying to get ice cream right now.” Gar looked at both of them.

“NO! We uh… We just! Dad it’ll make you feel better I swear.” Hope shook his head quickly.

“Uh huh.” Gar stood up.

“NO WAY.” Hope watched him with wide eyes.

“You’ll never believe what I have in the freezer.” He said, looking over his shoulder.

This partly gave him an excuse to go wash off the sticky feeling of tears in the kitchen sink. But he also did want to give the kids something nice. And eating something cold didn’t sound too bad.

“YES. YES. LET’S!!! GO!!” Hope jumped up off the couch and did a lap around the coffee table.

Gar gave a quiet chuckle and rolled his eye, walking to the kitchen. He would never understand Hope’s excitement about things like food, but some part of him always appreciated the simple joy. It was nice to see the kids when they were happy, even if it wasn’t for a significant reason.

He heard Whimsy join in the running in circles, evident by the extra set of footsteps. He turned to the sink and splashed some water on his face to get rid of the uncomfortable feeling the tears left on his face. He heard a thud of one of the kids falling, he tensed for a moment, but it was soon followed by laughing from both of them. He would never understand them.

He owed them a lot. That, he knew.

Chapter Text

Another 3 years…

Time felt like it might be flying. The kids were 13 and 11, doing well in school, making friends. His coworkers were still tight-knit in a way, even if Minnow had nearly ruined that with their commentary at the coffee shop that one particular day. Tilly started working at a highschool as the arts teacher and was still a good friend of his, even if she confused him sometimes.

He actually moved out of his older apartment into a new one. Mostly it was so he could give the kids each their own room. While he had told them it was because he thought they deserved their own space to decorate and feel comfortable in- and that was true- he mostly wanted to get them their own rooms so they’d stop arguing about crossing an invisible line that split their room down the middle. Said invisible line would shift daily.

It had been nice to see them happy and excited to have their own rooms anyway. He really did want them to have their own space to go to without worrying about another person coming in at any moment. He knew what that was like.

Plus, the new space had a bit more room, which was a good thing, because the old apartment had started to feel… small.

Then there was Piranha, who had been absent for the past few years, and Gar definitely did miss her. He wondered what she was up to, but it wasn’t like they were completely out of touch. He did occasionally get texts or calls on small updates about her, but nothing very clear. One thing he did not miss about his sister? Her old habit of randomly showing up without ever calling at later hours in the night.

He’d thought that was a habit that died when the kids came into his life. But as he stood in front of her at this moment, after not having physically seen her in a good few months or so- not much since she stopped having to look after the kids in the day- he realized that was clearly not a dead habit. 

She had been popping in and out, occasionally stopping by to see the kids or talk, but it was never for long. Usually she called him to see what was a good time to come over. He would give her a time and she’d stay for an hour or two and then disappear again.

He got it, graduating college and doing… whatever job she was doing, he wasn’t quite sure, must be time consuming. So he never asked.

Now here she was, staring at him in the hallway. At 10:30 on a Saturday night. She hadn’t called first to check in with him or anything. She had just decided now was a good time to stop by, he guessed.

“Piranha?..” He squinted at her.

She seemed wide awake, and he wished he could relate to that. He was drop-dead tired and really wished he wasn’t standing in front of his door right now though.

“Hey Gar! Are the kids home?” Piranha asked.

Gar hesitated to say anything. He wasn’t sure if she was asking because she wanted to see them, or if she wanted them to not be home. They were asleep anyway.

“Yes? They’re asleep though.” Gar looked behind him as if double checking.

“Okay, perfect!” She pushed past him and walked in.

He stood by the door for a second, staring at her, then the hallway. He sighed, shaking his head and shutting the door, following her as she made her way into his kitchen. She was immediately digging through his cabinets to look for something. If she was anyone else he might be more mad.

“Piranha, what are you doing..?” He watched her, confused.

“Looking for your tea.” She shuffled through more things. “I know you have it around.”

“Top shelf to the left. That cabinet.” He pointed her in the right direction and she immediately jogged over to it. “Why are you here?”

“Figured I’d do some catching up!” Piranha pulled out one of the boxes of tea he had and immediately started to prepare two cups.

“You… Aren’t serious…” He drug his hand down his face. “Do you know what time it is?”

“Time for you to cope. I have things to tell you.” She grinned.

“Uh huh.” Gar sat down at the table, folding his arms over the surface and then laying his head on them.

“Looks like life has been rough on you.” Piranha said as she stood at the counter.

“It’s… Very late. I’m tired.” He didn’t know what else to say to her.

“It’s not that late, it’s not even midnight. I’m not tired” She drummed her claws along the surface of the counter.

“And I’m not you.” He lifted his head up enough to glare at her.

She tilted her head at him for a moment before she finished making the tea and walked it over to the table, setting one down in front of him and keeping the other in her hand. She sat down across from him and for a minute she looked like she was going to interrogate him about something. Then she finally spoke again.

“So, I haven’t told you where I work yet, have I?” she said, setting her cup down.

“No.” He blinked slowly, forcing himself to sit up properly.

“Well, to put it one way, I work in the fashion industry.” Piranha explained. “Which, by the way, is a big and kind of important business.”

“I… Know that. I have lived in Inkopolis for… 13 years? I know it’s a ‘big, important’ business.” He raised his eyebrows.

“With the way you dress I wasn’t sure.”

He gave her a slightly frustrated expression for a long, drawn-out moment before he finally went to pick up his cup. She wasn’t exactly wrong , but he still didn’t think dressing in a plain shirt and jacket was exactly a crime. He didn’t have any reason to dress particularly nice anyway.

“Anyway, it makes a fair bit of money. I managed to get a place in Inkopolis Square for a while. It was nice- big windows that nearly made up the walls- nice view of the city.” She described, waving her hand out.

“Congratulations?” He didn’t know how to respond.

He couldn’t imagine why anyone would want big windows, especially not ones that would span as large as a wall. That would be uncomfortable and feel… very exposed. He wasn’t the same person as her, though, so she must have had her own reason for liking it.

“Not yet.” Piranha shook her finger at him. “So, that place was nice and all, right? But I don’t think it felt quite right. It was farther away from you and your kids, and my work really. That’s why I didn’t visit as much.”

He nodded, listening to her, leaning back.

“So I thought about it for a while- and then you moved apartments.” She pointed at him.

Where was this going?

“And arguably, this is a crazy upgrade from where you used to live, you know? Definitely not as run-down. It’s actually a good living space! Not bad at all.” Piranha continued.

He had to agree, it was better than what he was living in. Much better.

“So then, here’s the funny thing-“ She said. “The apartment across from yours- Guess what happened?”

He sighed. “What happened?”

“Vacancy.” Piranha grinned.

“Oh.” She was not doing what he thought she was, right?

“And guess who’s moving in?” She leaned forward.

“I could never guess.” He looked at the ceiling, taking a long sip of his tea.

“Me! I am. Didn’t you miss having me so close?”

He did, sort of.

“Sure.” He looked at her.

“Of course you did.” She waved her hand at him. “I’ll be right across the hall! That means I can help you with all of your… Whatever you need help with.”

He nodded slowly. 

“Sounds uh… Nice.” He was too tired to think of most of the words. “So is this why you came over so late without calling or anything?”

“Yep! Cause I’m just a few steps away.” Piranha grinned and then froze.

“What.” He looked at her, trying to follow her eyeline.

“You know, I was so distracted by needing to tell you this- I didn’t get a good look and-“

“What?” He squinted at her.

“Your tentacles… Are they like… Dull?” She gestured to them.

He looked up as if that was going to help him see. It wasn’t like he’d looked at them recently though. He couldn’t imagine why they would be.

“They’re not… Red…” She was saying.

Oh that’s right. He had changed his ink color a few months ago- after Piranha made her last visit- to a pink color. Not vivid or anything- but definitely not the red he used to have. He did it to match Hope and Whimsy’s colors, since theirs had been pink.

“Yeah I’m… The color is.” He paused for a minute, thinking about what he was going to say. “It matches the kids.”

“Wow. You have gone, like… Full dad now.” Her eyes were wide.

“Absurd.” He said, rolling his eye dramatically.

“I should do that too.” Piranha muttered.

“Do what…?”

“Make my ink color pink. I think it would suit me too.” She closed her eyes proudly.

“Uh…” He gave her an awkward smile. “Whatever you say.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It’s not supposed to mean anything.” He shrugged. “I guess you’d go full aunt.” He took a sip of his drink, not saying anything else.

Piranha stared at him for a moment, blinking three times. Then she pointed at him silently and opened her mouth dramatically.

“Do not scream-“ Gar warned.

“YOU-“ She started.

“No.”

“YOU REPEATED MY PHRASE.” She got louder.

“Stop.”

“YOU COPIED ME.”

“You’re going to-“

“THIS IS INSANE!”

Suddenly there was small footsteps and Whimsy peeked her head out, holding an octopus plushie in her arms. She looked tired, confused, and slightly disoriented.

“You woke her up.” Gar sighed, looking at Piranha.

“Auntie? That you? Why are you so… loud…” She mumbled.

“I have the same question.” He locked eyes with Piranha who seemed perfectly happy to be called loud.

“I’m moving next door, Whimsy!” Piranha disregarded the quesiton.

Whimsy grinned and tipped her head to the side, throwing the plush in the air and catching it. “Yay!”

Gar watched Whimsy, who was clearly still tired, do a small celebratory dance and threw her arms in the air. He thought for a moment and then it occurred to him that somehow , Whimsy was awake but not Hope. Hope would wake up if there was even a slight change from the usual noise of the apartment.

So where was he?

Gar stood up after thinking for a moment. “Where’s your brother?”

“In his room probably?” Whimsy shrugged.

“He always wakes up when-…” Gar hoped that he had just fallen into a deep sleep.

“Huh?” Piranha was staring at Gar, confused.

Gar walked out of the kitchen and toward the kids’ bedrooms. He was sure nothing bad happened… Right? Maybe Hope was just having a really good dream- or was really deep in sleep. That had to be the answer. Surely.

He opened Hope’s room’s door slowly and carefully. Best not to wake him up if he wasn’t already. When he could properly see in he found… That the room was empty. He opened the door a bit more in a panic. 

Nope, the room was definitely empty.

He walked back to the kitchen, looking at Whimsy. “Are you sure your brother isn’t anywhere else here?” He asked her, walking immediately back out and into the living room.

The bathroom door was open and the light was off. He peeked into his own room at the off chance that Hope wandered in there for some reason: no.

“Nope. Don’t think so.” Whimsy shook her head.

He resisted cursing in this moment.

“Piranha, I’m going to ask you a huge favor.” He said, walking to his room, grabbing one of his jackets and starting to throw it over his shoulders.

“What?” Piranha jumped up from her seat. “What’s going on?”

“Hope isn’t here, I don’t know where he is- He must have left recently but…” He frowned. “Please stay with Whimsy until I get back, okay? And if he’s here and I just… Didn’t see him. Text me.” Gar picked up his phone and slid in in his pocket.

“Uh… Sure! Sure! Hurry, go!” Piranha nodded, moving over to stand beside Whimsy who looked more awake.

Gar immediately turned on his heel, walking out the door and choosing to run for the stairwell rather than the elevator. Maybe Hope had gone to sit on the stairs for whatever reason? No. The stairwell was empty.

He ran down to the first floor and into the lobby. Hope was nowhere to be seen here either. He was definitely panicked, and all exhaustion was replaced with adrenaline now. He practically ran out of the building and looked for any sign of a direction where Hope would’ve gone. 

There was no trace, and why would there be? Hope wasn’t exactly a kid who liked to drop things. He tried to think of exactly where Hope would’ve gone as he started walking. The streets were mostly empty except for a few people who traveled mostly in groups.

He stopped an octoling who was walking away from the direction he was going. “Sorry to bother you- Have you seen an inkling? Maybe this tall? Tentacles tied up?” He briefly described and gestured with his hand.

“I think so? Sounds familiar. Was headed the way you’re going… Hey… You look familiar- are you-“

“Thanks, sorry- goodbye.” He got the information he wanted and immediately started walking again, eventually breaking into a run.

He scanned through each crowd he passed by, but found no sign or sight of Hope. He tried his hardest to think of where Hope would go. But as he thought about it, he also was caught up in trying to think about why Hope would leave.

Did Gar upset him in some way? Was there something he said recently that may have been delivered wrong? He couldn’t think of anything he could have done to make Hope upset, but that didn’t mean that he hadn’t. He was very aware that his words might not mean the same thing to the person he tells them to. Especially if he didn’t explain what he meant.

Then he slowed to a stop as he reached the skatepark. Sometimes on weekends, the skatepark was full of various inklings and octolings who went there to do fun tricks or whatever it was they did. He never stopped to think about it, but Hope had definitely made comments about it before.

And there was exactly one inkling in the whole skatepark at this moment.

A very familiar and recognizable inkling.

Gar started walking in that direction. He tried his best not to stomp- not because he was mad- not anything close, but he definitely felt heavier than usual. Maybe it was all the panic that was now twisting into anxiety. He might have found Hope, but that didn’t mean he understood why he ran off.

He wanted to yell or shout for Hope, and was about to, but…

Then Gar stopped.

Hope was holding a skateboard under his arm that he quickly set down and hopped on. He had been given that skateboard as a gift for his last birthday, since it was the one thing he asked for specifically.

Gar stared for a moment as he watched Hope try to do a move he couldn’t quite recognize and then… Fail… Really bad. He didn’t actually think someone could mess up a move worse. It was just a little funny.

He watched Hope hit the concrete and remembered he could move. He ran over to his son who rolled over on his side, making some kind of hissing sound.

“ Hope? ” Gar raised his voice enough for it to carry and Hope’s eyes went wide immediately.

Gar dropped down and helped Hope up. Hope was dead silent, but very clearly afraid of something. Probably Gar.

“Are you okay?” Gar asked immediately.

“Yeah! Yeah! I’m- Fine- Hiiiiiiiiii…..” Hope was speaking frantically.

“Why are you-“ he searched for the words. “What are you-“

Hope winced. “So…”

Gar wanted to be disappointed or something but he couldn’t be. Hope seemed scared of him and he didn’t like that. But also, he supposed he would be scared too, if he ran out in the middle of the night to do… Whatever was going on here… And was found by a parent.

“I was trying-“ Hope took a deep breath and then abandoned the sentence. “So, my best friend Stella, right? She said people are cool when they know how to do a kickflip, right?”

Gar was not prepared for this to be the response.

“And I know how to like… skate? But not how to do that. But I know it’s a hard move, and the kids from my school are always here during the day, and I didn’t wanna mess up in front of them- So I snuck out here to practice and-“

“What.”

“Yeah.”

Gar closed his eye and held his hands up as if he was going to pray. He hoped he would get through this conversation without losing all seriousness, but he was honestly expecting something more…. intense. Running away from home or some grand event.

No. His son snuck out of the house, presumably more than once, to come to a skatepark, and fail repeatedly at doing a trick.

He had no idea how to respond to that.

“I’m SORRY- I didn’t like, I just- I didn’t want to be embarrassed or made fun of and- I-“

“I’m not. Mad.” Gar took a deep breath.

“BUT- I-“ Hope struggled again.

“I don’t think you should be going out alone at night by any means. I’m… Upset you would do that.” Gar didn’t open his eye. “You… Are not allowed to do that. I hope you know that.”

“I DO AND I’M SORRY-“ Hope went to say but Gar shushed him.

“So don’t-… Don’t do that again.” He didn’t move his hand from in front of his mouth. “There’s no… Other underlying reason for this, right?”

“No, I just wanted to learn how to do a trick-“ Hope paused. “Why are you not looking at me?”

“To be honest, I’m trying not to laugh.” Gar said.

“WHAT?” Hope shouted.

“I’m sorry-“ Gar stifled a laugh. “You are… I don’t mean to discourage you but-“

Hope glared at him. “Don’t you say it.”

“The trick you did- It- Wasn’t…”

“DON’T YOU SAY IT.”

“Hope you can’t do a kickflip to save your life, can you?” Gar finally opened his eye.

“NOOOO!!!” Hope swung a playful, light punch at Gar, then hung his head. “Yeah… No I can’t. I suck.”

“Maybe you would suck less if it wasn’t late and you weren’t tired.” Gar gestured to the dark sky. 

“Just because you’re right doesn’t mean-“

“Hey.” Gar stood up, looking down at Hope. “You gave me a heart attack. I can tell you the truth.”

“Well, okay… So wait- You’re not mad right?” Hope asked, staring at him.

“No, I could try to be.” Gar sighed. “But I think it’s the only thing I’m worse at than you are with your kickflip.”

Hope gave him another soft punch in the arm. “Stop it!” 

Gar shook his head and gave a light laugh. “Still, never do this again.” He let himself sound stern.

“Okay, okay…”

“You could’ve been in danger, this particular area may be safer, but Hope. It’s dark.”

“I know, I’m sorry.”

“I like knowing you’re safe at night.” Gar frowned.

“I know…”

“So if you need to practice something like this, tell me. I’ll… Find a place you can go without people.” He had no idea how he was going to do that but it was better than Hope sneaking out at night.

“Okay… Sorry.” Hope looked up at him.

“Alright, we’re going home, okay?” Gar picked up the skateboard and then looked at Hope. 

“Okay.” Hope gave a thumbs up and started following Gar as he made his way out of the skatepark.

The walk home was mostly quiet, and Gar tried to relax himself from the panic he felt earlier. Although he should’ve done that when he got in the apartment door, because it was making him more tired. Hope seemed to always manage to single handedly make him panic by doing things that were more than mildly alarming, with usually very… unexpected… reasons.

He couldn’t even be disappointed, he was just confused mostly. He couldn’t blame Hope either, he had his fair share of moments like this when he was young, albeit in a completely different way. He was lucky Hope’s risky ideas were not the same as his when he was that young.

They finally made it back to the apartment and Gar swung the door open, handing Hope the skateboard and letting him run off to his room to stash it away. He shut the door, walking toward the living room where Whimsy and Piranha were sitting.

“Did you find him?” Piranha jumped up. “I thought I heard the footsteps but I don’t know if-“

“Yeah.” Gar interrupted her before she went on any longer. 

Hope ran back from his room into the living room. “AUNT PIRANHA?” 

“Oh hey Hope! What happened? I’m glad you’re okay but-“ Piranha looked at him.

Gar looked at Hope, who was staring directly back at him.

“I just needed fresh air and got uh… Turned around.” Hope said.

Gar choked on a laugh and hung his head, shaking it slowly.

“Do not.” Hope said.

“I won’t.” He lifted his hand to rub the corners of his eyes.

“What? What happened?” Whimsy asked.

“Nothin’ little sis.” Hope nudged her.

“Is everything okay then?” Piranha looked from Hope to Gar.

“It’s… fine. He won’t do that again, I’m sure. We talked.” Gar said.

Now that he was really thinking about it, his son failing that hard to do a kickflip was going to be burned into his mind forever. He wished he didn’t find it as funny as he did.

“Good to know, good to know… Hope! I’m moving in next door. Guess I’ll start making sure someone isn’t sneakin’ around!” She elbowed him.

Hope squeaked and then crossed his arms. “I will not sneak out, I promised.” Then he paused. “Wait… Did I promise?”

“You’ve promised now.” Gar squinted at him.

“Okay then.” Hope sighed.

“I am! Tired.” Whimsy announced, throwing her plush into the air. “Goodnight.” She slid off the couch, giving Piranha a side hug and walking herself to her room.

“Goodnight, Whimsy.” Gar watched her disappear with a wave.

“You should go to bed too, Hope.” Piranha said. “That way you don’t give your dad any more heart attacks. You know he can only have so many.”

“Yeah yeah…” Hope waved. “Goodnight auntie.” He leaned over and gave her a hug, then walked up to Gar and did the same.

Gar watched Hope walk to his room and then turned back to Piranha.

“What was that really about?” Piranha asked once Hope’s door shut with a click.

Gar put his head in his hands. “My son cannot do a kickflip.” 

“Oh my cod. That is not seriously what he went out there to do, is it?” Piranha asked quietly.

“That kid is going to kill me one day.” Gar sighed, looking up at the ceiling.

Piranha laughed for a bit before Gar looked down. “And you are too. Go home. It’s late and I’m tired.”

“Okay fine, fine.” Piranha waved a hand. “But I’ll be back.”

“I’m sure you will.” Gar sighed and walked her out, shutting and locking the door before he turned off all the lights and walked to his own room.

He was so ready to sleep that he shut his door, haphazardly threw his jacket somewhere, and immediately tried to just get comfortable and go to sleep. He hoped that something like this would never happen again. He never had these kinds of challenges with Whimsy, but Whimsy and Hope were… Very different.

It’s not like that changed anything. Whimsy came with her own different challenges, like her older habit of melting. He cared about both of them all the same.

But Hope might seriously be the death of him one day if Hope kept scaring him.

Chapter Text

“Keep up!” An order was shouted by the sergeant.

Gar intentionally slowed his pace, going from a march to a walk that might just be slow enough to not be considered walking or moving at all. His decrease in speed earned him an annoyed groan from the person behind him- and the person behind them, and the person behind them . He grinned, watching the gap between him and the line in front of him get wider.

“For cod’s sake! ” Gar heard the sergeant angrily say.

He came to a complete stop and folded his arms, watching the sergeant stare him down. He looked angry enough to kill, but Gar didn’t budge or look away.

“MOVE CLAMMIT!” The sergeant yelled.

Gar stared at him and slowly started to smile wider as he didn’t move. He was just about to get comfortable where he was standing. He considered sitting down for a minute, but as the sergeant stomped over to him he decided it might be just a bit better to stand.

“What is WRONG WITH YOU TODAY?” He practically screamed directly in Gar’s ear. “I don’t think your legs are broken! MOVE!”

“I don’t feel like it.” Gar said plainly. “I’m kinda tired.”

The sergeant clenched his fist. “YOU HAVE TO FOLLOW YOUR ORDERS SOLDIER!”

“No, not really.” Gar smirked. “I’ve not been one to do that. You know that.”

“You arrogant piece of-“ The sergeant stopped. “What do I have to do to make you LISTEN you disobedient-“

“More than you’re doin’ now. It’s not working.” Gar shrugged.

“You’re off getting yourself in trouble again, how adorable.” A voice Gar recognized as Cordelia’s- a fellow soldier who was not his friend - rang out.

He turned to look at her as the sergeant practically trembled with rage beside him, muttering something under his breath. Cordelia had her head turned to the side and her eyebrows raised.

“It’s cute how you always do that.” She sighed.

Gar frowned deeply, staring at her for a minute with wide eyes. He hated everything she had to say. Gar then looked at his sergeant, who was still looking at him furiously. 

“Tell you what, do me a favor actually. Hit me in the head with the back of an E-liter riiiight- here.” Gar pointed to his temple. “Just hard enough to make me forget my own name for a day or two.”

His sergeant looked confused but still enraged.

“Is THAT what I have to do to make you follow directions ?” The sergeant grit his teeth.

“Well, yelling sure hasn’t worked. Glaring at me trying to intimidate me hasn’t worked.” Gar paused, thinking of how he could make this worse. “And to be honest, I don’t think the intimidation could ever work. You’re kinda…” He gestured vaguely. “ Soft looking. Not really strong at all.”

Now he’d really pushed his limits, his sergeant might as well be melting with rage- which he found to be particularly hilarious at this moment. Then his sergeant suddenly turned around on his heels. Gar was confused as he watched him put his hand over his face and start to shake his head slightly. He had made a lot of his commanders mad with his constant back-talking, disobedience, and insulting, but this response was new.

“You’re really something, kid, and I don’t mean that in a good way.” The sergeant’s voice was low and sounded almost strained- clearly full of more than just a warning. “And if that’s how you want to play, fine, I’ll play.”

Gar watched as he gestured to two armed guards who had been merely supervising up to this point. He pulled them to the side and started talking to them just out of Gar’s ear shot, but within the range of other soldiers. The ones who could hear had wide eyes, and Gar wasn’t exactly sure what that was about.

The two guards came over to Gar and Gar looked them in the eyes. “Hey.” He said.

Neither responded, each grabbing one of his arms and half-dragging him out of the line. The rest of those who’d been behind him immediately started to march again upon the sergeant’s instruction. He looked back and then ahead with wide eyes.

He had no idea what he’d gotten himself into but boy was he in it now. He was barely able to walk himself as they drug him along almost higher than the ground. He wasn’t exactly tall , he was only 13 and still had a fair bit of growing to do… The guards certainly didn’t care and kept their pace.

Then he recognized where they were taking him. He was going to be seeing the officer- it wasn’t like he hadn’t been here before. Never for a good reason of course, he was always being moved around or forced to do other forms of labor to make up for aggravating his sergeants enough to send him away.

They swung open the door and flung him in, landing him on the floor with a thud. The officer looked up from his desk with a deep sigh.

“Oh great, you again.” He grumbled, shuffling a few papers and standing up. “Kid you’re here nearly EVERY WEEK. Do you know how many others in your rank visit me once a week?”

“None.” Gar forced himself off the floor, hopping into a standing position.

“Right. And you know how BAD that is that YOU do ?” He walked in front of his desk, glaring down at Gar.

“Pretty bad.” Gar smiled.

“Wipe that smug look off your face before I do it for you.” His officer closed his eyes and rubbed at his forehead.

“No, I kinda like it there.” Gar tapped his finger against his chin.

“Cod DAMNIT kid.” The officer then threw his head up to look at the ceiling before his gaze fell back onto Gar. “What do I have to do to make you just… Do what you're told?”

“Thought that was your job honestly. Though since you’re asking-“ Gar was quickly cut off by the officer yelling.

“I’M NOT ASKING. Making you march miles and miles didn’t work.”

“I got louder.”

“Making you take on hours of hard labor didn’t work.”

“Cause I didn’t do it.”

“Yelling at you hasn’t worked.”

“Doesn’t seem to shut me up does it?”

“By cod- TAZING YOU hasn’t worked!”

“A little electricity never hurt anybody.” Gar shrugged.

“You’ve left me no other options, Gar.” His officer sighed, shaking his head.

“Ohhh what’re you gonna do now.” Gar tipped his head to the side and clasped his hands together in feigned excitement.

“The only thing I can.” The officer walked back behind his desk and pulled something from underneath it.

Gar watched his officer come back in front of the desk, holding a splatterscope. He tilted his head to the side and couldn’t help but form a wide smile. He was smiling out of fear at this moment, but his officer didn’t need to know that.

“Oh what? Gonna shoot me now?” Gar laughed.

The officer quickly shot directly in front of Gar’s feet and Gar jumped back with a slight yelp. His officer’s eyes were cold as he looked up, wide-eyed, to meet his gaze again.

“I might start using you as target practice if you talk to me like that again.” His officer warned.

Gar was admittedly very scared now but tried not to show that despite the fact that he might as well be squaring off with death. He stood back up straight after a second, trying not to let himself tremble.

“Oh isn’t that funny. But what? You’re not gonna really do it? Gonna try to strike the fear of obedience into me?” Gar waved a hand down in front of him. “Already been tried, get better.”

There was another shot launched directly past his head and he leaped to the side, throwing his arms up as if to block the shot. He looked back at his officer who was still silently staring at him.

“It’s not fear through intimidation I’m trying to impose. You failed to respond properly to that already.” His officer lowered the weapon. “If I have to physically strike it into you, I will.”

“Aha… What.” Gar lowered his arms slowly.

“You heard me. You’re disobedient, insulting, and deep down- pathetic. You have reduced me down to one option and I only pray that makes you actually follow your orders, boy.” The officer’s voice was stern and lacked emotion.

“Hah, it’s funny you think that- Like, that it will work.” Gar tried to recover a bit of his attitude but he definitely struggled on that sentence.

“Looks like you aren’t sure yourself.” His officer’s eyes narrowed.

“Psh, nah, I’m pretty confident.” Gar turned his head up, laughing.

“Then tell me, why do your pupils dilate when you look at me?” His officer stepped closer to Gar. “That’s a fear response, don’t think I don’t know.”

Gar swallowed an imaginary lump in his throat and resisted stepping backward.

“Stand down, Gar.”

Gar gave a twitchy smile. “Make me.” He regretted that the minute it left his mouth.

His officer grabbed him by the wrist and slammed him into a wall and he didn’t exactly feel pain, but he definitely felt the terror now. His officer gripped further onto his wrist, enough for there to be a sting. Then his officer stared at Gar, baring his teeth involuntary, his lip twitching up like he was going to snarl at him.

Gar could feel his hearts beating in his throat and panic was taking hold of him. He didn’t struggle against his officer’s grip or do anything. He found himself unable to look away from his officer’s eyes.

Gar just stared at him with raised eyebrows and a smile- but it was one of shock and fear, not smug. Not this time.

His officer suddenly let go of him and let him drop to the floor as he turned to look away from Gar. “Get out of my office before I kill you.” He ordered and then muttered something.

“Uh… Yes… Sir…” He had to force the unfamiliar words out and quickly darted out the door the minute he got the chance.

He practically ran back to the line of soldiers, trying to calm himself down before he would be met with his peers looking at him. Just because he was scared out of his mind didn’t mean he wanted anyone to know. He slowed to a trot as he got closer to the sound of marching.

His sergeant shot him a look as he walked into view with one of his eyes twitched up to make him seem happy, or read anything other than afraid. His sergeant watched him carefully as he fell back into line, preparing to listen to the next orders given… For now.

“Ohh the cutie’s back!” He heard Cordelia say with a huff.

He frowned and glared at her. Maybe he should have let his officer kill him.

-

Gar wasn’t sure he was seeing properly, and he hoped he wasn’t. He had his fingers crossed that he left his contacts at home and somehow that resulted in him seeing someone who wasn’t there. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case, considering that wasn’t how contacts worked at all- and he knew that.

He was at work like usual. It was later in the day, but he could’ve managed another shift or two. Minnow, Paroon, and Atoll were staring at him awkwardly by the weapon’s supply box. In front of him stood that strangely familiar octoling he’d run into just the other night when he was out looking for Hope.

She was staring at him, waiting for a response. She had asked him if it was really him . He didn’t want to answer, and hoped that maybe if he didn’t, she wouldn’t bother him. Maybe she would go away. But she didn’t, instead, she just kept staring at him.

“It is you isn’t it, Gar?” She repeated. “It’s Cordelia, you remember me don’t you?”

He wished he didn’t. He wished for all the world he didn’t remember her. He felt his mouth curl into a frown and he crossed his arms in front of him without thinking.

“Wha… Gar you know this lady?” Minnow squinted.

Gar shot Minnow a look with his lip turned up just enough to show one of his fangs. Well now he couldn’t lie to her about not being himself. Minnow was not exactly capable of reading rooms, Gar knew, but he had really hoped that Minnow wouldn’t have said anything.

“It is you… You know, I don’t work here- or even really live here, I came to visit from another town- but I heard someone with your name did- I had to come see for myself.” Cordelia looked at him with her jaw slightly agape.

The one thing he never wanted his coworkers to hear or see was his past. He refused to talk about it, would turn down the opportunities to talk about it, and would stop discussions about it before they could start. Now, directly in front of him, stood a physical relic of his past. Of all the people he’d hoped never to see again, this was one of them.

She hadn’t known him since he was 15. When Moray had passed, he was moved to a different unit. She knew who he used to be- which was someone he tried to not think about too often. 

And she would definitely be vocal about it.

“It’s been a long time, huh? You know, me and the rest of the group thought you might be dead when you disappeared. Heard from a friend who knew someone.” She said, locking eyes with him. “Guess you’re still kicking, huh?”

“What is she talking about?” Paroon sounded confused.

“Nothing.” Gar dismissed.

“Oh, are these your friends?” Cordelia seemed to just now realize his crew members were sitting, staring at them with curiosity.

Gar didn’t open his mouth to say anything.

“Yes!” Atoll smiled.

“Fascinating. You still anything like you used to be? Still rude, insubordinate, and loud?” Cordelia turned back to him with a nostalgic look in her eyes.

He blinked at her, his eyebrows furrowing.

“You described literally anyone but Gar.” Paroon said for him.

“Oh what? Is that so?” Cordelia looked at Gar.

Gar tightened his grip on his arms, locking them in just a bit more securely. He didn’t want to speak to her, and was still hoping silently that if he didn’t she would disappear. It was being made ever-clearer that that wasn’t going to happen.

“You’ve changed a lot since last I saw you. You’re taller, stronger…” She trailed off as she looked him up and down.

He shifted his weight to his right leg, tensing.

“And the scars.” She tilted her head to the side. “Looks like you lost an eye and then some. I assume that might be from the fruit of your… Well… What’s the opposite of labor? Should I just say disobedience?”

He frowned and looked toward his crew who were listening too intently.

“You know, you used to always come back to the group all… battered. You had quite the… reputation, you could say.” Cordelia had a twisted grin on her face.

Why didn’t she shut up when she had said enough? What was she trying to do, saying all this to him as if he didn’t already know. She didn’t think he would’ve forgotten, surely.

“Wait huh?” Minnow piped up again.

“Oh yeah, always getting into trouble, this one. For such a scrawny, small thing, he managed to always start something. The officers never knew what to do with him. Even their last resort didn’t seem to work.” Cordelia was telling Minnow. “Funny… Though I don’t think that was their last resort. I don’t know why they never pulled that trigger. Maybe they saw something in you…”

She looked at him again with some kind of interest in her eyes.

“If they saw you now, well. I suppose they wouldn’t regret it.” She sighed.

“Why are you here?” Gar asked her bitterly.

“I told you- I heard from someone that you-“

“No. Why are you here .” He leaned forward. “The surface.”

Now he was realizing that lately he’d seen a lot more octolings around- plus that one idol from Inkopolis square, though she’d been around before. He had wondered why that was, and why no one seemed to care. He had yet to find out.

“The army disbanded a bit, didn’t you hear? Some odd thing with a telephone is what I’ve gathered, but not from a source I could say is official.” Cordelia tapped a finger against her cheek. “You don’t seem happy to see me though, that’s sad.” 

“Army?” Minnow said. Paroon elbowed them in the stomach enough to make them wheeze into silence.

Gar glared at Cordelia.

“You really have grown up so much since last we met though, don’t you think I’m a fair bit different too?” She smiled.

“You know the answer. You’re not 16 anymore. That’s clear enough.” He turned away from her.

She took a step closer to him and he narrowed his gaze. He wasn’t appreciating her closing the gap between her. He had already wished it had been larger.

“Distance.” He warned.

“Oh? We give commands now?” She grinned. “How cute.”

She moved up to him and put one of her hands on his arms. He wasn’t a violent person, never had been, but he had to mentally remind himself not to punch her. Repeatedly remind himself.

He didn’t like being touched, not by people he didn’t exactly like or know. She might as well be a stranger to him, it’d been 16 years since he’d seen her. Even if she wasn’t, they’d never been on good terms. She had never quite cared about overstepping boundaries though.

He had warned her, and she didn’t listen. He moved and pushed her backwards- probably a little too much. She stumbled a bit and looked at him with wider eyes.

“Goodness, you are a lot stronger than you used to be, huh?” Cordelia clasped her hands together. “Can’t believe you’d push me though.”

He stared at her, then looked to his coworkers, hoping he would get one of them to do something without looking exactly helpless . He definitely could use one of Minnow’s interjections right now. He didn’t care if it was rude, either.

“Lady, he asked you to give him distance and you got closer.” Minnow was looking directly at Gar, then to Cordelia. “‘Course he pushed you.”

“Well, I suppose you’re right.” Cordelia tilted her head to the side, staring at Gar.

At least she understood that .

As Cordelia stood back up properly and readjusted herself, Gar watched Minnow stand up from where they had been sitting on the floor. He kept his eye on both of them, but mostly on Cordelia.

“Well, you know, we should do some catching up.” Cordelia said. “You’re so quiet now, I’m sure I could pry a conversation from you. It’s been quite a while.”

Gar was getting ready to say something but she kept talking.

“We could go somewhere. I don’t have anything to do today, just came to see if you were who I thought you were.”

His smile twitched with a bit of fear. He wasn’t usually afraid of people, but Cordelia wasn’t ever the person to take his word. He had to try to think of what he could say to her to make her leave him alone. He didn’t want to say he hated her in front of his coworkers. He didn’t want to seem cruel or generate more dialogue. He was silent for a bit too long.

“Actually we got plans.” Minnow walked up to Gar, leaning their forearm against him.

Gar unintentionally shot Minnow a glare, but his gaze softened quickly. He didn’t actually mind Minnow right now.

“Oh? What kinds of plans?” Cordelia put a hand on her hip. “Anything I could join in on?”

“Oh absolutely not.” Minnow shook their head. “We’ve got like… You know… Personal plans.”

“Don’t tell me-“ Cordelia paused. “Gar, is this your-?” 

“No.” Gar knew what she meant and immediately stopped her before she could say it.

“Huh? Girl no.” Minnow rolled their eyes. “We’re like. Best friends though. So you can’t come, cause it’s our best friend ritual .” 

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. We do this every week! It’s our thing.” Minnow looked at Gar. “Whatcha thinkin? We do the movie again and then the walk downtown?”

Gar made a mental note to thank Minnow later. “Sounds fine.”

“Huhm…” Cordelia frowned. “Well, I guess that’s that then.” She sighed and glared at Minnow for a moment.

“Yeah, I guess it is.” Minnow nodded.

Cordelia’s mouth twitched for a minute, and then she quickly turned her head to the side. “So then, Gar, I’ll see you around?”

“No.” Gar shook his head. The idea of having another run in with her was… appalling.

“Why not?” She tilted her head to the side.

“He’s always busy, you know.” Minnow laughed. “Good luck trying to catch him if you don’t know him. Also-“ Minnow snapped their fingers. “You said you don’t even live here.”

Cordelia looked at Minnow with a bit of hate for a moment. Gar was glad Minnow was listening better than he was.

“True. I suppose it was good seeing you while I could.” Cordelia finally backed down. “Then this is goodbye again, Gar?”

Minnow gave her a smirk. “Goodbye, lady.”

Cordelia shot Minnow another look, and if one could kill with a glare, Minnow would be extra dead. He watched Cordelia leave and then sighed with relief.

“Okay like. Who was that.” Minnow took their arm off him and stood in front of him.

“An…” Gar started and then his eye twitched at the thought of saying she was even an acquaintance . “I guess you could say a sort of enemy.” He tried. That felt better to say.

“Enemy? What’d she do?” Atoll was walking over.

“She was… Strange.” He frowned. “I didn’t like the way she talked to me.”

“I didn’t like it either, bro. Did she always talk to you like that?” Minnow hissed and looked at the door as if she would come back.

“Kind of?” He wasn’t sure how to respond.

She had always been like that. Or at least similar. When they were young, she never listened to him when he told her to stop hugging him or to leave him alone. She would give him surprise hugs and would tug him along when she was put in line beside him. She would call him ‘cute’ or ‘adorable’ and make… weird passing comments about one thing or another. He never understood her.

Mostly it was because when he was younger he would infuriate everyone . He would fight with his sergeants or annoy them enough to make him hold everyone back from their activities while he got yelled at. Some of his peers would actually cheer when he was removed from the line to be dealt with more personally. Everyone except her.

And he had always been made uncomfortable by that.

It was silent for a moment while he thought about it.

“Well… that’s kind of w-“ Paroon was going to say

There was the sound of Paroon’s watch alarm going off.

“Sh-… Sorry- I gotta go.” Paroon sighed, walking quickly toward the door. “Son gives me a tight schedule- I’ll see you all tomorrow.” She looked at Gar. “Stay safe now, guys.” She shut the door on her way out as the other two said goodbye.

Gar kept his gaze on the door for a minute and almost missed Atoll following Paroon out. He shook his head and looked forward to Minnow who was still staring at him.

“So like… She’s not gonna follow you home or somethin right?” Minnow asked.

“I don’t think so.” Gar looked toward the door.

“Y’know, I saw how uncomfortable you were. And then she mentioned some stuff… So… The army?” Minnow turned their head to the side.

Gar stared uncomfortably at Minnow. He didn’t ever tell Minnow anything about that. He’d kept everything about him before the surface mostly a mystery. He would’ve preferred to keep it that way. Yet he had to meet with the most uncomfortable, mouthy, loud octoling from his past. Who happened to love stating what he already knew as if he was stupid. And unfortunately, she clued in the people who he wished would’ve been kept separate from that by doing what she used to.

He guessed some people didn’t change.

And he was sure Minnow already knew what Cordelia meant by ‘army’. It was a lot less of a secret now.

“Nevermind. Shouldn’t ask you that, should I.” Minnow put their hands together.

That was new.

“Anyway, sorry for like, leanin’ on you or whatever and like…” Minnow winced. “That whole best-friend-speil. I was trying to seem all buddy-buddy and-“

“Thank you.” Gar interrupted.

“Whuh?” Minnow looked at him.

“Thank you. It…” He took a second to search for the words. “I appreciated that.”

“Really?” Minnow blinked in confusion.

“You got her to leave.” Gar took a deep breath. “I owe you.”

“Pff- Naw, you don’t owe me.” Minnow gave him an awkward laugh. “That would be… weird I think. Weirder than whatever just happened.”

Gar was confused but didn’t ask as Minnow went to talk again.

“Actually- Well… Maybe…” Minnow glanced off to the side.

“What?” Gar looked at Minnow.

Minnow looked like they were biting their tongue for a minute. They stared at the floor and then finally looked up.

“Can I ask one question, and like, you answer me honestly?”

Gar took a moment to think about it. Then he nodded. Just one question.

Minnow looked unbelievably excited for a moment, then collected themself with a deep breath, puffing out their chest as if they were going to march straight into open traffic.

He was expecting a question about his eye. Or his sister that he mentioned at the coffee shop those years ago. Or why he left so quickly that night. Or maybe one of the things Cordelia had brought up.

Yet.

“Do you think we could ever be like… Friends?” Minnow shuffled. “I know you said we weren’t a while ago, and you never said anything about it again.” They went on. “And I know I’m like… really bad at it- like, showing it or saying the right words. I pick on you a lot. I know that. But I really do want to be friends- or try. But I need to know if you think it’s even possible. If you’d even give me the chance.”

To be honest, he had been giving Minnow chances.

Not that he said anything about it.

But he did.

He would listen to Minnow and see if they would change the way they spoke to him, or if they changed their demeanor or got friendlier. He would wait to see if Minnow would get more… pleasant… to be around. It just so happened that Minnow would always manage to drag out an insult or say just the wrong thing and pass that chance up accidentally.

But Minnow hadn’t exactly been as insulting or rude after the day at the coffee shop.

And they seemed to be really trying.

They stopped themself from asking a sensitive question.

He appreciated that.

“I do.” Gar nodded after thinking it over.

“Really? Like. For eel?” Minnow jumped and their eyes got wider, leaning forward on their tiptoes.

“Yes.” Gar took a step back and Minnow rolled back on their heels.

Minnow looked down at the floor, seeming genuinely excited to have that information. Gar was still very lost, and he didn’t know why that tiny scrap of information was so important to Minnow. He also didn’t understand why they’d use a free honest question from him on whether or not he thought they could ever be friends.

It felt silly to him.

“You know somethin?” Minnow looked up at him.

Gar looked at them curiously without saying anything.

“You’d be one of my first real friends.”

Gar immediately frowned without meaning to. That was… not something he expected to hear from them. And it was incredibly sad. They weren’t being serious, right?

“What-” He struggled to ask.

“Yeah! I mean, when I was little I had people I knew in school. But y'know, no one ever really called me their friend. It’s funny cause people used to purposefully avoid me. I would give ‘em food and stuff for lunch but they still acted like they didn’t know me. And when I was an adult I didn’t really have anywhere to go to socialize- Except the lobby.” They started talking.

Why were they telling him all of this?

“And like, I know there’s Atoll and Paroon. But Atoll always runs off immediately after work and Paroon’s got her own stuff all the time. Also I don’t think Paroon always likes me because I can’t lift the splatling and the kick back on the E-liter…” They frowned.

Gar barely managed to force down a laugh remembering the times Minnow would fall backwards trying to handle an E-liter.

“Atoll is just nice to everyone y’know. He’s got like 90 friends and he’s only really on good terms with like 5 of them.” They kept going. “But you- You don’t have a lot of friends, I know. You don’t spend time with people you don’t like if you don’t have to. And I know you probably don’t like me too much… Well, not even probably.”

Gar felt awkwardly unable to deny that. He hadn’t exactly liked Minnow for a long time. He didn’t hate them, but he didn’t like them. Though he had started liking Minnow a little more recently, and definitely a fair bit more after today.

“You just seem genuine and I figure- If I can be friends with you, maybe I’m not completely a lost cause, y'know? Like, maybe those kids at school just sucked- and all the people who blocked my number after we graduated.” They added at the end with a light kick to the floor.

Wow Minnow was sadder than he thought.

“I’m sorry.” Was all he could think to say.

“Don’t be! Don’t. Cod don’t be sorry. Also- you better not start pitying me or anything.” Minnow said. “I probably overshared- I have a problem with that sometimes.” They looked at the ceiling and shifted. “But like, yeah.”

Gar nodded and tried to search for words to redirect the conversation.

Minnow was ahead of him.

“ANYWAY. Uh. Yeah. So… Thank you. And stuff.” Minnow then shuffled and pulled something out of their pocket. “BY THE WAY- Before we go…”

They handed him a paper with a few numbers on it and he took it. He stared at the numbers for a bit before lifting his gaze back up to them and raising an eyebrow.

“Not that you have to put it in or anything- but if that weird girl bothers you again like… ever. Call me.” They broke eye contact the minute it was made. “I’ll help with whatever you need me to.”

Gar blinked and put the paper into his pocket.

“Okay… Uh… Thank you.” Gar stared at the door.

“Alright then- We should like… Get going huh? It’s late isn’t it.” Minnow took out their phone and then looked shocked. “Wow yeah. Okay let’s go.” Minnow immediately ran toward the door and opened it, looking at Gar like they were waiting for him.

Gar huffed a laugh and followed Minnow out before their arm got tired of holding the metal door open.

He didn’t see Cordelia on his way home- and he had a feeling he really wasn’t going to see her again. Maybe that was just his brain trying to comfort him, but he was willing to believe it. Or at least try.

Chapter Text

Gar waited against a wall, looking down at his phone briefly to check the time. Three more minutes until it would hit the exact time they planned. He wasn’t too worried about anything being exactly on time, but he had been looking forward to this so he was trying to relax.

He and Tilly had actually bothered to plan a meet up- which was rare. Usually they would run into each other after work or crossed paths when running errands. And there was one or two times they got together to discuss something relevant to Gar’s kids. None of it was ever actually planned out or without some form of purpose.

Today they were just going to try to spend time together though for no particular reason. He had admittedly grown to like the idea of getting to know someone beyond needing to know them for a reason. Plus, it gave time for Piranha to hang around the kids for a bit again- since she volunteered to watch them while he was gone. He had been both worried and excited to see how this was going to go.

“Hey Gar!” The same chipper tune he’d grown to like pulled him back out of his thoughts.

Tilly was looking at him with a wide grin. She always looked at him with a joy no one else did, and he didn’t understand why, but it made him feel appreciated. He guessed he kind of liked knowing at least someone seemed happy to see him.

“Hello-“ He waved and pushed himself off the wall he’d been resting against.

“How are you doing?” She asked, looking genuinely curious.

“Fine, you?” He would rather get past the small talk, but he didn’t mind it. She usually started with that and it didn’t often last long.

“Good! Good, I’ve been so ready to get out the door since this morning!” She swung her arm excitedly. “I was dressed at like six this morning, maybe I’m just a bit over enthusiastic- I know we’re just hanging out at the park- but…”

Gar gave a slight smile. “I guess I get it.”

He paused for a minute, trying to think of what else to say that would spur another conversation. He was always bad at this and it always took him nearly a whole minute to think of something. Maybe that was partially because he was slightly worried about saying the wrong thing.

“You look nice, by the way, I like your uh…” He paused looking at her earrings. He hadn’t seen her wear this pair before- they looked like… fishing lures ? “Earrings.”

“Oh! Really?” She twirled one with two of her fingers, looking suddenly nervous.

“Yeah they’re…” He looked for a descriptive word. “Cute?”

She looked slightly hurt by his statement and he wasn’t entirely sure why. “Uhm, thank you!”

He felt stupid for a minute and wondered what exactly it was he said to make her look somewhat upset. Didn’t people like compliments about their earrings and things? He was absolutely sure he’d said something similar about a different pair she’d worn once and she was very happy about it. He didn’t know why this was different.

Maybe it was his pause. That was probably it, right? Hopefully she knew he was being genuine.

“Should we start walking?” She threw in quickly and Gar nodded, letting her lead the way. “So what have you been up to lately? Anything new or exciting?”

“Minnow actually did me a favor recently.” He didn’t plan to elaborate on what. “I think I might be able to call them a friend- with time.”

“Oh that’s awesome! The couple of things I’ve heard- and seen- haven’t always been so promising, I’m so glad that’s slowly working itself out!” Tilly clapped her hands and looked at him as if waiting for him to continue.

“Oh- And Hope… Has been interesting.” He sighed and looked to the sky. “Is it normal for a 13 year old to sneak out and try to do tricks at a skatepark?”

“I think doing things that go against better judgment in general is fairly common for a 13 year old.” Tilly said with a small laugh. “What was he trying to do- and for… why?”

“Kickflip. His friend said it was cool.” He paused. “His skill in doing so is…” He thought about how to word it. “ Subpar .”

Tilly held back a laugh and covered her mouth. “Goodness. Do you think he’ll get better?”

“I don’t know, I’m scared to find out.” He looked at her, tilting his head down a bit. “What about you?”

“Okay so!” She hopped and did a twirl before she continued walking. “I’ve been hanging out with Piranha lately, she’s talked to me a lot about fashions and such-“

Gar shook his head. “You’re not about to insult me, are you?”

“No! Not at all- She has told me how she feels about it though.” Tilly closed her eyes and smiled.

“I’m sure she has.” He put his hands together.

“I don’t have comments about it.” Tilly said. “But I do take some of her advice, she’s designed me a couple of things- She even taught me how to make them. I’ve gotten into sewing because of it.”

“I noticed. Whimsy happens to have a new octo plushie she carries everywhere and she tells me you’re to blame.” He looked down at the sidewalk, then at her.

“Yeah, I made that based slightly off of you.” She said, then quickly added “-She said she feels more secure around you and I know she’s struggled with nightmares before so I thought it would help.”

“Seems to have worked. She’s not said much about nightmares lately.” He glanced at Tilly curiously.

“That’s good! I’m glad it’s actually helping!” Tilly’s voice was full of delight. “And- aside from plush sewing, I did sew up a few other things.” She kicked her leg out.

It took him a moment to process the gesture.

“You made your dress?” He guessed.

“Yeah! Is it..?” She looked down.

“It’s pretty.” He told her.

She had done more than a good job, it looked professionally made. There was something about it that did feel homemade now that he thought about it, but in a good way.

“Thank you!” She seemed genuinely thrilled about the compliment.

Which made him think about the earrings again. What was so different about these two things? Was it the wording?

It didn’t matter, they were at the park and that part of the conversation had ended a while ago.

The conversation leveled out and they walked beside each other on one of the trails for a bit. There were a few people out running or playing games with each other. Some others were sitting and eating in the grass. Things felt very quiet.

He kept his gaze on the ground, looking at the flowers that were in the grass. He tried to identify the ones he recognized- which was more than he thought he could initially, since Whimsy had become obsessed with plant identification lately. He really did listen when she went on rants about various flowers and showed him pictures from a book she’d picked out at the library.

“Sooo… What’s your favorite type of weather?” Tilly broke the silence.

“Rain storms.” He said without thinking. “Why?”

“I don’t know, I know we’ve known each other for years but there’s some little trivial things I don’t think I’ve asked yet.” She didn’t look at him. “Why do you like rain storms? I mean, I agree, it's nice weather to sleep in.”

“I don’t know.” He took a moment to actually consider why he liked it. “I met Hope and Whimsy in the rain.” He then furrowed his brow. “I met you in the rain too, actually.”

“Oh yeah! I remember! Ever wonder if we looked crazy for standing in the rain under a bus stop? Probably should’ve sought better shelter.” She laughed.

“Wasn’t like I knew how to ask you if we should find somewhere more secure.” Gar put his hands in his pockets.

“Wasn’t that how I ended up realizing you couldn’t speak much and taught you inklish?” She looked at him as if she was unsure.

“Because you wouldn’t stop talking to me and I looked confused? Yes.”

“You really didn’t know what I was saying, did you? I guess it worked out though!”

“I guess it did.”

He fell silent again as the conversation went into a lull. He closed his eyes for a moment, thinking about that particular Thursday. If he was honest, he was initially scared of Tilly, mostly because of how friendly she was. He had been worried there was some motive she had for being nice to him. And he thought it was strange she tried to talk to him immediately without knowing him. No, as it turns out, that was just Tilly. Though that was the day he started taking umbrellas with him everywhere- just so he’d never have an awkward run in like that.

Looking back on it now though, he was glad he hadn’t paid attention to the weather that day. She was one of his best friends now after all.

“Okay, now you get to ask me a question!” Tilly spoke again.

“Huh? Oh.” He wasn’t entirely sure what to ask her. He didn’t want to ask the same question, she already said she liked rain too. “What’s your favorite color?” That was a stupid question he already knew the answer to.

“Pink!” She said enthusiastically. He could’ve told that just by looking at her. “What’s yours?”

“I don’t… Know.” He squinted. He only really started to pay attention to colors when Whimsy and Hope showed interest in them. One thing he’d learned since he started to actually consider them was that there were too many to choose from. “All of them?”

“Really?” She looked at him. “I was expecting red or something.”

“Huh.” He was absolutely sure she was only saying that because he had a tendency to wear red jackets or flannels.

“What’s your favorite type of music?” Tilly asked.

“Uh… Rock? And… I guess some things with acoustic? Some Indie?” He shrugged. He couldn’t remember all the genres, and to be honest, with Whimsy and Hope’s latest fixation with the Squid Sisters, he hadn’t heard much else. “You?”

“Oh all sorts of things! Indie, folk, pop, rock, metal-“

“Metal?”

“Yeah! Uhm… Sometimes.” She said with a breathy laugh. “I just enjoy music, you know?”

“Alright.” He nodded and then tipped his head up. “What’s your favorite flower?”

She suddenly looked very thoughtful. She looked at the ground and hummed. He didn’t know why she was thinking very hard about this question, but it wasn’t like he could judge her. He often thought for a while on every question he was asked- no matter how trivial and simple.

“Azaleas.” She finally said. “Do you have a favorite?”

“Tiger lillies.” He didn’t have to think too much about that one though he didn’t know why it was his favorite.

“I’ve got a more personal question to ask you, if that’s alright?” Tilly looked at him with uncertainty.

“Depends heavily on the question.” He watched her carefully.

“Well I was just wondering…” She kicked her foot on the ground. 

Her face was doing that thing where she got slightly pink again. She had started doing this more often around him and he had yet to find out why.

“Not for any real reason, but have you ever had a girlfriend- OR boyfriend or partner?” She asked, quickly throwing on the last bit, waving her arms out.

That was a weird question he wasn’t often asked. Except once by Minnow- but the way they had asked it had been ever so slightly rude. And they had asked if he had one in the present because they were shocked and were making an assumption the minute he mentioned kids.

That was years ago anyway.

He had never exactly been asked this question- except by Whimsy when she was much younger and was obsessed with those princess movies that had some cheesy romance plot and some ‘love saves the day’ message. It was a question he didn’t particularly feel anything for.

“No.” He shrugged.

“If I can ask, why?”

He’d never actually thought about why he hadn’t. If he was honest, he was too preoccupied with work and his responsibilities to think about it. He hardly knew anyone, so it wasn’t even an idea that ever passed him by.

“Don’t know. Just… Never cared?” He answered awkwardly.

That was true enough.

“Why do you ask?” He moved to look at her and she was suddenly very still.

“No reason.” She said quickly. “Just curious, you know? I mean, I’ve tried to see people before but it never got past the first date. Figured I might as well ask, see if we had something else in common or… whatever.”

That was a bit more long-winded of an answer than he needed but he tried not to think too much about that.

“Huh.” He stared at her.

“An… Anyway!” She shifted and started walking again. “You know, with all the octolings that moved to the surface, I thought about learning more octarian.”

“That right?” He kept pace with her.

“Yeah, I mean, there weren’t a whole lot of classes on it when I was in school- and I never really learned much past basic greetings.” She paused. “But I know we had a conference on it at school a while ago, since it’s important to be able to teach all your students- and if they can’t understand what you’re saying, well…” She frowned.

“Understandable.” He could definitely see the use of knowing the language.

“Now I know I don’t know it well enough to say I’m anywhere near fluent, but I do wonder sometimes if I pronounce things correctly.” She tapped the tip of her shoe on the ground before she kept walking. “Especially more complex sentences.”

This was bound to be interesting.

“Say a phrase.” He looked at her.

She turned to him and nodded, then proceeded to say a very basic ‘Hello, how are you?’ in octarian.

Her pronunciation was good, but he wondered for a moment if she knew how to say any more complex phrases. Surely she didn’t mean that that was a complex sentence.

“Okay, good, do you know how to say anything else a bit more…” He hesitated. “Challenging?”

“I could try, but I’m very afraid of messing that up.” She laughed awkwardly.

“Go ahead.”

She tried to say something, and he held his breath for a moment, stopping dead in his tracks.

“I don’t think you meant to say what you just did.” He frowned.

“What did I say?” She looked at him.

He paused as he saw a look of fear in Tilly’s eyes. “What did you mean to say?”

“Figured I’d try to keep some kind of conversation, you know- Do you want to go somewhere to eat? Or something. But…” 

“I can hear that now.” He said, not looking her in the eye.

“What did I say?” She asked.

“Nothing important. Just… Keep working on your pronunciation. Uh… And maybe don’t repeat that phrase. To. People.”

Octarian was a tricky language- some of the words meant completely different things if it wasn’t pronounced just right. What she had said wasn’t exactly a phrase that was offensive or anything, but it definitely could be interpreted… wrong. 

“Gar what did I say?” She sounded panicked.

He laughed and focused on her with a squint. “Really, nothing. Keep practicing. Most of what you said made sense.”

“Oh come on, I told you what you messed up on when you were wrong.” She put her hands on her hips.

“I’m not repeating all that.” He gave a half-grin and kept walking.

“This is going to haunt me.” She sighed, following him.

“Don’t worry too much about it.” He rolled his eyes.

“Fine, fine.” She huffed. “Anyway, uhm… So…”

Gar waited for her to say something and watched her fail to find anything she wanted to say. He tried to come up with something to help her out.

“You mentioned food, right?” He asked. “You could come with me and get dinner.” He offered.

“Wh- huh?” She turned and stared at him.

“Yeah, uh… I didn’t plan much else.” He shrugged.

“I don’t know.” Tilly seemed suddenly unsure. “I’m going to be honest with you, drinking a coffee in public is one thing- eating is another… Do you ever like… Feel embarrassed doing that?”

“No.” He had never even really thought about it. But he knew she was not him. “Well, I don’t know- We could get something and go…”

He had to actually think about what he was going to say for a moment.

“I don’t know if you’d feel uncomfortable eating around me.” He started again. “But we could get something and go to my apartment? The kids are with their aunt for the night- something about a sleep over…” He paused and shook his head. “Or where ever. You want to go.”

Tilly fell silent and stared at him. Her face was getting noticeably pink again. He didn’t know why she did that from time to time, and he tried not to ask in case it was some involuntary or embarrassing thing.

The silence stretched on and he felt ever so slightly uncomfortable. She was just… staring at him. It wasn’t like this was a new thing, but she was getting pinker and he was getting more worried. Was that shade… Normal ?

“Tilly?” He waved his hand in front of her.

She didn’t look like she was registering him moving. He was deeply worried and he moved his hand to put it on her cheek without putting any thought into what he was doing. She felt very warm. Her gaze shot up to look him in the eye.

“Are you okay ? You’re really warm- Your face is really-“

She raised her eyebrows and he slid his hand off her face and backed up.

“Tilly?” He clapped his hands and she shook her head violently.

“SORRY. I’M FINE. THAT HAPPENS SOMETIMES.” She said loudly.

“Okay-“ He didn’t really believe she was fine but he wasn’t going to pry.

“TO ANSWER. Your question.” Her voice got quieter slowly once she realized she was nearly shouting. “Yes! I’d uh… Love to!”

“Great. Are you… Sure you’re…?” He frowned.

“YEP! Just must’ve held my breath a little too long.” She swung her arm enthusiastically. Her face seemed to be cooling down but only a bit.

“Alright then.” He nodded at her, then turned around. “What do you… Want to eat then?” He asked.

“Down for uh. Whatever.” She gave him a twitchy smile.

“Okay.” He looked ahead at the path.

After that it only seemed to get more awkward and he wasn’t really sure why. When they had gotten into the apartment, she had excitedly picked a movie to watch and then seemed to attempt not to talk to him much after that. He wondered if maybe he had somehow hurt her feelings or something- maybe because he mentioned it.

Maybe that was just a thing Tilly was sensitive about, though he was sure her staring had gotten more intense than it usually was. He didn’t entirely want to ask why that was, in case it was just a bad day for her or something. He didn’t want to point out anything else that could hurt her feelings in any way.

Though he did catch her twirling one of her earrings and staring at him some more on occasion. It was nearly enough to make him self conscious for once.

Though shortly after she ate and the movie ended, she jumped up and went to leave, thanking him before leaving in a slight rush.

He wasn’t quite sure what all that was, but the day went relatively okay for a casual hang out, he guessed.

Chapter Text

“DAD WAKE UP, WAKE UP, WAKE UP!” Ceaseless yelling greeted Gar’s ears.

He groaned and tried to open his eye, though the minute it stung he closed it again. He rolled over toward the edge of the bed to face the noise. He pushed his tentacles out of his face with one hand and rubbed his eye. He didn’t want to get up but whatever was happening was clearly important.

“DAD COME ONNN!!!” He felt a hand on his shoulder shaking him.

“I’m trying.” He grumbled.

He opened his eye, met with the blurry shape of Hope standing in front of him. He had no idea what could be so important… And then quickly remembered it was Hope’s birthday. Hope did this every year on his birthday… and Whimsy’s birthday… And Gar’s own birthday… And every single other holiday or significant day.

It was still dark in the room and he squinted to try to focus on Hope.

“DAD LOOK!! AT ME!!!” Hope waved his hands in front of Gar’s face.

“I would… If I could.” He struggled to sit up.

“OH. RIGHT.” Hope quickly darted toward the light and turned it on.

Gar closed his eyes the minute it came on, flinching against the annoyingly bright overhead.  He shook his head, struggling to get up off of the bed. Now Hope was still just a blurry shape- but this time, in light. He managed to gain some balance as Hope kept telling Gar to look at him.

“I would, if I could .” Gar repeated, pointing at his eye as he walked toward his bathroom.

“OH.” Hope paused. “I FORGOT.”

“Calm down, stop shouting… You’ll wake Whimsy up.”

“I’m already awake!” He heard a voice call from the hallway.

Of course she was already up. He leaned against the counter in the bathroom and heard Hope start running in circles. Gar guessed he had some energy to burn, which was incredibly odd to Gar, seeing as it couldn’t be later than 6 in the morning now.

He reached over and took out his contacts, taking a minute to stare at the casing.

“DAD COME ON!!!” Hope yelled again.

Gar quickly opened it, put the one contact he actually needed in, and then closed the case again, blinking for a minute as he adjusted. He really did not understand the urgency or why Hope needed Gar to look at him. Usually Hope would just wake him up and then run out of the room to go bother Whimsy some more.

“What is it-“ He stopped dead in his tracks as he came back in the room.

Hope was practically shaking with excitement and started bouncing up and down. He threw his hands out in front of him and did a spin. For a moment Gar thought he was seeing things or was still asleep.

“LOOK! LOOK! I can hold the form now!! SEE!” Hope walked up to him and lightly punched Gar in the shoulder.

“Oh. Huh.” Gar blinked.

Hope raised an eyebrow at him and nudged him. “Isn’t it COOL?”

“Very cool.” Gar said with a nod.

“DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS?” Hope was trembling violently at this point.

“No?” He squinted.

“I CAN DO TURF WAR NOW!!!” Hope gave a big toothy grin.

Gar felt his jaw clench for a moment as he stared at Hope. Gar had wondered for a long time why Hope always seemed fascinated with the idea of it but always did other things, focusing on different activities. Skateboarding or racing or videogames or something . Now Gar was realizing Hope never asked to do Turf Wars or go to the Lobby simply because he couldn’t because he wasn’t capable of holding the right form to play in. That made sense.

Now he was focusing on what Hope was saying again.

“I’VE BEEN WAITING SO LONG!” Hope was pacing again. “My first turf war…”

Gar put a hand up to his mouth as he watched Hope silently.

“It’s gonna be SO FUN! I’m gonna take out the other team! I bet we’ll even score a wipeout like… TWICE. We’re gonna be the BEST TEAM!”

“We?” Gar struggled out.

“Uh, YEAH! You think I don’t want you on my team? COME ON! You’re probably like. The MASTER at turf!” Hope hopped up and down. “PLUS! It’s my first one and it’s SUPER SPECIAL and I want you to be there!”

Gar didn’t actually ever consider this being a possibility. This is why his friends were shocked when he said he had never played turf all those years ago. It was a sort of right of passage in a way, and Hope was really looking forward to it. He bit his cheek silently.

Hope was looking at him now, confused. “Dad? You do want to play turf war with me, right? We are gonna be a team, right?”

Gar was now faced with two options. His first was that he could do the one thing he swore he would never do again, risking potentially spiraling again, and accidentally becoming a bit more violent than he would ever want to be. He didn’t like that option very much.

His second option would be to refuse to go, and then disappoint his son by not being on his team, simply denying him the one thing that seemed very important to him and would be his first experience. He hated that idea more than the first, and had decided that option two didn’t really exist anyway. There was no way he would ever do that.

“Yes.” He said awkwardly.

That one word brought the excitement back into Hope’s eyes and Hope cheered. He sprinted out of the room and started yelling something to Whimsy. Gar watched and took a moment to consider what he just agreed to. Before he thought too much, he realized he needed to call Piranha over to come watch Whimsy for a moment.

-

Gar was walking alongside Hope. Piranha had come over as soon as he called and only served to hype Hope up even more about the day ahead. Gar was so deep in his thoughts he'd hardly noticed a familiar face speed walking directly toward them.

It wasn’t actually Tilly, for once.

“GAR! HEY!” It was Minnow. Of course it was Minnow.

Yet some part of him was ever so slightly happy to see Minnow.

“Hello?” He blinked.

“NO WAY. Is this your coworker dad?” Hope shook his arm beside him.

“Uh.”

“Yeah! Minnow, you’re like… Gar’s son right?” Minnow greeted Hope enthusiastically.

It took Gar a moment to register what was happening but he didn’t exactly mind it. Hope seemed happy to get to meet Minnow, so he assumed everything would be fine. Plus Minnow seemed more friendly and nice in the way they spoke now that was different from their usual other speech, so he was fine.

He listened carefully to what Minnow said though anyway, watching them closely.

“What’re you out doin’?” They were asking Hope.

“It’s my BIRTHDAY!” Hope announced proudly.

“OH SICK! How old?” Minnow asked.

“Fourteen. We’re going to pick out a weapon for turf!” Hope cheered.

“Oh shell yeah. That sounds awesome! Congrats lil dude.” Minnow nodded, then looked at Gar awkwardly for a moment.

Gar thought about something for a minute, considering something while Minnow stared at him without looking him in the eye. He looked at Hope.

“Did you want this to be a just-us thing?” He asked Hope quietly, Minnow didn’t look like they heard him. Good.

“No? WAIT. Are you asking me if they can come?” Hope whispered back.

“Not directly.” He looked up.

“DO YOU WANNA COME WITH US?” Hope got another ridiculously wide smile on his face, looking at Minnow.

“Nah- thanks, but I wouldn’t wanna bother you and your dad.” Minnow waved.

“You wouldn’t.” Gar said.

Minnow looked like they were doing a mental double-take. They held their mouth open like they were going to say something, then closed it, then opened it again. They finally actually managed to get a word out.

“Uh- SURE, I mean, sure!” Minnow seemed like they were beaming.

Gar gestured for Minnow to start walking and Minnow did so immediately. They walked toward Ammo Knights and it occurred to Gar that he hadn’t actually been here in years. The one time he did actually visit was just because Piranha wanted to go, and that was when she made him pick a weapon. He took the splatana wiper and never thought about it again.

Another thing he had forgotten was just how long winded the shop owner- Sheldon- was. Gar wished that he would just learn how to paraphrase at least a little bit but it was clear that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. The minute they walked in it was like walking directly into an audiobook on an overly specific essay about every weapon that ever existed.

Gar listened for several minutes while Hope stood there looking confused with his jaw hung open. He looked at Gar once, looking helpless and Gar could only offer a weak shrug. He had no idea how to make it stop either. It probably wasn’t possible.

Finally Sheldon came to the end of the hour-long ramble about… whatever it was he just said. Gar only listened when it came to weapons he didn’t recognize, and otherwise tuned him out. Minnow’s eye was twitching and Hope seemed to be recovering from the knowledge dump that’d just crushed him.

“So what are you looking for exactly? Range? Perhaps you want something that deals lots of damage? Maybe you want something that has a good amount of mobility? Or maybe the rate of fire, if you’re interested in things such as blasters or shooters? Perhaps you want-“

“I want that one cause it looks cool.” Hope pointed at the tentatek splattershot quickly, ignoring Sheldon.

Sheldon looked blankly at Hope like he said something that made no sense. Gar thought it looked like Sheldon wanted badly to correct Hope somehow or question him but physically couldn’t because of some ‘customer is always right’ rule. He eventually put his hands together anyway, and in a perfect rehearsed customer service voice, told Hope a brief thank you and said he knew Hope would give it a good home.

They handed in the license for it and quickly left the store as soon as physically possible. Hope was twirling the splattershot around his finger with a big grin. At least he was happy despite being hit with an actual wall of words.

“Sweet choice of a weapon by the way.” Minnow was saying. “Who are you going to team with?”

“Gar.” Hope nudged him.

“Yeah but you gotta have 4 people for a team. Are you just goin’ in with 2 randoms too?” Minnow asked, shooting Gar a look before turning their attention back to Hope.

“I was thinking about that…” Hope sighed. “My friend Stella doesn’t wanna come, cause she wants to spectate instead. I think Tilly said she’d come, right?” Hope tilted his head to Gar.

“Yeah.” Gar nodded, then looked at Minnow. “You wanna be the fourth?”

“What?” Minnow blinked for a minute. “I mean. I wouldn’t be like... going against you, right?” Minnow laughed nervously.

“I asked you if you wanted to be the fourth on the team. Not an opponent.” Gar raised his eyebrows.

“OH YEAH! Uh, then yeah! Of course!” Minnow grinned.

“YES. IT’S HAPPENING!!!” Hope broke his walking pattern to spin in a circle.

“So when is this, by the way?” Minnow asked.

“CAN WE DO IT NOW?” Hope turned to face Gar, shaking again.

Gar hadn’t assumed he had much time to prepare himself for this anyway and nodded. Hope seemed to get even more thrilled- which Gar thought would be impossible. Minnow looked at Hope, then Gar, and then toward the tower and lobby.

“Well then, we should head to the lobby right? Gar you can call Tilly, and Hope can get some target practice in!” Minnow suggested.

“Sounds… Fine.” Gar looked at the lobby.

The slight bite of unfamiliar anxiety hit him. He could only make a wish that he wouldn’t end up disappointing Hope somehow, or end up losing himself again. He tried to put it out of his mind and just focus on getting to the Lobby and texting both Tilly and Piranha, who would come with Whimsy, to meet them there.

-

“What weapon do YOU use?” Hope was asking Minnow.

They’d been waiting a while, with Hope actually testing out his weapon. He didn’t seem half bad at it, but then again, most of the targets he had to aim at stood still, and the ones that didn’t were fairly slow. He was pretty good at throwing the ink strikes and spacing them though.

Nearly half the lobby was a mess now just from a bit of Hope’s practicing, but that didn’t exactly matter. It was easy to clean up anyway. Gar stood, holding his Splatana in front of him and leaning forward on it, watching as Minnow stood up quickly, running to their locker and then back.

“TRI-SLOSHER BABY!!!” They held it up in the air and then spun it on their finger.

“Why?” Hope blinked.

“ WHY? ” Minnow was trembling with excitement. “This isn’t just a slosher. This is like. The soda slosher. It comes with fizzy bombs-“ Minnow held up a fizzy bomb to show Hope, then threw it and watched it explode. “AND. The sickest thing? A Tacticooler.” Minnow grinned.

“A what now?” Hope seemed confused.

“It’s like a drink dispenser that gives everyone on the team who takes one a boost. It’s like- my FAVORITE THING!” Minnow stopped spinning the slosher, pushing it up into the air and catching it by the handle.

“Why is it a soda slosher though.” Hope turned his head to the side looking at it.

“Cause the bombs look like soda cans. AND the tacticooler drinks are like… soda but if it gave you cool effects.”

“Soda already does that except Garland doesn’t think it’s cool.”

“What do you mean- and wait did you just call him Garland? ” Minnow squinted.

“Yeah, that’s his name.”

“WHAT?” Minnow looked at Gar with wide eyes.

“Not my real name. My real name is Gar. That’s his nickname for me.” Gar sighed and shook his head.

“You should hear what Whimsy calls him.” Hope grinned.

“No way. What does she call him?” Minnow had a big grin on their face.

“Gabby.”

“NO FLIPPIN’ WAY.” Minnow’s jaw dropped. “GABBY.”

“You’re not allowed to call me that.” Gar frowned.

“AWW.” Minnow slumped into a defeated position.

“I’M HERE!” Tilly’s voice suddenly rang out.

She was running over, waving one of her dualies in the air.

“DO A DODGEROLL!” Minnow shouted.

Tilly laughed. “Okayyy!”

She proceeded to do a quick roll before stopped in front of the group and put her hands proudly on her hips. Hope was staring at Tilly with big eyes and a tilted head.

“No way, what was THAT?”

“Dualies let you do dodge rolls.” Tilly said happily.

“This sounds like a tutorial.” Gar hung his head.

“HE’S NEW TO THIS! It IS a tutorial!” Minnow went to nudge Gar but intentionally cut it short so they wouldn’t actually touch him.

“Have you guys looked at the stages yet? Because I think one is particularly fitting.” Tilly pulled out her phone.

“What one?” Hope lifted his head.

“Blackbelly Skatepark is actually open for matches right now.” Tilly gave Hope a smile.

“NO WAY.”

“Guess we know where we’re doing this then?” Minnow rubbed their hands together.

“YES. YES. BEST DAY EVER.” Hope then looked at Gar. “How many best days ever are we at now?”

“Two hundred and thirty six.” Gar said plainly.

“Wait, you counted ? ALSO? THAT MANY?” Minnow looked confused.

“Yes, and most of those are just days he had his favorite food.” Gar looked at Hope with a smile.

“THOSE ARE THE BEST DAYS THOUGH. I can’t pick.”

“I think it’s good to have several best days.” Tilly said happily.

Gar watched from the corner of his eye as Piranha and Whimsy made their way over from the entrance. The sinking feeling in his stomach made itself known. He fought it back.

“Looks like our last group members are here!” Tilly cheered.

“Gar I thought you said I was on your team, that is too many members.” Minnow sounded anxious.

“Whimsy can’t quite hold the right form to participate, so she’s spectating, Piranha is gonna sit with her.” Hope told Minnow and Minnow seemed relieved.

“We’re gonna head up there to get seated, but Hope-“ Piranha knelt down in front of him, putting her hands on his shoulders- which made him jump. “Do not fail me, my nephew. Make them regret having a match with you.” She spoke in a serious, mildly threatening tone.

“Uh… Okay?” Hope looked off to the side, seeming nervous now.

“Just kidding! Have fun though!” Piranha jumped back up on her feet. 

“I WILL!” Hope said more confidently.

“Alright, OFF WE GO!” Piranha suddenly grabbed Whimsy’s hand and tugged her along.

“SEE YA BROTHER!!! YOU GOTTA WIN!” Whimsy waved.

“YOU KNOW IT! Doin’ this for you.” He pointed at Whimsy. As soon as she was out of earshot, Gar heard him quietly add. “… And Stella.”

Gar was tempted to ask what that meant, but he had a feeling he already knew. Hope tried to learn to do a kickflip to impress Stella, and he was always constantly talking about her. They were two of the most inseparable friends he’d ever met. Of course Hope would want to try to win his first turf war for her- especially if she was going to be spectating the match.

After Minnow and Tilly gave off some more advice to Hope, they were suddenly interrupted by the ring of a bell signaling the beginning of the match. Gar held his breath as he started walking toward the strange spawners that he still wasn’t sure how to feel about.

He hesitated for a moment as the rest climbed on top of the spawners, getting ready to go. Hope hopped up on top of one of the spawners eagerly, then he turned back to look at Gar. Gar locked eyes with Hope for a minute and Hope’s smile faltered.

Gar immediately stepped forward and Hope’s smile came back. He had a kid to do this for, he reminded himself. He needed to get through this for Hope, if nothing else.

As soon as the match started, Gar felt his teeth grit against each other. He looked across the way at the competition, then at Hope, Minnow, and Tilly. He had to be as focused as he could on the actual objective; letting Hope’s first experience in a turf war be a good one.

The countdown started and each of them went down into the spawner to angle it for a moment. As soon as they launched toward the ground, Gar set his gaze forward, going furthest to the right. He was supposed to get to the middle fairly quickly, that’s what Paroon told him was the best thing to do.

It was going to be the tide turner… or something.

Gar watched Hope choose to follow alongside Gar, both covering the ground as they made their way forward. This wasn’t a terrible place to host a Turf War, and Gar found it more pleasant than the other place he had done this in before. But maybe it was because it didn’t yet have memories in it.

Aside from Hope and the skateboard.

He stifled a laugh.

“I HEARD THAT AND I KNOW WHAT YOU’RE LAUGHING AT!” Hope shouted at him. “QUIT IT.”

“Sorry- sorry.” Gar shook his head and let his expression fall back to a neutral, focused one.

“So do you actually know how to do this? You never talk about it.” Hope asked, covering more ground.

They were getting closer to the middle, and covering a fair bit of ground along the way. This wasn’t half bad.

“No, I played once, and never again.”

“When you were 14?”

“No. I was… 22?” Gar tried to remember.

“Wow! That’s old. You’re OLD.”

“You’re old.” Gar mocked him.

“HA! I am old but only for today. And only if you’re Whimsy.” Hope giggled and went to run in front of Gar.

Gar moved to his left to replace where Hope had been.

“You know how spawners work, right?” He asked Hope abruptly.

“Yeah! I’m not too worried about NOTHIN’! I’ll get 'em if they get me.” Hope said, voice full of certainty.

Gar took a deep breath as they got to the middle, met by two others from the opposite team. Gar focused on trying to cover the ground, while Hope threw a few ink strikes down and then stuck closer to Gar, but not too close that they weren’t efficient.

Tilly and Minnow had caught up shortly after Gar and Hope had made it. Minnow seemed very fond of sneaking through the ink and randomly popping up behind others. Gar watched Minnow closely.

Maybe too much attention, since Gar then turned just in time to see Hope go down to someone with a roller. He felt one of his hands tremble and he swung his splatana forward, going after that particular person until he managed to… what was that word? Splat them?

He could feel himself get colder and his focus get obscured.

And then.

“WOW THAT SUCKS!” Hope landed right beside him. “BUT SUPER JUMPING IS AWESOME WHY AREN’T WE ALLOWED TO DO THAT EVERYWHERE?”

Gar blinked at Hope for a moment. He maybe took too long to process that though, since he got hit with a shot from the opposing team. Turning, he saw open fire coming over toward the ground that he and Hope stood on.

“Nah.” Hope rolled his eyes and suddenly abruptly sunk into the ink and swam away from the open fire.

Gar just now remembered he was capable of doing the same.

He sunk into the ink and rose up in front of an opposing team member, swinging his splatana to the side and managing to knock them down and splat them. The opposition only said a small ‘Ouch.’ in response.

This wasn’t as terrible as he remembered. No one seemed to be getting particularly hurt . He was starting to enjoy this, actually.

Then he remembered special weapons were… a thing.

And he happened to have a stamper. The gauge just so happened to be full. How fascinating.

He managed to use it to cover a fair bit of the area before he threw it over a wall at two of the enemy team just as Minnow hit a third member and Tilly and Hope teamed up against the last.

Accidentally earning them a wipeout.

“NO WAY.” Hope gasped loud enough that the spectators could’ve heard.

“You say ‘booyah’ actually.” Minnow said.

“STOOOOP!! I KNOW!” Hope said, swimming over to Gar. “WE’RE DOIN’ IT! YEAH! WE’VE GOT THIS!” Hope continued forward.

Gar gave a small smile and followed Hope forward. This really wasn’t anything like he remembered. It was admittedly fun .

They managed to pull through another wipeout, and Hope cheered properly , according to Minnow, that time. Gar watched Hope slide down the side of one of the skate ramps and he looked up at Gar midway down the ramp.

“Do a flip.” Gar called out to him.

“THAT’S NOT EVEN- SHUT UP.” Hope yelled back at him with a grin.

Gar smiled and followed him down.

They kept up pretty well with the opposing team, and Hope was definitely having fun. Toward the end, Minnow was having a great time chucking bombs in every direction they could. Gar hadn’t realized just how much turf they’d actually covered.

“GAME!” The voice Gar had only ever heard once before called out, followed by meowing.

Gar blinked.

That was it?

—————

They all headed back to see the results of the match, finding that they had won by a large portion. They’d covered more ground than Gar had thought they could pull off, and Hope seemed overwhelmingly happy about it. Gar joined Tilly and Minnow in cheering for Hope and their team as they made their way back to the lobby.

When they got there, Hope spotted Stella, Piranha, and Whimsy who were waiting for him, gesturing for him to come stand by them. Tilly ran over with Hope, and Gar could hear some congratulations being passed around. Gar watched for a minute but didn’t move, lowering his gaze to stare at his Splatana.

“Man, I would’ve killed to have friends like that when I was little. At my first turf war I lost and then everyone in school made fun of me for like. Three weeks.” Minnow sighed, then shook their head quickly. “Anyway. Why do you use a Splatana? I thought you’d be more the type to use like… E-liters and shooters.” Minnow asked him.

He had hardly registered the question and instead answered without thinking. “Well. I’ve been shot at with several shooters in attempts to intimidate me, and I’ve been hit in the back of the head with the end of an E-liter more times than I can count, but I guess I’ve never been threatened with a Splatana.”

He then realized what he said.

“What?” Minnow looked at him.

Gar locked eyes with Minnow awkwardly for a second. He was silently praying at this moment that he had just imagined saying that out loud, and that it had just been a particularly loud thought. Though he was getting ever-more aware of the fact that he had definitely said that out loud.

To Minnow.

Who was looking increasingly concerned.

“Are you… Okay?” Minnow frowned.

Gar blinked at Minnow and then stared at the floor. Why did he say that?

“Like… Seriously. I remember what that lady said but…”

Gar opened his mouth to say something and then closed it and kept his gaze on the floor. He had no idea what just happened. That kind of thing didn’t usually slip.

“I…” He tried and failed to say anything.

Minnow had set their slosher down and were holding both their arms in the air with their hands bent down at the wrists. They had a look of genuine concern and that was entirely unfamiliar to see on their face. He felt anxiety bite at him again.

“I was not… A good kid.” He struggled.

Why was he telling Minnow the truth?

“Dude that doesn’t mean they should’ve like… Oh my cod.”

Gar glanced over at the group. Hope was still distracted, they were loud and far enough away that they couldn’t hear him.

“I don’t know…” He said slowly.

“No, like, dude, you can be a rude kid but like… That’s not. Huh?”

Gar bit at his cheek.

“I insulted my sergeants… and officers.”

He did not understand why he was choosing to be honest. He should stop, end this conversation before Minnow looked any more worried. Or before he said anything else he shouldn’t about his history. He shouldn’t be saying any of this.

“Okay, that was probably not the BEST thing you could’ve done but still that doesn’t justify-“

“I fought my peers and injured them on occasion.”

“That’s like rough housing which is not always great but you don’t punish by-“

“I defied orders.”

“Gar that does NOT MEAN they should’ve tried to SHOOT AT YOU or hit you with an E-liter?? Those things are HEAVY .” Minnow seemed afraid, but it was fear for Gar.

“I know, it… hurt?” He needed to be shut up.

“Why do you say that like you’re unsure?” They held their mouth in an open frown.

“It happened a lot.”

“Dude that’s terrible.”

Gar looked over as his sister shouted. “COME ON, WE’RE GONNA GET SOME CELEBRATORY ICE CREAM!” 

Gar felt sort of frozen in place and didn’t know how to answer. Minnow did for him.

“GIVE US A MINUTE! WE’LL CATCH UP! WE’RE CHECKIN’ STATS!”

“ALRIGHT!” Piranha waved.

“SEE YA SOON!” Hope held out a peace sign.

Gar watched them walk out of the Lobby and he dropped his Splatana on the ground. He didn’t understand why his grip was suddenly poor. His stomach turned as he stared at Minnow.

“Dude…” Minnow hovered a hand over his shoulder without actually setting it down.

He didn’t move as Minnow gingerly lowered it onto him. His breath felt heavy. What was it with the Lobby? He just had his first positive experience with this place, and now he didn’t even know what was going on.

“Dude come here.” Minnow slowly tugged at him, picking up both their Slosher and his Splatana.

Gar followed them while absolutely nothing continued to process in his mind. He couldn’t actually think about any of it. He felt discoordinated. He felt dizzy.

Minnow led him to the lockers and sat him on one of the couches.

“Dude, I can’t help but ask- Just because of your response- I’m not like, assuming nothin’, but… You don’t…” Minnow was tense.

“Huh?”

“The kids?”

“NO.” Gar shook his head, raising his voice. He didn’t even like the implication. It made him feel sick.

“Oh thank cod.”

“Everything I do for those kids-“ He breathed in and held it. “I take every aspect from my childhood, and I do the opposite.”

“And yet you act like it’s no big deal?”

“I deserved it.”

“What did you do exactly? Like, you were just a kid-“

“But I told you-“

“Gar do you know how many teachers I told were like. Super lame? I once told a teacher in middle school I hoped her husband left her because she was ugly. And like- I got detention- but I did NOT GET HIT OVER THE HEAD WITH HEAVY WEAPONRY??” Minnow tried to stress the end.

“You’re different.”

“HOW AM I DIFFERENT?” Minnow moved their hands like they were shaking the air.

“You didn’t, I don’t know, kill your sister? Did you?”

“YOU WHAT?” Minnow put their hands over their mouth after they shouted.

Gar paused. Why did he say that? Why did he say any of what he just said? Why was he being so honest? Why was he incapable of stopping or lying?

“I had and older sister. We were on a mission.” He spoke monotonously. “And the- dome- we investigated. It collapsed.” Gar scanned the ground. “But we were in it. I slowed down when I got close to the exit. She slowed too. She didn’t… Make it out.” He tilted his head to the side further as he spoke. “It’s my fault for slowing down, I don’t know why I did. I should’ve listened to her. She told me I should’ve. She was right.”

“DUDE. THIS IS LIKE. MEGA NOT OKAY? First of all, NOT YOUR FAULT?” Minnow’s eyes were wide.

“But I-“

“Dude shut the fuck up and LISTEN TO ME FOR A SEC.” Minnow looked him dead in the eye and he shut his mouth.

“You probably slowed down cause it was like. Involuntary. Cause you got close to the goal or whatever. I don’t know I played soccer in school and that’s what happened to me everytime.” Minnow then shook their head violently. “THAT’S BESIDE THE POINT.”

“But-“

“Listen. Dude.” Minnow’s hands curled into fists but they kept them close to themself. “Your sister wanted you to listen right?”

“Yes.”

“Then listen when I say it’s not your fault ?” Minnow’s voice got softer. 

Gar nodded slowly.

He still couldn’t gather why this was happening.

“Second, that doesn’t justify what you said before. They were still wrong for that.” They told him.

He blinked.

“Okay, and third?” Minnow looked at the ceiling and then back at Gar. “Maybe like… I don’t know, get therapy ?” Minnow said desperately.

Gar hadn’t considered that as an option and the idea made him confused. Why would he want to tell someone about his problems so they could tell him to breathe about it or whatever it was therapists did? But then again, he was currently in the Lobby while Minnow was visibly resisting shaking him because he was talking too much about a topic he never wanted to talk about- voluntarily .

This reminded him a bit of when he and Minnow were standing at Grizzco and Minnow was telling him about their not-so-great highschool years and social life. Except what he was telling them was probably far heavier. He shouldn’t be dropping these problems on them. Why did he say anything?

“I don’t-“

“Dude I go to therapy for a lot of stuff, I’ll show you how to like, get into it- all the stuff and whatever.” Minnow said. “But dude, from one person with trauma to CLEARLY another, you could use it.”

Gar grit his teeth again. He wasn’t sure what to say.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t-“

“Please don’t say sorry to me. I can handle some tough stuff. But oh my cod man.” Minnow frowned.

Gar felt his eye twitch. He has already said too much to Minnow and he didn’t know what to do.

“Look man,” Minnow looked awkwardly to the side. “I am just… worried for you? I don’t know. I know we’re not like, friends or whatever.”

Gar stared at them.

“And I can’t give you like… Answers or anything but it’s real obvious you have issues from it- and I didn’t wanna say it before, but.” Minnow paused and then clenched their jaw. “I had a feeling SOMETHING was wrong when I first met you and dude… I didn’t expect it to be this but damn it explains a fair bit.”

Gar bit down onto his tongue.

“And all I can say that I haven’t already said is just… I’m sorry.”

“What?”

“People shouldn’t have to deal with that shit Gar.”

“Please don’t feel sorry for me.”

“I just-“

“Don’t.”

Minnow stared at Gar for a moment. Then they nodded and it went silent for a moment. Gar couldn’t pinpoint how he felt at this moment other than lost. He felt… numb. And the searing sting of regret slowly was seizing him. He shouldn’t have said anything- Minnow might pity him now. He didn’t want that.

“Can we just forg-“

“Gar, I’m not going to forget about it.” Minnow looked at him. “Not because of reason other than worr-“

“Please, don’t worry about me. Ever.”

“But friends do that, right? Worry for each other.” Minnow frowned. “Gar, I’m really not a good person, but I used to be, and I’m remembering what friends- or good people- are supposed to be like and do.” they paused. “Cause you told me yourself that friends don’t like, harass each other or whatever. You’re right. But I do know they worry sometimes.”

Gar frowned.

“And I think it’s worth it to worry about you right now, cause you honestly look like you need someone to have your back or something.” Minnow fidgeted with their hands.

He didn’t know what to say.

“Can you promise me you’ll at least be OPEN to help?” Minnow asked.

Gar slowly nodded.

“Okay.” Minnow seemed unsure.

Gar didn’t mean to make them worry or put them in this position and guilt was crushing him. He wanted to apologize, but he already tried saying sorry, and Minnow didn’t take it. 

“I shouldn’t have put this on you.”

“You trusted me enough to tell me this, and honestly? I’ve dumped stuff on you too before.” Minnow paused. “All the miserable little stories from my childhood or the present or whatever. It’s not the same, but it’s not much different. I probably shouldn’t have put that on you .”

Gar slowly felt the ability to properly move come back to him.

“But I did, I can’t do anything about that.” Minnow shook their head.

“I didn’t… Mind really.” He struggled out.

“And I don’t ‘mind really’ that you told me.” Minnow poked the air in front of him. Then they paused as their phone buzzed and they checked.

“FUCK WE SHOULD PROBABLY GO. We’ve been here… A minute… Minutes…” Minnow shifted.

“Oh, right.” Gar had nearly forgotten. It was Hope’s important day. He needed to get his head clear. But now he struggled even thinking about standing up and Minnow watched him for a moment.

“Look man, I cannot help you out, I’d fall backward or something.” Minnow looked away. “But I can offer you one thing and that’s it.”

“What?”

“A hug?”

Gar stared at Minnow. What the actual hell was happening today? He opened up to Minnow when he shouldn’t have, and then Minnow actually tried to comfort him? And told him they’d help him get therapy? And were offering to hug him? It was confusing. Even more, it was weird to him that he found himself nodding to Minnow.

He hadn’t entirely realized the whole extent of what he agreed to with that motion until Minnow gave him a hug. It wasn’t an awkward side hug like Tilly had given him or anything, but it reminded him more of the hug Whimsy and Hope gave him when he broke down. He didn’t actually realize Minnow could give a firm hug, physically, but he didn’t exactly hate it.

He found it slightly awkward to return the hug, but mostly because his brain was finally starting to process everything that just happened. And he realized this was the same person who, up until the past few years, had been one of his least favorite people he had met in Inkopolis to be around. The same person who, up until a few months ago, he considered the one person he would never be friends with.

He let go and Minnow hopped up from the couch and looked at him. They were standing there, staring at him with some kind of emotion in their eyes he couldn’t read.

“You okay?”

“Yeah.” He slowly got to his feet.

He felt dizzy for a moment but after a deep breath he felt a little bit better. The agonizing feeling of guilt and regret was starting to ebb away just a bit. Minnow led the way to leave the Lobby and then Gar stopped.

“Minnow, wait.”

“What?”

“Please don’t… Say anything about-“

“Didn’t plan on it dude. It’s between frie- well. Us.”

“You can call me a friend.” Gar looked at the ground.

“REALLY?” Minnow gasped.

“That’s- not just because I… Said all that… You’re a good person Minnow. Maybe… A little confused sometimes… But you are.”

Minnow stared at Gar and then looked at the ground, they had a smile growing on their face. Gar saw their face tint a little with their ink color. 

“Thank you man, it means a lot.” Minnow looked up with a big grin.

“You’re-“

“Now come on Gabby-“

“You still can’t call me that.”

“AWW COME ON.”

“No.”

“Okay FINE but let’s hurry it up, they got CANDLES IN THE ICE CREAM. Piranha sent me a picture, come on!”

“If you would move first, you’re kind of in front of the door…”

“OH YEAH.”

As the Lobby doors shut, Gar wondered about taking Minnow up on that whole therapy thing… Maybe it would help? Plus, he could be vague if he needed to be. But if it helped him- and by extension- his kids, he might as well try.

Chapter Text

A year had gone by, and since then, Gar had felt much better than he did before the day at the Lobby. He’d actually gotten Minnow to help him figure out how to go to therapy- although he wasn’t particularly fond of it. It took time away from the bit of free time he did have, and progress was painstakingly slow- but part of that was his own fault. He wasn’t doing very well on the ‘telling the therapist what was wrong’ part of therapy.

Regardless, he was making some kind of progress, he supposed.

Whimsy had actually gained the ability to hold a stable form by 13, which allowed her rights to turf war, and served to make Hope jealous. Hope quickly got over it when he realized that it meant they could have a complete turf war team with Piranha, Gar, Whimsy, and himself, though Tilly or Minnow sometimes filled in for Piranha.

Gar had also managed to get a bit closer to Minnow- and Tilly- over time too. He found it much easier to call Minnow a friend. As for Tilly, he wasn’t always sure how to feel.

Today he wasn’t sure how to feel.

“You’re early.” He muttered as he opened the door. 

He hadn’t bothered to get properly dressed yet or put up his tentacles. He had offered for Tilly to come over and spend time with him today, but he hadn’t expected her to be so early. He wasn’t exactly frustrated, but he definitely was tired. He had only barely gotten himself awake to give the kids breakfast and send them to get ready.

Gar stared at Tilly who was standing in the hallway with wide eyes at him. He was waiting for her to say something or do something but she stayed silent and stared at him. Her eyes were slightly wide and her face was pink.

Gar wasn’t ever a self-conscious person, but the way she stared at him suddenly made him wonder if wearing a tank top was enough.

“Tilly- Are you coming insi-“ He went to speak.

“Strong… Oh my cod…” He heard her mutter.

“Okay…” He said slowly, looking away from her.

He would never understand Tilly’s strange comments or why she had begun to make him feel nervous lately. He would always ignore the thought when it came up. Dwelling on it did him no good.

Tilly quickly snapped her gaze away from him and turned her head, shielding her face from him with a hand. Her jumpiness made him anxious for a moment.

“AHA- I MEANT. UHM! Yes! Yeah!” She cleared her throat and readjusted herself.

Gar tried to not make a comment about it. He stepped to the side and waved his arm once for her to come in. She stepped in uncertainty and he carefully shut the door when she’d finally gotten past the threshold into the apartment.

“Sorry for being so early and- wait…” She was staring at him again, though her gaze was fixed on something higher than it was usually. “Your tentacles are…” She had her head tilted all the way to one side.

“I haven’t put them up yet.” He sighed. “I was going to in just-“

“Maybe you should leave them down.” She said, her expression mostly unreadable.

“Huh?”

“IS THAT TILLY?” Whimsy’s voice came from her room.

“Yes!” Tilly called back at her.

“Can you give me a minute to-“ Gar looked toward his room.

“Oh, of course!” Tilly waved her hand.

Gar made his way to his room, shutting his door and locking it and started to get properly dressed for the day. Although while he was getting ready, he did consider what Tilly had said. He didn’t know quite why she would want him to leave them down, but he wasn’t going to.

The main reason he kept them up was solely because his tentacles unfortunately didn’t always do what he wanted them to. They would move certain ways with his emotions, and he never particularly enjoyed that- but even with his best efforts, he could not really control it. He wasn’t exactly a fan of having his emotions read by that alone, especially in the event where he didn’t want his emotions known at all.

Keeping them up at least made it less obvious.

He walked out of his room and saw Tilly sitting on the couch beside Hope and Whimsy. Gar leaned against the hallway door frame and watched as Hope said something to Tilly and then ran off to his room abruptly. Whimsy fidgeted with some project she had built and was making some minor changes on the coffee table.

When Tilly turned to look at him, he swore he could see just a bit of disappointment in her eyes. He gave her an awkward smile, and that seemed to make whatever disappointment she held disappear.

“I GOT IT!” Hope shouted and rushed back into the room, holding something in his hands.

“So what is it?” Tilly tilted her head as Hope climbed back up next to her.

“This one is a turbojet- this specific model is one of my favorites- with the real wingspan being about 55 feet, AND it can reach mach 3.2 in speeds- which, let’s just say- is pretty fast.” Hope was showing her the model. “Usually they’re so dark they’re almost black, only really have two seats for the pilot and a systems officer. Its air inlets give it the ability to move as fast as it can.”

Gar listened to Hope explain away the model jet and the real thing. He found it fascinating how Hope could learn so much about so many different types of planes. Sometimes Gar was convinced Hope had read proper manuals about them. Hope eventually stopped talking, and Tilly had a smile on her face.

“Wow, that’s super cool! Is this your only model?” She asked.

“Absolutely NOT I have 2 other models of this specific one!” Hope boasted. “But I have a ton of planes and helicopters too! I’m in the process of building a model of one of the Grizzco helicopters!” He explained excitedly.

“Oh wow! You build them yourself?” Tilly looked at the model Hope was holding closely.

“Well, some of them, yeah! This one is one of them.” He held it out for her to look.

Tilly looked unsure whether or not she was supposed to take it but Gar was slightly relieved she didn’t. Hope was very particular about his things, and didn’t always want to share them so much as he wanted to present them. If that was misunderstood, it didn’t always end well.

“So do you just appreciate aircrafts, or do you want to be a pilot?” Tilly asked.

“No offense, Goddess of Snacks, but I have no life goals higher than being a cashier at a minimum wage restaurant.” Hope said with a grin and looked at Gar.

“He wants to be a pilot, yes.” Gar shook his head.

“Is there anywhere in particular you want to work? As a pilot I mean, not a cashier.” Tilly gave a small giggle.

“Grizzco. I wanna pilot the helicopters!” Hope claimed, hopping off the couch.

“Or maybe work at an airline.” Gar coughed.

“You always say that. I’m totally gonna pilot that helicopter though.” Hope grinned.

Gar knew it would be impossible to tell his son he probably should consider another job without mentioning that no one who works at Grizzco, on any level, made very good money. He also didn’t want to be the one to crush his son's dreams. He just hoped ever so slightly that Hope would eventually change his mind.

“Hold on, let me put this up-“ Hope shuffled off toward his room with the model.

“What do you want to be?” Tilly asked, turning to Whimsy.

“Baker.” She said plainly. “I have constructed the perfect business.”

“What do you mean?” Tilly looked at Whimsy curiously.

Whimsy turned the model she had been working on and raised her eyebrows with a mischievous grin. There was something that was always so evil in that particular expression she made, but in such a way that she didn’t mean any harm and just wanted to seem off-putting. She moved her hands out as if to add to the presentation of the piece.

“You made this? All by yourself?” Tilly stared at it.

The construction was made out of various pieces of smooth cardboard Whimsy had collected and a few clay pieces. It was an entire building and floor plan for a bakery she’d worked on, painted, and properly glued together. It’d been something she’d been passionately working on for months now.

“Yep!” She said proudly. “Some of it was really hard, so I took breaks to work on the other part of my craft.”

“To huh?” Tilly blinked at Whimsy.

“Baking.” Gar said plainly.

“Ohhhh yeah! How’s that been going?” Tilly asked Whimsy.

“It’s been… It made me realize my brother cannot be trusted with sprinkle duty or icing.” Whimsy squinted as Hope came back into the room.

“What? Awe come on Whimsicals, you love my perfect decorating skills.” Hope rolled his eyes playfully.

“You ruined a whole batch of perfectly good sugar cookies, I don’t trust you anymore.”

“What’re you talkin’ about? I made them glorious .” 

“Drawing various squiggles on them with the icing is not glorious.”

“They tasted the same.”

“You- No that doesn’t work.” Whimsy muttered and shook her head. “ANYWAY! You’re not allowed to decorate anymore.”

“To be honest-“ Hope paused. “I don’t know why I’m arguing, that’s probably the smartest decision you’ve ever made.” 

Whimsy closed her eyes, crossed her arms, and nodded once. “It is.”

Tilly laughed lightly as they went back and forth.

“OH ALSO!” Whimsy piped up. “I’ve been working on my singing lately! My choir class has been… Uhm…” Whimsy paused. “Interesting? It’s taught me some neat things!”

“Oh really?” Tilly put her hands together.

“Yeah! I’ve learned some different tricks- plus, Gabby sometimes plays songs on the guitar when I sing.” Whimsy giggled.

“You play guitar?” Tilly looked over at Gar.

“More or less.” Gar shrugged.

“More than less.” Hope leaned over the arm of the couch.

“We should play a song!” Whimsy hopped up immediately.

“I don’t know.” He looked awkwardly at Whimsy.

That was something that had changed within the past few years. He didn’t like to talk about it very much, but he did pick up on playing the guitar again. He used to play it a lot when he was younger when he would go home- when he wasn’t visiting the medic or sleeping or dealing with an injury.

He stopped playing when he was 18 or so, but he still remembered some of the songs he used to play- none of which were very happy . He only started to play again because the kids asked him to- and because his therapist said something about it being therapeutic . Since then, he’d started learning how to play various songs the kids listened to. Which meant he learned how to play lots of Squid Sisters songs.

“Please?” Whimsy put her hands together and tilted her head.

He held his breath for a moment before he sighed and turned toward his bedroom, earning an excited cheer from Hope and Whimsy. He moved over to the stand where he had his guitar sitting and hesitated before he picked it up. He carried the guitar back with him to the living room.

The minute he walked back in, Tilly was looking at him with intrigue.

“What am I playing?” He asked, moving to sit down on the floor, positioning the guitar properly.

“Why don’t you pick?” Whimsy stared at him.

“I thought you were going to be singing?”

“No, I’m not ready for that yet. Too early.” Whimsy waved her hand.

He gave her a tired look before he deeply sighed and he looked at Hope. Hope gave him a shrug and leaned back on the couch with a smirk. His gaze then traveled to Tilly.

“Is there a song you want to hear, then?”

“Not particularly, but I am interested to know what you know how to play!” Tilly gave him a wide smile.

Gar looked down and tried to think for a moment. His fingers hovered above the strings as he felt his teeth clench. He settled on a song and tuned the guitar briefly before he moved his fingers to the right strings.

He started to play, first G- placing the root on the 7th fret- then E minor, then D, then repeating. He plucked some of the strings as he went along. He started to add the C chord into the song at some point and that’s when Whimsy stood up.

“NO not that one!”

He abruptly stopped playing, laying his hand over the strings to silence them. He tilted his head to the side, confused. He didn’t understand why she would tell him to play a song he knew, and then tell him to not to play the song he picked.

“That one’s sad! You can’t play that one. I know the lyrics.” Whimsy huffed, crossing her arms.

He sighed and nodded. Most of the songs he knew were fairly miserable. So he had to think about one he’d never sung to them before but sounded happy enough for it to be hardly recognizable. He took a deep breath.

He tuned the guitar again. Then he slowly started going from C to F6 to G, then repeating. It was a fair bit easier to play, though the actual lyrics that passed through his head as he played might be significantly sadder than the first song he played. The kids weren’t aware of them though, so he continued to play the song through.

As he neared the end of the song he took a deep breath. As he played the last note he lifted his hand away and set it on the side of the body. He looked up and Tilly was staring at him curiously.

“What was that song called?” She asked.

“I can’t remember.” He did remember, but if he told her, the kids would absolutely figure out the lyrics and he would hear about it later.

“I loved it.” Tilly had a tone he couldn’t pick up on.

For some reason, that tone made him feel warm.

“I liked that one!” Whimsy said, leaning against the table.

“Glad you did.” He stood up, lifting the guitar.

“Why didn’t you ever tell me you could play?” Tilly looked at him with a bit of confusion.

“Uh… Never came up.” He said awkwardly.

“How many songs do you know how to play?”

“Not sure. At least every acoustic variant of every Squid Sisters song because of Hops and Mims. And a few others, like the two I played.” He shrugged.

“Hmm…” There was an emotion on her face he couldn’t read. There was a slight pink tint to her face.

Hope looked from Tilly to Gar and squinted.

“Anyway-“ She cleared her throat. “What’s everyone’s favorite song by the Squid Sisters then? I like Tide Goes Out, personally”

“Ink Me Up is one of my absolute favorites!” Whimsy said excitedly. “BUT the new one, Wave Goodbye, is a steady second.”

“Probably either Bomb Rush Blush or their version of Now or Never.” Hope shrugged.

Gar stood there for a second before realizing every person in the room was looking at him like they were waiting for him to say something. He guessed he had been part of ‘everyone’ in the initial question.

“What about you?” Tilly asked after the silence had gone on for a minute.

He debated on what to say. “I guess when they sung Calamari Inkantation- or Maritime Memory.” he added the last bit without thinking.

“Wait which version of the Inkantation?” Tilly leaned forward.

“The new one with that other band… Deep Cut? That’s it right?” Gar looked at Whimsy and Whimsy nodded quickly.

“That one is really good!” Tilly smiled. “So is that everyone’s favorite band too?”

“Nope! Off The Hook.” Hope said loudly.

“I like them- I don’t know if I’d say they’re my favorite.” Gar looked away at the wall.

“They’re my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE! I have every sticker and every poster- I have a cd of all their songs even though no one uses CDs!” Whimsy was saying excitedly. “I have a record too, and a record player that’s Squid Sisters themed… I think I actually like them more than I thought.” her voice eventually trailed off.

“Dedication.” Tilly raised her eyebrows, seeming impressed.

“What about you?” Hope looked over at Tilly.

“I listen to far too many to pick a favorite.” She laughed awkwardly in response.

“You guys keep talking, I’ll be right back.” Gar held up the guitar again, walking out to put it up.

He walked into his room and set it back on the stand. He took a moment to look it over again, thinking about one of Tilly’s earlier questions and trying to count the amount of songs he actually knew how to play. He lost track quickly and decided it was probably best to just go and join the others back in the living room.

He shut the door as he left and stood in front of it for a moment, hearing a piece of a conversation that had started when he left.

“-So get this, I sneak up on dad all the time and I like to scare him.” Hope was saying. “AND, I’m so good at it he’s threatened to bell me before.”

“Really?” Tilly laughed lightly.

“Yeah! But the funny part- he’s never managed to scare me back. I don’t think he can. He’s tried before.” Hope was claiming.

Gar took a few silent steps toward the living room.

“And you’d think that would be easy for him, he’s like… really tall and intimidating or whatever.” Hope waved his hand. “I don’t think he’s capable of scaring people though.”

Whimsy was staring at Gar as Gar silently moved toward Hope. He gestured for Whimsy to be silent and she quickly focused back on Hope. Tilly glanced at him briefly before looking back at Hope.

“Or maybe I just can’t be scared.” Hope shrugged.

Gar was standing right behind Hope. Hope had yet to notice him. He lowered his head quickly beside Hope’s ear.

“Boo.” He threw his hands against the arm of the couch to make a small thud sound.

Hope let out a small yelp and jumped back toward the back of the couch and threw his arms in front of him. Thunder had timed itself perfectly and Hope’s eyes were wide.

“THAT’S UNFAIR! You can’t JUMPSCARE ME!” Hope yelled.

“I don’t think it’s unfair.” Gar stood back up straight. “You were saying I was incapable of scaring people, or at least you, remember? Just wanted to see if you were right.” Gar grinned.

“You are so awful!” Hope smiled and swatted at him.

“You’re so awful.” Gar stepped back from Hope’s swatting.

“I’m going to jump on you.” Hope warned him.

“You’d never.”

Hope immediately launched himself at Gar and Gar quickly caught him and spun around twice. Hope started giggling as Gar slowed down and lowered him back to the floor. Gar caught Tilly looking at him from the corner of his eye with yet another unrecognizable emotion.

“That was stupid.” Whimsy looked at both of them.

“You’re just saying that because you didn’t get spun.” Hope rolled his eyes.

“No, that was just definitely stupid.” Whimsy nodded.

“I’m going to get you too if you keep calling things stupid.” Gar said monotonously as he turned to her.

“Ohh me too, me too! I’ll fight you!” Hope said, crouching down and growling at Whimsy.

“Did he just-“ Tilly was staring at Gar.

“He growls sometimes.” Gar shrugged. “Also, Hope, no.”

“Aw man.” Hope stood back up and walked toward the couch again.

“I don’t know what it is with you and fighting your sister.” Gar shook his head.

“What do you mean? This was like… A one-time thing.” Hope situated himself sideways on the couch to face Gar.

“Last week you hissed at her and tried to fight her because you disagreed on what to eat for dinner.” Gar blinked at him.

“Oh right. I still think we should’ve fought though.” Hope put his hands together.

“I don’t think so.” Gar looked at Hope with raised eyebrows.

“Do they ever actually fight?” Tilly asked Gar, looking from Hope to Whimsy.

“Not really, Hope stopped biting when he was 11 or so.” Gar shrugged. “It’s mostly a whole lot of threatening.”

“Ah, I see.” Tilly nodded.

“I should start biting again.” Hope put his hands together.

“Please don’t.” Gar sighed.

A loud rumble of thunder nearly shook the building and broke the conversation. Almost immediately his front door flung open and his sister burst in, slamming the door behind her. She looked at the kids and then Gar and then Tilly.

“GUYS.” Piranha shouted.

“We prefer ‘the swarm’ thank you.” Hope said to Piranha.

“THE SWARM.”

“Better.” Whimsy sounded pleased.

“GREAT NEWS. THERE WAS A TORNADO NOT SUPER FAR FROM HERE-“ Piranha was saying.

“Wait what? How is that good news?” Tilly looked concerned.

“It’s GREAT news, and it’s great because it’s not within our area but it directly hit my least favorite old boss’s house.” Piranha put her hands together. “And no one was injured, but I know that’s gonna be a problem for them.” She sighed.

“Oooookay…” Tilly blinked in confusion.

“Should we be seeking shelter?” Gar asked passively.

“Nah, there’s no warnings or watches for our area.” She waved her hand and leaned against the wall. “Anyway, what’s goin’ on in here? Also hi Tilly.”

“Just hangin’ out.” Hope looked at Piranha.

“Hello Piranha!” Tilly waved.

“Did I miss anything cool?” Piranha looked at Gar.

“No.”

“He played the guitar!” Whimsy grinned.

“Oooh what song?” Piranha turned to Whimsy.

“He tried to play the sad one about superman, but I didn’t let him, and then he played another song. I don’t know the name.” Whimsy tapped her fingers along the table.

“I’mma take a guess. The one about the soldier?” Piranha shot him a look.

“Not a word.” He warned.

“Bro that one’s so much wor-“

“No, not another word.” He glared at her.

“Anyway.” Piranha quickly flipped her hand. “You shoulda played literally any of the faster ones you know.”

“I know those on electric.” He blinked. “I only own acoustic.”

“Not like you can’t adapt-“ Piranha was saying.

“YOU KNOW HOW TO PLAY ELECTRIC?” Hope leaned forward.

“I have told you before. It’s basically the same but the amp-“ Gar held out one of his hands in a vague gesture and was cut off.

“No way.” Hope shook his head. “Mind blown. I’m so shocked. I’ve been sent into so much shock I’m practically the Great Zapfish.”

Gar sighed and looked at Piranha in a jokingly helpless manner.

“Sounds like a you problem.” Piranha clapped. 

“Did you come over just to tell us about the-“

“No Gar, I did not.” Piranha said, putting her hands on her hips and then pausing. “Okay actually I did but now I’m not leaving.”

“Wonderful.” Gar looked at the ceiling.

“Anyway, how’ve you been Tilly? Ain’t seen you in a while.” Piranha smiled.

“I’m fine- but I saw you just yesterday…” Tilly seemed confused.

“I thought you honestly wanted to keep that between us.” Piranha raised her eyebrows and gave a weird smirk.

“Oh… Right.” Tilly looked down with wide eyes. Her face was doing the pink thing again.

“What?” Gar looked at Piranha with a slight squint.

“Nothin’ brother, just had some girl talk.” Piranha walked over and patted his shoulder.

Tilly coughed quietly.

“Uh huh.” He moved his gaze away from Piranha.

Tilly was staring at him again. Gar stared back at her awkwardly, slowly tilting his head to the side without really noticing it. Her face got a bit more pink as she kept looking at him.

Hope cleared his throat loudly. “SO.”

Gar turned his attention to Hope. 

Hope flipped off the couch. “Who wants to 1v1 me in my racing game and who wants to cheer me on?”

“ME! ME! I’m taking you DOWN!” Whimsy leaped up instantly, balling her hands into fists.

Gar shook his head as they ran to turn the TV and console on. He saw Tilly laugh at them as they almost started wrestling each other over the controllers. He caught himself thinking for a moment that her laugh was actually slightly cute . He immediately discarded the thought as Piranha raced over to the couch to claim her spot to watch them race on their video game.

Gar walked toward the coffee table and sat beside it to watch them from the floor.

-

“Well, sorry for staying so late!” Tilly was saying with a huffy laugh. “I didn’t mean to take up all of your time.”

It was much later than he had intended to let her stay. Piranha had gone home at least two or three hours ago, and it was getting dark outside now. The rain had gotten too heavy at one point for Gar to feel comfortable letting her go home, and then by the time it was clear, he offered her to stay for dinner since it was late.

Now the kids were sitting on the couch, mostly lounging around and tired. Gar was walking Tilly to the door.

“I invited you to stay longer- if we’re honest, that’s my fault.” He looked at her.

“But I did love spending all this time with you today!” She said with a smile, some pink coming to her face.

“I’m glad to hear that.” He gave a half smile.

She gave him a wide grin and his face felt just a bit warmer for a reason he wasn’t entirely sure of.

“We should really do something like this again- don’t you think?” Tilly asked.

“That sounds nice.” He nodded.

“Oh- and-“ She turned to look at him as she stepped past the threshold. “I’m sorry about- This morning. I don’t know if you remember-“

He remembered.

“-But I’m sorry, ha, I don’t know why I said that outloud.”

“You’re fine.” Gar didn’t meet her gaze.

“And uhm,” She shifted. “I really did love getting to spend time with you and your kids- and listening to you play guitar! You’re pretty darn good at it!”

“Uh… Thank you.” He looked at the floor.

He looked back up at her and her face was bright pink again. He tensed and wasn’t sure why. The two stared at each other for a long time. Tilly’s face was becoming a darker shade of pink with each passing moment, until Hope wandered up and grabbed the door.

“Okay was nice seein’ ya, buh bye, shoo shoo, have a nice night.” Hope shooed her back with his hand and then shut the door.

Gar stared down at Hope for a minute and furrowed his brow, going to speak.

“You’re HOPELESS.” Hope said. “And I would know. My name says it all.”

“What?”

“Hope is right.” Whimsy called from the living room.

“Excuse me?” He turned toward the living room and Hope grabbed Gar’s hand and tugged him along.

“You guys just stared at each other for like 5 whole minutes and said nothing.” Hope shook his head with a ‘tsk’.

“I’m lost.” He blinked.

“You’re ALWAYS lost.” Whimsy sighed and flopped over to lay on her side.

“What are you two talking about?” Gar stared at Hope.

“Dad, no offense, but you know Tilly isn’t exactly good at hiding things right?” Hope raised his eyebrows.

“I’m… Confused?”

“Dad, I’m 15, and even I can tell she likes you or somethin’.” Hope rolled his eyes. 

“She looks at you like those girls in the cartoons who look at the love interest.” Whimsy shook her head.

“She does not.” Gar squinted.

“Oh she totally does, you’re just really bad at reading expressions. Like. REAL BAD. I have trouble with stuff like that sometimes so that’s sayin somethin.” Hope patted Gar’s arm.

“But it’s like specifically with her. You read everyone else okay mostly. Are you just ignoring it or something?” Whimsy sat up with a gasp. “Are you FRIENDZONING HER ?” 

“No?” Gar looked confused.

“Of course he’s not, he likes her too.” Hope dismissed Whimsy.

“I what.”

“You’re not real good at hiding things either.” Hope sighed.

Gar frowned. “I am not having this conversation.”

“Because you like her?” Whimsy asked.

“No.” Gar shook his head.

He was trying not to think about the fact that that might actually explain some of his more recent feelings and some of Tilly’s more recent actions. He was trying even harder to ignore the fact that his kids could read the emotions of others better than he could even pick up on his own. He was trying exceedingly hard to block out the thought that he also didn’t actually have an idea of whether or not they were right, because he didn’t actually have any clear idea of what ‘liking’ someone felt like.

“The way you were looking at her was so not normal.” Hope folded his arms. “Who stares at someone for 5 whole minutes in dead silence for no reason? Like? Shut the door?”

“I…” Gar was trying to think of an actual reason he had for not shutting the door or saying goodbye, but found he didn’t have one. “I was waiting for her to say goodbye?”

“Dad. You could’ve said goodbye first.” Whimsy was lifting herself up from the couch.

She was right about that, actually.

“I was going to but-“

“You weren’t.” Hope huffed. “If I didn't shut the door you’d be staring at each other for hours . Like. What were you waiting for?”

“I’m going to bed.” Gar immediately looked away.

“It’s 7 p.m.” Whimsy said.

“I don’t care.”

“The first stage of grief is denial.” Hope half-whispered to Whimsy.

“Wait, why is he grievi- ohhhh.” Gar heard Whimsy say.

“I heard that.” Gar looked back at Hope.

“I didn’t exactly mean for you to not hear it. You clearly need someone to point it out.” Hope shrugged.

“I’m going to get you.” Gar turned and crouched down.

“I’d like to see you tr- AAA!” Hope instantly ran the opposite way as Gar lunged toward him.

Gar chased Hope into his room and Hope slammed the door and Gar backed up. Whimsy was laughing at him on the couch.

“You’re not safe either.” Gar looked over at Whimsy and chased her off the couch and into her room too while she ran away from him giggling.

He sighed and rolled his eyes as he walked away from their rooms as Hope and Whimsy’s doors opened. 

“Is it safe Mims?” Hope whispered.

“No, give it 3 minutes.” Whimsy whispered.

He smiled and sat down on the couch.

Unfortunately, unbeknownst to the kids… Or anyone, the conversation would now be on his mind for weeks.

Chapter Text

Only a week had passed, and it was late. Hope and Whimsy had gone across the hall to spend the night with their aunt. They occasionally did that from time to time, since they’d be just a few steps from home if any of them felt the need to. Plus, Piranha always gave them snacks and let them stay up late, so they would always ask to spend time with her on the weekends. Gar would let them.

Occasionally, they would forget something and come knock on his door to get it. He still locked the door when they were gone, so he’d be doomed to get up at unreasonable hours in the night to retrieve things like brushes and plushies and blankets or pillows. Tonight was one of the nights he would get that knock on his door and have to come staggering, half-asleep, to swing open the door.

“What did you forget this time?” He would always say, expecting some kind of reply from Hope or Whimsy. Usually somewhat apologetic.

And this is what he said when he received a knock at 11 p.m. as he opened the door. Much to his surprise, he did not open the door to an apologetic child. Instead, he opened it to a disheveled-looking Minnow.

“Minnow?” He took a moment to blink and squint.

Maybe the haze of exhaustion was just obscuring the shape of Hope. But Hope didn’t have teal tentacles.

“Hey Gar.” Their voice was unnaturally shaky.

“What are you-“

“I’m sorry, I should’ve called, and I shouldn’t be here anyway.” Minnow cut him off. There was something about their tone that made his heart sink.

“Minnow-“

“I should just turn around and go home shouldn’t I? Tell me to go home.” Their voice was breaking.

“Minnow, are you okay?”

“That’s not-“

“ Are you okay? ” He repeated, more firmly.

“No.”

“I didn’t think so.” He sighed, some of his sleepiness was fading away.

Now he was just concerned.

“Come in.” Gar moved to the side and opened the door wider.

Minnow walked in cautiously, with their arms kept up close to their chest. Gar didn’t know what that was about, but it made him deeply worried. Minnow was always the type to have some sort of over-confident walk. They threw caution to the wind, and they’d never hesitate. Especially not on something as simple as walking into the apartment of a person they knew well.

Gar shut the door and followed Minnow in, and Minnow shot him a nervous look. He stopped walking and stood, leaning against the wall. If Minnow was skittish or nervous about anything, he definitely didn’t want to risk maybe making it worse by getting too close to them.

They were visibly shaking. But it didn’t quite look like fear, now that he was able to get a good look at them.

“I shouldn’t have come here to bother you-“

“Minnow, what’s wrong?”

“I should’ve just stayed at home, or gone somewhere else-“

“Minnow.”

“I should leave, this isn’t your responsibility anyway-“

“ Minnow .” He raised his voice a bit.

Minnow winced against the slight difference in Gar’s voice. They looked at him with wide eyes, and he could see there was sorrow etched into their face. He furrowed his brow a bit, folding his arms in front of him.

“Sit down.” He said, nodding his head toward the couch.

Minnow walked over slowly and took a seat before they immediately buried their face in their hands. He stood there for a moment, listening closely to them. It didn’t sound like they were crying.

They lifted their head up and stared at the ceiling, then at Gar.

“Are your kids here?” Minnow asked.

“No.”

“Then… Can I talk to you?”

“I don’t see why not.” He looked at them with a slightly tilted head.

“It’s- not. Great.” They wrinkled their nose.

“Go ahead.”

Minnow took a deep breath and then pressed their hands together in front of their face for a moment. They trembled as they exhaled and then looked at Gar.

“I went on a date.”

“Congratulations?” He gave Minnow a confused expression.

“No- no, it was awful .”

“Oh.” Gar looked down at the floor.

“I don’t know what I was thinking, Gar. I don’t.” Minnow said while they shook their head slowly.

“What do you mean?”

“Some guy-“ they paused and took another deep breath. “Some guy reached out to me, I knew him vaguely- not past his name- but I knew him. We pass each other all the time… Anyway, he said he wanted to go on a date with me.”

Gar nodded.

“And cod, when I tell you I was so excited - It was stupid.” They closed their eyes. “I’ve never been asked out before, ever. I always wanted to be, but no one ever did. Everyone I’ve ever had a crush on rejected me too.” They sighed. “I thought- ‘finally, someone actually has at least a little interest in me’-“

Gar listened to them, shifting his weight from one leg to the other.

“And he invited me out to like… A nice place! I should’ve seen it coming. That’s a red flag isn’t it? People taking you somewhere nice?” Minnow looked at Gar.

Hell if Gar knew. “No… I don’t think so.” He guessed. He couldn’t imagine why it would be.

“Well…” Minnow stared at the coffee table. “I don’t know. I got dressed in my nicest outfit- and… Gar, I don’t have a lot of nice things, but I pulled out my best one just for this. Uh…” They seemed slightly distracted. “It is nice right?” They looked down at themself.

Gar didn’t realize Minnow was talking about events that happened mere hours ago, and now he was slightly more worried about what exactly took place.

“I shouldn’t ask you that, it’s stupid.” They smacked one of their hands onto their forehead. “You wouldn’t-“

“I think you look nice, Minnow.” He said.

Minnow lowered their hand and blinked at him, then turned their gaze away from him. They muttered a ‘thank you’ before they shook their head to try to clear their thoughts again. Gar waited patiently.

“Anyway, uh… We met up there, and he uh… Didn’t talk to me much…” Minnow frowned. “But I didn’t care, I was just so excited at the idea of being on a date.” They paused. “You know, I just repeated myself didn’t I? That’s the one thing he actually said. He kept telling me to stop repeating m- Fuck!”

“Minnow, it’s fine.” Gar didn’t like the expression Minnow held.

“Anyways…” Minnow shook their head again, but this time their whole body with it. “We finished eating and everything and, he asked to go back to my place.”

Gar narrowed his eyes.

“And so you know, my only experience is shitty romance movies and dreaming.” Minnow sighed. “So I thought, you know, sure! Why not! Maybe he just wants to hang out more and doesn’t know where to go! I mean, there’s not a whole lotta places with stuff to do, you know?” 

Gar could name at least 8 places with things to do off the top of his head. He didn’t say any of them though, he had a feeling some part of what Minnow said was either sarcasm or trying to cover for the guy. Minnow readjusted themself.

“So we went back there- and you know… I was so fucking blind .” Their voice hitched for a moment. “He started criticizing nearly everything in my apartment for like, a whole half hour. I didn’t say anything and I just kept agreeing with him. I don’t know why. I guess I just couldn’t see past the idea the someone might like me so I kept trying to think he might be doing that because he’s never been on a date or something”

He watched Minnow repeatedly shake their hands out like they were shaking off water. The more they talked the more violent the movement got. Gar didn’t comment on it.

“You know, I was really bad at socializing- I still am, and I used to insult people as backhanded compliments, cause I thought that was friendly or something- and so I thought- ‘maybe he’s just the same’ and I didn’t wanna turn him away like everyone did to me.” They were trembling. “So I just let him.”

“Mm.” Gar frowned as Minnow paused for another long moment.

“And like… I have collections of trinkets from my favorite games, plus a wall of all of them… I’ve got book series from some of the games that had adaptations made of them. He…” Minnow looked down. “He called it childish? Maybe he’s right.”

“I don’t think so.” Gar said. “You just like those things.”

“More than like, Gar.” Minnow huffed. “Those things mean more to me than… Well. More than I know how to say- fuck. It makes me feel stupid for valuing those things so much. I wish I didn’t- I wish I could just throw all those things away. I wish I could forget about it.”

“Hold on.” Gar stopped Minnow, walking toward a closet in the hallway.

He opened the closet and pushed aside some of the spare blankets and dug through a few things. He heard a ‘what are you doing?’ from the living room but didn’t answer. He finally found the wooden box he was searching for and took it out. He walked back to the living room and set it on the coffee table, opened it, and backed up.

“What?” Minnow looked up at him.

“This box is full of every gift I’ve ever received.” He stopped for a moment to think. “Well, every gift in terms of cards or art.”

“Oh…” One of Minnow’s hands stopped shaking and hovered above the box as if to move something.

“You can look into it.” He said.

Minnow carefully lifted a paper up and looked at it, then sifted through some of the others. They looked slightly interested and slightly confused. They eventually looked up from the box.

“I don’t get it.”

“All of these are paper, or small drawings or cards. Some of them I’m sure didn’t take more than 5 seconds for the person who gave it to me to make.” He hesitated. “I could throw it away, it’s just paper. But it means too much to me.”

Minnow looked at him. “But these have some sort of meaning to you at least. The things that I have are-“

“You said they mean something to you.” Gar gave a shrug. “Even something you bought can be important to you. It doesn’t take someone giving it to you for it to have meaning.”

“I guess, but-“

“If you love those things, I don’t think it’s stupid to keep them.” He said.

“Have you been in my apartment actually?” Minnow gently shut the wooden box and start to flap their hand at the wrist again.

He actually had been to their apartment. Once or twice. To give them food because they weren’t feeling well.

“Yes.”

“So you know how big my collections are. They don’t exactly fit in a wooden box.”

“I don’t think that matters, you keep everything very neat and clean.” Gar folded his arms again. “It’s not like you’ve got a hoarding problem.”

“But he said-“

“You said it yourself, it was a terrible date. Nothing you’ve said so far has made me believe he’s worth listening to.” Gar  told them.

Minnow fell silent for a minute and then shifted. They nodded and then glanced at Gar.

“Well, anyway uh… When he… Stopped insulting my stuff…” Minnow abruptly stopped.

Gar watched Minnow shut their eyes tight as wrist movements got faster and their body moved with each shake. Gar was slightly worried Minnow might be hurting themselves somehow with the violence of the movement but chose not to do anything. They didn’t seem in pain, and it seemed to be slowing down after a moment.

“We…” Minnow muttered.

They looked down at the floor. Gar thought he could see tears build up in their eyes.

“You don’t want to hear about this.”

“What is it, Minnow?”

Minnow took another long pause and he heard them take a shaky breath in. They shook their head again and then looked past him at the wall.

“We, uh… We- he-.” They struggled. Their voice cracked with every word. “This is stupid…” He heard Minnow mutter.

He felt the corner of his lip tug into a deeper frown.

“We kissed.” They fumbled with the words, their jaw hung open as if to continue with what they were saying but they didn’t know how to get the words out.

“He got really close to me and held me-“ They paused. “I was… Disappointed?” They looked up at Gar. “I know I’m like… almost 34 having my first kiss- I should know by now that things don’t work like they do in movies. But I was still disappointed, I… Still had hopes it’d be special . In some way… You know?”

“I can’t say I do, my first kiss was probably pavement.” He said with a monotonous tone.

Minnow blinked at him for a moment then looked back down at their still-moving hands.

“Well, I guess-“ They paused. “I didn’t say anything about it, because I was still so caught up with the fact that someone might actually care about me.”

He watched them shiver.

“You know I care about you, right?” Gar blinked.

Minnow locked eyes with him for a moment. “Well, yeah, but not like… romantically, you know?”

He nodded. He supposed that friendship caring and romantic caring were completely different things.

“So, he uhm…” They adjusted themself again. “You probably could go without knowing- but, you know.” They looked at him.

He had no idea what they were trying to say.

“Well, putting it one way, we kept kissing and whatever but then…” Minnow leaned back against the couch. Gar watched them carefully.

Minnow took a deep breath and started… laughing. Gar felt slightly uncomfortable as their laughing got louder. He’d never really heard them laugh like this, and he was beginning to wish he never had to. Their laughing slowly subsided and they looked at Gar again.

“I don’t know why- I thought-“ They gave a huffy laugh. “That someone could actually-“

Gar pressed himself against the wall and looked at Minnow with a concerned expression.

“He stopped.” Minnow said. “And all the sudden- he told me- ha- he told. Me. That.” They shook their head. “That he was actually dared to go out with me. Because some of his friends saw me. And dared him to.”

Gar didn’t think he could get more disgusted.

“And- he told me that- fuck… He told me it was the stupidest thing he’d ever done-“ Minnow gave a light cough. “And I don’t get why- why he would go back to my apartment and kiss me- if it was for a dare- if…” Minnow looked helplessly at Gar.

He didn’t know what to say- he was having trouble just processing this information, and he didn’t know either- so he stayed quiet.

“I guess that was probably part of the dare, huh?” Their hands were moving again. “I don’t know why I thought- that- that it might be real ? That someone could- feel that way for me?”

Gar slowly walked over to the couch and sat on the opposite end from Minnow, keeping distance between them. Minnow looked deeply upset, there were definitely tears at the corners of their eyes. Their eyes were inkshot along the edges.

“I should’ve seen it coming, you know?” Minnow looked over at him with a hurt smile. “I was so fucking stupid . I let him get that- that close to me. And I should’ve fucking known. ”

Gar frowned. “I don’t think-“

“It’s my fault.”

“I don’t think it is-“

“I shouldn’t have gotten so excited- I shouldn’t have let him kiss me- I should’ve expected him to get up and leave- I should’ve expected him to tell me he didn’t want to see me again.” Minnow shook their head violently. “I was so caught up in some- stupid idea of romance- like some kind of teenager.”

“That’s not-“

“I was just so fucking stupid .”

“Minnow.” He said firmly and they looked at him.

“You’re not stupid.” He sighed. “I think some people are just…” He didn’t know how to say this word lightly. He muttered the word in Octarian.

Minnow looked at him, confused.

“Assholes.” He translated. “It’s not your fault he left or anything- He’s just one of those.”

“I deserved to be left like that.” Minnow looked at him, their gaze full of pain. “I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up.”

“You didn’t deserve that.” Gar shook his head and put his hand on his forehead for a moment. “I think anyone would’ve gotten excited about a date.”

He wasn’t sure if he believed himself entirely, but if he was in the same position as Minnow, with their experiences and feelings, he could assume.

Minnow let out a shaky sigh. They fell silent for a long time, and Gar didn’t make an attempt to break the silence. They looked like they were thinking about it- or at least something .

“You know what might be worse than all of that? To me?” Minnow looked at Gar.

Gar silently looked at them. The question was rhetorical, he was sure.

“I think I smell like him now. And I don’t think he smelled good.” Minnow’s eye twitched.

Gar blinked at them.

“Do I?” They looked at him with anxiety in their gaze.

Gar frowned. This was going to be awkward.

He slowly leaned a bit closer to Minnow, then took in a small breath before he immediately slid back again, wincing without thinking. They smelled like smoke, and not the kind that comes from burning wood or coal- which Gar found to be a nice smell. He coughed and Minnow looked at him with fear.

“I do, don’t I? It’s awful.” He could see their lip quiver as they spoke.

Gar gave an apologetic frown. He didn’t mean to physically recoil like he did, and he felt nervous as he watched the tears in Minnow’s eyes threaten to spill over.

“One moment.” He cleared his throat and stood up.

“I’m sorry- I-“ Minnow reached out for a moment with one of their hands. 

“One second.” He moved away from their reach and walked to his room.

As he walked to his room he could hear Minnow choke a bit like they were starting to cry. He walked over to one of the dressers in his room and looked at the things that were sitting on top of it. He looked for the one thing he needed. Peroxide? No. Friendship bracelet given to him by Whimsy? No. Abstract clay creature Hope built in 7th grade? No.

He heard the sound of Minnow cough on another sob and figured he should probably look a bit faster. He found the thing he was looking for, picked it up, and quickly left the room. He walked back to the living room, and Minnow had their head hung down. They looked up as he walked past them to sit down again. There were a few tears they hadn’t been able to keep in sliding down their face.

Gar awkwardly handed them the bottle he’d gotten and gave them a sad attempt at a smile.

“What is-“ They took it from him and looked at it, then him.

“I don’t know if you’d care to use it.” Gar paused. “It’s one of those spray perfume things- Whimsy got it for me… A long time ago.” He couldn’t actually remember. “It uh… Smells kind of like candy?”

They opened the lid and smelled the nozzle and then looked at him with slightly wide eyes.

“I remember this- You used to come into work smelling like this-“ They looked back at the bottle, another tear rolling down their cheek.

“Uh- yeah. I don’t use it so much anymore. Whimsy found this other vanilla thing she prefers me to wear.” He shifted slightly.

“And you don’t-“

“I don’t mind.”

They gave him one last look and then sprayed it over themself a few times before they closed it. Gar thought it was a bit strong, but at least they wouldn’t smell like smoke anymore. They seemed slightly relieved too.

They put the lid back on before setting it on the coffee table and then let out another shaky sigh. He watched as they slid their legs up and hugged their knees, rocking slightly. He would usually prefer people not put their shoes on his couch but he didn’t really care right now.

“Thank you…” They muttered.

He just gave a brief nod. He didn’t think he really deserved a thank you for a small gesture, but he kept that thought to himself.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to- start-“ They sniffled.

He could tell they were still holding themself back from really crying. He knew how it felt to hold things in, and he hated seeing Minnow do it.

“You’re fine, cry.” He told them.

They looked at him and he heard their breath hitch. He didn’t know what to do.

He’d comforted people before- mostly Hope and Whimsy. It was always about something else though. Falling down and scraping a knee, or the one time Hope got bullied- Gar had quickly put a stop to that with a talk to Hope’s teacher , Or when Hope would break down over textures of food or objects, or when Whimsy would get embarrassed about something. He’d never comforted someone about relationships - or anything like what Minnow was talking about. The closest he’d ever come to it was when his sister was 17 and went through a breakup with someone.

It wasn’t quite like this.

He didn’t know how to really console Minnow.

“I uh… Don’t know if you really want… Physical… Comfort… But. Do you want a hug…?” He asked awkwardly, looking at Minnow.

Minnow slowly lowered their legs off the couch and looked at him, holding their arms up so their hands hung limply in front of them.

“You don’t-“

“I don’t mind.” He shifted his position and held out one of arms.

They hesitated, looking at his arm and then him. They slowly slid over to him, and leaned into him, curling into a ball, kicking their knees up again and pressing their arms close to themself. Minnow wasn’t exactly a big person, but now they seemed smaller than he’d ever seen them.

He gently put his arms around them- somewhat awkwardly because of their position. He moved a bit to try and make this slightly less awkward and uncomfortable. Minnow hid their face behind their knees and he heard them inhale sharply.

He looked down at them for a moment before he made a decision. He made his hug slightly more firm, and rested his chin lightly on their head, looking at the ceiling. He heard them start sobbing a bit harder.

“I’m- Sorry- I just- I should- I’m-“ Minnow was saying.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to say anything.” Gar sighed.

“But- I don’t- Like the-“ He heard them hiccup. “Silence either- I don’t wa- want you to- listen to me-“

“Hmm.” He tried to think of something.

He didn’t think talking to himself was what Minnow wanted to hear. But he didn’t want Minnow to keep feeling like they had to talk to him- or apologize to him for any reason. He tried to think of something he could do to make it less quiet .

Then he remembered an instance like this. Whimsy and Hope had never liked the silence, and they would always babble broken sentences and apologies to him when he would comfort them. He had formed a habit of humming to them, and that often made them quiet down. He wasn’t always sure if they quieted down because of the hum itself or the feeling from the rumble in his chest when he did. He didn’t think it was important to know either way.

He wondered if the same would work for Minnow.

He took a moment to think of a song he could hum before he started. When he started to hum, he felt Minnow shift slightly. He closed his eye and started to rub his thumb on Minnow’s shoulder and listened closely to Minnow’s breathing. They seemed to be slowly calming down.

They sat like that for a few minutes and he hummed to at least two songs and let Minnow cry. He wondered if he should’ve gotten the weighted blanket from the closet, but didn’t get up to get it. Minnow seemed to be relaxing anyway, so he continued to do what he was doing.

He was slightly relieved he wasn’t completely inept to handle the situation. He guessed he learned more from his kids than he initially thought.

“Sorry.” Minnow finally spoke again, their voice sounded strained.

Gar relaxed his arms a bit and leaned back, lifting his chin off of their head. “Don’t apologize.”

“I came to your apartment in the middle of the night and made you comfort me- I didn’t even call-“

“It’s fine, I thought I said that before.” He sighed.

“I didn’t know where else to go- I didn’t want to stay at my apartment- I didn’t want to be alone I guess.” They frowned.

“That’s okay.”

“Now I got tears on you-“ Minnow looked at him.

Gar had hardly noticed.

“It’s not like I haven’t had someone cry on me before. I have two kids.” He looked at Minnow.

“Ah-“ Minnow looked down at their knees.

“Are you okay?” Gar looked at Minnow.

They moved their hand to wipe tears off their face. “No.”

He had figured.

“But I do feel- Better-“ Their voice sounded hoarse.

“Okay, that’s good.” He patted their shoulder.

“Gar, I have a weird question.” They said after a moment.

“Yeah?”

“What… uh… Have you ever had a bad date?” Minnow asked awkwardly.

Gar looked at them awkwardly.

“No, I-“

“What did you do on them then?” 

Gar made a weird face. “Minnow, I’ve never been on a date-“

“Oh.” Minnow looked at him. “Not even- You’ve never had a partner?”

“No.” Gar blinked. The assumption confused him. “When I said my first kiss was probably pavement, I was being serious.”

“Huh.” Minnow looked at him oddly.

“Why do you think I…?” He squinted.

“I don’t know, I guess I assume most people have had dates or partners or something- I mean. I was pretty sure I’m just hopeless.” Minnow glanced at the floor.

And with that sentence, Gar felt suddenly profoundly tired remembering what Hope said about him being hopeless.

“Have you ever like… liked someone?” Minnow asked and Gar focused on them again.

“Uh.” Gar looked at the wall for a moment. “Not really.”

He was slightly worried he was lying. He wouldn’t have considered that anything but honest just a week ago.

“Oh.” Minnow gave a small nod and finally moved away from him. “Anyways…”

Gar looked at Minnow and propped one of his arms against the back of the couch. Minnow shifted and looked like they were going to stand up.

“Sorry for keeping you up late- and- everything in general. I don’t imagine you want me here any longer than I’ve already been-“

“Minnow, are you okay to go home?” Gar interrupted.

Minnow stared at him.

“I uh…”

“I’m not sending you home if you can’t handle being there alone.”

“Well…”

“Don’t lie, either. Please.”

Minnow’s head was turning to the side, there was a bit of confusion in their eyes. They were silent for a moment.

“I don’t want to be a bother-“

“You’re already here, you’re not a bother.”

“I don’t wanna make you frustrated-“

“I’m not.”

“I just-“

“So are you okay to go home or not?” Gar looked them in the eye and they looked away from him.

There was a long pause.

“No.”

“Alright. One second.”

Gar stood up and walked to the hallway closet, pulling out a few of the spare pillows and blankets he had and walking them back to the living room. Then he walked back to the hallway and took the weighted blanket out. He assumed that might help.

He shut the closet door and walked back to where Minnow was sitting.

“I don’t know if you like weighted things, but…” Gar laid the blanket down.

“You have one? Cod, I’ve always wanted one of those…” Minnow stared at the blanket and slid their hand under it. “Oh man… it’s one of the nicer ones too…”

“I got it for the kids. They get anxious at night sometimes, but they’ve got their own individual ones now. I keep this one in the closet just in case.” He looked at it.

“Is it only at night?” Minnow looked at him.

“Uh… There’s been moments during the day, but it’s pretty regular at night.” He thought for a moment. “If I had to take a guess as to why… Probably because of something that happened before they came to live with me? Hope brought it up vaguely once.”

“Huh.” Minnow looked back at the weighted blanket. “Has he told you what happened?”

“No. I’m not going to pry it from him though. Whimsy doesn’t seem to know about it either.”

“I see.”

Gar stood there for a moment before he moved the pillows against the arm rest behind Minnow. They picked out one of the softer blankets and threw it over themself. They looked awkwardly at the weighted blanket.

“Uh…” They looked at it, then Gar.

“Lay down.” Gar sighed.

Minnow laid down into a comfortable position and Gar laid the weighted blanket over them.

“Not too heavy?”

“No.”

“Too hot?”

“No.”

“Okay.”

Gar backed up and looked toward a clock. It was thirty minutes past midnight. He finally started to feel his exhaustion come back. He’d previously been ignoring how heavy his eye felt.

“Alright- I’m going to bed uh… If you need anything, shout or something.” Gar moved over to one of the lamps on a side table and went to turn it off.

“Okay.” Minnow said.

Gar turned off the light and slowly walked toward his bedroom. He felt like he might as well be dragging himself along.

“Wait- Gar-“ He heard Minnow and turned around.

Minnow was looking at him, hardly outlined by the city lights coming through the window and an odd blue light surrounding them- his gaze was too hazy with exhaustion to see it in detail.

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.” Minnow said.

He stared at them. “You’re… Welcome.” He said.

“And- Uh- Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.” Gar turned back around.

He went to his room, shutting and locking the door and he stood against his door for a moment. He tried to process what happened in the past hour and a half. He felt bad for Minnow, and he wondered if he actually handled that well or not. He wasn’t sure what he would’ve done differently if he didn’t. He wasn’t well versed or experienced in the subject of relationships. 

He was sure Minnow would’ve been better off going to Atoll’s apartment. Atoll had at least 5 boyfriends, plus lots of experience with different forms of relationships- break ups and bad dates. Gar had to hear about a fair share of them over the 15 years he’d worked with Atoll.

Minnow would’ve been better going to Paroon’s house too, since Paroon had a husband and a child, plus a bit of past experience with unsuccessful relationships. He understood why they didn’t go there though- Paroon had a 9 year old son who was most definitely asleep and he was sure Minnow wouldn’t have wanted to bother them.

Then again, Gar had 2 kids of his own and Minnow still showed up. They had gotten lucky the kids weren’t there for the night. He also remembered that Minnow didn’t exactly consider Paroon and Atoll to be their friends or particularly close.

He didn’t mind that they came to him, he just wished he had better advice to give. He had no experience in the subject though. He did what he could.

He focused his attention on his bed and thought about actually getting to sleep. He was hoping Piranha would choose to spare him and walk into his house at a later time in the afternoon than she usually did when the kids stayed over. He didn’t exactly want to hear what Piranha would assume if she saw Minnow on his couch- and he didn’t know if he wanted to explain why they were either. That was Minnow’s information to share or withhold.

He tried to put that out of his mind as he walked over to his bed with a sigh. That was a problem for him to deal with tomorrow.

Chapter Text

“He’s a brick wall, Tilly, come on.”

Gar had left for maybe 5 minutes to go fetch tea and bring it outside, and he wasn’t entirely sure what Piranha was telling Tilly but he had a bad feeling she was talking about him. He hesitated for a moment to listen to the conversation. He wasn’t big on eavesdropping, but his sister had done that to him too many times to count, so he didn’t think it mattered.

“That can’t be right.” Tilly was saying.

“Girl, you’re not serious. I think a vending machine could take a hint better. Mind you, vending machines cannot read emotion or interpret body language.”

“I know what a vending machine can and can’t do, Piranha, I’m not stupid.”

“Please just tell him or say something.”

“I can’t-“

“Then stop ranting to me girl, you’re down horre-“

“What’s going on?” Gar decided he’d heard plenty.

“OH HI GAR! How long have you been standing there?” Tilly asked quickly.

“Not very long.” He squinted at her and set the tea down on the table Piranha and Tilly were sitting at.

“Oh good.” Piranha put her elbow on the table. “Where’s your work buddy by the by, thought she was swinging by?”

“I don’t know.” Gar sat down and went to look at his phone.

Paroon had agreed to meet up with him, his sister, and Tilly in the plaza to try to have a bit of a relaxing meet-up. Gar wasn’t sure what was keeping her but he didn’t particularly care that she was 20 minutes late or so. The last text he’d got from her said something about her son being a bit unhappy about the babysitter she’d hired so he figured that was preventing her from getting here any sooner.

“We’re here! Sooorrry!” A voice that was definitely not Paroon’s rang out.

Paroon was walking hand-in-hand with a relatively short inkling- especially compared to Paroon herself- who had a wide smile on his face. Paroon seemed far more tired than usual compared to him. This particular inkling was one Gar recognized as Paroon’s husband.

“James, not so loud.” Paroon said softly to him. “And sorry about not giving you the heads up first, but James wanted to come with, so I hope that’s okay.”

“I’ve been dying to meet you guys!” James gave a bright smile.

“Ah, no- It’s not a problem.” Gar kept his eyes locked on James.

“OH! NO! WAY! You must be Gar huh?” James let go of Paroon’s hand to walk over to him.

Gar stood up as James got close to him.

“Wow, y’know when my wife said you were stronger than her, I didn’t take her word for it. I love her and I don’t think she’d ever lie to me, but come on! Have ya seen her?” James had his hands on his hips. “But wowie, she was right ! You sir are built like a titanium wall.”

Gar stared at him awkwardly for a moment. He wasn’t exactly sure what he was supposed to say to any of that, and any words that came to his mind were gone the second they appeared. He accidentally ended up overlooking James and staring at Paroon.

“James, honey-“ Paroon came over and tapped his shoulder.

“OOPS SORRY! Where are my manners? Hello! I’m James, I’m sure you’ve heard lots about me!” James waved a hand.

“That I have.”

“We all have.” Piranha muttered.

“PIRANHA, MY GOODNESS, IS THAT YOU?” James gave a wide smile. “AND TILLY? THE TILLY? Gosh it’s been so long since I’ve seen you all!”

“You know them?” Gar looked at Piranha and she raised her eyebrows.

“He’s the security guy for my bank.” Piranha rested her chin in her hand.

“We went to the same college. We had one or two core classes together.” Tilly said and tilted her head.

“James told me all about that.” Paroon sat down, followed by James who moved his chair as close to her as he possibly could.

“You might as well sit in the same seat.” Piranha snorted at James.

“I would if she let me.” James shook his head.

“Sometimes I wonder if you might be too clingy.” Paroon gave a slight grin to James.

“Nonsense, we don’t spend lots of time together because of work or appointments, I want to spend the time we do get being with you as much as possible!” James leaned his head on her. “Unless you don’t want me to of course.”

“Awww…” Gar heard Tilly say.

“Ewww a cute couple.” Piranha choked on a gag.

“You’re just saying that because you’re jealous.” Tilly lightly swatted at Piranha.

Piranha gave a weird grin and then looked at Gar. He wasn’t sure why she was looking at him. He tried to ignore it and looked back up toward his apartment.

“I should probably get another tea for James then since he’s-“

James hopped up instantly. “Can I come with?”

Gar stared at James.

“Go spend time with James.” Piranha waved him off.

“Sure…” Gar looked toward the building.

The most frustrating part about deciding to meet outside was going in for things- especially when Gar lived a few floors up. He started walking in that direction and James was instantly on his heels, almost kicking them, which was making Gar a little uncomfortable. He eventually couldn’t stand it anymore.

“You can walk beside me, you know?”

“Oh! Alrighty!” James said happily and ran around to stand by Gar’s left side.

It was fairly silent until Gar dared to take the elevator.

“Sooo it’s cool I know your sister and Tilly! Small world.”

“I guess.”

“So tell me about yourself, what are your hobbies?” James asked. “Personally, I garden and like to go on jogs in the morning.”

Gar didn’t have any hobbies he thought were interesting. “I don’t know, I guess I play guitar-“

“YOU DO? Oh my gosh I used to play violin!” James held unbelievable excitement in his voice.

“Huh.” Gar nodded as the elevator finally stopped and he walked- maybe too fast- to his apartment and swung the door open.

“So Paroon says you’ve got two kids?” James said, following him into his kitchen.

“Yes.” He nodded while he searched for something and James leaned forward on the table.

“Who’s the wife? Or maybe you weren’t married- sorry.”

“Uh.” He didn’t have time to reply before James was talking again.

“OH did she pass? Gosh that’d be awful, I hope not! But it doesn’t look like she’s here either? Is she on a trip or does she work weekends? Or maybe you have-“

“They’re not mine. Not like that.” He shut the cabinet he was looking in and couldn’t help but frown.

He hoped James didn’t see that.

“OHHH Sorry sorry! So you adopted?”

“I guess you could say that.”

“Whatcha mean?”

“I found them, took them in.” The amount of times he’s said this was nearly enough to start driving him insane.

“Gotcha! What’re they’re names again? Coulda sworn Paroon told me but I must have forgotten.”

James sure was talkative .

“Hope and Whimsy.”

“Were those their names before you found them? Or did you name ‘em?”

“Named them.”

“Those are FANTASTIC NAMES!” James put his hands together. “Ya know, me and Paroon have a son- I’m sure you’ve heard- Matthew? Though we call him Maddy because he likes it better. He’s about 9 now! How old are yours?”

“13 and 15.”

“Wow! Our Maddy is just a ‘lil guppy compared to yours! Is it tough with teenagers? I’m scared of it.”

“Uh. Sometimes.”

“What is the most challenging part, in your opinion?”

The questions were unending.

“Highly depends on the kid.”

“Well, I suppose that’s true! Any tips on raising teenagers? You seem to be doing phenomenal from all I hear.”

“Uh… I don’t know what advice I’d give. Treating them like respectable living beings seems to work just fine.”

James found that funny. Gar wished he could make tea faster somehow.

“So are they anything like you when you were growing up? My mom always said sometimes people get cursed with kids who are exactly like them and they have to see just how challenging it was for the parents.”

“No, thankfully.” He found the part about it being ‘challenging for the parents’ funny. But in a grim way.

“Have you ever had trouble with parenting?”

“A lot.”

“I find those parenting books don’t help. Plus most of them are outdated and you end up with stuff like ‘put your kid in the washing machine’ and that’s just not right! I mean. Well- they’re not that extreme, but still.”

“Uh huh.”

“And there’s those parenting blogs online, but half of them are long winded and posted by pageant moms- WHICH I DON’T TRUST! Because- well. They’re pageant moms.”

“Yeah.”

What was James talking about again?

“Anyway, you seem to have things worked out pretty well!”

“The tea’s ready.” Gar said quickly.

Luckily James went mostly quiet again as they made their way back down and outside. Gar wasn’t sure he could continue to process all the words James was saying to him. He also didn’t know how someone could manage to make such long sentences out of things that could stand by themselves without the added information.

“Nah, she’s not gonna say anything.” He heard Paroon say as he walked back.

“I will! Maybe! One day…” Tilly said.

Gar cleared his throat as he made his way up and Piranha quickly threw something in her hand- a balled piece of paper- at Tilly. Tilly flinched and muttered a ‘what was that for?’ before she looked over at Gar and shut her mouth.

“So we’re talking about…?”

“Nothing in particular.” Paroon said dismissively.

They had a habit of not telling him anything they discussed when he was gone, he was realizing. James and Gar took their place at the table and it fell silent. It only took a few minutes of silence to drive James to immediately turn to Gar and start speaking.

“So! Paroon tells me you and your coworker Minnow are getting closer! It’s so good, she used to tell me everyday about the fighting and everything! She says you two actually get along now, is that right?”

That reminded him. He had to call Minnow later to check in on them. It’d been a few days since everything that happened that night- but he had made a habit of calling them and making sure they were okay.

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“You guess? Did something happen?”

“No?”

Piranha drummed her fingers on the table and listened. Tilly seemed mildly interested.

“Oh good! Paroon wonders things about you two sometimes though. She likes to tell me all her thoughts at night.”

Paroon suddenly looked at James with a certain tensity in her gaze.

“Huh?”

“She says you guys tend to cheer each other up sometimes now, and that you two will talk sometimes outside of work and all.” James leaned on the table. “Reminds me of when me and Paroon first got together.”

“Uh…” Gar started to feel slightly uncomfortable.

Tilly was staring at him with an unspoken question in her expression. He was confused.

“Jamie, dear.” Paroon set her hand on his shoulder and he jumped and then shook his head.

“Yep! Different topic! Sorry I must’ve trailed off there.” He sighed. “Got all nostalgic.”

Piranha had her gaze locked on James.

“Anywaaays! I’ve got photography on the mind! Do you guys prefer incandescent or fluorescent lighting? I like incandescent- I know Paroon agrees.”

What an odd alternate choice of a topic.

“Incandescent is my favorite.” Tilly agreed.

“Fluorescent is good though? Come on, it saves more energy than incandescent.” Piranha said.

“I can’t stand them.” Gar stared at Piranha.

“Why not? Because they’ll reduce the light bill?”

“They’re cold- at least incandescent makes it seem warm.”

“You scared of some blue light?”

“I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to feel like I live in a hospital.”

“It does NOT make things like a hospital.”

“Tell me what type of lights hospitals use.”

“Fluor- IT DOESN’T MATTER.”

“Yes it does. Are you going to start filling your house with the smell of saline too?”

“Shut up! Fluorescent lights are used for MUCH MORE than hospitals!”

“What? Parking garages? Supermarkets?” He leaned forward.

“KITCHENS?”

“Kitchens are the worst place to have fluorescent lights, it makes any food and drink you make look repulsive.”

“WHY DO YOU HAVE SUCH STRONG FEELINGS ABOUT LIGHTS ?” Piranha slammed her hands on the table and stood up.

“I guess I’m just passionate about living in a house that doesn’t make me feel like I’m about to be given 18 stitches.”

Piranha locked eyes with him and started slowly sitting down. She slowly folded her arms in front of her and squinted, leaning back.

“What the fuck was that.” Paroon said after a moment of silence.

“A fragment of Gar’s inner teenager.” Piranha hissed and moved her fingers as if that was scary.

“Absolutely not.”

“You guys are hilarious!” James smiled and tipped his head to the side.

“I didn’t think someone could get that intense about lighting.” Tilly blinked at Gar.

“I think it’s pretty easy.” He crossed his arms.

“You just hate hospitals I think.” Paroon added.

“No, he absolutely does. That’s where his whole beef with fluorescent light comes from. If you asked his opinion about generally anything that is also typically found or used in a hospital I can promise you he’d hate it.” Piranha nodded.

“Most things used in a hospital… Are typically only used in a hospital…” Tilly blinked.

“True.” Piranha looked to the side.

It was silent for a moment.

“I didn’t think people could feel so strongly about lights. I get it, but wow.” Tilly took a sip from her tea.

“I have strong feelings about other trivial things.” Gar looked at her with a slight smile.

“Like what?”

“Bunk beds. I understand the reason for their design- to take up less space in a room, but I still can’t stand them.”

“You’re kidding! I loved our bunk beds when we were little!” Piranha scoffed.

“You loved them because you were small and given the top bunk. For some reason- despite me being the tallest of all of us, I was put on the bottom-“ He paused. “Which had far less space between it and the bed above it than your bed to the ceiling.”

“I used to have a loft bed when I was little.” Tilly looked at Gar. “But it had the opposite problem? The ceiling was way too close to the bed so I’d wake up and hit my head every morning.”

“Gar did the same thing, especially when he started having frequent nightmares.” Piranha laughed a bit.

“That and, I would just have to roll out of bed because I couldn’t even sit up.” He shrugged.

“They eventually gave us proper cots.” Piranha shrugged.

“That was only after-“ Gar paused, feeling a sting in his right eye. “Nevermind. You’re right.”

“I don’t have much to say about bunk beds, I was an only child. But since we’re on the subject of past experiences, I have to know.” Paroon put her hands together. “Did anyone have a habit of stealing sugar?”

“Yes absolutely!” James giggled.

“I was more of a salt-stealing girl myself.” Tilly sighed. “Handfuls and handfuls.”

Piranha and Gar looked at each other awkwardly for a moment.

“Kitchen was off limits.” They said in near-perfect unison.

Paroon held Gar’s gaze for a moment before nodding. “Fair enough.”

It got awkwardly quiet again. Gar tried very hard to appreciate the silence, considering James’ rambling and nonstop questions earlier. He found it was slightly hard to enjoy something that felt almost tense.

“So how’d you guys meet again? You and my wife I mean. I’m curious to hear! I don’t think Paroon told me properly.” James once again ended the silence.

“Hmm.” Paroon looked at Gar for a moment, and when he didn’t say anything, chose to speak. “Me and Atoll were already a two person team since we started the job together, and we found Minnow because they were brand new to the job. Atoll had faith in Minnow, even though they couldn’t be trusted with heavy weaponry, so I agreed to let them come on a job with us- just to see.”

James and Tilly both looked interested to hear what Paroon was saying. Piranha didn’t have any particular investment in the subject and took a drawn-out sip from her cup and stared at Paroon.

“But you know, three people doesn’t quite make a team. So we were bound to get paired with a random worker. It just so happened that Gar was that worker.” Paroon said, then tapped one of her fingers on the table. “And if I recall, it was both Minnow and Gar’s first shift. So neither of them had experience exactly- not beyond training they make you go through.”

Gar was tempted to sigh with the memories of when their quota was a mere 8 golden eggs each wave. When the highest they could possibly be asked to retrieve was 10. That hadn’t lasted long.

“But he was pretty good, and where Minnow failed, Gar picked up for them. He did enough work to justify keeping Minnow in the crew, you know? Not to say they’re bad at the job or anything- not now- but they used to be so bad at it.” 

Gar remembered watching Minnow get run over by small fry and suppressed a laugh. It probably wasn’t that funny to them.

“And so me and Atoll were talking on the ride back to Grizzco, and we decided that we actually all worked pretty well together. Gar was particularly good at taking out the most annoying salmonids-“ She coughed. “Fly Fish and Stingers.” She coughed again. “-and Minnow was good at clearing the way. Atoll and I were good with handling a majority of the other salmonids. And- for once- everyone worked to move the eggs to the basket. That was a first.”

Gar stared at Paroon.

“So when we got back to the building, we were going to head out for the day, and Minnow had already been cemented into the crew because of Atoll. So I went up to Gar and asked him to be part of the team and work with us. He stared at me for nearly a whole minute before he gave me a fucked-up attempt at smile and nodded at me.” Paroon leaned back.

“You know what’s funny about that?” Gar looked at Paroon for a moment, a smile slowly coming to his face.

“What?”

“I had no idea what you said.” Gar told her. “I was confused for about three whole months when I kept going in and you all were either right behind me or were already waiting for me.”

Paroon blinked at him. “Are you serious?”

“The only way I actually found out what you meant was when Piranha said one of her classmates offered to work with her on a project and I asked her to repeat that in inklish.” He tipped his head to one side in thought. “I put two and two together and that finally started to make sense.”

“So what exactly did you think for the three months you didn’t know?” Paroon wrinkled her nose.

“I thought you were a strange group of people who liked routines or something.” Gar shrugged. 

“Oh yeah- considering you didn’t know inklish- is that why you didn’t say anything to us for months?”

“Yes. Though it wasn’t like I didn’t say anything .” Gar locked eyes with Paroon.

“Oh yeah… I remember hearing you mutter things sometimes, and the one time you shouted something because you turned around and a Steel Eel was behind you… And the time you yelled something at Minnow when they lost us a round. I didn’t understand a word of it.”

“I wouldn’t have expected you to.”

“What was it you said to them? I have a feeling you were cursing them out.”

“Not quite. If I remember what I said, it roughly translates to ‘Why don’t you listen, do you have rocks instead of a brain?’” Gar tried to remember his exact wording. It was several years ago. “The other things you heard me say were probably cuss words though.”

“Really?” She kept staring at him.

“I don’t think it’s particularly surprising to shout a cuss word when you turn around and a Steel Eel is 2 seconds from flattening you.”

“No, I'm just surprised you didn’t actually call Minnow a cuss word.”

“Oh, the temptation is strong.” Gar rolled his eye.

“Speaking of, how’d you learn inklish?” James interrupted the dialogue and rested his hand against his face.

“I taught him a bit.” Piranha looked into her cup.

“You did. Tilly taught me most of the rest.” He looked at Tilly.

“Those were interesting lessons.” Tilly smiled.

“Definitely.” Gar cleared his throat. “Particularly the one where you dropped something and I finally learned just how much my coworkers swore.”

“What?” James looked curious.

“I maybe accidentally said ‘shit’ and that began the lesson on inklish curse words.” She put her hands together.

“The way you said them was funny.” Gar gave her a grin. “It was like you suddenly didn’t know how to say them.” 

“Telling you what the different words meant- all of which are considered offensive - was very hard. Especially when you were staring at me.”

“It was funny watching you stumble over certain ones.” Gar looked up at the sky.

“There are some that are harder to explain than the others because they can be used in 8 different ways or more.” Tilly shook her head. “And some of those meanings are hard to… Explain…”

“I know, but it was kind of cu-“ He stopped himself. “It was funny.” He restated.

Tilly froze and looked at him with wide eyes. Piranha raised her eyebrows and she stared at him, then Tilly, then him again. He could see Paroon and James looking at each other from the corner of his eye. He suddenly felt slightly uncomfortable and shifted.

He wasn’t sure why he almost used that particular word. He also wasn’t sure why he corrected himself. The word ‘cute’ to describe something didn’t necessarily have any connotations to it, did it? He could describe lots of things as cute - like trinkets.

“So how do you guys feel about games like hopscotch and tic-tac-toe?” James, yet again, came to rescue everyone at the table from whatever staring contest was happening.

“I preferred playing imaginary games.” Tilly coughed and straightened her posture. “I loved pretending to be a gardener or playing around like I was able to swim under water.”

“I don’t have a feeling about either of those, if anyone was doing that I was usually further away doing something more… physically exhausting.” Paroon shook her head.

“I never really played those types of games, no interest.” Piranha shook her head.

James quickly shot up. “ None of you guys played hopscotch?”

Gar sat in silence as all 3 others shook their heads.

“You know, at least Tilly has played some form of game. I read something once that said you start dying when you stop playing- you guys never played games?” James frowned.

“Well, I play video games now, does that count?” Piranha stared at James.

“I ‘play’ sometimes.” Paroon sighed.

“I still like to pretend sometimes, and I also play video games. That has to count, right?” Tilly looked at Piranha who nodded.

“What about you?” James looked at Gar.

“Uh. Hope and Whimsy make me, so… Yes?” He shrugged.

“What do they do with you?” Paroon asked.

“Depends on the day. One of their favorite things used to be working together to try to take me down. Which wasn’t really fun since they tried to get me to fight them- I won’t.” Gar thought for a moment. “They also like making me chase them.”

“Why?” Tilly looked at him curiously.

“They like the excuse to run and scream I think.” He shrugged. “If they’re not doing that they come up with imaginary games- or tea parties- but that’s a Whimsy thing.”

“Sounds adorable.” Tilly sighed.

“It is until Hope starts screaming because Whimsy won’t stop filling his empty cup with sugar.”

“Empty?”

“Sometimes Whimsy doesn’t feel like waiting for actual tea.”

“Ohhh I see.” Tilly nodded.

“Those tea parties are hilarious, I love supplying the outfits.” Piranha stifled a laugh.

“The outfits?” Tilly turned to her.

“Oh yeah, sometimes those tea parties are ridiculously formal.” Piranha nodded. “Seeing Hope in a full suit is… a sight. I have to stop myself from laughing sometimes because he knows it’s a sight and he makes the most of it. He will make the most ridiculous faces and poses.” She shook her head.

“He does.” Gar closed his eye.

There was more mundane conversation that carried on, swapping stories and sharing interests. Gar didn’t participate too much in conversation, but found himself focusing more intently when Tilly had something to say. He tried not to give that too much thought. Gar found James to be a fair bit interesting too- despite being a bit more talkative than the people Gar was particularly used to. Gar found James liked to express his appreciation for Paroon a lot though. It seemed Paroon didn’t mind James’ constant swooning over her at all.

“Oh! Wow, look at the time!” James said eventually as he went to stand up. “I would love to stay but my parents are actually in town, so we’ve got to go meet up with them.”

“Have a lot of plans with them, busy week.” Paroon sighed, standing up.

“Where are they coming from?” Tilly asked, looking at James and Paroon curiously.

“Some place called Splatsville, they moved there recently. They like it though! But they miss Inkopolis a fair bit.” James smiled.

“Oh cool! Isn’t that place where all the cool stuff happens now?” Tilly asked.

“Sure is!” James swung his arm. “Ever been?”

“Once or twice, namely on field trips.” Tilly laughed lightly.

“Very neat- OH yeah! how’ve your parents been?” James tilted his head.

“Just fine, haven’t visited them in a while. Maybe I will.” Tilly looked down at the table thoughtfully.

“Sounds good! Oh and- hope your parents are doing okay, Piranha and Gar! Was nice to meet you!” James waved.

“Honey, we have to go.” Paroon muttered.

Gar watched the two whisper back and forth about needing to leave for a moment before they actually finally said goodbye. Gar chose not to respond to the comments about the parents. He chose not to think about it at all, though some memory in the back of his mind was echoing and he wasn’t sure what one yet.

The minute James and Paroon left, Piranha looked from Tilly to Gar and immediately stood up.

“I gotta go back to my apartment. I have a uh… Thing I need to do.” She said.

“Right now?” Tilly sounded a tiny bit frantic.

“Yes, urgently. So quickly. It just came up.” Piranha was saying as she nearly sprinted into the building. “You two have fun though BYE!” 

Gar watched Piranha disappear and took a deep sigh before turning back toward the table. Tilly fell silent for a few minutes while Gar looked at all the empty cups he’d have to take back up. Hope and Whimsy would be back soon enough too, since they were currently each at their friend’s houses. He should probably start cleaning up.

“You know…” Tilly finally broke the silence. “You’ve not talked much about your parents… Why is that?”

Gar stared at Tilly for a moment. She was looking at the table and not him.

“My mom died when I was 4. My dad? When I was 5.” Gar’s voice was slightly monotonous. “I guess I wouldn’t know what to say.”

“Oh- I’m sorry.” Tilly blinked at him.

“It’s fine.” Gar could see apprehension in her gaze. “It’s not something I think too much about.”

“That still is awful… Who took care of you after that?” Tilly asked slowly.

“My older sister.” Gar paused.

“Oh?” Tilly watched him, looking confused.

“Until she died.” Gar looked at the sky.

“Oh.” Tilly frowned. 

Then she went to stand up.

“Is there a reason you never brought up your older sister?” She asked, staring at the ground. “I mean, I understand she…”

“That’s one of the reasons, yes.” Gar nodded, starting to gather up the cups. He could feel his heart ache a bit but he tried to ignore it.

“Uhm… What was her name? If that’s okay to ask.”

“Moray.” Another painful sting.

“That’s a nice name.”

“Huh.”

It fell quiet again and Gar had most of the cups pushed to the center of the table. He turned to Tilly who was still just looking at the ground as if concrete was the most fascinating thing ever. It now occurred to him that he had just shared something more personal to him with her without the filter or avoidance that he usually did. It was nothing like back at the lobby a few years ago, but he still considered it to be pretty significant information that he didn’t share with people. It also became clear to him that said information was relatively heavy.

And that he’d just said that to Tilly.

And now she was staring at him.

Not quite in the way she usually did, but there was something soft about her gaze. Usually there was some hidden emotion he couldn’t read in her face when she looked at him- but that emotion wasn’t present now. It wasn’t exactly worry either.

“Well, I should go now probably-“ Tilly shook her head quickly and looked at him.

“Oh, uh… Nice seeing you then.” He managed to say. He wasn’t sure why that was so difficult for him.

“Uh… Gar…” Tilly said quickly, taking a step forward.

“Yeah?” He looked at her.

“Before I go…” She hesitated.

He stared at her.

“Do you want a hug?”

“Uh… Not because of what I tol-“

“No! Just, for goodbye’s sake?”

“Oh… Sure.”

Tilly took another few steps forward before she gave him a hug. It wasn’t quite as awkward as some of the other hugs she’d given him. There was something a bit more firm about the way she hugged him too that wasn’t the same as any previous hugs he’d gotten.

He also found the hug was lasting for a slightly longer time than the others. He was about to start worrying before Tilly finally let go and backed up.

“It was nice hanging out with you and Piranha and everyone today, I hope we do it again sometime!” She said with a slight smile.

“Uh, Tilly.” He stopped her before she could turn around. “What I said- I didn’t mean for that to upset you.”

“No, no! It didn’t! It’s just…” She looked past him. “Something I didn’t know.”

He forgot how to speak for a moment.

“But uhm- anyways! Have a good day, okay Gar?” She smiled.

“Okay. You too.” He stood there awkwardly for a moment while she walked away before he eventually remembered the cups.

He collected them and hauled them back up to his apartment, trying not to think too much about how he let the fact that both of his parents died- and that he had another sister- who also died, slip so easily. He hoped that hadn’t bothered Tilly too much. He wasn’t so sure why he was worried for Tilly’s sake.

But then again, he couldn’t recall the death of his parents bothering him as much as the death of Moray. As he thought about it though, he felt the memory from earlier tug at him- still unrecognizable and unclear. This time, the tug came with the pull of exhaustion.

As he walked into his apartment, shut the door, and placed the cups in the sink, he got his phone out. It was still about 2 hours from when the kids would get home from… Whatever they were doing with their friends. He had time to spare- and nothing to do with it.

Though as he closed his phone, he felt exhaustion hit him again. He wasn’t exactly a person for naps , but it didn’t sound like a terrible idea now.

——————

Piranha was out doing basic training and wouldn’t be back for another few hours. Moray was out doing some voluntary scouting thing - Gar didn’t remember what she said it was. He didn’t have anything to do because he was currently waiting to be reassigned another sergeant who might tolerate him for maybe 2 weeks at best before handing him off to the next unfortunate soul.

He was also still recovering from some injuries he’d been given for his disobedience, so they would give him today to himself. He wouldn’t be very useful with a hurt leg- even though he wasn’t ever really useful anyway.

It was supposed to be more like being grounded rather than a type of vacation. However, Gar wasn’t exactly going to spend the time sitting and thinking about what he’d done or how to be better or any of the things they badly wanted him to do. He was never a fan of learning lessons or whatever it was they expected him to do.

He had something else on his mind.

He rarely got a spare moment where one of his sisters wasn’t hanging around the quarters when he was. Their schedules were nearly identical- whenever he was here, there was a good chance they were too. This was a rare occasion in which they weren’t around- and it gave him an opportunity he wasn’t going to pass up.

He still found himself checking around the room as if somehow one of his sisters would magically appear in it, and he even went to peek out of the door as if someone was coming for him. Of course, no one was, the only people that passed the hall were going to their own quarters to lay down or rest. He shut the door and took a deep breath, staring at his bed.

He always felt embarrassed about this, even when no one was around to see him do it.

He crawled onto his bed- trying to crouch down as good as he could to avoid hitting his head against the bed above him. He slowly pulled the blanket from one side of his bed and pushed it into a pile. Gar then took his pillow, setting it long ways toward the top of the mound of blankets, and then took a moment to sit and stare at the messy pile.

He checked toward the door again before he slowly nestled himself in the third of his blanket that wasn’t shoved into a pile. He lazily rested his head against the pillow and curled into a ball. He closed his eyes for a moment before he took a deep breath.

“Hey mom,”

He felt stupid for doing this.

“I know you’re not here, but I wish you were.”

There was no response- not that he expected one. His mother had been dead for years. He liked to pretend she could hear him though.

“I uh… miss you.”

He hadn’t known her very long, but in the small 4 years he did- the bits and pieces he could hardly remember- he thought she had been kind to him. He wondered what she was really like. What she sounded like- he could hardly recall her voice.

“Uh… I don’t… Remember much about you really- or dad.” He sighed. “I remember you humming to me.”

He could faintly remember some of the songs she used to sing to him or hum to get him to sleep. Those memories were more clear than the others, possibly because Moray would occasionally sing them for him. Or, she used to.

“You know, I wonder what you’d think if you got to know me.” He pressed his head into the pillow. “Like, if you knew who I am now. Not when I was younger- I wasn’t really… Anyone then.”

He took another deep breath as he thought about what he was going to say next.

“Would you be upset with me? Disappointed? Angry?” He curled his hands in and he felt his eyes sting. “I know Moray is. She tells me she’s disappointed in me a lot. She doesn’t ever say it but I know she hates me. She hates dealing with me.”

He paused.

“It’s my own fault. I know I don’t listen to anyone- my sergeants and officers say I’m disobedient and stupid- and they’re right. I thought it was funny at first, you know?” He started to play with his fingers. “And now I don’t really know why I do it. I don’t know how to answer them when they ask why. And they stopped yelling at me or making me do stuff for them- now it just hurts.”

He shifted.

“And Moray said I must like being in pain all the time because I don’t learn. My officer said the same thing. I dunno- maybe they’re right? I hardly feel it anymore.” He took a shaky breath. “If you knew- how awful I am to everyone- would you hate me too?”

There was no response, and he didn’t expect one.

“Or maybe you would see something in me?” He looked up. “Do you think I could be good?”

He listened closely as if he would hear a voice. There was none.

“Maybe you’d love me.” He closed his eyes for a moment. “I like to tell myself you would. You and dad.”

He shakily reached out a hand.

“Maybe you’d even tell me things would be okay- or try to steer me in the right direction?” He slowly stretched his arm over the blanket pile like he was going to hug it- without setting his arm down yet. He felt his face heat up and tears build in his eyes.

“Maybe you’d even give me a hu-“

“Gar I’m- WOAH what are you doing?” The door opened and Moray’s voice rang out.

Gar retracted his arm and quickly scrambled to push apart the balled up blankets and slide his pillow away. He threw the blanket over his shoulders and turned his head to face her. He felt the sting of embarrassment immediately strike him.

Moray had the door only partially open, her eyebrows turned down and her eyes looking confused, shocked, and slightly concerned. He stared at her awkwardly and blinked a few times. He hoped Moray hadn’t heard a single word he said- and it didn’t look like she’d been standing there for very long.

“What are you doing ?” She asked, looking at him with suspicion.

“Uhh… Napping.” 

“You sound sooo honest. You don’t nap, Gar.”

“I’m resting my-“

“No you weren’t.”

“I was just laying down and thinking about what I-“

“Stop lying.”

“I’m not-“

“You and dishonesty- brother, I don’t know what to do about it.”

“But-“ He went to sit up on his elbows. “-It’s embarrassing-“

“Oh I’m sure.” She squinted and started to shut the door.

“Wait-“ Gar went to sit up.

“No no, as you were.”

“ MORAY. ”

She gave him an odd look. “Nope.” she said and shut the door.

He forgot for a moment about the bed above him and went to sit up but was quickly hit by one of the bars supporting it. He sunk back down quickly with a small ‘ow’ before he tumbled off his bed. He kicked his blanket off of himself and jumped to his feet, running at the door. He frantically flung it open and went to run forward to chase after her.

But she hadn’t gone anywhere, so he ended up running straight into her and stumbling backward and nearly falling. She gave him a tired look, but there was a hint of amusement in her expression that was hardly detectable- but still there. She shook her head and kept her eye on him.

“What did I say?” she sighed.

“I’m not going to-“

“What? Do what I say? Because you can’t follow instructions? I know.”

“No- I just-“

“Gar, I could honestly care less about what you were doing.”

“Huh?”

“Look.” Moray paused. “You’re in here again because you can’t behave. I don’t care what it was you were doing- but I hope to cod whatever it is you were up to straightens out your behavior. That whatever it is you chose to do when you had that opportunity is what you needed- whatever that’s supposed to be.”

Gar held her gaze.

“And if you haven’t pulled yourself together yet, then go back in there and do what you have to in order to set yourself straight.” She said firmly. “Because tomorrow we’re going on a mission together.”

“What?”

“You heard me.” Moray said. “Now do you have it together, or do I need to give you a few minutes of whatever embarrassing thing you were doing?”

“I’m… together.” He said oddly.

He couldn’t imagine why he was being sent on this mission with his sister- who was a model example for the well-behaved. Then again, maybe they thought he could learn something from her. He backed up into the quarters again and his sister followed him. She took one glance at his bed and he felt another wave of embarrassment hit him.

He hoped she hadn’t heard a word. He really did.

——————

“Dad, wake up.”

He’d overslept.

Gar shifted and was tempted to roll over before he recognized it as Hope. He slowly opened his eye half way before he shuffled up onto his elbows. His eye felt dry from sleeping with his contact in.

“Dad, come on, get up.” Hope said. “Dad, please.”

“Slow down-“ Gar groaned as he managed to sit up. “Where’s your sister?…”

“She’s across the hall. I need you to get up.”

There was something mildly urgent about the way Hope was speaking that made his heart twist. He did his best to shake off sleep and finally turned to face Hope.

Hope was looking indirectly at him with a near guilty expression in his eyes- mingled with something tense. He was holding one of those cubes he liked to collect in his hands, ones that had all sorts of buttons and switches on it… A fidget cube, that’s what it was called. He was flicking the switches back and forth rapidly, making repeated clicking sounds.

“What’s-…” Gar muttered.

Hope was staring at the wall now.

“I need to talk to you. It’s important. Sorry.”

Chapter Text

Gar sat on the couch beside Hope and listened to the rapidly flipping switches from the cube. He watched Hope’s hands shake slightly, but didn’t say anything and didn’t dare try to reach out to comfort him. The two sat in silence- aside from the clicking from the switches- until Hope took a shaky breath.

“I was talking to my friends today.” Hope started. “And I think I realized something. And I owe you an apology.”

Gar stared at Hope. Hope hadn’t done anything to warrant apologizing to him. He didn’t respond in his attempts to try to remember something that Hope would have possibly done.

“I’m sorry for being such a burden.” He looked up at Gar.

“… What?”

“I’m sorry for being such a-“

“Do not repeat that.”

Gar took a moment to fully understand the weight of what Hope said to him. And yet he couldn’t wrap his mind around it, no matter how hard he tried. His mind began to twist and wonder what Hope’s friends said to him to make him say this.

“Hope, I’ve never seen you as a-“

“Gar, you wanted to give me and my sister up for adoption. Don’t think I’ve forgotten.”

The use of his name hurt worse than he thought it ever could.

“I-“

“Don’t lie to me either, I know.” Hope flipped the switches faster.

“Kid-…” Gar tried to think, his jaw hung open for a moment as he thought about it. Then he stopped thinking. “You want me to be honest?”

“Yes, preferably.” Hope’s head jerked one direction briefly.

“Yes, I did.” Gar started, though his eye threatened to twitch when he said it. “When you first came into my life, I wanted you out.”

“Uh huh.” Hope’s voice was monotonous.

“But I was scared.” He paused. “I was 22, working a…” He stopped himself from saying a curse word. “… bad job, I lived alone, I had very few friends, and I was lost. The last thing I needed were two dependent children-”

“There it is.” Hope began to tremble.

“No. Listen…” He tried to keep himself from sounding anything but calm. “That’s what I thought, anyway.” Gar looked at his hands. “And I was wrong.”

He heard Hope sigh with a hitch in his breath.

“I hardly knew the first thing about kids- the only person I’d ever taken care of that was younger than me was my sister. And that’s a 4 year difference, not 18- and 20.” He looked at Hope. “I didn’t know what to do, and neither you nor your sister could tell me. Whimsy hardly had vocabulary, you didn’t always know the right words to tell me what you needed.”

Hope seemed to be listening, but didn’t seem happy about it.

“So yes, I was afraid, and I was confused- and I was frustrated, but not with you or Whimsy. Never with you or Whimsy. It was with me.” Gar shook his head. “And I thought at first you’d be in better hands with someone who knew how to take care of you. But Tilly told me about all those who are put in the system and never find homes. I couldn’t do that to you.”

Hope watched him from the corner of his eye.

“And, you know- I think it was the best decision I’ve ever made-“ Gar paused. “Or well, the best decision I’ve ever not made.”

The flicking got slower.

“That call- not making it. I’m glad I didn’t. More than glad, but I don’t have a word for it.” He frowned. “And you know what?”

“What.”

“It was hard. It was more challenging than I thought it would be. I was more afraid than I’d ever been in my entire life. Between you and Whimsy, getting you all what you needed, making sure you were in school, and making sure you were healthy.”

Hope frowned.

“But you know what else ?” Gar kept his gaze fixed on his own hands. 

He let it be quiet for a moment so he could think at least a little about what exactly he was going to say.

“What I said before was true. It was hard, things sucked sometimes. And I’m going to be honest. I was afraid a lot. I was exhausted.”

Hope’s frown was only deepening.

“But.”

Hope seemed to be holding his breath.

”Let me be clear when I say this, it’s been 11 years- of all the things I’ve ever thought of you kids- a burden is not one of them.” He closed his eye. “I’ve thought you were challenging - when you would do things I didn’t know how to respond to. I thought you were silly. I thought you were just a little scary sometimes- not because you were scary, but the possibility of anything happening to you scared me. But you know…”

Hope turned his head to properly look at Gar.

”I’d do it all again- even if it were ten times worse than the first time. I’d do anything to make sure you were safe and fed and happy- even if that means facing a challenge again.”

Hope expression was blank.

“And while I’m being honest.” He opened his eye again. “You kids are two of the most important people in the world to me. And the thought of you ever being made to feel like anything less to me hurts.”

Gar took a deep breath.

“And I meant to tell you so many years ago- I should’ve. I wasn’t in a good place when I found you.” He was tempted to hesitate but didn’t let himself. “You drug me out of that. Without knowing, you gave me a reason.”

He didn’t plan to elaborate on what the reason was for.

“You taught me things, too. You reminded me of what was important to me. You and Whimsy helped me more than either of you realize- or will ever know.” He sighed and rubbed his face with his hands for a moment. “And I would love to tell you but there’s not enough words.”

“Do you really-“

“Hope, I’m still honest.” He tried his best to seem his most genuine, he was . “It hurts to hear you call yourself a burden, because I don’t know what was said to you to make you feel that way, and I hope I’ve never made you feel that way- and if I did, I can’t tell you how sorry I am.”

Hope blinked at him and then looked at the ground. It was silent again. Hope’s eyes were glazed with tears that hadn’t fallen yet and an emotion Gar couldn’t read. Then Hope went to speak.

“You didn’t…” Hope’s voice was quiet. “But my friends were talking about their families… And grandparents and… I guess it reminded me of something.”

Gar waited patiently. Hope wasn’t waiting for Gar to ask him.

“Before we came to live with you… Before we were left in the street…” Hope started rocking slowly. “My mom used to say that all the time. I don’t want to call her mom but I don’t know what else to call her.” 

Gar felt his heart sink.

“I don’t think I was supposed to exist.” Hope’s head jerked to the side again. “Mom always said I wasn’t. She was always fighting with da… I don’t want to call him that.”

Gar let Hope think it over for a moment before he eventually continued.

“She was mad at him because he wouldn’t marry her. I think that’s what she said.” Hope shook his head. “And she would yell at me all the time because I got in the way, I don’t know why I remember.”

Hope breathed in, another shaky breath.

“When Whimsy was born- and she was supposed to be- I think… Uh… It got worse? The fighting.” Hope was trembling. “I don’t think Whimsy remembers at all. She was so little. I tried to cover her ears when I could if they started yelling around her.”

Gar couldn’t suppress a frown.

“And I don’t remember everything, but one day he left after she found something out. I don’t know. I think she saw him with someone else. And she was so mad .” Hope paused as he shivered. “I can’t remember what she said exactly, she was yelling so loud I couldn’t make out some of the words even if I tried to remember them… But I do remember…”

Hope paused for a long time.

Then finally spoke again.

“She took me and Whimsy to Inkopolis. And she dropped us in the street and she said she never wanted to see me again. But… One of the last things she told me was that I was her biggest burden.” Hope looked at Gar, there were tears glistening in his eyes. “And I forgot. Until my friend mentioned something about family- and then later something about a burden. It wasn’t specific, but it was enough to… Do you… Ever remember stuff like that?”

“Yes.” Gar didn’t hesitate on his response. “And Hope, I’m sorr-“

“Don’t say sorry. Please don’t be sorry for me.”

Gar remembered what James was saying about kids being just like their parents. Maybe Hope was more similar to him than he thought initially. He understood how Hope must feel.

“Okay, but…” He shifted. “I want you to know, nothing she said was true. I don’t know her, but I know you.”

Hope shook his head quickly. “No, she has to be right.”

Gar was confused.

“You don’t say it. But the people at my school? The friends of my friends? Some of the teachers?” Hope let a tear escape him. “They think I’m one, they have to.”

“What do you-“

“Everyone sighs every time I talk about planes, the teachers get frustrated when I can’t make eye contact, when I’m too loud everyone’s angry- or when people touch me I yelp so they think it’s annoying. When I have breakdowns the teachers have to put up with me. I hate knowing I’m responsible for them getting frustrated. Even if the teachers don’t tell me. The others do- they tell me a lot. They make fun of me-” He was crying now.

“Hope, you are not a burden for any of those things- and if anyone makes you feel like you are-“

Hope shook his head again and Gar stopped speaking.

“Don’t you get frustrated asking me if you can hug me? Asking me if I will eat a certain food and changing your plans for dinners or lunches because of me?”

“No.”

Hope suddenly looked confused. “Don’t you get mad when I tell you about aircraft stuff for hours?”

“No. Hope, I won’t even pretend to know everything you talk about- you’re the expert- but I listen. I hear you when you tell me about certain models of jets that are dark blue- almost black- with two seats and… air convec-“ 

“Air inlets.”

“Air inlets. I’m not the best, but I do listen- and I like to listen. It’s important to you, you’re important to me, so it’s important to me too.”

Hope stared at the floor.

“These aren’t bad traits, Hope.”

“But I annoy people and make things complicated. So doesn’t that make me a burden?”

“No. And- No. Hope.” Gar turned toward Hope. “Would it make you feel better if I told you I was?”

“You were? A… What?”

“Burden. Or nuisance- really . ”

“You’re joking.” Hope shook his head.

“No, I’m not. I was. And the difference between you and me? You aren’t being one, you’re being yourself, and just because you’re not the same as everyone else doesn’t mean-“ He resisted saying another curse word for emphasis. “-Anything. You’re perfect as you are. If anyone tries to deny that, I have some… Choice words.”

Hope either hiccuped or gave a small laugh but Gar wasn’t too sure. The tears seemed to slow.

“In my case? I tried every possible way to make everyone around me suffer. Intentionally.” He bit his cheek for a moment. “I had intentions to be a burden. Now that I think about it, you can only really be a burden if you have full intention to be one. A nuisance.”

“Wha… Uh… What did you do to make yourself… A burden?”

“I drove people insane trying to instruct me.” Gar closed his eye. “I was… Not a good listener or direction-follower. To be specific- I was completely capable of doing everything I was told, I just chose not to- and not for any other reason than to make people angry with me.”

“Why?”

“I… Am still not sure.” He felt his eye twitch as he opened it. 

Hope blinked at him.

“I was not a good kid.” Gar put his hands together. He was remembering the last time he’d said those words out loud.

To Minnow.

He shook his head.

“But that doesn’t matter. You aren’t. You are just… you , Hope. And if anyone tries to convince you that that’s less than perfect- well…” He tried to think of a good way to phrase it. “They’re either ignorant or stupid.”

Hope nodded slowly and kept flicking the switches. He flipped the cube over and started to press on some of the buttons. Gar listened to the tapping sound while he waited for Hope to speak, it looked like there was still something on his mind.

“Well, okay… I guess you’re right, but…” The clicking got slower. “There’s one other thing.”

Gar looked at the floor.

“When my friends were talking about family… They were talking about grandparents and uncles and cousins and everything…” Hope turned to sit in a different position. “And I guess, with everything you said- since you don’t think…” Hope paused. “Why haven’t I ever met anyone other than Piranha?”

Gar looked up at Hope and he tried not to dig his nails into his palms. He hadn’t ever really told Hope or Whimsy much, he always avoided the topic of extended family. He would actively avoid the subject.

That was easy to avoid when Hope and Whimsy were younger, but Hope was 15 now, and it was a good question. 

“Well…” Gar shifted.

“I know you said we’re not burdens, but you’re not… Are you… Ashamed of us?” Hope’s voice quivered.

“Absolutely not.” Gar shook his head.

“Then… Why?”

“Hope, it’s a… tough subject.”

“Why is it?”

“There’s no one else to introduce you to.”

“What? But don’t you have-“

“They’re dead.”

Hope stared at the wall behind Gar for a moment with his jaw slightly ajar. Then he fixed his gaze on his cube and hung his head down a little bit. Gar realized he probably could've used softer langauge for that.

“My mom died when Piranha was born, my father was sent on a mission when I was 5- and he came back… But not the way he left.” Gar frowned.

“Oh.” Hope frowned.

“I’m not sure what they were like, I don’t remember much of them. I was young. But I think they would’ve liked you.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Hope slowly took the cube from his hands and set it on the table, choosing to wring out his hands instead. 

“I also had another sister.” Gar hesitated. His eye stung again.

“You did?”

“My older sister, Moray.” He sighed. “She would’ve liked you too.”

“What was she like?”

“Well… She was the best in her class, kind but stern, and wasn't a fan of some of the games I played…” He flinched at the last part of his sentence.

“What happened to her?”

“She and I went on a mission together… I was the only one to make it back.” He bit into his cheek.

“Oh… That’s…” Hope fiddled with his fingers.

“I’m sorry if I made you upset by not telling you about any of your other family for so long.” He breathed. “It was just… hard to talk about.”

“I understand, I think… Still hurts?”

“I don’t think it will ever stop. It subsides, but it will come back every now and then.” He shook his head. “And then it feels just as horrible as it did at that moment. But I think that’s how memories work.”

“Is that why what uh… she said to me… still hurts?”

“Probably.” He remembered the word Minnow used… and his own therapist. “I think that’s part of experiencing trauma.”

“Huh…” Hope muttered.

Gar closed his eye. “Now, Hope… is there anything else you need to say or ask me?”

Hope stared at his hands and shifted. “I know I already asked… But do you really not get annoyed by me or Whimsy?”

“Never. I enjoy hearing your…”

“Infodumps?”

“Yes.”

Hope closed his eyes and leaned back, pulling his knees up to his chest and hugging them. Then he slowly leaned against Gar. Gar didn’t move and kept his eye on Hope as he huffed.

“I’m sorry- this was all…”

“You’re fine, Hope.”

“I know it probably upset you-“

“It only upset me that you could think any of that about yourself.” Gar looked at Hope. “I was worried I made you feel that way.” He paused. “As for family, I should’ve told you sooner. How long have you been wondering about it?”

“Uh… probably since I learned exactly what grandparents and stuff were.” Hope squinted in thought. “I don’t know… Since like… Kindergarten?”

Gar definitely should’ve told him and Whimsy sooner. He would probably tell Whimsy about it later too… If he found a good way to bring it up. He would try to do it more tactfully and use words that weren't so direct whenever he did tell her.

“Yeah… Sorry.” He tried to ignore the feeling of guilt.

“It’s okay, I get why you didn’t say it now.” Hope hit his head against Gar’s shoulder. “Can I get a hug though..?”

“Of course.” He moved so Hope could give him a hug. He slowly put his arms over Hope.

Hope was still for a moment, and Gar listened to his breathing. He seemed to be relaxing, and that was relieving. Hope slowly moved away from him and Gar took his arms off of Hope.

“Thanks, uh…” Hope looked at the ground. “Thank you, dad.”

Gar was so relieved not to hear his own name.

“You’re uh… Wel…” He didn’t want to say welcome. “Hope- if you ever need to talk-“ He paused. “I’m here, okay? It never bothers me.”

“Okay…” Hope nodded.

“Are you okay?”

“Uh huh.” 

“Do you want to go get your sister?”

“For what?” Hope looked up at him.

“I’m taking you two out to eat tonigh-“

“REALLY?”

“Calm down- I just… don’t feel like cooking.”

Gar forgot how easy it was to distract Hope, though he didn’t exactly mean to. Hope jumped off the couch and walked toward the door before he stopped. 

“Wait- I wanna- wash my face first- Hold on.”

Gar watched Hope make his way to the bathroom and let himself think. He would probably have a talk with the school counselor later with what Hope said about the friends of his friends or other students making fun of him. He was worried about why Hope hadn’t told him sooner, but he supposed Hope wasn’t ever really a fan of telling Gar when things were wrong.

This wasn’t the first time something like this had happened and Hope had withheld it from him until he couldn’t anymore.

He was also partially guilty for not having told Hope about the other family sooner. He also wasn’t sure how he would’ve gone about explaining that the reason for that was because a majority of his family was dead. He hadn’t thought not mentioning it would make Hope assume it was because he was ashamed of them. Though he supposed it would raise questions if he never told his family about them or took the kids to see them if they were alive.

It still made him sick to know Hope had ever thought he was a burden. But now that he knew, he would do his best to make sure Hope knew he wasn’t.

Chapter Text

“So there are 2 salmonids swimming to the spawning grounds. And one. One says to the other-“

“Atoll, if it’s a ‘your mom’ joke, I don’t want to hear it.” Minnow sounded more than slightly annoyed.

“DAMNIT.” Atoll shouted.

“Atoll could you be a dear and- oh I don’t know- take care of the damn Steel Heads, they’re getting annoying.” Paroon nearly growled into the microphone.

Gar huffed and tossed a bomb and watched a Maws surface and promptly explode. He started gathering the eggs, trying to ignore his teammates yelling at each other. He was slightly amused by their conversations, but wished they were at least a little more focused on the task at hand.

“Gar, we have like 10 more seconds left on the wave- can you- Nevermind that’s the quota.” Paroon was saying as Gar tossed the last necessary golden egg into the basket.

He watched the salmonids start to retreat and moved back into the starting position for the final wave. Gar saw Minnow, Paroon, and Atoll super jump toward the basket. He waited for the weapons supply to drop.

“FUCK.” He heard Minnow say the minute they were given a weapon.

“What?” Atoll was staring at the brush in his hands.

“We’re so fucked guys.” Minnow sighed. “Sorry.”

Gar turned to see an E-liter in Minnow’s hands. They looked incredibly frustrated and were glaring at it. Gar couldn’t help but think this was slightly funny. There was also something greatly unfortunate about that particular weapon being in their possession.

“Ohhhh I see.” Atoll said, looking at the E-liter. “That kick’s gonna get you, huh? Sucks to suck.”

“SHUT UP.” Minnow shouted.

“Leave Minnow alone.” Gar sighed, shaking his head as he started to cover the area in ink to at least get a head start.

It would be much more effective if Atoll or Minnow were helping. Minnow didn’t really seem like they even wanted to try to shoot it. He wasn’t sure he should blame them though, considering what could happen if they tried.

“Okay, so my tip-“ Atoll was saying to Minnow. “Just. Shoot the thing.”

“I sure would love to Atoll! But guess who kinda can’t do that without -“

“Fallin’ over? Just don’t.”

“That literally doesn’t help, shut up.”

“You could always just move the golden eggs for us.” Paroon sighed through the headset.

“Sounds much better, thank you Paroon .” Gar could see Minnow glare at Atoll from the corner of his eye.

There was the sound of the siren signaling another wave and the presence of a boss salmonid. Gar moved in the direction where the salmonids were coming from and he managed to get a good look at the boss- nothing special yet- just 2 steel eels and a flipper flopper. He got to work clearing them out, being followed closely by Minnow who took the eggs back to the basket for him.

Gar felt extremely lucky they didn’t get stuck with anything like glowflies on this particular wave.

“So Gar, what’s your plans like this weekend?” Atoll asked with a grin, popping up beside him and starting to clear his way through a group of salmonids.

“Why are you asking?”

“No reason.”

There was definitely a reason.

“Busy.” He said, shaking his head.

Atoll rolled his eyes. “Silly! I asked what your plans were like, not if you were busy or not. You don’t actually have plans do you?”

“Minnow you’re hanging out with me this weekend.”

“Is that a question?” Minnow’s voice came through.

“No.” 

“Okay cool, I wasn’t gonna say no anyway but now I get to seem less desperate.”

“Why would you say that outloud?” Paroon asked.

“I SAID THAT OUT- Shit.”

“Did you just make plans to get out of whatever I was going to ask you to do?” There was a laugh in Atoll’s voice.

“Yes Atoll, were you not listening?” Minnow swam up beside Gar to grab another golden egg and run back.

“WOWWW okay then! I’m not even going to think about inviting you to come to game night again!” Atoll had a smile on his face.

“Why would you offer for Minnow to go? Game night implies table turf, Minnow hates table turf.” Paroon said. “They don’t know the first thing about card game strategy.”

“Paroon I will scream into this mic so help me-“

“You will not do that Minnow I will throw you into the swarm.” She threatened.

“Gar would like game night I think.” Atoll said thoughtfully.

“I don’t know what that is.”

“Dude, it’s pretty straight forward. A night. Where you play games.” Minnow was beside him again.

“I know but I don’t know what games.”

Atoll gave Gar a smirk and raised his eyebrows. “Twister.”

“Nah. Nah.” Minnow was shaking their head.

“No thank you.” Gar managed to take down a Steel Head as Minnow ran to gather the eggs.

“You don’t want to play twister?” Atoll asked.

“No? Why would I?”

“I dunno, it’s fun?”

“No it isn’t, it’s asking to pull a muscle.” Minnow shouted from the egg basket- which was entirely unnecessary because of the headsets.

“Minnow, you don’t have input. You hate all the games I put in game night and that’s why you’ve never been to one.” Atoll climbed on top of a Slammin’ Lid.

“They’re board games that I’m pretty sure were invented when things like humans and mammals were still alive.”

“Humans were mammals so why are you separating them?” Paroon asked as Gar watched her take care of a stinger before it could manage to become annoying.

“You know what? I don’t know. I don’t pay lots of attention to extinct species. ANYWAY. My point stands.”

“Well what are you doing on the weekend with Gar.” Atoll asked.

“Your mom.” Minnow responded instantly.

Gar coughed.

“Oh my cod- so I can’t make a ‘your mom’ joke but you can?” Atoll sounded jokingly offended. 

“Yes, I saw a good opening. I took it. I’m an opportunist.” Minnow said. “Though Gar, what would we actually do?” 

“Teach you to use an E-liter.” Gar started to lead two Scrappers toward the basket.

“Haha. You’re soooo funny.” Minnow was right beside him again. He got an idea.

Gar shot at both of the Scrappers until they broke down and went to pick up Minnow’s discarded E-liter and walked it back to them, holding it out. Minnow looked pissed immediately. Gar tried not to smile.

“I am not about to become a joke again, Gar. No.”

“Take the E-liter.”

“What are you two doing now ?” Paroon’s slightly exasperated voice came through.

“I am not taking the-“

“Take the E-liter.”

“Stop it, I’m not gonn-“

“Take the E-liter.”

“Oh my COD-“

“Take it.” 

“FINE. But I’m not firing.” Minnow took the E-liter.

“Yes you are.”

“NO.”

“Come on, they’re about to start moving again.”

“I don’t want to!”

“No seriously, what are you idiots doing ??” Paroon sounded confused.

“Come here.” Gar shot at the front of the Scrappers before they could start moving again and left them stuck in place.

“This is so fucking stupid.” Minnow sighed and walked beside Gar.

“Hold it like you’re going to shoot.”

“Are you seriously giving Minnow a lesson right now ?” Atoll asked, sounding far less frustrated than Paroon did previously. Gar didn’t respond.

“Okay, like-“ Minnow held it up.

“No.”

“What the fuck then!”

Gar pulled Minnow in front of him and knelt down. He positioned Minnow’s hands to properly hold the E-liter. Minnow stopped grumbling and just seemed confused. He tried to step back but Minnow immediately loosened their grip so he kept his hold on them.

“Put your foot back-“

“Why?”

“Do it.”

Minnow moved to make their stance wider and huffed.

“Okay, press on the trigger.” He instructed.

“No, I’m gonna fall-”

“You won’t. If you don’t, I’ll do it for you.”

“No you wo-“

Gar pressed down on Minnow’s finger to charge it and then let go to let it fire. Minnow stumbled a bit but didn’t fall.

“No fucking way…”

“You did it, congratulations.” 

“Only cause you were holding me, dumbass.”

“No, you just fired it like you were supposed to.”

“I was firing it the same way before-“

“No you weren’t.”

“I know how to shoot!”

“You do now .”

“Are you two gonna keep fighting or are we working?” Paroon huffed through the mic.

“Do it again.” Gar said as he started chucking the eggs toward the basket.

“Fine. Fine, watch.” Minnow aimed toward a Steel Head and mimicked what they were told to do the first time.

They stumbled backward and tripped but they managed to catch themself before they fell totally. They shot a look at Gar.

“I almost fell. Do you see that? It’s too- The kickback is too-“

“I saw. But hey, you didn’t fall this time.” He shrugged.

“This sucks.”

“Congrats Minnow! Now you suck but less!” Atoll cheered.

“Shut up Atoll.”

Gar watched Atoll swim toward the egg basket to deposit the last egg before the wave ended. There was a bit of relief hearing the celebratory ending siren.

“We aren’t fighting an extra wave right?” Paroon met up with Atoll at the basket.

“No, doesn’t look like it!” Atoll smiled as Gar and Minnow joined them.

“Good, good.” Paroon sighed with relief.

“What? Don’t want scales? What’s wrong with you.” Minnow gave a sideways grin.

“Scales aren’t worth the overtime.”

“I still wanna know what you two are doing this weekend.” Atoll interrupted.

“I don’t know.” Gar looked at the sky toward the helicopter that was now circling, waiting for them.

Without another comment, he super jumped toward the helicopter- followed closely by Minnow, Paroon, then Atoll. They all took their places and sat down. Minnow sighed the minute they took their place beside Gar.

“My arms hurt.”

“Is an E-liter really that heavy?” Atoll asked. “I don’t remember it being that bad.”

“It’s not the- Atoll. Atoll, buddy. When I shoot it, it shakes my entire body . And that hurts. My hands are numb.”

“Give me your hands then.” Paroon said, and Minnow gave her their hands almost immediately.

Paroon quickly placed their hands between hers, held them for a moment, and smacked them.

“OW!” Minnow retracted their hands and kept them close to their chest. “WHAT THE SHELL?”

“They’re not numb now are they?”

“IT STINGS.”

“Why would you do that to Minnow? They’re fragile…” Atoll sounded sad.

“SHUT UP!”

Minnow folded their arms and huffed. It got quiet for a moment, though Atoll was still smiling and not at all bothered by what Minnow said. The rest of the ride was relatively silent, with only a couple moments where Minnow would mutter to themself. After a while of no talking, the helicopter finally got back to Grizzco.

They all headed down into the building and started to get ready to leave for the day. Gar shook his head as what Hope was telling him the other day came to mind again. He still wasn’t so sure what to think of everything, but he definitely wanted to get back home and make sure everything went well at Hope’s school today. He wasn’t able to think for very long as Minnow walked up to him and leaned against the wall, crossing their arms.

“Were you serious about the thing earlier? I need direct confirmation.” Minnow asked.

“Sure.”

“What are we doing though?”

“I don’t know, we could get Tilly to come with us to do something.”

“Okay, okay- so… you gonna text her and then me or like…? How are we going to plan-“

“I don’t know.”

“I’m going to make a group chat.”. Minnow said dismissively, pulling out their phone.

“I feel like this will bite me later, but okay.”

“Oh sick, I’m gonna name it the worst possible name I can think of hold on-“

“There it is. The bite.”

“Shush Gar, you’ll love it.”

“Whatever you say.”

Gar picked up his bag and briefly checked his phone for a moment to see if he got a text or call from either of his kids or his sister. Nothing. Except the notification that he’d been added to a group chat.

He stared at the title, then shut off his phone and frowned at Minnow.

“Don’t look at me like that.” They gave him a grin.

“Okay!” He heard Paroon suddenly clap her hands. “Well, I’m off. By the way Gar, James said he hopes we could meet up again. He wants to meet Hope and Whimsy sometime.” Paroon was walking out.

“Oh, uh… Okay.” The idea of James coming back to see him didn’t bother him really, but he wasn’t sure he had recovered from James’ ramblings yet. 

He watched Paroon walk out and turned to Atoll who was focused on his phone screen. Then Atoll suddenly shut it off and walked toward the door. Atoll almost always left directly after Paroon, and never before her. Gar wondered if that was intentional or not.

“Okay I gotta go meet up with Argie and Pier, it’s pretty urgent or something- but Argie might be making things up because he likes to do that. See you guys! Stay safe and all! Congrats on firing an E-liter and not falling over Minnow!”

“You did NOT have to finish with that.” Minnow glared at him as he gave a wide grin and then disappeared through the door.

Gar watched Minnow stomp once with the door as it shut before they shook their head and turned to him. They gave him a tired look and he awkwardly smiled.

“So you headed home too?” Minnow asked.

“Yes.”

“We go the same direction to get home for a bit don’t we?”

“Yes.”

“Do you want to walk together?”

“I think we kind of have to.”

Minnow stared at him with an eyebrow raised and then sighed before they turned to the door and started walking out. Gar followed them out, and as soon as he was out of the building, moved to walk beside Minnow. It was quiet for a few minutes.

Gar kept his eye on the concrete and took in the time and some of the surroundings. There were a couple groups of inklings and octolings out, plus some others gathered for table turf games in a circle. A group of university students were painting a mural of something on a wall by a store.

“So, what do you think we could do?” Minnow finally spoke and looked over at him.

“What?”

“The weekend. We should probably have ideas to pitch, I don’t know if Tilly will.”

“Right.”

There was a pause where neither of them said anything.

“I don’t know.” Gar shrugged.

“I mean, what do you usually do? Like…”

“Hang around Hope and Whimsy.”

“Well okay, that’s obvious, but if they're not around what do you do? By yourself or whatever?”

“Uh… Nap.”

“Well that’s not exactly a thing we could do as a group.” Minnow looked at him.

“You don’t think it’s reasonable to meet up just to nap?” Gar attempted sarcasm, he didn’t actually think that was a good idea- mostly because he found it hard to sleep around people.

“Actually, it doesn’t sound half bad. But I don’t know if I could will myself to take a nap- like, intentionally.”

“Me neither.”

“Then why did you say it like-“

“I wanted to hear what you’d say.”

“Okay fair enough… Uh. I mean, that can’t be all you do?”

Gar took a moment to think about that. “Sometimes I’ll read or play guitar- why are you asking me what I do alone?”

“I don’t honestly know, I got distracted. But I do think maybe we could meet up somewhere and you could take your guitar? We could go like… To a park or something?”

“You want me to play songs for you and Tilly?”

“I mean, we could get lunch too.”

“I see. I’m just a portable music machine.”

“SHUT UP that is NOT what I was sayi-“ Minnow laughed and then abruptly stopped. “Gar stop-“

Gar shut his mouth and kept his pace until he realized Minnow meant for him to stop walking . He took a few steps backward and saw how stiff they were. He tried to follow Minnow’s gaze but couldn’t quite pinpoint it.

There were a couple crowds still gathered and a few people walking by themselves or in pairs. There wasn’t anything particularly alarming or abnormal going on to him. He couldn’t see anyone he found to be recognizable either.

“Uh… Minnow?”

“It’s him.”

Gar was confused for a moment, he wasn’t exactly sure who ‘ him ’ was. Gar squinted and scanned the crowd along the streets but still wasn’t sure who Minnow was looking at. Minnow took a step closer to Gar.

“Who…?”

“He’s coming over- He’s- Gar-“

Gar looked at Minnow and then looked forward at an inkling who was walking toward them. He was fairly tall and had small spikes instead of tentacles. Gar didn’t recognize the inkling- but he was definitely the one Minnow was talking about. Gar looked from Minnow to the stranger and then held the stranger's gaze.

There was an emotion Gar could see in his eyes that he couldn’t place but didn’t like.

“Minnow, that you?” He spoke.

Minnow looked at Gar and then back at the person in front of them.

“Hi… Uh… Oscar…” Minnow was trying very hard to sound like they had it together, and was failing to do so.

“It’s been a while since I last saw you.” He shot a glance at Gar.

Gar didn’t say anything but listened very carefully.

“Yeah, kinda wish I didn’t see you for uh… Longer. Considering everything. I hope you feel it mutually.” Minnow’s voice was slightly breathy.

“Oh- well that’s a shame, I did want to see you again actually.” The inkling- Oscar- was staring at Minnow in a way that made even Gar uncomfortable.

“Uh… I thought you said something like ‘It was a dare’ and ‘Minnow, you’re the biggest mistake I ever made’.” Minnow squinted and flashed a hurt smile.

Now it was very clear to him who Minnow was talking to.

“Well, maybe that wasn’t really true.” Oscar looked down in what Gar recognized as feigned guilt.

“So you… Lied? As if that makes any of that better?” Minnow sounded frustrated.

“Well, I was nervous, you know? I just wasn’t sure what to say.”

“Maybe not that?? Like. Literally anything else.”

“Well, I’m sorry.” He wasn’t sorry and Gar could tell.

“Uh huh…” Minnow had a scowl.

Gar didn’t say anything, since it looked like Minnow still had words for Oscar but he kept his eye on him while he stood awkwardly almost between them. Minnow was about to say something but then Oscar started to talk.

“Look, Minnow, what if I make it up to you?”

“And how would you do that exactly?”

“I could think of a few ways.”

“I don’t know, you kind of fucked up.”

“How about we go out tonight and I'll buy you a drink, for a start?”

Gar couldn’t help but think of how that might be the worst offer to make. There were so many ways that it could go wrong. He didn’t have to point it out though, Minnow was well aware.

“How about no ?” Minnow huffed.

“Come on, just one quick drink? Doesn’t have to be long.”

“I said no.”

Oscar took a step forward and Minnow shot a quick glance at Gar.

“Minnow, we should go.” Gar gestured vaguely and kept his eye locked on Oscar.

“Oh is it because of your friend?” Oscar looked from Gar to Minnow.

“Uh-“

“I’m sure he won’t mind.”

Minnow looked helplessly at Gar and then took a step backward. Oscar immediately took a step forward.

“I do mind, actually. We had plans.” Gar moved a bit closer to Minnow.

“Don’t you think you could cancel them so that I could take Minnow on just a tiny outing?” He turned to Minnow. “We could call it a date.”

“No, I don’t think I can.” Gar put his arm around Minnow and Minnow stared at him.

Oscar glared at Gar’s arm for a moment.

“What, so you rebound that fast, Minnow?” He blinked at them.

Minnow coughed and looked at Gar nervously.

“So he’s your new boyfriend or something?” Oscar asked again when he was met with silence.

Gar took only a second to make a probably poor decision.

“Yes.” He had to force confidence into his voice.

He wasn’t one for lying, and would prefer to be honest about most things. This particular lie made him feel sick to his stomach, but it didn’t seem like Oscar was going to back off unless he did something a little more drastic. Gar looked to Minnow who seemed to be trying their best to hold a straight face though they were confused.

“You moved on that fast?” Oscar stared at Minnow.

“It was one date-“

“You’re not joking are you?” 

“I’m not… What?”

Oscar looked from Gar to Minnow and then started laughing a bit. Gar already felt uncomfortable, this wasn’t making it any better.

“You’re not trying to make me jealous or something are you?”

“Excuse me?” Minnow scrunched their nose. “No!”

“You can drop the act Minnow, I already offered to take you out. No need to lie.”

“Dude can you stop ? I’m not-“

“Come on.”

Gar pulled Minnow back away from Oscar and Minnow let him. The way he was talking made Gar feel sick and worried, and he was tired of hearing it. He wasn’t listening to Minnow, and it didn’t look like he was about to start. Gar hoped maybe Oscar would listen to him if nothing else.

“They said no .” Gar’s voice was much lower than he intended.

Oscar took a step back. “Uh- I was talking to-“

“You weren’t listening to them.” He couldn’t help a hint of aggression in his voice. It wasn’t an emotion he held in his speech often- or liked to hold at all- but he hoped it’d drive the message through Oscar’s head.

“Uh…” Oscar was looking at the ground.

Minnow was watching Gar with wider eyes and Gar didn’t change his expression to reassure them he wasn’t going to do anything. He had no intentions to, but he needed his tone to sound threatening enough to make Oscar nervous. It helped that he was taller than Oscar.

“I just-“

“Don’t. Go. Walk away.” Gar gestured. “Or I might start to call authorities- which will definitely happen if you speak to them again.” He wasn’t actually sure how much authorities could do- but what Oscar was doing would probably at least warrant Minnow getting walked home safely.

Gar watched Oscar start backing up, though he didn’t take his eyes off Gar. Gar moved his arm off of Minnow, instead going to grab their hand, Minnow’s eyes immediately darted to their hands and they looked ever so slightly alarmed. He started walking with Minnow- though he was really just tugging them along. He would apologize for this later. He would apologize for a lot of things later.

He didn’t say another word as he nearly marched down the street, half-dragging Minnow behind him and occasionally looking behind him to make sure a certain someone wasn’t following them. It looked like he had finally taken the hint. Finally they turned a corner and Gar walked for about five steps before he let go of Minnow’s hand and stopped walking, turning to look at them.

Minnow was staring at the ground.

“What the FUCK was that?”

“I’m sorry I-“

“No not that- what the fuck was he doing ?” Minnow looked up.

“I don’t have a clue. I didn’t like it.”

“Me neither- why wouldn’t he…” Minnow shook their head. “You know what, come to think of it, he didn’t seem to do a whole lot of listening before.”

“Are you okay?”

“Huh?… Oh… Uh…” Minnow seemed to space out for a moment or two.

“Minnow?”

“I’m okay… Just thinking, you know…” Minnow didn’t meet Gar’s gaze.

“About?”

“You seemed almost scary for a minute there. I mean- you’re intimidating regularly- but not usually scary .”

Gar stared at them for a minute and there was some kind of emotion in Minnow’s face that he couldn’t quite read. He then realized that now might be a good time to apologize to Minnow.

“Oh- yeah, I’m uh… Sorry about that. He wasn’t listening- so I tried to make him listen.” Gar cleared his throat. “I wasn’t actually going to do anything.”

“I had a feeling. I was just surprised.” Minnow gave him another strange expression he couldn’t pick up on. 

“And sorry for that… other stuff. The whole- arm and the boy…-“ He found it impossible to say that word. “I just wanted him to shut up.”

“No! No you’re fine.” Minnow waved their hand. “Hell, I owe you. He did go away.”

There was something familiar about this situation.

“You don’t. Please don’t ever think you owe me.” Gar shook his head. “For anything.”

Minnow stared at him for a second before they nodded once quickly. They shuffled a bit in their place, looked toward a streetlight, huffed, and then finally turned their attention back to Gar.

“I know there’s still a bit of light but- is it okay if you walk me ho-“

“I planned on it anyway.”

“Oh. Uh. Sick.”

Gar watched Minnow stand in their place for another few minutes before they started walking. Gar walked beside them, but tried to keep a comfortable distance. For whatever reason, that became hard because Minnow would start walking in a way that made him have to keep getting further to keep the distance between them. He might as well have walked into the brick walls of buildings before Minnow started to go the other way in their pattern. Gar wasn’t sure if Minnow was just bad at walking in straight lines or if that was intentional.

Neither of them really said anything as they were walking, and it made Gar a bit uncomfortable. He wanted to try to create some type of conversation, but any words that came to mind left as quickly as they appeared. Since he didn’t have much else to do, he kept his focus mostly on watching their surroundings and listening for any new sounds of footsteps.

They walked a few more blocks and finally managed to get to Minnow’s apartment and the sun was nearly gone. Minnow turned on their heel at the door to face him, but was looking down at their shoes instead of looking up at him. He felt slightly worried he’d messed up with some of the things he’d done, even if Minnow had said it was okay. He was sure there was a better way to handle that, he was just focused on finding the quickest way out of it in that moment and hadn’t seen the opportunity.

“So uh… Yeah! Home safe. Uh… Thanks, Gar.” Minnow still wasn’t looking at him.

“Yeah…” Gar felt slightly awkward.

He had to ask.

“Minnow, really, I know I could’ve handled that better- are you okay?”

“Yeah! Yeah dude, I’m all good.” Minnow put their hands in their pockets and laughed a bit though there was something off in the way they did it.

“You can tell me if you’re not, okay?”

“Dude I’m fine.” Minnow finally looked at him and there was still an odd emotion on their face.

It didn’t look like anxiety, or anger, or tension. It wasn’t a negative emotion, if he was seeing it correctly. He wasn’t sure it was an awkward expression either- though he was tempted to think it might be. He decided he’d been looking too long at Minnow trying to read them and turned his head away.

“You’ll stay safe right?”

“You bet… If I see him again I will be calling someone.”

“Good idea.”

“Well…” Minnow shuffled again.

“Well.” Gar looked at Minnow.

Minnow looked at him for a moment and looked like they had something to say, but they weren’t saying it. He got tired of the staring after a moment- he had to go back home.

“Goodbye Minnow, and goodnight.”

“Huh? OH. Yeah.” Minnow shook their head. “Goodbye Gar- or goodnight- or whatever. I’ll text the group chat thing about some ideas, cool?”

“Sounds good.” He sighed and turned to start walking home, then stopped dead in his tracks and looked over his shoulder. Minnow was halfway through the door.

“Wait- And… Minnow?”

“What?” They stopped and looked at him, seeming genuinely curious with that weird expression they were holding.

“Change the group chat name.”

Minnow stared at him with a look of betrayal and he couldn’t help but smile a bit. He turned back around and started walking as he heard Minnow scoff at him. There was something nice about the moment.

Minnow did not change the group chat name.

Chapter Text

As much as Gar tried not to think about it, he found himself repeating the situation with Minnow and Oscar over and over again in his head. Even though Minnow had said the lie was fine, they were even grateful for it, he still felt disappointed that he hadn’t found a better way out of that situation. He had a few spells where he would zone out thinking about it, but mostly he hoped Minnow wouldn’t bring it up as a joke or anything. 

As the week went on, he was glad Minnow never mentioned it. He was also glad they didn’t seem to change in their demeanor much, except they occasionally kept giving him that weird look. He tried to shake off the feeling of worry it gave him.

He had also been distracted by making plans with Minnow and Tilly for the weekend. Minnow constantly insisted that Gar bring his guitar wherever they decided to go, and it took what seemed like forever to decide a place to meet. They eventually settled on going to the park, which seemed like the obvious answer anyway. The weather was supposed to be nice the day they had planned to go, and it wasn’t somewhere that got exactly crowded, even on weekends.

He was now standing in the field in the park, looking over the grass and flowers. The park was mostly empty, which was nice. He had gotten here early so he could see what it was like and adjust to any noise if it was particularly loud. He preferred being the one to greet others when they would meet up anyway, though he wasn’t sure why that was.

“Hey Gar, looks like someone’s early.” Minnow’s voice drug him out of his thoughts. 

Gar turned to face Minnow who was walking down the sidewalk toward him. They had a smile on their face and their hands in the pockets of their hoodie. They seemed happier than they normally were.

“Are you referring to me or you?” He knew the answer.

“You, obviously. I’m not that early, it looks like you’ve been here a while though. Why?” They came to a stop beside him.

“I don’t really know, guess it assures I’m not late.” He shrugged.

“Fair enough, OH by the way did you see what I sent the group chat?” Minnow asked quickly.

“No, what?”

“Look.”

He sighed for a moment and pulled out his phone, looking in his messages for whatever it was Minnow sent. It was an odd image of a sea bunny with text that was largely clear up until the last two words which were laying over unintelligible text. He stared at it for a minute before he concluded he wasn’t going to understand the image. He looked over at Minnow.

“Minnow, I have no idea what that is.” He shook his head.

“It’s a sea bunny.” Minnow smiled.

“I see that, it’s just… The… Text.”

“It’s just supposed to be funny.”

“So ‘I want seahorse tranquilizer’ is funny?”

“Well, because it lacks context-“

“I do not get it.”

“Minnow what the shell is this image?” Tilly’s voice rang out.

“IT’S FUNNY RIGHT?” Minnow shouted at her as they turned to look at Tilly.

Gar turned and watched Tilly jog over, sliding her phone in the bag at her side and shaking her head. She seemed confused but entertained. She started slowing to a stop as she got closer to them.

“It’s a little funny but what does it mean ?” She stared at Minnow.

“I want seahorse tranquilizer.” Minnow stated.

“This doesn’t make it any clearer.”

“It’s not supposed to mean anything in particular.” They grinned.

“So there’s no real explanation or meaning?”

“Nope.”

“Huh.”

Gar watched Tilly stare for a moment at the ground and then lifted her gaze back up. She clapped her hands and tilted her head to the side.

“ANYWAY! Hi, how are we all doing?”

“Fine.” Gar said plainly.

“Great, finally got through the most painful week of my life, and you?” Minnow looked over at her.

“I’m fine but- What? Most painful week of your life?” Tilly stared at them with wide eyes.

“OK so-“ Minnow started.

“Not again.” Gar hung his head.

“-You know those mini oven things they give to kids that let them bake things like cookies or brownies or whatever?” Minnow asked.

“Yeah, I do.” She nodded.

“So, I took one of those, and I decided I’d cook all my meals in it for a week. It sounded like a cool idea at first, you know? But it’s actually horrible.” Minnow sighed. “I underestimated how hard it was to cook a full meal without a stove top to be honest.”

“Why would you do that to yourself?” Tilly sounded deeply confused.

“I have nothing better to do with my time than make up stupid challenges for myself to occupy my time and make myself annoyed with my own ideas.” They shrugged. “Honestly it’s my own fault but after I started it I wanted to finish it. So I went all the way through the week using it. Pretty terrible decision on my part.”

“Sounds like it, Gar did you know about this?” Tilly looked at him.

“Yes, I’ve been made well aware for the past week.” He sighed.

“Hey, my stories are great compared to what Atoll’s been saying lately” Minnow folded their arms.

“I… Actually agree with you.” Gar paused and then nodded his head in agreement.

“What has Atoll been saying?” Tilly looked back and forth between the two of them.

Minnow immediately turned their head to look at Gar and he locked eyes with them for a moment. Minnow was mirroring Gar’s blank expression. Both of them were silent for what was clearly too long as Tilly repeated her question but slower.

“I don’t know how to even begin to describe it. Just… Interesting things I guess.” Minnow cleared their throat. “ANYWAY. TILLY. Tell us something.”

“Tell you… What exactly?” Tilly blinked.

“Something. Anything. Literally whatever comes to your mind, just change the topic.” Minnow urged her.

“Okay… Uh… Well…” She was clearly deep in thought. “So that new first person shooter came out, I forgot the name at the moment but I-“

“ You play videogames ?” Minnow’s jaw was slightly agape.

“Yes?? It’s… Not that shocking. I think. Right?” She looked at Gar.

“I don’t know why you’re looking at me.” He turned his head away.

“And- Wait- Not only do you play videogames but you also play violent videogames ? You didn’t get into like… Starmist Canyon or something?” Minnow sounded slightly in shock.

“I play that too. All sorts of games. I like ones that are story based particularly.” She shrugged. “It inspires some of my art.”

Minnow ran up to her and put their hands on her shoulders. “YOU MAKE FANART ?”

“Sometimes!” She smiled. “If I like a game enough, absolutely!”

“Gar this is fucking insane.” Minnow looked over their shoulder at him.

“I’m not really surprised.” He shrugged.

“YOU KNEW?” Minnow got slightly louder.

“Sort of, I don’t know why you didn’t.”

“It’s not like I try to hide it or anything, I could’ve sworn I’ve told you before too…” Tilly blinked.

“CURSE YOU SHORT ATTENTION SPAN AND SHITTY MEMORY.” Minnow turned away from Tilly and dramatically kicked up some of the dirt from the ground.

Gar stared at the two, unsure of what to say. He was glad Minnow seemed to have another thing in common with Tilly though. He decided it might be best to just listen, it was one thing he was good at, at least. Maybe he would find a place to talk.

“Have you played that one game where you play as the plankton and you have to explore the fallen undersea kingdom or something, and there’s all those mutated beasts?” Minnow was saying.

“YES! I finished playing all the way through. It was so good! I loved the story.” Tilly clasped her hands together.

“It’s my latest hyperfixation and I’m not going to shut up about it for a month minimum.” Minnow was practically trembling.

“I remember you mentioning it.” Gar closed his eye.

“YEAH. I think I’ve told you the entire story sometime this week.” Minnow looked at him.

“Twice.” He nodded.

“I’ve ordered at least two of the official plushie things from it. They’re going to go in my collection.” They sounded almost proud.

“I’ve thought about getting some myself, they’re adorable.” Tilly sighed.

“The designs are my favorite- and the soundtrack.” Minnow paused and looked at Gar, seeming to only now notice the guitar he had with him. “Speaking of music…”

Gar looked at them without saying anything.

“You want to play something?” Minnow blinked.

“Are you indirectly asking me to?” Gar sent the question back to them.

“Kind of.”

“Then ask me.”

“Can you play something?”

“There you go.”

Gar shifted so he could hold the guitar properly and he watched Minnow immediately drop to sit on the ground in front of him with Tilly doing the same. He stopped for a moment staring at both of them, confused.

“What?” Tilly turned her head to the side.

“You really don’t need to sit down.”

“It’s comfortable. The ground is like… 90% moss.” Minnow waved their hand. “You should sit too honestly, isn’t it easier to play that way?”

“It’s simple either way.” Gar said plainly.

“Sit down.” Tilly smiled and gestured for him to sit.

He sighed and did as she told him to, shifting a bit so he could hold the guitar comfortably. He placed his fingers on the strings as if to play the f chord, then stopped. He didn’t know what to play. He looked up at both of them.

“What do you want to hear exactly?” He slowly lifted his head.

“Anything!” Tilly sounded cheerful.

“I’d prefer if you were specific.”

“What do you know how to play?” Minnow asked, leaning forward.

He had to think about that for a moment. “Most songs that use acoustic. And any song by the Squid Sisters. A couple by Off the Hook, that’s because of Hope and Whimsy.” He shook his head, those kids made him learn more songs than he thought he would ever learn.

“You managed to learn Off the Hook songs on acoustic?” Minnow seemed surprised.

“It doesn’t sound completely right, just hardly recognizable, I’ll be honest.” Gar set his other hand against the strings.

“Is there one you know how to play that sounds right?” Tilly stared at the guitar.

Gar thought for a moment before he started to play Tide Goes Out , the one song he knew he could play that was recognizable. He was particularly fond of this song, since it was slower than some of their other songs. While he was playing he remembered Tilly telling him it was her favorite song, and that made him focus just a bit more on making sure he didn’t play the wrong chord, he wasn’t sure why.

He managed to play through the entire song without Minnow interrupting, which he found odd, and only looked up when he hit the last note. He raised his hands away from the strings and looked at Minnow and Tilly who were still staring at him as if he hadn’t stopped playing yet.

Finally Minnow said something. “Okay I didn’t know you could just choose to not strum where the sound hole is like you did in the last bit, so I’m kind of impressed.”

Gar didn’t say anything and slowly shook his head.

“That sounded pretty spot on to be honest! I think it was lovely… Say…” Tilly paused for a moment, seeming lost in thought. “What was that one song you uh… Played when we were at your apartment? I don’t know if you remember.”

He couldn’t forget. Instead of answering, he played the opening, then set his hand against the strings to silence them, looking up at Tilly curiously.

“Yeah! That one!” Tilly leaned forward with a clap, then froze and leaned back, her face slightly pink.