Chapter Text
Gorgug always tried his best to be a good friend.
Since he’d started going to Aguefort and adventuring with the Bad Kids, his circle of friends had just kept expanding. He now had more friends than he’d honestly even thought possible.
Ayda was one of those friends. Gorgug liked her a lot; she’d seen something in him that no one else had, and it had genuinely helped him grow as a person. And since she was dating Fig now, he and Ayda often got to spend a lot of time together. Which was really nice.
Gorgug still wasn’t sure exactly what Ayda needed when she was upset, though. This was something he wanted to know about all his friends, just in case something happened, but he hadn’t been able to figure out what Ayda needed yet. Based on the things he’d learned from the friendship section in her library, he suspected she might want an orange or two.
An opportunity to test that theory presented itself one day when he was over for dinner at Mordred Manor. It was a huge dinner, with all the Bad Kids, a bunch of their friends and partners, and their parents. They were all seated around a very long table in the garden outside the house. People were laughing and talking over each other, creating a huge bubble of joyous noise.
Gorgug sat directly across from Ayda, who was sitting between Fig and Adaine. She seemed to like sitting like that, between her girlfriend and best friend — it was how she was always seated during dinners, at least every time Gorgug was around.
He watched as Ayda slowly went from having a pleased smile on her face, to a look of mild pain and panic. She seemed to shrink in on herself, slouching her shoulders and back so she appeared smaller. Gorgug was about to ask Ayda if there was anything she needed, when she suddenly leaned closer to Fig and whispered something. Fig nodded, gave her a quick kiss, and then Ayda stood up and disappeared into Mordred Manor.
Figuring he could ask Ayda if she was okay when she came back to the table, Gorgug concentrated on his food and his conversation with Zelda. She had discovered a cool new band recently, and was talking excitedly about it. He nodded along as she spoke, asking questions whenever it was clear that Zelda didn’t know what more to say but still wanted to keep talking. He’d learned how to pick up on that by now, and he loved the way her face lit up with joy and relief every time he asked another question.
As people were finishing their food and started getting up from the table and the group slowly dissolved into smaller groups, Gorgug looked around for Ayda. She hadn’t come back to dinner like he thought she would, and he was getting a little concerned for her.
He excused himself from his conversation with Zelda, leaving her with Kristen and Tracker, and started searching for Ayda. On the way, he grabbed five oranges from the kitchen and stuffed them into the front pocket of his hoodie.
He found her a few minutes later in Fig’s room — the extra room she used when Ayda visited and they needed space, not the one under the piano. She sat curled up into a ball on her paramour’s bed. It was probably a good thing that all of Fig’s things were fireproof, because Ayda seemed to have been crying.
Garthy and Adine the Fish was swimming over Ayda’s head in a circle, a sphere of water surrounding it wherever it went. Gorgug loved that fish.
“Fig, I–” Ayda started, then stopped herself as she looked up and saw Gorgug standing in the doorway.
“Sorry, it’s just Gorgug,” he said with a small chuckle. “Do you want me to go get Fig for you?”
“No, it’s all right,” Ayda responded. “I … I asked Fig if I could go up here to be alone.” Gorgug opened his mouth to say that he’d leave if she wanted that, but she continued before he had the chance, “But I wouldn’t mind your company at all, if you wish to stay.”
“Yeah, ‘course I want to.” He sat down on Fig’s bed, so he and Ayda were sitting a few inches apart. He was a little too big for this room, like most rooms, but he was pretty sure he wasn’t going to break the bed, so that was good. “I love hanging out with you.”
Ayda let out a puff of air, and a few tears of fire escaped her eyes. “You are a good friend, Gorgug. I care about you very deeply. Is that weird to say?”
“Nope, not at all.” Gorgug shook his head with a smile. “I care about you too.”
More tears flowed down Ayda’s face. Gorgug reached into his pocket and pulled out one of the five oranges he’d brought with him. He handed it to Ayda, watching her face light up as her eyes landed on it.
“I have four more where that came from,” he said with a laugh.
“Your kindness and emotional knowledge know no bounds,” Ayda said with a fond tone. Gorgug found himself blushing a little. He really liked getting compliments from Ayda; they were always so sincere and specific.
“You know, I learned to give oranges to people from the friendship section in your library,” Gorgug said. He hadn’t used the trick that much since Fabian in Leviathan, but he did do it every once in a while, and it had worked every time. He suspected it might have less to do with the actual orange and more to do with the fact that it was a show of affection and care, but it worked either way, so he definitely wasn’t complaining.
“Oh.” Ayda froze for a few moments, a slice of orange halfway to her mouth, before a tear slipped down her face, and she continued eating. “Yes, I created that section of the library because I was incredibly lonely, and I had no idea how to fix it.”
Gorgug’s heart ached for Ayda — he always got really sad when he remembered how lonely she had been for so long. He always got really sad whenever he remembered literally any pain any of his friends had been through, if he was being honest.
Not knowing entirely what to say, Gorgug shifted his foot so the tips of his and Ayda’s shoes were touching. “Well, you’re not alone anymore.”
Even more fiery tears made their way down Ayda’s cheeks. Fig had written more sad songs about Ayda’s tears than Gorgug could count — she always talked about how poetic it was, the way the two girls were both made of fire.
Ayda swallowed the last piece of the orange and wiped away her tears with the back of her hands. “You said you had four more oranges?”
“Oh, yeah!” Gorgug handed Ayda another orange, and she took it gratefully.
They sat in silence for a while as Ayda ate her second orange, and then a third. Gorgug was glad he’d had the foresight to bring five oranges — it would’ve been so silly if he’d just had one. Ayda seemed to calm down more and more the longer they sat there, and Gorgug was happy that he could provide company for her. After so many years of being lonely, he figured she appreciated it.
Eventually, he spoke up. “Hey, Ayda? Can I ask you something?”
“You already did, but yes, you may ask me another question.”
“Right, yeah,” Gorgug said, nodding. “Why … Why did you leave during dinner today? Like, what was wrong?”
Ayda started tapping her fingers together in a repeating pattern, studying them as she said, “I was very overwhelmed. There were a lot of people and a lot of noise — a lot of sensory input in general. It was bearable at first, but then it became too much for me and I had to leave.” She let out a small, sad sigh. “I wanted to enjoy it, I truly did, but it seems I just wasn’t able to.”
“Aw, that sucks,” he said, slowly handing Ayda another orange. Wanting to make sure he’d understood everything before he tried to offer up a solution, he asked, “So you got overwhelmed because of your sensory issues and the amount of people?”
“Yes. Because I’m autistic, I am hypersensitive to sensory input, so I get easily overwhelmed. And social settings are hard for me to navigate, adding another layer of difficulty to the situation,” Ayda confirmed.
“Okay, I don’t know what to do about the amount of people,” Gorgug said, “but can’t you try to make a spell that will help with your sensory issues? I don't know if there are any that exist already, but if there aren’t, I’m sure you and Adaine could come up with something that would help lessen the amount of, like, sensory input you get. To make it more manageable, I mean, so that you get to enjoy yourself.”
Ayda stared at him with wide eyes. Slowly, she started nodding. “That is an incredible idea. I can’t believe I didn’t think of it myself.” She locked eyes Gorgug and very seriously said, “You truly are one of the two greatest wizards of our age. Never forget it.”
Gorgug blushed and didn’t know how to respond to that, so he just handed Ayda the last orange. She took it like it was made of gold. Like it was something very, very precious.
“You have given me five oranges and thought of a solution to one of my most pressing problems,” Ayda said, fire gleaming in her eyes. “I don’t know how I will ever be able to repay you.”
“You don’t have to.” Gorgug shrugged. “I just kind of did what friends do, I think.”
“Oh.” Ayda blinked a few times, then hesitantly said, “...May I hug you?”
“Yep.”
Ayda surged forward and wrapped her arms around him. Her wings carefully surrounded both of them, creating a warm, comforting bubble. Gorgug hugged her back, smiling as he did.
“Thank you for your kindness,” Ayda said when she pulled away. “I will find an appropriate gift for you too. Not because I owe you, which I apparently do not, but … as a show of friendship.”
Gorgug grinned. “I can’t wait.”
Ayda’s eyes widened. “Is it that pressing? I– I’m not sure how I will find a good enough gift on such short notice.”
“Oh, no, I meant, like, I’m excited.”
“Oh.” Ayda’s shoulders visibly relaxed, and she smiled again. “Well, then … good. I also can’t wait for you to receive your gift. It will be a pleasure to see your reaction to whatever I come up with, even if reading faces isn’t a specialty of mine.”
“I’ll smile extra big, so you’ll know I really like it,” Gorgug promised.
“Fantastic. And if you don’t like it, you can put one thumb down, and I’ll find another gift.”
“Sure. But I definitely will like it, though. No matter what you give me.”
Ayda frowned. “You can’t possibly mean that.”
“Yeah, I do,” Gorgug insisted. “I think you’re good at giving gifts, and even if you weren't, I would still like the gift because it’s from you.”
“Hm. Fascinating,” Ayda whispered to herself. She looked at Gorgug. “Do you like every single gift your friends give you?”
“Pretty much, yeah.”
“Incredible. That’s … wow.” Ayda was clearly thinking very intensely, so Gorgug just kept quiet and waited. He started playing with the straps of his hoodie to keep himself occupied. Eventually, Ayda looked at him and said, “You are a very good friend, Gorgug. I know I have already said it once in this conversation, but I feel it is appropriate to repeat it. Do you agree?”
Gorgug smiled, a chuckle escaping his lips. “Sure, yeah. I … thanks. I think you’re a really good friend, too.”
Ayda nodded. “Incredible. I will start searching for your gift now.”
“Unless you wanna just hang out for a bit?” Gorgug suggested. “No need to hurry with the gift. And you don’t have to even get me a gift unless you really want to.”
“I really do want to give you a gift as a show of friendship and affection towards you.” Ayda paused, thinking. “But you are right. No need to hurry. I would love to hang out with you.”
“Cool.”
And then they did just that.
They talked for a long time. About their cool girlfriends, about magic, about life — anything they could think of, really. They laughed a lot, sometimes so much that they could hardly breathe. Gorgug learned things about Ayda he’d never known before, and he told her things he hadn’t had the chance to tell yet.
He could practically feel the force of their friendship growing stronger and stronger as they talked.
When they eventually went downstairs to join the others, Gorgug made a mental note to himself to always have a couple of oranges on hand.
Just in case.