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Desire Island was a beautiful island to visit but was unfortunately not totally free of potential dangers when the Riptide Captains came and lifted the curse from the inhabitants of the land.
Gillion found this out only a day or two into his visit when he heard the distressed shouts of his friend Aslana, coming from the very outskirts of the town where he walked his path.
The Riptide Pirates and Caspian happened to be sailing in the direction of the island (returning Caspian to his own beloved crew) and decided to visit their friends there for a couple of days, holing up in a cozy inn and Gillion had been taking the time and the freedom to explore the beautiful architecture of the town itself.
When he’d initially heard the upset cries of “Hey Wait! No, that’s my stuff!” His ear fins flared out, rotating angles to catch the direction it was coming from. The path he’d been walking led him down past the sandy shores of the beaches, one of the few quieter strips of sand that wasn’t often taken up by the busy hustle of vendors selling their fruits and locals enjoying the shallow waters.
The triton moved quickly between the palm trees and coastal foliage, following his ears and trying to stay as silent as possible. As soon as Aslana came into view, his lips curled up in a snarl.
The merwoman was in her human form standing in front of the water’s reach, the waves still lapping at her heels. A small group of bandits surrounded her, two figures stood opposite to her with knives that held her knapsack and one that stood behind her and pinned her arms to her back. They were all wearing heavy layers of clothes, unusual to see in a place this tropical but it was successful in obscuring both their faces and forms. He couldn’t identify anything but their menacing eyes, Aslana struggling and thrashing against the person’s grasp.
“That’s my bag! You can’t just take that! Fuck off!” Venom spat from her voice, something incredibly uncharacteristic of the merwoman. Gillion knew her to be a very enthusiastic but soft-spoken individual, always kind and reaching out to help him and his crew.
He allowed lightning to spread from his chest and crackle up and down his body, forming an electric halo of heat and fire around his coral. He lunged out of the foliage, locking in on the first figure holding a knife and ramming the full weight of his body into theirs. Unfortunately, he’d left Destiny’s Blade to be safekept in the inn with his crewmates, but he was more then confident in his hand-to-hand combat abilities.
The person under him wailed as he dug his clawed fingers into their shoulders, ripping through at least one or two layers of fabric. They were now face-down in the sand underneath him. The other two shouted at him, various threats as the other one with a knife charged him out of his peripheral vision. Out of the cacophony of yells he picked up Aslana’s, her higher-pitched voice distinct.
“Gillion! Gillion, be careful!” As she yelled that he raised his thrashing tail above him, fanning his fins out to create a protective, lashing baton to protect his body. Digging one claw into the pressure point between the figures shoulderblades, he swiped the knife from one of their flailing hands and latched the hilt into his mouth as he took their wrist and cranked it behind their back.
They wailed in pain, but Gillion was very familiar with the limits of limbs and knew at worst he’d pulled it out of the socket. He jumped and rolled forward, spraying sand as he narrowly dodged an attack from one of the other two knife-wielders.
He could hear them breathing heavily through their layered mask, and Gillion quickly calculated where was best to hit. It didn’t take long for them to charge him again, their knife raised high and swiping down at him in a deadly motion.
He rolled again, tucking his knees to his chest to protect his more sensitive organs from any potential embedded metal. He wasn’t as fast as he’d like to have been though, and the shiny metal swiped his left shoulder, splattering purple blood in the sand below him. He let out something in between a howl and a low growl, only shifting into a little ball as he shimmed away in the sand.
Aslana screamed out, her angle making it hard to see whether the knife had merely scratched him or stabbed him. He was quick to recover though, letting them draw in close to take a second stab before he shot his legs out. His heel quickly made contact with their gut, pushing them back into the sand themselves and causing them to drop the knapsack they’d been holding hostage.
They yelled obscenities at Gillion, calling him an awful creature and a freak. Their insults bounced off his ears though, his mind focused on protecting his friend. While they were down he rolled back up to his feet, lunging forward and using one swift kick to send the knife reeling in the opposite direction and his heel to once again come down on their chest.
He spared a brief glimpse at Aslana, praying that the bandit holding her hadn’t had any weapons concealed that he hadn’t spotted when he charged in. When his eyes caught her though he immediately smiled a big grin, seeing that she’d successfully managed to hook one of her legs behind the knee of her attacker. In one large twisting motion from her hips she yanked her leg forward, upsetting their balance and sending them sprawling and coughing as the tide came up and drenched their cloth mask.
“Take that! Now get out of here!” She yelled, jumping back safely out of their range of grasp.
“Fuck this, she’s not worth it!” The one under Gillion yelled, the triton lifting his leg to let them up and watch them desperately scramble away from the humanoid. The rest quickly followed in suit, not even minding to grab their knives as Gillion let out one last low, growled warning call for them to run and not come back.
He breathed heavily, panting as he recovered from the small spat. The cut on his shoulder stung, but luckily it didn’t appear to be deep enough to be of any significant concern. He turned to Aslana, checking her up and down for signs of any injuries.
“Aslana! My lady, are you alright?” He asked, fins fluttering by his head in concern.
She was also breathing heavily, less from exertion though and more from clearly being spooked by the incident. She was staring in the direction they’d run, suddenly snapping her head back to look at him when she heard his voice.
“I–I am, thank you so much for helping me,” She walked just past him, grabbing her knapsack and quickly rustling through it before letting out a relieved sigh. “I was just about to head out into the ocean to check on the local reef when I noticed that they were waiting for me to leave to take my bag. I called them out, and two of them pulled knives on me and got to my bag before I could chase them off.”
He nodded awkwardly; now that he’d actually done the part of defending he was never quite sure how to comfort someone. “Well I’m very glad you got your bag, and if I see them again in town I won’t let them off so easy next time.” He assured her, not wanting to pry towards what was in her bag of belongings but curious.
Her eyes softened as they focused on the wound bleeding from his shoulder, Gillion self-consciously bringing his hand up to shield his arm away. “You’re hurt, are you okay?” she asked him tenderly.
He looked down at his feet in the sand, always unsure of how to respond when people showed interest in his wellbeing. “I’m fine my lady, it’s nothing to worry about, just a scratch.”
He caught onto the determined look in her eyes, and suddenly understood there was no way of wriggling out of being taken care of. “Now I won’t stand for that! You just fought for me, the least I can do to repay you is take care of your injury.”
She placed a gentle hand on his forearm below where the blood was smeared, her hands warm and soft on his cool skin. The overruling part of him told him that to treat a slice that small was a waste of valuable resources, that he should just let Aslana continue on with her day and not make her dote over him. But a smaller part of him, the part of him that had become more and more prevalent as his partners and crewmates convinced him that he was worth taking care of, told him that in the time they’d spent together he’d come to love Aslana’s company and maybe he would enjoy it if he could spend the next couple hours that he originally planned to fill by wandering around aimlessly in her company.
“.....That’s very kind of you, I’d be forever thankful.” He nodded. She giggled at his formality, grabbing his hand to cover his bandaged knuckles and lead him back up towards the path.
She’d led him just past a small alcove where quaint little shops began to pop up around the cobblestone paths, paying close attention to his wound and carefully making sure it was wrapped securely. Gillion intended to thank her and get out of her hair, but he’d been curious about the bag so he’d shyly asked and found out that the reason it had been so sentimental was that it held one of the charms from her sisters that she always carried around her, occasionally taking it off to make sure it wasn’t ripped away by the harsher currents that surrounded the island.
That led them to a discussion about coral reefs and their ecosystems, which they both got very excited about. They spoke animatedly to each other, chirping and trilling and subconsciously exchanging thoughts and cues in their native oceanic tongue. She’d asked to show him around some of the newer parts of the town, and he excitedly agreed. Before either of them knew it many hours had passed and they’d gone through animated discussion after animated discussion about topics of the sea, their strikingly different but at the same time very similar upbringings as sea dwellers, and everything under Lunadeyis’ domain that they could talk about.
Gillion was initially a bit nervous that he was eating up too much of her time, but he’d realized that he’d been smiling nearly the entire duration of their discussions and small local adventures. He felt at home with someone from the same place, a sense of camaraderie not only in their communal upbringings but in Aslana’s infectious enthusiasm and positive personality.
They ultimately found themselves back at the beach, shoulder-to-shoulder and watching the sun settle itself comfortably just above the waterline while the sky transitioned into beautiful pinks and oranges.
They’d both been silent for a couple of minutes, a peaceful pause in their discussions as the beauty of the beginning of the sunset caught their attention. Gillion was happily staring at the reflection of the sun glinting off the calmly rolling waves when he felt Aslana’s hand inch closer and rest on top of his.
Out of his peripheral vision he gazed, seeing that her own forest green eyes were still fixated on the expanse of ocean in front of them. The hand on his began to rub his knuckles soothingly, her shoulder leaning a bit further into his.
“So, I heard through the grapevine that things between you and your co-captains have really blossomed, huh?” She said teasingly, giving him a tiny nudge.
A blush quickly spread across his face, his cheeks feeling warm at the mention of his partners. He snorted, smiling bashfully. “Yes, I realized what I had with them was special to me in a way I had yet to encounter before and to my surprise they—and that Genasi you might’ve met, named Caspian—reciprocated my feelings.”
His fins flared out a little, a telltale sign of when he was thinking. His mind wandered to them, and to how excited he was to have a night with them where they could all share a bed in an inn, a luxury that was sometimes hard to come by as pirates.
“I’m very happy for you,” she moved her knee, bending it so that it would touch his. “Can I ask a question about it?”
He cocked his head. “Sure, I like your voice.”
Her cheeks turned a bit pink at that, her gaze catching his from the side but still facing the direction of the ocean.
“Do they mind if your interests fall with other people, say like if, you were interested in courting another person?”
He inhaled a little breath of surprise, definitely not expecting that question. He thought about it for a moment, his mind wandering back to a discussion they’d had about the parameters of their relationship soon after they’d embraced each other as a loving quadrant.
“We’ve discussed it and agreed that if one of us were to be interested in entering a courtship with another person they’re welcome to do so, but to inform each other so no feelings of jealousy or anxiety arise,” He quoted Jay nearly word for word, recalling that important conversation. “I haven’t thought about it much, but they’d surely be insufferable if I ever did enter a proper courtship with another person.” He chuckled, joking fondly.
She tilted her head, giggling along with him; seemingly amused less by his words but with the way he expressed them. He noticed that her face had a pinkish tint to it, something that was uncommon to see in her more human form.
She suddenly shifted to face him, sitting with her legs folded under her and only then did he notice how she seemed a little bit nervous—like she had something big to tell him.
He curiously cocked his head at her and she took a deep breath, softly grabbing both of his hands and holding them in her palms. “Gillion?”
“Yes, Aslana?” Her name rolled off his tongue sweetly, a rare instance where he didn’t refer to her as ‘my lady’ out of pure formal habit.
“I really, really like you,” It took a couple of moments for the cogs in Gillion’s brain to pick up on the implication of the sentence, but when he did his mouth parted and his eyes widened in surprise.
“-And I know the time we’ve spent together isn’t nearly as much as you and your co-captains but since I met you you’ve captivated me with your fearlessness and creativity and every single thing you do you put all your passion into ,” She squeezed his hands while he suppressed tail wags.
“I think you're handsome, and if you and your partners would allow, I’d love to get to know you more, maybe go out for dinner tomorrow?” Her features were covered by her blush, struggling to make eye contact with the triton as she confessed her feelings.
Gillion sat there in shock for a moment, taking in her words and absorbing their meaning. He felt heat rush to his own cheeks, his face surely a dark blue. Warm feelings bubbled up in his chest, thoughts of Aslana’s kindness and how she made him laugh.
He shook his head, trying to form his words coherently. “I-I would love to, I-ah, let me ask the others but I would be thrilled to go on an outing with someone like you.” He let the words tumble out of his mouth trying to, as Caspian always called it, play it cool.
Her eyes lit up, her hands leaving him to flap up and down excitedly. Her excitement was infectious, and Gillion’s tail whipped back and forth behind him.
She quickly quieted her hands, leaning forward and putting one on his knee and tapped it excitedly. After a moment she realized where it was placed and stopped, gauging Gillion’s reaction.
They were both overjoyed with happiness and companionship, but unsure how to continue. He looked down but didn’t stop her when she leaned forward a little bit more with a hand on his knee.
She scooted a little closer, sitting on her knees. Gillion’s hand was in her lap, she tested the waters and ran the hand on his knee up to his waist.
Gillion just watched her hands creep closer, not fully sure what to do. With any other person who weren’t his co-captains he would’ve moved his leg, anything but enthusiastic about getting closer but for some reason Aslana felt safe. There was no insistence behind her touch, just comfort and exploration.
Her knee was close enough to touch him, but his body still stayed turned towards the ocean. She finally let go of his hand and used her free arm to slide it around his shoulder, the gentlest tug towards her.
She spoke nervously, breaking his awestruck look. “May I kiss you?” She finally giggled, equally nervous but with a smile.
“Yes,” he stammered out, turning to face the rest of his body to hers.
She leaned in and connected their lips in a way just as gentle but enthusiastic as her personality. He politely placed his hands on her waist, amazed by the softness of her skin. He untensed, feeling himself melt into her touch.
She was a very gentle kisser, her lips fitting into his pleasantly. She squeezed his waist, moving more of her weight to almost be on top of his lap.
She caressed the outside of his thigh, tracing star and circle patterns on it while she stole his breath away with her embrace. Her mouth parted in a smile against his, her blunt teeth grazing his lip whilst they held each other close.
They parted slowly, both of them obviously flustered and taking small breaths to regain the lost air.
“You’re quite the fine kisser, Gillion.” She laughed, finishing their kiss off with a quick peck to the cheek. Gillion was still awestruck, his brain barely moving fast enough to formulate the words needed to reply. He usually disliked being at a loss for words, but he knew that she wouldn’t make fun of him.
“Thank you, that was a very pleasant kiss,” he said breathily, almost wanting to bring his hand to his lips as they tingled.
She carefully shimmied out of his lap, her arms detaching from where they pulled him in by.
“This might be wishful thinking, but I’d love to share more,” she said in a teasing tone, standing up and shaking the sand off of her knees. “Can I meet you in front of the cove at six pm tomorrow?”
He nodded vigorously, rushing to stand up after she did. “Yes! That sounds wonderful.”
The triton’s tail had not stopped swooshing behind him, excitement and nerves always channeled straight to his extra appendage.
“I’m going to get going now because the suns going down and I don’t want to worry my sisters, but stay safe on the walk home, alright?” She nudged his non-injured shoulder, motioning at the other one.
“Of course, may no trouble follow you either tonight,” he gave her a small bow, finally slowing his tail courteously to rest by his ankles rather then wagging it around embarrassingly like an adolescent triton.
She said her goodbyes and departed, which left Gillion standing on the beach alone as the vibrant pinks and oranges transitioned to softer blues in the sky and dusk began to fall. He stared out into the waves, his face still flustered at the entire interaction and his mind racing with disbelief.
He shortly put his head in his hands, muffling his mouth so that he could let out a sufficiently cathartic wail to get out all of the emotions he’d felt that day.
As he began his own trek back to the inn he thought about his other partners, and what to say. He was incredibly thankful that they were gracious enough to allow him to court more then one of them at the same time but he didn’t want them to feel left out of his other courtship efforts.
The thought of did he want to court Aslana? briefly fought its way to the forefront of his thoughts, but as soon as he could he sent it back to the depths of his mind. That was something he could figure out later.
—————-------———
When he returned to the inn he’d found the door and quickly been welcomed in by the excited faces of his co-captains (and Caspian of course). Their stuff along with them were strewn out across the standard room, enjoying the rare night of getting to do whatever they wanted together.
As he stepped in he looked around and saw Jay first, standing in front of a full-body mirror and drying her hair with a towel. She was in her sleep clothes, so he assumed she’d probably just taken a shower. Chip was lounging on the bed, his arms behind his head and his shirt loose and unbuttoned. Caspian was the one who opened the door for him, excitedly chattering at Gillion.
“Gillion! How was your exploration? Did you find anything cool on the island?” Caspian spoke excitedly, his deep voice comfortingly rumbly and familiar to his ears.
“Hey Gill! Good to see your back.” Jay called from across the room, shaking out her damp hair.
Gillion froze for a moment, unsure of how to even start the conversation he wanted to. He rung his hands nervously behind his back, not even sure why he was nervous in the first place. Was he scared his partners would be angry even though they said it was okay? Would they disapprove of Aslana? Had he somehow done something wrong?
He had a guilt he couldn’t quite place, but didn’t want to bug them all with that when he had more important things to say.
“Ah, they went well, I walked around the island and observed many of the new local installations and paths.” It wasn’t technically a lie, he just wanted to wait to bring it up in whatever he thought was the right context.
He guessed that Caspian probably picked up on the apprehensiveness of his tone, the Genasi was always seemingly a master of deciphering shifts in tone. Almost on cue they gave him a small eyebrow raise, one with a little bit of concern more then anything at his quieter tone of voice.
Before he could respond to that though Chip’s voice grabbed his attention, must have seen the fresh bandage on his arm. “Dude, did you get hurt?”
His eyes were opened, pointing concerningly at the bandage that was wrapped tightly around the tritons upper arm. The phrase made the other two snap their focus to Gillion’s arms, waiting for his response.
He couldn’t blame them, he’d had an extensive history of hiding his injuries from them in the past. “It’s nothing to worry about, I promise-“The three of them looked at him with apprehension, a tiny bit of disbelief. “I promise! It’s properly wrapped and everything, I don’t wish to concern you.” He gave his arm a couple of circles for good measure to show it was functional, just sore.
Caspian’s face softened next to him, nodding. Jay still looked like she wanted to inspect it herself, but accepted the answer.
The triton walked towards the bed, motioning towards the spot next to Chip. He opened his arms, allowing the triton to bury his head into the human’s chest and hold him. “We believe you Gill, we just worry about you sometimes,” Chip said with a softness reserved for him. “How’d you get it?”
Gillion rolled on his back, laying on Chip’s arm. Caspian sat himself at the foot of the bed, curious as always. Even Jay looked like she wanted to know as she brushed her hair facing him.
“Nothing too dramatic or glorious; I was walking the path next to the beach right outside of town and I heard some commotion, like someone needed help. There was a group of dastardly bandits who’d cornered Aslana, so I rushed to assist her and one of them simply got the jump on me with a knife and grazed my shoulder.”
He couldn’t help but motion dramatically along with his story, narrating the events. Caspian leaned in close, and Chip looked impressed. Jay shook her head lovingly. “You can never turn that bad-guy-sniffer of yours off, huh?” She teased.
“That’s awesome!” Chip said, giving him a light shoulder nudge.
“I’m glad you were okay, I’m assuming so was Aslana?” The Genasi asked.
He nodded, “A little shaken up, but she was fine. She was kind enough to take me somewhere private and patch me up.” His cheeks felt warm again, a giddy feeling remembering her gentle touches to his shoulder and chest.
He tried to keep a straight face and a calm tail, but Caspian’s gossip-loving eyes immediately trained on the blush on his cheeks. Curse his awfully observant boyfriend.
Gillion swiftly buried his face in Chip’s chest to hide how hot his cheeks felt at the thought. He felt Chip tense under him, and then speak up. “What’s wrong? I didn’t mean to pry, we just wanted to make sure you weren’t hiding a big injury from us—“
He immediately realized that Chip had taken his swift denial as a different tone, one of discomfort or distress. It was very considerate and he appreciated it, but his stress wasn’t the upset kind.
He poked half of his face out, noticing that Jay and Caspian’s eyes also reflected a twinge of worry. “Nono, you didn’t say anything to upset me! You’re very considerate, more then I think I deserve, I just…..” He sighed, sitting up against the headboard where Chip also leaned and detaching his face from where he had hidden it. “…..had an interaction of an unfamiliar nature with Aslana.” he admitted.
He expected them to catch on, but they just looked at him with confusion. Jay set down her hairbrush, finally tying up her hair and joining Caspian on the bed. “What kind of ‘unfamiliar nature’?” she questioned.
“She doesn't seem like the kind of person to be upset at you for getting hurt, that was a total accident.” Chip pitched in. Caspian said nothing, just raising his eyebrow subtly at Gill, the triton was sure he’d already caught on.
“We had an interaction of……a romantic nature?” He admitted, saying it like the words were unfamiliar to him.
Jay’s jaw dropped, her eyes wide in surprise. Next to her Caspian’s eyes had lit up, his thin whiptail lashing back and forth behind him excitedly. Chip let out a choked noise, shaking his head in disbelief.
The brown-haired pirate beside him was the first to break the bewildered silence. “You? Her? Romantic nature? Holy shit.”
“Oh my gods! Gillion! This is huge—You’ve gotta tell us everything!” Jay grabbed his knee, shaking him.
“I knew it! I knew something happened today! I could feel it,” Caspian proclaimed, equally excited. “Go on! Tell us what happened!”
They were gathered around him like children waiting to hear a story, which made him laugh. He twisted his fingers, unsure where to start. “Well-uh, after she assisted me with my injury we started talking about the reef and our homes and she took me to see some of the shops that sell things that you seldomly find outside of the Undersea and we walked and talked for a good couple hours.”
“The suspense.” Caspian whispered dramatically.
“After that we returned to the beach and suddenly she asked if she could kiss me, and we did, and it made me feel like I had schools of fish swimming in my chest again—something I hadn’t felt since you all kissed me for the first time.” He said the last part just above a whisper, embarrassed.
“That’s disgustingly adorable, I feel like I’m going to barf.” Chip deadpanned, and Jay whacked his knee.
“How romantic!” Caspian feigned swooning, giggling.
“That’s really sweet, Gill. She seems like a really nice girl.” said Jay, smiling at him.
“And it’s something you are all okay with? She asked me to make sure she had all your permissions before she initiated anything and asked me to dinner with her tomorrow.” He was a little nervous, this was never something he was taught how to navigate.
The three of them in front of him looked amongst each other, sharing silent nods. Caspian spoke up first, intertwining the tip of his tail with Gillion’s. “I know my role is more then platonic but less then romantic, but I have no issues with it. There’s nothing that makes me happier then seeing you happy with someone.”
The triton wanted to wrap him in a hug, hold him close to let them know how much he appreciated them. Chip spoke up next, a reassuring hand on his knee. “Same here, I don’t mind sharing you. Plus, I can totally act as your wingman!”
Jay rolled her eyes at him. “I don’t think he’s qualified to give any romantic advice whatsoever. But, I’m totally with Cas and Chip on this one. I’ve never personally been in a relationship where my partner has dated other people besides ours but I think as long as we’re honest with each other it works out, I like seeing you happy.”
Gillion felt a warbled trill crawl up his throat, coming out as a happy noise in response to them.
“Thank you all, truly. I always thought that there was something wrong with how I loved because I could envision myself with multiple people, not just one. I was scared it made me some kind of deviant, but you’ve all shown me that it’s okay.” He said, choking up on his words as he felt the strength of his emotions bleed into his tone.
The first pair of arms to wrap around him were Chip’s, because they were closest. His nimble tan arms threw themselves around Gillion’s shoulder, pulling him to hug him back. Next Caspian joined in, jumping up to the spot next to where Gillion lie and letting his arms occupy the space around his waist in an equally tight hug. Jay was quick to follow, squeezing in between the two of them to hug him with her head resting on his shoulder.
The group of pirates stayed like that for a moment before breaking into fits of giggling. They broke into playful shouts as Jay nearly trampled Caspian attempting to crawl under the covers as she complained about it being past her bedtime.
They quickly arranged themselves under the covers of the bed, Gillion tucked safely in the middle of their group cuddle. Right after Caspian blew out the lamp illuminating the room they all said their goodnights and the smaller fish heard a “I hope your date with Aslana tomorrow goes well” from Caspian, and then a nod and a sound of agreement from both Chip and Jay in the dark of the room.
He whispered a thankful little trill and cuddled closer into them, eternally thankful for their presence in his life.
He was starting to accept that maybe there wasn’t anything wrong with the way he loved.