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Jimmy pulled harshly at his hair, blond stands slipping between his fingers as he stared wide-eyed and teary at the floor beneath him. Grian from room to room throughout the hallway, yelling loudly in as he searched every visiting room head to toe. Scar, holding onto the ledge of the pool and staring out the wide door with only his eyes and above out of the water, grimaced. Mumbo swam beside him, fully submerged yet trying his best to comfort Jimmy despite his distance and underwater setting.
His muffled words fell on deaf ears, however, as Jimmy’s ears were too busy ringing loudly to answer, leg bouncing quicker and quicker each time he heard Grian’s shoes squeak against the floor. He choked on a sob, biting harshly on his tongue in a futile attempt to stop making an abundance of noises. He swallowed back the scream on the tip of his tongue, breath speeding up as he silently begged to gods to have mercy on him.
The noise from outside the room came to a pause, and Jimmy could only bring himself to slightly lift his head and look as far up as possible.
Grian stood in the doorway, panting as stared down. He looked desperate, eyes painted with despair and cheeks flushed red. The dirty blond’s side was leaning against the white door frame, hands trembling as he built up the courage to look Jimmy in the eyes.
Jimmy could only let out another strangled sob, letting his head drop and burying his face into his hands. The two Mer present in the room were silent, likely now absent. A hand fell atop Jimmy’s shoulder before he was pulled into a hug, a head pressed gently against the back on his head.
The blond found that all energy had been drained from him the moment the shorter male had stepped back into the room, and as a result he couldn’t drag himself away from warmth of Grian, nor make the move to reciprocate the embrace.
***
Grian didn’t pull away for a long while.
It couldn’t have been comfortable to be standing for that long, and he was half leaning on Jimmy by the time the taller one ran out of tears, but Jimmy found that he didn’t mind. They both needed the contact anyways, seeing as even though he wasn’t as open about it as Jimmy or Pearl was, Grian saw the Sirens and the blond as siblings as well. Jimmy knew he was trying his best to be strong and reliable for his chosen family, trying his best to play into an eldest sibling role no matter what Pearl’s age was, so if Jimmy felt tears drip against his head, then that was between them and only them.
The two had sat in silence for what could’ve been a few minutes to an hour, not that Jimmy was in the state to tell. Neither found the energy to say anything, as words were a hassle and verbally comforting was torture. They were comfortable with soaking in the presence of someone who understood how the other felt.
Grian was seated beside Jimmy’s chair, staring at the wall with exhaustion. Jimmy himself was no better, eyes puffy and swollen as he curled up, staring longingly at the water. He couldn’t stop his thoughts from spiraling, no more tears left to cry but enough energy to tighten his hold on his legs,
If only he was a Siren. He could’ve been out there, looking for Lizzie in every grain of sand and every shard of rock. Jimmy could have avoided this whole thing, protected her from whatever she needed protecting from. He could have seen her every day instead of every month, could be useful instead of a lame, no-good, failure of a brother—
The water rippled viscously as a band thudded against the wall of the pool, before a figure burst past the surface.
Pearl looked frantic, hair ruffled and body tense, gasping harshly despite her lack of ability to breathe normally out of water. Jimmy couldn’t focus on his concern for her though, as in her arms and held beneath the water was a bleeding, unconscious bundle. A bundle of pink hair and still developing scales.
A bundle of Lizzie.
Pearl had found their baby sister.