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Abyss is sitting over in the corner looking gloomy again, Electric Eel noticed, but he isn't about to drag them out into the spotlight and force them into his way of life, with its loud music and flickering lights. He knows better than that by now.
"Relaxin'?" Eel plops onto the couch next to them, spreading his arms on the back with a drink in hand.
"Hardly." They don't move from their position, looking like a sculpture more than a person.
"Wanna go outside for a bit?" Abyss looks around, barely moving their head, and nods so subtly that nobody but Eel could notice. So he stands up, downs the rest of his cocktail in one gulp (burping loudly afterwards) and extends a hand to his friend. They grab it, slipping into his grasp as they are used to, softly, but without hesitation.
Abyss' hands are neither warm nor cold, as though blending in with the temperature of the surroundings. In that way, they often feel almost invisible, when they close their eyes and hide in a dark corner, becoming but a shadow of the vibrant city life.
"Feel better?" Once they're outside, Eel lets go of Abyss' hand, which longs to return to the warmth before retreating back into the comforting darkness. Eel puts both his arms behind his head and leans against the graffiti-covered wall of the bar.
Abyss doesn't reply. Their face reads indifferent composure, as it always does, but their body is tense. They stare into space with tired eyes as their lips whisper soundlessly. Eel was never really sure what to do in situations like this. Even when Abyss assures him afterwards that him just being there is enough, Eel can't help but feel that he's supposed to do something more, anything, and yet he ends up feeling like he's only hurting them more by trying. He almost pulls out a cigarette on reflex, before remembering that Abyss can't stand the smell, so he continues to stand motionlessly, running his eyes over every individual metal plate covering the shaky wall while scrambling for things to say.
"Wanna go see the stars?" He blurts out, probably a bit too loud, judging by Abyss' subtle shiver. And he knows it's not possible. Wandercrab is deep, deep underwater, and, even if these finless, tailless creatures could swim up, they would never reach the surface. 'A man can dream', Eel always says, but even he feels a little stupid in the moment, and he can almost hear Abyss say 'Do not be absurd' in response.
But they say, "Yes."
Life returns to Eel's eyes and he stares at his friend like he'd seen a ghost. Abyss turns away, as though embarrassed. Eel can't help but smile. "Then let's do it." It's a habit he has, of saying things without thinking, of treating his obstacles as games. Abyss has called it contagious before, and Eel's heart fluttered when they barely audibly laughed with relief.
"You want to see something you cannot reach." They say with a strict but fond tone.
"You said you wanna see 'em too!" Eel burst out, relocating his restless hands to his pockets where he fidgets with his cigarette pack
"I would. But I don't wish to weigh myself down with impossible hopes." Abyss folds their arms and shifts from one foot to another, turning to Eel and staring him down with their striking eyes. Eel battles his desire to comment on how hot he thinks they are, though he could bet it was visible on his face.
"Hey, havin' hopes means it's not impossible!" Eel smiles, baring his sharp teeth. Abyss chuckles.
"Your relentless optimism never ceases to amaze me."
"This is like the fifth time ya told me that."
"It bears repeating."
They laugh, both of them, at vastly different volumes and in vastly different ways. Eel's loud cackling drowns out Abyss' quiet snicker, and, for a little while, they can only hear a pleasant tune of each other's voices. It is only a short moment, but Eel knows it will get etched into his heart forever.
"...I do want to." Abyss utters quietly. "...See the stars."
Eel has been going through all the possible ways to get there in his head since the moment he suggested the idea, but he came up completely blank. He was starting to feel nervous, guilty even, for promising something he couldn't deliver.
The street noise suddenly became deafening, and the poor cigarette pack was probably crumpled at this point. Eel looks away, eyes furrowed deep in thought, and he doesn't even notice how Abyss moves closer and sits down on the pile of boxes next to him. He only notices when Abyss says:
"I know someone who can tame manta rays and have them carry people on their backs."
"For real?! Why didn't ya say so sooner!" El exclaimed with relief. "Who is it?"
Abyss looks at Eel expectantly, raising one eyebrow. "What?! Is it a riddle or somethin'?" Abyss sighs, and only then does it suddenly hit Eel. "You mean Mocha Ray?!"
Abyss turns away. Their fingers tense. "It might take a while to get there. And I am not sure I want to see that place again. Not yet."
Eel still doesn't know even half of what happened to Abyss, and they realize that. Their musings may as well be nonsense to him, but it's enough to understand that whatever that place is, or was, Sugarteara is a painful topic for them.
"If you tell me where to go, I'll get there and back with them before you can blink once."
Abyss doesn't move. The lights blink. Eel waits.
"... You really don't stop at anything, do you."
"It's not in my style."
* * *
The ray is big enough to comfortably carry 3 people and more, and it slowly, carefully ascends to the unfamiliar land of the ocean surface.
"So, you two have seen the stars already?" Eel asks.
"Yes. Various rituals and ceremonies were carried out under the moonlight," Mocha Ray explains.
Abyss silently watches the sea life pass by, swimming away in fear before approaching. The occasional fish that's unlucky to meet their gaze freezes and begins floating belly up, paralyzed and helpless. Even though Eel sits shoulder to shoulder with them, holding their hand, if he looks away for even a moment, it feels like they disappear. He can only scoot closer and squeeze their hand tighter to lend them his warmth.
"It'll be my first time," Eel says, tingling with excitement as the water around becomes brighter. The tiny electric shocks he gives remind Abyss that they're alive.
"I'm sure you are going to love them." Mocha smiles.
Once they reach the border between water and air, Mocha drops the pair off at a series of rocky islands. Standing underneath the water's surface, Eel's heart is pounding. It's as though he's at the edge of the world, and should he make another step, he will fall into the outer space. It feels wrong, it feels exciting, it feels dangerous, it feels exhilarating. By contrast, Abyss dips their head into the air above like it's no big deal, and gets onto the rock.
"What are you waiting for?" Mocha asks.
"I..." Eel's voice shakes. "Is it weird that I'm kinda scared...?"
"It's going to be okay."
Eel's face is illuminated by the faint blue light, and even from under the water, he sees the vast black ocean they call the sky, and in it, swimming peacefully, the big glowing crescent they call the moon. He takes a deep breath. He jumps out of the water.
It's cold. Everything feels so light, like he could fly up and touch the sky. And the stars shine like a giant spilled glittering powder everywhere. He can do nothing but stare in awe. For the first time in his life, it dawn on him just how big this world truly is.
Abyss extends their hand. Eel looks at them, illuminated by the moonlight, and against the backdrop of countless stars, they shine the brightest. He slowly reaches his hand out, and Abyss grabs it, a little impatiently, and helps pull him up onto the rock. Mocha lets them know they will remain nearby until the pair decides to leave, and dives back underwater.
Eel shivers when the lightest of breezes blows on his wet body, and shudders with every drop of water streaming down his face and falling onto the rock. His heart beats faster and faster. Such a surreal feeling. The rock underneath him is dry, it becomes darker in places where its wet, where the moisture seeps beneath the cracks and becomes dry again. The Earth's gravity suddenly gets overwhelming, but at the same time, he feels as though he is flying.
When he finally remembers reality, he turns his head to see Abyss' back. They're looking the other way, somewhere far beyond what he can see, probably. They don't look nearly as curious and enamoured with the surface, but their hunched back suggests uneasiness. Maybe seeing such a vast sky after spending years in the dark, suffocating depths is a little much.
"So, it's not your first time either?" Eel breaks the silence. He lets himself lean on Abyss, so now they're sitting back to back and wet clothes uncomfortably stick to his skin. Neither pulls back.
"... Been a while," Abyss whispers, their voice blending in with the quiet waves.
"It's beautiful." Eel whispers even quieter.
He has heard about the stars before, of course. Else, he wouldn't have offered it. But it didn't feel real, being here, looking up and seeing the glimmer of more colors than he thought existed, of each and every star twinkling in its own rhythm, of myriads and myriads of them joined in a dance that spans the skyscape, forming intricate patterns and singing along to the ocean's waves. For a second, the sea and the sky join together as one, and he feels like the slip from the rock and fall in, join the stars in their celebration, never to return.
He feels his way to Abyss' hand and wraps his fingers around it. It's almost invisible again, even without the murky water in the way, and he's not sure they're there still, even though the vest still stuck to his back is hard to mistake for anything else.
"You alright?"
Abyss doesn't reply.
"Wanna lie down?" Eel turns around a little bit, enough to see them with a corner of his eye. "My neck hurts starin' up like this."
Abyss shifts from their place and lies down, Eel follows right after and takes a spot close. He puts his arms under his head and crosses his legs.
"Yeah, no matter how ya spin it, this is no mattress, bahaha!"
"There are... So many stars, aren't there."
"Yeah, it's kinda crazy."
Eel rubs his nose, then frantically shifts his hand around, unsure of where to put it, before landing right back into the familiar hold of Abyss' hand. Their fingers curl slightly around his.
"Don't they kinda look like soda bubbles?"
"...Soda bubbles?"
"Don't you see it?" Abyss stares up with a focused expression. "They totally look like bubbles. And the sky is the soda! Man, you'd need a thousand billion hundred trillion lifetimes to drink all that soda."
"And you still wouldn't be even halfway done."
"No way it's THAT big."
"It is." Abyss sighs. "There are more skies just like this beyond what we see. And they stretch out for infinity."
"For real?! And they're also all full of stars?!"
"Uh-huh."
"And there's someone out there lookin' at 'em just like us."
"Just like..." Abyss' fingers twitched. "Us..."
It was like a jolt of electricity ran through Eel's entire body and made his heart pump faster. It's not common to hear Abyss stumble on their words like this, so why did they...?
"... That's an insane amount of soda." Eel mutters.
Abyss snickers and suddenly breaks into a laugh. They laugh, so loud, unrestrained. They turn to their side and curl, holding their stomach, taking quick shallow breaths in-between repeating Eel's phrase. Eel can't even bring himself to share this moment with them. He can only watch while his cheeks burn and his heart threatens to explode and kill him right there. Abyss turns to their other side and meets his eyes, and their smile fades. They go silent and stare at him, their face filling with color. Good heavens, they're beautiful.
"I'm sorry," they say and sit up, turning away and towards the sea.
Eel bounces up and puts a hand round their shoulders. They flinch. "Nah, nah, I'm the one who's sorry! I was s'possed to laugh with ya, but instead I made it awkward." He pats them a couple of times. They bury their face in their knees.
"That was..."
"The best night of my life. Should we go back now?" He leans forward, trying to sneak a glance at Abyss' face. They clutch at his vest.
"Let's stay a little while longer."
Eel rests his head on Abyss' shoulder. They tense, but soon ease into it. Slowly, their skin becomes warm again. They relax and uncurl. They lean into Eel's embrace and listen to him ramble about sparklers and garlands. In turn, they show him constellations, which they're surprised to learn he's never heard about. It's difficult to see where exactly they're pointing, so after another failed attempt, he just savors the warmth of their skin on his. For a few hours, maybe more, maybe less, they chat about whatever they can think of, laugh together, find their own constellations and examine the moon's patterns. Soon, Eel's eyelids become heavy, his speech slurred, and he leans more of his weight on Abyss. Everything goes silent. They hold him in their arms, stroke his hair, hum an unfamiliar song. If time stopped right there and never moved forward, he would be in paradise.
***
Eel wakes up in his house. It's dark and there's no music outside, only sound the city's heavy steps shaking the ground. He stares up at the ceiling, contemplating whether everything before was even real or not. There's a warm and cozy feeling on his chest. Okay, the kissing part was definitely a dream, but the rest was in fact real. He smiles.
"We should do that again sometime."