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Gillion had heard Chip scream before.
He’d heard him shout, and curse, and groan in pain. The crying, however, was new.
Gently moving Pretzel out of the way, he raised a leg over the edge of the barrel and pulled himself the rest of the way out of the water, the wooden deck creaking softly below him as he quickly glanced in the direction of Jay’s hammock.
Despite the lurching of the boat and the sound of Chip’s soft sobs echoing through the room, she slept fast and deep.
Good, Gillion thought, she needs the rest.
After a moment of observation, he turned towards the choked whimpers and mutterings emitting from the other hammock.
Chip was lying on his side, curled up in a ball and shivering violently. His eyes were closed, but they moved frantically beneath his eyelids, as if looking for something, or someone.
Without hesitation, Gillion laid his hand against the young pirate captain’s forehead, pulling it back just as quickly when his naturally moist skin began to steam and dry out.
“Chip?”
He had tried to whisper, but silence had never been his strong suit.
“Are you all right?”
With a small hum, Chip turned his head toward the Triton, but his eyes stayed closed as he opened his mouth, ever so slightly, sound slowly moving past his dry, cracked lips.
“Gill? Gill, why aren’t you wet?” the words were barely an exhalation, but they concerned Gill nonetheless.
“What do you mean, Chip? I’m just as moist as I always am. See?” with a frown, Gillion once again lay his hand against Chip’s flushed skin, this time over the weeping red claw mark across his chest. Brows knit, he called briefly upon the gods, sending a small bit of healing energy through his veins and into the feverish rogue.
“Chip?” he tried again, leaning slightly over his patient to examine his face. After a moment, he brought his free hand up to squeeze Chip’s shoulder.
“It’s time to wake up now, Chibo!”
A moment passed, then another. Taking a breath, Gillion prepared to do…well, he wasn’t sure exactly what, but it would wake Chip up.
What if he had fallen into Niklaus’s realm again? Was the wish doctor causing this, or making it worse? He moved his hands from Chip’s chest to grasp him by the shoulders, and was about to shake his friend awake, when big brown eyes snapped open, unfocused and filled with tears.
“Gillion?” his voice was small, and raspy, and sent a pang of protective pain through Gillion’s chest.
“Chip? Chip, what’s wrong? Was it Niklaus, or— oomf!” caught off guard, he toppled into Chip’s arms, instinctively wrapping his own around Chip’s middle.
“What is it, what’s wrong?” he intoned, quickly running a hand down his co-captain’s back, half-soothing, half checking for injuries. Besides the burning fever, he seemed unhurt. So why was Chip clinging to him like he was the only pool of water in a sun-scorched desert?
After a few seconds and a few more half-swallowed sobs into Gillion’s shoulder, Chip took a deep breath and pulled back, looking down at his friend with a mix of worry and embarrassment, only amplified by the reddish shade of his cheeks.
“Sorry, Gill. I’m, uh… I’m alright now. Just a bad dream.” he cleared his throat, wiping hastily at his eyes and nose in an attempt to regain some semblance of dignity, difficult as it was while still being held.
“You don’t look alright.”
“Yeah, well, you woke me up, buddy. It’s not my fault I’m groggy.” he snapped, his glare undermined by the tears that still clung to his eyelashes.
Gillion’s face fell almost immediately, and he slid slowly off of the hammock.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have—”
With a sigh, Chip swung over the edge of the hammock, wincing slightly as the movement pulled on his wound.
“I didn’t mean it like that, Gill. I’m glad you’re here.” And not burned to a crisp, the tiny, shaken voice in his head added. “Jay still sleeping?”
“I think so,” Gillion glanced in her direction, only to turn back when he heard a sound from Chip’s stomach. “Are you hungry?” with a quick nod, Gillion ensured Pretzel would watch over the sleeping woman while he tended to Chip.
His confidence returning, Chip shrugged his shoulders and smiled, already walking towards the stairs that would lead above deck.
“Yeah, I could eat.”
———————————————————————
“Right, so we have… apple juice, orange juice, pink juice, purple juice—“ Gillion stood on a wooden chest, rifling through the ship’s cabinets, while Chip sat on the counter next to him, legs swinging off the edge.
“I was kind of hoping for some more solid options, y’know?” he glanced over at the Chosen One, quietly admiring the way Gill’s hair shimmered in the moonlight, the greenish hue taking on an almost silver tint.
He still couldn’t believe it, sometimes. Gillion Tidestrider was possibly the most important person he would ever meet. The champion of the undersea, hero of the deep, singer songwriter of… he shook his head, smiling as the ever-growing list of titles ran through his mind.
The point was, Gillion was special. He was beautiful, and powerful, and kind, and for some reason, he was also balancing precariously in the ship’s kitchen, wearing flimsy fish pajamas and making Chip a midnight snack.
Half an hour later, they were sitting in the corner of the kitchen in a haphazardly constructed blanket nest with a bowl of grapes, a plate of plain crackers, and a half-full bottle of rum that had been brand new when they left Allport.
———————————————————————
“I think if we were worms, Jay would put us on a hook and go fishing,” Gillion slurred, lying on his back on the slightly damp blankets.
“Yeah, she probably would. But I still think she’d be sad about it,” Chip sighed, sitting up slightly, “So. Wha… what kinda things d’you do for fun in the undersea? Ride, like, um, seahorses?” Chip took a long pull of the rum, making a slight face as he swallowed.
He’d never liked the taste of burnt sugar on his tongue, but he wasn’t going to turn down a drink.
Come to think of it, he didn’t like the taste of most alcohol. It all burned going down, and was either sickly sweet or too bitter to stomach. Either way, he liked being drunk enough to suffer through the drink.
“…have you ever tried a sloshie?” Gillion was saying when he tuned back in.
“What the fuck is a sloshie?”
Gillion’s eyes lit up with an almost manic glee as he snatched the bottle from Chip and held out a hand for Chip to take, pulling up the slightly taller man with ease.
“Oh, you’re going to find out!”
A sloshie, Chip discovered, was largely made up of whatever ingredients were on hand. In this particular iteration, it took all the rest of the rum, half a cup of pineapple juice and coconut milk, and a cup of ice.
At the moment, Gillion was blending it all together by rapidly freezing and melting the ice, and swirling it around rapidly in the cup. His brain told him he should tell Gill to stop before they woke everyone up, but he didn’t have the willpower to interrupt him.
Chip took the glass he was handed a few minutes later, and grinned, if a bit warily.
“You gonna show me how to drink this thing, big guy?” He asked, raising an eyebrow as he leaned back against the counter.
Gillion chuckled as he raised his own glass slightly, and said, “You drink it like you drink anything, Chibo. You haven’t forgotten how to drink, have you?” the small quirk of his lips softened the taunt, and Chip couldn’t quite resist watching it quiver with restrained laughter.
“Ah… no.” he responded, raising the icy slush to his own mouth and tilting back the cup.
“It’s good, right?!” Gillion exclaimed.
Chip nodded, relief flooding his body as the smooth, cold drink cooled down the burning in his chest. It did little to subdue the crimson flush on his face, though, when Gillion put a hand on the back of his neck.
He was drunk. That much was clear. Gill’s eyes were round, and his pupils dilated as he stared straight at his friend’s face.
“Chip.” he stated, as if the name was a fully rational expression of a thought, and not just the start of one.
“Gillion?” he replied, a bit hesitantly.
Looking into those blue eyes, Chip found his mind whisked away to that day on the isle of ire, a few months back.
To the feeling of Gill’s lips on his own, and the certainty that all that was wrong in the world had disappeared. It had been brief, and sweet, and the best goddamned kiss of his entire life. Afterwards, he had been flustered, and shocked, and questioning so many things that he didn’t have time to think about what it might have done to Gill.
Now, though, he had plenty of time. After the incident, as he’d been referring to it in his head, Gill had seemed just the same as he always had. Still frustratingly noble, and focused, and unaffected. Still unchanged, while Chip’s whole world had been turned on its head.
Had he been more sober, he would never admit it to himself, but as it was, he’d been pining for Gillion Tidestrider for a long time.
Every so often, he’d think he saw him staring, or notice that he’d bumped into Chip’s shoulder a few too many times to be accidental. Sometimes, he imagined that Gillion blushed, when Chip teased him.
Occasionally, in the dead of night, Chip would consider waking up the sleeping man, and asking for another kiss. Then, he would scold himself for being so naive. Sure, Gillion would drown the world for him. But he’d do it for Jay, too. Hell, Gillion would probably drown the world for an ant if it asked nicely enough. That didn’t mean anything.
Besides, even if he did like Chip back, it wouldn’t be fair. He’d only made so many friends on the surface, and Chip wasn’t even sure he fully grasped the meaning of a kiss, anyways. Chip would be taking advantage of Gill’s love, if he tried to make a move. No, this was just how it was, and it didn’t matter if it was slowly driving Chip insane.
He could lose his mind. He couldn’t lose Gillion.
“Chip?” Gillion’s eyes were still bleary, but they held concern as well, “Can you hear me?”
“Huh? Yeah, yeah, I can hear you.”
Chip was still incredibly aware of Gillion’s hand on the back of his neck, and the hopeful curiosity lurking in those blue eyes.
“I wanted to ask you something.”
“Alright, uh, go ahead,” he breathed, trying to look as if his heart wasn’t beating out of his chest in anticipation.
“How do I know, if… well, if I’m interested in someone? Romantically?” he leaned forward, until he was inches away from Chip.
“Oh. Oh. Uhh… I think that’s something you have to figure out on your own.”
A moment of silence stretched between them as Chip looked away, and then back.
“Just, out of curiosity, what makes you think you like this… this person?” blank as his mind was, Chip was almost certain he’d feel better with more alcohol, so he grabbed his cup and downed the rest of his sloshie, unable to break eye contact as he did so.
“Well, he’s one of my best friends,” Gill paused, before continuing, “and he’s one of the best, funniest, smartest people I know.”
Before Chip could interrupt, Gillion had launched into his next sentence.
“I owe him everything, and even when he makes me angry, or acts like a coward, I can’t help but feel giddy. Chip, it’s interfering with my destiny!” his voice was almost panicked now, and his eyes were blown wide.
“I want to help people, but I can’t focus on them, because all I want is to be near this dumb pirate! And… and I think I might go crazy, because I think he wants to be with me too, but I can never tell if it’s real. I don’t know what it is I wanted it to mean, but I can’t even tell if it…meant anything, to him. Sometimes, I think I just hallucinated the whole thing, and the kiss never happened,” his eyes were shining with gathering tears now, searching the depths of Chip’s own as he lowered his voice.
“Because if it didn’t happen, he hasn’t been trying to pretend it didn’t. If it didn’t happen, then I haven’t been making him uncomfortable since that day. If it didn’t happen, then he’s just my friend, and the world makes sense.”
By the time Gillion had finished, Chip was shaking. A million thoughts were running through his head, but the only one that mattered was Gillion.
“Gillion,” his voice was quiet, reverent.
“Gill. Gill, it happened. It… I’m sorry, that I made you— that you felt like that, I…”
He didn’t know how it happened, but somehow the space between them closed, and he was kissing Gillion Tidestrider.
It wasn’t as good as the first time. Gill had to wrap his arms around Chip’s neck, stand on his tiptoes, and pull him down to reach, and he was more than strong enough that Chip had to grab onto a counter to keep them both upright. It was messy, and Gillion accidentally bit Chip’s lip once or twice, but Chip was willing to ignore the slight sting in favor of focusing on the fact that he was still kissing Gillion Tidestrider.
It wasn’t a bad kiss, by any means. No, Gill was a good kisser, though Chip was beginning to think he’d never actually kissed anyone before. Maybe it runs in the family, he thought giddily, remembering the stories Finn used to tell on the Midnight Rose.
After what felt like hours but was in all likelihood no more than two minutes, Chip began to wonder why Gillion seemed fine while he was seeing spots.
“Gill—“ he broke away regretfully to gasp for breath, moving his right hand up to the side of Gillion’s neck.
“Ch—chip, are you…?” Gillion let his hand drop from the back of Chip’s neck, but didn’t step back yet, eyes scanning for any sort of discomfort or injury.
“How…” he took a deep breath before continuing, “how the hell were you breathing, Tidestrider?”
Before Gillion could answer, Chip noticed the gentle movement of gills under his right hand, and huffed in laughter.
“Gills. Right. You really are something, y’know that?”
As great as kissing was, the newly present blush on Gillion’s face was the best thing Chip had seen in a long time.
Having finally caught his breath, Chip leaned down for another kiss, only to be interrupted by the slam of a door and the appearance of Jay Ferin.
“You’re such a bastard!”
If a blushing Gillion was the best thing Chip had ever seen, a sleep-deprived glaring Jay with a gun was the scariest. Her hair was a tangled lump on top of her head, and her shirt was slipping off one shoulder. Pretzel sat on her shoulder, the pink frogtopus surveying them with a look of disapproval so severe that Chip thought she might put her battle training to use.
“I don’t know what the hell you two were doing, but it was loud,” Jay snarled, taking a step closer.
Taking a step back in response, Chip mentally cataloged the pros and cons of antagonizing his co-captain further.
Pros: it was really fun to get Jay worked up, and with any luck she would let something slip that he could use to tease her for months.
Cons: somehow, the moonlight was glinting off her eyes, making them glow blue in a way that Gillion’s never did. At the moment, she looked extremely ready to live up to the Ferin name and kill a couple of pirates.
Raising his hands placatingly, he decided that, at least for now, the cons outweighed the pros.
“Sorry, Jay! We weren’t trying to wake you up! And it’s sweet of you to check on us, but you coulda gone back to sleep…”
“The last time I slept through a bunch of noise, the ship got attacked by a leviathan!” she protested, finger twitching dangerously near the trigger.
“Dugon did not attack us, it was a simple misunderstanding,” Gillion supplied unhelpfully, swaying a little as he walked toward Jay, proffering a sloshie.
“Jay, have you ever had a sloshie?”
“Have I ever had a…” she chuckled slightly, in that way she always did when she was nervous, or disappointed in Chip’s actions, before continuing, “No, Gill, I’ve never had a sloshie.”
“They’re fun!” Chip added, wiggling his eyebrows as he walked closer to Jay. The Ferin effect had begun to fade, leaving Chip with the reckless glee he always felt whenever he dragged his sister into bad decisions.
“So fun they make you kiss your co-captain?” she retorted, taking the cup from Gillion and raising an eyebrow at Chip.
“Hey, that was, uh…” struggling to come up with a good defense, and quickly going red, Chip cursed himself for assuming she hadn’t seen.
“Whatever. I wasn’t going to fall back asleep anyways.”
She raised the cup to her lips, and with a sigh, began to drink.
———————————————————————
Jay Ferin had never been good at keeping her nose out of other people’s business.
She didn’t always make the right decisions, and was sure she’d probably hurt more people than she’d helped, but no one could say she didn’t try.
So, when she’d heard the sound of ice and the not-so-dulcet tones of Gillion’s voice, her first instinct was to worry. A quick glance confirmed Chip was missing as well, and the mixture of anger, anxiety, and exasperation increased ten-fold.
Swinging out of her hammock, she debated grabbing her armor before deciding against it. If Chip and Gillion were fighting something, or, gods forbid, each other, they’d need her help yesterday. Quickly, she grabbed her pistol and turned towards the stairs, only to be stopped by an indignant squeak from Gillion’s barrel.
Turning back around and striding purposefully over to the bucket, Jay tilted her head in confusion at the pink frogtopus staring up at her. Gillion usually kept pretzel with him. What was she doing down here?
Though she couldn’t understand any of the noises coming out of the small pink mouth, the intensity of pretzel’s eyes suggested that Gillion had told her to stay.
With a sigh, she reached into the water and placed her on her shoulder. Of course. Gillion, ever the sentry, had asked her to watch Jay, to make sure she was safe. Though Jay was more confident in her abilities than that of the coral frogtopus, she had to admit the gesture was sweet.
At the sound of another crash from above, she snapped back to attention and stalked up the stairs, muttering to pretzel as she went.
“Alright. Let’s go find the bastard and his fish.”
———————————————————————
She’d been mildly curious about the kiss, to say the least, but some light prodding revealed that Chip didn’t want to share.
A few months ago, she probably wouldn’t have cared. After all, what was the fun in a having a little brother if you couldn’t make him squirm?
Something in Chip’s gaze had told her to drop it, and she had.
Maybe it was because things had finally felt steady, on the Albatross, and she was determined not to be the one to break the peace.
Maybe it was because Gillion had already launched into explanations of everything he could think of, and kept drawing her attention with absurd questions.
Maybe it was because she’d had enough of emotional strife, and also wanted to know what a sloshie really was. Either way, the kiss was soon forgotten.
“Chip,” she started, sprawled out on her back among the blanket nest, alcohol already beginning to lighten her mood, and her focus.
“Yeah?” he replied, not looking away from Gillion, with whom he’d been having a staring contest for the past few minutes.
“I want braids,” she stated simply, sitting up ever so slightly on her elbow.
“Okay? What does that have to do with me?” he asked, nose wrinkled in confusion, eyes watery.
“I want you to braid my hair, you idiot!” she exclaimed, without any real fire, though she picked up one of the loose pairs of pants that made up the outside of the nest and threw them.
“Ow-“ he toppled over easily, eyes clenching shut as he complained, “why are you such an asshole?!”
“And I believe victory is mine!” Gillion interrupted, smiling in a way that might have looked manic to anyone outside of the room, but that filled Jay’s heart with a light happiness.
“Hey, wait, that wasn’t fair, Jay sabotaged me…” he trailed off, and, sighing heavily, sat up and motioned Jay over.
“Fine, I’ll braid your hair,” he grumbled, a small smile fighting to break through his fake frown.
“You owe me a favor now, Jay Jay.”
“No, I don’t,” she snapped, already settling back with a smile as Chip ran his fingers through her hair.
After a few moments of silence, Chip began to hum an old sea shanty that Jay knew, but couldn’t recall the lyrics of. She’d learned pretty fast, when they first started sailing together, that he couldn’t stand silence. As egocentric as he pretended to be, she had the sneaking suspicion that his distaste for quiet was because it allowed him to finally hear his own thoughts.
“I didn’t know you could braid hair, Chip,” Gillion spoke up, looking at his two co-captains as he always did when he learned something new about their life before him, blue eyes betraying the hurt his tight smile couldn’t hide. Jay recognized the jealousy, and her chest ached. Gillion knew they loved him, but she could see the pain of exclusion in the lines of his face.
“He’s not the only one who can braid,” she smirked, giggling internally at the barely noticeable tug on one of the half-formed braids this comment earned.
“Come over here, Gill, I’ll show you.”
The blue-green hair was damp, as always, but surprisingly easy to work with.
Jay had never been the best braider — when she was little, Ava had done it for her, and been instrumental in convincing Jayson to let her wear it long in the first place. After… after Ava, Jay realized she’d need to teach herself. Her mother would have done it, if she asked, but the wound was still too fresh, too raw.
With a start, Jay realized that Chip was the first person she had let touch her hair after her sister. She didn’t know if that was comforting, or concerning, or a mixture of both, but it was the truth. How had this selfish, bastard of a pirate become her closest friend?
“Who taught you? How to braid, I mean?” she asked over her shoulder, letting her musings go with the tide of drunken peace.
“Aah, it doesn’t really…” he started, but seemed to think better of it.
“It was Lizzie. Lizzie taught me, on the Midnight Rose,” he explained sheepishly.
“Really?” she almost turned her head too far, just barely avoiding ripping her braids out of chip’s hand as she smiled at the thought of baby Chip braiding Lizzy’s hair. Maybe even Arlin’s beard… she couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought.
Time passed slowly, after the braiding session. She couldn’t remember what they’d talked about, but had a vague memory of a heated debate and a pillow fight, if rolled up pants from the briefcase of holding counted as pillows.
When she awoke, it was still dark, but the kind that comes right before the dawn. After a moment, she realized she was curled up at Chip’s left side, Gillion on the right. She barely moved when Chip’s eyes flew open, an ‘I’m awake!’ already starting on his lips.
“Hey, Bastard,” she smiled wistfully at him, pulling herself to her feet, only wincing slightly at the headache, “I figured I should go check the direction, make sure we’re still on course. Want to come with?”
He hesitated, for a moment, before shaking his head, slightly dislodging the messy braids he had let Gillion attempt as practice.
“Nah. Thanks though. I… need to talk to Gill.”
She raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything as she turned to leave the room. At the threshold, she paused.
“Love you, Chip,”
“I love you too.”
———————————————————————
Chip smiled ruefully as Jay’s footsteps grew fainter, turning back to where Gillion lay sleeping.
Something had broken last night. He wasn’t sure whether it was the kiss, or the braids, or the simple fact that he didn’t think he could go back to the way he’d behaved before.
That being said, the narrowly open blue eye that faced him made him want to chicken out.
Unfortunately, he was done being a coward.
“Morning,” he said softly, unsure if the triton was really awake yet.
“Good morning, Chibo!” he responded, quiet, but with an intensity that belayed the fact he’d just woken up, “Is everything okay? You look sort of serious.”
Chip took a breath, then let it out, trying not to let Gillion’s concern go to his head.
“It’s fine. I mean… I think we need to talk, but, it’s fine.”
Gillion sat up and Chip followed suit. Before he lost his nerve, the young pirate forged ahead.
“I really liked kissing you last night, Gillion. Like… I really, really liked it,” he cleared his throat as he continued, “but I think I heard you say something about how you didn’t know what you wanted it to mean. I, I might be wrong, the sloshie made everything a bit fuzzy,” he explained, before pausing.
At Gillion’s nod, he spoke again.
“Point is, you’re my best friend. I…care about you, and I want you to be happy, and I’d like to know where we stand. Does that make sense? Maybe not, I hope it does—”
“Chip.”
Gillion’s eyes were wide, and they looked more watery than usual, though it was hard to tell.
“I think I understand what you’re saying. I… don’t know if I feel the way I should. I don’t want people, like my grandfather describes,” he said earnestly, a quick shiver of disgust seeming to overtake him at the thought of his grandfather’s erotic books.
“But I do care about you. I care about you, and Jay, and the whole crew. You’re my best friends, both of you.”
As he paused for breath, Chip found himself inhaling just as deeply, gathering strength for the rejection he was sure was about to come.
“It’s just…it’s different, with you, Chip,” the fish man ducked his head slightly. Chip would almost call him shy, if such a word wasn’t an oxymoron with Gillion Tidestrider.
“I love you, and I love Jay, but differently. It’s like… the riptide pirates are my crew, and you’re my person. Also, I liked kissing you. I think I’d like to do it again, someday. Is that strange?”
the look on his face was so unguarded it made Chip want to cry. Sure, it might have been strange to some people, but Gillion had never been average. Gillion probably didn’t like sex, or overt romance. So what?
He was still Gillion Tidestrider, and he had just called Chip his person. The brunette pirate couldn’t think of a single better thing to be.
“No, nah, that’s not weird Gill. I think I get it,” he insisted, eyes beginning to water as well.
“you’re my person too. I think. I hope. Uh… if you want to be,” he finished, uncertain.
With a small sigh of contentment, Gillion scooted over to Chip, laying his head on his shoulder.
“I would like that very much, Chip.”
“Y’know, we can be like we always are, just extra-special,” Chip mused, still getting used to the weight of Gillion on his shoulder.
“Yes, and we can kiss sometimes,” Gill added nonchalantly, sitting up a bit to look at a blushing Chip.
“Yeah, and we can kiss sometimes,” Chip conceded, grinning as Gillion Tidestrider, chosen one, champion of the undersea, hero of the deep, his person, patted him gently on the cheek and settled back into his arms.
He could hear the ocean swelling outside, intermingled with the sleepy greetings of the rest of his crew, a bellow of laughter from the older Ferin on board answered by Ollie’s giggle. He was sure, if he stepped out onto the deck, he would see Alfonze steering dutifully, and Jay up in the crows nest gazing out at the sea.
Maybe he hadn’t intended it, when he’d first set out looking for Arlin, and chanced upon a brave, red-headed barmaid in the navy’s employ, but somehow, the riptide pirates had become his family, and that was something he could live with.