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It’s Monday morning and Impulse is packing the lunch he was planning on bringing to work today, as Gem walks in. “Good morning Impy.” she says, gleefully walking to one of the kitchen counters. “Is today finally the day you’ll take my fish salad to work?” “Maybe tomorrow.” Impuls says as he puts his lunch away. “ I just packed the leftovers from yesterday's barbecue.” “Don’t you have coworkers around to help you finish that? I just want you to take some of what I made with you.” Saying this in a puppyeyed tone. “Don’t you remember that I'm starting in the field again today? So, no, I don't have any coworkers around. That is if you don’t count the fish and seals.” In a last ditch effort she spurt out “Should I make you some toast then? It’s easy to eat while driving.” “You’re not giving in are you.” When he’s ready to leave, Gem pushes him the spoken of toast in his hand and says “See you tonight.”
Finally out the door he takes a bite from the toast Gem gave him only to directly spit it out, washing it down with his water. If he wants to eat fish, he’ll make it himself, not that Gem can’t cook, she’s just not good at sea-related dishes. When he arrives at the beach, he just throws the toast to the seagulls that started flocking around him, thinking to himself “at least someone will enjoy it.” stretching and starting to place his equipment on a cart to get it to his little boat.
When he finally gets everything on board, he lets out a sigh of relief. Now his day can really start, and that’s with changing into his company mandated wetsuit. He doesn’t know why some of his coworkers whine about needing to wear a speedo under their wetsuit. Yes, it isn’t the most comfortable but it is obligatory, so they have to.
After he has finished this undertaking, he puts his purple swimming shorts on just for some comfort. Then he puts his fins and tank on. The last thing before putting his regulator in is his half mask, then he is ready to jump in the water.
This is one of the reasons why he loves this job, the weightlessness, just moving through the water without any care in the world. Now what was the first thing he was supposed to do? Ah yes, just look around, get a lay off the land. So that's the thing he spends the better part of his forenoon doing. Looking at his watch, he realises how late it is already and that his first tank is almost empty, making his way slowly to the surface, spitting his regulator out when he”s ¾ of the way there.
As he surfaces, he just lays there for a moment catching his breath. Climbing back on the boat he takes off the almost empty tank, placing it in a rack he moonwalked to and sitting next to it, taking his fins off so he can walk normally again.
After he’s done with his lunch, he picks up his notebook and just starts listing all the plants, fish and coral he saw. He starts with Macrocystis pyrifera(green kelp), Acropora cervicornis (Staghorn coral), Acropora palmata (Elkhorn coral), getting very lost in his notes. When he’s finally done with his notes, he looks at his watch, realising he’d better get back to work.
Jumping back in the water, a slight chill from the colder than he remembered water crosses his body, taking a very big breath only to release it seconds later, thinking to himself that the water should be warmer than when he started. After another ninety minutes he resurfaces, jutting down his notes again and then after taking off all his equipment he goes below deck to change from his wetsuit to his swimming shorts, taking the time to wring out the things he used.
Following this he puts his half mask back on and enters the water once more to just relax for a bit. How this often goes is, he’ll just lay there, face first just existing. This is one of the benefits of having a free diving certificate. After a couple minutes he lifts his head again, breathing heavily. Now floating on his back, he’s thankful his mask doubles as sunglasses, blocking the sun a bit.
If he could he would just stay here all day, just soaking up the sun. But reality catches up to him when looks at his watch, he realizes he has to deliver his report for today. So very begrudgingly he gets on his boat again to return to shoar.
When he arrives there, someone is already waiting for him. “Now where have you been all day?” “At work G. Did you need me for something?” He asks with a puzzled look. “Actually yes, you were supposed to take me with you today. I’ve waited at the aquarium for ages until someone came to tell me you were heading straight for the sea. So I stood there like an idiot waiting for you.” “When did they say that you had to come with?” “This morning.” “There you have the problem, like they said, I was at sea all day. If you want, I can get you to work and we will plan another day for you to come.” "Wellll, it's a kind offer, but I have my next two fully planned out. So it’s kind of useless.” “Anyway, I still need to visit there for my starting report.” “Okay, good luck then. The boss wasn’t in a good mood when I left.” “Noted”
First he went to deliver his report hoping not to anger the boss too much, but he looked very chill actually. “Hello Impulse, did you have fun going to sea again?” “Yes sir, it was nice. Here is the report you wanted by the way.” “Very well then. Now you may leave to go and relax a bit, decompress if you will. We don’t want you to get hit with a burnout do we? I know talking to people and maintaining eye contact can be hard, so go take the rest of your evening to rest, I don’t expect any reports for the foreseeable future.” “Thank you sir. Not to be rude but I don’t have a problem with eye contact. But anyway, I'll do as you say and go rest for a bit.” “If you say so, but I don't think any less of you if you had a hard day.” Sitting in his car he starts thinking about how he actually stared more at his eyebrows than his eyes.
On his way home he stops by a deli he regularly visits. When he walks in, the owner asks “The regular?” catching him off guard. “Yes, but can I also get one of those muffins this time?” “Shure, anything else?” “No, that’s it.”
While driving home he ate the muffin already and when he gets inside he starts with his sandwich that has lettuce, tomato, cucumber, egg, carrot and cheese on it. When he finishes this he takes an odd fifteen minutes or so to clean up a bit before going to take a shower.
After this he is tired, really overwhelmingly tired. So he goes to sit behind his drum kit to play a little before going to bed. But he doesn’t get to hit anything before Gem comes in to ask how his day was. “Fine but tired.” To which Gem replies “Why do you want to play then?” “Because I like it and it's like nine o’clock, I won’t go to sleep for another hour at least.” “You do you I guess.” Gem says as she exits his room.
Laying in bed he’s still hung up about his earlier conversation with his boss. As he drifted off he thought of something, but was too tired to keep thinking about it.
Coming down the stairs the next morning Impulse feels off, he can’t explain why, and Gem notices it too. “What's on your mind?” she asks. “I don’t know, I had trouble getting out of bed, getting my clothes on and even brushing my teeth. I don’t know what’s going on, and to be honest, I’m kind of scared.” “Can you go to work?” she asks worried. “I think so. I do have an easy day. If I maybe call the boss to ask” then he just goes silent. “Impulse? Impulse. Impulse!” But it’s like she’s talking to a brick wall.
When she touches him, he returns to earth with a jolt, getting kicked out of his own mind. “Don’t scare me like that! Why did you just stop talking?” “For some reason, the thought of calling suddenly makes me extremely afraid.” “Do you want me to ask it?” “No, I have to do this.” So he picks up his phone, goes to the number of his boss, but he can’t bring himself to push on the phone icon, so Gem helps a little.
“Good morning Impulse, is something wrong?” With a lot of stuttering he gets a yes out. “Can you tell me or do you want to text it to me?” “T t t text please.” “Okay, thank you for letting me know.” And then the line goes silent. “What was that?!” “I don’t know.” he says in a mild panic.
Impulse: Is it okay if I just for today dress the way I’m most comfortable?
Boss: Yes, you really didn’t have to go through all this stress just to ask me if it's okay. Just do what makes you feel best.
Impulse: Thank you.
Boss: No problem.
Arriving on the beach, he only gets the things he needs from his car. When he’s ready to go to his boat he hears a familiar voice call out to him. “Hey Impulse, how are you?” catching him off guard. “Fine for the most part, but I have to say that my boss mentioned that my eye contact off was. Like I was looking at the ground or something.” And he kind of was.
“He does seem to have a point. You don’t seem to be looking directly into my eyes.” “Phone calls suddenly also scare the living daylights out of me.” "Weird, did this start recently?” “I never really liked calls but now, even getting out of bed was hard. Normally I don’t mind doing these simple things, but now they all seem like massive mountains. Also, don’t know why, but I’m suddenly being very specific about food and clothing.”
“Do you ever have the need to just fidget with something?” As Tango’s saying this, his eyes fall in Impulse’s hand busy with something. “What are you playing with?” “This is just where I hang my knife from. Why do you want to know?” “Maybe it’s just a hunch, I could be wrong, but I think you're some sort of neurospicy.” “And now in words I understand please.” “The blunt way of saying what I wanted is, I think you are some kind of autistic.” “And why do you think that?” “Because of all the things you mentioned. You were born this way, meaning that this didn’t came out of nowhere, and no, there’s no cure if you planned on asking.”
“So you mean to say that I've just always been a walking mess?” “You’re not a walking mess. You’re simply just wired a bit differently than “normal” people. That’s nothing to be ashamed about. Remember this well, YOU ARE NOT BROKEN FOR NOT BEING ABLE TO DO SOMETHING. Do you understand?” “I think so.” “Do you want me to come along?” “No, you don’t need to.”
When he finishes his sentence Tango’s phone goes off. “Hello?” “Hey, can you come and make something at work please?” “Sure lovebird, be there soon.” “Thanks torchflame, love you.” “Love you too.” “Bye” “See you soon.” And with an audible kiss he hangs up. “Sorry, apparently Jimmy needs me. You just take it easy today.” “Okay, but I want to talk a bit more about what you said I have.” “This evening I can visit, then we can talk a bit more. Is that okay for you?” “Yeah, that’s fine. See you tonight then.” “See you tonight.”
After this whole ‘thing’, Impulse isn’t really sure about what he is or meant to be, going about his morning on autopilot, not really thinking at all. After finishing his lunch he just looks like he’s on the verge of crying his eyes out, actually doing so for quite a while, only stopping when he has literally no more tears to cry. With no one around he just feels trapped with all his insecurities now bubbling to the surface. To which he just says to himself “Why can’t you just be normal? Why?” sounding very desperate. Then he just hits himself in his face saying “Tango said I’m not broken or something. So don’t think you are”
After mentally pepping himself back up to get back to work again, he’s not aware of how his life was going to change. When he’s swimming to the fishing net he was going to cut away, he hears something from that direction. When the net comes into sight, he sees something he wants to rub his eyes for. Getting even closer he just looks on in shock at what is stuck in the net he was meant to remove. “Why are humans so useless!” The half human half fishman is shouting into the vast ocean.
Once Impulse gets over his initial shock, he asks “do you need me to help you?” As he does so, a stream of bubbles erupts from the fishman's mouth. “AHHHHHH, don’t scare me like that!” “Sorry for scaring you, let me get you out of there.” “No! Keep your hands to yourself!” “I, I just wanted to help.” To which the fishman answers rolling his eyes “You can at least look at me if you insist on talking to me.” To which Impulse snaps back with “You don’t know how exhausting it is to always just smile and wave even though there is something wrong under the surface, but you don’t know what!” The fishman just floats there stunned, as Impulse lets the weight of his words sink in, he says. “Sorry, didn’t mean to explode like that.”
An awkward silence sets in, as he just frees the fishman and then just swims away. “Hey wait. I’m sorry too. You actually look like you’re a human that doesn’t suck.” When he hears this he thinks “I don’t have the energy nor time for.” but against his better judgement he faces the fishman again. “I’m Skizz, may I know your name?” He really doesn’t want to say it, but against his will he blurts out “Impulse”. Now wanting to hide in his non existent sweater. “Nice name, fits you well. You know, you should feel honored to even talk to me.” Puffing up his chest. “Yeah sure, were you planning to do something about that thing on your arm? You’re kind of bleeding.” “What!! How!” “I can help with that, just follow me to my boat. You can trust me.” “Looks like I don’t have a choice.” “You do have a choice, I’m not forcing you to come.” Looking a bit worried he takes Impulse up on his offer.
Arriving at his boat he ditches his fins to get his first aid kit, patching Skizz up in no time. “Thank you! You’re the best human I've ever met!” “Aren’t I the only human you’ve met?” “Yes, but can’t I say that?” “You sure can say that. Maybe you’ll see me around.” “Howso?” “I’m stationed here by my boss.” “Ow, maybe I'll come and say something tomorrow.” “If you want, I can ask my housemate to make some of her fish salad.” “PLEASE DO!” “Okay okay, you don’t need to shout like that.” “Zed also says that a lott. Got to dash now. See you tomorrow.” “Can’t wait.”
As Skizz arrives home he sees his friend Zed. “Hey Zed!” “Hey Skizz, how are you?” “Good, even though I hurt myself a bit.” As he sheepishly rubs the back of his neck. “Who took care of you?” “A human. He also freed me from some net.” “A HUMAN!?!? Skizz! you idiot!” “He was nice. He even said that he’d ask his housemate for some fish salad.” “Do you hear how stupid you sound?!” “If we can trust one human, then it’s this one.” “Just stay safe if you intend on meeting him again.”
When Impulse finally gets home he is drained, heading straight for his room, even when Gem asks him something. How is he supposed to have his talk with Tango if he can’t even be bothered to go and shower? He is kicked out of his thoughts when he hears knocking on his door. “Impy, can I come in?” “Yes” after that Gem came in. “Are you so tired that you can’t even say something when you come in?” “Yes and no. Tango is also visiting tonight, we’re going to talk a bit about something.” “So you can’t say anything to me then?” "That's not what I’m saying, it’s just my social battery is kind of low.” “Did you go to the aquarium then?” “No, talking to a coworker out at sea took the wind out of me.” “But you only talked to me, Tango and another guy I don't even know.” “Yes, and I'm tired as hell now. So if you’d excuse me, I'd like some alone time now please.” “You haven't eaten yet.” “I also haven’t showered yet. So what’s the point you’re trying to make?” “You shouldn’t be this tired from talking to three people.” “Then you go and do my work for a day, I’ll do yours, or don’t you remember the whole debacle from this morning?” “I do.”
“Anyway, that coworker asked for some of your fish salad.” This perks Gem right back up. “Really?” “Yes, would I otherwise ask you to make more?” “I hoped so. Don’t you like it? " "No, it’s a texture thing. The seagulls liked it though.” She just stands there with a look of “what”. “At least I tried it.” “If he really wants some, then I’ll make some.” “Thanks Gem” “Do you want me to bring a plate of Grian’s curry?” As a spark flashes in his eye at the mention of it. “Yes please.” “That’s the Impulse I know.”
While she’s walking down the stairs, the bell rings. When she goes to open the door, she sees a Tango standing there. “Hey Gem, can I come in?” “Sure, but can you take this plate upstairs? “Okay.” Once Tango knocks on IImpulse’s door, there’s no answer. Slightly concerned he just walks in, and there is no Impulse. “Impulse!” After a couple of minutes he sees a half-clothed Impulse walking out of the bathroom. “I was showering and now I'm going to put on my jamas. Ow, food, give me a minute.” “Take your time, it’s still really warm.” After changing he digs into his plate and it still tastes like it used to, and he’s so relieved that it does. “Why doesn’t he make this more often?” “Glad to hear you’re enjoying this. Do you still want to talk or do you just want to sit here and do your own thing?” “Just do my own thing, but you can stay if you want.” “Okay, I still have some texts to send if you don’t mind.” “Don’t mind it.” Impulse says with a smile, surprisingly chill about Tango’s presence.
Once they are both done with what they were doing, Tango just says “Did you enjoy this hangout?” “Yes, nice and quiet.” “Then I’ll be on my way, we’ll talk again soon.” “I’m going to brush my teeth and then I’m going to sleep.” Good night then.” “Good night.”
When it’s like nine in morning he just jolts awake when Gem walks in to see him still laying there. “Don’t you have to be at work?” “How late is it then?” “Like nine.” “NINE! Why didn’t you come in earlier?” “I already made your lunge and the salad for your coworker.” “But why didn’t you come and say something?” “You looked so tired, I just let it be. Your boss also wouldn’t mind it.” “You are most likely right.” “I’ll be down in 10 minutes.”
As soon as he is done with his work for the morning, he returns to his boat, he hears something “You finally came. What took you so long?” “Slept in on accident.” as he rubs his neck sheepishly. “Did she make it?” Skizz asks far too excited for his own good as Impulse can only answer with “Just calm down a little, I’ll get it when I’m done with my notes.” To which Skizz answers with a sad “Okay” as he lets himself sink under the waves. When Impulse in Skizz’s words “Finally” came to sit next to him, he just said “You’re so dramatic for no reason.” To which Skizz snaps back with “And you’re so …” As he thinks about a good word, he blurts out “Autistic” not actually knowing what it means. This takes Impulse by complete surprise, looking very down all of a sudden. And Skizz realises he messed up.
“Is it that obvious?” Impulse asks, very unsure about himself. “What do you mean?” “That’s the reason I don’t directly look in your eyes. That’s the reason for a lot of things that are wrong with me.” “Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to insult you.” He seems to genuinely mean it. “You couldn’t have known that.” “I’m really really sorry.” “It’s okay. Let’s just start eating.” Impulse starts eating but Skizz is mulling something over. “No, wait a second, okay?” And then just vanishes under the waves to do god knows what.
While he is down there he just goes “No. No. Also no. Won’t do either. Perfect!” as he picks up the perfect shell to give as a sorry gift. When he resurfaces he gives Impulse this shell and apologizes once more. “This is a nice shell, thank you.” This makes Skizz’s heart skip a beat, as he sinks til his nose is under. “I, I just remembered that Zed needed my help with something.” “Oh, okay, have fun.”
When Skizz leaves he realises that he didn’t eat his fish salad, but he just feels weird, like he has sea butterflies in his stomach. Whilst not really sure why, it started with Impulse’s comment. As he sees Zed, he feels the need to say this. “Hey Skizz, back so soon?” “Zed, I have a problem.” “What is it?” “Well, I have this weird feeling in the pit of my stomach. Like I ate a but ton of sea butterflies.” “You’re in love my friend.” “I’m in love with him?” “Wait, you’re talking about the human!” As Skizz just floats there, in the same shock he put Zed in. “Wait, wow, hold it, I’m in love with a human? I’m in love with a human.” The second time he says this his voice is filled to the brim with dread. “How can I be in love with a human, this isn’t supposed to go this way.” “If he doesn’t feel the same, that makes it simple.” “I guess you’re right.” “What’s the problem then?” “Nothing then.”
The next couple of days are relatively the same, with Skizz’s feelings only growing, but when Impulse doesn’t show up for two days he grows worried. What if he in fact doesn’t like Skizz and he is just kind for the reason of being kind? It stresses him out. Was it wrong to try and kiss him Friday? Was he moving too quickly?
When Monday rolled around, he could actually kiss him because he returned. “Where were you?” He asks full excitement. “Home resting. It was my weekend. So I didn’t need to work.” “But you couldn’t come and say hello or something? I thought something had happened.” “You really are the sweetest.” There he goes again, blushing like the fire coral in the area. “Thank you.”
Yet another week goes by and Skizz notices a shift in Impulse's demeanor. “Would it be weird if I said I wanted to practice kissing with someone on a pillow? “That isn’t weird.” After half an hour, they are swimming to some plant Impulse wanted to see. As Skizz just stops. “Something wrong?” he signs “Can we go to the surface?” With a nod they start ascending. When they surface, Skizz turns to Impulse as he closes the distance between them. He places his hands on Impulse’s shoulders as he gets a worried look from him. Then he just plasters his lips on Impulse’s and leans into the kiss. When they separate, Impulse just asks “What was that for?” “I love you!” as an awkward silence sets in.
Skizz just excuses himself and then swims off. Impulse on the other hand though also quite shaken by what just happened, didn’t fully dislike it. If he was honest with himself he actually was waiting on this moment. When Skizz returns home he just goes straight to his room, way too ashamed of himself to even say a thing to Zed. “What’s wrong buddy?” he asks Skizz. “I kissed him! and now he looks like he doesn’t want to see me anymore!” He explains in a devastated tone. “Poor you, but did you ask for permission?” “No, it came out quicker than I thought.” he says in a sniffly tone. “To be honest, I’m not surprised then.”
After a couple days of moping around in his bed and not taking care of himself, Skizz hears knocking on his door. “Can I come in?” “If it’s to mock me, then no.” “I have a surprise for you.” “A seaweed pie to tell me how big of an idiot I am?” “No, a necklace. So you can talk things out with your lover.” “What is a necklace going to help?” “Your grandma made it.” At the mention of his grandma the door swings open and a very energised Skizz stands in the opening. “She also said that once you’re on the beach, you need to go to the building with the black roof. There you can get some human clothing.”
With a dash Skizz is out the door and on his way to the beach. It also happens to be Saturday, so Impulse is home. When he reaches the beach, he puts on the necklace and breathes out all the air in his lungs. Then he does a roll, and look at that, he has legs. He doesn’t question his grandma’s magic, he is just thankful.
His first steps are wobbly and he falls over once or twice, but gets the hang of it pretty quick. So now on to that building he was meant to visit.
Once he enters he sees a tall man standing behind the counter. “You’re Skizz right?” “Yes” “Then let's get you some clothes.” He comes out of the changing room fully clothed with a white tank top, some shorts and some red sneakers. “It suits you” “Thanks. Do you by any chance know where someone named Impulse lives?” “Covestreat 26” “Thank you.” “No thanks.”
When he finally arrives at the mentioned address, he can’t help but be a little nervous. He rings the bell, but nobody comes to open. After a bit of waiting the door finally opens to his shock, and in the door stands an as shocked Impulse. “I just wanted to come and say sorry.” As he suddenly just gets hugged. “It’s okay, I actually liked it.” In all his excitement he just tackles Impulse, as shirtless as he may be, to the ground and asks “May i?” to which he gets a yes. So he kisses him with all the passion he can, to which Gem asks, also shocked “So you’re gay?!” “I guess so.” is all she gets. When they get off the floor, Impulse says “I’m going to change, you can come if you want.” As they are going upstairs Gem gestures to Skizz to stay for a moment. “If you ever break his heart, I will break you. Understand?” As she gets a slightly horrified nod. After that Skizz scurries up the stairs.