Chapter Text
“-and then this fucker named Caspian sat down beside her instead! That was supposed to be MY seat. Don’t even get me started on how fucking miserable it is to sit in the first row of professor Tidestrider's class. That man cannot stop talking about his love life-” Says a boy with furrowed eyebrows and an exasperated tone which were clear indicators of his annoyance. He is flailing his arms around as if he is acting for an audience. He has long brown hair- open, so that he could show everyone how effortlessly beautiful it is [pointedly ignoring the fact that he has a six step hair care routine]. He wears a simple white shirt with a deep collar and a tie that is purposefully loose. He wears worn, but well kempt, brown pants that compete his look.
“Chip, have you ever considered the fact that they might just be good friends and she, in fact, does not know you exist.” says a girl with a slightly mocking tone. Her hands are locked behind her neck, her crop top riding up to show the jewel of her belly piercing. Her pants are two sizes too big, being held up by an army of belts. Her boots look like the ones that come with action figures, large and impractical. Her long, fiery red hair is unkempt, but in a way that makes you infatuated, curious about the secrets it hides. Jay has stopped counting the number of times Chip has brought up Edyn into a conversation. Her teasing him about his stupid little crush is the least she deserves for putting up with his ramblings.
The cool evening breeze blows through the Albatross campus and the sun is only beginning to set. Students are sitting in intermittent squads all around the expansive open garden. Many voices are overlapping together- some confessions, some gossip, some breakups- making our story feel as though it’s an extremely small piece in a huge jigsaw puzzle.
“How could she not! I’m Chip-” he is, thankfully, cut off by a loud and boisterous voice disrupting everyone around him, not that the boy notices.
“Buy a pie to save to save the frogtopi!” shouts a young triton. Short but it is hard to ignore the fact that he is well built. He wears a loose black sleeveless turtleneck, with a skirt that loosely resembles ocean waves. His long green hair is tied in a man bun but some strands have become loose and perfectly frame his face. He stands behind a stall selling pies. There is something familiar about the guy that Jay cannot put a finger on.
As the man he was selling a pie to walks away, he locks his eyes onto Chip’s and smiles widely. Her friend visibly gulps and tugs on his shirt collar as he tries to hide his hesitance with a crooked smile when the triton waves him over. He is walking slowly, gripping the fabric of his pockets, trying to hide his lack of silver.
“Hey man, really appreciate what you’re doing but we’re not in-”
Jay then sees those blue eyes and Lizzie’s voice fills her brain.
“Oh don’t worry about him, he’s Edyn’s brother, do you know Edyn? Anyways his name is-”
“Aren’t you Edyn’s brother, uh- Gillion?”
She feels wide eyes boring into her skull. A quick side eye shows Chip’s mouth agape, telepathically trying to tell her to explain the situation. She smiles sympathetically and shifts her gaze back to the triton.
“Yes actually.” His eyes light up. “you know her?”
Know is the kindest word one can say in this situation, especially considering that fact that Chip has not stopped talking about her for the past month, but Jay doesn’t say that to preserve the little dignity that her friend has.
“We don’t know her, more like know of her. Same class and stuff.”
“Then you must know about the beach clean-up she is organizing, you should come! The plastic on the beach disrupts the frogtopi migration, so we have organised the clean-up.” Gillion exclaims as he forcefully shoves a pamphlet into her hands.
Before Jay can respond Chip basically shouts out, “Yes!”
Oh nonono-
“I-I mean yes we will be there tommorrow at-?”
“4 PM, Loffinlot beach.” The triton responds.
“Thank you!” Chip shouts with a wide grin as he grabs Jay’s arm and drags her away from the stall. From the corner of her eye she can see the other man waving back.
“What are you doing? I have a test the day after, I can’t slack off.” Jay snaps as she rubs her wrist after snatching her arm back.
“Look I don’t know what kind of competition you have with my sister-” Jay grumbles something under her breath “-but what I do know is that you need a break. Getting a bad grade on a test and losing isn’t the end of the world. Also consider this as payback for never telling me that Edyn has a brother.”
“You didn’t know? Chip, you’re the worst stalker I’ve ever met.”
“First of all I’m NOT stalking her. Secondly, that doesn’t even matter anymore because I am going to go to the clean-up and she will what a selfless person I am.” He says proudly as he dusts off his hands.
“Chip this is not convincing at all.”
Chip sighs, puts his hands in his pockets and nonchalantly adds “Well then I would have to eat the pretzels I was gonna treat you with all by myself. What a shame, tsk tsk tsk.”
Jay finally gives in. “You know what?” she pushes her hair back from her face. “Fuck it.”
***
The smell of the ocean reaches Chip’s nose before he can even see it. He lets the salty, fresh smell and the cool breeze envelope him as he takes a moment to stop and smile. Growing up on the beach meant that he woke up with this feeling every day. He has hazy memories of lazy mornings where he and his sister would play video games till their foster father brought them breakfast and they all would sit together and laugh till Arlin had to go to work. He remembers how the gains of sand felt between his toes, jumping up and down as cool water tingled his feet as it washed away the sand. He remembers the incident. He remembers the day his sister left for college, being scared that his sister- the only person who truly knew him would leave him, only for his worst fear to come true. That year of school was particularly bad for Chip. He remembers swearing to never come back to the beach, a fruitless endeavour. The beach is as tied to his soul as the sand is to the water, one can never exist without the other.
“Earth to Chip,” Jay’s voice snaps him out of his daydream. She looks at him with one of her eyebrows raised. “C’mon we’re almost there. Don’t tell me you’re going to chicken out now?”
“Me chicken out? Never.” He scoffs and saunters towards the beach, intentionally bumping into Jay in the process.
He can sense her eye roll as she follows him.
“- hey John could you please help Julian and Abigail with the bags? Yes? Thank you!” Edyn smiles as her eyes shift to meet Chip’s gaze. He puts on an easy confident smile as he walks up.
“Oh hey Chip, I was not expecting to see you here.”
All the confidence he once has now been thrown out the window. He stops in his track, eyes widening and mouth shifting into a small ‘o’. MISSION ABORT MISSION ABORT MISSION ABORT.
Sensing his unstable state, Jay walks past him and shakes the other girls hand with a graceful smile “You must be Edyn then, the names Jay, Chip’s friend. A nice thing you have organized here.” She gives him a side eye saying you-owe-me-big-time-for-saving-your-sorry-ass and shifts her attention back to Edyn. Chip has never in is life ever been this grateful for his friend than now. He even considers giving back the locks of hair he stole from her. “How can we help?”
“Oh hello! Yeha um- my brother, Gillion, will show you the ropes. GILLION!” Edyn calls out while scanning her surroundings, shielding her eyes from the sun with a hand pressed horizontally against her forehead, squinting as she searches for him.
A hazy blob of green clears to see a triton with both his hands carrying completely full trash bags, his flexed muscles glisten with sweat and- Chip, what are you doing? Embarrassed, he looks away and faces Edyn with a wobbly smile.
“I’m glad we can help.”
“Well I’m glad you came. I always took you for a selfless person, glad to know my suspicions were true.”
A wave of guilt floods him. He lets out a hoarse, “Yea, no problem, noo problemo” looking at anything except for Edyn’s expecting face.
“Hello Edyn, how can I help?” he asks jovially, he sets down the two bags of trash and wipes his forehead causing his turtleneck to ride up showing the plains of his skin. Chip has to force himself to look away; He is attractive, it is more a fact than a personal opinion. Gillion finally turns around to look at the other two present properly and his smile immediately brightens as he recognises them. “You came!”
Chip flaps his hand and scoffs “Yea psst, obviously. I was sold the second you mentioned the clean-up. Selfless attitude and everything. She on the other hand-” he says while elbowing Jay’s side “needed some convincing.” He bends down and hushes his voice, as if he is sharing a secret. “I had to bribe her with pretzels.”
Edyn immediately cracks up while Gillion looks horrified. He pull out a spherical glass jar which was hanging from his belt and hugs it. “What do you want with my frogtopus?” he says in a sharp tone, his eyebrows downturn and mouth pressed in a hard line.
Their eyes widen with realization and immediately start laughing. In middle of tears, laughs and hiccups Chip barely manages to squeeze out “No- noonono I meant pretzels the food. I swear, no harm shall befall on your frogtopus.” he grabs Gillions bicep and flashing him a wide grin. The other man looks slightly confused, but gives a weak laugh as if understanding the miscommunication.
“This has been nice but don’t you think we should start cleaning up the beach. You know- the thing we signed up for?” Jay says while pushing her hair back, her face still beaming.
They exchange brief pleasantries with Edyn before following Gillion down the steps. The beach was closed to the public on account of the frogtopus migration, so the only people present were university students cleaning up. Sprawled out were many small groups of people picking up trash, carrying trash bags to the dustbins and using fishing nets to remove as much plastic as they can. He hands each of them a pair of gloves, a disposable bag and salad tongs.
Chip stares at the tongs, “Thank you? Didn’t know frogtopi liked salads.”
“Kelp salads sure, anything other than that is harmful to them.” Gill says with a smile, the joke completely flying over his head.
***
Gillion stays. He stays after showing them the way to the trash bins. He stays after showing the how to use the fishing nets to pick up plastic that was suspended in water. He stays after showing them where the towels are. Chip finds that he does not mind that Gillion is here. He rarely understands the jokes or references but grins anyways. Adding to the conversation when he can. Its endearing, Chip admits as he bites down a smile.
Suddenly from the corner of his eye a glimmer of green catches his eye- Gillion? No, Gillion is not pea sized. He bends down and his hand grabs a shell, slightly open revealing a green pearl with what looks to be blue particles swooshing inside of it like ocean waves. Chip holds it up to the sun, mesmerized by the kaleidoscope of gleaming and glittering. He must have looked like an idiot because he hears Gillion's sweet hoarse laugh. Somehow it sounds like waves crashing and he finds it as mesmerizing as the pearl.
He slowly approaches Chip and wordlessly takes the pearl from his hand and smiles down at it.
“Ah a luxbris pearl, you are lucky to have found one. They are pretty rare.”
“Oh- you mean they sell for a high price?” Jay interjects.
“Oh no. they are worthless. But beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder right? This pearl has small amounts of magical properties, it is said that the pearl clears up once the person asks it a question with the answer ‘yes’. But people now consider a once worshipped stone a mere party trick because modern magic does things so much more efficiently.” Gillion ends the statement with a tone of disgust.
“So you can ask it only one question?”
Gill quickly pulls the pearl away, “Yes! But be careful it does not know when you are asking it a question or someone else.” He hands the pearl back to Chip, “use it wisely and keep it safe.”
As if the gods were conspiring against him the pearls slips out of Chips grasp and starts tumbling towards the ocean and lands into- someone hand?
A copper brown hand picks up the pearl. Elizabeth Lafayette inspects it- tosses it into the air and grabs it again before shooting Chip a shit eating grin. Her cornrows, adorned with gold beads, cuff and rings, sprawl everywhere. An eye patch covers her right blind eye. Over her sports bra she wears a red over shirt- not accomplishing its only job. She has beads wrapped around her waist and low rise jeans, curled to avoid the sand. And she still wears that stupid black hat that red feather that matches Chips bandana. Arlin bought them those accessories to symbolise their bond. Even after the thread tying them was severed the bandana remained, the only physical remnant of his sister’s once all-encompassing love.
“Didn’t know you were one for charity. What are you doing here?” Under the scrutiny of his sisters gaze he feels ten again, when being scolded by you sister was the most shameful thing. But he is not ten and they are too distant to even be regarded as siblings.
“Hey I’m a philanthropic person! And I could be asking you the same thing.” Chip retorts back.
“Helping out a friend.” She puts plainly.
“Who? La Alma?” Saying her high school rivals name sounded brilliant at first but now feels like a childish move because she has not been in high school for three years.
“Cute, but no. it’s Edyn.”
Those words robed Chip’s lungs of air. Have they been apart for so long that he does not even know who Lizzie's friends are? When was the last time they talked about something not related to Arlin? How has the once inseparable duo now become two people fighting to win the game of Uno?
“You- you know Edyn?”
Chips once transfixed gaze now widens to see the two people behind his sister- one who he doesn’t recognise, but the other one is extremely familiar.
“Caspian! You know Caspian too?”
Lizzie rolls her eye as the other man flashes him an amused grin. “Well we tried to talk to you, but you always made a pointed effort to never look our way.”
“Well I-I swear it’s not intentional! I just never happened to look your way- you know concentrating in class and stuff-” Chips voice trails off as he realises his pathetic effort for a comeback has foiled. He is at a loss for words, so he continues to stare, hoping a knight is shinig armour would come and whisk him away from this situation.
His knight comes in the form of Gillion shouting, “JOHN!!”
“GILLION!!” shouts the other man, John apparently, and pulls Gill into a bro hug, smiling widely.
“Caspian, good friend, how is it going?” Gillion says as he turns to face the Water Genasi.
Lizzie and Caspian’s attention have been successfully diverted but the sight deepens the pit in Chips stomach
Of course he knows Caspian, they are both undersea folk. Stupid stupid stupid. Of course a guy like Gillion has more friends.
“Chip, Jay meet John. Apparently you already know Elizabeth and Caspian.” Gillion says in his usual sing-song way, not sensing the tension at all.
The hulking man approaches Chip first, squeezing his hands and shaking them vigorously, “John, nice to see that Gill has made new friends.”
“You too.” the other man says tightly, clearly blocking his blood supply.
“Jee you look familiar, do I know you from somewhere?” John says turning towards Jay.
The woman freezes up and her lips shift into a hard line. “Hard to say, I have one of those faces.”
John senses the lie but decides to drop the topic. “Are you the new members of the club?”
“The club?” Chip responds quizzically.
“Yea the undersea association”
“… we are not from the undersea”
“Yea but the club has become a place to hang out and get extra credit rather than being a support group.” Caspian says
“John that’s an incredible idea!” Gill gazes expectantly. “Both of you should join.”
Lizzie does not wait for Chip’s response. “Now now, don’t bombard them with this now, let them think.” She does not meet Chips gaze.
“Think about it.” John says, placing a hand on both of their shoulders “But we will be off now, the trash won’t clean itself up.” He announces as he basically runs off.
Gillion is still here. The fact warms Chip's insides.
***
The elders was never satisfied. He would fight simulations for hours and hours to earn their attention, to see their small nods of acknowledgment and the scrutiny in their brows ease. Those small flashes of acknowledgement were the only things he ever got from them. Gillions parents did not care. They would watch him fall over and over and over again and so nothing to stop it, to protect him, to hold him and ask if he was ok, to ask if he really wanted to do this. And even though now he is exiled and has no way of communicating with any of them, the shadow of their expectations still looms over him. Choosing global affairs as his major, studying till the late hours of the night for tests, getting the best possible grade in hopes that they would finally look back, realise the mistake they had made, feel proud of him and ask him to come back to the undersea.
His sister is the only light in these trying times. She followed him up here once she heard about his exile, comforting and soothing him at night, helping him through his nightmares. She has found some friends and invites him to hang out with them. They are treat him like he one of their own. Take him to parties, events and hang outs. Yet there is an air of words unsaid, haunting them. They are careful to not tread into unfamiliar territory, scared of him, his reaction. Their reaction towards him is an ever-present reminder of his actions and past. Fitting in means leaving the undersea, and the opposite means to have his failure be shouted at him every step of the way. He does not know whats worse.
Somehow it’s different with Chip and Jay. Chip’s smile and Jay’s eye rolls disarm him, make his perfectly curated façade slip and his indifference rust away. They don’t scrutinise him when he thinks a joke is serious or a playful jab is an act of war. They laugh it off and continue. They don’t treat him like he is glass, like one wrong word would crush him. Maybe that’s because they do not know his story. Maybe once they find out why, how he is here they would start treating him differently. Gillion should want that, but he doesn’t.
He stares at the two bodies climbing up the steps, exiting the beach. He shouldn’t do this, Jay needs to study for her test and Chip probably has better things to do. But he can’t help himself. This is the first time in years that he has felt like himself. These paradoxical feelings continue to swarm his brain before he gives a sigh of resignation and turns around-
“Hey Gillion, is something wrong? You looked like you wanted to say something there.” Chip's voice makes him turn back. His brow is downturned in scepticism.
“Oh nothing- just uh- the members of the club are having a campfire tonight I wanted to extend the invitation to you since you already know most of them. No pressure or anything I swear, since you probably have to study-”, Gillion nervously looks up and sees the two looking at each other with amused smiles.
“Well I’m apparently going to fail tomorrows test.” Jay sighs as she puts her arms in her jacket pockets and starts walking down with an amused smile. Chip lets out an WOO and slides down the railings of the stairs, wraps his arms around the other man’s shoulders and starts walking.
“Uh Chip the party is the other way-”
***
“Hey, hey, hey Arlin, my father, used to sing this song from his time at college- yea the colleges sea shanty. Do yall wanna attempt to sing it? Yea?”
Chip strums a guitar he found.
“Perfect then.”
I’ll tell you a tale,
Let the bastard regale,
Gillion has heard this song, it plays in the cafeteria occasionally. He smiles and hums along as he attempts to remember the lyrics.
Of how pirates like us came to be,
Sit down, take a seat,
Caspian and John cheer, smiling jovially as they bop their heads to the song.
There’s a whole crew to meet,
And the best captains ever at sea,
Chip lays his head on Jay’s shoulder, throwing her grin the seemed to say ‘thank you’.
A Ferin by name,
With incredible aim,
Jay taps the bark of her seat to the beat of song, slowly finding the rhythm.
This girl is a soldier no more
The sea at her feet
Lizzie and Edyn get up and start dancing, they twirl around in circles and Lizzie occasionally takes swing from her bottle.
With compass and sheet
She’ll guide us our way through the storm
From the ocean the frogtopi emerge, but our group cannot see them for they are too far away enjoying themselves
GILLION!,
Yes, I’m the one,
Jay learns that John was in the navy training too, but his friends call him Marshall John because that’s the only post they are aware of. Even if he knew who she is, he thankfully doesn’t mention it
Monsoon and moon son,
Moisture master and paramount champion,
Lizzie holds her hand out to Jay, her eye beckoning the other woman to join their dance circle. Jay bites her lip but grabs Lizzie’s hand.
I smite evil with glee,
Things are often my B,
Gillion eats a S ‘mores for the first time, its warm unlike the food in the undersea. He finds that he likes the warm tingling inside of his mouth.
But as it was foretold,
This is my Destiny!!
Chip starts strumming the guitar faster as the chorus approaches.
YO HO HOME ON THE SEA,
TAKE MY HAND AND YOULL BE FREE,
Gill shares a squirtie with Chip locking their elbows together and drinking it in one go. The attempt ends with laughter and heads thrown backward.
SET... SAIL… TO FIND OUR DESTINY,
YO HO WE SAIL ACROSS,
THE SEAS UPON THE ALBATROSS,
Lizzie grabs Jay’s waist and pull her closer for a dance. Jay looks away and hopes her bush is hidden by the night. She concludes that the dance is just the other woman’s alcohol courage and nothing more.
UNDER THE MOON,
AND UNDER THE SUN,
A PIRATES LIFE UNTIL WE'RE DONE!
Chip’s gaze meets Lizzie’s and she faints softly, the first genuine smile in years