Chapter Sixteen
Kurloz was beside himself with happiness. He swam around his tank energetically and was constantly splashing the waterline with his tail.
He was the only one to have this mood.
The overall atmosphere on the Condesce was one more appropriate for a funeral. Feferi and Eridan were at the helm, steering the boat out into the deep ocean. They'd been going for a couple hours now, wanting to make sure to get as far away from shore as possible before releasing the mermen.
Gamzee had healed completely though he still bore a pinched scar from his ordeal. He had elected to stay on deck instead of in the tank. He sat with Gamzee and Karkat, and the three of them were huddled mournfully near the prow.
Finally Feferi turned off the engine, and the boat slowed to a gentle stop. She walked over and cleared her throat softly, "It's time."
Karkat stood up to go help with Kurloz since Eridan didn't want anything to do with him. Together, he and Feferi hefted the merman out of his tank and to the side of the boat. Feferi unhooked the rope railing and instantly Kurloz was gone.
Tavros and Gamzee were clinging to each other in complete silence, and nobody made a move towards them.
Kurloz resurfaced in a minute or two and swam to the prow, tapping it impatiently to get his brother's attention.
Gamzee look down slowly at his brother. He could see the barely contained joy in Kurloz's eyes at being back in the ocean and it only made him more upset.
"Come on Gamz," Tavros finally said softly, and picked up his Matesprit. He walked to the opening in the railing and set him down.
Karkat stood next to him looking more angry than Tavros' had seen him before, "Now don't do anything fucking stupid when you're out there, fish butt. If I fucking hear about some asshat merman being caught in a net, I'll turn you into sushi."
Gamzee chuckled just as Kurloz resurfaced in front of him, "I'll all up and do my best."
Tavros wanted to say something, anything, but no matter how desperately he thought he couldn't come up with anything. I love you? No that wasn't even close to how much he cared about Gamzee. Be careful? That was so empty. What could he say?
Gamzee looked up at Tavros, "Tav?"
Tavros swallowed and knelt down, wrapping his arms around the merman and hugging him tightly, "Bye Gamzee," was all he could manage to say.
"Bye Tavros." Gamzee whispered, and then pushed himself off the deck and vanished into the ocean with a splash.
Kurloz dove under the second his baby brother was in, and neither of them resurfaced again.
It had been four months since they released Kurloz and Gamzee into the wild. Things were starting to fall back into a normal routine. Tavros would feed the animals and make sure everything was fine. The lemon shark ended up giving birth to 14 babies. One of them Karkat named Wedge, and that was the one Feferi ended up keeping. The rest were traded off into other aquariums in exchange for two new species of Jellyfish, a manatee, and a rather surly octopus.
Tavros hadn't spoken to Karkat in a while, and when he saw him Karkat seemed to make a point of ignoring him.
It was at the end of a work day on Friday and Tavros was changing in the usual room. The door to Gamzee's pool hadn't been opened in four months, but Tavros caught himself staring at it as he pulled on his dry clothes.
Some part of him felt like if he just opened that door, he'd find Gamzee swimming around in the pool, waiting for Karkat to get his ball down from the rafters. Tavros walked over and put his hand on the knob and turned it slowly. He knew it was impossible for Gamzee to be there, he knew he wouldn't be, but something inside him desperately hoped that he was.
Tavros opened the door and walked inside.
The pool was empty.
The water had been drained a long time ago and the fake coral had been removed. Now it was just a big empty tub.
Tavros felt something inside him break and he let out a broken gasp. It was echoed from somewhere off to his left, and it took Tavros a minute to realize it hadn't been him. Turning around, Tavros saw Karkat sitting off to the side.
He was turned slightly away from Tavros and his head and shoulders were bowed over an object in his lap. As Tavros approached, he recognized the red ball Gamzee had constantly played with.
Hearing someone approaching, Karkat hastily rubbed his face and turned around, scowling, "What the fuck are you doing here?"
Tavros stopped a few feet away and looked towards the pool, "I don't know…"
"Well get out." Karkat snapped, turning back towards the ball.
Tavros watched the knuckles on Karkat's hands slowly whiten as he clutched the rubber thing tighter and tighter. His shoulders were shaking. Tavros walked over and sat beside Karkat, staring ahead and letting him pretend he wasn't actually crying.
A couple minutes of silence passed, broken only by a quiet sniffle from Karkat.
"I miss him too." Tavros said quietly.
"I don't fucking miss that stupid fish brained fucker." Karkat spat, "I'm glad he's gone. Do you know how annoying it was to get this fucking ball down from the rafters? Every fucking day!" His voice wavered alarming, but he continued on, "And I know why he did it too! He fucking thought that if he didn't, I wouldn't come back. That stupid swimming piece of sushi had no damn idea…"
Tavros smiled softly, "You were his best friend."
Karkat made a choking sound and hugged the ball to his chest, "That doesn't matter now. He's gone."
"I hope he's doing okay…" Tavros trailed off and looked down at the red rubber ball.
They two of them sat there in silence until Karkat spoke up, "I was supposed to clear this shit hole out and throw everything away." He paused and then snorted, "Figures the one stupid piece of shit I can't chuck out is the one thing that made my life hell."
Tavros chuckled and Karkat almost managed a smile.
It was late at night and Tavros was sitting on the edge of the canal behind his house. It looked beautiful in the night, just a vast stretch of inky blackness broken only by slivers of moonlight. He sighed and thought for the millionth time of Gamzee. He hoped he was okay, that nothing had happened to him. It was a comfort to know he wasn't alone though, and that Kurloz was probably taking good care of him.
The water rippled up ahead and Tavros sighed, sticking his toes in the water. He wished he could see him one more time. Just once…
He could see it playing out so easily. Gamzee's head would break through the black water and water would be streaming down his face. His hair would be sticking up at odd angles like usual, and his eyes would gleam like gems in the moonlight. He'd catch sight of Tavros sitting there and swim over, his smile getting bigger and bigger until it looked painful. Hands with webbing between the fingers would reach up and he'd say,
"Hey Tav bro."
The cool touch of Gamzee's hand on his leg made Tavros yelp loudly in shock and fall over backwards, his heart pounding in his chest.
Before him, treading water, was Gamzee.
"Gamzee!" Tavros didn't think any further than that. He leapt into the canal with a loud splash and grabbed his Matesprit, his eyes wide, "You're here! You're actually here!" He ran his hands all over Gamzee, positive that he was a hallucination. But it all felt right. The smooth, sleekness of the tail, his soft skin, the pointed teeth, the scar on his shoulder, the scars on his face, and that smile…
"Tavros." Gamzee grabbed his face in his hands and kissed him passionately, then wrapped his arms tightly around him and laughed, "I finally fucking found you. The ocean is one big ass motherfucker, makes it a little hard to find one dude. Kurloz finally found this here waterway and spotted you all up and sitting there like you were waiting for me."
"I—what? Kurloz?"
"Yeah, motherfucker found you a couple minutes ago."
Tavros instantly looked around for the cold golden eyes, but the water revealed nothing. He turned back to Gamzee and laughed in disbelief, "How? Why? Did you not like the ocean? Why'd he help you find me? What's—"
"Woah woah chill motherfucker, I'll explain everything." Gamzee chuckled, though he was grinning from ear to ear. "After we left Kurloz and I swam all over the fucking place. It was weird being able to swim without hitting a wall, and at first it was all kinds of miraculous. But then this here motherfucker started to miss you something awful…"
Tavros tightened his hold on Gamzee slightly and received a soft smile in return.
"I must've been pretty fucking pathetic because after a bit Kurloz started all up and searching for you. It took motherfucking weeks, but finally he found you."
"Where is he?"
Gamzee looked out towards the entrance of the canal, "Over there. Motherfucker is all up and waiting for me."
Gamzee was going to leave again. The thought must've shown on Tavros' face because Gamzee was kissing him instantly and murmuring, "Now don't all up and look at a brother like that, I ain't leaving you again Tav. I all up and gotta live in this here ocean, but I ain't leaving."
"I missed you so much. Karkat and I have been…well…fuck Gamzee we missed you."
Gamzee made a small happy noise and buried his face in Tavros' shoulder, "I all up and missed you two a fuck ton."
Tavros, thinking back on earlier, struggled to get free, "Let me call him."
"What, now? Motherfucker is asleep."
"Trust me, he'll come for this."
Gamzee looked beyond thrilled and dove under the water as Tavros climbed out of the canal sprinted up to his house. He ran through the back door and grabbed the phone, hastily dialing a number. It was a quarter to midnight, but Karkat answered.
"You better have a fucking good reason for—"
"Gamzee's here!" Tavros cut him off, "He's in the canal behind my house—hello? Karkat?" But he'd already hung up. Smiling, Tavros dropped the phone and ran back outside to where Gamzee was waiting, "He's on his way."
Karkat arrived in a matter of minutes and came tearing down to the canal. He stopped at the edge and looked in to see Tavros and Gamzee grinning up at him. "You little piece of shit." He took off his shoes and leapt in with them, laughing as Gamzee grabbed the both of them in a tight hug.
The three of them didn't notice the eyes watching them from afar, taking in the laughing and smiling with a vulnerable look of innocent curiosity that Gamzee had worn on many occasions. A small smile curled over Kurloz's lips as he slid under the surface of the water and swam away.
The End.