//Riptide Campaign
Okok I've been bad at uploading but I am simply blaming college :')
This is to do with the latest episode of the Riptide Campaign,,! (Episode 29 spoilers!!)
This is more of like,, an alternate way a scene in the latest episode could've gone? I also really just enjoy Jay and Gillion interacting :')
-very hurt/comfort.
TW// mentions of night terrors and anxiety after waking up from them, gore mention? blood mention. (if there are any more, please let me know! Be safe <3)
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Gillion felt a wave of relief wash over him once Jay had agreed to let him look over her as she slept. Not only because he could ensure a dear friend's safety, but this act of protection may be a small step in repaying Jay for her kindness in buying his plate armour. Gillion had asked Chip if he was interested in taking shifts, so that way he would still be well-rested for tomorrow, but the brunette was quick to decline, mumbling something about the lack of praise he got for the idea of dressing the redhead up in an old lady costume.
The time had finally come, Jay getting into bed, still dressed in the ridiculous outfit, as Gillion hid in the closet near the bed, his sword readied to attack at the first sign of danger. He was prepared to go the entire night without sleeping, however Pretzel was quick to splash him with the water in her globe, showing that she was taking a shift for Gillion. And so the two shared shifts while Jay tried to sleep.
Sleep never came easily to Jay. She always struggle to get comfortable, especially tonight after being threatened earlier on in the day. Despite this, she tried her best to get sleep, not wanting to let the other two down in thr tournament tomorow. It was difficult, more so with Gillion's gaze falling onto her every so often, though she knew it wasn't with any strange intentions. Jay knew, as well as Chip, how quick Gillion is to do anything to protect his loved ones.
"Jay, you seem to be quite restless tonight. Are you alright? Have you spotted something unnerving?" The sudden voice of Gillion didn't scare Jay as his voice was soft, a small smile appearing on Jay's face as she replied.
"N-No. No I'm fine Gill. Don't worry, nothing's here...yet, I guess." She made sure to mumble the last part, though not quiet enough as Gillion picked up on it. Despite her normal sarcastic and reserved tone and personality, Jay had to admit...She was pretty scared. Okay, no, she was terrified. Her life had been threatened, and the second she told both Gill and Chip, the two were talking about pants! Granted, Gillion seemed to care from the situation the two were in currently, but it upset her a bit to see how Chip reacted...
"Do not fret, dear Jay. I swear that no harm shall come to you while I am here! You have my word. I will protect you while you sleep! Alright..?" Gillion's tone was different. It was less loud and boisterous, more soft and sympathetic. He must've picked up on how anxious Jay really was.
"R-right. Yeah, okay. Thanks, Gill...g'night, I guess..." As Jay said this, she turned in her bed, pulling the covers closer to her as she tried to fall asleep to the warmth of the bed. She tried to distract herself from the intrusive thoughts, the what if's that may happen while she slept. What if whoever it was that threatened her came in while she was asleep and Gillion wasn't strong enough to stop her? Gillion was a good fighter, but this lady had a gun! "Stop it Jay. It's gonna be fine...Just sleep. It's gonna work out." As Jay muttered this, thankful that Gillion didn't hear her quiet pep talk, it was just enough to have the anxious thoughts subside for long enough so that she could drift off.
Jay woke up with a start, panting quietly as she heard a gunshot. Looking around, confused and scared, it was still late, probably just turning morning from the lack of light outside. Jay then turned her gaze from the window, looking to her right, where her closet was opened, the door still moving. Jay then looked to the door, seeing a silhouette opening the door, one hand on the knob of the door while another was across her stomach. A small grimace could be seen before the shadow ran out of the room. Then she heard it. A pained groan from beside her bed. Jay looked over the side of the bed to see Gillion on the ground, his sword on the floor just out of his grasp. Jay's eyes widened as she clumsily got out of the bed, falling onto the ground next to Gillion, placing his head in her lap before looking over him for any injuries. She spotted that he was grasping his side, just where his ribs were, carefully pulling his hands away and holding the same spot, then looking at her hand to see a dark crimson liquid covering her palm. Blood. Gillion was bleeding.
"G-Gill? Shit, shit Gillion what- wh..I- I didn't hear anything before the gunshot what...I didn't-" Gillion shook his head, a weak smile appearing before a cough broke the almost peaceful exprression he had, the same crimson falling down his chin as he spoke, his voice broken and raspy.
"I-...I am so sorry, Jay.Sh-She is still ali-alive.. I-I was unable to protect...you." Gillion coughed again before Jay could say anything. Just then, Chip arived, leaning against the now open doorframe. Just as Gillion's body went limp in Jay's lap.
"What the fuck happened, is Jay okay I-" His rambling was cut off by seeing the scene in front of him. As he slowly made he way over to Gillion, who was already starting to grow cold, he fell to his knees, looking down at the triton. "G-Gill..? W-Woah, hey...hey, hey, hey buddy what..." His eyes left Gillion for a second, now looking up at Jay, his voice trembling as he continued, "what happened to Gillion?" Jay struggled to find the words, despite herself, she spoke up.
"H-He...He tried to fight off that lady that threatened me yesterday a-and...she shot him, I didn't hear anything-"
"What do you mean you 'didn't hear anything' Jay?! You were in the same fucking room! Sorry, did the fighting disrupt your beauty sleep or something?! What the hell were you doing?! Did Gillion fighting to make sure you were okay annoy you too much to get up and do something?! Christ, Jay, you have a goddamn gun as well!" Chip's glare softened as he looked down again at Gillion. A wave of silence passed over the two of them before Chip spoke up. "It should've been you..."
Suddenly a flash of bright light appeared, blinding Jay for a few seconds. Just as she regained her sight, Jay once again looked down, now noticing she had changed where she was. She was standing over Chip and Gillion, who were sat over her body. Though she looked different from how she rememered Gillion looking. Her were eyes gouged out, a look of fear forever shown on her face. Then from behind her, before she was able to act on anything, a terrifyingly familiar voice spoke. Her father's voice low, a grin easily being seen through the tone of his voice.
"Still not good enough. You're a disgrace to the Ferin name..."
Jay sat up quickly, not thinking before yelling out, "NO-!". She sat there, panting harshly as she tried to fight off a wave of dizziness from moving so suddenly. Sweat fell down to her brow as she felt her eyes sting with tears, unable to stop them as she felt herself begin to shake.
The yell from Jay startled the triton awake, Pretzel having to splash him with water to help him wake up. Gillion nodded at Pretzel, a silent thankyou before hiding her further into the closet, then jumping out, looking around to find..nothing? He lowered his sword, looking over at Jay and seeing her condition. He placed the sword down carefully, not wanting to make any sudden noises before moving closer to her bed, sitting down and resting a gentle hand on her arm. Jay flinched for a second, her eyes widen with fear for a few seconds before recognising it was Gill.
"Jay..? What..what is the matter? Did something happen? Are you hurt?" Gillion looked over Jay, trying to answer his last question on his own, thankfully seeing nothing that looked like an injury. Jay shook her head, trying to regain her composure but to no avail, the fact that she struggled trying to calm down seemed to make her panic more. Gillion quickly pulled Jay close to him, wrapping both arms around her shaking body, his hold not too tight or too loose, feeling more protective than anything. Jay tensed up before quickly leaning into the hug, returning it as much as she could. Gillion racked his brain to think of how to help Jay, remembering that breathing was a helpful way to calm someone down. He spoke up softly, resting his chin on top of Jay's head, "I...I understand it helps to get ahold of one's breathing when they are panicked. Try to copy my breathing, Jay..." He then controlled his own breathing, taking deep and slow breaths in hopes that Jay would find it easier to copy.
It took her a few attempts, but after a few minutes, Jay was able to copy Gillion's breathing, albeit still being very shaky. Gillion made sure to mumble small "good job" and "that's it, very good, Jay" to encourage her to continue, learning quickly that she seemed to get frustrated easily in this condition.
After a few more minutes, Jay pulled away from Gillion's embrace, sniffling quietly and wiping her eyes. She spoke up after a few more deep breaths. "S-sorry about..all of that. I-I..I didn't mean to wake you. Y-You can go back to sleep or whatever..." She nodded slowly, avoiding eye contact with the triton as he looked down at her, concern written all over his face.
"Jay, I cannot just...go back to sleep when I saw you in such a condition..! That would be so selfish of me. I understand that it sometimes...helps to talk about what has worried us...I can promise that I will keep this strictly between us, if that makes you feel better..?" Jay finally met Gillion's eyes, a faint smile showing at his concern. She nodded again, taking a second before telling Gillion of her nightmare. Gillion's expressions changed a lot, from worried to sympathetic to confused and to sympathetic once again. Jay sighed heavily, a weight in her chest being lifted slightly.
"S-so yeah...that's..that. I'm fine now, though, thanks to you...so thank you. I just...I guess yesterday really freaked me out..." Gillion nodded understandingly.
"Well, I would be concerned if you weren't worried by some stranger threatening your life, Jay. However, I would like to say that...I am sure that Chip would never act that way, like how he did in your nightmare. And of course I would never lose in combat to a mere shadow!" He grinned, puffing his chest out dramatically, earning a chuckle from Jay. She rolled her eyes fondly and patted his shoulder.
"Yeah, I know you wouldn't Gill..." Gillion grinned again, chuckling before letting out a soft sigh, then looking over at the window, the sky still dark.
"It seems there is still a few more hours of sleep that you could get, and I am led to doubt that the sleep you have gotten helped to given you any energy. How about whilst you get some more sleep, I shall stay here and watch over you! I have gotten my hours of sleep, Pretzel swapped shifts with me, of course. So I am more than happy to stay here and make sure you are free from any more nightmares!" Jay smiled softly, contemplating about declining, telling Gillion to go back and get some sleep. However, the offer did seem very tempting...
"Yeah..Yeah okay. I can live with that.,," Jay nodded, her soft smile growing as Gillion beamed, getting up from his spot and moving to the other side of the bed, sitting up but resting his legs out in front of him, getting comfortable. Jay chuckled, then leaned into Gillion, her head resting just against his shoulder, a comfortable sigh escaping her before she started to drift off. Gillion looked down at Jay, silently impressed with how quickly she had succumbed to sleep. The triton made sure to stay as still as he possibly could, while at the same time making sure to stay as vigilant as he had in the closet, every now and again stealing small glances at how peaceful Jay seemed to be s she slept, silently vowing to ensure that she kept that peaceful look.
When morning finally came, Gillion was made aware from Chip opening the door, presumably going to yell or shout something about the tournament, but was quickly shut down by Gillion raising a finger to his lips, geturing with his head to the still sleeping Jay. Chip raised a brow, looking to Gillion and then down to Jay, then back to Gillion, whispering. "What the hell? I thought you were keeping watch, not cuddling! Cuddling was never in the job description!" Gillion rolled his eyes at Chip, whispering back, much quieter than Chip, but still audible.
"She had a bad nightmare...as her temporary protector, I felt it was my job to ensure she would get at least some decent sleep..!" Now it was Chip's turn to roll his eyes. Gillion was a sweetheart,. It was definitely sickening how sweet this fish boy could be.
"Well we need to be early to get to the colosseum! I wanna check out the market place one more time before getting there! Wake her up!" Despite Gillion's disagreeing with Chip's idea, he sighed seeing the brunette shoot a glare at him. He looked down at Jay, then quietly spoke.
"Jay..We..well Chip wants us to go out to the marketplace...Jay?" With the last soft call of her name, Jay started to wake up, groaning quietly before opening her eyes, looking up at Gillion before seeing Chip, a brow raising, still not moving.
"Chip..? What do you want to go to the marketplace for? You've already scammed everyone..."
"I have not scammed people, Jay! I...I coerced them! It's- whatever! Point is, there is no time for cuddling, we gotta get a move on old lady. Wanna see how well 'confused old grandma' works on these morons!!" Chip chuckled at Jay, grinning from the excitement of getting to try his new trick, turning and leaving the two.
Chip had unkindly reminded Jay that she was still, indeed, dressed like an old lady, though she had taken off the wig when falling asleep for the second time. Despite being very comfortable, she got out of bed, Gillion doing the same as he stretched. He refused to admit he wasn't the most comfortable in his time being used as a temporary pillow, and his muscles have definitely paid the price, but it was fine. He would be able to stretch out any pain when preparing for the tournament.
As Gillion went to leave and follow after Chip, he was stopped by Jay grabbing his wrist, making him turn in confusion. "Jay? Is there something the matter..?"
"No! No, nothing like that I just...thanks. For last night. That was really nice of you...I actually slept the best I have in a while..." She chuckled softly, nodding slowly.
"Of course, Jay. I am glad you were able to get a few hours of good sleep. I am sorry that you experience those terrible nightmares so often...If I can ever help with anything like that, do not hesitate to get me or wake me up. I will always be happy to help in any way." He gave a small and polite nod as he smiled kindly at Jay.
"Deal."