You'd think after years of catching fish, Scar would be somewhat good at it.
Well, he'd like to think that he was, and that the only reason he wasn't doing a good job at it was because Wels was laughing at him.
"Oh come on, I'd like to see you do better!" Scar yelled, chasing the fish around the rock in circles. "It won't... stop... moving!"
He stopped in his tracks when Wels suddenly appeared in front of him, single-handedly catching the little fish. He grinned with slightly sharp teeth, before playfully ruffling Scar's hair.
"You were saying?"
"Ugh, just give it to me-" He huffed, trying to grab his food back. Wels obviously wasn't going to let that happen, not without teasing him a little first, and immediately took off in the other direction. "Hey, get back here!"
Wels swam slower than usual, knowing his friend was tired, but still kept a good pace to stay in front of him as the two ducked and weaved between bright pieces of coral.
Even if he wasn't a child anymore, Scar was like a younger brother to Wels. And obviously, he still loved to play with him from time to time.
When he heard the tired sigh of defeat, the blonde merman stopped and turned around. As fun as it was messing with him, he never wanted to upset his friend. Being like an older brother to Scar also meant acting like one too.
"Sorry... I didn't go too hard on you, did I?" Wels asked, sitting next to his friend. Scar shook his head, smiling a bit.
"No, just gimme the fish." He replied, biting into his food almost as soon as it was handed to him. Like most of what he caught, it wasn't very big or impressive, but he didn't have the energy to find anything else.
As per usual, Scar's thoughts drifted to Grian. He wondered how he would catch fish, seeing as he and his friends would need a lot of it to keep themselves fed. He'd seen big nets on their ship once or twice, but hasn't asked his boyfriend about them.
Wels followed his friend's gaze up towards the ship, and nudged his friend in the arm.
"What are you thinking about?"
"Grian." Scar admitted, without really thinking, but went pink in the cheeks when he realised it. "I mean... I'm just wondering what-"
"It's alright." Wels interrupted. "I can't speak from experience... but I get it."
He found it so weird to think that Scar was already in a relationship with someone. Sure, he always saw Zed and Tango coming, but Scar? It really put into perspective that his friend wasn't an innocent 11 year old anymore, and Wels understood why Xisuma had some trouble trying to accept that.
Maybe it was because Wels hadn't even met Grian yet, and Scar didn't seem too keen to talk about him either. Sure, it was a bit of a red flag, especially considering that Scar could be a little... naïve at times, but Wels was certain it was just his bias against purebloods.
Was Grian even a pureblood? He'd assumed so, but again, Scar would never talk about his new boyfriend. For all Wels knew, Grian could be half-human too. Not that the odds were high, their little friend group were the only ones around for miles.
"Scar? Do you mind if I ask you about Grian?"
He wasn't gonna learn anything if he didn't ask. There was no harm in doing so anyway.
"Uh... sure?" Scar shrugged. "Anything in particular?"
"Is he half-human too?" Wels questioned.
"I actually don't know." Scar admitted. "Probably not? I feel like he would have told me by now I'd he was."
It was technically the truth, albeit a bit of a white lie. He'd never said Grian was a merman... he'd just said that he wasn't half human. That counted, didn't it? Wels simply nodded, clearly under the impression that Gri was a merman.
"Alright then... and he knows you are, doesn't he?"
"Yes." Scar replied. "It was... a bit of a surprise, but he took it well."
Again, he wasn't lying.
"Well that's good, he seems nice." He admitted. "I... I wish everyone was like that.
He could see the grief in his friend's eyes, knowing Wels's brother (and almost Wels himself) had died at the hands of unaccepting purebloods. Without mentioning it, or anything else, Scar hugged him.
He'd never really given much attention to the long, jagged scars across his friend's chest, not wanting to think about that horrible day when they'd found him. Now they stood out like thorns among roses, a clear reminder to the both of them of how much hate there was in the world.
"I'm glad you've found good people Scar." Wels admitted. "And I don't want you to ever get hurt because others can't love you. I've already lost one person who's very close to me that way... I don't need to lose another."
The same way Scar had helped Xisuma through trauma and pain, he'd done the same for Wels. Nobody could ever replace Hels for him, but having someone like him to love made it hurt a little less. He cared so deeply about all of his friends, but there was always something special about Scar that he could never understand.
Wels noticed that Scar was staring at his necklace. It was shaped like an upside down teardrop, the blue gem perfectly matching the blonde's eyes.
"Hels had the other half." He explained with a sad smile.
"You don't talk about him a lot." Scar admitted.
"Yeah... I just figured you guys wouldn't really care to hear about him." Wels shrugged. "And it kind of... hurt to think about him."
"You can tell me about him, only if you want to of course."
"I wouldn't pass down the opportunity." He shrugged. "Hels was... very sarcastic, and very protective. He always came off as unpleasant to strangers, mostly because I was the only person he was ever soft around, but was actually really sweet and caring a lot of the time."
Then Wels laughed a little.
"But he'd probably smack me in the back of the head for saying that if he was here."
"He sounded nice." Scar smiled, before glancing up at where the sun was setting in the sky. His eyes widened in panic, and he quickly got up. "Ah shoot, it's later than I thought..."
"Going to see that mystery boyfriend again?" He questioned, smirking a little.
"No! Well, yes, but that's not it!" His red faced friend snapped, not really angry at Wels, more embarrassed that he called him out like that.
"Eh, I get it." The blonde shrugged. "X will have my head if I keep you out any later."
Scar couldn't help but laugh, knowing how true that was. He followed his friend back home, where (as expected) Xisuma was waiting.
"Where were you two?" He asked, quickly scanning them for any cuts and bruises they might have. It was a habit of his, and they were pretty certain it was one he wasn't aware of.
"We're fine X, we just lost track of time." Scar explained, but Xisuma noticed a few little scratches he must have gotten while chasing Wels through the coral.
"But you're hurt!"
"It's a scratch!" The brunette insisted, pulling his arm away. "I didn't even notice it."
With a defeated sigh, X realized he was overstepping and reluctantly let Scar go. But he couldn't take his eyes off of the minor injury, even as his friend swam off it bothered him to think he was in any way hurt and didn't want help for it.
Wels quietly leaned in closer to Xisuma, nudging him in the arm.
"He's old enough to look after himself now." He reminded his friend, voice barely above a whisper so that only X could hear his words.
"I know, it just... feels weird."
"I get it." Wels admitted. "I was thinking the same thing earlier. But you need to accept that he doesn't need you all the time now, just let him be independent."
It wasn't Scar's independence that Xisuma was worried about, it was the fact that he might leave them. He'd known the young merman his whole life, it was scary to think he might leave now that he had someone he loved.
And what if Scar left, and got hurt? What if pirates captured him like they did Xisuma? What if he died because X couldn't keep him safe? The thoughts, as unlikely to happen as they were, horrified him.
"Yeah." He sighed, trying to get the idea out of his head. Trying to accept that all this was happening was hard, especially seeing as he didn't expect it to happen so soon... or at all.
"He'll be fine." Wels assured Xisuma, gently squeezing his freind's hand. It helped to hear those words, but it did little to reduce X's worry.
'It's ok.' He told himself. 'Scar's old enough to protect himself, he doesn't need you anymore.'
It hurt to think about it that way, but he needed to accept it somehow. If Scar liked this 'Grian' enough to fall in love with him, it must mean he was a good, trustworthy person, right?
...Maybe he should meet Grian in person, just to make sure.
Uh oh XD
I don't have much to say, other than that I drew character references for Grian and Scar and messy notes to go with them. I didn't think you'd have much interest in them, but here they are anyway.
- Xan