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Chip got up from his hammock, feeling awful. He put his feet on the ground and sat down for a little bit, preparing himself to stand up and get out of his sleeping clothes. He looked over to Jay's bed, seeing that it was empty and cleanly folded. Gillion’s barrel was similar, neat like no one slept in it. He huffed, they were always so clean.
When Chip stood up, after a few minutes of sitting around and looking at the room, he felt dizzy and nauseous. It was like when he had his sleeping curse, feeling exhausted from just sleeping.
After he got changed into his clothes, which was a struggle, he stepped towards the door of the room where he, Gill, and Jay sleep, stumbling and barely being able to walk. He had to lean on the doorframe for a minute to make the dizziness go away.
Inhale, exhale. Arlin taught him that he could feel better sometimes by just breathing, and for most occasions, it works. It helped make the bad feeling in his stomach go away a little, enough to stop leaning on the door.
When he got up to the main deck, Chip nearly fell over from the effort of walking upstairs. He went over to a barrel and sat down, trying to catch his breath. Oh man, he felt like shit. He sat there for a couple of minutes, smelling the sea salt air, until he heard a familiar voice, one that made butterflies flutter in his stomach.
“Chip! Good morning!” It was Gillion, with his booming voice and bright smile. Chip looked up at him and smiled the best he could. “Good morning, Gill,” Chip said, trying not to sound sick. He didn’t want anyone to worry about him, especially Gillion. They had their own things to worry about. He was fine.
Gill must’ve noticed the strain in his voice because he got a slightly worried look on his face. “Chip, are you okay?”
“Yeah.” Chip nodded and tried to stand up. He immediately regretted that, and his vision got blurry. His stomach ached to the point where he had to hunch over to stay up. He could feel himself start to lose balance and tried catching himself, failing miserably. In a second, he was in Gill’s arms, face flushing a bright red.
“Are you sure that you’re okay, Chip?” Gillion said, concern lacing his voice and a worried look on his face. He put Chip back up on his feet, using his hands to stabilize his shoulders. Chip cursed lightly. He wasn’t sure if it was his nausea, but he could see that Gillion’s face was a slight shade darker.
“I’m fine,” Chip said, pushing himself away from Gill. “I just feel a little bit tired, that’s all.” He tried to smile, but he could tell that the fish man didn’t believe him. Chip sighed and said, “I’m fine, okay? It’s early in the morning and I just need to wake up a little.”
Gill nodded, and Chip knew he had been exhausted as well when he had the nightmare curse. “Maybe sparring will help me wake up?” Chip offered, knowing that it wouldn’t make him feel better.
At this, Gill perked up a little bit and nodded. He had invited Chip to spar a few times before, but Chip had always made up an excuse, getting flustered and running off. He always felt stupid and weak whenever he did that. He didn’t want to embarrass himself by sparring with Gill. He knew that it would end up with him on the ground with Gillion above him, in all his fishy glory. That thought made his face flush more.
The two walked to the open part of the deck where they spar often, Chip straining his muscles to not lose balance, nearly falling over a few times. Gillion kept looking at him with concern, but Chip just shrugged and continued walking. As they both got ready to spar, Chip heard footsteps walking up the stairs. Probably Jay coming to watch them spar.
They both stood in place, fighting stances ready. Gillion took the first strike, and Chip was barely able to block it and dodged, tripping over his own feet. The sword felt too heavy and awkward in his hand. He tried to strike Gillion; his wrist bent in an awkward way that made him drop the sword. The momentum from the strike made him fly and he landed right behind the fish man on his side.
As Chip’s body hit the floor, he curled up and heard Gill call his name. He held his wrist close to his body, it hurting from the weight of the sword twisting it wrong. His entire body ached, and it was so cold. Chip just lay there, trying to breathe, not paying attention to what his co-captains were saying. His head spun and ached, his stomach hurt, and he felt like he was going to throw up. He closed his eyes. It felt nice to just lie there.
He felt cold hands pick him up and warm hands touch his forehead. Chip tried to open his eyes, but they were too heavy. “Fucking idiot, has a fever and still sparred.” Chip thought that was Jay’s voice but wasn’t quite sure. He then felt his body get lifted from the ground by the cold hands.
Chip felt himself get carried to his bed by Gillion, he assumed. The fish man’s cold embrace felt nice against his hot skin. Wait, when had it gotten so hot? Jay was probably right, he felt like he had a fever.
When He felt himself being placed in his bed, he shivered and felt his consciousness fade. Sleep sounded good.
…
Chip awoke later, feeling the worst he had ever felt for a long time. He slowly blinked his eyes open, then still feeling heavy, and his vision was very blurry.
He saw a figure sitting by his bed, their head resting on their arm that was lying on the edge of his bed. Gillion. His hair was slightly messy and Chip could feel that his other hand was resting on his hand. He felt his face grow warmer, and Chip didn’t know if it was from his fever or the man who was sitting next to his bed.
Chip tried to sit up, but as soon as he moved, Gill’s head shot up. He looked like he hadn’t slept for a while, which was an image Chip hoped he wouldn’t have to see again.
Gillion put his hand on Chip’s chest and gently pushed Chip down. “No, Jay says that you are sick and need to rest.”
Chip felt himself blush at the concern that the fish man had for him. “I’m fine,” Chip said, his voice all grainy and broken up. He then proceeded to lean over to a conveniently placed bucket and threw up in it.
He felt hands pulling his hair back and rubbing his back. After he was done, he laid back down. “Mmmmm” Chip groaned. A cold hand was placed on his cheek and Gillion looked at Chip. “I’m going to call Jay down to look at you. You need to rest, okay?” He said gently.
Chip nodded lightly, not wanting to move very much, scared that he would throw up again.
Gillion left the room to get Jay, and Chip was left alone, missing the feeling of the cold hand on his face. Chip had known for a while that he liked Gill. After he kissed him on Desire Island, sailing on the ocean with him, going to all of the islands, and meeting new people with him. Chip knew that he loved Gillion.
After a few moments of thinking, Gill came back into the room with Jay. She was carrying a few things and Gill had a bowl in his hand. “I got soup!” Gillion called happily. Chip lifted his hand in a thumbs up. Jay rolled her eyes and smiled.
Jay pulled up a chair to his bed while Gillion sat down at the chair that was already there. Jay put a cold cloth on Chip's hot face. It felt nice. Everything was so hot, but his feet were so cold. He just wanted to sleep, but he wanted to stay awake. He had things to do. He was the captain of this goddam ship!
Chip hated feeling useless, so as his two co-captains helped him sit up and drink his soup, he felt a bad feeling in his stomach. He felt like a burden, and it was awful.
After Chip ate the most amount of soup that he could stomach, Gill helped him lay back down as Jay put the bowl on a table and searched through a drawer. She then left, probably to grab the medicine. Gillion put a hand on Chip's forehead, and he leaned into the touch. It felt so nice. He looked up at Gill’s face and saw a soft look in his eyes. He usually caught Gill looking at him like that, and Chip wasn’t quite sure what it meant.
Chip stared into those blue eyes, imagining the ocean in them. They were so beautiful. He felt like he could look at them all day, but eventually, Jay came back with the medicine and made him break from the trance that Gillion’s eyes had put him in.
“Got the medicine, now will you stop staring into each other’s souls so I can give Chip his medicine.” Chip felt his face flush. He saw Gill’s face darken, and he knew that it wasn’t just his vision.
Jay made him open his mouth and she poured some disgusting liquid in. Chip gagged as he swallowed it. He felt the cold hands rubbing his palms, and he looked at Gill and smiled. He felt his cheeks warm even more.
“Well, I’ll just leave you two love birds,” Jay smirked and walked up the stairs. Chip hid his face and his hands as he felt the medicine go through him. He knew that he would get drowsy in a bit and have to go to sleep.
He looked back up at Gill. He was smiling down at him and that made something in Chip’s stomach do flips. Maybe that was the medicine. Chip grabbed Gill’s hands and put them on his cheeks, feeling the cold from them.
“Hey,” Gillion whispered.
“Hey,” Chip whispered back in a raspy voice. “Your hands feel nice.” Gillion’s smile deepened. Chip felt his eyes get heavy and he knew Gill could tell.
“Lay with me,” Chip said in a whining voice. If he was feeling better, then he would have cringed, but the coolness of Gillion’s body felt nice against his own. Chip made little grabby hands. Gill sat there and thought. Chip pouted and made more grabby hand motions.
“If from what Jay said about Oversea sickness, then if I lay with you, I have a chance of getting sick as well.” Gill pondered for even longer. Chip huffed and started pulling him in, which was difficult with his sleepiness. Gillion scooted forward and started getting into the bed. It clearly wasn’t made for two people, but Chip didn’t care.
“I’ll just take care of you like you and Jay did for me,” Chip whispered. Gill got in the bed completely and Chip buried himself into the triton’s chest. He wrapped his body around Gill’s and sighed with contentment. The differences in their body temperatures felt nice and before Chip could think about it, he was drifting off into sleep.
The last thing he heard was the rough whisper of Gillion’s voice. “I love you.” Chip smiled, and then he was asleep.