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It was a simple motion, a simple thing. Gura’s slim fingers wound their way through Ina’s dark locks, splitting it into two braids pinned up with her signature shark clips. She hummed as she worked, unraveling knots and tangles as gently as she could.
Ina bit her lip, trying to keep the noises from escaping her throat at the feeling of her hair being tugged. Her tentacle blobs on top of her head wiggled, betraying her emotions as Gura patted her head and stepped away. The shark grinned, sharp teeth on full display, her tail almost knocking down the standing mirror that they had pulled over.
“You look great, Ina!”
Ina looked at her reflection, her hair making two glossy waterfalls down the front of her sweater. She smiled slightly.
“You’re quite good at that.”
Gura blushed, her tail practically having a mind of its own. “I do it just for you, lovely.”
“When did you learn how?”
Gura opened her mouth and then stopped, a strange look passed over her face, like a cloud over the sun.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Ina looked concerned, placing a gloved hand on Gura’s.
Gura said nothing, shifting her hand to be palm up and intertwining her fingers with Ina’s. The priestess squeezed comfortingly.
Gura didn’t squeeze back.
- - -
And it was a small thing, a thing Ina probably shouldn’t have latched onto as much as she did. But now it was all she saw, little actions that concerned her more and more. Gura’s laughter suddenly cutting off in the middle of a lively conversation with Ame, Ina walking into a room and seeing Gura curled up on the couch and staring off into space, looking melancholy.
Even Gura’s garden, a little pet project that made its home on their porch and in their backyard seemed to reflect the shark’s gloom. The flowers once vibrant colors were dull, heads drooping even when Ina tried moving them to sunnier locations or watering them a bit more. Even the tea plant that Gura had gifted to Ina (even though Gura was the one who mostly took care of it) had changed, the brew tasting bitter and almost rotten sometimes, even when the cuttings were fresh.
And Ina wanted to ask her little shark what was happening, to hold her in her arms and beg to know why her sunshine was going away. But everytime she brought it up, Gura would shut down, tail curling around her body and curtly telling her that she was fine or seemingly ignoring the question and changing the subject.
The worst thing, though, was when Ina saw her leave. It was late at night, and the Ancient Ones were loud, louder than they had been for the past couple of months. Well, it was late at night, but it slowly trickled into early in the morning, the darkness outside of the blind-covered windows slowly lightening into a murky gray. Everyone was asleep, was what she thought; Kiara latched onto her snuggling victim for the night, Calli, who seemed to be having trouble breathing under the weight of the phoenix lying on top of her. Ame was curled into Ina’s side, her breath blowing strands of blonde hair into Ina’s face.
The priestess shifted her head to face away from the offending strands of hair, now gazing at the other side of their large bed. The room was dark, even with the increasing beams of weak sunlight shining through the windows. Ina frowned, the comforter strangely bunched up where Gura had been when they all got ready to sleep.
Trying not to wake Ame up, Ina lifted an arm and shifted the comforter. Gawr Gura was not there, the place on the mattress where she once lay still bearing a slight dent. Ina frowned, blinking a couple of times to clear her eyes of the haze of sleep. Glancing at the clock on the bedside table, her brow furrowed upon noticing that it was three in the morning.
The door slowly creaked open, a shadowed form making its way through the slim gap. Ina hurriedly shut her eyes, feigning sleep as Gura made her way to the bed, nestling into Ina’s side. She fell asleep instantly, Ina opening her eyes once she was sure the small shark was completely out. Ina caressed the side of Gura’s face, smoothing her hair behind her ear as she searched Gura’s peaceful face for any sign of why she had been out.
There was nothing, and Ina curled up a little closer to Gura’s small form.
- - -
It was raining, the thrum of raindrops drowning out the whispers, the dark voices fueled by her unease at Gura’s state. She tried to focus, the sweet smell of the veritable forest on their porch helping slightly. Her wings fluttered, trying to get the little bit of damp off of the feathers.
The porch door opened, the frame creaking as a tall figure stepped out, taking a deep breath of fresh air.
“Hello Calli.” Ina smiled at the reaper, who grinned back, long pink hair tied back in a ponytail revealing her marble-like features. Calliope Mori sat down next to Ina on the porch bench, Ina leaning into her a bit. The cold nipped at the priestess’ cheeks, Calli’s rough sweater lending a little bit of warmth to the frosty morning.
They sat in silence, both appreciating the company given, the quiet a million words between familiar souls.
“What’re you doin’ out here, Ina?” Calli asked sleepily, cheek mushed on top of Ina’s head. The priestess shivered at the hot breath on her tentacle flaps, her cheeks burning and making the morning cold a distant memory.
“It’s nice outside, in the garden.”
Calli hummed. “You’re not wrong.”
“Gura puts a lot of work into it.” Or at least she did… Ina thought to herself sadly, tracing a gloved finger over the blooming bud of a tulip. “It is quite cold outside though.”
Calli smiled softly, draping her arm over Ina’s shoulders, the priestess huddling a little bit closer to the reaper’s body. “The bed seems cold as well.” Ina stiffened slightly, but if Calli noticed she didn’t say anything about it, instead continuing. “Once upon a time I wouldn’t really notice anything wrong with that but now,” She paused, pink eyes gazing out at the slightly cloudy sky. “It’s different now.”
Ina was silent, the reaper’s scent of roses and (faintly) wine calming her. “A lot of things are different now.”
The reaper chuckled. “Kiara helps though, that girl’s a real heater sometimes.”
Ina smiled, nuzzling deeper into the sweater, her shivers ceasing. “We probably don’t need to pay the heating bill because of her.”
Calli laughed, loose strands of pink hair danced in the morning breeze. “It still is noticeable though, at least when I’m on your side of the bed.”
Ina’s wings twitched, halo dimming. Calli reacted this time, a concerned look in her eyes. Ina sighed, glancing at the slightly wilted tea plants. “It’s because Gura keeps on getting up in the middle of the night.”
Calli frowned. “Like, to go to the bathroom?”
“No,” Ina’s wings fluttered lightly in discontent. “I’m usually awake when she leaves. She doesn’t come back.”
“But why are you awake?” Calli asked softly, hand rubbing soothing circles on Ina’s shoulder. Ina hunched over slightly, wings curling in as if to protect her.
“It’s just the whispers and such, nothing too serious.” Ina cleared her throat. “I can handle them.”
“We can handle them together, too.” Dark eyes met bright, death seeing deathless and loving what gazed back.
Ina’s heart did a funny little misbeat in her chest, causing her to look away as she reddened. For all of Calli’s shyness and emotional inexperience, she loved with all she had, and it showed in everything she did. She took in a deep breath to calm herself, focusing on the feeling of Calli’s arm wrapped around her, solid and caring.
“But right now, we need to help our little shark..” Ina said while coughing into her fist, still facing away from Calli.
“Alright.”
And it was obvious to Calli that she was trying to change the topic, to divert the conversation away from herself like she always did. It hurt a little, knowing how fast Ina had opened up to Ame about her troubles with the Ancient Ones, but then again, Gura and the reaper went pretty far back, to the fall of Atlantis. Long talks about adventures and travels over the years along with simple, quiet hours at the beach enjoying each others company
So she merely held Ina a little bit tighter, a little closer to her side and felt her priestess’ heart beat strong through the rain. Calli wondered if this was what it felt like to be alive.
- - -
The plan was to follow her this time, both of them passing glances throughout the evening at Gura’s still off manner. Ina found herself staring sadly at the other three in their quintet, Kiara and Ame talking animatedly about their card game they were playing. Gura argued with her usual cheer, the happiness showing on her face a welcome sight. But the coldness was still there in the back of her deep blue eyes, as if she wasn’t really in the moment.
“I am clearly the winner here!” Kiara declared, throwing her cards down on the table.
Ame spluttered, slamming her hand down. “You can’t just say that you won!”
“But I did,” Kiara leaned on the table, a smirk on her face. “You wanna contest it, Sunshine?”
Ame reddened, choking on a sip of her drink. “Only Gura’s allowed to call me that!”
Kiara pouted cutely, hair igniting. She turned to the shark, who had seemed to space out halfway through the game, blue eyes focused on a dent on the coffee table. “Then what am I supposed to call Ame, Gura?”
Gura snapped to attention, tail smacking against the carpet with a muffled thump. “Uhh…” She blinked, blue eyes hazy with sleep. Through the blue tint of her skin, if you looked close enough, there were strange gray bags under her eyes, betraying her sleepless nights.
Kiara frowned, noticing Gura’s tiredness. “Are you okay?” She checked the shark’s temperature. “You seem sick.”
“Yeah, I’m good-” Gura was interrupted by a huge yawn, her upper jaw detaching and revealing her sharp teeth. She rubbed her eyes, tail moving lazily behind her. “One more game?”
“No, I think it’s better we go to bed,” Ame said worriedly, Kiara’s quip forgotten. “You don’t look so good.”
“Mean,” Gura muttered, but she didn’t contest it, stumbling up the stairs.
Kiara and Ame looked concerned, but they began cleaning up the debris of their dinner. Calli shot one more look at Ina, before beginning to help the other two. Ina chipped in, all of them managing to get the mess cleaned up quickly. Kiara face planted on the bed as soon as they all made it to the bedroom, barely moving until Ame nudged her slightly, managing to get her up and ready.
As one last failsafe, Ina and Calli sandwiched themselves on either side of the shark, bodies wrapped around Gura to deter her from whatever was calling her to leave at night. Ame grumbled a bit, but latched onto Kiara as soon as she fell asleep, Kiara’s warm back a complete temperature difference from Gura’s colder body. But it didn’t work, Calli nudging the priestess awake from where she had nodded off, sleep pulling on her eyelids like anvils. The space between them was empty, the gap between the two larger.
They pulled coats on as quickly as they could, the dim room feeling oppressive in the way that they were leaving it, with nary a word in the darkness. Ina feeling guilty upon looking back at Kiara and Ame’s lone forms, the two not waking up but upon feeling the loss of warmth in the bed drawing even closer to one another. The reaper and the priestess left the room as silently as possible, the flash of blue in the streetlight lit streets guiding the way.
They were ten minutes into their chase when Ina realized where they were going, the path ingrained in her heart from Gura’s sharp biting smiles tossed behind shoulders leading her to beaches and sun. The shark was by the sea, and that was where she would always return to. The extended life of Ninomae Ina’nis may not be infinite, and Gura may continue on or cease before, but whatever happened, the ocean was what would remain of them all. An endless cycle of coming and going, taking shards of sand as offerings and giving pretty shells as gifts. An altar to each other, was what their little group was, and Ina for once, could not bear the silence coming from her beloved.
It was dark, the sun barely peeking through the fog that lay over the sea’s smooth surface, pearl-like in the moonlight. They were two forms coming up beside the small shark and sitting down on the sand, the white tossed surf licking their feet as empty lifeguard stands and ashen fire pits dotted the dunes. Gura gave no sign to show that she had noticed their presence, merely continuing her doodles in the damp sand. Ina breathed in deep, bringing briny air into her lungs, the scent pulling memories from the depths of her mind. Of lonely days on cold beaches, focusing on the shush, shush of the waves instead of the hushed whispers that vibrated at the back of her skull. But also of bright days, with her partners smiling at her and warming her more than the sun ever could.
Dark eyes traced the alien, yet strangely familiar shapes being written in the sand, memories of fire and deep, dark waters. Memories that weren’t hers. She quickly glanced over at Calli, and upon seeing the recognition on her face as the reaper stared at the writing, her thoughts were confirmed.
Gingerly, she rested her hand on Gura’s shoulder, the smooth fabric of the hoodie brushing against unusually bare fingers. And the dam broke, the waters burst forth, and it was like the small shark that Ina loved so dearly had been holding back a thunderstorm held behind the false cage of wispy clouds. It was silent, and Ina wouldn’t have noticed if it weren’t for the barely controlled shaking, Gura’s tail wrapping around her hunched over form.
On reflex, the priestess’ wings grew, halo illuminating the sand around them as Calli wrapped her arms around the shark and pulled her into her lap. Sand billowed around them like clouds, an angel protecting the reaper and the shark from whatever may harm them. But the damage had already been done long ago.
It was through choked sobs and gasps that Gura tried to explain but Calli shushed her gently, holding her as one would hold a delicate shell, a flower, with a care meant for something fleeting. The shark had seen so much, and so much had been forgotten under the overwhelming newness of the surface that when the memories of bygone times surfaced, it simply was too much.
“I come to the sea, because it reminds me of the time Ame first found me.” Gura said hoarsely, sniffling slightly. She was perched on Calli’s lap, tail wrapped around the reaper as if the pink haired woman were a lifeline. Gura’s hand held on tight to Ina’s own, ungloved from their hurry to follow the shark. “And I didn’t remember much even then. Just mostly glimpses, I guess.” The shark went quiet, Ina’s wings shrinking slightly upon feeling that Gura had calmed down enough.
“It’s a lot of stuff, even I can’t get it all straight sometimes.” Calli said, pink eyes glittering in the slowly rising sun. “Time is weird dude.”
Ina laughed lightly. “That’s why we leave it to Watson to handle it.”
Gura peeked out from where she had wrapped herself partially in Calli’s loose coat, the small smile on her face lightening Ina’s heart from where it was laying like a stone in her chest, heavy with worry. “I don’t know if that bozo could handle something like that.” Her tone was teasing, affectionate, comfortable in the way she addressed their blonde girlfriend. But her blue eyes dimmed, eyes turning to the barely there words she had scrawled in the sand, long since eroded by the ocean’s waves. “It was when you asked me, Ina, how I knew how to braid hair. My mind just went… blank and I couldn’t even remember who last asked me to braid their hair in that style.”
Gura shifted slightly, Calli adjusting herself to let the small shark get comfortable. “It was so easy to push it all away,” Tears began streaking their way back down her face only to be wiped away by two careful pairs of hands. “Why do they have to come back now?”
“I tried to forget it all.” Calli said carefully, face an indecipherable mix of emotion. “Kiara and I… we had a long history, and long histories often have their bad moments.” Her tone was careful, tiptoeing the boundary of too much information and Ina wished that the wall was never there at all. “But you can’t really forget things like that like they’re nothing.” Her face broke into a smile all of a sudden, surprising Ina slightly. “And I’m glad I didn’t set us aside.”
“It might pull you away sometimes,” Ina said softly, hand caressing Gura’s cheek. The shark leaned into the touch, reddened eyes closing. “The whispers sometimes rip me away too. But we are each others lifelines, Gura.”
“And we won’t let you go.” Calli finished quietly, and as Gura’s shoulders began shaking once more, they wrapped her up in a hug again and held her close.
- - -
By this point, the sun had fully appeared over the horizon, the sea like diamonds in the bright morning light. Calli got up stiffly, having sat there for half an hour more as they had talked, a sort of venting conversation for the three of them.
“Sorry Calli.” Gura said, wiping sand off of the reaper’s coat as they all stood.
“It’s all good dawg. You’re just a bit, urrk, heavy.” She said, cracking her neck and groaning.
Gura grinned a toothy grin, a familiar smile that Ina had not realized how much she had missed. “It’s all of the chicken Kiara makes, man! You need to stop her!”
Ina chuckled, the trio beginning their walk back to their home. There was a weight in Ina’s coat pocket that she hadn’t noticed before, too occupied with Gura to check. Reaching in, she pulled out her phone that had three missed calls and twenty two unread messages.
“Oh dear.” Ina grimaced as another call tried to connect. She answered the phone warily.
“INA!” The priestess in question winced, holding the phone a little farther away from her ear.
“Hello Kiara.” She said awkwardly, putting her on speaker phone for the others to hear.
“Where the hell have you been,” The phoenix asked in a low dangerous tone, sending shivers down Ina’s spine. “It is six in the fucking morning, why aren’t you home?!”
“Ehh,” Ina looked at the other two who both looked as if they were in a similar state of fear at this angry Kiara. “We were looking for something?”
“That is very obviously a lie.” Ame said, speaking up. “Do you think we were born yesterday?”
“Just in your case, Ame.” Gura said mischievously, tail wagging behind her as they walked down the street.
“Hey!”
“That’s not the point right now.” Kiara interrupted the argument before it could truly escalate, Ina and Calli both breathing a sigh of relief. “What I’m asking is why Ame and I woke up to a freezing cold bed and with three of our girlfriends missing.”
“We weren’t joking, Kusotori.” Calli spoke up. “We really were searching for something.”
“Yeah.” Gura suddenly looked nervous, glancing at the other two. Ina smiled supportively.
“We got you,” She whispered, a tentacle apparating to form a strange version of a thumbs up before disappearing. Gura nodded, the nervousness fading slightly.
“I, uh, I’ve been having trouble sleeping, so Ina and Calli followed me to talk about it.”
The other side was silent, Gura’s tail curling and uncurling around her legs and nearly making Calli trip.
“You could have talked to us too, Gura.” Kiara said gently, anger completely gone.
“I know.” The small shark seemed downcast, kicking a rock on the sidewalk.
“I’m glad you talked it out with them though.” The detective consoled Gura, making her smile a little and lift her head up.
“But I expect you three to be back with breakfast.” Kiara said, a smile in her voice.
“Yeah, don’t forget the extra pancakes for me!” Ame chipped in, laughing in that unique gremlin way of hers.
They hung up before any of the trio could respond, effectively binding them to go and grab food. Calli sighed, rubbing her temples. “McDonalds?”
Ina shrugged. “It’s the closest place, I think.”
“And we just talked about Kiara’s chicken being unhealthy.” Gura tutted and shook her head condescendingly. “You both are a terrible influence.”
Calli smiled and lifted Gura onto her shoulders, the shark screaming slightly at the sudden motion. “You were the one who made us get up at two in the morning, sharkie, I wouldn’t talk if I were you.”
Gura crossed her arms and grumbled to herself, Ina walking beside the two with a smile on her face. The whispers were completely silent, and the priestess relished the moment, the memory that would never be forgotten.