Work Text:
Chip winced back, shaking his hand off. Even if, with his new fire magic, he can't be burnt anymore (meaning the oven is no longer a danger to him), it means nothing if he still can’t chop for shit and managed to slice his finger while cooking. He has a metal pinkie for Aster’s sake, he can’t afford to lose another! The cut itself isn’t too deep but there’s already blood starting to pool on the wound. He licks off the remnant threatening to drip and sighs, putting dinner on hold to find either a towel or bandage, just something to prevent him from putting his real blood sweat and tears into this meal.
He trods into the lower deck, searching around for the item unsuccessfully. What he does find is Jay and Gillion locked in an intense match of chess with Queen and Pretzel watching from the sidelines both sporting an intense look on their faces. Gillion seems to have taken more pieces but Jay has him on the ropes with her queen and his lack of queen. Well strategic lack of queen, as Queen themself is sitting next to the triton, humming what seems to be a battle tune to fit the energy of this chess match.
“Yo, has anyone seen the bandages?”
Gillion is the first to perk up, tilting his head and looking over with a concerned expression. “Why are you hurt?”
“What’d you do this time? It's cooking, how hard can it be?” Jay quipped in although still looking over to make sure the damages aren’t severe. Right when she looks away Pretzel eats one of her pawns and Queen giggles at the action.
“Yeah I’m good, it's just a little cut. Main problem is the blood, unless you want some extra pizazz in your meal.” Chip replied with a sly grin and Jay rolled her eyes with a light hearted scoff before looking back at the game only to be in a worse position somehow. She glares at Pretzel’s full mouth pointing downwards for the frogtapus to drop it.
While the two silently argued, Gillion got up and padded over towards Chip, taking the man's injured hand in his own hands before the other could react and leaned his head against it. He felt the magic flow through his body like water and reach his palms and felt it spread outwards in a mist, wrapping around Chips. The glow covered the wound completely, methodically and efficiently sewing it back together, leaving only the traces of blood and a slight scar to show for it. He planted a gentle kiss atop the wound before pulling away.
Gillion patted Chip’s hand like the hood of a car. “All better!” and walked back over to the chess board which now looked like a warzone where Pretzel was running rampant as Jay tried to grab her and Queen cheered Pretzel on.
Chip stood tensely throughout that whole exchange, feeling his face burn watching the triton work. Eventually he snapped out of it, managing to sutter out; “O-Oh! A-alright. Thanks Gill!” and stiffly walk away.
As Gill drifted back to the table, Queens knowing yet curious gaze caught his attention. He tilted his head as they began speaking “Mimimi la~ Ah amor is so sweet is it not? La!” They sang, nudging Jay who finally looked up from her standoff with the little pink frogtapus.
“Huh? Oh yeah, they do that sometimes. It’s probably because Chip overthinks himself out of everything and Gill here is the most oblivious fish in the sea.”
Gillion gasped at that, looking bluer than he did a minute ago. “Hey! …it is probably just a cultural difference.” he murmured, clearly sulking.
“Ah la! But I was correct, no? La la?” Queen chimed in, their bunny ears leaned back with intrigue.
Gillion looked away, attempting to unsuccessfully hide the blush that was a clear tell, before standing up abruptly and shouting, “...I SENSE AN EVIL… ELSEWHERE. I SHALL SLAY IT. GOODBYE.” and promptly zipped off.
“Fruity central with those two laaaa la!” Queen giggled out.
“What does that even mean?”
You’ll get it when you’re older, la.”
Jay opened her mouth, closed it, then opened it again. “How old are you???”
-
Gillion darted out using his ‘smooth’ escape and found himself in the kitchen. He sighed in relief and leaned on the counter next to Chip who was finishing chopping tomatoes.
“Greetings my dear Chip! What are you making?”
‘Oh h-hey Gill, uhh I.” He squinted down at his cutting board. “I don’t know yet. I feel like Earl’s gonna kill me.”
“Ah. Well, I believe in you! Actually, would you like some assistance?”
“Sure, the more the merrier! You got a recipe?”
“Nope!”
“Sick.”
“No one is sick currently.”
“Nevermind man, come over here, lemme show you something.”
Chip began instructing Gill on how to boil water, which was a frightening lesson for the fish-like man but they successfully began boiling pasta while Chip managed to make a tangy sauce. The kitchen smelled lovely as the pair brought their meal together and made the closest thing to spaghetti they could get on the open seas. Chip had Gillion do the first taste test and they determined that it was, in fact, edible after about a minute. On top of that the triton reported it was also quite tasty too! They shared their meal with the rest of the crew with dubious levels of trust in response but ultimately it turned out to be a hit.
Chip leaned against one of the kitchen walls and slid down into a seated position with a sigh as the triton joined him, sitting down next to him. “Good work today!” he held out a high five with an exhausted grin plastering his face. Gillion reciprocates the gesture with an easy smile, internally proud of his growth in overseas social cues.
“Thanks for helping by the way, both with healing and with cooking. I appreciate it man.” Chip voiced, scooting in a little closer and leaning on the other man's shoulder.
Gillions ears pricked up, before settling and leaning back on Chip too. His tail swayed contently as he responded quietly, feeling himself dozing off “Of course Chip. Anything for you.”
“Same for you… always the same for you.”