#alexgaz

[cod-dump]

Soap: Alex acts like a neglected shelter dog you adopted

Gaz: Why would you say that?

Soap: Kyle, he's so pitiful

Gaz, laughing: Stop-

Soap: He does that sigh thing when he sits, too

Gaz: *wheezes*

[doodling-doodle]

Revenge Can Be Costly

This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. They were supposed to get rid of the last remaining members of Konni. But it seemed like someone, something, had different ideas.

And Price was the victim of it

—-

Read here

[hedgehogsaretheultimatelifeform]

Kinktober 2024 Day Twenty Six

Knotting

Alex Keller/Kyle "Gaz" Garrick

Gaz rolled over, eyes snapping open as he heard Alex start pacing again. He gritted his teeth, pressing a pillow over his head, crushing it over his ear as he slowly counted to thirty again, taking deep breaths, as he waited for Alex to settle down, like he’d said he would try to do.

At thirty, he lifted the pillow up again, and still heard Alex pacing in the other room. Gaz pressed the pillow to his face, groaning, before chucking it aside again.

He knew Alex couldn’t help it. He’d come up in a dry rut unexpectedly. It wasn’t his fault. Probably, due to stress, or lack of sleep, or some combination of the two. At least, that’s what Alex had attributed it to, while apologising to Gaz that it had happened. He’d taken it all on his shoulders, insisting that he and Gaz rest in different rooms, while promising that he’d try and keep the disturbances to a minimum.

Gaz sat up in his bed, tossing the covers back. Alex had done a pretty good on his promise, actually. The noise his pacing was making was really very faint. It should have easily mingled with the other sounds of the building around them, something Gaz would have usually tuned out with ease, a habit everyone in the military had.

It had to be something to do with the heat, that was making Gaz so bothered by it. Usually, Gaz was fine being around other alphas in their ruts. Before they’d been a pack, he’d been around the other members of 141 when they’d had their ruts come up at bad times, when they’d gotten caught in the barracks, or a safehouse, and it had been easy enough for Gaz keep his distance, letting them lock themselves in a room and do what they needed to do.

So why was this different? Was it because the heat was unexpected, out of sync? Because it had come on suddenly, with no preparation, the days where, normally, Gaz would have been able to get used to the smell, the sounds, and learned to tune them out?

Gaz closed his eyes as he curled down over his lap, trying to work out what he was supposed to do. Once they’d formed a pack, he and the rest of 141 had been able to help each other with their ruts. When Soap had had his last one, Gaz had been the one there for him, keeping him hydrated and relaxed. He hadn’t been filling in the role of an omega, rather, caring for his pack, like an alpha is bloody meant to.

Was it even possible for an alpha to care for another alpha like that, when they’re not part of the pack? Gaz considered Alex to be close, as close as the members of his pack, but he technically wasn’t. Not that they didn’t want him to be, Price had made that clear, there just hadn’t been the right moment to bring it up yet.

Gaz opened his eyes again, staring at the door in the far corner of the room, his ears pricking when he realised that the pacing had stopped. He frowned, before all of his wondering thoughts vanished from his head as a faint whimper crept under the door.

He had to at least try.

Gaz swung himself up off the bed, scooping a blanket up to drape around himself as he wandered over to the door, opening it and crossing the corridor. He found the door to Alex’s room and opened it, not seeing anything off about the plain, stone brick walls, the bed in the corner, a curtain blowing back from the open window, a patch of moonlight flashing in and out as the curtain fell back, as Gaz’s chest tightened and he saw Alex, lying curled up on the floor.

Gaz pulled the blanket from his around shoulders, tossing it over Alex’s body as he knelt next to him, resting one hand on his head, as his other searched for a pulse.

“I’m not dead.” Alex rolled over onto his back, clutching the blanket in his hands, gazing up at Gaz.

“I know.” Gaz nodded softly. “It’s hard, isn’t it?”

“You have a striking talent for stating the obvious.” Alex groaned, springing to sit up, but immediately curling over, hissing in pain as he clutched his crotch and buried his face in Gaz’s blanket.

Gaz sighed and hopped up, grabbing Alex under his arms and lifting him, dragging him across the floor to the bed, which looked like it hadn’t been touched. “Have you even tried to go to bed?”

“No.” Alex sat on the edge, still hunched over with the blanket bundled over his crotch as Gaz knelt in front of him. He carefully removed Alex’s blade and its sleeve, carrying them away to lay them beside the door, on top of Alex’s pack.

“That’s too far away.” Alex called out, staring at it, gripping the edge of the bed.

“Sorry.” Gaz apologised, picked it back up and moved it closer to the bed, leaning it up against the bedpost closest to the pillows.

Alex nodded and relaxed, dropping onto his back. “Thanks. I should be alright now.”

Gaz shook his head and crawled up next to him. “Not going to cripple you and leave you here. I’m no omega, but I do have a hole you can use, if we can’t get you to calm down.”

“I can’t knot your ass, that’s so dangerous.” Alex tried to sit up again, only for Gaz to grab his shirt and push him down.

“It’s not. I had it done before. Everyone just says that, so alphas don’t just start fucking each other.” And the world would be a lot less fucking complicated if everyone got over that, Gaz left off.

Alex swallowed. “Really?”

“I’m in an all alpha pack, Alex.” Gaz looked at him, watching the realisation dawn in Alex’s eyes. “Do you really think we all just… suffer alone?”

“I’m not pack, though.”

“You can be.”

Alex was silent for a moment.

“If you want to be.” Gaz said, worried he had misread him.

“No! I… I wanna be.” Alex tilted his head to face him. “Wannabe.”

“You will be. You are.” Gaz reached out for his face. “Pack takes care of each other.”

“You expecting me to return the favour, then?” Alex tried to quip, but it didn’t hide the anxiety and pain in his voice.

“Some time, maybe. Let’s get a look at you, now.”

Alex nodded, settling back and letting Gaz gently pull the blanket away from his crotch, laying it over his chest and shoulders as he looked at his tented boxers.

“Fucking ow.” Gaz murmured. His own dick ached from just seeing Alex like this.

“Tell me about it.” Alex groaned as Gaz tugged his boxers down his thighs.

“Nice show.” Gaz swallowed, catching his dick in his hand as it sprung up. “Let’s get you in a hole, shall we?”

“Shall you.” Alex groaned. “I can’t… move.”

“I got it.” Gaz shoved his own boxers off, tossing them to Alex when he held his hand up for them. He tilted his face down into Alex’s neck, pressing his nose to his scent gland, inhaling deeply when he finally caught a whiff of his scent. It would be the dry rut – they work differently to normal ones, Gaz recalled. More akin to burnout, than the regular cycles. Gaz huffed what little he could get, pushing his finger between his own ass cheeks to poke at his hole, nuzzling Alex’s neck as he pulled it open.

“I want you to face me.” Alex murmured, clutching Gaz’s boxers tight, pressing them to his face.

Gaz nodded, wondering what about him was smelling so good as he straddled Alex’s hips, kneeling up as he carefully guided Alex’s throbbing cock into his ass.

Alex groaned, body jerking as he lifted his leg up, bracing his foot on the edge of the bed as he tried to fuck his dick up into Gaz’s ass.

“Hey, hey.” Gaz gently pressed the leg back down, using his fingers to spread his hole wider as he hurried to spear himself on Alex’s cock. “You said, I should take care of it.”

“I did, when it hurt so bad I couldn’t move.” Alex groaned. “Feels a lot better now that I’m in something. Shoulda kept my blade on so I could fuck you.”

“You’ll have plenty of time to fuck me, in every where you want.” Gaz swallowed as he felt his ass hit Alex’s thighs, feeling the swelling base of his cock straining Gaz’s rim. “For now, knot me so you calm down, why don’t you?”

“Already on it.” Alex grabbed Gaz’s hips, clutching tight as the knot swelled and popped in Gaz’s ass. The pair of them groaned, as Alex tugged Gaz to his right, rolling the pair over, kept connected by the burst knot in Gaz’s ass, stretching him wide.

It was bordering on painful, but if they didn’t move too much, he would adapt to it just fine. Gaz tangled his legs with Alex’s, locking both of his legs around Alex’s knee to keep them still.

Gaz gazed at him, watching the pain fade from his face, as he gently rubbed a finger over his moustache. “You look better with this.”

“Yeah?” Alex smiled. “It took a while to grow back after… the factory. Was worried it never would.”

“Good, that it did. Can’t imagine you without it.”

“Rude.” Alex flicked Gaz’s nose, shifting his hips up as much as he could despite Gaz’s grip on him. “How are you going to tell Price about this?”

“He’s asked me if I’ve fucked you every time I get back from seeing you. He’ll say, ‘it’s about time’ and invite you for Christmas.”

“Christmas… that sounds nice.”

Gaz chuckled, warmth swelling in his chest. “I’ll warn you now, we don’t do roast turkey. We barbecue.”

“Even better.” Alex reached out for Gaz’s neck, brushing his fingers over his skin. “Am I blind, or do you not have a bite mark anywhere? Do alphas not need them to bond?”

“Technically, no one needs them.” Gaz reached up to rub his thumb over Alex’s scent gland, sniffing happily when he sensed Alex’s scent beginning to return to normal. “It’s all some hierarchical, ownership bullshit.”

“Huh…” Alex tilted his head towards Gaz’s hand. “No one in your pack has one?”

“Our pack.” Gaz corrected him. “Ghost does. But only because he wanted one. Asked for one from each of us.”

“Damn. Ghost’s a masochist then?”

“Something like that.” Gaz grunted, clutching the side of Alex’s neck when he felt his cock twitch, and something hot filling him.

“Whoops… Sorry.” Alex kissed his nose. “Didn’t realise I hadn’t come when the knot burst.”

“S’alright. Not like I can have pups.” Gaz leant forward and kissed him on the mouth.

“True. Not going to stop me from trying.” Alex whispered, eyes shining from the kiss.

“Keller out here with a breeding kink, huh?” Gaz grinned, breaking the moment.

“Like you don’t have what, a caring kink?” Alex poked his cheek. “Swanning in here to pick me up and look after me.”

“I’ll wear a little nurse hat next time if you want.”

Alex laughed, tucking his forehead against Gaz’s. “That, I’d pay to see.”

“I don’t charge.” Gaz tugged Alex’s chin up. “Not money, at least.”

“Would you consider kisses a currency then?”

“I can work with that.” Gaz kissed him again. “Better keep ‘em coming. We’ll be here a while.”

He experimentally tightened his ass around Alex, making the man groan.

“You keep that up, you’ll get more than you can handle.”

“I like a challenge.” Gaz grinned.

Alex grinned back. “Another kiss?”

“Gladly.”

[wishfuldivine]

Okay, but I don't care what anyone says. Gaz deserves to be loved and appreciated in any ships and within the fandom. His character development is truly amazing and one of my favorites. Not only that, can we talk about how baby girl he is? Sassy yet serious. He's fucking gorgeous. Absolutely beautiful. If we were in a room, one would be coming out pregnant and it's not me.

[snootlestheangel]

More of the YouTuber AU random bits

Just thinking of this thing as I'm working on the drabbles

There's compilation videos of all the times Gaz kinda blushes/smiles softly when Alex calls him a pet name. There's compilations literally titled "Alex for SIMP President" and it's just all the times he's being Alex and in love with Gaz. The Among Us video fuels these like gasoline lol

There's "Soap Being Scottish" compilations.

There's "Times They Forgot Alex is an Amputee" compilations

There's compilations of Gaz's side eyes to his camera every time one of them says something really wild/insults him directly

Once he and Alex move in together there's compilations of "Times Alex Interrupted Gaz's Stream Just For CuddlesTM" and it's all the times where Alex just walks into Gaz's office and sits on his lap

There's "Times Gaz Had Beef With A Weird Russian Dude" compilations, but they're just every time anyone, especially Gaz, brings up his misfortunes with helicopters, especially when Nik is the pilot.

There's Ghost compilations that always comment on his dark humor/edgy humor; there's compilations on all the times he's referenced 'death' in his life (like how in some games his tag is "LegallyDead")

From @eaveplzzz 's tags during a reblog of the OG post, there's so many theory videos on what happened to Alex's leg; why do they always say "Classic Soap" or "Soap NO" when he has a bomb/sets off an explosion; Who Is Ghost? theory videos are a big hit, especially the ones about if he's actually "legally dead" or not; the theories about what happened between Gaz and Nik

Gaz eventually being convinced to do vlogs.

His first one is "Moving In Together" and it's literally just a cute/funny video taken from highlights of his stream where he and Alex unpack a bunch of boxes while answering questions from his chat. (the compilation videos go hard after this stream/video goes live) *there's one question during this where someone asks Alex if he's missing his leg because he sold it to help Gaz's career and he just beams at the joke while Gaz screams into his hands*

This stream/video was so popular Alex suggests they make an entire channel dedicated to doing streams like that again/playing games just the two of them/a day in the life type super duper cute shit *there's one clip where they start slow-dancing cause they're listening to a playlist put together by the chat and a slow song comes up. There's so many music video-esque compilations where there's a love song/dedicated-to-this-one-person-for-the-rest-of-my-life songs play to a bunch of their cute moments with the slow dancing in the kitchen being the refrain*

He does eventually post a vlog style video but it's just random bits of things he recorded while at a big gathering over the Christmas holidays with everyone. There's a few ways viewers piece together who is who: Soap because he's the only Scot, and they're always yelling his name in some fashion, Dylan (Gaz's friend) is also easily picked out, Nik once again due to his accent, and eventually everyone catches on with Price *comments go crazy spamming the time signature Price first appears with "Daddy??"*

What surprises everyone the most is when Ghost finally makes an on-camera appearance. It's a brief video, where he's smiling at Soap and Gaz doing something silly. It's just Simon in that moment: no mask, no black around the eyes, his hair is recently cut and styled, and he's happy

*bout to make it sad for a second y'all*

There's a stream once where Gaz makes it clear everything he makes during it go to a Veteran's Help program. It's before the holidays, a very vulnerable time for all veterans, and it's just a quiet stream where he plays a relaxing game and answer questions from chat. He talks about Task Force 141 (briefly and in as little detail as possible), he talks about the helicopter incidents, how he met all the guys he plays with, he talks about he and Soap getting up to no good together, he talks about some of the struggles he had adjusting to civilian life since he didn't know anything else, how much of a help his friends and Alex had been.

It's later revealed the reason he did the stream is for Simon. Because even though it's been years since the incident with his family, it's still something that can hurt badly to this day. How he and Soap were shopping for gifts for Soap's several nieces and nephews. How there was a little toy plane that made the exact same sound Simon's nephew's once did. They even looked the same. How a little blonde boy begged his mum for it. The child looked so familiar it broke one of Simon's barriers.

PTSD isn't curable, it doesn't just disappear over time. There's ways to trigger really bad episodes, and this was just one of those times. It was hard for everyone to see Ghost have such a big setback, but for Gaz? The way they all found ways to help Ghost during it. The way he and the rest of the team, their friends and loved ones, helped reach out to pull Simon back onto his feet. And Gaz wanted other veterans to have that support, especially during the holidays.

He and the 141 (Price, Soap, and Ghost) eventually start doing charity streams just for veterans and the many existing resources for them. They're always wacky, sometimes they're gaming, sometimes they're all in-person doing a fake game show with some of their friends. There's one where they all travel to Mexico to host one with their Las Almas friends to benefit North American veterans' benefits charities.

I don't know, I'm just having so many thoughts about this AU I might just write an entire GazAlex fic based on their lives involving Gaz becoming a big creator.

There's so many thoughts about this AU HOLY SHIT

[maxisanangrywell]

Lowkey was thinking about making a Greatest Showman AU for COD. I have brainrot...

It would be featuring Ghostsoaproach as the main pairing, and Ghost taking Hugh Jackman's place but with a twist on the plot. Idk if people would be interested in it though.

(Yes Gaz & Farah & The Ghost Team will be in it.)

[xpaintedladyx]

CoD ship chart (made my own because I couldn't find one)

If the lines are confusing I shall explain and keep in mind it's my opinion

Family: All of 141 is just one big family so no shipping between the boys and Price just no. The games never offered anything beyond that. Also why Laswell isn't here she's canonically married.

Otp: GhostSoap, AleRudy, NikPrice. Their relationships and chemistry are just nice.

Great: AlexFarah, AlexGaz, Korangi. No big opinion on them. Alex and Farah were already falling in love from the start. Alex and Gaz seem like bros so go for it. There's little info on Konig and Horangi so you can go crazy with them. And Nick approves so 👍

No Problem: FarahAlexGaz. No big opinion on this one, I don't get poly in general or maybe that's just me as an Aroace person. But since they actually know each other, it works better rather than taking an existing relationship and throwing in a character no one knows.

NO: It's Graves and this is Graves slander, he can die in a hole. ValAle (is that the ship name?) these two already have a tainted past. There's little info to go on with Konig as is. Also, neither Soap nor Ghost knows him well enough to get into a relationship. Also Konig is not part of 141 but fans constantly put him there. Why?

WTF: Restating my point from before they're his boys and never have we seen him act in that way towards them so big no.

And just a friendly reminder sex ≠ love

and if you don't like or don't agree you can leave.

[captain-mj]

Little guy au, Gaz’s necklace breaking. Gasp! What happens next? It’s all up to you ~ (besides mcd because i’ll cry) thank you!!!

Of course! Everyone is aware of what Gaz is except Alex.

Gaz had, in the most idiotic, unplanned, zero strategy plan ever, moved his necklace to a pocket under his vest. Recently, the chain had almost snapped while he had moved around and this had been his solution.

What a fucking idiot.

He knew as soon as the IED went off, luckily not too close to any of them that they'd be hurt, but enough to send them all off their feet. His body smashed into the ground and he felt. The necklace was built like a locket, just with more space on the inside and water tight. Basically a very small jar that had been reinforced. Reinforced for wear and tear and being yanked. Not smashed between a gun and Gaz's body.

The water dripped and Gaz immediately felt the air around him get hotter. Pressure against his entire body.

His feet immediately wanted to carry him, but his source was hours away by plane. Fuck walking.

He was going to die like this.

Not by a gun.

Or an enemy knife.

He was going to die because he made a stupid decision. Tears pricked his eyes.

"Gaz, status." His radio crackled with Price's voice.

"Gaz?"

He couldn't get it out. All of the water had soaked into his vest, blending with the dirt and gunpowder soaked into his clothing.

"Kyle?" Price sounded worried. "Status?"

"I'm sorry, sir."

"Are you hurt? What is your location?"

"My necklace broke."

Silence over the comms before Ghost spoke up. "What do you mean broke?"

"Smashed, sir. Not the chain, the pendant. I'm so sorry."

"How long do we have?" Price was clearly running.

"If I'm lucky, maybe two to four hours. It's hot, that's not going to help." Gaz managed to get the necklace out of his pocket as carefully as he could, cupping his hands but there was nothing else. Stupid. Stupid.

Ghost found him first, dragging him to the heli. Luckily evac had been called earlier. They weren't supposed to be there much longer.

Soap had found some water bottles for him, making him drink as they tried to cool the room down. Already, he could feel his skin starting to dry. Even as he drank, his mouth felt painfully dry.

Prolonging the inevitable.

Price was in the cockpit, doing who knows what. Gaz knew it was rather silly, but he wished he was with him. He wished someone would tell him it was okay, even if it wasn't.

No one said anything though.

Gaz whimpered and leaned back, skin becoming increasingly uncomfortable.

Ghost patted his face. "Let me get you out of your gear."

Gaz nodded and felt Ghost quickly and efficiently strip him of heavy vest and the weapons that were littered on him. Any wounds he had picked up from the past few weeks started to ache. His skin started to unstitch itself at the seams like he was a doll. A particularly nasty scratch on his shoulder that he had gotten four days from a knife fight broke open, starting to bleed again.

Ghost held it tight. "Hey, hang on, okay? We're going to fix this."

"We're hours away from Manchester."

Ghost stared at him. "Gaz. Don't die on me."

"I'll try." Gaz managed, leaning back. "I'll try." He continued to chug the water.

Fuck. He really thought he'd have more time.

"I was supposed to have coffee tomorrow."

Soap stopped what he was doing to glance over. "What?"

"Yeah. I don't drink it very often. I hate the drip stuff. Planned on leaving base and going to a coffeeshop I like."

"You're still going to do that." Soap reassured and bounced around. He paused before dumping some water on to Gaz.

It helped a little.

"Why hadn't I thought of that?" Gaz mumbled, though this wasn't exactly a situation he was in often.

"Probably be best if we could submerge you somehow but we don't exactly have the water for that." Ghost poured water on the open wound. It didn't close it, but it kept it from opening more for now. The water wasn't from his source, but his body made due.

Gaz finished another bottle, dropping it to the ground. "All those times I got thrown out of a helicopter. Can't believe I'm going to die inside of one."

"Shut up."

"Don't talk like that."

Gaz laughed as they tried to keep him up. His eyes kept closing but they would pat his face or otherwise get his attention and he'd reluctantly refocus back on them.

Even without his gear, his skin started to crack where his clothing touched it. Little fissures from his skin rejecting the water in his own cells.

Soap and Ghost kept trying to keep them wet, but it didn't work for these, only reduced the pain a little.

Gaz whimpered as it felt like his own body wanted to eat itself.

Price finally reappeared. He winced slightly and helped them by focusing on just keeping him awake.

"You're going to be just fine, son."

Gaz immediately relaxed and nodded, leaning back.

And then they were landing. That wasn't right. Had that much time passed? His vision blurred, a pounding headache starting.

Something didn't feel right. The air around him felt wrong.

He tried to express his panic. Scream at them. Flail his arms. Try to explain that something was wrong.

Someone grabbed his face and forced him to tilt it back before something pressed to his mouth. He knew as soon as he tasted it what it was. His source.

The panic dissolved immediately. It dripped down his mouth with an agonizing slowness, the person probably trying not to spill any.

That American accent he knew so well.

"Why are you giving him pond water exactly?? Shouldn't we be treating his injuries?? There's blood everywhere?" Alex sounded so panicked.

"Just trust us." Price responded, the hands on his face clearly his then. Gaz panted softly, leaning against him. He still felt shaky. He wasn't sure how long he had been out, but it must've been a while. His body ached and even with that, he knew he'd need to visit his source as soon as possible.

"Is there anymore?" Gaz blinked, vision slowly coming back in focus. His entire arm looked very bloody. It felt like his skin had sloughed off and he was starting to wonder if maybe it did.

"No. Ghost is already getting a car don't worry."

Gaz nodded weakly and leaned into him, panting softly.

"I'll go get medical." Alex went to step away.

"That won't be necessary, Alex. Thank you."

"He's actively bleeding!" Alex snapped. "What the fuck happened out there?"

"Tell Alex."

"You sure, Gaz?" Price lowered his voice.

"Yeah, go ahead. He'll keep asking questions if you don't. Better to just answer it now."

Price didn't seem so sure, but he nodded. He was good about that. He always trusted them to know who to tell.

"You familiar with English folklore?"

Alex stared at both of them, probably expecting a punchline.

"There is a thing called a Nixie. Sometimes called a Nix. They're water creatures." Price stared at him until Alex finally nodded. "They have a source. Most stay within a couple of yards of it, but Gaz doesn't. The necklace."

"Yeah, I've seen it. I thought it was a good luck charm or something."

"No. It's his source. Well, a part of it."

"How I travel around." Gaz supplied, his headache starting to return, along with the aching pain. His bones felt like they were trying to come out of his skin.

Alex stared at them. Specifically, he stared at Gaz. "Right..."

"Just let him tag along. He's like Soap."

"Soap believes this?"

"I hate humans sometimes." Gaz groaned.

Alex frowned but as soon as he heard the car, he was the first to scoop Gaz up in his arms.

Gaz hummed. "Only sometimes. I like you guys other times." He wanted Alex to know that. Although he didn't believe death was quite as inevitable, at least today, he didn't want Alex to think he hated him regardless.

"Kyle. You're not being serious, are you?" Alex whispered to him. "If everyone got hit with some chemical that makes them hallucinate, I'll make a break for it."

Gaz laughed softly. "No. No. Just... trust me, yeah?"

"Alright. I trust you." Alex sat with him in the back of the hummer.

Ghost was driving. Which was good and bad. Good in that they'd arrive in half the time the journey would take. Bad in that they might not arrive at all. Whatever happens.

Alex held Gaz tight. He blamed it on Ghost's bad driving.

Ghost went to take Gaz and Alex just readjusted him in his arms.

"Alright." He backed off, instead leading them. Gaz felt his head growing fuzzier and fuzzier.

"Now throw him in."

"What?"

"Throw him in." Ghost motioned and Alex looked at Gaz.

Humans are so funny.

Gaz nodded and then he was dunked into the water. He yanked away and sank to the bottom, feeling himself start to dissolve. At the bottom of the pond, no one could see him.

He'd stay down here. Hopefully Alex would be gone by the time he left. And Price. Alex had never seen him and Price had only seen him once or twice. He didn't want to deal with either of their reactions right now.

Someone splashed above his head but the pond was deceptively deep. A grown man could be right above him and they wouldn't know.

What a funny thought.

His skin, the fissures that had coated him, started to stitch themselves together. The old wounds started to fix again, fading back to healed over scabs.

That wound on his shoulder might take some more time, but that was fine.

He laid on his back, watching the sun move over the water.

Only when it started to sink, staining the world above his home orange, did he poke his head out, using a lily pad as cover.

Alex was still there. He was the only one still there, which made sense. It had to have been hours.

Alex noticed the water moving and looked right through him. Gaz was very well camouflaged. His skin had faded to a dark green color, completely indistinguishable from the water. There was too much light for the reflection of his eyes to be noticeable.

"Gaz? They said you'd come up eventually." He sounded very unsure, taking a tiny step forward. His clothes were damp. Was he the one that had gotten in earlier? Probably spooked him. Thinking he drowned...

Gaz sighed. Damnit Ghost. Couldn't you have dragged him away with you?

"I'm fine Alex. You really should go home. It's getting late."

"Where are you?"

"It's not smart to come in the water."

"Why?"

Gaz bit his bottom lip, not able to think of a good reason fast enough. Alex took off his shirt and started to get in immediately.

Almost immediately, he slipped off the drop off and Gaz had to catch him, holding him in a similar position to how Alex carried him earlier.

"Hi." Gaz mumbled, trying to sink deeper into the water, while keeping Alex from going under with him.

Alex looked over everything. The antennae, the fins, and the skin. Gaz very much wanted to hide again.

Alex moved out of his grip, though he held on to his shoulders. Like this, Alex was the smaller one. Three inches shorter and much lighter in the water.

"Hi..." Alex was blushing bright red. Why was he blushing?

The water must be cold. Ah. Gaz started to sink back down. "You should get back on the shore. It's cold an-"

"You're really pretty."

"Oh." Gaz blushed a soft green color. It was hard to notice on his face, but his ears which were more clear, became a very noticeable different shade.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, pretty much everything is fine now. Just... need to rest for a bit. We're in Britain in early spring, I don't want you to get sick." Gaz started to push against him. Alex touched his hands, noticing the webs between them. He looked fascinated.

Gaz forced himself to relax, reminding himself that this was Alex. And that if he made a wrong move, Gaz could eat him.

"Promise you're okay?"

"Yes. I'm fine." Gaz said softly, gently rubbing Alex's back. He forgot how... warm humans felt when he was like this. Alex also felt rather soft. His body had a squish to it.

Alex's hands squeezed his shoulders lightly, still using him to stay afloat. He looked him all over, catching on any wounds that were still healing.

"Alex."

"Hmm."

"I'm okay."

Alex nodded. "Just... Just making sure."

Gaz put him back in the water where he could touch the ground. "I'm going to go back under for a bit. Stay warm. That's an order."

"Yes, sir." He saluted before falling back onto the shore. Gaz didn't sink very far, still keeping an eye on Alex.

-

Once he felt better, he told Alex who called Price for him. Price was supposed to come with a new necklace to pick them up. Instead, he showed up with several.

"One for everyone on the team. Alex, Soap, Farah, Ghost and me. That way if yours every breaks again, back ups are close by." Price smiled and dunked them all into the water.

Alex put Gaz's on for him and Gaz returned the favor.

For the first time in a couple of days, Gaz slipped clothing back on. It felt weird against his skin, but he'd readjust.

Alex smiled at him, the necklace right in the middle of his chest.

Gaz smiled back.