Sage just slumped in his chair, watching Remy slip into the water. He stayed outside like that for a while, before moving back inside. The house felt too empty without Remy....and he just flopped down on their bed with a sigh. He did feel bad.

Remy swam away and to his cavern, a place he knew Sage wouldn't be able to get to on his own because of the darkness. He curled up on the ledge he and Sage had once slept on and cried. He hadn't expected Sage to hit him, and it hurt. Remy didn't come back that night.

Sage didn't sleep at all. He'd stayed up, waiting, wanting to apologize. But Remy didn't come. He couldn't help but feel like he wouldn't, ever....and he knew it would be his own fault. But how was he supposed to go on then? He just lay there, curled up on the bed, staring blankly at the window.

Remy spent the rest of that week alone. Because it was spring, he was pretty sad without Sage, so on the day where every merperson was together for the gathering, he did his usual routine of hitting his tail against the jaged wall, then sobbed himself to sleep. The next morning, he treated and wrapped his wounds before slowly swimming back to the beach. He surfaced and splashed his arm because he couldn't crawl out on his own and his tail hurt too much, but they needed to go get Ivy today.

When the next day passed and Remy still wasn't back, sage was pretty well convinced that's how it was going to stay. He didn't blame Remy....everyone left eventually. And he had been a little rough. Insensitive. So, he didn't eat. Didn't sleep. He'd taken up smoking again, and this time he'd started drinking too. He barely moved off the bed....no showering, no brushing his teeth, barely using the bathroom. His days had all sort of blurred together, but it was better that way. At least, he wasn't thinking straight enough to get too upset. That was what he told himself.

Remy sighed irritated, splashing harder, trying to get his attention. He could smell the cigarrette and liquor scent practically radiating off the property. He was doing his best, he couldn't do anything more to get the mans attention. But it seemed Sage didn't want to listen. He didn't want to be around Remy. Maybe he didn't want to be with Remy at all.

Sage eventually saw the splash, but had tried to ignore it. It was just another illusion, after all. They'd been bugging him this whole time. Eventually though, he couldn't handle the splashing anymore so he got up with a groan, half finished bottle in hand as he trudged out to the beach, plopping down hard on the sand and staring at the merman dully. "When are you going to leave me be then," he murmured after a moment. "You're a ghost....sent by whoever's in charge of this godforsaken earth to remind me of all my mistakes." His brows furrowed. "But why did they have to pick the one that hurts the most?" He lifted the glass to his lips with a dry chuckle. "It's fitting, I suppose. I probably deserve it. I hurt you, after all." He just stared at the bottle while he spoke....he couldnt look at the image of his lover. Not while the guilt and the hurt coiled so tightly in his chest.

Remy gave him a look. "Sage, drop the bottle, get in the water and sober up, you have a daughter that needs you," he muttered angrily. He didn't like that this was the way he chose to deal with his problems.

Sage sort of blinked, a little taken back by that. The flashes of Remy he always saw....the ghosts haunting him....they never spoke. "You're....talking," he noted, lowering the bottle and squinting at Remy. Then the words actually registered and he sighed. "And when I run into the real Remy," he asked quietly. "Then what do I say? It's a little too late for an apology. He and ivy are better off without me," he noted softly, still not registering that this was actually the real Remy.

Remy rolled his eyes, irritated. "God, how you can fuck yourself up in less than 2 days is ridiculous," he muttered. "Its never too late for an apology, now get in the water, we're late,"