Chapter Text
🙜💞🙞
It had taken some time but Grian smiled, brushing sweaty bangs away. He was happy. The avian had finally settled on a proper interconnecting bridge between his and Mumbo’s base. Don’t get him wrong, he had liked his other bridge, but didn’t feel like it went well with Dwayne and his rocks. So with hands full of moss and cobble, Grian had gone back to rebuilding the passageway, and smiled proudly at how this new build had come out. Closing his now new pile of shulker boxes to add to the ever growing chest monster, Grian was about to take off towards the shopping district, when he felt it. He stumbled back, tripping over a box as he watched how his health bar drastically went below 5 hearts. Panicking, Grian quickly ate some golden carrots, wide eyes watching his bar stealthy go back up and quickly turned around. No, this wasn’t Double Life anymore. He didn’t have a Scar connected to his life anymore. It must have been because of the sun. Yes, him working with his jumper on in this heat, surely not good for his health.
As it would turn out, however, his fears were justified. Scar had been busy at his base, planning out the groundwork for one of what he planned to be many buildings in his theme park base. He had just laid out the shape for it, moving backwards to get a better look. He was a moment away from clapping his hands together in victory when a soft hiss interrupted him. He sucked in a gasp but it had been too late.
Flash forward a minute later, and Scar had worked his way back into his wheelchair. He was notably more singed than before, a good part of his imagineer suit charred black from the creeper explosion. He could feel the bruises on his body with every move but he didn’t want to eat until he set his body back properly, buckling himself back in (and this time, in a way that would actually keep him in if he was suddenly blown up). Finally, he was able to take a golden carrot out of his inventory, but before he was able to take a bite, he felt his body suddenly ease, pain beginning to subside. He paused before checking his hearts and sure enough, he was healing. Grian? Could it be Grian? he wondered. He shivered at the thought of being linked with him again. He didn’t want that, and not just because taking double the damage was inconvenient. He felt his breath quicken as anxiety began to bubble in his stomach. Not again, he couldn’t go through this again. He must be somehow imagining this; this was Hermitcraft after all. The games cruelly strewn together by the Watchers were over. He must’ve just snacked without noticing. He told himself that over ans over again until he steadied his breathing.
Grian had considerably taken off his jumper. Now in only a rolled up white button dress shirt, his scars were more noticeable. It wasn’t like no one had ever seen them, but Grian didn’t like showing them off. They brought back unwanted memories to the forefront of his mind. But him thinking it must be the sun, had taken the jumper off and tied it around his waist. Right, where was he? Yes, he needed to buy more mud. And only one place had the specific type he needed. Letting his wings extend, the beautiful colors showing off in the light of day, the male took off with a burst of laughter. He always loved the feeling of flying, and even more when there were no trees in his way, which did not seem to be the case, because he felt himself falling down through one, taking damage.
“Ow..” Grian hissed, looking up. A custom tree?...Where?...This was the direction to the shopping district, right? Were they putting up trees already?
As soon as Scar was feeling better, and was just about to get back to building, he felt the sharp pain in his shoulder as if he had collided with something. He hissed, grabbing onto it. Maybe he was imagining it somehow, he tried. He pulled down his collar and checked his hearts, met with the sight of a new bruise and four missing hearts. He felt the sinking feeling all over again, this time accompanied with the feeling of what felt like choking. He covered his mouth, fighting the urge to cry. He didn’t want to be stuck with Grian, the lingering effects that he had noticed had already been too much for him. He took a few moments for himself before forcing himself to drag out his communicator.
Gremlin:
Grian
Grian
Grian
We need to talk
Now
Said male, watching his right arm as the hearts he had lost refilled themselves back up, shook his head. No…no..this couldn’t be happening. It was all just a trick of the mind. Yes, a play that his head was maliciously portraying. The games were over now, he wasn’t— the vibration of his communicator had him startled jumping, his eyes filled with worry and nervousness, seeing the man he really did not want to think about, be the one to message him. Shaking hands opened the private chat, the male sucking in a breath at Scar’s urgency.
The Jangler:
Hey mate,
Yeah, I do believe we do
I’ll meet you at the edge of both our bases
Bring plenty of food..
With it, Grian gulped, holding onto the tree for support. This wasn’t happening. The games were over. It shouldn’t, they should no longer be attached. Right, he should go see him, lest he spirals in what ifs, and how comes.
And so it had already started, even if by the very slim chance that they really were paranoid somehow. Scar only sighed at the reminder, already beginning to feel as though he were on some kind of leash. He was the follower, or perhaps the person that needed babysitting. He couldn’t hold anything of importance; he would surely lose it. He was too irresponsible, took too many risks and made too many mistakes to be trusted with anything. Grian, meanwhile, was the leader; the one barking orders, calling the shots and telling his soulmate what to do and when. He was also the one that was as free as a bird, his vibrant wings uncaged like Scar was. Regardless of their roles, he found himself obeying because in the end, it was important after all.
“Have you felt it too?” He asked when he spotted the Brit at their meeting point. To be extra sure, not even waiting for a response, he punched himself to really confirm both of their fears. Not even having landed properly, Grian felt it square in the face, where Scar had hit himself.
"Scar!" The brit shouted, stumbling slightly when he looked over at his supposed soulmate. Right, cause somehow, the curse had carried over. But how, begged the question. The game mechanics dictate that once dead, that was it. Their code goes back to how it was supposed to be. He had made sure of that. The Watchers could take them for their cruel little games, but Grian made sure to hack into the code and alter it. They could take them, but once dead, they couldn't have them. No one was going to be taken from them. Making sure of that, he stayed in the games until the very end, killing the last victor. He had talked to them. As much as he had hated it, they only wanted entertainment, even if it by cruel means. Grian still wasn't going to allow them anything farther than that. Which is why, he was sure this was their way to repay his kindness back. Those bastards. With wide eyes, Grian quickly took out his bow and arrow, and shot it upwards. The avian watched the arrow come straight for him, wincing in pain as it pierced his back, looking how it not only hurt him, but Scar himself.
"Naur…this can't be happening. Scar, we can't be soulmates again!" Grian told him, closing his eyes in pain as he took out the arrow from his back, before taking a carrot. Scar couldn’t help but shudder, feeling the phantom pain. Even though he knew there wasn’t an arrow in his own back, he couldn’t help but try to grab and rip it out regardless.
“I liked my method better…” he muttered. Getting stabbed with an arrow was noticeably more painful than a punch to the face. He took the time to eat to heal them both. He met Grian’s shining black eyes in the meantime, silently cursing himself as he swallowed. “I— I don’t want this either…” he agreed out loud with a small nod. He already felt trapped, caged in his role all over again. “Grian… what do we do?” He asked, feeling an impending sense of hopelessness. He was the leader. He made all the calls, Scar had to obey; that’s how this worked. Grian didn't know what to do, he himself was trying to comprehend why this curse had carried over, and why did it take weeks to activate? Looking over Scar, he felt his chest tighten. Right, he hadn't been the best soulmate in the games; always restricting the man. But who could blame him? Being soulmates with Scar had been nerve wracking. The male always took damage for every little thing. He was justified in his actions. Sighing to himself, Grian walked behind Scar's wheelchair and took the handles.
"Right okay, I believe the first thing we have to do is let X know. We don't know if the rules carried over, so Scar, it's important that we both don't die, lest we turn yellow." Grian mused behind the man, wheeling him down the path created by the man himself, and towards where they knew Xisuma's mega base would be. His wings lazily flapped behind him as Scar leaned back in his chair, trying to get comfortable for the ride. It was a nice day out, he had to admit. If it hadn’t been for the desperate situation, he might’ve even wondered if this was a… he shook his head, trying to get away from that thought.
“Right,” he agreed, as if he hadn’t already figured that much out himself. His conflicting feelings rubbed up against each other just like they had before, silently stressing him out. But as always, he didn’t let it show. He only wore his goofy smile as he joked lightly at random things during their journey to X’s base. When they got there, he extended his fist, knocking on the front door for them both. They waited a bit, before the wooden door opened and out stepped forth their admin. He was back to wearing his green suit instead of the axolotl they had seen him don all last season. Xisuma was surprised to say the least. It wasn't uncommon for his hermits to visit him, but they most always sent a message. For these two to not, there must be something else happening. Regardless, he gave them an all friendly smile, even though nothing showed behind his helmet.
"Hello there boys, to what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Uh, hi X.." Grian waved slightly behind Scar. He was suddenly nervous. Why? Because he had told Xisuma that he'd done everything in his path to not let the Watchers affect them, and yet, this happened. He was sure their admin wouldn't be mad. The man was a godsend of patience and understanding, but still…
"Right, um…you know how the life games, this time the game mechanics were different?"
"Yes, you all let me know you were soulmates and let me know who was with who." Xisuma responded back, his brow furrowing trying to piece together the little he knew.
"Yeah…and you know that both Scar and I were soulmates, well…" Grian turned to Scar to get the man to demonstrate, and when they both took damage, Xisuma's eyes widened.
"Grian. How did this happen?"
"I don't know?!.." The brit spoke up, hands tightening on the handle bars. "We were fine afterwards. If either of us took damage, we were no longer connected. But this morning, well…" His hand moved in a forwards manner to demonstrate the events that just took place. "We're connected again…Xisuma.."
Scar’s eyes lowered to his lap. He couldn’t help but feel almost ashamed for some reason, as if this was his fault somehow. It usually was, Grian was always sure to tell him when it was after all. “I don’t know how this happened. We were fine, our bloodlust was gone…” he explained. “Everything was normal!” Almost. Not quite, but he wasn’t going to admit that, especially in front of Grian. It was too embarrassing. “And then all of a sudden— we don’t know if our lives are limited again, so we decided to play it safe from here on out.” Xisuma nodded, eyes roaming between the two soulmates.Goodness him, if they were linked again, it could also mean…
"Is it just you two like this?"
"From what we've seen so far, yes. No one else has come forth saying they're taking unusual damage. So I do hope it is just us, stuck like this." Taking his communicator out, Xisuma was quick to pull up all the members from the games. He enlarged the screen for easier viewing and looked through their codes. Aside from Grian and Scar, it seemed as if the others didn't have their own codes altered. That was good to know.
"It looks like it's just you and Scar for the most part. Let's see…" Xisuma tried getting into Scar's code, maybe he could reverse the damage by two weeks prior. It may just be a glitch causing the two males to be connected once again. But when he tried to move the numbers that he saw glitch in and out of galactic, he frowned. The code zapped him and pushed him out, for when he tried again, it had locked itself. "What?..." Xisuma was utterly confused. That shouldn't be possible, unless… He sighed into his visor, right, the Watchers. He already had one he had to deal with on the daily, but others? Xisuma looked at Grian, the male quietly mumbling to himself.
"G, I'm not going to lie about this one, mate. It has the Watchers doing written all over it. I can't access Scar's code to see if I can reverse the damage, but that particular code is written behind galactic, which merged itself in-between ones’ health and hunger bars. This, I'm not sure I can fix it…I'm not even allowed back inside, so,"
"Does that mean we're permanently together?"
Grian asked, his quiet mumblings ceasing. He had been telling himself that Xisuma could help revert the code back, but if the admin was telling him he can't and Grian couldn’t even access the code either, he shuddered at the thought of being soulmates again. He had always been on alert. He would make sure Scar was asleep first, he himself barely sleeping, instead, he would spend the nights making tools and fortifying the red velvet keep. To keep them two safe. Just like those cold nights in the desert, he kept them safe. It happened on more than one occasion that a wanderer would come in and try to burn them down. They were successful once, but Grian made sure to build it back again. It didn't help that he gave into bloodlust at times and allowed Scar to burn down buildings as well. Maybe burning alliances had been their downfall, but by golly did it feel good to murder those that were after them. Big B though….no, Grian shook his head. The man wasn't even here, how could he still yearn for another when his was right in front of him.
"For now, yes. Don't worry though, I'll look through my library and see if there's a way to bypass the Watchers' hold, to get into the code. I'll also ask the council, see if this has happened before and how to fix it. In turn, the firewalls are getting stronger G. If only to protect you two, Alright?"
Xisuma ruffled both their heads, a smile on his lips. Right, the two were his youngest hermits. He couldn't help but wish to protect them always. But not with this…he didn't know what this was, but he was sure to try and help them out.
Scar couldn’t help but feel a sinking feeling of doom, even as he leaned into Xisuma’s touch. The very thought of being stuck like this deeply scared him. He didn’t want to be kept as a pet, told to stay in one spot while his owner was free to roam and do anything he liked. Despite this, he smiled like he always had. Scar was incredibly good at hiding his emotions from the outside world. A carefree façade, the one he used now, was one no one realized was fake.
“Thank you X… please keep us updated.” He replied.
“Will do.” Their admin nodded, before closing the door and disappearing back inside. The two could only hope it was to research, but they couldn’t be sure. Grian waited a bit, before wheeling Scar away.
“Do you,” He began, pushing Scar back down the slope, careful of dropping the man. “Would you like to go down to Stress’s teapot and talk more in detail about this? Since we’re going to be attached to the hip again, might as well figure out how to go about it.” A pause. “This isn’t the Life Games, so need to be on high alert, but..” Grian stopped them at the pathways’ intersection, the signs to the left, pointed to their bases, the ones’ to the right, the shopping district. Grian was trying his best to keep calm. He hadn’t wanted this, but if what Xisuma said was true, they had no choice but to follow along. The fact of it, they were soulmates, in all sense of the word, and gosh darn it, if Grian doesn’t try do his best to not only protect them, but keep them safe.
“One of our bases instead?” Scar looked at both of the signs, taking a moment to debate. He wasn’t so sure how public they wanted to be with this mess, and if they were seen together talking about it, it would get out pretty fast.
“Let’s go to Scarland, instead.” Scar decided. If they wanted to go public, they should plan it out at least, and perhaps tell the other Lifers privately beforehand. “I’ve just made a cute bench with flowers around it, and there’s a few buildings too.”
"To Scarland it is." Grian nodded, wings giving a flap behind him. He wanted to fly, it would make it much easier to reach the area, but he had chosen to walk instead. The situation deemed it, and his fears too. Those being fueled with heavy thoughts and memories of the game surging forward.
"You know…it's pretty funny. The first time, you didn't even look for your soulmate. Desperately trying to get an allay. The amount of damage you were taking though, I was constantly having to eat. I thought my own soulmate wanted to kill me. But then I found out it was you, and this time…it was you who came to me." Grian chuckled behind him, ducking his head as they passed through one of the lower branches of the trees. "...Your path is beautiful though. You kept your elven theme going.." Scar himself chuckled.
“Well… I kind of figured it had to be you, right?” He asked. “Your eating habits were always so nervous, it seemed like you would always drop what you were doing if I even lost half a heart.” He spoke casually, but deep down, he was using an edge. If Grian was going to talk about his bad habits, Scar wanted to do the same. He chuckled to himself again as the beginnings of his base came into view.
"Well yeah, I kind of had to." Grian mused, though his hands did tighten a bit on the handle. Two could play this game, if Scar wanted to. "We essentially had two lives to care for instead of one, and you never seemed to have any food, despite me giving you most of it, as well as with enchanting your armor too." Grian pulled forward, taking the slope instead of the natural shaped stairs. If only not to bump the man and cause his wheels to damage. The verbal battle carried on though.
“Yeah, well I would’ve gladly enchanted my own armor if you would’ve let me do anything. Even when you told me to stay home you got mad that I wasn’t contributing anything but the panda sanctuary. What would you have me do?”
The jab this time wasn’t so discrete, much more direct. His own nails tightened against the arm rest. He had been happy to get out of the games, tired of Grian’s double standards. Scar had never been allowed to do anything, and then was yelled at for not contributing. When he had decided to go do something, he was yelled at for that, too. Grian, on the other hand, had been allowed to do anything he pleased, only to complain about the savior-like role he had gladly bestowed upon himself. Forcing a stop, Grian stepped in front of the man. They were at the outskirts of the park, the statue of Scar and Jellie in full-bloom. His eyes were wide, but it looked like he was fuming, wings frazzled and puffed up behind him. They had been clipped. During the games, he wasn't allowed to fly. Forcing him to stay on the ground. It was part of the reason why he built high, to have that sense of flying hitting his face. But it also brought nightmares. After they came back, Grian had been too scared to fly again. Convinced that his wings were broken. Clipped still. It had taken days to be able to get off the ground, and yet, Grian did still feel scared when taking off.
"You think I would've let you go down to the deep dark to enchant on your own?! Scar! When the warden was brought up to the surface, the first thing you did was try and get close to it to pet it! Excuse me if I wanted to keep you from doing reckless things! But I'm the bad guy when even you, yourself went and did things behind my back!"
The avian threw his hands up in exasperation, stepping forward to the male. "And yeah! I got mad, because all you wanted to do was play with the pandas! It was a life game, Scar! Not a petting zoo! And aside from chopping wood, you didn't do anything else to our base! Those pandas brought more chaos to us than we did to each other. They burned them Scar! Because you took the enchanter and hid it from them! Always the con-man, even with two lives at stake." Grian breathed deeply once finished, he hadn't meant to outburst, but he was tired of Scar playing the victim, when he was as much guilty of his actions as Grian was. Stepping away from the man, the avian took a few deep breaths, if only to calm himself down. Wings moving up and down with each intake of breath. Plus, they were still out in the open, and any hermit could spot them and ask questions. He wasn't in the mood for that. They needed to head inside one of the buildings as soon as possible.
Scar sucked in a breath, ready to fire right back at his soulmate. Whatever he did, it was nothing that Grian himself hadn’t done. Even when he played with the warden, he wasn’t the one that died by its hand. Also for the record, he wasn’t the one who went and killed someone by fooling around with a stupid fishing rod either, almost making them the prime target of the first reds on the server. Perhaps the only reason why they hadn’t been was because Pearl had immediately stolen from the pair. Lastly, he wasn’t the one who went and tried to get a new soulmate. As he let out the breath, however, he realized that telling Grian all of this was utterly useless. He wasn’t going to listen, not even to how much the games had pained him.
The Watchers thought they were doing him some sort of favor, or maybe they thrived off of his pain. In either case, in the games they took his chair from him. Fixed his legs, so it seemed to everyone else at least, but in reality they never did cure him. Improved his state, but not fully changed him. He tired much sooner than everyone else, his legs ached and pained him most of the day. The games and the players didn’t stop for him, though. To stay in one spot was to be an easy target; he needed to keep moving. He had told his soulmate this early on in the first games, but never mentioned it again. He wondered if he still remembered that, or if he had grown as clueless as the rest.
In any case, Scar was tired of all of this already. He didn’t feel like responding in the end, his anger fraying into hopelessness once again. Even at this angle, Grian looked… The thought only made him sigh. He shouldn’t be having such thoughts at a time like this. At long last, he gave himself a big push before moving himself around Grian to continue onwards. Grian hadn’t even been paying attention to his soulmate, too busy trying to not say anything else that he may regret later. Though when he did turn back and saw the man pushing himself away, Grian sighed. It pained his chest to be pulled away, but then again, hadn’t he done the same to the man when he himself looked for another? Bargained even with others to change soulmates. It had been useless in the end. For another game, he was stuck with the male, who seemed more clueless than before. He supposed he shouldn’t blame it all on him though, afterall, he had been reckless too, if only to try and defend them. A hand brushed over his face, dirty blonde bangs sticking with sweat, did the brit turned to follow after his soulmate. Even if he did want to turn back around, and finish with all of this, Grian knew. This was just the beginning. There was a reason the Watchers attached them at the hip again. And no, it wasn’t because of the way they died. If that where the case, as soon as they respawned back home, they would still be together. This was something else, and by golly was Grian going to give up. He needed to figure out why, and if it meant mending a burning bridge, Grian would try, because in the end, their death was on his hands. He killed them trying to ennact revenge. The bloodlust was high on him when they died that second time. He hadn’t thought clearly, only in red. Heaving a big sigh feeling useless, the avian was quick to catch up to the American, and before Scar could take another push, Grian took hold of the bars.
“C’mon, mate..is your kitchen set up yet? I can make something warm for the both of us, like tea time.”
“It’s nothing impressive, but it’s there,”
Scar laughed, trying to pretend that they hadn’t just been at each other’s throats a few moments ago. He directed the two of them to the building that had what they were looking for. He really hadn’t been lying, the floor was still just grass, and the building was just a box of one color on the inside. The kitchen was thrown rather lazily into a corner, a table and a few chairs somewhere else in the room. Other than that, it was completely empty. Scar had plans for moving everything around once he had an actual layout in mind, but until then this would have to do. “I have supplies in that chest there. It should have some tea too.” he gestured to it. Grian was at a loss for words, Scar’s living condition was worse than his, at least his had a floor. Albeit thrown together like a parkour elytra course. Right, if they could overcome whatever this was between them, Grian wouldn’t mind helping his soulmate out.
“Alright…this’ll do, I suppose.”
Nodding to himself mostly, the brit let go of the man, before stepping in and onto the chests. He had supplies too, if he needed too, but he supposed mini sandwiches and soup could bode well after what had aspired between the two a bit ago. Setting up the kettle, Grian was quick to turn the stove on and start heating the water. The avian was so caught up in cooking, that it almost felt domestic. Like those days in the desert, where the two would cook together. Scar would bring in whatever he had hunted and the two would playfully shove each other in the sand castle. Cheeks heating up at the thought, Grian shook his head. What had happened to that relationship, he wondered as he glanced behind before going back to cutting carrots. Golden ones, since that is all he had. “Would you like some help later on?..” Grian asked instead, moving to place the tray of mini sandwiches on the table.
Scar hadn’t realized that he had been staring intensely at Grian, watching him work. How many nights had he spent, sitting at a chair at the table, watching his soulmate cook for him? Well, as soulmates those times were few and far between he supposed. Things had been much simpler when one was but a servant… It took him a minute to realize that he had been spoken to.
“Oh! No, no I think I’m fine… thank you.” he replied. He wasn’t even really sure if he wanted to have tea with Grian to begin with; if they didn’t need to talk he wouldn’t have invited him over. “I was actually going to do the interior after lunch.” That was actually a lie, but the man didn’t need to know that. Hesitating before nodding, Grian turned back to finishing both the soup and tea. As a brit, he prided himself in making tea at just the right temperature. That was not going to change just because he was distracted by other thoughts on mind. Once he knew everything was done, Grian poured two bowls of chicken soup and placed the tea down, one cup for himself, the other for his soulmate. Could he even call him that anymore? They certainly weren’t more than just friends, if he would even call their relationship that. Taking a seat, Grian for the most part was quiet. The only sounds where of the spoons’ clinking and heavy thoughts loud in his ears. In the end though, Grian pushed his bowl away, half-full still, before directing his gaze to Scar.
“Listen,”
He began.
“This isn’t, aren’t the life games…I can promise you that I won’t restrict you or tell you what you can and cannot do. It’s your life too…and looking at it back, yeah, it was wrong of me to do that. I’m not gonna lie, I wasn’t, weren’t the best soulmate to you, but I had hoped…” Grian grew quiet, lips forming in a thin line. He had thought about how to address the elephant in the room, but even now, it was hard to come up with the words, because he had been a jerk to him, but Grian still valued the friendship they had, and he truly didn’t want that, of all things, to break between them. “Just…promise me you won’t do anything that could potentially kill us, I’ll..try to do the same…but my base is upwards..” He chuckled gravely. It was only when Grian finished speaking that Scar looked up from his own bowl, his frowning reflection peering back at him. Even now, he still felt the weight of Grian’s rules even though he had just said they were no more.
“I’ll… try.”
He forced a small grin, even though he didn’t feel like smiling. He may be a goofball, but he knew that this was important. “I’ll do my best to be careful.” A dark thought lingered at the back of his mind, whispering to him that Grian was lying. That if Scar had a mishap, they’d be right back where they started, bickering just like they had back then. He wasn’t sure if this was just an anxious thought or a justified one, but either way he kept it to himself. “Do you think we should just try to go about our lives as usual otherwise?” Did they need to stay close like in the games, even going as far as living with each other?
“I…” Grian paused in his drink, thinking carefully. The correct answer to that would be no, they were home, where their lives weren’t in danger of others trying to kill them. But he still felt anxious. What if they do need to stick together? Would it cause them harm to be apart? The games let them wander off for a bit, but they always came back to each other. Grian didn’t know if that was the case here too. Taking a sip, Grian let himself look at Scar, the man clearly tired, but conflicted in feelings. He wished he knew what was actually going on. The two weren’t the best at communicating, it seemed. Even more so if it dived onto a verbal fight. “I guess we could try. Going about our daily lives as normal. If nothing else happenes, then we can conclude the Watchers did this to just mess with us, but if it does start hurting us to be apart, um, setting up a base between our two bases wouldn’t hurt too much, right?”
“Right.” Scar nodded, a bit tentatively. He was a bit relieved they wouldn’t have to live together again, if only because of this awkward conversation they’ve been having ever since they came together again like old times. He let out a bit of a laugh after he took another spoonful. “Who knows… maybe this is just nothing. Just… a temporary quirk we have together.” At least, that’s what he hoped as he cleaned out his bowl and set it aside. This whole soulmate thing had been stressful in the past, and it continued to be so.
“Right, just temporarily.”
Grian chuckled, finishing his bowl. He really, truly hoped so. Cause void knows how much of a toll it had taken on him the first time, for it to happen again, he gave a small sigh when finished and took both their bowls. “I’ll just wash these, and get going. I did promise Grumbot to read him a story, and void knows that child gets mad when he’s ignored.”
Grian couldn’t help the smile that appeared on his lips at the mention of his child. He had created another, part because he was missing Mumbo and part because..well, his watcher side had told him it was a good idea. And it was. That child took up his thoughts most of the time, that he had no room to think of anything else, lest they bring up old broken memories. But now that he was back again attached to the man which caused him so much sleepless nights, Grian too, was happy to not live together this time around. His wings lazily dropped behind him, touching the soft grass as Grian relaxed and finished washing what he had used.
The scarred man hummed a laugh.
“Oh, I know that very well.” He assured with a quick few nods. One only had to babysit him only once to learn that. With that, Scar fell back into silence, slowly easing into it. The decision to stay separated already aired some tension out of the room he could tell. He watched silently as Grian did the dishes, continuing to stay at the table. Maybe they could even ignore this whole thing if it turned out they didn’t have limited lives.
“Well, I won’t keep you. Goodbye.” He waved once his friend was finished. He swiveled himself out from the table, moving himself backwards.