Grian's phone buzzed, skittering across the floor. He simply groaned, rolling over and stuffing his face in his pillow. He was in his underwater base at the moment, desperately trying to get some peace and quiet, trying to forget everything he had just seen. Every time he closed his eyes he saw that alien with blood coating its mouth, Doc growling in the cage, Scar crying, Ren crying. It was terrifying watching his friends fight each other unrestrained, something felt so viscerally wrong about it. He wanted to cry just thinking about the way Xisuma snapped at Scar.

What was up with Scar was another pressing concern! Grian had never seen anything like it. It had been quite a while since Grian had truly had access to admin abilities, but he could guarantee that summoning sentient vines from the ground wasn't one of them. Was the alien giving them powers? Is this part of that Convex thing Scar was part of? Grian didn't know much about them since the height of their power was last season, but is it possible that they had real magic? How would that even be possible? Grian swallowed his tears, crawling further under the covers. He just wanted to fall asleep, to forget his worries. It was only 10 in the morning, he shouldn't be as drained as he is.

The phone buzzed again, and this time he reluctantly picked it up. He was sure it would be Xisuma or Ren, and he didn't have the energy to talk to them right now.

Joe: Grian, Cleo and I are going to make some bread, and we were curious if you would be interested in joining us.

Cleo: yo u wanna make bread?

Grian smiled slightly. Joe must have known how much Grian liked that pie they shared the other day.

Grian: sounds fun. where u at?

Cleo: juggernaut

It wasn't a very far flight to Cleo's ship, but Grian didn't miss Cub and Xisuma walking through the shopping district. Seeing them forced his mind back to the clearing and the alien, but he shook it off; today, he needed to step away. "Hello?"

Cleo breathlessly bursted through a door to the lower deck, with Joe hot on her tail. Cleo's flower crown sat crooked on her head, and Joe's apron was coated in flour; clearly it was going well. Grian knew these two were chaotic by themselves, but together they were a unique beast that Grian had never had the pleasure (terror?) of seeing before. He had heard the infamous story of their 'Hall of Atonement' for Impulse before the Civil War started, and that told him everything he needed to know. He figured he would get along well with them all things considered, but it seemed like an exclusive club, so he was ecstatic to be invited to make bread with them. "Well? You're late! Come on, we need someone to hold the bowl!"

Grian had never been inside the brig of the ship, but this wasn't what he expected. Even at a quick glance, it was clear the space had been empty until Joe had come over; several furnaces now lined the walls, and wood planks were thrown around as makeshift countertops. Bowls were scattered across every surface, most of which were filled with mysterious, upsettingly viscous substances.

"Alright Grian, hold this bowl while I punch it, okay? Hold on tight." Cleo rubbed her hands together with a malicious grin. Grian held the bowl with a white-knuckled grip, already flinching at the wet glop that coated the sides of the bowl. Cleo punched aggressively, and Grian nearly fell backwards. He adjusted his stance, prepared now as Cleo continued to pummel the bowl.

"I'm not sure we added enough flour," Joe pointed out. Dough had begun flying in every direction, slapping as it hit the floor and walls. It was definitely more of a batter, Grian noted as a bit slapped him in the face.

"Well then add some flour!"

Joe hesitantly approached with the flour bag, but Cleo didn't stop her attack, so Joe shrugged and tossed some flour in. Instantly the flour exploded into the air as Cleo punched it, sending all three of them into coughing fits.

"Bad idea!" Grian cried, sneezing thrice in a row.

"Yeah, that's probably enough." Cleo nodded in approval. The mix was still liquidy, now just covered in flour. "What's next Joe?"

Joe carefully wiped some batter off his glasses and pushed them up, glancing at the recipe book. "It says next we need to let it rise for six hours; we'll know it's ready when it's doubled in size."

"Ughhh, that's so long!" Cleo moaned. "What does waiting even do? Let's just throw it in the furnace already!"

Grian caught the way a smile danced across Joe's lips as he watched Cleo's rambling. "Sure thing. It needs to cook for twenty minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit."

"Now that's what I'm talking about! I bet if we crank it up to 500 it'll be done even faster!" Cleo slopped the batter into a pan and tossed it into a furnace, proudly giving Joe a high five. "Now we wait."

"What are all the other bowls for?" Grian hesitated to ask, worried what the answer might be.

Joe shrugged casually. "We tried making pie, but the filling didn't work out."

"Oh, don't forget the cookies! We forgot to buy eggs so those got abandoned too," Cleo laughed. A quick glance confirmed that they had indeed failed countless projects before Grian was invited, and they all went just as poorly as this one. Grian may have been disorganized, but this was just plain disastrous; he didn't expect anything else from these two honestly.

"So Grian, tell us, what were you up to before we muddled your morning?" Joe asked, carefully sitting in one of the clean spots on the floor.

Grian cautiously sat on the counter, flinching when Cleo plopped down without wiping away any of the flour or dough on her seat. "Uh, nothing I can tell you about really.."

Cleo leaned in with a toothy grin. "Secrets? Is there a romance blooming on the server? Did you find a lover Grian?"

Grian flushed brightly, shoving her away as she cackled. "No! Nothing like that, heavens!"

"Fine, fine, keep your secrets," she laughed. The conversation died off awkwardly, Grian avoiding thinking about Ren again. Cleo checked her phone idly, sitting up when she discovered a missed message. "Oop, Impulse has my shovel. Be right back, play nice boys!"

Joe and Grian shared a glance as Cleo left. "So, have you been feeling any better since our last parley?"

Grian shrugged half-heartedly. "I think I don't wanna talk about it."

Joe just nodded understandingly. "Now how about that base of yours in Hermitville? It seems to be getting quite a bit taller lately."

Grian chuckled. "Yeah, I guess it has. Helps distract me, you know?"

"Sometimes the best distraction is something big and distracting."

Grian looked into Joe's eyes as he stifled a laugh, but there was only sincerity behind those glasses, which only made Grian laugh harder. "I don't know what that's supposed to mean!"

"Is it supposed to mean more than what it said?" Joe asked, genuine confusion now radiating off him as Grian laughed heartily. It only took a second for a warm smile to slide across his lips however, joining Grian with a pleasant giggle. "It's been a while since I've seen you so happy."

Grian sighed, one of those satisfied sighs when your soul feels perfectly light. Joe was right; he hadn't let loose like this in a long time. Ever since Doc had abandoned Ren, Grian had been high-strung, worrying about Ren constantly. Thinking about it brought that weight back to his mind, but baking with Joe and Cleo had been a really nice distraction.

"I'm back! You guys didn't gossip without me, did you?" Cleo burst into the room loudly, twirling a shovel in her hand.

"Never without our resident blatherskite," Joe grinned.

"That's a new one, I like it!" She laughed, hopping up onto the counter again. "So, did you two hear about Iskall and Stress? Supposedly their shared lab was a bit more than they could chew!"

"What? I thought they were having so much fun!" Grian cocked an eyebrow.

"You'd think that, but apparently they had some electrical issues, and Stress accidentally let Iskall's villagers loose while the lights were out. I think they'll get over it though; those two are inseparable!"

"I did see Stress strolling through the shopping district with Iskall's hoodie on the other day; I'd say they're doing just fine," Joe assured with a smile.

"Uh, is our bread done cooking?" Grian asked cautiously, eyeing the furnace. It had barely been ten minutes, but as they all turned to the furnace, they discovered the thing was starting to smoke quite heavily, and a high pitched whistling had started.

"That was not in the recipe," Joe choked out in surprise.

"I've got water!" Cleo exclaimed, hauling the bucket of water in the corner onto the furnace, sending black smoke pouring into the brig. The next few minutes were chaos as the opaque smoke filled the space, the furnace still hissing from being extinguished and the bread (?) still screaming for some reason. Grian fumbled around for a while, trying to call out for Joe or Cleo, but the noise just kept getting louder, the smoke obscuring any and all vision in the brig.

Grian was futilely feeling his way for the exit when a steely grip snagged his wrist and started hauling him away. Once they burst out the door onto the deck of the ship, they all began coughing the foul smoke out and gasping for fresh air. Cleo had grabbed both the boys, and only released her firm grip when Joe whined slightly, trying to pull away. Grian wouldn't admit it later, but that girl had an iron grip, and he had bruises for a week after that.

After taking a minute to catch their breath, the trio started laughing. Smoke was still pouring out the door from below, but they couldn't care. "I don't think I want to eat that bread," Grian wheezed.

"I've never heard bread scream like that!" Joe cried between laughs. He was practically cackling, rolling on the floor. The sight made Grian break out into giggles again; he had never seen Joe so disheveled.

"You two totally messed it up!" Cleo accused with a toothy grin. "You'll owe me next time!" She dove over to Grian, snapping him into a tight headlock and giving him a painful noogie, which Grian protested loudly. "Joe! Help!"

"No!" Joe leapt over, attempting to pry Cleo off him, but to no avail. "She's too powerful! I'm sorry Grian!"

"You're next buster!" She cackled, releasing Grian and switching her hold to Joe.

"Joe! I'm sorry, I have to save myself!" Grian laughed, running to a save distance as Cleo started digging her knuckles into Joe's head.

They wrestled in this manner for some time; it was mostly Cleo against the boys, but Grian found himself pinned down by Joe on sever occasions- he didn't expect the wiry man to pack such a punch. Grian was too caught up in the childish fun to notice the time, so by the time the sun began to set, the trio was collapsed in exhaustion on the deck again. Grian had ended up with Joe's glasses, Joe had claimed Cleo's flower crown for his own, and Cleo ended up with Joe's apron tied around her like a cape. Not to mention they were all still covered in flour, batter, and ashy smoke, they must have been quite a sight.

"Thanks for letting me hang out you guys. This was great," Grian sighed happily.

Joe hummed in agreement, and Cleo nodded. "I'm glad Joe invited you. You're the perfect size to bench press."

"Thank you?"

Joe heaved a long sigh before sitting up. "Well, I have evening tea with Xisuma in half an hour, so I'd better go take a shower. Let's do this again sometime, hm?"

"Obviously." Cleo offered a thumbs up, and Grian nodded profusely.

"I guess I should probably go too. Can I help clean up your ship before I go?" Grian offered.

Cleo just waved him off. "Nah, I'll clean up tomorrow or something. Thanks for coming along kid!"

"Okay then, thanks for having me! See you around!" Grian waved as he took off back to his base, grin plastered to his face. This was seriously the most fun he'd had in a long time, and he hoped they would really invite him back sometime. As Grian touched down in his base, he was surprised to see Mumbo standing in the center, clearly relieved to see him. That relief quickly dissolved into horror as Mumbo got a good look at Grian.

"I was going to say I missed you, but I don't think I do anymore. What happened to you?" Mumbo scrunched his face in disgust, looking Grian up and down.

All Grian could do was smile. "I helped make bread!"

"Right... Well, go take a shower and put on some fresh clothes, and then we can go have dinner. We should also probably return Joe's glasses while we're out," Mumbo pointed out.

"Oh right," Grian laughed, touching the glasses still perched precariously on his nose. "Fine, fine. Can I have a hug before I go?" Grian spread his arms for a big hug, grinning at the way Mumbo backed away in terror.

"No! Just, go shower already!"

I didn't realize how long it's been since I updated, so have a longer chapter!

Love you, my little stars!
-RaeTheStar