Grian woke up with a headache. Things had mellowed in the last week or so since the confrontation in the woods, but Grian could still feel the tension from a mile away, and it was exhausting. Any time Scar was seen around New Hermitville everyone watched him out of the corner of their eyes. He did his best to act normal, but everyone knew something was up, even if they didn't know what. Grian was constantly on alert, watching Scar's every move, keeping an eye on Ren as he attempted to return to normalcy, and waiting for Doc to make a return to society. Scar had assured that now that their secret was an approved operation, the hermits would be seeing more of them around, but Doc still hadn't made an appearance.

There was so much going on in Grian's life right now, he wasn't even sure what his most pressing concern was. Obviously his past was a constant nuisance in his life, reminding him of his inadequacies at the worst moments. This wasn't a new development, but telling Joe and Xisuma about it certainly was, so the memories were fresher than they had been in quite some time. There was also the Doc and Scar mystery, which was becoming less and less a mystery, and more and more a painful secret. The other hermits knew something was up, so it was painfully difficult for Grian to keep his mouth shut, especially to Mumbo. Thankfully Ren was feeling better since his attack, so they'd been spending time together, but nothing had changed between him and Doc; if anything, their relationship was even more strained after that encounter.

That was a whole week ago now, good heavens. It sounded like a long time, but it felt like it was only an hour ago Grian was staring down the maw of a deadly, bloodstained monster, watching Xisuma fight a caged Doc, watching Scar perform magic not even an admin could conjure up with commands. How was he supposed to go back to regular life, pretending he hadn't just witnessed everything he just had? He needed answers, he needed to talk to Scar again, he needed to do something. Everything was falling apart because of him, Xisuma didn't deserve to deal with this, Ren was in so much pain, and he couldn't forget that Cub was just as much wrapped up in this too. He had to help his friends, he couldn't sit by, not again.

"Earth to Grian!" Ren waved a hand in front of Grian's nose, startling him. "Get out of those thoughts of yours, I know that expression," Ren teased, but it was clear that he was concerned. They were walking along the outskirts of New Hermitville, quietly basking in the sounds of nature; they had taken to doing that lately.

"Sorry, this forest just gets me thinking, yknow?"

Ren nodded, and Grian knew he understood the feeling all too well. Ren pulled a mixed expression, clearly debating something, but eventually decided to speak his mind. "Can we have a jam sesh real quick?"

Grian wasn't expecting him to say that, but agreed, so they slipped into the cover of the trees. They only walked for a minute before breaking into a small, manmade clearing, just large enough for two people with a fire pit in the center. They had chopped down the trees here a couple months ago, creating a secret meeting place for them. At the time it was fun, creating a hideout that only they knew about, but thanks to recent events it became the only place they could discuss delicate topics without the threat of prying eyes and prying ears.

Once properly settled around the empty fire pit, Grian locked eyes with Ren. Instead of the piercing shade of blue in his eyes that Grian had become accustomed to, they swirled with a moody grey, clearly deep in thought. "G, it's okay that I'm still upset, right? Like, I feel better knowing where he is, and that he's safe with Scar, but I still wish we could hang out, ya feel?"

"You have every right to be mad at him! He didn't say a word when we saw him, I can't bel-"

"No, not mad. Sad." Ren stared deep into Grian's eyes, and Grian was pierced by the profound sadness in his gaze. It was a prolonged hurt, one that fades because it's around for so long, but when you pay attention to it again, the sadness has turned into depression. "Can I just talk without you interrupting?"

Grian nodded silently, and Ren let out a shaky sigh. "I know all the hermits are friends, and this is a weird situation for everyone, but I think I'm dealing with double what everyone else is. I just- I don't know what I saw in their clearing. I don't know what it- I don't know what it means. Why is this happening? Why me? I didn't ask for my best friend- for my friend to just- and I'm so tired, Grian. I'm so, so tired, of all of this. I want a break. I want to- to run- to disappear into the woods and never- and leave society. People are too hard-" Ren whimpered, shaking as he dug his fingernails into his arms.

Grian crossed over to him slowly, sitting next to him on the log. Ren's fingernails were close to drawing blood where they pressed into his skin, so Grian carefully pried his hands away, massaging them to keep him distracted. He waited patiently for Ren to get his bearings back; as bad as Grian was at dealing with his own anxiety, he knew how to help others fairly well.

After a few minutes in silence, Ren pulled his hands away, and quickly signed I'm sorry. Grian wasn't proficient in sign language, but knew enough to recognize the common phrase.

"No need to apologize. Are you okay with me talking, or would you rather I write?" Grian murmured. Ren shrugged, but gestured vaguely to him, so Grian took it that he was fine to speak. "I'm going to go get some water for you, and I'll be back in just a minute."

Grian hurried to town, remembering that he had a bottle of water somewhere in his house. The place was in a bit of disarray at the moment, but surely it couldn't be too deep in his chest monster. As he dug through shulker box after shulker box, Grian replayed Ren's concerns in his head. He was definitely upset still, which, while it was terrible that his friend wasn't feeling well, he felt vindicated in his defense over the last weeks. Mumbo's reactions had worried Grian that he was taking things too far, but Ren was still heartbroken, so Grian would keep protecting him.

Ren had also mentioned he wished it would all just stop. Grian couldn't fix that as much as he wished he could, but an idea was tickling at the back of his mind that he would need to ask Ren about if he was feeling more grounded when he got back. Luckily, as Grian's fingers brushed the bottom of the chest he was digging through, he caught on the lip of a glass bottle, and fished out his prize; a glass of cool water from the stream in the forest.

Bottle in hand, Grian made his way back to their hideout quickly. Thankfully, Ren seemed to be feeling better now than when he had left, and greeted him with a small smile as he arrived. Ren downed the contents gratefully, sighing contentedly when the bottle was empty. He signed a swift thank you as he replaced the cork and returned the bottle to Grian.

After a brief lull, Grian spoke up again. "You said you'd like to take a break, right? How would you like to expand our little meeting spot? We could make our own hippie camp or something, and escape for a while; does that sound nice to you?" Grian offered.

Ren sat quietly for a few minutes, fiddling with his fingers while he processed Grian's suggestion. After a moment, he raised a hand and offered a small yes, a smile poking at the corner of his mouth. Grian beamed; this was going to be a great project and distraction, for both of them. He could hardly wait to pull out his blueprint paper and start sketching. But, for now, they sat, Ren's head in Grian's lap as lazy clouds drifted over head, wasting away the rest of the afternoon.

Love you, my little stars!
-RaeTheStar