Today was supposed to be a good day, it was supposed to be a good day.

That was what Grian kept echoing in his head as he looked out of his hiding spot, it was a small hole hidden away in some shop he couldn't remember the name of, and out into the world outside the small safe space. He heard angry growling and snapped remarks, and he pulled himself tighter into his hiding place, knowing the anger was directed at him.

He felt tears silently fall from his eyes and he didn't even try to stop them, knowing they weren't going to stop anytime soon. Today was supposed to be a good day goddamn it, but he fucked it all up.

Actually no, he didn't fuck shit up, shit fucked up itslef and he just happened to be the one nearest and therefore blamed for it. Because he was always the one to be blamed. Sure, some of those times it actually had been him, but not all of them.

Grian hoped he went away soon, he wanted to go back to his base. Back to the jungle and the familiarity and safety it brought, with its dense foliage and impossible navigation unless you knew it well. And he knew it well, almost like the back of his hand.

Nightfall hit before he started to quiet down, but Grian could still hear him walking so he stayed. And stayed. And stayed until he eventually grew so tired he fell asleep without wanting to, waking up the next morning to the sound of bustling streets.

The sounds of so many foots made him freeze up and pull himself deeper into the hole, he couldn't leave now! They'd ask too many questions he couldn't answer, he just couldn't! So pulling himself together against the back wall he waited more. Thank fuck he had food with him, but unfortunately that was all he head. His communicator was being fixed after having been destroyed and his phone was left home to charge whilst he did a quick check up on his shop.

He didn't fall asleep tonight, but there was someone here so he didn't dare leave. Because what if it was him? No he couldn't risk it. Staying in the little hole, feeling his muscles cramping up before losing all feeling be damned, he wasn't leaving.

He was barely keeping his eyes open by the time sunhigh hit the next day, but the bright light of the day was soon blocked out when a block was placed over his hidey-hole. He moved to push against it, to see what type of block it was, but found it hurt to even lift a finger. He tried the other hand, this one being more free and less trapped, but still the same results. Finally tried calling out to someone, anyone, but nothing. Grian could tell, even from just that one call, that no sound would escape his safe-space-turned-prison. He was trapped. He was trapped and he had no way of getting out.

Gritting his teeth Grian pushed a hand forward, whimpering as his arm sparked with pain, but reached out until his fingers grazed the block that blocked his way out. Concrete, of course it was concrete. He didn't push it anymore, knowing he might just pass out from pain if he even tried to twitch a single finger.

That's when he started to cry, and not the quiet one from before, but full on gross sobbing. As sobs racked his body it moved him, making pain flare up all over his arms in an instant, his wings too. Thankfully he was spared the pain from his legs, but the fact that everything else hurt made it so that little bit of peace meant nothing.

Screw it, Grian thought as he balled the fist near the concrete block into a fist, I'm stuck here, I might as well try to get out of here.

So with a mighty swing he slammed his fist against the concrete, and then he did it again, and again, and so on. Sure he was in worse pain then he'd ever been in before, and sure he was probably a swing or two from passing out, but at least he was trying. Because what else could he do?

And, just as expected, after one more swing he was out like a light, the pain having become too much for his body to handle.

--:--:--:--:--:--:--

Doc sighed as he ran his hand through his hair for what felt like the millionth time that day. He felt really bad for yelling at Grian, like, really bad. He doesn't even know why he did. He should have seen that his sign was falling apart, and that it was just a pure accident that Grian had flying by just as it fell. He should have seen it, and yet he still did it. He still yelled at the dirty blonde for no good reason.

He growled as he turned to lay on his side hoping that it would somehow help, which it didn't in the slightest. So he focused on glaring at the wall, as if taking out frustration out on a wall would help. It didn't, but at least he fell asleep.

Early the next morning he headed to the shopping district, hoping to maybe catch Grian and apologize for snapping at him like that. But luck didn't seem to be on his side since he couldn't see him anywhere, and as much as he wanted to continue looking he knew that he needed to do other things. He just hoped that Grian would be there the next day.

He went the next day, and yet there was still no Grian. Which wasn't very weird, Grian usually only came from time to time. But Doc had nothing to do for the day, so he decided to check the other hobbit hole and mansion. Once again, no gremlin to be found. Just as he was leaving the mansion he saw Scar waving him down. He walked down to where the scarred man stood fidgeting, "Hey Scar! Did you need something?"

"Uh, yeah. You wouldn't happen to know where Grian is, would you?" Scar asked, eyes glancing over Doc's shoulder to look up towards the mansion behind him. "He was supposed to meet up with me and the rest of the jungle Hermits last night but he didn't show."

Doc glanced back up at Grian's mansion, the gray build now feeling like it was sinisterly looking down on him. Something wasn't right. "...Last time I saw him it was two days ago. That's actually why I'm here, I came to apologize."

"For what?"

"The sign on my shop fell down and Grian happened to be flying by at the time. I blamed him for it and yelled at him. I know he wasn't to blame, but I still yelled." Sighed Doc, shifting uncomfortably where he stood.

"So he must have been upset then." Scar hummed, brows furrowed in concern, "But then why haven't anyone seen him? Mumbo or Iskall would have told us if he was upset and with one of them, but they had no clue where he was." The brunette looked up at Doc with concerned eyes, "Something must be wrong. Someone should have seen Grian by now, but I haven't seen hair or feather of the guy."

"Maybe he is with someone? And we just don't know it?" Suggested the creeper.

"Maybe." Scar agreed. He then took out his communicator and sent out a message in chat.

<GoodTimesWithScar> Hey has anyone seen Grian? Neither I nor Doc can find him

He was immediately answered by a bunch of no's and messages of the kind. "Yeah, somethings wrong." Scar said, voice just barely shaking, "We need to call a server meeting."

And so they did. It didn't take too long for everyone to get to the shopping district and into the town hall. "Grian's missing." There, ripped off like a bandaid.

Wide eyes and frozen people was what answered the announcement, so Doc continued on uninterrupted. "If I had to put a time on when he disappeared I'd say two days or so." He looked up and over the Hermits' heads, refusing to look anyone in the eyes, "I will admit that I'm the one to blame for this, I said some really hurtful things I shouldn't have and now he's gone."

"What the fuck did you do?! The fuck did you do!?!"

"I didn't do anything! I swear I didn't do anything!"

"Bullshit! What. Did. You. Do?!"

"Nothing! I swear! Please Doc, I swear I didn't do anything!"

He took a deep breath, and nodded to Xisuma to take over. The admin did so with a small nod, his hard eyes were visible even through his visor, "Since Grian doesn't have his communicator, due to me having it for repairs, it will take me longer to find him with my abilities. So if you could all search for him whilst I do that then that would be appreciated." He then looked Doc in the eyes, "And you and me will have a little talk."

--:--:--:--:--:--:--

Grian didn't know how long he'd been out when he woke up, all he knew was how much everything hurt. He tried to let out a deep breath, but all that came out was a pained rattle of a breath. He tried to stretch himself out, clawing at the walls surrounding him with his hands and feet, but all that got him was more pain, so he stopped that within seconds.

He went limp where he laid, not having any energy in him to even try to do anything but to just lay there and pray that everything would be over soon. His wings weren't bent in a nice way so they were twisted and pulled in uncomfortable ways he didn't even want to think about.

He stayed still for what felt like hours before he started to softly hum. It was the same song he always sang or hummed when he was stressede, he had sung it before he joined Hermitcraft and it traveled with him.

Grian's mind eventually just became filled with humming, a nice break from all the pain and fear he was feeling.

--:--:--:--:--:--:--

It was Impulse that found him two days after the server. He wasn't even looking for Grian when he went around breaking blocks, he was just cleaning up after he'd been doing a bit of work on his lamp shop. He noticed that there were a few blocks too many placed on one part, Bdubs having missed cleaning up there, so he broke them. The last thing he expected to see was Grian curled up in a two block pocket (that was under the shop for some reason? He'd have to ask Bdubs about that) eyes blankly staring at the block in front of him whilst humming some song quietly.

His breath caught in his throat, a shudder passing through him as he looked down at the small Hermit. He didn't know when he called Xiusma, or when he pulled Grian out gently from where he was hidden. Nor did he know when he wrapped himself around the smaller, the humming being the only sounds other than Impulse's reasurences to fill the air.

It didn't take long for X to arrive, and a barrage of Hermits on his tail. He must have sent it through main chat, Impulse though as he unwinded around Grian to let the admin take the smaller into his arms. It was also then that he recognized the song as The Hanging Tree.

"Grian? Can you hear me?" Xisuma asked, hand gently holding the dirty blonde hair as his thumb gently caressed his cheek. He didn't get a verbal response, but Grian did lean in towards him. "Honey please, please just say something."

Once again, he got no verbal response and just a physical one, a small hand gently placed over his wrist. It wasn't holding onto him, but it was still on him. But still, he took a hold of that hand and held on tight, "That's it love, that's it. Can you say hear me? Do you understand me?"

Glazed violet eyes looked up at him, blinking almost robotically, "X-um..." Xisuma cried out in relife, hugging Grian tightly against his body, "Yeah Gri, it's me. I'm here." He turned to everyone behind him, teary eyes and sad expression meeting him, but he turned to only one teary pair of eyes. "Hey Scar? Can I use one of the offices in Town Hall? It's getting dark and I don't want to have him out here in the cold." The mayor agreed instantly and Grian with Xiusma nearly glued to him were now situated inside Scar's office, all alone safe for Joe who was staying in his office if he would be needed.

Everything was quiet, Grian having fallen into some form of sleep. X just hoped he'd be more aware when he woke up again. He noticed how the smaller seemed to squirm in his hold, so he did the thing Impulse mentioned Grian doing before he arrived. He sang Grian's comfort song. His voice was soft as he gently ran his fingers through the brown wings on the dirty blonds back, his now gloveless fingers gently running in between the feathers. This stopped the squirming, and it even seemed to help relax the sleeping Hermit. So Xisuma didn't stop until sleep took him, therefore forcing him to sleep.

--:--:--:--:--:--:--

When Grian woke up the first thing he noticed was how much he wasn't in pain, it was usually the other way around but something had changed. The next thing was how the thing he was sleeping on was slowly rising and falling, a steady rhythm of up and down. The third was the thing that broke him though the mist in his mind, it was a pair of strong, familiar, arms wrapped gently, yet still firmly, around him. That was Xisuma's arms. Which meant that X was under him, and that the up and down was him breathing. (also their both sleeping on a couch Scar has in his office, just made that up but go with it)

Grian pulled himself up so that he could look at the admin properly, desperate to so him after so many days of being denied such a thing. He looked so relaxed when asleep, mouth hanging open slightly as he snored softly. Grian leaned in with his arm, the simple action taking a lot out of him, and gently placed his hand on the others cheek and whipping away the drool that had gathered. And after being done with the action he left his hand there, too drained to move it away.

And it was that which Xiusma woke up to, Grian's tire, but smiling face, and a surprisingly soft hand on his cheek. "Morning babe." Grian whispered with a small smile on his ragged and tired face. "Morning to you too love." X muttered back, gently placing his hand over Grian's own.

He then sat up, keeping an arm around the smaller to make sure he didn't fall off the couch, shifting Grian until he was cuddled into his lap. The two stayed like that for a long time, Xiusma's scarred face gently resting on top of the other hair. It might not be as soft as usual, but that wouldn't stop him from doing the normal gesture.

"How long was I stuck?" Grian finally asked. "Around four days." Xiusma muttered back, arms tightening around the other. His eyes turned dark as he thought back to the beginning of all of this. "And don't worry, I've had my talk with Doc already. He's sorry for what he did and wants to apologize."

"He can apologize all he wants, I'm not forgiving him until he's proven himself." The dirty blond scoffed, eyes narrowed as he thought back to how this all started. Xisuma smiled down at him, gently kissing the top of his head, "No one ever said you had to forgive, so don't you worry about that."

The couple stayed curled up together in the office for a long time after that, Joe bringing them food and drinks during lunch and such. They eventually left and headed towards Grian's hobbit hole, the cosiest place they could think of to stay and cuddle at.

"Hey Grian? Can you promise me something?" Grian hummed gently, giving X the go ahead to say more, "Can you promise to never do something like this again? Please?" The admin got a few tears in his eyes, but they didn't fall, "Yo-you were missing for so long, and-and I just got so worried. I can't lose you Grian, I just can't. So please, never do this again."

Grian looked up at the taller and smiled gently, taking the scruffy face of his boyfriends and turning it to look at him, "I promise to never do something like this again." He giggled softly as he brought Xisuma's face closer, "I also promise to give you all my kisses and love. That sound good?"

"It sounds amazing." Smiled X, bringing the dirty blond into a soft kiss. It wasn't long, nor was it fast, no it was soft and gentle. Everything they were and needed, and everything they had. It was love and adoration, pure and simple.

It was them.

<Angst turn fluff? More likely than you think! Also! Grisuma! Hng, it's 1AM and I don't know what more to add soooo

Stay safe and have a wonderful time everyone!>