Grian hums as he walks over to area 77. Even though he was a hippie, he often went to see his boyfriend at work. It had been a few weeks since he's seen Doc though, so he thought he'd give him a visit.

Grian to Doc:<I'm omw to visit u, I bring cookies!>

Gri started at his communicator, hoping for a response but after he reached the entrance to falsewel he clicked it off.

"Morning False! How are you?" Grian sent a friendly wave and a smile her way.

"Mornin' Grian! I'm pretty good, doing the random tasks the town requires. Haven't seen people entering or exiting area 77 though. Is everything okay?"

"I dunno, I haven't seen Doc in a while so I'm going to visit. Want a cookie? All natural!"

"Yeah sure," Grian pulled a cookie out of a plastic and handed it to her.

"Enjoy!" He smiled again and walked towards the main entrance of the military base.

"Doc doesn't want visitors."
He jumped at the sound of Scar's voice. He looked over to where the security was, it was normally empty, but there sat a very tired looking Scar.

"Scar? Are you okay? You look awful! I mean- I didn't mean it like that."

"You're fine, but I mean it. Doc doesn't want visitors. He's working on a huge project from what he's told me."

"But I'm his boyfriend. He surely has time for me! Oh, want a cookie? They're all natural."

"Doc doesn't want me to be distracted by anything. I...I don't have time to eat."

"Scar! You are going to eat this cookie while I go speak to Doc." Grian marched up and forced a cookie into Scars hands, then marched inside the base.

If I were Doc, I would work on a massive project....hanger 1! It's got an underground area!

He jogs over to the green hanger, pushing the huge doors aside and walking in.

"Doc?" He waited for the better half of a minute before making his way over to the underground access door. Pulling it open, he could clearly hear the sounds of someone building in the lower levels. Grian took a deep breath before climbing down the ladder. He reached the bottom, seeing a massive doomsday lookin device and Doc at the base of it.

"Hey baby! Whatcha working on?"
Doc mumbled something under his breath before turning to glare at Grian.

"What do you want? I thought Scar was keeping people out."

"Babe, he's being overworked. He hadn't eaten in ages and looks like he hasn't slept."

"You didn't answer my question. It's none of your business what my men are doing. Now why are you here?"

"I, um, came to check on you and bring you cookies."

"I don't want you or your stupid cookies here. Leave me alone."

He stepped toward Doc, reaching out and hugging him, "Doc, you don't mean that. How long have you been awake?"

He shoves Grian to the ground, "Get off of me!" Grian landed hard on his backside, a small oof coming from the hermit.

"D-Doc?" He looked to be on the verge of tears.

"You're so stupid! This was supposed to be a secret project Grian! You've gone and messed it up!" He angrily kicked the man on the ground, said hermit letting out a small yelp and recoiling.

"I-I'm sorry Doc. I didn't know. I, I promise not to tell anyone."

"No. I don't believe you. You're staying here. No, that won't work. You're going to gather supplies for me."

"I, okay. What do you need me to do?" He sounded defeated and hurt as he stood up, trying not to put too much weight on his leg.

"You stay here until night. You'll go get my stuff then."

"Okay baby, I'll stay," He walked over the corner and sat down. Doc continued working on his device like nothing happened. Upon siting down, Grian pulled out his communicator and hoped Doc didn't see him.

Grian whispered to Renthedog:<yo, I'm spending the next few days away from the commune. Peace out for a while dude>

A harsh smack to the cheek and the communicator was out of his hands, a few inches away. Grian immediately had tears in his eyes, and held his cheek.

"What were you doing?" Doc yelled, anger evident in his whole body.

"I was telling Ren I wasn't gonna be there for a little while. I swear I didn't tell him anything!"

A swift kick to the shins had Grian's tears spilling over the edge as Doc picked up his communicator and threw it against the far wall.

"Don't talk to people. You're going to give something away with how stupid you are."

"I'm sorry," he tried to curl in on himself more. Doc just rolled his eyes and walked back to his project.

*Le skep of time*

It had been a few weeks since his boyfri-no Doc had started to cut himself off and become abusive. Grian cried less, didn't speak unless spoken to and was quite hungry most of the time.

"Baby I need more iron. Go get me some," Doc called from the other room.

"Yes love," he stood up from his sitting position on the bed and walked out. He was allowed outside during the day now, but he had limited things he could say. As Grian passed Doc, he was grabbed and had a kiss placed on his check.

"Don't mess anything up," all Grian could do was nod. He continued walking out of the base, practicing his smile to make it more convincing.

Making it to the gates, he could see Ren and Scar arguing. "Um, good morning?" He sounded so unsure, it wasn't a good morning for him but they didn't need to know that.

"G-Man my dude! I've been looking everywhere for you. I haven't seen you in ages! Why are you here?"
How was he supposed to respond? Anything would sound suspicious.

"Um, I, uh. Quality time with Doc."

"Well that's obviously a lie."

"I, what?"

"You came over almost two months ago to see Doc, sent me a weird message, and vanished from the server! What's actually happening?" Ren's tail was swaying back and forth in an annoyed fashion. Obviously he wasn't to happy.

"I, um, I...I can't say," Gri looked to the ground ashamed. He had probably done something wrong and Ren needed him to fix it.

"It's Doc," Grian jumped at the sound of Scar's voice. He hadn't been expecting it. "He's been sending Grian to go get supplies for him. I hear him yelling at Grian all the time too, but I've been so overworked lately I can't tell anyone."

Ren's eyes went wide, "Grian..."
Grian was pulling at his sleeves anxiously. He had them rolled down into hide brushes and cuts, but it was the middle of summer on the server.

"I, I need to collect iron. Talk to you later?" He tried to walk past the two, but Ren stopped him.

"What's going on. Please, I want to help you. If you don't tell me, I'm going to X."

"No, please just let me go. I'm-" he cut himself off. He was being stupid again and almost ruined Doc's plan.

"You're what Grian?" Grian had tears in his eyes again. "Grian, Scar's telling the truth isn't he."

Grian nodded sadly, "I'm gonna get in trouble if I'm not back soon with iron. I gotta go," He tried leaving again, but Ren had a firm hold on his wrist.

"No, you've told us and now we're going to fix it," he was looking dead into Grian's eyes with determination bubbling inside.

"No, this isn't gonna end well. I-I'm gonna be hurt again. Can we just drop it?"

"No we cannot just drop it!" Both men exclaimed, startling Grian.
"Sorry,"Scar mumbled, "but we still need to go to X."

"Why are you coming to me?" Grian jumped yet again at the sound of someone else's voice

"Can we tell him Grian?" Ren looked at Grian, then to the confused admin. Grian just nodded. X casting a worried glance his way.

"What's happened? I just came to see Doc."

"Doc's the problem," Ren started before he was rudely interrupted by the man himself.

"Speak of the devil," Scar murmured. "Please act as if I've been trying to keep you from passing."

"What are you doing here?" Doc sounded slightly annoyed, being normal for Doc.

"Well, I came to see you," X sent a worried look to the group, who gave him a look in response. "I found them arguing about who's allowed in and out."
"Sir, Ren want's in. I can't allow that," Scars voice sounded almost robotic. Nothing like it was just a moment ago.

"Leave, I'm very busy. Now why haven't you gotten the iron I need?"
Grian looked to the ground, "I'm sorry, I was distracted by their argument. I, um, I'll go now."

"Nono, wait," X grabbed Grian's wrist to keep him from leaving. "I want to talk to both of you. You've been really distant lately, I wanna know what's going on."

"We've been busy, that's all," Doc chuckled, grabbing Grian's hand.

Ren gave him a suspicious look, "He's a hippie tho."

"He's also my boyfriend," Doc looked accusingly at Ren.

"I-"

"Sh, I'm talking with people luv," Doc still held his glare at Ren. Who looked quite surprised at what Doc had just said.

"Doc!" Xisuma exclaims, "That's no way to treat another hermit."

"So? I'm not seeing a problem. He was talking when I didn't want him to."

Ren growls, ears back against his head, "on the topic of this." Grian shakes his head frantically. "Doc's been abusing Grian."

"What! No I haven't! Grian, would I abuse you?" Grian just shook his head.

"Mind showing us your arms? You have your sleeves rolled down," everyone looked at him expectantly.

"...no thank you," he looked away.

"Grian, tell us what's happening," X pleaded.

"Nothings going on, it's cold in the bunker, that's all."

"I asked Grian."

"And he's not answering!" He started walking away, tugging Grian along with him.

"I want to stay with them," it was barely audible, but the world could have heard it.

"Why? Baby, they're bothering us."

"I-um, I don't want to go with you. You're mean."

Doc glanced nervously around, "baby, can we talk about this later?"

"No," He sounded stronger now. Doc released his grip on Grian's hand, Grian backing away instinctively. "I want to deal with this now."

"There's nothing to deal with," Doc sounded annoyed again. His voice being raised slightly.

"Obviously there is, Doc. Let him talk," Ren shot back. Walking over and standing next to Grian.

"The whole server doesn't need to witness our discussion Ren."

"But I want them to know! I'm tired of the way you treat me!" Grian had tears in his eyes, he didn't know why they were there though. Maybe he was scared of what Doc would do to him for this, maybe he was relieved to finally be telling someone.

"I don't treat you any different than I treated them!"

"Tell that to the bruises that cover my body, Doc! Tell that to my scratched arms, my broken rib! Tell that to the depression that's now settled in my mind. Tell that to all the physical and mental damage you caused!"

The admin immediately stepped in.
"Docm77, you are banished from this area of the server. You may move to an unpopulated area of the server, bringing only what your inventory can carry."

"But-" he tried to protest but X stopped him.

"No, you treat a server member like that, you get to pay the price."

"He's being dramatic! You can't do this," He was teleported away, X not allowing him his belongings anymore.
Grian was hugging Ren, trying not to cry. Ren was rubbing his back and whispering words of encouragement into the young man's hair.

"Do you need healing potions? Or medical attention at all?" Scar was awkwardly standing there, trying to be support, but trying to stay out of the way.

Grian mumbled something into Ren's shoulder, in which he translated, "He said he got ahold of potions while Doc was sleeping."

"Still, last time he slept was over a week ago. Do you need anything?" X pointed out, trying to make sure his fellow hermit was okay.

"I'll be fine," he had pulled away from Ren and was now staring at the paved road. "I just, I dunno. Thank you. I thought I'd never get out of there."

"We're always here for you, man! You can count on us," Ren pulled Grian into a more playful hug this time. X deciding to join, and soon Scar.
Grian felt like he'd be okay. It would take time and work to get over this, but he'd be okay.

Credit for the idea goes to Moongirl956 she had this brilliant idea, I just wrote it out. Thanks for reading! I hope everyone has a lovely day/night and know that you are loved <3