I RETURN!!!

IT'S oNlY BEEN LIKE TWO SCUDDING MONTHS-

OKAY I'M ACTUALLY REALLY REALLY SORRY ABOUT THE FACT THAT I JUST VANISHED

FGHJKFGHJKVH BUT TAKE A ONESHOT

This oneshot is actually a birthday gift for @Gremmllin !! Gremm, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Oh also this chapter is Grian-centric not ship-centric so the thingy in parenthesis is just "Grian"-

Warnings --->

WC: ~1000

Enjoy!

The builder in red beamed as he walked around the shopping district.

Blonde hair, bright eyes, excited expression. 

Laughter that echoed in the empty space in The Barge as he chatted with someone else as he restocked.

Busy, but still happy.

Bright.

Carefree.

When he walked in a room, it almost seemed brighter.

When he laughed, other people did too, because it was simply contagious.

No matter what he did, something about it felt special.

Because he was special.

The boy with the red sweater.

And his name was Grian.

"Hallo Grian!" Iskall called as he entered The Barge. Grian smiled at the sound of his friends voice. An idea stirred in his head, and the prankster had to bite back a smirk.

"Hey Iskall!" Grian replied, his voice carrying a slightly different tone than normal. Iskall didn't seem to notice, though. The cyborg pulled some materials from a chest, then handed Grian some diamonds.

To Iskall's surprise, Grian pushed them away.

"Oh, there's no need for that," Grian laughed, his voice light and airy.

"What? Are ya gonna give me free wood?" Iskall was clearly biting back a laugh. 

"Not exactly free," Grian teased. "But I'd prefer you pay me in alternate methods." Iskall raised an eyebrow.

"I don't have netherite on me," Iskall pointed out. "But I can get some, if ya like?" Grian simply shook his head.

"That's... not exactly what I had in mind," Grian said carefully, stepping closer to Iskall.

Then the other got it.

Iskall's face flushed and he opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, before finally managing a "W-what?!".

Grian burst out laughing, doubled over, cackling. Iskall stared at him for a second, then joined him, their laughter filling the room.

"Your face!" Grian cried through his laughing. "Your face was priceless!!"

As the giggling died down, Iskall finally spoke.

"That was amazing," he snickered. "I need to try that some time."

"Try it on Ren," Grian suggested. "Except less platonic. Anyways, I gotta go- busy day- bye Iskall!"

As Grian left, he caught a glimpse of Iskall's face, which was redder than he'd ever seen it.

Grian grinned, flying over to Tatooren. Ren had asked for some materials, and Grian replied saying that he'd be there in a second. 

But, naturally, Grian had a better idea than to just give them to him. 

After taking a minute to dig a bit in the terrained land, Grian set something up, then messaged Ren to come over to where he was.

"Hey G!" Ren's voice rang out. Grian turned around, plastering on a smile to replace his smirk.

"Hi Ren!!" Grian replied, stepping back to reveal the shulker box he placed on the ground, tipping his head towards it. Ren smiled, opened it, then broke the box, taking it.

Fizzzzz.

"WH-" Ren shrieked, leaping back.

BOOOM!

Explosion smoke flew everywhere, but no damage was done to the land around them.

"Did I scare ya?" Grian asked, winking.

"I think my scream was heard by the neighbors, my dude,"

"Well, that show was payment enough," Grian giggled. "The shulker's yours. Catch ya around, dude!"

And he powered off on his elytra, waving to Ren as he left.

"This is ingenious," Grian whispered to himself, a devious smirk on his face. He stood at the top of Mumbo's base, on one of the towers.

He held a bottle in his hand, and had a shulker box full of more. Grian uncorked the bottle and drank the potion of slow falling, then took some of the other bottles from the shulker. Those bottles had something different inside.

Grian launched himself into the air, then flew over the overgrown chains that Scar had build during the base swap. He opened up one of his bottles, then poured what was inside over the vines.

It was glitter.

The glitter rested on the vines and chains, and once Grian was done putting it on all of the chains, he landed to examine his work.

YES!

Sure, the vines looked hilariously glittery, but the best part was that the glitter was raining down, a steady flurry of sparkles.

Perfect.

Satisfied with his prank, Grian decided to head back to his mansion and call it a day, as the sun was starting to set.

What an eventful day!

Grian stepped into his mansion.

His mask fell, and shattered on the floor.

There was no real mask, of course, but it certainly felt like there was.

Grian sighed, his smile seemed to be left at the door.

His fingers traced the walls, the cold material only making him feel more numb.

Grian blindly made his way to the bathroom, stepping into the shower, not even bothering to remove his clothes.

It doesn't matter anyways.

Cold water. Cold body. Cold heart.

It doesn't really matter.

He felt like he was growing numb under the icy water.

Although I'm already numb, anyways.

Tears mingled with the water.

No one knows.

Grian switched off the water, stepping out of the shower.

No one will ever know.

Grian changed into dry clothes- no point in getting himself sick.

It's better this way.

He stared at himself in the mirror, eyes tracing every detail.

I burn to give them light.

He looked fine. He was fine.

Whatever's wrong isn't even important.

Tear tracks were evident if you looked close enough.

Is something even wrong? Or is it just me...

You could only really see the cracks if you knew what you were looking for.

And no one knows.

Grian climbed into bed, a fresh wave of tears pushing through.

No one can help you.

He curled in on himself, feeling like he was compressed.

No one needs to help you.

Compressed by his own thoughts.

I bet they wouldn't even want to help.

Grian bit the inside of his cheek, tasting his stale blood.

They wouldn't even care, if they knew.

But they don't know.

You've worked so hard to hold this mask.

Don't.

Let.

It.

Fall.

Grian curled in on himself further, tears spilling freely from his eyes.

The thoughts kept coming.

Grian didn't bother trying to stop them.

They were right.

Grian just cried, the permanent damp spot on his pillow soaking with fresh tears.

Wear a mask, remove it, then cry when no one's around.

That was his life.

The life of the builder in red.

AHAHAHA OWIE MY HEART-

-Storm