3rd Convex week oneshot! 

Someone knocks on the window.

I frown, looking over from my laptop to where a rather cheerful guy is beaming at me through the glass. He adjusts his battered hat, waving with one dirt-caked hand. For a moment, I consider just continuing with the astrophysics essay I've been working tirelessly on, but the uniqueness of this situation, paired with just how happy this guy looks, means I can't. Instead, I cross to the window and open it.

'Hello? Do you need help with something?'

'Oh! Hello there! Sorry, I'm not used to people actually responding to me knocking at their windows.'

'Do you need help?' I repeat.

'Oh, no, no. I'm just curious. And I could actually reach your window from my wheelchair... the floor in there's lower down than out here. I think. Or you've got really short legs.' I have to laugh at the gardener's rambling. He gives a little giggle back. 'So... What's this big building you've got here? What are you doing?'

'This is the university. I'm a professor of astrophysics'

'Oh, sweet! What's your name?'

'Cubfan Vex. Cub.'

'Cub. I like that! I'm Scar, a gardener, sent to help on this big garden out here. What astrophysics do you do? What are you working on now?'

'Star formation, mostly.' I explain. 'Right now, I'm working on an essay explaining my findings for this big space journal.'

'Oooh! I love space! Have you ever seen any of the Star Wars films?'

'I've seen the one with the little green guy. Yoda?'

'Empire Strikes Back?'

'Maybe? I dunno, I don't really watch much sci fi. But I did like that one.'

'Well you have to watch Star Wars. The original trilogy, a lot of the other stuff, some of the modern series, you don't want to watch those. Terrible things have been done to them, Cub. But the original series?'

'Oh for goodness- you're talking about Star Wars?!' another gardener questions. Soon they come into sight, wiping their sandy hands off on their red sweater. 'I'm so sorry about Scar, he's obsessed... come on, buddy, we need to finish planting cacti.'

'I'm on break, though!'

'They're not! And your break ended 5 minutes ago.'

'Cub's happy to talk!'

'Come on.'

'Fine... bye, Cub. Sorry for disturbing you.'

'I don't mind, man. Lovely to meet you... bye!'

'Bye!'

Scar disappears and I close the window.

'Dude, do you ever rest?!' questions Doc, one of my fellow professors, as we discuss my completed paper, a few days after meeting Scar. 'You mad lad really wrote 15,000 words in 3 days?!'

'I just really liked the project.'

'How many breaks did you take? None of us have seen you much in a while. You've been on your own a lot since-'

'I took breaks.' I interrupt.

'Really?' Doc sounds sceptical. 'How long were your breaks? What did you do on your breaks?'

'Dude, Doc, I'm fine. I just really got into a rhythm with writing. It's a fascinating topic I was discussing, so I managed to write a lot about it in a short time.'

'Did you go home and sleep? Zed told me he saw your light on at, like 4am.'

'Why was Zedaph here at 4am?'

'Because he's Zedaph.' is apparently a good enough answer for Doc. I sigh, forced to find an excuse.

'I needed to check something through my telescope, the sky wasn't clear until then.'

'Don't you have to turn the lights off for that?'

I struggle for an answer. Doc crosses his arms.

'Come on, man. We're all worried about you. You need to get out more. Talk to people. Find new friends. Watch films and television like a normal person,' My gaze shifts to the window, where the gardeners are still working.

'Mmm, yeah.' I reply vaguely as Doc stops speaking. 'Yeah, I will. I'm just... still processing.'

Doc places a hand on my shoulder, looking me dead in the eyes.

'You need to move on.'

'I'm fine,' I repeat, perhaps a little too harsh, breaking free. I shove my hands deep into my labcoat pockets, hiding the scars. 'Everything's fine. I'm fine. I'm getting on with my job, making up for the time I lost,'

'The university's happy to give you an extension on your research. They still will be. You don't have to overwork yourself.'

'I'm not overworking myself.'

'You haven't slept in days, man!'

'I can't get to sleep, so I make the most of that time and work on the project I wasted half the time I was supposed to spend on. I'm distracting myself from what happened.'

'You do realise how unhealthy that is, Cub. Aren't your friends worried about you?'

I don't reply. Doc realises.

'You don't have any friends?'

'Of course I do. I've got you, and False, and Joe, and Tango always says hi when we cross paths.'

'Outside the university, do you have any friends? Or family?'

'Why does it matter where my friends are?'

'Get yourself a good friend. Outside the university, someone you can go on trips with, hang out with. Disconnect from your work. Or we're volunteering you as a research project for the psychology department. See you around.'

Doc leaves.

Doc's words stop me getting anything done over the next few days. Instead, I sit at the window, searching for Scar. Every second away from my research is a second I spend lost in thought about the incident. The damage to my house I'm too scared to go home and handle. The risk of it coming back. Waking up in hospital with those marks down my arm, learning what I'd done...

'...stole part of the display just to give me a present I didn't want?'

I blink, looking out the window at the sound of talking coming nearer.

'You didn't like the poppies and lilacs I gave you?'

Scar.

'But the seeds of those poppies are really good for sleep, you said you were struggling to sleep... And lilacs, well I think I got confused between them and lavender but... Grian? Grian, where are you going? Oh man...'

I open the window, far enough to lean out and towards where Scar's staring off after who must be Grian. After a moment, I gain the confidence to speak.

'Scar, right?'

He gives a little scream of surprise, turning his chair sharply around.

'Oh- you really scared me! Hello there! Wait, you're Cub! You're the nice space guy I spoke to before!'

'Are you free to chat?'

'Well, technically no, but Grian didn't like the flowers I gave him, so I don't care what he thinks... what did you want to talk about?'

'Well...' I stare at the path outside the window. Half of me wants to mention Star Wars, and just zone out to Scar rambling about it, as he warned he could. But the other half knows Scar's a gardener. And just heard him explain the properties of plants. And maybe he knows about other kinds of plants. That plant. 'Well I have some plant questions.'

'Plant questions? Go ahead! I'm no bottomist, but I know a lot.'

'You mean botanist?' I laugh.

'Oh shoot I said the other thing again, didn't I?' Scar turns pink.

'No worries, no worries... anyway,' my stomach churns. I take a deep breath. 'Do you know anything about sculk?'

Instantly, Scar recoils.

'Sculk?'

I nod.

'Yeah.'

'Well... I know it's not a real plant. It's artificially made by some meanie people, but it still takes over your whole garden... I've never seen it, but apparently it also makes you act kinda weird. Apparently. I hate the stuff. Almost as much as I hate stitch, and snakes, but not quite. Why do you want to know about it? Did some get into your garden? I'm happy to deal with that, no problem.'

'Well... not quite.' Another deep breath. The familiar choking fear rises inside me, writhing up my arms. I start fidgeting. Consider changing the subject entirely. 'Well about a month ago, I found sculk in my house. I tried to get rid of it. But it fought back. According to another professor, Joe, he found me covered in sculk, the house covered in sculk. But all I remember is waking up in the hospital, 3 weeks later. The doctors told me I'd nearly died.'

Silence.

'Oh my goodness,' Scar manages to reply. 'Oh Cub that's awful.'

I nod, fighting tears.

'Yeah.'

'What can I help you with? Did they get it out your house?'

'I don't know. I've been staying at the university since. I wanted to know... I don't really know what I wanted to know. I think I just wanted to get everything off my chest. And another professor, Doc, told me to make more friends, and you were the first person I thought of. Because you seem nice. I'm sorry, I'm rambling. You barely know me and I'm making you listen to all my troubles...'

'It's ok,' Scar smiles. 'And... well, I don't know how to help with the sculk, I'm afraid. I don't know how to get rid of it, but what I do know is that I've got lots of blankets, and space in my home, and the most amoyzing cats in the world. And all of the Star Wars movies you could ever watch, because you still need to see Star Wars. And I know that, if it would help, I'd be more than willing to have you around for as long as you wanted.'

'You really don't have to, man.'

'I insist. Notch knows I'm familiar with medical emergencies. And I've gotta get you to watch Star Wars somehow, jeez Louise. Here, I'll give you the address... I have a pen somewhere... and my phone number...'

'Are you free this evening?'

'Yeah?'

'Can I come around then?'

'Of course! Of course! You know the bridge over the river just over that way? I'll meet you there at 5pm, and we'll head off. If that works with you.'

'Yeah. Thank you.'

'No problem... see you there, Cub!'

I smile.

'See you there.'