"It's nearly October," Salem hummed.
"Whoooo," Solidarity said, his voice void of all emotion.
"Yes, thank you for that incredibly accurate depiction of all of our opinions on that stupid *ss festival," B thanked, agitated.

You are now texting MJ

G: u excited for Spooky season?

MJ: yeah! My siblings get a bit too hyped for it

MJ: the amount of times I've walked into my room only to scream in fear at Spooky man being right inside my door is...

MJ: I have trauma 😊

G: Spooky man?

MJ: yeah...

MJ: he was used against me constantly to make sure I didn't go places I wasn't wanted.

MJ: it drops its mask to reveal a skinless face! How does no one else but Gem find that scary!!!

MJ: now it guards just inside Ren's room sense he's away

MJ: he said he "looks cool" and he "took the batteries out anyway so it won't jumpscare you, you can come in"

MJ: like I'll believe that

G: bruh....

G: sounds like you need couples counseling man

MJ: WITH THAT THING?!

MJ: ID RATHER D I E

Grian let out a soft giggle and smiled down at the screen.
"Talking to your boyfriend?" Martyn teased jokingly.
Grian's face turned a bright red, matching his sweater.
"NO! What the h*ll does it matter to you anyway? Not like you do much socializing with my life anyways," Grian defended harshly.

Salem let out a gasp.
"Whoa, G, I was just playing! You have a boyfriend?" Martyn asked.
"NO!"
"He does! Oh, Grian! You devious boy! Who is it? Can we meet him? Don't you worry we won't tell a soul!" Salem chirped, grabbing Grian's hand.
"Oooh, Grian! He's all grown up now!" Tomahawk teased.
"Careful, Dad is very homophobic," Zee warned.

"Jesus Christ! Bros! Chill out!" Grian huffed, pulling away from his overbearing siblings.
"Oh come on, we want all the deets!"
"Ugh. Fine. Only if we get icecream though!" Grian declared.
"Deal!"

••••

"DID YOU JUST BITE YOUR ICECREAM?!" Mini cried out much to Grian's delight.
"Grian!" Tomo whined, bonking his head against the wooden table.
"Are your teeth ok?" Pearl asked cautiously.
"Uh, yeah?" Grian replied.

"I don't think this boy knows what cold tastes like, guys," Tauris huffed.
"Cold has a taste?" Grian asked.
"Yes." Was the unanimous answer.

Hmm, noted.
"How would you describe that taste?" Grian asked.
....

F*cking crickets.
Noted.

"ANYWAYS! Grian, your boyfriend~" Mini cut in.
Grian let out a slightly agitated groan.
"Ok, fine. Ask."

"So, is it a boy?" Salem asked.
"Ugh, yes."
"Alright, how old is he?" Taurtis asked.
"14."
"Do we know him?" Zee asked.
"Not personally."
"Darn it," B huffed.
"What color hair does he have?" Martyn asked.
"What color hair does your girlfriend have?" Grian retorted.

"Brown."
"Black."
The 2 stared intently at each other.
"Are you actually dating him?" Martyn asked.
Grian mumbled something and the group snickered.
"We'll take that as a no," Pearl teased.

Grian mumbled out a series of jumbled words.
"Hey Grian, what's his name?" Martyn asked.
"MJ," Grian grumbled.
"Hmm?" Salem leaned in closer and Grian sighed.
"MJ," Grian repeated.
"MJ, that's cute!" Pearl hummed.

"So, what do you like about him?" B asked.
Grian let out a soft squeal and kicked his legs.
"Oh, you'd know if you met him! He's soft and cuddly! Not in like an actual sense, actually he's pretty bony and thin but his personality~ aaawh! Also, he falls for my jokes! Every. Time! Like, I flirt with him and he instantly falls into a blubbering mess! But like- later we'll be texting and he'll send stuff like 'looks good on you, winky face'! Aaaaah!!" Grian rambled.
"Sounds like you fell pretty bad~" Tom teased.
Grian groaned before burying his head in Solidarity's shoulder.

Ding

Grain pulled his phone from his pocket.

MJ: you never told me, are you excited for Spooky Season?

Grian stared at the screen. Conflicted between smiling because Mumbo or frowning because October.
He opted to take the smiling approach.

G: meh

G: There the Festival we have to do during October

G: they start setting that up this week actually

MJ: sounds fun

MJ: I've never been

MJ: Ma and Pa won't let me

G: oooo I could sneak you out!!!

G: B so Sneaky 🦹‍♀️

MJ: superhero?

G: like Batman! Batwoman?

MJ: Batgirl

G: that's not very feminist

MJ: I mean it was made in 67 by 2 men so...

MJ: id say at that point in time it was the best we were gonna get

MJ: also, batgirl sounds so much better than BatWoman

MJ: CNN...

G: jeez u don't like it?

MJ: eh. I've seen a bit of it but that's not what we're talking about

MJ: would you sneak me out if I, hypothetically, wanted to go?

G: I'll get my ski mask and dark hoodie!

MJ: 🥵

G: 😶

"Grian~"
Grian looked up, his face a soft red and his eyes glazed over.
"Hmm?" Grian hummed.
His siblings laughed, Pearl jabbing his ribs.
"You're pathetic!"

••••

"If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again!" Grian assured his eyes training on XB while Mumbo and Taurtis were away for a few seconds.
"And if by the 15th try you still don't succeed? F*ck it, there should be a lighter in the garage, let's see what that'll do!" Grian finished.

XB let out a startled laugh and Grian shrugged. A moment later Taurtis and Mumbo returned to their seats.
"Whaaat did we just walk into?" Mumbo asked.
"Are you giving up again, Grian?" Taurtis teased.
"No! I'm simply.... Trying a new route! Experimenting, seeing what new outcome I can get!" Grian assured.

"Whether getting there requires fire or not doesn't matter," XB agreed.
"See! Crafted's on my side!" Grian laughed.
"Oh g*d."

••••

You are now texting MJ

G sent an image

G: blue or orange?

G: sh*t

G sent an image

G: noooow blue or orange

MJ: lol what for?

G: the festival

MJ: oranges, reds, and browns would work better

G: I mean, duh...

G: but thuts not the question qT

MJ: are these accents¿

MJ: they look small

G: HEY!

G: also...

G: yea.

G: but HEY!

MJ: :p

G: lol ur emoj not working anymore

There was a long pause lasting for at least 20 minutes. That wasn't usual...

G: Mumbi?

MJ: no

Uuuuh? What?

MJ: who is this?

G: tf?

MJ: who is this?

G: u first dipsh*t

MJ: ;}

There was another long pause.

MJ: OMG!!!!

MJ: GRAIN!

MJ: ....

MJ: this mf autocorrected Groan...

MJ: THIS MF!!!

G: Mumbo?

MJ: hold on hold on

MJ: I'm in a panic, but I need it to spell your name correctly first!

MJ: Gria.

MJ: Grian

MJ: thank you

MJ: anyways...

MJ: Please tell me you didn't spill any of my secrets!!! Ex yoinked my phone after dinner

MJ: omg look at the pictures this ah took!

MJ sent an image
MJ sent an image
MJ sent an image
MJ sent an image

MJ: so many selfies....

MJ: Exavior whyyyy

G: lol

G: oh no I called ur brother cute

MJ: Grian, nooo!!

G: I'm soooorrry!!!

MJ: now in gonna be bullied!!!

MJ: nooo

MJ: 🥶

G: 😎

MJ: YOU MOTHER-

Grian let out a burst of laughter and scrolled back up to the selfies Mumbo sent.

One stood out. Mostly because it was the only one not blurry as f*ck.
It was a man, 24-26. He had shoulder-length dyed white hair, his roots brown. He wore a red sweatshirt with some sort of black design on it. He had a smug look on his face and was leaning on the shoulder of someone else.

The second person was eyeing the screen curiously. He had bright purple eyes, looked about the same age as the other man, and had short shaggy brown hair. He wore a green tank top that made his muscles pop out more. He didn't look nearly as amused.

Looking back at the rest of the pictures and a realization immediately struck him.

G: how'd you get the phone back?

MJ: X got it back for me!

MJ sent you an image.

This image was of the same brunette with purple eyes as before. This time much younger and clearly cropped from a group pic.
Here he had longer hair that covered one of his eyes and was wearing a suit and tie.

MJ: that was from Impulse's wedding btw

MJ sent an image

MJ: I was 6 in this pic I think

MJ: cuz Imp was 20

MJ: which also means this pic is severely outdated.

MJ: I don't have many other pics of X tho

MJ: X and Ex were 16 here btw

MJ: so was Iskall

MJ: he's the one sitting with me and Gem btw

MJ sent an image.

The next image was a crop of the larger one. In the middle was a teenager with swooped to the side light-brown hair. He too had a tux, this one with a bright lime green tie.
He had the widest smile across his face and was holding a baby Mumbo in a side hug and a toddler on his lap.

Mumbo had slicked back black hair and the roundest face Grian's seen other than Taurtis', he wore a small tux with a red tie and little red accents. The toddler had bright red hair that fell down her chest. She had a flower crown sat in her hair and wore a flowey green dress decorated in flowers that draped over Iskall's lap.

MJ: the redhead is Gem btw

MJ: she was the flower girl if you can't tell

G: how old was she?

MJ: 5? Maybe 4 at this point. She's 1 year younger than me.

MJ: same age as Pearl!

G: aaaawwww!

MJ: actually I think she's younger?

MJ: she says she's older than pearl

MJ: same classes

G: now I wanna see Pearl in a baby flower girl dresss!!!

MJ: lol

G saved an image

••••

You are now texting group chat "Evo Kids"

G: PEARL

Grian sent an image

P: is that Gemini?!

Z: awww

Sa: where'd you get that from?

P: I can use this as L E V R A G E

Z: that is not how you spell that...

Sol: **Leverage

Sol: shut up Z, she was close enough.

Tau: this from your group project partner

G: our conversation got derailed by his brother....

Tau: which one?

G: uh Ex?

Tau: which one is that?

G: uh hot white haired one

Tau: ah, ok

Tau: wait...

MM: lol

MM: hot white haired 1

Sa: assuming we're talking about the Hermits?

Sa: considering Iskall is in that pic

G: yeah

G: this was apparently Impulse's wedding

Grian sent a image

Sa: aw, look at Jevin

Sa: cleans up nice

Tom: lol Wels looks so done with everything

Tomohawk saved an image

Tomohawk cropped an image

Tomohawk sent an image

The image was a cut of the wedding pic. In it was a boy, preteen age, with straight shoulder-length blond hair, pulled up out of his face with a golden clip. He had sharp blue eyes and he looked tired. He wore a white button up with a gray sweater-vest and a blue tie. A soft smile graced his face though he truly looked done with the day.

Beside him, an arm hooked around his, was a boy with short bright blue hair and blue eyes. He wore a suit with a bowtie. He had a large smile and tears in his eyes.
Both boys had blue eyeshadow on their eyelids.

Z: looking fleek

G: kinda wanna meet em now

B: doubt they'd wanna meet us

Tom: we were diiiii

B: oh yeah we were awful to the Knight twins

G: awww u should apologize

B: and get beaten half to death by dad?

B: id rather not

G: u don't even live with us anymore :'(

B: still live in town tho

G: uuuuugh!

G: I can apologize for u

B: gl!

••••

You are now texting MJ

G: Salem says Jevin looks cute

MJ: ??

G: in the pic

G: Salem says Jevin cleans up nice and us cute

G: Wels does too

G: according to Tom

G: they wanted me to tell you

MJ: oh

MJ: cool!

G sent an image

The image was of a girl, 7 or 8 years old, long black hair was tied up in a bun, her bangs were colored a slight tint of red. She wore a dark blue dress that seemed far too bright for the camera. She stood on a playground her hands braced on the railing. A few steps behind her was a cautious-looking Jevin. Soft brown hair was disheveled and he had a few woodchips stuck in it. He wore a gray t-shirt and blue jeans that were ripped at the knees. And not fashionable ripped either, just ripped.

G: ask your siblings if they remember these!

G sent an image
G sent an image
G sent an image
G sent an image

MJ saved 5 images

••••

You are now texting group chat "Is Tin Still Bby now?"

MJ: Salem apparently thinks you're cute Jev

Jev: heh?

Xis: lol what?

Tin: awwwww

Bee: is that why they were jerks?

Bee: yo someone come help me move my stuff into this truck pls

BDu: coming

D: I'm at work :C

Bee: I won't be leaving until tomorrow morning weirdo

D: good cuz I need to give you hugs!

Tin: speaking of, Doc. when are you leaving for Germany?

D: February

MJ: why all of you leaving before my graduation :'(

Bee: we'll be back for that!

Bee: and if you ever decide to get married we'll come back

D: besides that's not for another 2 years or so

MJ: 😒

Xis: you've got time Mumbo

MJ sent an image

Jev: NOOOO

Joe: aww baby Jevin!

Jev: you mean eww?

Jev: look at my jeans!!!

Jev: and my HAIR!

Jev: when was this?

EX: OMG I TOOK THAT PICTURE!

EX: that was so long ago!!!

Xis: awww 7 year old Jevin!

Bee: what was that 15 years ago?

BDu: holy moly

BDu: wait that just made me feel old take it back!

Bee: u are 21 right Jev?

Jev: I'm 22

Hyp: ew. no youre not

Hyp: quit lying

Hyp: babies all under 21. can't drink

Hyp: lies

Cle: you tell em Hypno

Cle: TIN! THE BABIES ARE TRYING TO ADULT!

Imp: illegal

Bee: here we go again

Tin: babies stop trying to adult get back inside

Jev: you think all of us are babies Tin

Tin: exactly. Which is why I don't know what Beef thinks he's doing moving away to Canada

Tin: you are 2 get back inside

Bee: lol

Bee: bring it up with E it was his idea

D: yes blame the boyfriend

Bee: not my boyfriend

Bee: also that's where his college is and I wanna get out of this town. It was a win-win

K: Why would you want to get out of this town ?!

MJ sent an image.

The image was of 2 boys huddled in a corner. One was 2 or 3, the other was 6 or 7. One had short sandy blond hair with dark blue eyes and was wearing bright red pants and a tan long sleeves shirt. Besides him a boy with shoulder-length caramel brown hair with red eyes wearing a black hoodie that engulfed his entire body.

Hel: oop

Wel: HA!

Hel: well I feel called out

Wel: and that's why you don't act like a piece of sh*t in front of the teachers

Hel: well I didn't know that at the time!

Tin: awww

Hyp: wittle baby Hels

Jev: wish I was old enough to remember u guys like that lol

Wel: thank g*d

Xis: Wels

Wel: yes?

Xis: please stop cursing 🙏

Wel: sorry 🤷‍♀️

EX: lol u don't look sorry

EX: YOU GOING TO MY PRIVATE TEXTS TO SAY "Shut the f*ck up" DOESNT MAKE IT BETTER WELS

Wel: it's not in the presence of X, we good

Xis: Exavior! At least bleep it out!

EX: sorry

Tin: lol. Not me literally raising everyone and Xisuma is the one everyone listens to

BDu: he's a mother hen!

K: He's easier to listen to

Tin: rude

Tan: yo anyone mind bring me my charger?

Tan: I'm in a bit of a sitch

Xis: ok, where r u

Tan: I'm in the bathroom my man

Xis: kay

Cle: glad I didn't offer lol

Tan: I mean if you wanted to I guess I wouldn't have stopped you

Z: u know where it is X?

Xis: yeah

Z: k

Z: u all look very cute btw

Jev: no I didn't but thanks

Hel: I know

Bee: thanks for the change in subject Mumbo

MJ: 🕺🕺

K: We Want Wait what

_____
A/N: this keeps unpublished itself. So if you see it again and again, that's why.