Chapter Title: Bdubs the Grouch
Main Character(s): Bdubs, Scar
Warnings: Nothing dark, just some angstiness
Spoilers: Bdubs HC ep. 1
Summary: Bdubs meets up with Scar—spoiler alert: it doesn't go well
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Scar asked if he could come by, and Bdubs, not wanting to be incredibly rude, said yes.

But that didn't mean his anxiety was gone.

After all, Scar had been the one to get Cleo to kill him. Scar had been the one to kill him because he couldn't remember a watch brand. But who could feel safe around Scar, the one who proved himself to be extremely chaotic?

But what if Scar changed? What if he was trying to fix what went down just a couple days ago?

Doubtful. Very, very unlikely.

He tried taking his focus off of the worries at hand and instead put them towards his starter base. He had a small idea drawn out on a blueprint. The design wasn't thought out that much, but he had decided the overall shape and vibe would be a moon.

He let himself forget about the future meeting. Block pallets were more interesting.

He set aside a chest and filled it with all the materials he'd need. That included terracotta, moss, planks, copper, and many other blocks some might believe shouldn't be mixed. There was plenty of resource gathering to be done still, but leaving his property was still outside his comfort zone.

He started to build. If he gathered more blocks, he'd risk bumping into someone. But building would be ok, so long as no one came near (that excluded Keralis and Tango though, he could trust them). It started with flattening the hill, then terraforming the area around him with moss, stone, and mossy cobble. Once he had enough room to work with, he began the rough draft stage of figuring the shapes and then exchanging the rough outline with the permanent blocks (example being the red sandstone).

"HELLO!"

Bdubs feared he'd jumped quite a bit at the word. He was less startled by the sound, and more startled that Scar was here, right next to him, at any moment able to attack—

"Sorry. Did I startle you there?"

"It's FINE!" he said, trying hard to emphasize everything was alright. "What brings you over here?" He wasn't sure if what he was saying came out a bit forced... like it tended to get when he got extremely anxious for his life—which seemed to be anytime Scar was around.

"I was wondering, would you like some ink sacks or mossy cobble in exchange for some copper?"

Easy enough. Give Scar what he wanted without fighting back, and it would all turn out alright.

"This will do, right?" He tossed quite a bit of copper, hoping Scar would leave soon.

"Yes. Here. You can have some of these as well," Scar tossed over an abundance of glow ink sacks alongside the mossy cobble.

"Have you checked out the moss yet? It griefs like crazy!" Scar said, changing the subject completely. It seemed like Scar was stalling for something, and usually he did that because Grian was working on a prank. That or he was trying to trick Bdubs into staying up really late and end up getting phatom'd.

"Yeah. I know a bit about it." He hadn't really taken a close look at all it could do, but Scar's continuous stay was starting to get to him, and if he could end the conversation now, it'd all be for the best.

"Here!" Scar grabbed a piece of moss in one hand and pulled Bdubs along in the other. "Let me show you."

He placed down the moss, and took some bone meal to it. All the surrounding grass turned right into moss. "Wow. That sure is something... I better not accidentally do that around my base."

"It would be perfect for pranks, don't ya think, Bdubs?"

"Shh-ur-e—" Bdubs emphasized, his voice getting a bit higher.

"No! Not yours! I'd never—" Scar was a little too good at reading people, Bdubs thought. "We'd do it to other people!"

He looked up at Bdubs, and probably saw something was up in his expression. He took a few steps away from Scar. "You alright, Bdubs?"

"Yeah. Yeah. I'm alright!" He did the one thing he thought he could to cut off the conversation. "Just a bit tired is all. You know how the first part of the season is. Now if you don't mind me being a slight bit rude, but I have to get back to work on this house... and it's also getting late... sorry. I can't hang around right now." He walked away at a quick pace, almost running.

"I'm not about to kill you again. I'm sorry... I took it too far."

"It's alright! Everything's good," he said as he kept walking, Scar still following.

Why was Scar so persistent right now? Why was he so dead set on keeping Bdubs busy and by his side?

"I'm worried about you, Bdubs."

"Why? Thing are fine! Like I said, I'm just a bit tired is all! Don't want to become too comfortable with staying up through the night just to have phantoms come and attack!"

"It's fine if you don't trust me yet. I wouldn't trust me either... after all that's happened."

"It's not you!" he tried to say encouragingly, while still feeling the urge to run far away. "I just need some time to myself, get this project finished. I don't like it looming over my head."

"Do you want some help?"

"NO! I mean—I wouldn't want you to take time away from your projects. I can do this just fine!"

"Alright Oscar the grouch, no need to push me away."

"WHAT?!"

"Your skin, it looks a lot like Oscar."

"NO it does NOT." He folded his arms.

"You can't change my mind, especially with your attitude. It's just like him!"

"Get off of my moon! I have work to do! Like I said, I've got plans, and you're distracting me!" He waved his arms in the air as if to reiterate his point.

"I said Oscar, not Shriek!" Scar laughed.

"Fine then. Scram. That what you wanted? Go bring your times, whether good or not, somewhere else."

Scar walked off a bit, not saying a word, and Bdubs worried he took it too far. But it was a lot easier to be rude when the anxiety was eating at him.

"I'm sorry, Bdubs. Really am... We're still friends... right?" He looked up at him, from below the terraformed area.

Bdubs didn't change his annoyed expression. "Please... just leave."

"Goodbye Mr. Grouch." He tried to give a half smile, but Bdubs could see the obvious hurt. "Hey—your armor looks like a trash can! You look even more like Oscar now!" he tried to joke.

Bdubs just rolled his eyes, and Scar got in his boat and left without another word.

"We're still friends, right?"

Things would never be the same.

Never again between him and Cleo. Between him and Scar... or Grian for that matter. Where did Impulse lie in all of this? He wanted to put all the blame on Impulse, he'd been the one to betray the first day group first (but he knew killing someone over a clock wasn't right either). And besides, he was basing with Scar, Grian, and Pearl, who had all been fighting him either in the crazy wars or the little fight a few days back. And Bdubs would be friends with Mumbo if he didn't have association with them. But alas, Bdubs could not be friends with any of them.

And it was still a struggle being friends with Tango, but as he had sided with him and Cleo in the war...

Then again, did those who sided in the beginning matter? He thought he and Cleo were the ride or die team... but even that didn't work out.

Despite living on such a small continent, in such a tight knit group, he felt more alone than he felt back at the crastle.