Just Friends
When Grian back comes around the corner, Scar waves to him, patting the couch before pulling out two bracelets- one blue and orange while the other pink and purple. Small white beads had the abbreviations ‘HG’ and ‘CG’ carved onto them.
"Surprise! I got us matching bracelets! We're totally a duo now, with Gem of course, but I thought it'd fit me and you more because of the HotGuy-CuteGuy thing!" Scar states happily, grabbing Grian's hand and sliding the beaded string on. After doing so, he realizes he's basically holding hands with the other. Scar releases Grian's hand like it was on fire, feathers fluffing up in embarrassment.
"Oh! Uhm.. sorry Grian. Should have asked." He says apprehensively, hands tumbling to tug on the elastic of his bracelet.
Grian stares at him for a minute, almost bird-like, before looking down at his wrist. "It's no problem. I like it, though. The, erm, bracelet, I mean."
They stare at each other in silence, the only sound in the background being the running of a shower coming from Gem's room and the tap of a certain person's stinger on the couch. Scar takes this time to examine the shorter man in front of him. His perfect dirty-blonde hair which was all floofy and curled in just the right places, soft lips which were quirked up into an awkward smile, and those, sparkling, hypnotizing eyes. He could recognize them from a mile away.
"Er... What about Gem, you get anything for her?" Grian finally says, breaking him from his daze.
Just as Scar opens his mouth to answer, Gem opens the door to her room and leans on the doorframe, she has her pajamas on, and her hair's sapping wet. "Scar got you something, with his own money? I can’t believe it! It seems like the only thing we share these days is an apartment and my bank account, apparently."
"I see..." Grian says, amused. He glances at Scar for a second before flopping dramatically backward onto the cushions of the couch, his wings flopping to either side. "I'm soo tired of laying on this thing, y'know! It hurts my back like crazy and I'm only 24- yeah, 24."
"You're fine! Scar and I had to share this couch for a week or two." She says, green eyes inspecting his face carefully. "Oh, speaking of a week or two, Scar, come here. I need to tell you something important."
Scar quickly jumps up and strides over Gem as she walks into her room and closes the door behind her. "So, I'm gonna get a raise."
"Oh, that’s great! Why the.. privacy though?" He asks, clapping a few times in mini celebration before gesturing to the room around them.
"Because.. to get this raise, I have to leave on a trip for a week, maybe two. It hasn't been exactly confirmed yet. I just wanted to warn you before you two start making out on the couch while I'm gone." She says, grinning and bursting into laughter at the last part.
Scar gasps and squints at Gem dubiously. "You really think I would do that? He's practically a stranger, that's very inappropriate."
"You look hilarious right now, Scar. I was joking. But, now that I'm thinking about it..."
"Stop. No. Ew."
˚⊹ ‧✩⋆⁺₊𓆩✦𓆪⋆⁺₊✩‧ ⊹˚
Grian is on his phone, and looks up when Scar goes walks into the living room. "Hi. What happened?"
"Nothing much! Gem's leaving for a week tomorrow, though. It’s a work thing." He states nonchalantly, waving away imaginary smoke.
"WHAT?! Gem's leaving?! How are we gonna pay the rent? We're gonna die! Noooooooo! " Grian whines, doubling over into the couch as he mourns the loss of a roommate.
"We’ll be fine! I'll just borrow some money from a friend. Plus, I do still have a bit of cash, it's not that bad!" Scar frowns, reaching into his wallet and trying to find any spare change to prove his point. "Plus, you'll get to spend time with your best friend!"
Grian rolls his eyes playfully before getting up and looking at Scar. "Who are you getting money from? Not a lot of people- no, no one gives you money other than that Cleo person, y'know."
"Hey! I have my ways. I’ve got this friend- his name is Jimmy. Let's just say.. He and his team make a pretty penny from what they do" Scar says with an almost cunning smirk.
It's silent for a second as Grian undoubtedly searches up 'Jimmy' on Google. He scrolls for a second before his eyes widen in shock, quickly looking up at Scar. "What- You- You can just take money from this Timmy guy?! You're talking about Solidarity, right? The Phoenix Reborn? He's famous... And a hero! This is a horrible idea Scar!"
"Maybe," Scar muses, "but in Wild Life, the most recent game, we had an alliance and I'm on pretty friendly terms with him right now. Also, he doesn't know who I am, remember? In his eyes, Me, Scar Goodtimes, and HotGuy... Which is still me, are basically completely different people."
"Wait- What about the government? He’ll expose you and you'll get sent to jail.. Or worse." He questions worriedly, those sparkling brown eyes staring into his.
"Nah. Even if he did find out, I'm not sure if he'd care. Most heroes are roped into the job because the government finds them valuable enough to keep around. The only selling point they have is not being jailed for being a Reborn, clout, and a weirdly high paycheck each year."
The two banter back and forth for a while, Grian insisting that talking to Jimmy will get someone killed while he defends himself with perfectly good reasons, mind you. Soon, the conversation settles down to something more subtle. Talks about what they were going to do while Gem was gone, walks to the park, and fancy dinners that not a single one of them could afford. Details about what being a vigilante was like and how much Grian would be paid. He was sure it was a practical joke but Scar had answered with the solid amount of one dollar anyway. Somehow, Grian had managed to convince him to get paid a whopping three dollars. Most one could buy with that was an orange and maybe a singular grape if you were lucky.
As the two conversed, Gem had come around and told the two that she was leaving early due to unexpected circumstances.
"I'm so sorry! It was planned for tomorrow but apparently, it's happening today! I swear I'll get back as fast as I can!" Gem quickly said, her wings noticeably hidden as she fidgeted with her fingers before grabbing her suitcase and dashes out the door. The sound of shoes tapping against stairs is audible as she runs down them.
"Well... What now?” Grian asks, nudging Scar lightly.
“We could.. Go to the park I found you knocked out in?” He suggests, a glaze of humor present in his tone. Unexpectedly, Grian agrees, so the two quickly get dressed in something more presentable. Scar wedges his raven wings under his shirt and bandages them to his back, wincing under the tight compression. Grian does the same with his four wings with a bit of help from Scar. It’s the part with his stinger that becomes the problem.
“Er.. So, about this?” He asks, pointing to the wickedly sharp end.
“Uhh… Oh! Yes, I’ve always heard of this trick where you shove any tails or stuff like that into a backpack with a hole in it! I know Gem used to keep one around for Pea-” He pauses, cutting himself off before continuing again. “ Uhm- One of her friends. I’m sure she won’t mind if you borrow it.”
After squishing the limb into a black backpack, they head out onto the sidewalk. It’s quite lovely outside today. The sun glimmered high in the sky, filtering through green leaves like a particularly shiny emerald. It was also perfectly warm out, the breeze as sweet as sticky honey.
“Well, what did you do before I picked you up off the sidewalk? Other than... Fall out of a tree and whatever you already told me.” Scar prompts, stretching as they walk.
“Oh. Erm.. I dunno, mostly hid from any hero or government agency. I didn’t exactly have any time to do anything else other than the occasional nap, I guess. “ Grian replies, deep in thought.
“Cool. Well, not cool. You know what I mean.”
“Yeah.”
They walk side by side as the two make it to the park. Scar absentmindedly drones on about Star Wars and Disneyland. Grian seems to barely be comprehending any of what he says but still listens and nods along anyways.
“Welp, enough of that I suppose. We’re here! It’s a great place, right?.. Sorry, that’s a dumb question, you obviously know that.” Scar says, cringing at the lack of realization of Grian literally falling out of a tree in this very park. Of course he knew what the park looked like.
“It’s whatever,” Grian says, eyes drifting off to a girl on a bench. She seemed pretty down in the dumps, pink hair draping over her eyes as she scrolled on her phone -- wait, pink hair?
“Lizzie!” Scar calls out, running over to the girl’s side. Grian quickly follows behind, bemused.
“Huh? Oh, hi Scar.” Lizzie looks up, smiling weakly. “Who’s that?”
“That’s my new roommate and best friend, Grian! I found him lying on the ground like a block away.” He says, almost too casually. Grian waves at Lizzie and she waves back, curiously peering at him.
“Hey. Are you alright though? I know I don’t know you but you look pretty.. Shitty.” Grian mumbles, voice dipping to a whisper at the end.
“Ugh, I know. It’s kind of complicated. My- No- Erm..” Lizzie hesitates, picking at her fingers. “Yeah, someone I knew kind of went insane and I can’t talk to him anymore.”
“Oh. You’re talking about The Scorpion, right? The most recent winner? You knew him?” Grian asks, his head tilting slightly.
“Yep. It was a whole thing. We were heroes together.” She explains, wincing at the use of his codename.
Grian raises an eyebrow at the mention of ‘hero’. Scar shrugs slightly, trusting that Lizzie wouldn’t recognize him.
“Well, you’re still a hero... And you still get paid enough to survive the torturous economy. So that’s the brighter side of things, I guess?” Scar tries, the attempt being futile as Lizzie sighs.
“No, it’s fine though. I’ll get over it anytime now.”
The three chat briskly about The Scorpion and other topics. Soon, the sun is starting to set and Lizzie has already left. Now, it’s just him and Grian sitting on the bench, watching as the sun dips beneath the horizon.
“Well, that was interesting,” Grian says, eyes locked onto the pink-lemonade skies.
“Mhm... You wanna go Corrupted hunting tomorrow? I’ve been slacking on work recently so I think we should probably get your debut in while I catch up on some stuff.” Scar hums, glancing at Grian. The sunlight caught in his hair, making it almost glow . The purple glitters in his alluring eyes shimmered and shifted as a warm orange ray reflected off of them.
“Sure, not like I got much to lose.” He replies, grinning at Scar. Clearly excited to do something other than lie around in the apartment.
Watchers, he was perfect. Almost too perfect.
He smiles back, eyes drifting to the sun.
Grian was such a great friend.