Chapter Text
Scar and Bdubs were leaning up against the wall. Bdubs was sobbing into Scars chest, rocking back and forwards. It was currently 2 AM, and neither of them had slept for more than a few minutes due to Bdubs’s raging nightmares.
Scar hummed a tune he knew, trying to distract Bdubs from his thoughts. At some point, Bdubs began to shakily hum with him.
Bdubs had calmed down enough to speak, and began to explain what exactly his nightmares were like.
“They were— uhm.. Sorry, it’s probably kinda silly for how upset I got.”
Bdubs fidgeted with the chain of the clock he had hooked to his belt, letting out a sigh.
“If it made you freak out so bad, I’m sure it’s not silly.”
“It was just some sort of nightmare about you guys not being there on Hermitcraft.”
Scar pulled Bdubs closer and hugged him tightly.
“I swear me and mom will always be there, no matter what happens. Ok?”
He rested his head on Scars shoulder, quickly nodding.
“I know. It’s just— scary to think about.”
Note to self.. Hum Dream Sweet in Sea Major when Bdubs is sad.
After a few moments of silence, Bdubs spoke again.
“Maybe it’s a little selfish, but I’m.. mad at Etho. He never even talked to us after Mom died,”
Scar looked over, hating the fact he could relate.
“Part of me wishes someone could just run their stupid sword through his chest already— I just want someone to finally finish him off. Then at least I won’t have to see his name on my com again.”
Scar frowned, looking to the other side of him, they sat in silence for a moment, before Scar put the mask back on regained his composure and got to his feet.
“Well, we clearly aren't gonna get any sleep, so would you like to go play catch or somethin’?”
Scar asked, grabbing a ball that Etho had left behind last family dinner.
“Yeah, let’s go.”
Bdubs said with a sniffle, a smile making its way to his face.
Scar pushed the door open and walked onto the grass that awaited outside. It was cold, the moon would’ve been the only light if it weren’t for the faintly illuminated bases in the distance.
Bdubs was admiring the stars in the sky, before the ball suddenly hit his chest.
“I came out here to play catch, not look at the scars– sars, i mean.. Uhm… Stars! Right..”
He giggled at Scars failed attempts to pronounce ‘Stars’, before throwing the ball back, a bit harder this time. The ball hit Scar squarely on the face. Luckily, the throw wasn't aggressive enough to hurt that bad. Scar rubbed his cheek, picking the ball back up and proudly wearing a shit-eating grin.
“Gettin’ feisty, are we now?”
The corners of Bdubs’s mouth twitched upwards. Scar took it as a challenge.
—-------------------
Jimmy was playing a makeshift version of Uno with Joel. The cards were flimsy pieces of paper Grian had drawn onto to look like Uno cards. They were nightmarish to use, but at least it offered the group something to do. Grian had already fallen fast asleep, but insomnia had kept Jimmy wide awake, and Joel decided to stay up with him to be nice.
“Uno!”
Joel yelled as he placed down his last card. Jimmy let his head fall back onto the wall behind him, letting out a groan of disappointment.
“Rematch?”
He asked hopefully, knowing damn well it had been somewhere past their 20th rematch, at some point they stopped counting.
Joel chuckled and nodded, already beginning to shuffle the cards. How exactly Joel managed to shuffle such flimsy cards was beyond Jimmy's comprehension, despite Joel attempting to show him multiple times by now.
A few more games went on between the two, but they were more focused on their chats and banter than the game at hand.
Jimmy grunted, itching his unpreened wings. His discomfort was very visible. Joel's expression shifted to care and concern, The type of facial expression only Jimmy got to see.
“Your wings itchy?”
Joel asked, glancing at Jimmy's wings. Joel always insisted the yellow was gorgeous, but Jimmy denied it every time.
“Yeah, I haven't preened them in–..”
Jimmy cut himself off, averting his gaze down at the floor, face riddled with guilt. He knew Joel was going to flip out the moment he answered.
“A week..”
Joel's eyes widened and he set his cards down.
“A bloody week?”
Joel yelled, the shock in his voice palpable.
“You're supposed to preen daily, babe!”
Joel dragged a hand down his face, letting out a loud sigh.
“Turn around. if you won't do it, I will. I can’t have you going around with wings like that.”
Jimmy resisted the urge to roll his eyes, despite knowing that Joel had every reason to be angry. He turned his back to Joel, gently spreading his wings.
Joel made quick work of the task, adjusting and aligning the feathers with ease. It wasn't surprising that preening people's wings came easy to Joel, given the fact Jimmy chose to procrastinate it as much as humanly possible, which often left other people to do it; and by other people, that means exclusively Joel.
“..I hope Bdubs and Scar are doing okay.”
Joel paused for just a moment at Jimmy’s statement, before nervously continuing to fix the feathers, going significantly faster. The freeze up was subtle enough that it could've gone unnoticed, but Jimmy noticed. He tended to catch things like that, particularly with Joel.
“..Yeah.”
Joel said, clearing his throat, only making the awkward silence worse. Jimmy chose to ignore how much Joel had sped up his process. After a few moments, Joel stood, already beginning to walk– scratch that, run away.
“Wow, your wings are all done, thats crazy– Anyways– i have to… Leave. Bye!”
He stuttered through his words, having already ran halfway down the Bread Bridge.
“Are you really just gonna leave–?”
Jimmy quickly called out, but unfortunately, Joel was already gone. Jimmy sighed and inaudibly mumbled something to himself, before standing up and going to occupy himself with something else.
Joel didn’t know where he was running,
He just bolted down the bread bridge, desperate to escape the suffocating tone that had lingered from the conversation.
He stopped after a few minutes of running, sitting down onto the floor. His chest heaved as he fell back onto the stone of the narrow bridge. He’d left the Bread Bridge already, now on the concerningly thin Sky Net.
It’s your job.
Your job to keep everyone laughing.
They have to be laughing.
They just have to.
Or even better—
—Angry.
Why aren’t they angry?
Or laughing?
Or shocked?
Why is he sad?
He can’t be sad.
I can’t let him be sad.
He stayed in place as his mind consumed him.
—---------------------------
“Scott! Why have you been dilly-dallying over here for centuries? I need help planning who to get next!”
Martyn playfully exclaimed, peeking over his husbands shoulder, pressing a kiss to his forehead.
Scott was crouched down at the front of their.. Home? Base? Wooden padio? No one really knew exactly what it would be classified as. He was setting up a trap, and a dangerous one at that. Specifically, a tnt trap.
“Wow, i didn't know you were capable of setting any traps..”
Martyn muttered, barely audible. Scott gave him a quick glance, gently elbowing Martyn's gut.
“Owch!”
Martyn dragged it out, so exaggerated it was obviously fake.
“Your such a bad faker.”
Scott said, giggling through his words.
Martyn put his hands on his hips, sitting down on the floor.
“Im a theatre actor, i couldn't be genuine if i wanted to,”
Scott playfully rolled his eyes, flopping backwards onto the soggy floorboards; it was a miracle their floor hadn't gotten moldy yet.
“and besides, you wouldn't have married me if you couldn't handle my theatrics.”
“When I married you, I wasn't asking to dramatically see Romeo and Juliet dramatically reenacted every morning!”
Scott had never stopped cackling through the whole conversation.
“You see, I'm a bit of a package deal. You can't have me and not have theatre, that's like ice cream without sprinkles!”
“I don't eat ice cream with sprinkles, though. Hot fudge is better.”
“Now that's just flat out unforgivable.”
“Sprinkles don't even taste like anything!”
Their banter continued for a while, before Martyn suddenly shot up onto his webbed feet.
“I completely forgot that I came here to scheme!”
Scott burst into a fit of laughter.
“Okay, so theres three red-names aside from me. Tim, Skizz, and Joel.”
Scott's cackling had calmed down and he yawned, walking over to his bed. Martyn was still muttering plans to himself.
“Where are you going? I need help with figuring this out, the sheep can count themselves, but I've only got so much time!”
“My love, just kill Joel. Jimmy turned red at most 5 hours ago, and Skizz couldn't murder either of us if he tried. Just get him while the Bad boys are sleeping.”
Martyn's posture slumped, his face blank. Scott flopped onto his bed, practically half asleep already. In his defense, it was almost 4 AM.
“..Thats– Thats a lot smarter then whatever the hell i was doing.”
Martyn sighed, padding over to his own bed. He was still disappointed him and Scott didn't share a bed. Martyn angrily stared at the large potted plant separating their beds, as if it could move out of the way on its own.
“Love you, Scott.”
The silence, along with Scott's steady breaths were enough to let Martyn know Scott had somehow managed to fall asleep already.