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It was a silly mistake on his part, really.
Grian forgot to buy something for lunch while at CrabManCarl’s shop this morning. He was too busy listening to Sam and Taurtis talk nonsense on random topics, restraining himself from arguing with their strange logic. It seemed he was the only sane person in this town, he couldn’t win an argument with them even if he tried. It was simply better to just stay quiet most of the time.
However, sometimes this would lead to him going hungry for the rest of the day, since he would often be too distracted to buy something to eat.
When the bell rang and Sam shouted about it being lunch time, he frowned deeply. This was already the 3rd time this week this had happened.
Still, they walked into the Cafeteria and sat down at a table. Sam sat next to Yuki on one side while Taurtis sat next to Grian on the other.
As everyone started eating, Sam looked over to Grian and frowned.
“Where’s your food, Gree-on?”
Grian jumped slightly and scratched the back of his head.
“Uhm, I kind of forgot to buy something at the shop again today.”
Sam smirked,
“Geez, you’re so forgetful, Gree-on. You’d think you’d learn from the last couple of times this happened.”
Grian sighed,
“Do any of you guys happen to have anything on you?” He asked hopefully.
Taurtis looked at him with a pitiful expression while Yuki shook her head.
“Sorry dude, I only got Toritos, and these are all I have. I can give you a couple maybe?”
As Grian was about to accept the offer, Sam cut in with a large smile.
“No, no! I actually happen to have something extra on me, cause I had a feeling I’d need it. You’re lucky I’m such a good friend, Gree-on, thinking of others' well-being!”
“Aww, Sam, you’re such a sweetheart!” Yuki gushed, hugging her boyfriend’s arm.
Grian looked back towards him, ignoring the sea of compliments coming from the pink-haired girl.
“You mean, you got something extra at CrabManCarl’s?”
Sam’s smile seemed more sinister than usual, but maybe it was just his imagination.
“Oh, no! It’s actually something much more fresh than the packaged stuff at the shop!”
Sam pulled a suspicious looking slice of meat out his pocket and Grian almost gagged at the sudden horrid smell that invaded the air.
“See? I brought lunch for you!” Sam exclaimed as he tossed the mysterious meat over to Grian’s side of the table.
Grian immediately brought a hand up to cover his nose and mouth.
“Sorry, but I think I’d rather just not eat today.” He replied, voice muffled.
Almost as if a switch had been flicked, Yuki and Sam turned to him with cold looks on their faces. He swore he felt the room drop in temperature dramatically in that moment.
“Wooow, Gree-on, I go out of my way to bring you fresh beef jerky and you won’t even eat it?” Sam chided in a playful voice that contrasted with his angry eyes.
“How rude!” Yuki added.
Grian hesitated.
“Beef…Jerky?”
Sam rolled his eyes.
“Yeah! It’s Japanese beef jerky! I know you’ve been in Britain for a while and all but how can you possibly come back to Japan without remembering Japanese beef jerky?!”
Grian berated himself. Sure, Sam was a bit rough around the edges and maybe he made a lot of questionable choices. But, he wasn’t necessarily a horrible person. He wouldn’t lie to him just to make him sick, right? He’d known the guy since he was a kid, he wouldn’t do that.
Grian uncovered his mouth and exhaled.
It was only beef jerky.
It didn’t smell very good, but it was just beef jerky and it was better than nothing.
Grian picked up the meat and quickly said an “itadakimasu” before chowing down.
It didn’t taste any better than it smelled. In fact, it was worse. Much worse. He didn’t know who made this or how it was made, but it must’ve been fermented or something. It tasted very odd. It took everything he had to bite back a grimace.
While he thought this, he listened to Sam and Taurtis talk in the background.
“So where did you find beef jerky? I didn’t know they had that here!”
“I made it myself!” Sam said proudly.
“Really? When? We live in the same house and I never noticed you were making anything.”
“A chef never reveals his secrets, Taurtis.”
“Ahh, true, true. So what? Are you also planning on starting a business?”
“Hmm…maybe! That sounds like a good idea!”
“Sweet! What are you gonna call it?”
“Actually, I was thinking of calling it Salex.”
Salex. Salex . Where had he heard that name before? It sounded so familiar .
“Really? You’d name it after her?” Taurtis gasped, eyes lighting up.
“Yeah! I mean, you’re the one who gave me the idea to start a business in the first place, so why not name it in her memory?”
In her memory?
“Dude! You’re the best!”
Wait. Salex. Salex was the name of Taurtis’ girlfriend, right? His dead girlfriend?
Why would he…the pieces started to fit together before his eyes. Hell, he’s heard from Sam himself that he literally dug up Salex’s grave to steal her school clothes. The foul smell? the rotten taste? It all made sense.
Grian’s eyes widened in horror as he felt his throat close up and tongue lift to touch the roof of his mouth to prevent any more from being swallowed.
He stood up quicker than ever, knocking over his chair in the process, and dropped the meat. People looked at him in both concern and disdain, but he took no notice and booked it to the bathroom. He could hear people behind him, both whispering and speaking loudly, but he couldn’t focus on that long enough for it to matter. All that was on his mind was that he was eating Salex. Salex. This whole time.
His thoughts were running a mile a minute. He should’ve trusted his gut. Sam was insane. Sam was a monster. Sam was—
He threw the bathroom door open and ran to the nearest stall, making it just in time to heave and spit out the only thing he ate today.
Tears were escaping his eyes as he sputtered after every clench of his stomach.
He could hear people calling after him by now.
“Are you okay, Gree-on?”
“Come on, it wasn’t that bad was it?!”
“Gree-on!”
“Grian!”
“Grian, are you alright?”
“Grian what’s wrong?!”
“What happened?!”
“Guys, give him some space!”
Grian choked and sputtered before leaning over to retch again. Only this time, nothing came out. There was nothing more in his stomach to expel. He felt hot tears slide from his cheeks to the dirt below.
Dirt?
As he slowly gained awareness of his surroundings, he noticed there were gentle fingers carding through his hair and an arm slung comfortingly around his shoulder.
He instinctively gripped the arm, both with the intention of grounding himself and in fear of it leaving him.
Fortunately, for him the arm didn’t pull away, although the hand in his hair moved down in favor of hugging him closer into somebody’s chest.
He shivered, feeling awfully cold and weak after all that went down.
“Shh, hey, you’re okay bud.” Impulse’s voice spoke softly from behind.
He couldn’t even remember what happened in the first place, all he knew was that he wanted his friends to hug him and tell him it would be all better.
Later, he would realize trying to ignore the trauma in his life in favor of the good parts just wasn’t cutting it. He would probably need to talk to someone about it. Maybe getting it off his chest would stop stuff like this from happening.
For now though, he let his friends help him stand up on shaky legs and lead him inside his moss-covered house and into his warm, cosy bed.
Later he would wake up to the sight of Scar, Mumbo, Impulse, and Pearl laying in their own makeshift beds scattered across the room. He’ll smile, knowing his friends would travel to the end of the world for him, knowing that he’d do the same for them. He’ll think that, maybe, he can finally get this extra weight off of his chest.
For now, he’s content to let his friends coddle him as he lays in his bed, exhausted even though he only woke up a couple hours ago.
He found a good family and they weren’t going to leave him. He had plenty of time to build and prank, that could wait. He could spare a few moments to settle down.