Chapter Text
The van hums beneath Grian, who’s lying down as he stares up at the roof. Both him and Scar have been on the road for about a day or two now, and it’s...fine. Mostly just fine, really. His injuries have mostly fixed themselves up, save for the scabs that stubbornly stick to his knuckles. He’s still not entirely sure what their plan is, with Scar citing their destination as “away from here”, which was incredibly insightful of him to say.
Either way, it’s him, Scar, and the van.
Shooting a glance up out of the window, it seems their current destination is pretty clear, which is nice. Grian sits up and stares outside, watching various shops and houses come into view and pass by, lit up by the midday sun.
“We taking a quick break?” He leans over the driver’s seat, shoving his face obnoxiously close to Scar’s, making the man jump.
“Grian- Oh my gosh, not while I’m driving, please.” He smushes Grian’s face back with his free hand, and returns his attention to the road, before continuing. “And yes sir , we are. We don’t need much, but since we’re here, I just wanna stop by and grab something for the van. Because, y’know, the smell.” Scar scrunches up his nose. The metallic smell that had made its home in the borrowed van still permeated the air.
Grian hums, now back in his seat, watching Scar turn into the parking lot of the town’s retail store. “We’re just gonna pop in there, yeah? Make it quick, and all that, I assume.”
“I don’t really feel like meandering around much, so let’s just get this over with so we can get back on the road.”
Scar parks the car, and Grian notes that the parking lot is oddly empty despite the hour. Saves us a bit of time, at least. They slide out anyway, and Grian lets Scar lead him towards the store.
“So.” Scar starts. He’s got a grin on his face that means nothing good for Grian. “The shirt. How’s it treating you?”
Oh, for god’s sake.
Grian glances down at his attire. The abhorred shirt in question stares back at him. “I <3 This Place” printed on it in bold, black letters, with an obnoxiously bright shade of red used for the heart. Perfectly vague, and perfectly awful. It was the only wearable spare shirt in Mumbo’s van, so he simply had to put up with it. (There was another one, one with a tuxedo pattern printed onto it, but Grian threw it out of the window before Scar could try to make him wear it. Absolutely not.)
“It’s...a shirt, for sure. You’re just trying to get a rise out of me, aren’t you?” Grian squints at Scar, not falling for any of his shenanigans.
His companion lets out an offended gasp, clutching his chest in a mockery of heartbreak. “What? No ...I’d never attempt such a foul act, you know me better than that, Gri. How could you assume I'd harbour such malicious intentions? I’m hurt, truly.”
Entirely unamused, Grian gives him a deadpan stare in response.
Scar ignores him and turns to the entrance, pausing for an overly dramatic display of jazz-hands. "We've arrived!" he declares, like there was anywhere else they could've ended up.
Grian pushes back the instinctive irritation, letting out an amused huff despite himself.
Scar still hasn't let up on the jazz-hands.
"Uh huh, well. I'm going in, but you can stand out here and do weird poses, if you want." Grian steps through the open doors, biting back a snicker when they nearly close in Scar's face. He chooses to politely ignore Scar's grumbling about how unfair automatic doors are, and instead focuses on blinking away the lingering sunspots from his eyes.
The store is...big. There’s nothing special about it, just aisles upon aisles of various overpriced appliances, decorations and tools, lit by the artificial lights on the ceiling that probably haven’t been replaced in a very long time. An employee calls out a greeting at them from one of the registers, but otherwise, it’s just Grian, Scar, and the low-quality rendition of Africa that crackles from the overhead speakers.
....or it's not, because Scar is - for some reason - frozen at the entrance, staring at the employee that had addressed them.
Grian retraced his steps with a groan. "You alright, Scar?" he asks. “What’s going on in that noggin of yours? Care to share?”
Scar glances at Grian, then almost does a double-take, as if he forgot he was there. “Uh, no, I’m all good.” His eyes travel back towards the registers, before Scar pushes the rest of his focus back to Grian. “Sorry about that, just...thought I saw something,” he adds, quickly shuffling in front of Grian and walking off to the nearest line of products.
Whatever Scar was preoccupied with, it doesn’t matter, since now Grian’s biggest concern is going to involve wrangling the man into helping him find the right aisle.
Doing his best to ignore the urge to check out every single item in stock - They could need some of this stuff, really - Grian approaches Scar, who is now squatting on the floor, currently failing to ignore his own impulses. He’s staring unnaturally hard at a pack of rechargeable batteries. Alright. So we’re doing this now.
“Scar.” Grian pats his shoulder. “No.”
Looking up at him pleadingly, Scar tries his best to reason with Grian. “C’mon, G. They’re on sale. We can’t miss this chance!”
“Nope. We just need the air freshener. You said it yourself earlier, we’ll get what we need, then leave.”
“But we need these. They could be so useful, you just don’t know yet! Please?” In a last-ditch effort, Scar attempts to replicate the expression of a kicked puppy....but fails miserably - he ends up giving off more of a "mangled raccoon watching you from the bottom of a garbage can" sort of vibe.
He pulls Scar up by the back of his shirt, and moves onto the next aisle, walking towards a nearby employee, who looked to be busy stacking shelves. Hopefully this guy can be of some actual help.
“Uh, hey.”
“Huh? Oh!” They put down the box they were holding, and turn to Grian. “Sorry about that. What can I help you with?”
“Nothing much, me and my friend here were just wondering where you guys kept the air fresheners? Like, for cars?”
"Should be just north of these aisles, right back there." They point behind them, towards what Grian can only assume is the north - they are inside a featureless building, after all. "While I'm here....might I interest you folks in anything else? We’ve got lots of things you’d just love to have with you on the road. Bluetooth speakers, pillows, whatever you need, we’ve got it indeed.” They add with a wink, hefting the box back onto their hip.
Behind him, Grian feels Scar freeze . He turns to him, a silent question in his eyes, but Scar's not looking at him - he's staring at the employee, expression unreadable. Something’s wrong , Grian thinks. Something feels very very wrong about this.
“Are you two...alright?” The employee pauses, halfway to stacking another can of carrots on the shelf. “Even if my advertising was really that bad, you don’t need to be so obviously put-off about it.”
“I-” Before Grian can respond, Scar cuts him off.
“Uh- Yep! Sorry about that, we’ll get outta your hair now. Your advertisement was lovely, I promise , but I’m afraid we’re on a tight schedule.” Scar starts to push Grian back towards the entrance, ignoring the confused stare from the employee behind them. “So, uh- G, I’m gonna go grab the air fresheners, and you can- you can go grab us some coffee, right? That cafe we drove past earlier looked absolutely fantastic, I'm sure they have some good stuff there.”
Uh. “Okay…? Do I just meet you back at the van or...?
“No no no, I’ll see you at the cafe, I just need to go and uh- get the air freshener first. Two birds with one stone...or something. Capiche?” Scar looks at him expectantly, a strained smile hastily plastered onto his face.
Alright, that’s- ok. Sure. Guess we’re doing this now. “Um, capiche, I guess?” Grian says, still unbelievably confused. “Just...come find me once you’re done shopping, alright?”
“Can do!” Scar throws him a quick thumbs-up, before rushing back into the store, leaving Grian standing outside, alone.
Yeah, even by Scar’s standards, that was…strange. We’ll deal with that one later, Grian thinks, as he heads out onto the street, meandering towards the coffee shop.
The words “Big Brews” stare back at Grian from the cafe’s entrance. Absolutely a name choice, that’s for sure. Deciding not to ponder on it any further, he blows a loose hair out of his face, and walks in, a charming bell signaling his entrance.
It's cozy inside, the smell of warm dough and fresh coffee a pleasant alternative to what he'd been stuck with the past couple days. There's a few sets of tables and chairs, all pristine - untouched, even. A sole barista is dawdling around the back, and makes their way up to the counter as Grian approaches, shoes clicking on the wooden floor.
“Uh- hey there! What can I do for you today?”
Grian squints at the menu, and decides it's too much effort to decipher the entire thing. His gaze drops back down to the barista, who raises their eyebrows expectantly. "Are you just able to get me...uh, two...regular coffees? Is that a thing?”
They sigh, resigned. “Yeah, sure. I’ll just get you two cappuccinos.” Briefly, they turn away from the counter, before glancing back at Grian. “Wait, do you want any sugar, or- ah no, nevermind. I’ll just...get you two regulars”.
“Uh- yeah, that should be fine.” Listening to the sounds of the various coffee machines, Grian squats down to examine the various pastries and baked goods on sale below the counter. They’re cheap, too.
He blinks.
Didn’t Scar say something about wanting a cookie?
Hopping up, Grian leans over the checkout, “Mind if I grab one of the chocolate chip cookies, too?”
“Yeah, of course! Give me just a second to finish these two up, and I’ll be right with you.”
After a minute or two of basking in the comforting atmosphere of the store, Grian is tugged back to reality by the harsh ding of the cash register. That’s...certainly charming, he thinks, as he pulls out his card to pay.
Exchanging goodbyes, Grian grabs the drinks and bagged biscuit, and turns to leave-
...Only to be stopped by Scar, who now stands at the door, plastic bag in hand, with an incredibly strained smile on his face.
"Fancy seeing you here," Grian quips, Scar's weird mood already dampening the pleasant feeling he'd gotten from being in the coffee shop. He holds out the coffee tray in his companion's direction anyway, trying to keep his tone light. "I did what you asked, so here you go - your drinks, as ordered."
Scar’s face softens, before he glances down at the paper bag in Grian’s other hand. Grian holds it up with a playful shake, grinning. “No, I didn’t forget. Here’s the cookie, too. Don’t tell me I’ve never done anything for you.”
A sharp intake of breath. Scar just stares at him, eyes wide, for a moment, before smoothing his expression into one of mild confusion.
“Grian, I never asked for a cookie.”
“Um,” That’s- uh? “You said you wanted one earlier, didn’t you?”
“I never did, no. I have...no clue why you thought I wanted one.” He looks over Grian's shoulder for a moment, gaze lingering at the counter, searching . ".....I don't need it anyway, you can keep it."
“I mean, alright. Sure. That’s on me, I guess.” It’s a mumbled response; Grian’s really not sure how he messed that one up.
Scar turns back to him, expression shaped into what should be an easy smile, but it’s too forced to be believable. “Either way, it doesn’t matter. Let’s just get outta here, yeah? I’ve managed to find an actual destination for our trip, so we have that to look forward to!”
The two of them head out onto the sidewalk, as Scar rambles. “No more aimless wandering, we’ve got an actual goal now, Gri. If luck is on our side, we can make it there in a few days. It’s not too far. Should be easy, hopefully.”
Grian takes a sip from his coffee. Wow, that's good. The warmth sinks deep into his bones, his tension melting away just a bit. "If nothing else, I'm glad we've got that sorted." The side door trundles open with a yank, and Grian settles into the backseat, pointedly ignoring the smell. "Took you long enough to find us an actual goal, though."
Speaking of the smell… Grian glances up towards the front of the van. “You got the air freshener, right?”
Scar turns to him from the driver’s seat, pausing his search for... something, before clapping his hands together. “I got it, yeah, yeah. Let me just-” There's a rustle from the plastic bag he'd dumped on the passenger's seat as Scar digs through it. The pine tree-shaped slab of cardboard seems....depressingly small, considering the enormous task it's been given. "There. Could you do me a favor and hang it up somewhere behind you, G?"
Grian catches it as Scar throws it to him, and ties the poor thing up on one of the ceiling handles. He then turns back to Scar, who, after completing his little search, now has their map unfolded and spread out on the dashboard.
“You know where we’re going, right?” Grian leans over the space between the front seats, trying to get a look at where Scar plans to take them.
Scar jolts, and quickly scrambles to fold up the map; letting out a nervous chuckle and looking towards Grian with that not-smile on his face again. “Now now, Grian, we can’t have you spoiling the trip, can we? We gotta make this as exciting as possible, so we’re keeping the route a secret, alrighty?”
Grian stares at him, very much done with whatever Scar’s been up to today. “Really?”
“Yup. It’s a big secret. Makes everything much more fun, don’t you think?”
Grian retreats to the backseat with a huff. Sometimes, he muses, watching the air fresher sway softly, you gotta know when to quit. Despite how...strange some of Scar’s behavior has been today, at least they got what they needed. Grabbing his coffee from the twin cup holder, Grian relaxes, letting the hum of the van wash over him as Scar starts the engine.
He doesn’t notice Scar turning them back the way they came.