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The first thing Ren noticed when he opened Grian’s bathroom door was how dark it was. The whole mansion was dark but somehow the bathroom looked like it had been coated in void. The second thing Ren noticed was Grian in a panic to cover his torso. Ren opened his mouth to apologize for intruding but the third thing he noticed was how strong the stench of mycelium was here. The who place reeked of it but it was almost too much here. The fourth thing Ren noticed was the mushrooms on his friend’s head. Instead of apologizing the words that tumbled out of Ren’s mouth were,
“Dude, what’s happening here? Is this some new look you’re trying out?”
Ren took note of how Grian froze when he spoke but relaxed after processing his words, covering himself with a towel.
“Uh… Yeah… Yeah, I’m just trying something out. Figured I’d change up my look you know?”
Ren wasn’t buying it but he could practically feel the heavy smell of mushrooms and mycelium taking root in his nose so he could play along until he got Grian out of this bathroom at least.
“I think it looks nice so far but uh quick question, G. Why’s everything so dark?”
Ren honestly didn’t mind the darkness, being a werewolf he had better night vision than most but he knew Grian hated when things were too dark. Something was wrong and Ren had a feeling the mushrooms on Grian’s head and the stench of mycelium were connected to it.
“I- I just woke up not too long ago, not fully ready to embrace the day you know?”
Ren nodded, keeping his suspicions to himself but happily letting Grian past him if it meant not having to be near that bathroom. Ren followed Grian through the mansion, noting that the smell was always strongest around him.
“Does that mean you’ve been sleeping better? I’m always happy to hear some praise you know.”
Ren stood in the doorway of Grian’s bedroom, fluttering his eyelashes to make his point and giggling with Grian at his own antics.
“Thank you so much for your help with my insomnia Dr. Dog thanks to you I’ve finally been able to achieve a good night’s rest.”
Ren and Grian broke down in giggles for a little bit before Ren went back to watching Grian pick out a sweater and quickly slip it on, catching a brief glimpse of something wrapped around Grian’s stomach.
“I’m glad to see you’re doing well, G. Especially after the last meeting and your appointment with me.”
Ren gave Grian a kind smile, one full of warmth and openness and a touch of concern, and Grian could feel the walls he had built to keep his situation secret crumbling. Ren was part of the Resistance so it wasn’t like he was telling Scar. Ren had also already expressed concern with his health, given the two untouched slowness potions on his nightstand that Ren could definitely see. Grian could feel the guilt pooling in his stomach and turning to lead.
You don’t need him you have us. Remember Mother? We’ll take care of you. Better care than he ever could.
Grian wasn’t ever sure what came over him in that moment when he couldn’t even give the sentence that reached out to the other hermit from his mouth a first thought, let alone a second before it broke past all of the barriers that should’ve been there but he was secretly glad that he didn’t get the chance to think about it.
“Actually Ren I uh… I could use some help…”
All the courage Grian’s sentence had started with was quickly lost before it even got close to ending but the way Ren’s ears perked up and his eyebrows tilted down and his face softened made all of his nerves ease.
‘Of course, man what’s wrong?”
“I… I’m not sure how to describe it… I think it’d be better for you to see for yourself but I don’t think it should be here. Would you mind going to the HQ?”
“Uh, sure! If being at the HQ makes you more comfortable we can go there.”
Grian nods, taking a breath and adjusting his sweater as he and Ren leave his mansion. Ren pulls on his elytra and situates it before using a firework to set off. Grian lags behind for a minute, stretching his wings out before he takes to the sky with a firework and quickly catches up to Ren, the two enjoying the company as they soar together.
Grian closes his eyes as he feels the wind comb through his feathers, trying to enjoy it after having this taken away from him, even temporarily, but unable to when he quickly noticed how many feathers were stuck together, making a mental note to preen them when they get to the HQ.
As the two enter the Resistance HQ, Grian silently leads Ren to his lab, anxiety flooding Grian’s chest and making his wings puff up before he shakes them out and sits on the examination table.
“So what’s up man? You’re clearly nervous so take it slow and easy. Tell me as much as you want to okay G?”
Grian nods as Ren pulls up the same chair he sat in the last time the two were in this position. With a deep breath, Grian takes off his sweater, squeezing his eyes shut so he doesn’t have to see Ren’s reaction so he doesn’t have to see the pity or fear or anger or anything. Grian doesn’t want to see it.
“Woah Grian take me out to dinner first before you- what the hell is all that.”
The joke dies on Ren’s tongue as he finally gets a good look at what he saw just a bit of earlier. Ren gets a good look at the grey-purple webs that curl around his friend’s body and in the light of his lab finally sees just how sickly Grian looks. After a few seconds, Grian gets off the table, eyes still shut before he turns around, showing Ren a thick column of what looked like mycelium growing directly up his spine, unwavering and menacing as it reaches and claws its way up from his tailbone to the base of his neck, meeting with the stray bits of hair that it could reach.
“ This is why I was holed up in my base for a few days. It had my wings up until recently.”
“Wha- what’s going on man? I feel like I’m missing a lot of details that would explain this.”
“It’s… a long story. To put it simply the mycelium thinks apparently and when I gave myself the title Mother Spore it got attached.”
Grian left out the part about it feeding on him, he figured the sight and information was enough for now. He didn’t want to tell Ren about the deal that had originally had his wings bound in the first place either, or at least not until it was necessary.
“I… Grian that’s insane. I get why you wanted to come here now… Would you mind if I took a sample to study it? I also think it’d be good if we kept you here in the lab so I can monitor your condition since, and I don’t want to sound rude, you look extremely pale man like a light breeze could knock you over.”
Grian finally opened his eyes, turning back to Ren who as Grian had guessed was looking at him with concern in his eyes and worry written all over his body as his wolf-like ears drooped and his tail hung low. Grian took a deep breath to ease his nerves, ignoring the gnawing at the edge of his brain from the mycelium.
“Yeah that- that sounds good. Are you gonna stay here too?”
Ren nodded, standing up from his chair and walking over to one of his cabinets, grabbing a vial and a small pair of sterilized packaged scissors, “Yeah I’ll stay with you. It’ll be like a sleepover! You don’t mind if I take the sample now do you?” Grian shook his head as Ren got closer, going around to the winged hermit’s back, spotting a small section from his lower back, where the mycelium had firmly planted itself, and found an even smaller section that was already trying to reach away from Grian’s body and gently grabbed the sample between his thumb and index finger, suddenly very aware of his claws. Ren was careful to watch how Grian reacted as he held the piece of fungus and warned the smaller hermit before he took the sample.
Everything seemed fine as Ren put the sample away to study later before he noticed Grian out of the corner of his eye, sitting down which wouldn’t be weird, except for the fact that he seemed to sway slightly like seagrass in a gentle river.
Just as Ren turned around once he was done putting things away he opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by Grian falling back on the small cot and sliding to the floor. Ren rushed forward, attempting to at least keep Grian’s head from hitting the floor, something he was successful in. Ren grabbed his friend’s torso and lifted him up with shocking ease, gently setting him down on the cot, being careful with his wings.
Ren stared at his sleeping friend, trying to puzzle together what would have made him pass out, gently pressing the back of his hand to Grian’s forehead and not noticing a fever but when he brushed his hand against the passed out hermit’s hand it felt ice cold. Something more was happening Ren could tell that much but he could worry about getting answers later, Grian needed his help.
Ren looked through his potion stock, finding a health potion and grabbing that, along with all the other supplies he would need to make a diluted health potion drip for his friend. It wouldn’t fix everything but it’d hopefully help ease whatever caused the fainting spell he just had.
Grian was out cold that much was clear from looking at him. He somehow looked paler than before as he laid on the cot, face scrunched in a look Ren could guess was pain or disgust. Given the whole… Situation. Either seemed possible. To ease his friends suffering Ren made sure he was careful as he found a vein to insert the diluted potion drip. Once the potion kicked in Ren saw Grian slowly relax as if all the muscles in his body had been tensed, which for all Ren knew, they could’ve been.
Ren decided he’d take this time to really check out his friend. He would never invade Grian’s privacy of course so for his friend's peace of mind as well as his own, Ren would simply look surface level. Just get a good look at the stuff he could already see.
One thing Ren quickly spotted that he hadn’t before were the blue-tinted vertical gills on the side of Grian’s neck, curiously and gently Ren trailed his clawed thumb over the gills, taking mental note of the papery texture they had before he took note of his claw accidentally cutting- why was there blue stuff coming out of the gills. What the hell. That’s not normal.
Ohhhhh- kay! No more touching. No more observation. Ren could take care of this new smaller problem then study the sample. That’d probably be for the best. Ren may have to do more research on mushrooms for this…