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The turf war was last season. And Scar could understand that when the turf war was over Grian wanted to brag.
But he'd been so sure Grian had left that skirt in season 7. Partially because he'd snuck in on one of the last few days of the season and hid the darn thing in the back of Grian's chest monster. The only other thing in that shulker had been some old mycelium.
But the afternoon he returned from beating the dragon he'd been wearing it, holding the dragon egg in his skirt. So clearly that hadn't worked.
It was a nice skirt, genuinely, the embroidery was well done and Grian seemed to float, skirt swishing around him. In fact, he seemed to intentionally add more flourishes to his movements to make the skirt flare out around him.
The issue was, of course, not with Grian wearing a skirt. But one embroidered with colourful mushrooms. Had Grian not been the leader of the Mycelium Resistance back then, it wouldn't have mattered.
But it was blatantly obvious Grian was doing this to get a rise out of Scar. To say 'I won'. To rub it in Scar's face. Knowing this did nothing to calm Scar down. If anything it made it worse.
The general response to the skirt from the rest of Boatem had been positive. Impulse was bound to be on Grian's side with this, Pearl hadn't been a hermit during the turf war, and Mumbo already wasn't concerned about Grian becoming part mushroom before he'd somehow turned himself into a potato.
Today was not a mushroom skirt day. Today was a red jumper and black jeans day. Scar was glad for that. Grian was rummaging through Scar's already forming chest monster because he was apparently still missing a few things and suspected they'd been accidentally picked up by another Boatem resident after they'd all put their belongings in the same heap on that first day.
Today was a day for Grian to just catch the light and reveal red stitches in his jumper, secret patterns hidden and- mushrooms. The pattern embroidered on his jumper was mushrooms. Again.
"You're doing this on purpose." Scar said.
Grian lifted himself up from the chest he was quite honestly half inside of and grinned widely, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"I don't like that sweater."
"Good job you're not the one wearing it then."
With that, Grian returned to the chest, and Scar contemplated shoving him in and closing it.
Pearl and Grian were sat on top of Pearl's starter base, breathing in the fresh air, spending time catching up. And Grian was wearing that skirt again.
Grian had several mushrooms growing out of his head today. Honestly if he took off the bulky jumper, probably more hiding under his clothes. It tended to flare up every now and again for all the hermits who had been members of the mycelium resistance. For the most part things were back to normal, but just sometimes they'd sprout a few mushrooms.
Grian's mushrooms tended to grow out of his head in an arrangement not dissimilar to a fairy ring. It ended up looking like he had a halo. Or a flower crown. Sometimes he weaved flowers between the mushrooms but they tended to wilt far more quickly nowadays.
"I mean, you like it, right?"
"Of course!"
"I don't really understand, but as long as you're enjoying yourself."
Grian smiled and let his head fall onto Pearl's shoulder, "I am. And even if I wasn't, the others don't get the luxury of being able to reverse it whenever they want, so I'm staying like this."
"That's… kind of you?"
"Also whenever Scar is reminded of the turf war he gets worked up it's so funny."
"There it is."
Silence washed over them.
"I think it hides me."
"Oh, it definitely does, if I didn't know already I never would have figured it out."
It was at this point that Scar was flying overhead. Grian waved, of course, and Scar waved back, and in his distraction crashed headfirst into a tree.
"I- Scar!" Grian fell back, head hitting the wood in a manner that would probably ache a bit later, but for now he was laughing way too hard to notice or care.
"He does that a lot."
A few minutes later Scar had collected his belongings and landed on the roof beside Grian and Pearl.
"Good morning, Scar."
"Good morning! I see you're wearing that skirt again, Grian."
"What's wrong with my skirt?" Grian looked up at Scar with innocent eyes. Or tried. He couldn't really hide the sparkle of mischief.
"I just wish you weren't wearing it."
"So you want me to take it off?" Grian's hands moved to the waistband of his skirt.
"Uh." Pearl glanced between the two and decided whatever was happening was not something she wanted to be involved with and dipped.
"That. Is not what I meant and you know it."
Grian's only response was to cackle with barely disguised glee.
Now, Scar was fairly certain that Pearl had not previously owned the jacket she was currently wearing. In fact, he'd seen it among Grian's belongings. Never on him but it was at least something Grian owned.
Good to know Grian had now gotten other hermits involved in this.
The jacket was plain, with a single mushroom outline embroidered on the right side. She certainly wasn't the only one; alongside Pearl and a few others, every former mycelium resistance member Scar had come across in the past week also had something mushroom themed in their attire.
Scar would have asked Pearl why she had given in to this madness - and it was madness, Scar was certain about that, mycelium fueled madness - but he'd noticed through the window that Grian was wearing that skirt again, dancing around in his starter base with seemingly no cares in the world.
It would be a good opportunity for an end crystal. Or something. Grian probably had music playing and was giving in to his bird brain. A perfect opportunity for some form of mischief.
So Scar slipped through the door to Grian's starter and started weighing his options.
"I see you~" Grian sang, coming to a stop and letting the skirt swish a little more, still facing away from Scar.
"Aw, man, what gave me away?" A reflection in the window perhaps? Except Scar was pretty sure avians could see glass as well as any other bird could; that is to say, not at all.
The avian shrugged, feathers ruffling a little with the motion, and gave a playful grin, "why would I tell you?"
"Because I'm your friend?"
Grian hummed in thought and then held out a hand. "Dance with me and I might."
Well, that sounded like a fair trade.
Grian had given Scar a faceful of feathers. Several times. That is to say, small avians with large wings should not be dancing in such small rooms unless they could avoid hitting the people around them with their wings. But Scar had tripped over Grian's legs and brought the avian down with him, so both were now lying on the rug, Scar on his back, Grian beside him lying on his stomach, face pressed against the floor in a way that looked at least mildly uncomfortable.
"The mycelium hides me, that's why I like it. I feel safer."
"Hides you. From what?"
"My parents, mostly."
Scar winced, "Sorry."
A not quite happy laugh escaped Grian, "it's fine. They're good at seeing things, I guess you could say. It's some magic thing."
"Are you sure you want to share this with me?"
Grian slowly sat up, silent as he considered his words. "No, I'm not sure of anything to do with this stuff." As he spoke he tucked his legs into his chest and started picking at the embroidery of the skirt. "But, I said I'd tell you how I saw you. It's the same magic they have, I see everything around me."
"I probably would have believed you if you'd told me you saw my reflection in the window."
"I didn't want to lie to you. I'm not… I can't tell you more."
"If you ever can, I'll be here to listen. Just leave the skirt at home."
Grian considered Scar's words for a moment, before a smile spread across his face. One that spoke volumes about how much Grian appreciated Scar. But also made it clear that Grian was absolutely not going to listen to Scar's one request.
No, Grian was going to show up one day, when he was ready to share, with a crown of mushrooms growing from his hair and that God forsaken skirt. And Scar would grumble about it but ultimately do nothing.