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Scar stumbled, wandered. Eyes not focused, heart not in it. He walked away. Where? He wasn't quite sure himself. Somewhere else. Somewhere better. Somewhere…. Away… from them.
His feet carried him as the sun set behind him and his subconscious worried about monsters becoming a danger. Scar couldn’t be bothered to care. Not really. Not now.
He spotted her tower. He realized that was his trajectory and he shrugged. If he stays out here he’s dead. If he goes up there he’s probably dead. Maybe being killed at the hands of a player was favorable to a random mob. Maybe he really just wanted a positive human interaction. There was a chance.
So he climbed. Still lost in the fog of his mind and the ache in his heart, he climbed. At the top he was met with understandable fear and confusion.
“Wh- Scar?! What the-? What are you doing here, get outta here! I don’t want your wares or tricks.” She didn’t pull her sword but her hand was kept on its scabbard at her hip. Pearl’s other hand held out as if to stop him.
Scar did not respond. His face was cold and blank. With not another glance at her, he flipped open one of the decorative trap doors and pulled his knees to his chest beneath it.
“No seriously, where’s Grian? One of you is always around where the other is.” Pearl asked skeptically.
Scar scoffed.
Pearl sighed in annoyance, bringing her hands down her face, “Listen I’m not in the mood for any tomfoolery right now I’m just trying’ to stay alive!”
Scar had still said nothing.
“S…Scar?… C'mon man anything.”
He hugged his knees somehow closer, becoming a painfully tight ball.
Pear knelt down slowly and cautiously as if approaching a wild animal. She sat cross legged a couple feet in front of him. “Scar, come on, you’re scaring me.”
With one more pause in which she contemplated his health, he finally spoke. His voice was quiet and cracked a bit. It was clear he was holding back some strong emotions, “I get it.”
“Get what?” Pearl whispered back. It felt right to match his energy no matter how confusing.
“You’re crazy Pearl. Like, proper unhinged.” He said in the same almost emotionless voice. But in that, there was a splash of empathy.
She rolled her eyes but did not interrupt. It felt like he had more to say.
“And I get that now, I do. It’s commendable actually. You- you have to be crazy to make it here, you really do.” Scar continued to stare, not at anything in particular. Just forward. Seeing things that were only images in his head. The very recent past that sat on replay despite his best efforts.
“What… what happened Scar, who do I have to kill.” Pearl’s hand went back to her sword and she gave him a look of determination.
“You-” Scar sniffled, “You can’t do that Pearl you’re not a red-”
“Well screw that! Someone hurt y-” Pearl interrupted and was interrupted right back.
He barely raised his voice even over her shout to continue, “Besides, it would kill me too.”
“Y-” Pearl took in the info. Put together the despair on her frienemy’s face. “Grian?” She said in confusion. Yeah the pair butted heads here and there but they seemed to be on the same page. Together.
“I… saw him out in a field…. With BigB.”
“Noooo.” Pearl shrugged off the statement. It was a jump to conclusions. She was 75% sure. “You guys separate all the time and do your… dual shenanigans thing.” They were fine. They had to be fine.
Scar picked at the wood floor with a fingernail, “They were…. exchanging gifts.”
“What?” Pearl said, unbelieving again. “Nooo, you guys go around and do stupid sales things all the time.” 50% sure.
He scoffed for the second time. It sounded so sad. So self deprecating. “No Pearl, I… I’m a salesman. That was no sale.” Finally, a tear streaked down his cheek, cutting through some dirt and dust.
“A- are you sure? Did you approach them?” Pearl scooted a bit closer, worry pinching her eyebrows together. 25% sure.
This time he laughed. A short burst of a laugh that encouraged more tears to fall. “They looked so happy, Pearl. Gri did.” He roughly wiped his eyes with his wrist. “And I mean, he deserves it, you know?” More softly he repeated, “He deserves it.”
Pearl reached up for the tissue box on the counter, bringing it down with them and offering it to Scar. She was no longer confident it was a misunderstanding. Her own heart had begun to shatter the more he spoke. Not so old fissures cracking again against their poor stitch work. She didn’t want to make this about herself though, so she held back her own inevitable tears.
“It’s just that…” he took a tissue with a nod and blew his nose. “I thought… I thought it’d be with me. Ya know.” He knew she did. She knew he knew she did. So it wasn’t a question. It was a statement. An olive branch of shared pain, and loss, and abandonment.
“I’m sorry.” Pearl offered softly. “And I know sorry won’t bring Grian back. It-” her breath hitched against the rock in her throat, “It won’t bring S-Scott back either. We’ve just gotta make shitty peace with that.”
Scar let out another pathetic laugh, “You cursed.” His eyes still leaked and his shoulders were still hunched, but he finally looked at Pearl with a wobbly grin.
“I did!” She said puffing out her chest, feeling a wetness to her own cheeks now. “And I’ll curse and I’ll shout if it means those assholes leave us alone!”
He chuckled a little less sad sounding and used a couple more tissues. His knees had come down and he was simply sitting mirrored to Pearl now. The two let the surprisingly comfortable silence blanket them as they wound down and let their tears come to a natural conclusion.
It was Pearl who cleared her throat and brought them back to the present, “You… you’re welcome to stay here. For the night, for the next. I doubt you’ll wanna see…”
Scar sighed and his gaze found the window, the vague direction of his home.
“I mean I’ve got a spare bed that would have your name on it if that was something that you felt you needed, or there’s the ladder.” She fiddled with her jacket strings wondering if that was the right move. It is. She ultimately thought. Give him what you wish you had.
“That… is a very kind offer.” Scar’s eyes found Pearl’s and he gave what was very close to his signature sideways grin. “I’d like to take you up on it.” A familiar meow answered as well with some rustling.
Pearl leaned to the side to see a face poke out the bag behind Scar. “Has she been there the whole time?!”
“Well pffftt yeah, of course! She goes everywhere with me. You’re not allergic are you?” He put a protective arm around the bag and raised an eyebrow.
She chuckled, “Scar what are you talking about? I love cats. You’re both welcome to stay here.”
Scar exaggerated a relieved sigh, “Oh good, cause I only go where Jellie can go.”
“Alright you trouble makers.” She said in fake defeat.
“Scarlet witch.” He grinned again.
Pearl, who had just been standing up, pointed a finger at him, “I will make you sleep on the floor mister!”
He held his hands up in surrender, “Whaaaat it’s a fitting nickname! And a compliment really.”
“I'm sure I’m sure.” She shook her head with a fond smile. “Now help me set up the cot or I’ll hex you.”
“Yes ma’am.”