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Personally, as much as Grian loved to make fun of Jimmy, sometimes Joel got on his nerves a whole lot more than Jimmy ever could.
See, with Jimmy, the teasing was all for fun. There was no harm intended with it, and even Jimmy knew this. Which, to be fair, in general, the Hermits had been welcomed into the Empires rather nicely. They were able to move around with a lot of ease, they were able to make their own rules, they were even able to cause some mild chaos with the Empires’ economy. Which was part of why Grian was actually in Tumble Town in the first place.
This led him to, unfortunately, Joel. Grian had been travelling around with some friends. He had been travelling with some friends, specifically with Scar, Mumbo, Gem, and the ZIT team, so that they could pick up some gunpowder. Which, of course, meant riding around the Empires land on horseback and laughing and joking with one another about being epic outlaws or whatever storyline Scar had decided to come up with for the day. He liked doing that. When they got to Tumble Town, though, they found Jimmy and Joel facing off as Fwhip, Lizzie, Scott, and Pearl frantically tried to calm the pair down. Fwhip and Scott were simply holding onto Jimmy’s arm and shoulder as he gestured with his free hand angrily, while Joel was actively being held back by Lizzie and Pearl. Eyes narrowing, Grian pulled his hose to a stop at the top of the mesa. Looking over to the others, he shook his head slightly. Then, he started to lead them all down the path to the flat area Tumble Town was in.
As they got closer, they could hear more of the argument. “Just because you think you’re a god doesn’t mean you get to treat people however you want!” Jimmy yelled out. Scowling, Joel gritted his teeth and clenched his hands into fists. There were bursts of green light in his eyes, across his body in scrawling tattoos of some sort. He took a slow breath. Scowled at Jimmy even deeper. Then, he growled and tried to step forwards. Tail flicking, ears pinning to the sides of her head, Lizzie tugged him back. So did Pearl, a panicked look on her face as she moved to drag him back. Both of them exchanged a link. Then, next to Jimmy, Scott grimaced and Fwhip tightened his grip on Jimmy’s vest as he moved his hand down to between his shoulders and held onto him there. Grian hurried his way over to the others. Then, he pulled his horse to a stop, jumped out of the saddle and made his way over.
“Yo, Timmy! What’s going on?” He asked, immediately going for distraction. Behind him, he could hear the others hurrying over as well. They weren’t really talking. They were just following along, observing. Going up to Jimmy and Joel, Grian put himself between the pair. “Hey, Joel. What’s up, what’s got you so angry?”
“You can’t tell me how to treat other people. I’ll do whatever I want.” Joel growled at Jimmy. Move between them, don’t let him hurt Jimmy. A voice in the back of Grian’s mind whimpered out, panicked and sharp and biting.
He won’t hurt him. Will he? Grian reasoned. So he looked at Joel, who was many feet taller than him, and Grian stared at him. Studied his face. The anger there and the violence in his eyes and the way he was standing. Swallowing, Grian moved himself between Jimmy and Joel a little bit more. Look, maybe Joel wasn’t going to hurt Jimmy. Maybe he wasn’t violent.
But Grian wasn’t about to take that chance.
Inhaling shakily, he stared up at Joel for a moment longer. Took a slow breath. Then, he swallowed again. Let out another breath. Joel’s brow furrowed a little bit as he looked down at Grian. “Grian, move.” He shrugged Lizzie and Pearl off. Both women staggered back, stared at Joel in shock. He had basically thrown them off, and Impulse caught Pearl while Scar and Mumbo took over holding onto Lizzie and then holding her back when she tried to go back to Joel, tried to stop him. He’s going to get violent, Grian’s heart dropped, and he shifted slightly. Kept looking up at them.
“I can’t do that.” Grian told him. He knew Tango and Zedpah were behind him, trying to help Fwhip and Scott hold back Jimmy. Taking another breath, Grian moved his hands. Curled his hands into fists of his own and then shifted a little bit. He let out another breath, kept staring at Joel. “Joel. Calm down. We can solve this peacefully.”
Joel growled under his breath, snarled out, “Don’t tell me what to do.”
Calmly, Grian said, “Tango, Zedaph, help Scott and Fwhip take Jimmy inside. Just keep him from doing anything reckless.” He held up his hands, unclenching his fingers to try and make himself look a little bit less threatening. Dropping his wings down, trying to make himself just that much more unthreatening and keeping them out of the way, too, Grian continued, “Joel. We can solve this peacefully. Tell me what the problem is.”
“Stop trying to get into this. This isn’t your problem.”
“Joel, you’re my friend, so is Jimmy. I care about you both.” Get the focus on you. Get the focus on you, make sure he’s not paying attention to anyone else. Especially not Jimmy. Not Lizzie either. The others can defend themselves pretty well, they’ll be alright. Just make sure all his focus is on you. Eyes sparking green, Joel kept towering over him. Slowly, Grian took a step back. Tested. Then, Joel stepped towards him. Alright, alright. Let’s keep going, let’s keep moving. We’re going to be alright, we just need to make sure he’s focused on something else. This is going to be fine. Everything is fine. His heart pounded, his pulse was in his throat and he could hear the blood roaring in his ears. Blinking, he kept moving back. Joel kept moving with him, and Grian didn’t know exactly what was coming out of his mouth but he was just trying to reassure Joel. He was trying to keep the focus on him, trying to deescalate as best as he could. Of course, it didn’t help that his heart didn’t want to deescalate, and instead was going even faster. His hands were shaking, he could see his fingers trembling a little bit. Swallowing, he stepped back a little bit more.
The wall of the Tumble Town jail pressed against his back. Inhaling slowly, Grian gritted his teeth. Kept his hands raised and stared up at Joel. His eyes were watering a little bit, he could feel the slight burn as he was really starting to panic. His bones were aching, old scars were aching. Old wounds of dislocated joints and strained muscles let themselves be known. His feathers hurt. His wings hurt, and he pinned them behind himself. Joel growled something else out, but Grian couldn’t hear that. He didn’t. Why, he didn’t know. He just—he knew—something—Joel was saying something, he didn’t know what it was but he was mad, he was angry. He’s going to hurt someone else just keep the focus on you keep the focus on you everything is going to be fine. Everything is going to be fine everyone is going to be okay this is fine this is fine this is fine—
Joel raised his hand, and Grian’s wings twitched.
He didn’t flinch. He pressed himself to the wall, he closed his eyes and braced himself, but he did not flinch. That was a lesson he learned the hard way and he would not learn it again.
The hit didn’t come.
Holding himself there, tight against the wall and eyes still closed, he waited. He couldn’t move. Just sat there. Waited patiently. Hands by his side, fingers curled with his nails digging into his palms, he exhaled slowly. Shuddered once. He’s waiting for me to open my eyes, Sam had done that once. Sam had sat there and waited for Grian to open his eyes once he realized Grian was so used to being hit that he was bracing himself. He waited and then when Grian had opened his eyes again, Sam swung for his face. Slammed him into the wall so hard Grian’s jaw broke, shifted out of place, and then ended up putting Grian on the ground, unconscious.
His wings shuddered again, and he exhaled shakily. Cracked an eye open. Joel was staring at him, eyebrows knit together in concern. His hand was still up, he had just been gesturing widely to the side. Oh. Grian opened his eyes all the way, shrank down a little bit and curled his arms around himself. Then, he exhaled again. Looked at Joel, leaned into the wall. His knees shook a little bit, and Joel dropped his hand. Flinching this time, Grian looked away. Carved his eyes over the landscape. Lizzie was at the edge of the porch, one hand on one of the support columns and another hand reached out. She pulled it back to her chest, eyes flicking between Joel and Grian. Impulse, Scar, and Mumbo were in the back as well, standing with Pearl as they watched him with wounded expressions. Scar and Mumbo didn’t look as wounded. They just looked…sad. Yeah, they definitely saw that.
“I—Grian—” Backing up, Joel swallowed nervously. Shifted his shoulders. Then, he turned and sprinted off, flying into the sky over the savannah and then disappeared off into the distance. Grian looked after him for a moment. Then, pushing himself away from the wall, Grian ducked his head. Turned and walked off to the side of the building, keeping his head down and spreading his own wings. They shook a little bit as he stretched them out all the way.
“Grian.” Jolting, Grian turned. Looked to Jimmy, who was standing behind him. Pausing, Jimmy smiled weakly, dropped it before saying, “Thank you. I—I’m sorry for this.”
Smiling at him, Grian replied, “It’s not your fault, Jimmy.” Flaring out his wings, he turned and then took another breath. “Don’t spread this around?” He glanced back. Jimmy was still looking at him sadly, but then he nodded.
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Smiling, Grian took off. His wings still shook a little bit. Ignoring the tremors, ignoring the sadness on Jimmy’s face, he turned and then shot off into the sky.
He really wanted to be alone right then.
+++
One of the first things that Grian had built when he was building the Hermits’ new home in the Empires realm was a tower.
Not for anyone else. Just for himself. Someplace that none of the others were meant to find, or at least they didn’t tell him about it if they did know. Someplace that he could just curl up and hide out in when he wanted to get away from the world for a little bit. He was just…he was tired of being around people. He was just…he was tired. He didn’t want to be around anyone. Not right then.
Of course Mumbo and Scar would know where he was, and he wasn’t shocked that they brought the ZIT Team and Gem with them.
It wasn’t so much of a privacy or trying to threaten him into spilling information. Mumbo and Scar knew his past. Instead, they were there to do their best to be comforting, really. Quietly, Scar knocked on the door. Looking up, Grian watched as Scar walked into the room, Mumbo trailing behind him. They walked over. Sat next to him.
“Hey, Grian.” Scar murmured, lowering himself down with Jellie in his lap. She hadn’t gone through the Rift. She had just…made her way over to the other side, to the Empires world. Jellie transcended dimensions, he supposed. Mewling, Jellie hopped out of Scar’s lap and then padded over to Grian. Settling down in his lap, she purred. Rubbed her head against Grian’s stomach. Running a hand down her back, Grian sighed softly. When Gem walked inside, she had a cup of tea in her hands. Tango, Zedaph, and Impulse all poked their heads inside the door, too. Then, Impulse strode across with a plate of cookies in his hands. Gem and Impulse offered the food to Grian. Meanwhile, Tango and Zedaph stayed at the door.
“You can come in.” Grian said softly, looking at Tango and Zedaph. “Just close the door behind you.” Nodding, Zedaph ducked in before Tango, who closed the door quietly. They found the couches within a few glances and then settled down on them. Dropping down, Zedaph pulled his knees to his chest and curled up, resting his cheek against his knee and watching Grian sadly. There wasn’t pity in his eyes, just concern. Tango, though… “Don’t pity me. I don’t want pity for what I’ve gone through.”
“Do you…you can say no.” Impulse began, sitting cross-legged on the floor alongside Gem and Mumbo. Then, looking at Grian, he ducked his head and said, “Do you mind talking about it?”
Crossing his arms, Grian leaned back into the wall a bit more. Crushed his wings behind himself protectively. “What’s there to talk about? My friend was abusive and almost killed me. It’s embarrassing to admit.” He looked down to the tea. Picked up one of the gingerbread cookies and then snapped off a bit to shove it in his mouth. He’d been eating like that for…a long while, actually. He didn’t remember when he originally started to eat that way. He just did.
“I’m sorry.”
“Appreciate the sympathy. Don’t want it, though. It’s not your fault.” Grian replied, not even bothering to look up at Impulse, who had spoken. Beside him, Scar reached out. Let his hand hover above Grian’s wrist, where the sweater cuff was. Lifting his hand, Grian let their skin brush together, and Scar let his hand fall with Grian’s to rest on his hand. Inhaling and exhaling, skin burning at the touch, Grian shifted his wings again. Kept looking down at the gingerbread cookies. “Thanks for the food.”
“You’re welcome.” Gem murmured. “Do you mind if we stay here?”
“Can if you want. Can’t stop you if I didn’t want to, anyways.” Shrugging, Grian rolled his shoulder. Cracked his neck and shoulder with a small movement. The old scars still hurt, his wings still ached. Exhaling, he shoved another bite of gingerbread cookie in his mouth. Waited. Picking up on it, Mumbo casually reached out and then took a bit of the cookie, too. Looking at him oddly, Impulse paused. He didn’t do anything about it. He just looked at her. Mumbo dipped the cookie in the tea, then ate the bit. He sent a thumbs-up to Grian.
Yeah, it was odd, but Grian wasn’t about to tell the story of how Mumbo and Scar were the ones who found Grian collapsed on the floor after Sam showed up again, having been poisoning his food for weeks. As far as most of the other Hermits knew, with the exception of Xisuma, Doc, and Keralis, Grian had just caught a stomach bug. Not a stomach bug. Poisoning. Fun times!
Sipping the tea, Grian smiled at Gem. “Chamomile?” She nodded. Looking back to the tea, Grian mused, “Thanks.”
As far as Grian knew, the other Hermits didn’t leave until after he fell asleep with his head in Mumbo’s lap and Scar’s fingers preening his wings gently.