Chapter Text
The rift buzzed with excitement. Voices echoed from the other side, pulling at him, tugging so hard.
Grian’s stomach twisted. He and fWhip had planned this for months. Tomorrow, at 8pm, they’d step into the land of Empires.
He stood. Staring. He’d been here for hours already, watching and waiting, sometimes pacing.
Everything was still according to plan. A surprise, really, as something with this many people was incredibly difficult to coordinate.
“It’s okay. Things will be fine. I’ve wanted to do this for months now.”
Not everyone was going through the portal, of course. Some chose to stay here for the sake of finishing projects. Others were just more introverted and would rather not jump into so much loud action.
Grian could stay here. Easily. Though without anyone to keep his motivation going, he probably wouldn’t get much done.
It would be easier to stay behind. It’d settle his stomach.
"But they’d be so disappointed.” He was coordinator of this. He needed to go through with it.
It’d be fun. He knew he’d love being there. All of his friends in one spot. All but one.
Fireworks exploded from above, followed by a crash that could only be Scar.
“Hey Grian! Why’ve you been staring at the rift for so long?”
He smiled over at Scar, forcing away any hesitance he had towards going through. He held out a hand for Scar to grab hold of and hoisted his crumpled form off the floor. “Just thinking. About tomorrow. It’s… pretty exciting.”
“Mhm!” Scar nodded with far more enthusiasm than Grian did. “But you’re not going to stare at the portal all day and night, right? You know we won’t have time to sleep once we get there. They’ll be so much to see!”
He had to go through. If not for his own sake, for Scar’s.
“Yeah, I suppose you’re right.”
Scar frowned at him for a second. “You’re not that excited to go through, are you?”
He didn’t want to disappoint. This was his project.
“Well, I am, but I– ah— feel weird about leaving here without, you know, going with–” The words were hard to find and his mind was freezing up before he could really articulate those feelings. He took a deep breath before retrying altogether. New sentence. New statement. New train of thought. “Mumbo’s not back and I don’t want to leave without him.”
Scar pulled him into a hug right away, understanding immediately. “He’ll be fine without you,” he reassured.
“But– he might come back, and worry–”
“You know we’ll leave a note just in case it does happen.”
“And he might assume that– that we just left him, that we don’t care, that I don’t–” He could hardly breathe. He could hardly think. But if he knew his friend... oh he knew Mumbo would overthink it.
“There are people staying behind and they can catch him up to speed and be his friend while you’re away.”
Grian leaned against Scar, hardly able to carry his own weight. “Come on. Let’s find somewhere more comfortable to sit.” He helped Grian walk along the cave area and made seats facing away from the rift.
“Is it fair to move on and have fun without him?”
Scar went to immediately say yes but stopped himself to actually think about the question. “I think… that he would hate it if you held yourself back while he was away. Mumbo left to get help because you can’t provide what professionals can. But just because he’s gone, it shouldn’t mean you don’t take care of yourself. He’ll understand.”
On some level, the debate was fair.
But he was taking care of himself. Grian was still building. He was still living. He was still having fun.
“He’ll miss out on so much.”
“And Mumbo knew that. But right now, he’s where he needs to be. And you shouldn’t hold yourself back because of him or anybody else.”
Grian looked down to the floor. “I just want to be here for him when he comes back, you know.”
Scar pulled him into a hug again, this time it being more convenient for Grian to lean on him. “Heading to Empires is not abandoning him. He’ll call if he needs you.”
“What if he doesn’t?”
“Then it’s on him. Not you.”
Grian took a deep breath, this one being much clearer than the ones before it. The tightening in his chest loosened up some.
The rift didn’t feel as imposing.
“If you don’t want to come with us, you can stay, but…”
“No. I want to go through with it. I do.” He stood up on his own, turning to face the rift. “I’ll just take a lot of pictures, so I can share the experience when Mumbo does get back.”