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It was early morning and Scarlet had ended up waking first out of her and Grian - which was a surprise. Suppose it could be down to the fact that she needed to mentally prepare herself to confess her feelings to a taken man - specifically the one laying in her arms.
She looked down at him and God.. She felt so warm - and so guilty. Mumbo was one of her closest friends and here she was, going to confess to their partner! She must've lost her head, or something.
But...
Cleo told her this was the best decision and she trusted what Cleo said. Cleo was very knowledgeable. Cleo seemed to know advice for everything.
She sighed softly, thinking of how she's to do this. Cleo told her to just offer up a conversation to him and then admit her feelings for him and beside Cleo was going to be there for her if things did go bad. Still, she dreaded the thought of losing two of her closest friends all because she caught feelings for one of them.
She carefully removed Grian's arms from around her waist, sliding her now asleep arm from beneath him once she succeeded with removing his arms. She ended up waking him up during this process and he made it very obvious he didn't want her to leave, pouting.
Scarlet giggled and hummed to him "You're going to have to get up if you want to continue sucking heat from me, G" Grian groaned before he clung to her asleep arm and she dragged him up to sitting while she stood.
"C'mon, G." Scarlet murmured, feeling her asleep arm finally waking up. Grian yawned before standing, leaning against her. She chuckled as she joked, "Gee. One night with me and you can't get enough of my heat"
"Why else do you think I wear a sweater majority of the time?" Grian murmured into her shoulder. "But you're already wearing a sweater..?" Scarlet hummed.
"It's a thinner one and it's beginning to reach autumn time. Most breezes suck, even if you might find them nice" Grian explained and Scarlet nodded "Ah.. You can borrow one of my thicker sweaters if you'd like? I think we wear the same size."
Grian nodded "Please?" Scarlet smiled and dragged the avian to her closet, opening it and flicking through the hanging clothes. She picked out a red sweater and handed it to him "You can keep it. I already have a sweater that looks pretty much similar"
Grian held it and tilted his head "You sure?" "Mmhmm! The scissors are on my desk so you can fit your wings through" Scarlet nodded with a smile. She watched Grian let go of her and head to her desk, cutting a semi medium hole for his wings.
Scarlet then saw him starting to take off his sweater and she immediately shielded her eyes "Hey! Warn a lady before you get naked!" She joked, giggling a little. "Sorry. Forgot you were here" Grian murmured.
After a little while, Grian hummed "You can look now." Scarlet uncovered her eyes and smiled seeing him looking ten times more warm. "You feel better now?" She asked and Grian nodded "Yeah. Thank you"
"Of course. You're welcome" Scarlet grinned before Grian hummed "I should get going now" Scarlet felt a pang in her chest when Cleo's words hit her and she suggested, "You want breakfast before you go? I'm thinking of making pancakes"
Grian thought for a second before nodding "Sure. Why not? Some extra off time won't hurt" Scarlet smiled "Great."
The pair headed down the stairs, them each giving a head rub to Jellie, who was cleaning herself on the staircase, on the way down. They both then headed into the kitchen and Scarlet began rummaging through her things for pancake mix.
"Hey, Grian?" Scarlet asked, all her nerves bundling up inside her chest. She felt like she was going to pass out. "Yeah?" Grian asked back, tilting his head.
"I.. Can I talk to you about something when we're sitting down eating the pancakes..?"
"Of course. What's the topic?"
"Just... Stuff. It's been on my mind for a bit and I wanna just get it out"
"Of course you can, Scarlet. You're one of my best friends"
The word smashed into her like a building she accidentally flew right into and she nearly dropped the bowl in her hands. She set the bowl down on the floor and grabbed the pancake mix. "Yeah! You are too.." She felt all dizzy. Maybe this was a bad idea.
Why did she let Cleo talk her into this..?
She set the mix on the counter before grabbing the bowl from the ground. She closed her cabinet and began making the pancakes.
"Need any help?" Grian asked and Scarlet nodded "Yes. Can you start preparing the stove?" Grian nodded back and the pair worked silently as they whipped up pancakes. Scarlet was all in her thoughts, heavily regretting everything. She rarely even felt regret, but this was definitely one of the key moments.
After a while, the pair managed to make enough for themselves and at least 3 or 4 other people. Scarlet and Grian then sat down at her small dining table after they finished decorating the pancakes.
Scarlet was hoping that Grian had forgotten about her needing to talk to him, but unfortunately, he very much remembered as he asked "So, what did you need to talk to me about?"
Sometimes she hated how much of a great friend he was - not really. "Uh.." She flicked on her comms and went to skim through what Cleo told her to do "Just..." Her eyes flicked over the words and she sighed. It was so much easier said than done, just confessing feelings.
Scarlet set her fork and knife down and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath before letting it go. She opened her eyes and said "I need to come clean. I have romantic feelings for you and I know you're already with Mumbo. I've just decided to get it up in the air so you were aware and I am perfectly okay if you reject me"
She saw Grian's eyes grow wide and she went to continue eating, her hands shaking. Well. There goes the nerves. She was just waiting for him to tell her that he didn't like her back - that he was perfectly happy with Mumbo and didn't like her back.
"I like you too"
It was Scarlet's turn to be surprised and she choked a little on her food "You do?" She asked, eyes wide. "Yeah. For a while, actually. I was gonna tell you last night, but I was just so cold that my brain forgot all about it"
"But.. What about Mumbo..?" Scarlet furrowed her brows, tilting her head. "Mumbo already knows. In fact, he was fully supportive of me having another partner" Grian explained. Scarlet blinked and asked "He is?"
"Yeah. I told him the moment I got into a qpr with him that I'm polyamorous. We recently set the boundary on if he's okay with me having other partners and he consented to it" Grian explained once again with a smile.
"Oh!" Scarlet said, suddenly realizing what he meant "I.. Didn't know you were polyamorous.." Grian nodded before saying "If you're not okay with that, it's fine, but yeah." Scarlet quickly shook her head "No, no. I'm fine with it. I just didn't expect the possibility of you being polyamorous - and liking me back"
Grian laughed a little and Scarlet asked "Who else knows?" Grian hummed before saying "Whoever needs to. Just you, Mumbo, and my sister" Scarlet nodded slowly before humming "So... What would we be since we both like each other?"
"What do you want us to be?"
"I want to be with you - romantically"
"I'm... Unfortunately not looking for a romantic relationship." Grian narrowed his eyes, looking at his plate as he said "But I can offer that we have a qpr - if that's still okay."
"That sounds great." Scarlet reached over and held his hand, squeezing it lightly "Anything is okay with me as long as I get to be with you - no matter fully romantic or just a qpr" A smile tugged on Grian's face and he nodded "I'm glad"
"I know nothing about how a qpr works, so you may need to help me out with this thing" Scarlet admitted and Grian laughed "We can talk it out later, with Mumbo" Scarlet grinned "Perfect"
The pair - now couple - finished the rest of their pancakes with a blissful silence between them both. Scarlet couldn't stop smiling as she ate, even more when Grian had to finally leave. She gave him a tight hug before he left, immediately messaging Cleo once he was out of sight
<><><><>
ZombieCleo:
He likes me back <<
>> Oh?
Me and Grian are going to visit Mumbo later <<
Grian said we need to discuss some things with them <<
>> Is that a good or bad thing?
It's a good thing <<
Don't worry <<
>> I won't worry then
>> I'm glad it worked out for you
I'm glad it worked out too <<
<><><><>
Scarlet laid her comms down, giggling excitedly. Grian liked her back - hell - she was now with him. She still needed to figure out how this qpr thing works, but it's okay. Grian and Mumbo will help her figure it out.