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Bonds had always been an interesting concept for Scar. They were magical and, ever since he was young enough to understand, Scar always wanted to have a bond. He knew that they were rare. Through all his research he only ever found two pairs with a bond, and they were both so different, but that didn't stop him from dreaming that he might just be lucky enough to have one of his own.
There was so much to a soul bond that Scar spent a lot of his free time looking into it, from the pain sharing to the more rare aspects that were documented. What he learnt was that bonds appeared as a way of balancing a person out, whatever that meant he wasn't quite sure, and that they could be either romantic or platonic. Secretly he was hoping for a more romantic bond if he ever got one, to have that kind of connection with his future partner would be a dream come true, but he wasn't fussed either way. Bonds were all so different though, no two seemed to be alike. So, of course, when he did find his soul bound he was completely obvious to it.
At least to start with.
The hero business was a hard one to do, Scar had to make sure he kept his personal life away from the press as much as he could, while trying to win the hearts of the civilians. It was a tough balancing act but Scar thought he was doing well, until a new hero joined the fray.
Watcher was an avian hybrid, with deep purple nearing black wings and an outfit to match. When Scar first encountered the hero he thought nothing of the weird ache between his shoulder blades, the shiver that ran through his body, or the fairly creepy way Watcher, well, watched him.
"Oh, hello there friend!" Scar waved at the hero, who remained still. Scar took in the dark face covering, the shimmer of magic he could almost feel, and way the clothing hung off Watchers frame, as if the clothes were a size too big. It definitely gave them an androgynous look and Scar figured that was what they were going for. He then turned to the road below him, scanning the ground for anyone that might need him. He could feel Watcher's eyes still on him but he didn't take the bait, if this new hero wanted his attention than they could say something.
Scar focused on the task at hand, his hero work and not the quiet hero giving him the creeps, and observed as a shady looking person walked into a nearby shop. Scar decided that he should probably check it out further in case something was about to happen. "Alright, I'm off, Watcher. It was nice meeting you!"
Scar sent the stunned hero a smirk then lept off the side of the building, landing on the concrete below. A quick glance up showed that Watcher was gone but it didn't bother Scar, he had hero work to do and he didn't need help with something this small.
The next time they met it was Scar who was doing the watching. Watcher was fighting off two guys that had obviously been doing a drug deal of some kind and had decided to attack together. The sting in Scar's hand was only because of how tightly he was gripping the railing, he was sure of it, as he observed the other hero fight. The avian moved with a fluidity that Scar was jealous of and, suprisingly, it looked like Watcher used their wings as a sort of counterweight to their movements as well. It was a beautiful thing to watch.
It was distracting, which meant that he didn't notice the thug coming up behind Scar. They grabbed him around the arms, effectively pinning him in place so he couldn't move. That didn't stop him from trying though, and he head butted the guy holding him, aiming for the nose. Scar managed to hit the thug behind him dead center, though now his head was throbbing from the impact, and the man let go without a second thought.
The thug was dazed from the blow to the head and Scar used their distraction to quickly tie them down, gagging them in case they called for backup. Scar looked up in time to see two others pinning Watcher down and he jumped over the railling to get to the hero quickly. Scar managed to knock one of them down and was in the process of fighting the other when he jumped in surprise. Watcher snuck up behind the thug he was fighting and pinched their neck which caused them to fall, crumbling into a heap on the floor.
He watched as the avian checked the thugs over and began tying them up. Scar soon joined the hero and they eventually had all three tied together.
"So," Scar said as he finished tying the last thug up, "nice night, isn't it?"
Watcher glanced at him but didn't say a word. It was the first time he had seen the hero so close and he could just make out the dark eyes that hid behind the heros dark mask. It meant that he didn't notice as the thug closest to him kicked out and struck Scar in the leg. He let out a pained grunt, and heard Watcher do the same, and immediately turned to the man who had kicked him.
"Now that wasn't very nice," Scar said as he hauled the thug up into a sitting position, "And here I was about to leave you here, but now I think it might be best to call the cops and wait for them to come pick you up. How does that sound?"
The thug shook his head rapidly and his eyes widened. Scar pulled out his communicator and mimed calling the cops. He had already done so when he had been watching earlier as he knew it would take the police a while to get there. So when he heard the sirens off in the distance he chuckled.
"Looks like they're almost here." Scar waved as he moved away from the tied up thugs. "Have fun explaining this!"
Scar turned to Watcher but the hero was already flying away, Scar just shrugged and followed suit. The weird pull between his shoulders was easy to ignore as he left the scene.
They didn't come across one another much after that. Scar only catching fleeting glimpses of the feathered hero. And every time he did he felt something in his chest squeeze. It was an odd feeling but he was easily distracted by other things, like the fight he was in, or what he was going to have for dinner, or the random aches he got in his back that he couldn't explain away.
The last few days had been ... something. The ache in his back had somehow turned into a near constant itch between his shoulder blades. It would still ache, much like growing pains, but the itch was almost all consuming now. Scar thought nothing of it for a while, he was used to the occasional ache here and there, what with being a hero and all, as well as having chronic pain, but there was a point where it was just too much.
And that point just so happened to be when he was talking to Joel. The itch alone was driving him crazy and in that moment he wasn't sure if the pain was from him constantly attempting to scratch it or something else.
"It's never ending, I swear," Scar said as he leaned back against the post outside Joel's house, he tried to use it to scratch the spot as his shoulders were aching from trying to reach it. He just couldn't reach it with his own hands and it was frustrating him greatly.
"It could be a rash," Joel picked up a box from outside, not bothering to look Scar's way while he walked back inside, "or chafing, that shirt is pretty tight."
"I'd know if it was a rash." Scar said as he followed the man into Joel and Lizzie's house. He tugged at his shirt in offence as he looked down at the brightly coloured shirt. "And I have tighter fitting clothes than this."
"Scar." Joel said in exasperation, sighing as he dumped the box onto the kitchen counter. He was familiar with the things Scar said without thinking and to be honest this wasn't even that bad.
"Well why don't I take off my clothes and you can have a look then," Scar was already halfway out of his shirt as he spoke, "then I can prove to you it's not a rash."
Joel chuckled at his friend, there was almost no way of stopping him so he hopped up onto a chair and waited for his friend to turn around.
Scar found himself slightly stuck in his shirt - it wasn't that tight, he swore! - and decided to just turn about with it around his ears, arms above his head. "Well, what do you see?"
Joel was silent for longer than Scar was comfortable with as he pushed his shirt back down and turned to his friend. Joel had a frown on his face as he looked at Scar, taking a moment before meeting the others eyes.
"There's definitely something on your back, mate," Joel hummed and Scar shifted from foot to foot as he waited for Joel to continue, "it looks like fluff is coming out your back."
"What?" Scar slowly looked behind himself like he could see what Joel had been talking about yet there was nothing but the back of his shirt there. "How could there be fluff on my back?"
"Hmm," Joel grabbed his phone and began typing while he said, "I'm gonna get Effo."
"Etho? Why?" Scar felt his mind spinning and tried to keep it on track but nothing was really making sense at the moment. "Why would you need your soul bound?"
"I'll tell you later." Joel said as he went back to his box, cutting the tape that held it shut. "Effo's gonna be a few minutes, you can help me sort whatever Lizzie's bought this time, if you want."
"Ah, sure," Scar was beyond confused but figured he would find out eventually. Maybe not now, or tomorrow, but eventually.
Etho wasn't a man of many words like Scar was and when he first took his shirt off and showed Etho his back the man only hummed quietly at what he saw. Scar decided to ask them to just take a photo of it for him, so he could see it easier than trying to check it out in the mirror. To Scar's annoyance it did just look like fluff was stuck on his back.
"I think it's some kind of growth," Etho said as he inspected the fluff, "does it hurt at all?"
"It kind of itches," Scar looked over his back at the two and he saw them exchange words without actually saying anything. Scar turned to face them and crossed his arms over his naked chest as Etho gave him a sheepish smile and Joel didn't bother to hide the roll of his eyes. "You two know something, don't you?"
"Maybe~," Etho drew the words out and chuckled softly to himself, "I'm sure you'll get it eventually, Scar."
"Yeah, I highly doubt that," Joel picked up Scar's discarded shirt and threw it at the hero. Etho turned Scar around and pulled at some of the fluff, which caused Scar to jump away from the man.
"Hey! What was that for?" Scar quickly put his shirt back on, so that Joel couldn't get any ideas from Etho, and plucked the piece of fluff Etho had taken from his back out of the man's hands. It was soft and small and had a slight orange tinge to it. It just confused Scar further and he decided to just hand it back.
"Oh," Joel leaned over Etho who was still holding the fluff, "it looks kind of familiar but also not. Any clue what it is, Effo?"
"Nope."
"Well, you lot have been mighty helpful," Scar's words dripped with sarcasm but it was fine, other than the fluff being a little itchy at times it wasn't causing him any harm so he didn't think he needed the hospital or anything at least.
After that they chatted about much more mundane things, the fluff long forgotten in Scar's mind, but for Joel and Etho it was much more present as the two eventually said good bye to Scar.
Without a solid answer to what the fluff could be, Scar took to covering whatever it was on his back with magic. His ability meant that whatever the fluff was was essentially in a pocket dimension that allowed the ache and itch to subside while hidden.
What he didn't factor in was the pain of when it wasn't hidden after he finally released the spell two weeks later. It was an unconsious thing on his part, as at that point he was so exhausted he was close to passing out.
It had been a long day working in his shop for once and not having to worry about the city outside it. He needed just the barest bit of magic to finish off an order for a client before he could call it quits for the day and he figured that if he released his everyday spells he would have just enough energy for this one last spell. The problem came when, as soon as he released his spells, he was overcome with a wave of pain that brought him to his knees. It was unlike anything he had ever felt before.
He felt, more than heard, himself cry out as he hit the floor, though he was at least in the safety of his home. The store long closed and his workshop area secure and safe. He felt a building pressure on his back that was soon becoming too much and he pulled his shirt over his head and hoped for the pressure to release a little. Thankfully it eased slightly once his shirt was gone and he could feel that whatever had been on his back was now bigger.
He passed out soon after.
When he woke up the pain had thankfully passed, the sun was shining brightly through his windows and he knew it must be at least noon, and only a dull ache was left over. He moved to get up off the floor, aches and pains making themselves known after the impromptu sleep on the floor, but stopped halfway as something brushed his back. He glanced over his shoulder, knowing that last time he had tried he couldn't see anything, but this time was different. Two small wings sat draped down his back and as he concentrated on them he could feel the new muscle begin to work and watched as the feathers began to fluff up in surprise. He promptly freaked out as he scrambled to stand up.
"Wha-what?!" Scar shouted as he ran to his bedroom where he knew the full length mirror was. Once he was in front of the mirror he turned and looked at the two tiny wings pressed up against his back. They sat close enough that they didn't pass his waist and he let out a giddy, confused laugh. "I have wings... Why do I have wings?"
He flexed them in the mirror to get a better view of them and then straightened them out with only a little protest, a touch of pain followed from the unused and new muscles. The wings were the colour of burnt orange and were barely large enough for an avian child to use.
"I have kiddy wings," Scar chuckled as he admired them, as much as the spontaneous wings freaked him out he also found it kind of cool that he had them. "Now, where did you come from?"
Later, when he knew about his soul bond, he would be kicking himself for not realising where they came from sooner, but for now he only had questions without anyone to get the answers from.
Growing wings, as weird as that sounded in his head, didn't stop Scar from his hero work. It just meant that he had to hide them so that he could fight without getting distracted by his own body. The wings continued to grow as the days passed but instead Scar decided to focus on various other thing. Like fixing the leak in his shop. Repainting the sign outside. Fighting off any monsters or villains that got too close to the public.
He never liked to admit it but he knew he was oblivious at times. Like right now, as he was walking passed the forest close to the city. It was a common area for hero's to patrol, the forest being so dark that it would attract monsters of all kinds, especially at night, and so when he spotted the elusive Watcher he wasn't watching the forest.
A giant spider jumped out of forest behind him, its silent feet giving nothing away. It was quick to swipe at Scar hard enough that it knocked him to the ground. In the fall Scar's quiver broke and scattered his arrows far enough away so that he couldn't reach them without turning his back to the monster that loomed over him. He was in a predicament and grabbed his bow anyway to use it to block the creatures next swipe at him.
An arrow soon whizzed by, barely missing the spider and himself, but it did distract the thing for long enough that Scar could grab the discarded arrow. The spider ran to attack someone else and as it did so Scar took aim and shot it. The arrow hit right between the sections of its body and caused the creature to curl up and die quickly. Scar let out a relieved breath as he looked around for any other creatures that might want to come out and attack as well but didn't spot anything else. He stowed his bow away and turned to where the arrow he used had come from.
Watcher was standing a little ways away, the spider dead halfway between the two of them, and had their arms crossed. Scar couldn't tell their expression for where he was, especially with whatever enchantment they used on their face, but he waved in thanks anyway.
"Thanks for the assist!" He shouted. Watchers wings tensed at the sound of Scar's voice, which rude, but didn't do anything else to acknowledge the other hero. Scar shrugged it off. It wasn't the first time Watcher had all but ignored him and it probably won't be the last time that would happen either. So, instead, he nodded his head and continued his route along the forest, turning around and walking further away from where Watcher had been.
If Scar turned to catch a glance at the other hero no one but him would know as Watcher had already vanished from sight. It made Scar curious but he shrugged it off. He had a job to do and he was going to do it right this time. No more need for assistance.
Twenty minutes later a cleaning lady threw some trash at a monster that was about to hit Scar but he wasn't counting that as help. The monster hadn't even hit him this time.
Scar was working in his store, for one of the rare days it was open, when he spotted a familiar face. The bell above the door rang out and Scar was quick to let out his usual greeting before he even saw the newcomers face.
"Welcome to Scar's Magical Emporium, where dreams come true to those who look." Scar said with his usual salesman pitch, it was almost second nature when he heard that bell ring, he could probably do it in his sleep. "Now what can I help you with? We have magical aids for finding love? Pendants of luck for finding a new job? Or crystals to keep you calm? We have it all here."
There was a chuckle that came from behind a shelf before they walked around it to where Scar was behind the counter. "I think I'll be alright without it, thanks."
"Cleo!" Scar shouted and bound over to the woman. He wrapped her in a tight hug. "It's been too long, mom, what's the occasion?"
Cleo chuckled at the jokey name that, as much as she said she hated it, Scar knew she secretly loved. "Just thought I'd pop in," Cleo said as she returned the hug then stiffened in his hold, her hands brushing over the part of his back that he had not magicked away today. They had been aching on and off after he'd held them in a pocket dimension, apparently a week was too long to be hidden away. "What's that?"
Scar stepped back, not nervous of Cleo but unsure about how he was going to explain spontaneously growing a pair of wings. He fidgeted for a moment before he sighed and figured it would be easier to show her.
"Okay, don't freak out," he said as he closed the shop up for lunch, might as well hit two stones with one bird right?, and moved towards the back rooms, "come on, I'll make lunch too."
Cleo followed with curiousity and caution but Scar didn't expect any less from the woman and the two of them walked into the kitchen that Scar had behind his shop.
"Now this is going to be weird," Scar said as he took off his shirt, he saw the confusion flash across Cleo's face but it steeled into one of neutrality quickly afterward. Scar turned his back as he explained, unfurling his wings as he did so, "I have wings now. Not sure where they've come from, certainly not my own magic, but they're cool, right?"
He heard Cleo's sharp breath of surprised but a look over his shoulder, and his wing, told him it wasn't anything bad. She appeared to be thinking but Scar couldn't figure out what it could be about. Instead he chose to ignore it in favour of showing off.
"I haven't been able to do much with them yet," Scar turned back to face Cleo, his wings almost clipping the kitchen counter, "they're still growing but I can move them around without much effort."
"And you don't know where they came from?" Cleo placed her hand in her chin as she watched the way Scar flexed the wings into different positions.
"No clue," Scar shrugged, it didn't bother him much. He swore it didn't.
"Hmm," Cleo smiled then, one that said she knew something you don't and Scar just smiled back. He had never managed to get any information from Cleo that she didn't explicitly wanted to give out so he never bothered to try. "They are beautiful."
"I know, right?" Scar beamed at the compliment. No one had seen them so far, other than Joel and Etho but they had only seen them while the wings were just fluff, so it was nice to be validated on his own thoughts by someone he thought of so highly. "Now, what do you want for lunch?"
The wings continued to grow and Scar learnt that they caused more pain if he didn't let them breath, so to speak, after only a day. Which was fairly easy to do, he cast the spell with sleep in mind. Every time he slept it would reset itself, letting his wings out while he was unconscious. It wasn't the best of ideas but he did it anyway.
It was probably why, when he next saw Watcher next, that things turned out a little differently.
They had teamed up against a villain, called The Goat, that had left multiple ghasts on the loose above the city. Their cries scaring many of the civilians and causing a bit of panic. Scar ignored them though in favour of shooting the nether beasts down. There were so many of them that multiple hero's were out helping. He could make out Canary off in the distance fighting with a lone ghast, and taking maybe too many hits too. He saw more hero's scattered around but closest to him was Watcher. The hero was flying at the ghast, swiping at them with a sword and managing to take down quite a few, their screams slowly getting quieter as more and more fell.
Scar was so distracted by the sight that he didn't notice the ghast behind him until a fireball hit him in the back, knocking him off his perch on the side of a building and causing him to fall. He could do nothing to stop himself as he braced for impact with the ground.
Thankfully it wasn't a long fall but wjen he did hit the ground his shoulder hit first and it would have blinded him with pain if his head didn't follow soon after. He knew he must have blacked out for a second there, his mind felt like it was floating as he tried to look around himself.
All he could make out was a blurry image of someone standing over him, one of their arms looked limp, while the other held a sword aloft. Their stance ready to fight anyone that got nearby. Scar blinked a few times, trying to clear his vision, and made to turn over onto his back but his arm screamed in protest. Or maybe that was his own voice.
"Will. You. Stop. Moving!" Came an angry and strained voice above him. The stranger protecting him. "It hurts."
"I know it hurts." Scar said, confused, and pulled in a deep breath as he tried to turn over again. He was more successful this time and once the pain cleared, so did his vision. He could see Watcher standing over him, panting heavily, from what Scar didn't know.
Watcher glanced around at the sky for a second before turning back to Scar. He felt, in that moment, that he had done something wrong but he wasn't sure what it could be. Sure, he had gotten himself hurt, but that wasn't a reason for Watcher to be mad, right?
"You still don't realise, do you?" Watcher said with genuine surprise. They laughed and shook their head as they put their sword away and pulled out a knife. "I need you to look at me and tell me what you feel about this."
Before Scar could do anything Watcher was drawing a line with their dagger across their arm. Scar's eyes widened as he felt the sting of the cut on his own arm and looked down to see if there was anything there. Nothing. He could feel the pain but there was no cut.
"No way." He said in disbelief as he went to run a hand over the cut, completely forgetting his other arm was practically useless at the moment and he heard Watcher cry out in pain. Their dagger dropping from their hand as it spasmed.
Watcher growled at him but waited for Scar to stop moving before they picked up their knife and put it away. They looked down at Scar and sighed.
"Your wings were out," they said as they crouched down so that they were face to face with Scar, "I didn't know that would happen." Watcher looked over at the sound of feet meeting pavement, Scar followed their gaze and spotted Canary not too far away. "He's going to get you some help. I'll find you later, when you're not in pain."
With that Watcher left. With one big beat of their wings they were up in the sky and Scar could only watch as his soulbound flew away. He felt like a fool, he had known Watcher for at least two months now, and it took Watcher hurting themselves for Scar to realise.
"I'm an idiot." He said to no one in particular, forgetting that Canary was standing close enough to hear him.
"You are," Canary muttered as he crouched down and assessed Scar's injuries, "but Gr- he could have told you."
Scar noticed the pronouns Canary used and made a note of them as he sighed and watched where the other hero had flown off to. "It's not on him to do that."
Canary shrugged and sat down next to Scar. "We'll give him another few minutes to get somewhere safe, then I'll take you to the hospital."
"Yeah," Scar lay his head on the ground, staring up at nothing, his mind whirling with thoughts and his heart squeezing with sympathy. He was about to cause, had already caused, his soul bond a tremendous amount of pain and he didn't even know the guys real name. "Yeah, that sounds good."
He didn't mean to close his eyes but his mind raced with thought that began to blur and his vision that started to swirl and fade at the edges. He didn't bother to fight it when the darkness called to him. There might have been a shout but he couldn't be certain it wasn't his imagination at this point as everything faded.
He woke up later at a hospital, one that catered more to hero's and villains than to the general public. Scar thought the hospital would be a safe place for Watcher to meet him but the hero never came. The feeling of disappointment, and maybe a bit of rejection, festered in Scar's chest and he tried to focus on other things instead.
When Scar had first woken up they told him that he had dislocated his shoulder and, thankfully for him, he has been unconscious when someone had popped it back into place. Scar wondered briefly if Watcher had felt it when he himself hadn't, or, if because he was unconscious, than Watcher would feel nothing too.
If he ever got to see the hero he was going to ask. Maybe. Possibly. Probably not. They had some much more important things to talk about than that and Scar wondered when that would happen, if it would happen as the time continued to go by and Watcher still didn't show up.
He sighed as he looked at his bound arm, surely he would be able to leave today. The waiting was always the worst, he knew that doctors were busy people but couldn't they see he was okay now. His arm barely even hurt as he moved it around.
With so much time to ponder things his mind went back to Watcher, the avian hybrid with the dark wings. Those wings would probably stand out, Canary's as well. He figured they must have some sort of magic that hid them away, or maybe just changed their colour. He didn't know what kind of magic either of them had, he could feel Watcher had something but couldn't tell what and he was unsure about Canary, as they only ever seemed to fight with swords and the occasional bow.
Scar laid back down in the bed and waited. All the speculation in the world would do him no good if he couldn't get out of the hosptial and actually talk to the hero in question. He sighed as he waited for the doctor to come and sign him out. Maybe if he was lucky he would meet Watcher again soon.
Watcher didn't meet him in the hosptial, which Scar was still a little bummed about, or anytime that week. Scar was back to hero business after only two days, yet he still hadn't seen Watcher at all. It was as if the hero was avoiding him and that only made Scar more determined to find the hero.
One week turned into two and still nothing, Scar only ever spotted Watcher out of the corner of his eye or in the news, and by then his wings had grown completely. Even still, the lack of interaction with his soulbound was starting to bum him a little bit more as the days passed by into weeks and all he could do was push through it. They were going to talk, hopefully, maybe...
Scar wasn't expecting it when he finally bumped into Watcher again, he was also surprised by the lack of diguise when it happened, and it was completely accidental. It was a totally random normal day, there was no criminals to fight currently and the weather was mild. So when he walked into the coffee shop near his house then tripped in the doorway and fell onto the floor, giving himself a nasty bruise as he did, he didn't expect a random stranger to winced with him.
It wasn't much to go on, sure, but Scar watched from his place on the floor as the strangers eyes widened then finally let out a sigh that almost sounded defeated. Scar couldn't help but take in the person before him, an avian hybrid with dark blonde hair and near black eyes. The avian was wearing a red sweater that really suited him and almost matched the red of his wings, while the tips stood out with yellow and blue like those of a parrot. He was watching Scar and tilted his head to the side when Scar didn't move off the floor.
"Are you going to stand up?" The stranger asked with a chuckled. It was the same voice as Watcher, those rare times that he had been privileged enough to hear it, but the chuckle was new. Scar wanted to hear more of it.
"Ah, yes, right," Scar scrambled to stand up, getting out of the way of the door and the flow of pedestrians that had been grumbling behind him. He didn't even notice they were there, too occupied by the avian before him. Scar walked over to the man's table and stuck out his hand awkwardly, "um, hi. I'm Scar, nice to meet you."
Watcher looked down at the hand being offered and Scar was seconds away from pulling it back when the avian finally grabbed it. His hand was warm and callused and it sent a spike of something through Scar's arm, making the limb tingle slightly.
"I'm Grian," the avian said, squeezing Scar's hand before letting go and gesturing to the empty seat in front of them, "why don't you sit and we can talk."
Scar sat down eagerly but blurted out the one thing that had been swimming in his head for weeks now. "You've been avoiding me."
Grian went red at the accusation and looked down at the cup he had before him. Some sort of tea?, Scar thought as it wasn't dark enough to be coffee. The avian took a sip of his drink, dragging the moment out, but Scar was patient. When he wanted to be, that was.
"It wasn't on purpose," the avian spoke into his cup, choosing not to look at Scar, "I've been busy and I can tell you're still hurting."
"What?" Scar was genuinely confused as he glanced down at himself. He didn't think he had been in pain for a while now, his shoulder had healed up fairly quickly and his wings were no longer growing, that he could tell. "No I'm not."
Grian sighed as if it was a hardship to interact with Scar and Scar was very used to it. Most of his friends had let out that same sigh when his brain was just not understanding something, but this was different. He was pretty sure he knew himself enough to know if he was in pain or not.
"You've had this low level of pain ever since we met," Grian finally looked up and made eye contact with Scar, it was like the avian was staring into his soul and Scar didn't know how to feel about that, "it fluctuates now and again but it's never really gone."
It hit Scar then, just what Grian was talking about. His chronic pain, the pain he felt daily, that most of the time he could just ignore and go on with his life. The pain that his soulbound was now stuck feeling everyday because that's exactly what he felt. A pit formed in his stomach as he realised what that meant. Grian now had to deal with chronic pain, just because of a chance encounter with Scar. His heart sank at that. If he had never met Grian then the avian wouldn't be suffering like this.
"I'm sorry," Scar put his head in his hands and blew out a sharp breath, willing the potential tears to not fall out of his eyes, "I didn't even realise that you'd feel my chronic pain. I'm so sorry."
Grian was quiet on the other side of the table until Scar looked up. The avian had his head cocked to the side, as if in thought, and his eyes looked towards Scar but seemed to see right through him. Scar straightened in his chair and a few seconds later Grian came back from wherever his mind had wondered to.
"It's not your fault," Grian said, shrugging his shoulders, "it's nice to know why the pain is there, and I don't blame you for that."
Scar couldn't quite accept that as the truth but he smiled at Grian anyway and waved that conversation away, for now at least. He was still feeling really guilty about it though.
"Enough about that," Scar leaned onto the table and smiled at Grian, "tell me about yourself, I want to get to know you more."
And so they talked. At first Grian seemed reluctant but warmed up the more they talked. The avian still kept some things secret, Scar could tell, but that didn't bother him. There was obviously things that would need time before being said anyway. What Scar did find out was that Grian worked as an illustrator, that he lived and worked with his brother, and that he had always wanted to help people ever since he was a kid.
Scar listened intently to everything Grian said and he wanted to always have this. Just the two of them, chatting in a cosy cafe, not a care in the world. They would have stayed longer if Grian hadn't gotten a text and had to leave. Scar waved him off with the promise that they would catch up again later, now that they had each others numbers and Grian wasn't avoiding him at all.
It was later that day that he felt the pain, just a few cuts and bruises, soon after their cafe date. Scar knew it had to be hero work, he was used to the small pangs every now and then and didn't think anything of it after that.
Only later that night, when he was half asleep, did he realise that the text message Grian recieved was probably actually something to do with his hero work. Scar wondered what it would be like to have a partner, someone who would notify him of nearby threats or just if either of them needed help, but his persona had always been one to work alone.
It didn't stop him from imagining it though. Working with Grian, Watcher, as they took down enemies. He imagined them having matching hero personas and helping the people of the city. Grian's hero name changing to something like Cute Guy to match his, or would Grian want Scar to match the avians name instead. He tried to think of something that would match Watcher, but he came up blank as he tried and eventually just gave up. It didn't matter what their names were, just that they were together and nothing could tear them apart. It was a nice dream and one that he would love to see become a reality.
But things never quite work out like he wanted.
Life was bliss for Scar now that Grian was actively speaking to him. He wasn't sure what had initially made Grian avoid him but now that that wasn't happening Scar felt as if he was stuck on cloud nine. And it was only getting better every day.
They organise to go on a date later that week. He was super excited about it and had been for the entire week. All he had to do was wait until the day finally arrived. Yet now that the day arrived he began fretting over what he should wear and if he was going to somehow stuff this all up. They may be soul bound but that didn't mean that Grian would want Scar the same way that he wanted Grian.
It might have been stupid but he fell hard for the avian that day in the cafe and he was nervous not knowing how Grian thought about him in return.
Scar shook himself out of those thoughts as he turned in front of his mirror. Lizzie and Joel waited in the other room for him to show off what he chose and were vetoing his choices if they deemed them not right. It was a comfort to have them there but at the same time he was alone in his room as he changed his top for the fiftieth time.
The all of his shirts and jumpers alike had been magicked so he didn't have to worry about his wings getting stuck. It had taken a few trials and errors until he had gotten the hang of the magic, and more than a few of his shirts being completely ruined in the process, but now he could easily chuck on a shirt and it would ignore the physicality of his wings. It did make where his wings sprang from look a little weird, looking as though they attracted to his shirt, but he usually had his wings hidden anyway.
When he walked out of the room he was greeted by Lizzie's loud protests.
"Nope, no, no, go change." Lizzie said from her spot on the kitchen bench.
"What's wrong with this one?" Joel asked from his spot leaning against the counter next to his wife. Scar couldn't tell if Joel was asking with genuine curiosity or if it was just to annoy Lizzie. Knowing the two of them it could be a combination of both.
"It totally clashes with his eyes," Lizzie huffed and kicked a leg out at Joel, getting a soft 'hey' in protest from the man, "is that even your own shirt? Red is very much not your colour, Scar."
"You know," he looked down at the red shirt that he wore, it did seem a bit ill fitting but whose could it be? "I don't even know."
Lizzie shooed him back into his room to change and Scar walked away to pull off the shirt he had on, swapping it for a pale green button down. As he ran his hands down the front of the shirt and looked in the mirror he let out a nervous chuckle. There was no need for him to be nervous about this date but he was anyway.
"Come on, Scar," he said to himself, trying to give himself a pep talk while the others stayed in his kitchen. Though he wasn't sure how successful he was about it, "its just a dinner with a handsome man that you're soul bound to and who is so far out of your league... oh gosh."
He drew in quick breaths as he tried not to laugh hysterically, he wasn't sure how successful he was as a nervous laugh bubbled up his throat.
"Ha, he should be with someone much more than me," the laugh he had been holding back burst forth, "Grian's amazing and cute and- and..."
He trailed off as he tried to get his breathing under control. Being nervous was fine, having a breakdown before he even got to the date was not. Scar didn't even hear as Joel and Lizzie entered his room but felt as they encircled him on either side. It calmed him down a lot to have them with him and he was more than grateful for their presence.
"You are going to have an amazing time and afterwards you can have a break down, got that?" Joel was pointing at Scar's reflection in the mirror when he looked up from his hands. The man waited for him to nod before Joel pulled him into a tight one armed hug.
"Now," Lizzie said from his other side, giving him the same treatment, a soft smile spread on her lips, "you better get going or you're gonna be late."
With one last deep breath he turned and went to the door, patting down his pockets to make sure he had his wallet and keys before leaving his house.
Lizzie and Joel chuckled to themselves as they watched Scar leave without a goodbye or even locking his front door. They understood the man was nervous and so they locked up for him and left to go home. They would interrogate Scar about his date tomorrow and both hoped it went well.
For Scar it wasn't far for him to walk to where he was going to meet Grian, so he took the time to try and distract himself from his nerves as he made his way down the road. Which meant that all too soon he was at the restaurant they had agreed on.
A glance around told him that Grian wasn't there yet but as he looked at his watch he saw that he was early anyway. It gave him enough time to breath and shake off some nerves before Grian could arrive, which he definitely needed right then.
"Okay, Scar," he said to himself, ignoring the weird looks he recieved from passersby, "you can do this, it's easy."
"Hey Scar." A familiar voice came from right behind him. He let out an involuntary shout as he jumped in fright and clutched his chest in an attempt to calm his heart. When he turned around, breathing raggered, he spotted Grian bent at the waist, holding his stomach, as the avian laughed boisterously. The avian was flushed slightly red with laughter and Scar couldn't help but smile at the reaction, even as his heart continued to try and escape his chest from the fright.
As he watched Grian's outburst he could feel his heart begin to pump fast for an entirely different reason. The avian looked beautiful in Scar's eyes. His hair tossled and messy, probably from his flight over, but still gorgeous. His eyes shining with mirth, even though it was at Scar's expense. His red button down shirt closely matched the colour of his wings and fit him nicely. Grian was perfect and Scar wanted to savour that moment forever.
But things like that never lasted long enough and soon they were moving into the restaurant and being seated. All the nerves that had been plaguing Scar since this afternoon, and had initially vanished when Grian scared him half to death, were back in full swing now that they were seated across from one another. Scar was more than willing to admit to himself that he hadn't been on many, if any, dates in his life and he wasn't sure what to do.
He reached for the napkin that sat under his utensils and started to fiddle with it. Any other time, with any other person, doing something like this would have been easy for him, he was sure. Scar knew he was a pretty confident person usually and he knew how to appear like one, even if he was nervous, to anyone around. Yet with Grian it seemed different. Like he didn't have to have a mask of confidence, of salesman pitches or someone that knew what they were doing, and it was startling to realised that without that mask he was a nervous wreck.
Dinner passed by pleasantly as their conversations remained light. The crowd of patrons around them meant they couldn't talk about certain topics and for now Scar was thankful. He was much too nervous to talk about anything much deeper right now but he wanted to.
It wasn't until after dinner that he wasn't sure what to do. They both stood outside the restaurant, in the cool night air, and Scar felt directionless. They had had a lovely meal that Scar couldn't remember actually tasting because he was so nervous.
"Do you want to go for a walk?" Grian asked from next to him and Scar startled slightly. He wasn't expecting the night to go any longer but he was more than happy to jump on board.
"I'd love to!" He said it with maybe too much enthusiasm but Grian just chuckled as he lead the way to a nearby park.
"So," Grian said as they walked through one of the well lit park squares, full of trees and walking paths. Scar knew that there couldn't be any monsters nearby, not with how light it was anyway, but he kept his eyes out for anything of the sort regardless. "Can I ask you a hero-esk question?"
"Oh," he was caught off guard for a second but put on a smile as he turned more towards Grian, giving the avian his full attention, "of course, of course, ask away." He gestured for Grian to go ahead and continued to smile. It wasn't a hard thing for him to do when faced with the avian before him.
"I've always been curious about where the name Hot Guy came from?" Grian tilted his head to the side in question and Scar held back a coo at how cute he found the avian.
"Well, initially it was meant to be Hawkeye, because I'm really good with a bow," Scar shrugged as he turned his gaze away for the next part, feeling a little embarrassed, "And, well, I think some people got it to start with but, um, I'm dyslexic and I think people just mistook it for Hot Guy."
Scar could see Grian tilt his head the other way, from the corner of his eye, as the avian thought about what he had said. It wasn't long before Grian came to a conclusion.
"I can see that," Grian chuckled as he moved more into Scar's view, a mischieveious smile stretched across the avians face. "Hey, Scar, can you say Hawkeye and Hot Guy for me."
Scar opened his mouth to do just that but shut it quickly afterwards. He wasn't afraid of Grian laughing about this, even Scar could admit it was pretty funny and he wasn't upset about being called Hot Guy either, but he didn't want to give Grian the satisfaction of being correct. So he kept his mouth shut and shook his head slightly as that mischievous grin seemed to spread wider on Grian's face before the avian crackled into laughter.
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up." Scar joined in as they continued down the path. There wasn't anyone nearby, not that Scar could see anyway, so he decided to ask his own hero question when Grian's mirth died down a little. "So why Watcher?"
"Oh, um, it's a little hard to explain." Grian shifted his wings, ruffling them and making them seem a little bigger. It hit Scar then that maybe Grian didn't want to talk about that yet and Scar was fine with that.
"You don't have to say," Scar interrupted quickly, watching as the puffed up feathers flattened out again, "just figured I'd ask about that instead of, like, how your powers work or something."
Grian chuckled as he shoved his hands into his pockets, looking up at the sky. His dark eyes reflected nearby lights and reminded Scar of the same night sky Grian was looking at. "No, turn about is fair play. It's just something I've never had to explain before."
"Well, you don't have to," Scar reminded him, "it really doesn't bother me if you don't want to say. I'd much rather know what your favourite colour is, or your favourite type of flower. Or, if we are sticking to hero questions while no one's here, then why did you become a hero in the first place?"
"Oh," Grian seemed genuinely stunned as he looked back at Scar, "Well, I became a hero because of my brother, mainly. Don't tell him that though, he'll get a bigger head than he already has."
Scar stayed silent as he listened to Grian talk, watching the way his face lit up at the mention of his brother and the softness that overtook his features. It made Scar want to melt into a puddle right where they were standing.
"He's always been so easy to bully," Grian continued, a fond smile overtaking his face, "a little to oblivious to what's happening around him I think, and so when we were younger I would protect him as much as I could. He's always had the bigger heart of the two of us, always wanted to help those around him and for the most part I was just dragged along." Grian paused as he turned back to the stars above and let out a content little sigh. "It was probably the best thing to have happened when he decided we should be hero's. He gets into so much trouble, gets hurt a lot too. But the amount of people that we get to help, that smile at us after saving them or even just simply helping them carry shopping bags, it's one of the best feelings I've ever experienced."
Without thought Scar reached for Grian's hand, a soft smile stretched across his face. When Grian didn't pull his hand away Scar squeezed it lightly, feeling the same pressure on his own hand a second later, "I get that."
Grian smiled at him and they stayed like that for a long moment, basking in the warmth that being a hero gave them, and each others presence. "Thank you, for tonight," Grian began to walk again, not letting go of Scar's hand, "I really enjoyed it."
"Yeah, me too." Scar responded, even if his mood was dipping with the idea that they would have to part ways soon. He shook his head to clear those thoughts and focused on the now. The warmth of their hands, the softness of Grian's smile, the pleasantly calm night that surrounded the two. It was perfect and Scar couldn't wait until they could do this again.
They reached the end of the path too quickly in Scar's opinion, finally back to civilisation and the loud noise of the city without the trees as a barrier. Scar sighed as they turned to each other. Tonight may be over but there was always others, he supposed.
"I hope you want to do this again, because I sure do," Scar said as confidently as he could, "I really loved tonight."
A faint blush crawled across Grian's face and Scar found the avian to be too cute for proper words. He wished he could take a photo of that blush and save it forever.
"Yeah, I'd really like that." Grian answered as he looked down at their joined hands and gave them a squeeze before letting go completely. Scar felt the loss immediately and wished they didn't have to end their night here but he knew they had to. Both of them had things to do in the morning and so Scar took a slight step back to give himself some space, so as not to grab Grian and not let the avian go again.
"Good," Scar nodded to himself and waved his hand kind of pathetically. He wanted to pull Grian in and kiss the avian but knew that he shouldn't do that. It was only their first official date so far, "I will be bothering you for when you are free next but for now I must say good night."
Grian chuckled again, sending Scar's heart into overdrive with how much he enjoyed the sound of it, and the avian nodded back, "Alright. I'll see you soon, Scar."
And with that Grian was off, waving one last time, as he beat his wings and began to float into the sky before soaring off into the distance. Scar watched with rapt attention at the way the wings flexed with each down beat, how the muscles in Grian's back shifted, it was mesmerising but also intriguing. Scar couldn't wait until he could, maybe... potentially, use his own new wings to do something similar. Maybe Grian would even be willing to help teach him how to use them properly.
But for now he had to get home so he could pester Grian again tomorrow and see about date number two and maybe some flying instructions. Maybe he would even get to meet the brother that had made Grian a hero. Scar couldn't wait.
Scar could readily admit that Grian distracted him daily. For days Scar had been meaning to talk with the avian about maybe getting some tips on flying, his wings had stopped growing a while ago now and a feeling of restlessness started to overtake him. Yet he hadn't managed to ask, too focused on finding out all he could about the avian he was bound too.
Which lead Scar to where he was now.
It wasn't often that he would cross paths with another hero and they would stick together but today he had spotted Canary. The light brown wings stood out against the yellow of his costume and it reminded Scar of his own hidden wings and how they itched for something he had never felt before.
It wasn't long before Scar was chatting with Canary about them, the hero having already seen them weeks ago. He was one of the few other person that knew about the wings and, other than Grian, the only other avian that he knew. Which was why Scar wanted to talk to him.
"Canary, hello there!" Scar shouted from a rooftop over. He watched the hero jump and turn to the sound of his voice.
"Hot Guy, hi?" The greeting came out more like a question and Scar chuckled as he moved closer to the edge so he wouldn't have to shout as much. Canary did the same before he seemed to think better of it and just glided over to where Scar was instead.
"I wanted to ask you for some advice," Scar let his wings out of their pocket dimension and shook them out. They always felt so cramped in, especially now that they were bigger, and it was always a relief to have them in the open air.
"Wow, they've really grown since last time." Canary said as he circled around Scar to take a better look at his wings. "Have you tried flying with them yet? They look fully developed."
"Well, that's what I wanted advice for," Scar stretched the wings as far as they would go, feeling the nice burn it brought before relaxing them back into place, "I've never really flown before, so I don't have the first clue what I'm doing."
"Hmm," Canary came back around to face him, "okay, it might be best to try hovering first and see how we go from there."
Scar copied Canary as they went through multiple different exercises and by the end of it Scar was pretty happy with his progress, even if his wings burned from so much use after never doing anything like it before. It was nice though, he got along with Canary really well and they both shared a laugh every time he failed something. It was a nice evening, even if they had forgotten their hero duty it had been a slow day for crime so neither of them were truly worried about it.
"You're pretty good for a newbie," Canary said as they rested on the edge of the building and stared down at the quiet streets below, "I bet Gr- Watcher would love to see your progress. Might even be jealous that I got to teach you and he didn't."
Scar chuckled and leaned forward, his arms resting on his thighs. "Maybe." He wasn't about to tell Canary, or Grian for that matter, that Grian was too much of a distraction for him to learn from.
"Anyway, I better get going," Canary said as he stood up, standing close to the edge of the building, "bye, Hot Guy!"
And Canary was gone, soaring off around the buildings and leaving Scar by himself. It gave him plenty of time to think as he flexed his sore wings and decided to put them away. Maybe he could practice in the nearby square when it wasn't so crowded. Or the forest on the edge of the city, though he would have to be extra cautious about the monster over there. In any case he needed to practice in order to not get so winded so quickly, and maybe he would be able to show off to Grian the next time they saw one another.
He had gotten much better with his wings over the next few days and the itch that seemed to encompass them constantly died quickly when he began to fly properly. It was nice to just stretch his wings out and not have to worry about the monsters below in the forest as he shot them from above. It was very effective and Scar had fun as he practiced.
But the fun never lasted long with his line of work.
He did manage to show Grian his progress though. It had happened when Scar had been practicing in the forest at night, the monsters much more active than in the day time.
There was a tingling sensation that ran down the back of his neck that he hadn't felt before and it gave him pause as he glided atop the trees. That was until he spotted a creeper not far off and focused on that instead. He notched his arrow and flew down fast, aiming straight at the creepers head. It didn't have a chance to react as the arrow inbedded itself in the creeper and the monster died instantly. Scar much prefered this method of fighting them as his hits killed any monster with one shot and didn't suffer longer than necessary.
He crowed into the night air in victory as he landed with as much grace as he could, which wasn't much considering he had only been using his wings for a short time now. He picked up his used arrow to see if it was broken or not and sighed as he noticed that it was, in fact, broken. He tossed it aside as he gave the clearing a quick once over for any other monsters potentially lurking in the dark.
"Nice shot, Hot Guy." A voice called from the forest and made Scar jump in fright as he whipped around to find the source. A familiar melodic laugh rang through the forest and Scar knew it was Grian in the trees somewhere.
"Oh my gosh, you scared me, Grian." He stood with his hands on his hips as he squinted at the forest where he thought Grian was hiding. "You come out here right now, mister!"
Silence stretched on for a moment and Scar had enough time to second guess himself the longer Grian didn't show up.
"You called." Grian's voice whispered in his ear and he once again jumped in fright. When he turned around Grian was right behind him with a grin on his face like the Cheshire cat, he stumbled back a step as he leaned over to catch his breath and slow his heart rate down a notch or two.
"Do you enjoy giving me a heart attack?" Scar asked as he took a few deep breaths before he looked back up at Grian, whose head was cocked to the side in thought.
"I'd think I would know if you had a heart attack, Scar." The avian said it with a wave of his hand, he didn't appear fussed at all at the thought, but that sentence struck Scar with something awful. He had done so much research about soul bonds when he was younger, always having a fascination with the magic behind them, that he never acknowledged the glaring end of most soul bonds. When one died, so did the other.
He felt tears prick the corner of his eyes and he had to glance away from Grian or else he was going to let them loose. They had time, Scar knew that, but he also knew that most soulbound couldn't and wouldn't live long after their bond was broken. He didn't want to unintentionally hurt someone, especially Grian, with something he couldn't control. Soul bonds were always so romanticized in media that the truth of them was much harder to swallow than Scar realised.
"Hey," Grian called, his hand pulling Scar's face to look at him, the avian much smaller than Scar and so had to look up at him, "what's wrong?"
"I just-" I love you, he wanted to say but he held off. "I don't want to hurt you." He said instead, the tears escaping and falling down his face.
"Oh, Scar," Grian said, a sad and soft smile on his face, "I don't care about that."
Scar shook his head but leaned into Grian's touch as the avian swiped a thumb under his eye.
"I only care about you, Scar," Grian said as he pulled Scar closer and wrapped and arm around his waist. Scar leaned down and buried his face in Grian's shoulder, his arms wrapping around Grian to keep the avian close, and breathed in the scent of him. It calmed Scar down much more than he thought as he felt small hands run up and down his back in comfort, "You don't need to worry about any of that, okay?"
Scar mumbled an okay and melted into the embrace. It was the first time they had been this close before and Scar loved the feeling of warmth as Grian's wings enclosed the two of them. Scar moved back enough to look at Grian and he felt the love that overwhelmed his whole body as he saw the smile on the avians face.
Grian's smile widened as Scar watched it, enchanted by just how lovely it looked. He couldn't take his eyes off Grian's lips and as Grian licked them Scar shuddered with a want he hadn't felt in a long time.
They were both silent for a moment before Grian broke the silence. "Are you going to kiss me?" The avian asked, making Scar jump with guilt.
"Um," Scar glanced at Grian's eyes, mesmerized by how dark they were and how they always seemed to sparkle with mirth, "do you want to?" Before Grian could even reply Scar could feel himself begin to ramble a bit. Sue him, he was nervous. "Because i would very much like to, have for a while now. You're just so beautiful I'm surprised more people aren't lining up to kiss you too. You could have anyone you want and they would 100% say yes."
"Scar," his name came out of Grian's mouth as more of a laugh than anything else. The avian's face was flushed almost as red as his feathers and jumper. It was a sight Scar wanted to see more often and he chuckled to himself as he leaned closer to Grian's lips, "come here already."
With that Grian grabbed the hair at the base of his skull and pulled him into a kiss. It felt like nothing he had ever felt before, the softness of Grian's mouth, the mingling of their magic, the warmth that surrounded them both. It was too much in that moment but Scar never wanted it to stop.
They needed air though and eventually had to pull back from each other. Scar couldn't help the wide grin that overtook his face in the face of Grian's own. They laughed softly together as they leaned against each others forehead, not once letting each other go.
The tell tale groan of a zombie forced them to pull away as it grew closer. Grian laughed as he pulled out his sword and swung at the monster and Scar watched on for a moment before he pulled out his own sword. Where there was one zombie there was more, they always worked in hords.
It didn't take them long to dispatch the monsters and soon they were both panting with exertion and wiping sweat from their faces.
"I'm glad I got to meet you, Scar," Grian said as he stored his sword away, "No matter what happens, I'm glad."
Scar stored his own sword and pulled Grian into another hug. He had kept his wings out during that fight and now used them like Grian had earlier and wrapped the two of them up in his feathers. Scar put both his hands on Grian's face, cradling it as gently as possible as he leaned down, his lips inches from Grian's.
"Im glad too." He said and immediately kissed the avian with everything he had. He might not have the courage to say he loved Grian yet but he hoped his kiss would convey what he couldn't yet say. He pulled back and mumbled against the others mouth, not wanting to pull away too far, "I'm really, truly, unbelievably happy that we met."
"Me too." Grian sighed and they leaned back in. The forest around them silent apart from their breathing and the loud beating of their hearts.
A new villain had started to make themselves known recently and Scar wasn't sure how to feel about this one. He had known the villain when they had been a hero and it hurt to see that fall from grace, knowing it could happen to anyone.
It also meant that Scar held back any time he encountered the villain himself, he didn't want to hurt a friend but also knew he would need to if he wanted to end the fights anytime soon.
They had only fought twice so far, both times ending quickly, but the next one was different. Scar was the first on the scene which meant that he was also there to witness the new villain, now known as The Red King, as he blew up the side of a building. It thankfully didn't come down but Scar wasn't sure it would stay standing for much longer if he didn't intervene. Which is exactly what he did, being a hero and all.
The fight was slow going, neither one of them able to get the upper hand on the other. Scar had fought the King when they had been both hero's and they were on much more even ground back then. Now the villain was really showing that he had improved and it caused something in Scar to ache fiercely.
The Red King brought his axe down on Scar and Scar had to respond in kind by blocking it with his sword. They were in much too close combat for Scar to get any kind distance to use his bow and he knew it was because The King knew that the fight would be finished already if Scar had that choice of weapon.
"You should join me, laddie," the King's voice rang in his ears and the familiarity of it was so much harder to ignore.
"You know I can't do that, King." Scar shook his head and panted from exertion. The fight was going on for too long now and he knew that the villain had called for back up earlier, so it was only a matter of time before that arrived. He needed to be gone by then.
"It's the Red King now." The villain sneered with a vicious swipe of his axe that caught Scar off guard and he was unable to block in time. It nicked his forearm and blood soon welled up around the new cut. Scar grit his teeth at the pain, knowing that Grian would have felt that one and willing his soulbound to ignore it for now.
"You don't have to do this, you know." Scar wanted to shout and curse. The King had been his friend, they had fought together multiple times but this man before him, he seemed like a completely different person now. It was like the guy he knew before was just a dream and the one in front of him was the daunting reality.
"Oh, but I do." The Red King's voice was so sinister it sent a shiver down Scar's back. This wasn't going to be a pleasant fight at all.
A few more cuts appeared on the both of them as the fight continued and, at some point, Grian joined him. The avian knocked an arrow into the King and sent the villain stumbling backwards. It gave Scar enough time to get some distance between them so that he could join his soulbound and gain enough distance to use his arrows again. Which he was thankful for because as soon as moved away more villains entered the scene. It was complete chaos but Scar was optimistic, for a little while at least.
That was until Scar winced when he felt an arrow cut his arm shallowly. He ignored it as he fired his own, returning the favour, and did a quick count of his left over arrow. He seemed to have plenty of them and, as he pulled another arrow out of his quiver, he felt something imbed into his shoulder. He glanced down quickly to assess the damage only to see no arrow and turned to Grian in shock when his soulbound let out a sound of pain. The arrow was in Grian's shoulder and not his own.
Scar quickly glanced at where the arrow came from and saw the knowing glint in The King's eyes. It sent a shudder down Scar's back as he notched his own arrow to shoot. His shot went wide as a spasming pain rolled down his back. The phantom feeling of his wings fluttered in the pocket dimension where he kept them when fighting. When he looked over at Grian he knew then what had happened.
He could see Grian a little ways from him, one of his wings was hanging limp behind him and the enchantment he used to disguise himself was flashing in and out. They were both loosing energy and Scar didn't know how much longer they could last against the Red King and his subjects. Especially when it seemed as though they were all targeting Grian now, who couldn't fly away, and whenever his soulbound moved that shuddering pain ran down his back.
It was looking bleaker by the second, the cuts and bruises, the aches and pains everything was so much worse this time. Scar soon couldn't tell what was his pain and what was Grian's, everything seemed to be amplified.
He realised in that moment that this had to stop, this dual pain was nearing on blinding now. Scar knew they wouldn't survive this again, if they even did this time. One sensation of pain was already so much and, adding to it with his life nearly always on the line, it was a lot to deal with but he could do it. Now though, now was different. It wasn't only his life anymore, it wasn't only his pain anymore. He wasn't alone anymore and it frightened him.
He couldn't stop fighting right now though but he knew that this had to be the last time he fought like this. With that decision in mind he knew he wasn't going to hurt Grian anymore after this fight, if he could help it. The avian deserved better than that.
It was why he made the choices he did.
The police sirens were wailing just further down the street and that left everyone distracted. Enough that Scar released his wings and grab Grian, pulling the avian close to his chest and wincing at the way his arm caused pain to shoot through Grian's injured wing. But he didn't have time for that, he was used to working though a stupid amount of pain, and they had a real possibility of getting killed if he didn't power through it.
His take off into the sky was shaky but he was filled with the need to get his soulbound out of there and quickly. There were shouts from the Red King that he ignored as he flew as fast as he could around the nearly toppled building and then further still. He needed Grian safe, it was the only thought in his mind in that moment.
He nearly dropped from the sky as most of the pain vanished in an instant and Scar frantically looked down at Grian in concern. The avian was lax in Scar's hold but he could see that Grian's chest was still moving. Scar let out a relieved sob as he continued to fly away from where the fight was, and then had to correct himself so that he flew in the direction if the hosptial.
It didn't take him long to get there and the staff immediately took Grian away. It's for the best, Scar told himself as he watched them wheel his soulbound away, he'll be safer here, without me.
It didn't make his chest and heart hurt any less and he waved away any of the staff that tried to attend to him. He had only gotten small cuts, other than the gash on his forearm, but nothing that needed a hosptial for. He then left the building behind, flying away on shaky wings, and managed to get back to his house somehow.
The back door opened with little hassle and he grabbed the closest regen potion he could find, drinking it down in one go. He didn't want Grian in more pain when the avian woke so he took care of his injuries, washing away the blood and sweat that covered his body.
He soon fell to his knees, his vision blurry with tears and his breath more like quick pants, as the events finally caught up with him. The King knew and had specifically gone after Grian. The avian probably won't be flying for a least a week with his injuries. Scar was the cause of so many of Grian's pains now days.
A terrible thought occured to Scar, as he curled up into a ball on the floor and, he knew what he had to do. It might just break him but he knew it wouldn't be the death of both him and Grian, so it was worth a shot.
Scar kind of regretted ever meeting Grian.
Okay, no he didn't. He could never regret meeting Grian, the avians smile and laugh was like no one else's and Scar could listen to it all day. But having the soul bond made things very complicated.
Especially when they were so bound to one another that Grian felt all the damage he took when he was doing hero work. He had never been rash with his own life but, now that it was bound to another, he felt the needed to be much more careful. Which was tough for him.
The fight against The King had definitely opened up Scar eyes to the danger they were really in with all the soul bond and hero stuff. He was sure Grian also knew that the same as he did, maybe the avian had known all along and Scar was just too obtuse to notice it.
It was because Scar had taken damage that day and caused Grian to stumble in shock. That stumble had led the avian to take a lot of damage that day and had almost got the both of them killed.
Grian stayed in the hostpal after that for two weeks, more than Scar had initially thought but bird bones were much more fragile than he had thought and needed to be properly set for them to heal. Nursing a broken wing, some badly bruised ribs, and too many puncture wounds from arrows. Scar felt that he had been the cause of his soulbound almost dying, so he wasn't truly expecting to ever see the avian again.
But just after a week later Grian was out of the hosptial, he did. Though it was probably for the last time.
When Scar found the avian, Grian was perched on the top of a building and dressed in his Watcher costume. Scar flew up the building and landed next to Grian but didn't say a word. Neither spoke for a few moments, they just watched the city move slowly below them. It felt similar to the first time Scar met his soul bound and that realisation was what got him to talk, though he never wanted to have this conversation he knew it needed to be said, even if it would hurt them both.
"I can't," Scar said as he tucked his wings firmly to his back, the words getting stuck in his throat, Grian tilted his head at Scar in curiosity, "I can't be a hero anymore."
"What?!" Grian stood up, staring down at where Scar sat hunched in on himself. Scar couldn't bring himself to look at his soulbound, he didn't want to know what kind of face the other was making, or if the avian knew what else Scar was going to say.
"If I stop being a hero," Scar paused to suck in a shuddering breath as he tried to plow forward with what he needed to say, "then you don't have to." Scar hugged his legs to his chest tighter and curled his wings around himself. He hadn't had the wings for long, not really, but they brought a sort of comfort that he needed right now. "If I don't get hurt then you can be a better hero because we can't both be hero's anymore."
"Scar," Grian's voice came out small and sad, he placed a hand on top of Scar's wing and brushed his fingers through the feathers, "You don't have to do that for me. You were a hero before I was."
"Exactly," Scar turned his sad eyes to Grian. He may love being a hero but there were other things he loved more, even if it hadn't been said out loud, "that means I've had my fill and now you can."
"Scar." It was all Grian could say as Scar opened up his wings for Grian to join and he did, feeling the wing cover Grian as the avian leaned into Scar's side. They stayed like that until the sun rose, safe in the cocoon of warmth. Scar wanted to stay like this longer, but he had already been greedy just having this moment.
He could feel that his eyes were wet with tears but Grian didn't say anything about it, thankfully, as he turned to look at Grian's face in the morning light. He drew his wings back and Grian moved back without the need to be asked to, sensing that Scar needed the space.
"I love you, you know." Scar said as he stood up and shook out his limbs, wings included. He gazed across the city as he felt his heart already fracturing in his chest before he even continued. "But I think this might be harder if we keep seeing each other."
Grian stood frozen as the words washed over him and Scar couldn't take it any longer. He pushed off from the building and was in the air in seconds. The wind harsh but drying his tears as he flew away.
He was leaving his soulbound behind and it was the hardest thing Scar thought he had ever done and would probably ever do in his life. He could feel his heart cracking as he tried to make his way home and he couldn't do anything about it. He had caused so much pain already, what was more on top of everything else he had done.
When he finally made it home he felt numb, even if he was experiencing any sort of feeling he wouldn't be able to tell with how dead he felt inside. But he had done this hadn't he? He was the one that had broken what they had. And he would face the pain of it alone, like he deserved.
Scar curled up in his bed, his wings a dead weight on top of him, as he cried. He wondered when things would stop hurting, if they ever did at all.