Work Text:
Scar was flying.
It was amazing– his wings were huge, filling up the whole sky when he turned his head either side to look at them. He was so high off the ground, and saw a large swathe of desert expanding out from beneath him. It was nice and warm, up here.
He was free.
There was nothing dangerous up here in the sky, no bloodlust, no betrayal, no fighting, nothing . Nothing but an endless expanse of blue. And clouds. And…floating rocks, apparently.
Not bothering to think twice about it, he swerved between the rocks with a practiced precision, tucking his wings in tight to dive. The wind brushed his face as he zoomed towards the grass (wasn’t it sand just before?) and he pulled up with a breathless laugh.
He brushed a leaf off of his red sweater. (wait, what?)
Faces flashed by, people standing in the sky (?), some of them even familiar. Mumbo, Pearl, Jimmy, himself, Mar–
Wait, what?
As he locked eyes with the other Scar standing there in the sky, something twinged deep in his chest and he woke with a start.
Scar blinked a few times, staring at the walls of the wooden base Grian had finished building for them yesterday. When he looked over at his soulmate (it still felt a bit weird to say), he saw the man still fast asleep, wings twitching.
Almost as if he was having a wonderful dream about flying.
Scar scowled. Stupid dream. Stupid soulbound making me have the same dream as him.
The first rays of dawn shone through the open door. Scar shivered, pulling the blankets closer around him, missing the warmth of– of what?
It’s not like the desert. It doesn’t get cold enough here at night to warrant a good snuggle. They’re in separate beds– he doesn’t know why that makes him feel…not sad, exactly, but almost like something’s not quite right, but in a way that never was quite right in the first place, but like it was the only right they knew.
He will admit, he kinda misses the warmth. Especially since Last life. It was cold up on that mountain, all alone. His magic crystals couldn’t do much to help in that aspect. (Did they ever really help at all?)
Scar shook his head, as if to get rid of the train of thought, and got up. There wasn’t much point in lying around, not in this game. He may as well get up and be productive.
– – –
Ok, so maybe sitting in the panda sanctuary, back pressed up against the warm fur of a lounging Jellie panda wasn’t exactly being productive, but what was anyone gonna do about it?
It was what he deserved after gathering logs for Grian, for what felt like hours the day before.
Almost as if the thought summoned him (maybe it had– he didn’t know yet what these soulbounds could be capable of), Grian stepped out of the base. Eyes still half-closed with tiredness, he stretched, wings opening wide either side of him. Scar stamped down the feelings of envy stirring in his stomach– just leftover feelings from their shared dream.
“Mornin’ Scar,” Grian greeted, yawning.
Scar watched him come through the gates of the panda reserve. “Had a nice dream, Grian?” He asked, with a hint of bitterness in his tone.
Grian paused. “...Sorry?”
“Did you have a nice dream,” Scar repeated, getting to his feet. The Jellie panda whined mournfully as he got up, and he fed it some bamboo with a comforting pat.
“Yeah? I guess?” Grian said, obviously confused as to why Scar would be asking about that.
“Yeah it sure felt nice when I was also having that dream,” he muttered, just loud enough for Grian to hear.
If Grian was surprised to know that sharing dreams was a thing that can apparently happen with the soulbound, he didn’t show it.
“...Ok...Why do you sound so…upset? About that?”
And Scar–
Scar didn’t really know.
“Just surprising, that’s all,” he said casually. “It was weird seeing myself in your dr– aww, wait, you dream about me, Grian? That’s so sweet!” Grian rolled his eyes at the cheeky grin Scar gave him.
“Alright, whatever.” Scar watched him start rummaging through his inventory and knew that the conversation had ended.
Grian pulled out some pieces of paper and held them out to Scar. “Right then,” he said as Scar grabbed them. “Remember the plan we were discussing last night? Go around selling the paper.”
Scar saluted. “Yes sir,” he replied, without the usual brightness in his tone.
“I probably wouldn’t go to Timmy and Tango, seeing as you burnt down the ranch yesterday, but maybe the, uhh, the boat boys? You might be able to get something good out of them, uhh let’s see…in the meantime, I’ll be…”
As he went on and on about the plans for today, Scar zoned out and absentmindedly scratched at a feather just behind his ear. It hadn’t been there yesterday. He’s also pretty sure Grian’s teeth hadn’t been this sharp yesterday.
Huh. Grian never mentioned there’d be physical side effects of the soulbounds. (Maybe he had. Maybe Scar hadn’t been listening.)
Maybe he’ll have wings by the end of this.
(He will, and they’ll only be small, but even if they weren’t, they could never help him escape the inevitable echo of that shriek reverberating through his skull in the middle of that cold, snowy forest.)
Scar brought his attention back to reality, and realized Grian was staring at him, eyebrows raised expectantly.
“Oh, I wasn’t listening,” Scar said breezily. “Mind repeating whatever you just said?” He smiled to himself as Grian rolled his eyes again. Maybe he should start a new game: how many times can he make Grian roll his eyes at him in one day. Work on getting a new record, or something.
“You know what? I don’t think I will,” Grian said. He said it as a joke, Scar could tell. He knew the man well enough at this point– but there was a hint, a little sliver of genuine annoyance simmering under his skin. Faint enough to know that it wasn’t his emotion.
Scar gave Grian a flat look and shrugged. “Suit yourself.” Usually he’d play along, act offended or whatever. He just…didn’t really feel like it. Not right now.
He could probably guess where his soulmate was heading off to anyway.
Grian stared at him for a moment, frowning slightly in concern. He looked like he was about to say something, then obviously decided against it and started walking out of the sanctuary.
“I’ll see you later– remember to sell the paper!” He called out to Scar as he left.
Scar followed him with his eyes until the man was out of sight, and sighed. The warning Bdubs had given him yesterday flashed through his mind. Grian was by earlier, all I can say is just– just be careful, in that relationship. He knew Bdubs and Impulse were just trying to stir up some drama between soulmates, Scar wasn’t a fool, but thinking about it now…
It’s fine though, it’s fine. He’ll find Pearl tomorrow– it’ll be cold in the powdered snow. Maybe they’ll have a snowball fight. Maybe it’ll be fun.
His thoughts drifted back to the dream, to the pure freedom he had felt in it. He frowned as a vague memory surfaced in his mind, blurry and barely there. A sensation of flying, perfectly normal, with stolen wings from a city in the void, the scent of gunpowder in his nose. A different world.
Not here, though. Not in this game.
The faint memories only brought yet another twinge of envy, causing Scar to sigh. He glanced down at the paper in his hand and walked out of the panda reserve, ignoring the phantom feelings of wings at his back and the ghost of warmth blossoming in his chest. None of it was his, after all.
– – –
After failing to sell any paper, Scar was by the Red Velvet Keep, rummaging through the donations people had left at the panda sanctuary. Nothing too special, but better than nothing at all. He still couldn’t shake the memory of the dream. It was like a nagging feeling in his chest, growing more painful as time went on.
At some point Grian returned to the base. Scar watched his wings, red feathers fluttering in the gentle breeze. (Scar pretended to not notice him putting a bunch of cookies in a chest by his bed.)
When Grian’s mouth started moving, saying something to him, Scar just kept staring at his wings, head still in the clouds.
“...Do you want me to take you for a fly?”
Scar was pulled out of his thoughts with a jolt. “...Huh?”
“Do you want me to take you for a fly around the server,” Grian repeated, enunciating each word.
“...How did you know I–”
“Scar, we’re bonded,” Grian interrupted, somewhat impatiently. “I can literally feel the longing in your chest every time you look at my wings.”
Ah.
“Uhh– yeah, sure…now?” Scar questioned, at the same time Grian started walking away, beckoning for him to follow.
“I don’t see why not.”
– – –
The two of them stood on the edge of the ravine just outside their base.
Scar caught a gleam of giddy anticipation in Grian’s eyes as he stretched, which made sense. There was no way he’d do all of this just for Scar. Grian was obviously just as excited to get to use his wings as Scar was to get even a passenger seat ride.
He took his bag off and set it down gently, giving Jellie a little scratch under the chin before turning to face Grian.
“Wait a minute,” Scar exclaimed, struck by a sudden thought. He pointed a finger at Grian accusingly. “I thought your wings didn’t work in these games.”
His soulmate shrugged, looking slightly awkward. “Well, I mean, they technically do, it’s not like they’re broken or anything, but…it wouldn’t really be fair to use them, would it?”
Scar tilted his head. “Good point.”
“But I mean, nothing’s really happening right now, so I suppose a little fly wouldn’t hurt,” Grian’s dark eyes flicked between looking at Scar and glancing around at the rest of the server. He took a step towards Scar and held his arms out as if offering a hug, but with his palms facing up.
“Come on, then.”
Considering Scar was quite a bit taller than Grian, it was slightly awkward for the man to wrap his arms around Scar’s, crossing them over his chest.
Scar furrowed his brows. “Are you actually gonna be able to carr– WAAHHHHAHOOHO!” He screamed, his question abruptly cut off as Grian launched himself off the edge with a laugh.
They plummeted for a second, the water rising to meet them rapidly, before Grian’s wings snapped open.
And suddenly they were flying.
And it felt amazing.
Grian must’ve felt a flash of excitement from Scar, because as Scar glanced up at him, he grinned.
“This what you wanted?” Grian yelled. It was difficult to hear him over the combined sounds of the wind, his wings beating, and a nearby stream of water falling into the ravine.
Scar just gave a thumbs up in reply, his breath taken away by the wind and exhilaration. His arms were already starting to ache from the awkward angle he was being carried, but that didn’t matter.
It was just like the dream.
It was even better than the dream. It was real.
Scar may not be the one with the wings this time, that element of control isn’t there, but that’s ok. He–
He trusted Grian.
Scar frowned slightly at the realization while Grian flew out of the ravine and into the sky. He probably shouldn’t, you shouldn’t really trust anyone in these games, and, well, Grian hasn’t exactly proven to be the most trustworthy person.
But with the faint tug of an invisible string between both of their hearts and the wind blowing through both of their hair, Scar trusted Grian. For this moment, at least.
Mainly because if he drops me, he also dies, he told himself, as if that was the only reason.
Scar inhaled deeply, savoring the smell and the taste of freedom. Up here, there wasn’t the faint smell of smoke lingering to the west, signaling revenge to come in the near future. Without being able to see the border from here, the sky seemed like it went on for eternity, the whole world in their reach, at their fingertips. Scar felt as if he reached out a hand, it could brush against the soft clouds dotting the sky.
He felt gravity tugging at his legs, but Grian’s arms were strong. If Scar tried to block out the sensation of being carried, he could almost pretend he wasn’t bound by anything, wasn’t weighed down by the Earth at all. Wasn’t weighed down by the inevitable bloodlust, the betrayal, the fighting, all waiting for them down on the ground.
None of that existed up here, not yet.
At some point Scar glanced back up at Grian again, taking note of the look of genuine contentment on his soulmate’s face.
He hadn’t seen that look on Grian for a while. Probably not since the desert.
It was a nice look.
As they soared over the server, the Box only just visible in the distance to their right, Grian shifted his hold on Scar, and he glanced back at the movement. Grian smirked at him.
“You have no idea how much I wanna drop you right now,” he commented.
Scar instinctively curled in on himself slightly, despite knowing that would never happen. “Hey, nononono, if you do that you’ll only kill yourself as well!” His tone was light, with only a tiny bit of panic.
Grian chuckled. “Yeahhh,” he sang, swerving around once they reached the border. “That’s the only thing stopping me.”
Scar rolled his eyes. (They both knew it wasn’t.)
A comfortable silence stretched out between them, and they flew like that, for what felt like simultaneously a few moments and a few hours.
It was cold up in the sky. But the warmth of Grian’s arms hooked under his and Grian’s chest pressing against the back of his head were more than enough to make him feel like everything was ok, even for just this moment.