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“Slow down! Scar, we don't all have wheels!”
The man in question smiles, choosing not to slow down and lifting his arm to flip off the three following him instead.
Scar is quickly greeted in response with Lizzie’s screeching. “You incomprehensible face nugget!”
He could hear Jimmy laughing, Which Lizzie clearly doesn’t appreciate as it’s followed by another insult, “You… you’re all intolerable astronomy pastries!”
Scar holds back another chuckle back before stopping at the entrance to the gym. While watching his friends catch up, Scar thought about how long it’s been since they’ve all had fun together. Was it the dog treat prank? It’s been ages.
Grian catches up to Scar first, his smile wide, eyes sparkling as he leans down and plants a kiss on Scar’s cheek. “Lizzie’s decided that she’s going to destroy us all at every game we play.”
Scar rolls his eyes, confidence seeping into his voice as he speaks, “No way she can beat me in a swimming race.”
Grian leans against the wall and checks his watch. The watch Scar “bought” him. Scar feels proudness rise in his chest. “So, who are we waiting for now? I know Mumbo’s supposed to get here soon… What about everyone else?” Grian’s voice is impatient, his foot tapping against the concrete. That’s one thing Scar has learned about Grian, he’s impatient. Especially when it comes to doing fun things. Even if he’s not the most punctual himself.
Jimmy and Lizzie grab their phones, checking for messages from their invitees.
Jimmy’s first to speak. “Tango is wrangling Etho and Bdubs… as of ten minutes ago at least. Could be anywhere from a minute to an hour.”
Lizzie nods along, “Joel’s still trying to convince Gem to join. She keeps complaining about it being unprofessional or something.”
Scar furrows his brows. “Why did we invite her again?”
Lizzie shrugs. “Joel wanted to. Idk?”
“Hi guys! I finally got them to stop fighting over the water bottles.” Tango’s voice told a story of a ridiculous fight.
Lizzie glances at Jimmy, her voice quiet in comparison to the noise around them. “So a minute then?”
Jimmy nods, shrugging helplessly.
“Hey, it was a valid fight. I bought that water bottle before I met either of you. It’s mine.”
Bdubs promptly responds to that point, gesturing wildly as he tells Etho that it’s been communal for some time now-
Grian elbows Scar lightly. “Glad we’re nothing like that, eh?”
Scar raises an eyebrow at Grian. “Nothing? We fought over the bedsheets last night.”
Grian sighs. “Yeah, yeah. I was right though.”
Lizzie interrupts the two, her exasperation clear as she speaks, “Not you guys too…”
“We’d never.” Scar said playfully, a chuckle lightly escaping his lips.
A lull in conversation between the three lead Scar to looking towards Jimmy and Tango and the bickering couple.
Jimmy had run up to Tango as soon as the speedster had spoken and was now hanging off Tango like a clingy cat.
“When’s my boyfriend going to get here so I can ignore everyone else?” Lizzie’s playfully annoyed voice breaks the silence.
A second later, Lizzie’s phone begins ringing. As she picks it up, she gives Scar and Grian a glare that says ‘be quiet or I will murder you’.
“Hey babe- yes, most everyone’s here… No- why would you think that?... Love you, bye.”
Lizzie makes another exapsterated face. “So Joel’s got Gem in the car, but traffic is bad and apparently he thought he’d need to pay so he went back to the house to get money. But he’s on his way. Should be here soon”
Before Scar can respond, he’s interrupted by a nervous voice. “Grian! Sorry I’m late, Skizz insisted I bring something to you.”
Scar waves at Grian’s friend. “Hey Mumbo.”
The black haired man waves back, giving Scar an awkard grin before going to hand Grian a small envelope. “He said to open it when you get home.”
Grian nods, lightly placing the paper into his bag. “So… you haven’t met Liz yet, have you?”
Mumbo shakes his head. “Not yet.”
Lizzie, having glanced up from her phone at her name, extends her hand. “I”m Lizzie. Nice to meet you.”
Mumbo responds in kind before walking straight up to Scar. “So what did you think about the Bamboozler’s latest heist?”
Scar thinks for a moment, placing a hand under his chin before bursting out in laughter with Lizzie and Grian. And suddenly Scar is reminded how much he loves Grian’s laugh. It’s so… intense and happy and beautiful.
“It was amazing wasn’t it Liz?”
Through gasps of air and laughter Lizzie responds, “Yup. We did really good didn’t we?”
Mumbo nods. “It was really impressive- and you guys stole from someone who deserved it- In my opinion at least.”
Grian smirks, elbowing Scar once again. “Those billionaires suck. Glad I’m such a good influence… Oh that’s how this was paid for.”
Scar facepalms. “You just realized?”
Grian sticks his tongue out at Scar. “Well I just assumed you had other money just sitting around. Well, you probably do.”
Scar nods, “Yeah, you’re right. But billionaire blood money is the best type of money.”
Mumbo gives Scar a curious look. “Is it blood money if no blood is spilt?”
“That’s a great question actually. Let me look it up.” Lizzie joins in.
Scar thinks for a moment. “I mean, it’s illegally gained money. Which I guess would be blood money? Or does that fact that it came from a billionaire just make it legal?”
Grian raises an eyebrow. “I think it’s still pretty illegal.”
“No way. It’s totally legal.” Scar says, waving his hand dismissively towards Grian.
Lizzie adds on, “Yeah, everyone knows that guy stole all his money from someone else in the first place.”
Grian rubs his temple. “Still illegal.”
“Not if they didn’t get caught.” Mumbo says, making eye contact with Scar.
“Exactly, Mumbo gets it. He’s a very smart man.” Scar gives Mumbo a thumbs up.
Grian just sighs.
“Okay, so blood money has to be obtained through the loss of life for it to be blood money. So it’s more like… vauge annoyance to a rich man money.”
“Why are we talking about the definition of blood money?” Jimmy asks, having walked into the conversation at the perfect time.
Tango answer’s his boyfriend’s question. “Well, obviously they wanted to know if chef work gives you blood money.”
Grian shrugs. “Close enough.”
“Not close enough at all G! I wanted to know if our most recent heist was blood money.”
“Yeah, Scar’s right Grian.” Mumbo says, adoration filling his eyes.
Grian flips off the other vet. “Well, you’re just agreeing with him because you’re a massive fanboy.”
Scar smirks, flipping his hair. “How can you not be a massive fanboy of me?”
Grian rolls his eyes and Jimmy starts listing reasons.
After Jimmy’s eighth reason, the group is joined by Bdubs and Etho, who have evidently figured out the water bottle issue and have moved on to clinging onto eachother like their life depends on it.
Mumbo sighs dramatically after introducing himself to the newcomers. “I can’t believe I’m hanging out with some of the biggest names in town”
Scar smirks. “Well, you’ve got the friend of the best villain’s boyfriend card, don’t you?”
Before Mumbo can properly respond, Etho responds “Hey, you’re not the best villain, at best you’re fourth. After me, Bdubs and Tango.”
Jimmy rolls his eyes. “Aren’t you a little washed up to be the best Etho?”
Bdubs is quick to defend his boyfriend. “He’s hardly washed up- He’s a very good villain. Like me. Isn’t that right Tango?”
“No, Tango, agree with me. I’m your boyfriend, aren’t I?”
Tango makes a conflicted sound. Much like a cat that’s being forced to choose between a bath or claw clippers.
Lizzie jumps in with her opinion. “Doesn’t matter which of you guys is better, we all know I’m the best.”
Scar raises an eyebrow. “And why is that?”
Lizzie smirks, confidently responding, “Well, a hero wanted to date me. None of you can say the same thing, can you?”
Grian clears his throat, drawing all attention to him. “Aren’t I technically a villain? I mean, I’ve disobeyed the law, helped you out many a time, have I not? And if so… wouldn’t I be the best? I got the most well known villain to fall in love with me.”
Tango’s first to respond. “Shit. You’re right, that’s hard to beat.”
A mumble of agreement from everyone else gave way to Grian saying, “You don’t know what you’ve all done, giving me bragging rights.”
“Your main event is here everyone.” A booming voice distracts from the conversation at hand.
“You are incredibly late. What took you so long?” Lizzie says to the hero.
A redhaired girl, someone Scar only recognizes a few seconds after seeing her as Slayer waves. “That would be me.”
Lizzie extends her hand. “Oh, hi, you’re… Gem, right?”
The redhead nods. “Yeah… I didn’t really want to come, but your boyfriend here convinced me he’d be a hassle for everyone else if I didn’t show up.”
Lizzie’s response to that is just laughter. “He’s going to be a hassle anyways.”
Slayer- Gem, responds quickly, laughing along with Lizzie. “Yeah, I figured.”
Lizzie’s boyfriend slowly walks over to the group. “Hey guys.”
Everyone sits in silence for a moment, before, Mumbo says, “This is awkward. Like really awkward. Can someone explain to me why it’s this awkward?”
Grian bursts out laughing, his entire body shaking as he leans over. “I- I never told you- who- who Liz’s boyfriend is?”
Mumbo shakes his head, continuing to look confused. “Is that… important?”
Bdubs respond’s to Mumbo’s question. “He’s a hero. Furiouso to be specific. And he’s annoying.”
Joel give’s the short man a look. “I’m not that annoying. You’re the one’s who can’t even rob a bank.”
Bdubs takes offense at that, his voice filled with outrage as he speaks, “Excuse me? We can rob a bank. We’ll do it right now.”
Scar can’t describe the relief he feels when Gem joins the conversation saying,, “No you will not. Today is my day off.”
Bdubs, clearly not happy about yielding, sighs, saying, “Well if you’re going to stop us from robbing a bank, you have to at least tell your idiot to stop being mean to us.”
Gem rubs her temples, glancing over at Lizzie for support when she speaks, “He’s uncontrollable.”
Joel flips Gem off.
Grian clears his throught again, once again gathering the attention of the group. “Can we just go make use of the gym my boyfriend… rented?”
Scar smiles at Grian, correcting him, “Actually I bought it. For you.”
Scar enjoys watching Jimmy nudge Tango lightly and Bdubs wrinkle his nose. “I don’t have to do that for you, right Etho?”
Etho responds quickly, with a practiced voice, “Well, I certainly wouldn’t mind it… I might even propose on the spot.”
Gem rolls her eyes, “You love birds.”
Grian finds himself regretting the decision to join Scar in the locker room. He thought it’d be a cute romantic, maybe even helpful gesture, but he’s just left thinking about Scar’s muscles…
He feels a light pain in his side, turning around to glance at Mumbo. “What’s that for?”
Mumbo smirks, wiggling his eyebrows. “Checking out your boyfriend?”
Grian flushes. “Maybe. But you can’t say anything. I still remember you said he was hot.”
Mumbo’s face turns red faster than Grian knew was possible. “Well- he is- that’s unimportant.”
Grian laughs, falling lightly against a wall, a dull pain in his ribcage that reminds him of things he’d rather not remember. “Well I’m not about to disagree with you.”
The only hero of the group walks over to Mumbo and Grian, shirtless for some reason. “What’s so funny?”
Grian takes a deep breath and attempts to explain the situation. “Well- Mumbo… it’s a long story. We’re talking about Scar’s muscles.”
Joel glances over at the other shirtless man. “They’re impressive. Must’ve taken a lot of work.”
Grian nods. “Yup. That’s what we were talking about.”
Joel wrinkles his nose. “Stop being a simp.”
Grian sticks his tongue out at the hero. “You stop simping for Liz.”
Joel sighs, walking towards the door. “I’ll see you guys later.”
Scar wheels over to Grian and Mumbo, giving the two of them his signature shit-eating grin. “You guy’s talking about my muscles?”
Grian and Mumbo glance at eachother, years of friendship telling them exactly what to say. “No!”
Scar lifts his arm, flexing. “It’s okay, I know I’m hot. You know, I once considered being a hero named Hot Guy.”
Grian laughs, Scar’s familiar antics calming him down. “You would. You so would.”
Grian and Scar watch as Mumbo quietly backs away. The poor guy still beet red in the face. “I’m gonna go… change.”
Scar chuckles, before taking a breath and responding to Mumbo. “Okie. Grian, you ready to go?”
Grian nods, having changed into proper clothes for exercise before even arriving.
Scar makes a face and then looks at Grian with questioning eyes. “Should I leave my wheelchair here? Or should I bring it over to the pool area?”
Grian shrugs. “I don’t know. You think you’re gonna need it immediately after swimming?”
Scar shakes his head, exasperation visible on his face. “I mean- I feel like today is good, but I’m not sure. You’ve got my cane right?”
Grian nods, pulling the foldable cane out of his bag and handing it to Scar. “I should actually put this away. I’ll do that, you can get going.”
Scar smiles, taking the cane gracefully and standing up. “Thanks! I’m going to destory Liz and Jim in everything.”
Grian rolls his eyes, throwing out a reminder to Scar to listen to his body. Scar probably doesn’t need the reminder, but Grian can never be quite sure. While Grian leans down to put his bag in a locker, he feels a sharp pain in his ribcage. Healing takes time, Grian supposes. Not like it’s fun. It took ages to get better from just the simple things. Grian was confident he’d be permanently disabled, and that part’s fine. He has a good understanding of how to deal with those kinds of things, it’s just… every sting of pain is a reminder, a flashback. He knew he’d probably have PTSD, but it’s worse than he thought it’d be.
Taking a deep breath and pulling himself together again, Grian steps out of the locker room, looking around the gym. Though it’s not really what most gym’s are. More of an activity area. There’s a pool only a short distance away from a court with a net for volleyball or tennis or badminton and that’s only a stone’s throw away from a basketball court. It was enough to say, it was kind of weird. Grian was also pretty sure they had those scooters he remembered from gym as a kid. The one’s that were really low to the ground that he had to push with his hands.
Grian sees Tango and Jimmy playing badminton, Tango clearly being better at the game than his boyfriend to a near comedic degree. Perhaps Grian would get someone else and join in.
The rest of the group on the other hand… Gem, Joel, Bdubs, Etho, Scar and Lizzie had invented some odd form of dodgeball that included the aforementioned gym scooters and a lot of Lizzie’s creative insults. It also seemed everyone was allowed to use their powers, which seemed like a questionable choice.
Etho was throwing balls with extra wind behind them, seemingly aiming directly at Joel. Scar was taking advantage of his ability and making every single ball that came near him lose all momentum.
Grian was only barely holding in a laugh when Lizzie used her power to blind everyone and she and Gem knocked nearly everyone off their scooters.
As soon as Scar could see again, Grian is quickly waved over to join in.
“C’mon Grian, it’s sooo fun.”
Grian gives Scar a skeptical look. “Are you sure? It seems a tad… dangerous? Like I’d be at a disadvantage?”
Scar thinks for a moment before jumping up and nearly tripping over the scooter. “We could not use powers?”
Bdubs immediately shoots that idea down. “That’s no fun!”
Grian thinks for a moment before offering a different solution. “You guys can commit war crimes while I play badminton with Mumbo and those two.” Grian motions to Tango and Jimmy.
Scar sighs, but eventually relents, admitting it’s probably for the best.
Grian manages to escape another round of their game as soon as Mumbo leaves the changing room in proper sports clothes. “C’mon Mumbo, we’re gonna play badminton.”
Mumbo blinks at Grian, being suddenly pulled towards Tango and Jimmy.
Grian places Mumbo next to Tango, and hands him a racket and then runs over to Jimmy.
“Hey Tim, I’m terrified of what the others are doing so are we winning?”
Jimmy glares at him. “No, we’re tied with Tango. Which is amazing because Tango is really good at badminton.”
Grian smirks, his hand tightening around the racket. If they’re tied right now, Grian can probably win. Even if he’s only played the game once or twice in his life. He knows the rules.
It quickly becomes obvious to Grian that Jimmy is not as good at the game as he made himself sound. It also quickly becomes clear that he is still being helped by his boyfriend.
Grian can see Tango disappear from his playing spot everytime he hits the birdie towards his boyfriend for a second for just long enough for it to look like Jimmy’s hit it.
Jimmy has clearly not hit it.
Grian has to hold back laughter everytime it happens.
Mumbo is blissfully unaware that his teammate is helping the opposition. Though Mumbo might as well be helping Grian’s team as well with how bad of a player he is.
Grian and Jimmy win one game, with Jimmy insisting it’s all because of him and Tango wins the rest, Mumbo being well aware he did not help very much.
After taking a short break, Scar comes up to Grian. “Hello there. We should swim.”
Grian snorts. “How can I argue with that?”
Scar places his hands on hips. “You can’t, that’s the point.”
Grian stands up, leaning over to Scar and lightly planting a kiss on his lips. “Well let’s go then.”
Scar gives Grian a dumb smile that morphs into a shit eating grin. “I’m going to pick you up.”
Grian tries to object. “Are we sure that’s safe- what if you drop me? What if your body gives out on you-”
Grian’s attempts fail as Scar lifts him up into a bridal carry. “It’ll be fine. I’m strong. You’ve seen my muscles, haven’t you?”
Grian tries not to think about the fact that he’s currently definitely seeing Scar’s muscles. “Yup. I have. They’re very big and strong.”
Scar leans into Grian, lightly pecking his forehead. “Exactly.”
Scar carries Grian towards the pool, stopping and flexing his muscles every so often for no reason.
This leads to literally every other couple picking one another up. It’s comedic to see Lizzie lift Joel like a small twig and Etho pretend to bench press Bdubs.
Jimmy’s still clearly incredibly flustered at being as close to Tango as he is when he’s picked up, which also leads to peak comedy.
Though the funniest thing is definitely Gem deciding to pick Mumbo up because, according to her, “He looks like he weighs less than a small rat.” Grian’s not sure how true that is, considering Gem’s a trained hero, but she does pick Mumbo up with ease.
Scar eventually sets Grian down and everyone jumps in the pool for a final hour of fun.
Scar’s the best swimmer by far. That may be because half of the group forgot swimsuits and just decided to have wet clothes and be hindered, but Scar refuses to admit that.
Lizzie stretches her shoulders, leaning her neck to one side and then the other. “I had fun today.”
Joel nods, agreeing as he drives. “It was weird. I didn’t know how normal your teammates could be.”
A laugh escapes Lizzie’s lips, her whole body shaking. “Normal is a way to say it. They’re idiots. But they’re my idiots”
Joel shrugs, his smile audible in his voice. “Hey, I’m an idiot too.”
Lizzie sighs contentedly, “You’re all my idiots.”
A lull of comfortable silence falls over the car for a moment before Joel says, “How did you like Gem?”
Lizzie thinks for a moment, considering her impressions of the girl. “She’s nice. She’s capable. I think I like her.”
Joel’s voice is filled with admiration. “She’s a good hero. Honest, loyal. But she’s a good friend too. I’m glad we got teamed together.”
Lizzie thought for a moment. “I guess I should be jealous shouldn’t I?”
Joel rolls his eyes. “Why? We both know I’m hopelessly in love with you.”
Lizzie shakes her head, trying to keep her voice from betraying her amusement. “That’s why I’m not.”
“I can’t wait until we’re married.”
“Then propose!”
Jimmy is outraged, offended. He doesn’t want to talk to Tango.
“Oh come on sweetheart. I swear I just wanted to avoid you feeling horrible about yourself.”
Jimmy turns away from his boyfriend. “You made me think I was good at the game!”
Tango winces, reaching out towards Jimmy. “I just wanted to actually play-”
Jimmy gasps. “I’m not good enough am I?”
“Not really…”
Jimmy sighs, falling backwards on the bed, nearly hitting Tango in the process. “That’s so mean.”
Tango nodded. “Yeah… it kind of is, isn’t it?”
Jimmy tries to lightly slap Tango’s arm. “Yeah. Very mean. You need to make up for it.”
Tango thinks for a moment, his eyes lighting up with inspiration as he speaks, “I’ll do the dishes!”
Jimmy rolls his eyes. “You do that anyways.”
Tango whispers under his breath, “Fuck.” Before leaning in and giving Jimmy a short kiss.
“I can’t think. How am I supposed to work in these conditions?”
Grian leans over the back of the couch. “You’re not. Come on, rest with me and the cats.”
“No. I need to finish making sure everything is secure.”
Grian sighs, pausing his game. “You can’t properly make sure things are secure if you can’t think. Come on, you need rest.”
Scar rattles the front door, ignoring Grian. “It’s fine. Just a couple more things.”
“Scar. Come on. Sit with me.”
Scar turns around, his eyes wide with fear and anger. “I am not leaving us possibly unsafe. Last time I did that…”
Grian stands up, regretfully forcing Pearl off his lap, and walks over to Scar, taking his hand. “I know Scar. But it’ll be fine. Promise. We can check the doors and windows together in ten minutes. Just get some rest first?”
Scar gives Grian a suspicious look before relenting. “Promise we’ll check them?”
Grian nods, his relief surely visible on his face. “I’ll set a timer.”
“The water bottle is still mine by the way.”
Bdub's disagreed.