Chapter Text
Scar heard the creeper. Grian knows he did, he saw Scar's ear twitch when the creeper hissed! He had plenty of time to move- but he didn't. Scar didn't move and now he's lost his first life.. because of Grian? Surely it's not Grian's fault. Yeah, he lured the creeper over, but Scar heard it. Right?
When Scar returns, all confused and laughing as he gets his stuff from the chest, Grian feels something in his chest twist. Maybe Scar hadn't heard it. Maybe Grian is just convincing himself that he saw Scar's ear twitch, to make himself feel better about this all.
“Scar, can I talk to you for a second? Alone?” Grian says, getting the man's attention. Scar's sharp yellow eyes fall onto Grian, locking with Grian's own green eyes, and it only makes him feel worse.
Together they walk away from the group, Grian placing down a few torches as they move into a darker area. “So what did you want to talk about, G?” Scar asks curiously. Grian hesitates, turning to look up at Scar.
“I, uh- I wanted to apologise, for getting you killed. The creeper had been aggroed on me, I didn't realise it would switch over to you.” Swallowing hard, Grian gets down on one knee, ducking his head. “Until I lose my first life, I pledge my loyalty to you. I'll do whatever you want- within the parameters of the rules, of course.”
Grian doesn't get to see the way Scar smiles, the way his eyes narrow into something dangerous for just a moment, the purple shine.. “Oh, Grian, you don't have to do that,” he says sweetly.
Shanking his head, Grian looks back up to Scar's kind eyes. “I want to. It's only fair, to make up for causing you to lose your first life.” When Scar sighs softly and gestures for Grian to get up, Grian rises back up to his feet, wings folding a bit tighter against his back.
“Okay,” Scar relents, “If you really want to, then okay. We can team up until you lose your first life. It'll be nice to have some help with my monopoly anyways!”
Grian's shoulders slump slightly in exasperation, “Really? You still want to try and claim that entire desert? Scar you saw it, it's far too big to-”
Scar raises a hand, cutting Grian off. “Ah-ah, you said you'll do whatever I want, right?” A bit confused, Grian nods. “Good, then you don't have a say in this. I want a monopoly on the sand, so that's what we're going to do, end of discussion.
Grian is.. a bit stunned? Scar has never acted like this before, not that Grian's ever seen at least. Maybe he really is upset about dying… Not wanting to upset Scar further, Grian simply nods again.
“Wonderful!” Scar smiles, turning to head back over to the group. “C'mon birdy, let's go.”
—
Sitting on the back of a lama, a lama named Pizza he should specify, Grian watches as Scar leads them to the desert biome. “Are you really sure about this, Scar? I still really don't think this is going to work.”
“Hush, it'll work perfectly. And didn't I already tell you that you don't get a day in this?” Scar says, shooting a look back at Grian, making the avian look down. “This will be good. We'll have a monopoly on sand, and dark oak.”
With a soft sigh, Grian simply nods. “Yeah, alright.”
By the time they arrive in the desert it's alright nighttime again, shadows dragging against the sand and the moon high up in the sky, smiling down at them. “Would you be a doll and make a fence post for me?” Scar asks when he stops walking at the bottom of a large sandy mountain, “We'll leave Pizza down here for the night and bring him up in the morning, it would be difficult to get him up while it's dark.”
Nodding, Grian hops down from the lama's back, setting down a crafting bench and pulling out some wood. “Here,” he hums, planting the fence post down in the sand and watching Scar tie the lead to it. Turning, Grian looks up at the mountain. “So you want us to base up there?”
“Yup! It will give us a good vantage point, being able to look out across the desert easier, and give us the high ground when people start turning red.”
“You mean when you turn red?” Grian jokes, but when he looks over expecting Scar to smile and laugh, Scar is just kinda staring at him. “Uh- sorry, I didn't mean that. I was just joking..”
“Well it wasn't very funny, was it.” Scar doesn't wait for a response, already beginning to go up the mountain. Grian hangs back for a moment before looking down and slowly starting to follow the man up. “Set up a tent and fire,” Scar says once they reach the top, not giving Grian a chance to catch his breath.
Reluctantly, Grian kneels down and arranges the sticks from his inventory into a small pyramid, using his flint and steel to light the fire before getting back up to make a tent. “Can't you help at all?” He complains weakly.
Raising an eyebrow at him, Scar sneers, “I'm not the one who killed somebody day one. You're pledged to me, not the other way around.”
“..Right,” Grian mutters, wings slumping slightly behind him as he sets up the tent. A tent that apparently only Scar gets to sleep in because Grian made it “too small.” So while Scar sleeps inside the tent, curled up in his sleeping bag, Grian sits out by the slowly dying fire wrapped up in his wings for warmth.
But Grian deserves this, he does. He got Scar killed. Play stupid games, earn stupid prizes. Besides, this is only until Grian loses his own first life, and that probably won't take too long. This will be fine. Grian is fine.