Chapter Text
“Welcome back to another season of Third Life. This time, we’ll be paired with one other player in a parasitic relationship. Half the players are ‘dead,’ and feed off the life of their ‘host,’ an ‘alive’ player. Parasites cannot be killed, but when they are on one heart, they are teleported back to their host and returned to full health. The host will have 3 lives, and when they die, so does their parasite. When a host is permakilled, their parasite will shift to being ‘alive,’ though they will only have one heart and can be killed. Now, without any further delay, let’s jump in.”
“Of course I’m a parasite,” Grian grumbled lightheartedly, beginning to set up camp with Gem and Cleo while waiting for their fish to finish charring over the campfire.
“That doesn’t surprise me at all, actually,” Gem snickered, earning an irritated glare from her friend. She ducked out of the way of a cooked salmon thrown at her face, and quickly resumed chopping down the birch tree she was nearest to, holding back a laugh.
Cleo glanced up from her mining efforts with a smirk. “Oh, are we all parasites?”
“Looks like it,” Grian huffed, Gem nodding along as well. His mildly annoyed expression quickly shifted into something more mischievous. “Void, I hope Tim’s my host.” He grinned wickedly.
Gem let out a laugh. “You’ll regret wishing for that when you’re both first out of the game,” She teased, chopping the fallen tree into more easily collected planks.
“On second thought, maybe Timmy’s not the best option,” Grian snickered.
“With your luck, you’ll be paired with Scar again,” Cleo winked, eliciting a lighthearted groan from their friend.
“Void, I hope not. That man will quite literally be the death of me,” Grian chuckled, returning his attention to rotating the remaining salmon still cooking over the campfire.
Cleo and Gem exchanged a knowing look, but let the subject go, returning to resource gathering as the sun made its slow descent across the sky.
“Oh, that’s where you all were!” Came a muffled voice as Mumbo broke through the treeline to reach the little group setting up at the river’s edge. “I swear, I’ve been running around for hours trying to find my partner!”
“You’re a host then, I take it?” Gem inquired with a grin, handing some cooked fish over to the taller man, which he graciously received.
Mumbo laughed easily. “So you can imagine my predicament when I’ve tested with nearly every parasite on the server, only to find three of them missing!” He exclaimed.
“Well, you found us, didn’t you?” Grian remarked with a smug grin, taking the last of the fish off the campfire and stuffing them into his inventory pack, seemingly unbothered by the fact that it was certainly going to smell the next morning.
“You’re tucked away all the way in the corner of the map, Grian!” Mumbo laughed in disbelief, finding his friend utterly ridiculous. Grian’s smug grin twisted into an even more complacent smirk as the taller host groaned.
“Well, if you’re trying to find your partner, I don’t see why we couldn’t test with you,” Cleo shrugged, pulling out her comm to perform the command. A little chime resonated out from the device, and a smile broke out on Cleo’s face. “Well, wouldja look at that?”
“You’re my partner?” Mumbo’s head snapped up, glancing at the zombie in both apprehension and excitement.
“Looks like it,” Cleo grinned, tucking their comm away.
“Well,” Mumbo exhaled with a chuckle. “I guess that solves that problem.” His gaze shifted over to Gem and Grian. “What about you both?”
“What about us?” Gem glanced up at Mumbo with a slight tilt of her head, pausing from sorting the miscellaneous items in her pack into a chest to give him her attention.
“You’re both parasites, right? I’d get looking for your hosts if I were you, it’s already the first night!” He explained as Cleo handed him a quickly-fashioned sleeping bag.
Grian and Gem exchanged a glance before the former shrugged. “We’ll go looking for them when it’s morning,” he pulled out a sleeping bag of his own before settling into it. “Plus, nothing’s as bad as Scar from the third game… he didn’t even know we were soulmates till the end of the first week!” He laughed.
“Speaking of soulmates,” Gem piped up, but not before giving Grian a teasing glance he refused to acknowledge. “Do we know who’s paired already? That’ll help Grian and I narrow our search a bit.” She inquired.
“I mean, most of the people who’ve found their partner have notified everyone in chat… Looks like Joel and BigB, Impulse and Tango, and Bdubs and Etho so far…” Cleo informed, scrolling through her comm for the announcements.
“Ah, we probably should let everyone know we’ve been paired, then, right?” Mumbo piped up, pulling out his own communicator.
Cleo sighed and pried the device out of their partner’s hands. “Save it for the morning. We’re all tired, I’m sure we can let it wait until tomorrow…”
By the time the sun had risen the next morning, Gem and Grian had already bid their farewells to Cleo and Mumbo, and set off on their journey to find their missing hosts.
“Looks like Timmy and Skizz found out they were partners last night,” Grian mentioned, glancing up from his comm as he and his friend began the slow trek back towards spawn.
“Void, they’ll be out by week four!” Gem laughed, though was quickly shushed by Grian, who pointed to the mangrove swamp to their right.
“...I don’t think you can eat tropical fish though,” came the distant sound of Pearl’s voice as Gem and Grian pushed through roots and muck to reach her and whoever it was she was talking to.
“Can we eat frogs, then?” Responded a very desperate-sounding Scar. “I’m gonna die of starvation here!”
There was a long pause. “I mean… you could give it a try?”
“Right, no, we’re putting a stop to that immediately.” Grian mumbled, picking up the pace while simultaneously reaching for the compartment of his pack that held the preserved fish from the night before.
“Oh, what in the world?!” Scar jumped up as Grian emerged from the treeline into the little grove Scar and Pearl had set up in, Gem trailing not far behind him.
Grian only handed Scar a fish in response, a small quirk to his lip that indicated his lighthearted mood. “Sounds like you needed food,” he grinned as Scar graciously took the charred salmon from him.
“Oh, Grian, you lifesaver!” he exclaimed, quickly pulling his friend into an enveloping hug, stuffing Grian’s face into his chest.
“Yeah yeah, eat your fish,” Grian snickered with a light blush dusting his cheeks, clinging onto Scar maybe a second longer than he should’ve. Although, he thought somewhat selfishly, Scar hadn’t pulled away either.
That was an issue for another time , he shook his head as Scar released him, the taller man ravenously digging into his fish. Scar was trying his hardest to be polite, but it was clear he hadn’t eaten at all since the game began.
“So, are you and Scar a pair?” Gem piped up, glancing between Grian and Scar with a knowing look before turning her attention to Pearl, a soft smile gracing her lips in contrast to her ever-present smirk.
“Nah, we’re both hosts. We’ve tried with Martyn, Ren and Skizz so far, but we haven’t seen any other parasites since yesterday,” Pearl glanced over at Scar momentarily before returning her gaze to Gem. “Bdubs was with us for a while too, before Etho nearly died and ended up getting teleported over to him.”
“I didn’t peg Etho to be the type of guy to almost die on the first day,” Grian smirked.
“Eh, I think it was a lava pit. Not much you can do about it when ya fall in,” Pearl grinned with a shrug of her shoulders. “Anyway, are you two together?” She pointed between Grian and Gem.
Gem let out a light laugh, shaking her head ‘no.’ “Nope, parasites. We’re in the same boat as you, hardly saw any hosts at all. I guess everyone stayed close to spawn.” She rolled her eyes lightheartedly.
“Oh, well I bet you’re our partners, then!” Scar exclaimed eagerly, flicking the fishbone into the mucky water behind him.
“Well, let’s test first!” Gem laughed, pulling out her comm and hastily typing away. Unlike with Cleo and Mumbo, it didn’t chime or make any sort of noise to confirm they were paired. “Sorry, Scar,” She smiled sympathetically.
Scar just waved her off, “Oh it’s alright, I’m sure my partner will come around,” He drawled, a sly smirk creeping onto his face as he spared Grian the smallest of glances. Just what was he getting at-
“Ah!” Pearl exclaimed as her communicator pinged. “Sorry, I wasn’t expecting that to actually work,” She laughed, showing Gem her screen. “You’re my parasite now.”
Gem only burst into a fit of giggles. “Honestly, its probably more often the other way around, but I guess this is a fine change of pace,” She rolled her eyes again with a grin, leaning in to hug Pearl from the side.
“Well then,” Scar clapped his hands together, his jade eyes gleaming with amusement and a knowing smirk plaguing his face. “Care to do the honors, Grian, or should I?”
A pause. “You’re the worst,” He burst into laughter, eliciting a fit of giggles from Scar as well. Regardless, he pulled his comm out and began typing in the command.
A second later, a chime rang out, and Scar’s smug grin returned.
“How did you know!?” Grian blurted in disbelief, watching as his host snickered to himself.
“Oh, you know…” He trailed off, waving his hand around as if the answer was obvious. Scar clearly wasn’t about to provide an explanation, so Grian just huffed and turned his attention back to the other two.
“So, where do you guys think you’ll set up?” He asked the duo, who glanced at each other and shrugged in near-synchronization.
“Dunno. Scar and I were talking about setting up here since it’s far enough away from spawn, and pretty hard to get through,” Pearl suggested, nodding to the taller of the two hosts.
“Yeah! And we could build a base with mango wood!” Scar chimed in eagerly, holding up his hands as if he was mapping out the layout of this hypothetical base.
“I mean…” Gem piped up, shuffling a little in place. “We could base together if you guys wanted to… y’know, get a solid alliance set up early-game?” She suggested, glancing between Pearl and the others.
Pearl grinned easily. “I’m down for that,” She nodded enthusiastically, turning to Scar and Grian. “Well…?”
Grian shared a look with Scar before his face contorted into one of his signature grins. “Let’s do it.”
Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to settle in a mangrove swamp , Grian thought while taking a quick break from chopping down the stubborn trees. Between clearing out a space for the base, fighting the countless monsters that seemed to appear out of nowhere, and managing the quickly escalating food problem, there was barely any time for rest.
Scar was off landscaping the area just a little ways away, and Gem and Pearl were out trying to find cows or something to give them a stable food source. That left Grian to do the bulk of the tree chopping, and boy, was he not enthusiastic about that.
He huffed and gathered the rest of the roots and returned to the small camp he and the others had set up last night. Unsurprisingly, Scar was there, propping his feet up, shirtless as per usual.
“Scar,” He dropped the roots into the nearest chest, too tired to care about whatever else was inside it. “Where is your shirt?”
Scar only grinned widely. “Oh, well, it got a little dirty while I was digging, Grian! I had to wash it in the river down the way, but unfortunately,” He pressed the back of his hand to his forehead in a dramatic fashion. “It got swept away!”
Despite himself, Grian’s face cracked into a smirk of his own. “Really, now?” He teased, crossing his arms across his chest.
“Yes, really! There was nothing I could do!” He grinned back, a mischievous light shimmering in his soft green eyes. “Plus, it’s too hot out here for a shirt anyways!”
“You’re right about that,” Grian sighed with a slight chuckle, making his way over to sit beside his friend. “We might have to fashion up some new clothes to handle this heat… there’s no way I can go eight weeks in this humidity in this jumper!” He tugged on the collar of his sweater for emphasis.
“You could always take it off,” Scar wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, earning a laugh from Grian and a shove to his shoulder.
“Keep dreaming,” He retorted, his tone coming out more flirtatious than he had intended. By the looks of it, Scar had picked up on it as well, if his widening eyes and the deep blush that had risen up to his cheeks was anything to go by.
Grian could feel his own face heating up, and quickly looked away. “So, uh, do you know if Gem and Pearl found any cows or something?” He cleared his throat. “I’m starving.” He groaned, feeling his stomach growl.
“Oh, I have a little farm going!” Scar exclaimed, jumping up excitedly. “I got a few seeds when I was terraforming, but I’m not sure anything’s grown yet,” He tapped his chin before notioning Grian to follow him into the thick tangle of mangrove trees.
“I’ll eat anything at this point,” Grian chuckled, getting up to follow him.
“Even a frog?”
“Anything but that.”
By the time they had returned to camp with what little wheat they had gathered, Gem and Pearl had returned with two cows and a chicken, not to mention Pearl's arms full of sugarcane.
“Where did you get this !?” Grian’s face brightened, dashing over to Pearl and snatching the sugarcane from the host’s arms, a devilish smile splitting across his face.
Pearl let out a light laugh. “By the river’s edge, pretty far from spawn so I don’t think anyone checked there,” She hummed, taking the sugarcane back from Grian’s arms and pushing through the mud to get somewhere close enough to water to plant it.
“We’ll need to hide this soon. I bet on both these cows Joel will be around sooner or later to sniff it out,” Gem rolled her eyes with an easy smile, pushing a couple chests in front of them to at least hide them from view.
“Oh, there’s another thing we need to get figured out,” Grian piped up, seemingly remembering the clothes problem. “It is unbelievably muggy out here, and I’d much rather tailor some new clothes than live out here in this void-forsaken sweater.” He grumbled.
“And I thought the desert was bad, but whoo- this is just hot and sticky in all the worst ways!” Scar chimed in, fanning himself despite being the one wearing the least amount of clothes out of the four of them.
“Hmm,” Pearl sighed, looking deep in thought. “I’m trying to remember what we did for clothes in past games…” She glanced around. “The second and third games had colder climates from what I recall… if anything, we were putting on more layers than removing any. The fourth game was pretty temperate, but everyone was wearing leather for some reason.” She laughed, helping Gem set up a pen for the cows.
“There are quite a few cattails around here… I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure you can make like a fiber or cloth out of that… it’s worth a try, at least,” Gem added.
“Hmm, that could work,” Grian nodded, shuffling through muck to reach the cattails swaying near the more marshy part of the swamp. He plucked a few, and began fiddling with the leaves and stems as if conceptualizing how to sew with it.
“I know it’s not ideal, but if worse comes to worse, we can always wear wool and leather if need be,” Gem suggested, taking what little wheat Scar and Grian had scavenged earlier and ushering the cows into their new pen.
“I think I’ll stick to being shirtless,” Scar started, then gasped with some sort of realization. “We could steal other people’s clothes!”
“Scar, no-” Gem and Grian groaned in unison, while Pearl just laughed. “He may be onto something, you know!”
By the start of the fourth day, the small group had decided it was going to be a resource-gathering day. Grian always liked to get ahead of the game where he could, and had taken Pearl down into the mines with him while Scar and Gem used whatever charm and intimidation tactics they had to swindle people out of their stuff.
“Let’s see if we can get enough iron for everyone for now. We can try and find some diamonds later if we’re still up for it,” Grian suggested, beginning to chisel away at the stone walls beside him.
“Sounds like a plan to me,” Pearl shrugged with a lazy grin. “But if I know Scar, he’ll be coming back with full diamond armor by the time we even get one,” She snickered.
“He would,” Grian laughed affectionately, quickly coughing to hide the warmth in his voice that he was certain Pearl had picked up on.
“So,” Pearl said slowly, and Grian could practically hear the smirk in her voice. “About Scar…”
Grian sighed. She definitely knew. He had been ignoring her teasing looks for as long as possible, but it was out in the open now.
“...What about him?” He answered just as cautiously, his mind reeling on how to either divert her attention or change the subject altogether. He was not about to talk about his feelings for Scar with Scar’s best friend. He was fairly certain his host knew about said feelings, but that was something they both had tucked under the rug for years… he wasn’t about to bring it up now.
“Oh, nothing… I just find it funny that you two are paired again… cruel fates or whatever it is Martyn says,” Pearl shrugged, far too nonchalant for the subject they were discussing. She most certainly had a motive.
He needed to change this conversation that instant. “I find it funny they paired you and Gem together as well,” He deflected, and despite the knowing glance Pearl threw at him, she broke into a smile.
“Guess they can’t be all that cruel, if they pair people together with the one they love,” She sighed softly, her cheeks tinted a light pink.
Grian winced. He remembered thinking the same thing once, long ago. He knew now why the gamemakers forced certain pairs together, and it was rarely something good. He had witnessed enough of Scar’s deaths to know that it was much more of a torturous mechanic than a merciful one. He just hoped for both Pearl’s sake and Gem’s that they wouldn’t have to go through that same pain.
“It’s… not all sunshine and rainbows,” He murmured, his shoulders sagging in a sigh.
Pearl’s once content smile twisted into a concerned frown. “What’s that supposed to mean?” She nervously chewed her bottom lip, worry radiating off of her entire figure.
Grian only sighed. “The gamemakers… you remember them, Pearl… whatever they have planned…” He sucked in a sharp breath. “It’s never good.”
“...Right,” Pearl replied quietly. “Guess it’s best not to get too close then?”
Grian wilted. “...Yeah.”
The rest of the mining session was filled with relative silence, save for the occasional updates on the iron count where weak smiles were exchanged. Grian hated it as much as Pearl did, but he knew better than anyone it’s better to keep the ones you love at an arm’s distance than to have them die in your arms, or worse- by your hand.
“Does…” Pearl let out a shuddery breath, sounding on the verge of tears. “Does it get any easier? To push them away?” She stammered, wiping at her eyes and blinking rapidly to keep her tears from falling.
Grian felt his heart twist at the sight of his friend suffering the same pain he had endured game after game. He breathed in sharply, and exhaled slowly. “No… no it doesn’t.”
After several hours worth of mining, Grian was notified that Scar and Gem had returned, hopefully with many trinkets to share.
“Oh, Griiian~” Scar sang out from the surface, seemingly searching for him.
“I’m right here,” He chuckled softly, emerging from the small hole he and Pearl had dug out as an entrance to their mine. “What did you two get?”
Scar slung his arm around Gem’s shoulder with his usual smug smirk. “Well, we managed to get two iron swords, two diamonds, a chainmail chestplate, and some leather,” He grinned, showing off the treasures they had gathered. “I must say, this charisma and intimidation tactic worked wonderfully!”
“We may have made some enemies, but at the end of the day, it’s two against four, right?” Gem snickered, sporting a smile nearly as smug as Scar’s.
Grian laughed in response, pulling out the iron ingots he and Pearl had collected in the mines. “We managed to get a little under a stack and a half of iron while you were gone,” He grinned, splitting the resource up for the other two to share. “Craft it into whatever you want.”
“And remember, no helmets,” He threw a teasing glance at Scar, who spluttered in indignation.
“That was one time! One! And the whole server was chasing me for it!” He pouted, pointing an angry finger at Grian’s chest. Not quite touching . He quickly shook the thought off and turned to the camp.
“Now that you guys are back, mind helping me gather some cattails for the loom? I’m gonna see if I can make some kind of fabric out of them,” He sat down beside the workstation, nodding towards the marsh just a bit farther down, where their sugarcane was growing slowly but surely.
“Yeah, we can get ya some,” Gem nodded easily, dropping the stuff she and Scar had gathered on top of the nearest chest rather than inside, much to Grian’s disappointment. He huffed irritably and instead tucked the wares neatly inside the chest after they had gone.
There was a long silence before Pearl finally spoke. “I don’t like this… it doesn’t feel right.” She sighed, leaning up against the stack of chests, crossing her arms protectively around herself.
“I… I know,” Was all Grian could offer. He wanted to say more, but what could he say? Maybe the gamemakers will let us off easy this time? Maybe we can finally get our happily ever afters? “It’ll be over soon,” came his weak response.
Pearl glanced at him again, opening and closing her mouth several times before her face hardened into a cold stare. “Yeah, soon.”
Grian was up earlier than usual on day five of the game. Even earlier than Scar, which was surprising given the fact that he might be the earliest riser Grian knew. He smiled softly as he spared a glance for his host, watching his chest rise and fall rhythmically, deep in sleep.
Honestly, Grian was glad for the quiet morning. The second day, the newly forged team had decided that no host was to be unaccompanied by a parasite, to make sure that they weren’t in danger of dying without some sort of protector nearby. That rule may or may not have been created for Scar, but they’d never admit it, if not just to spare the poor man’s feelings.
Speaking of feelings, He thought, wincing as he took his seat at the loom. He knew he had hurt Pearl with what he had said before, but he wasn’t sure what else could be said. Was it even possible that the gamemakers would spare them? Allow them to die together?
Grian feared he knew the answer, and it was one he was all too familiar with himself. The gamemakers fed off negative emotions, he knew that much. He learned that quite quickly after the events of the first game that had led to Scar dying by Grian’s own hands. He couldn’t allow that to happen to Pearl and Gem.
He wished it wasn’t so. If fates weren’t so cruel, could he… could Scar…? No, He shook his head, pricking himself with the needle accidentally with the quick motion. He couldn’t allow himself to think like that. It didn’t matter how much he and Scar loved each other, they would always lose each other by the very nature of the game.
He had been down that road before, in the second and third games, keeping Scar close while faking other alliances and allegiances. The gamemakers, however, always seemed to know where his true loyalty lied, and were quick to take Scar from him, again and again.
When Scar had won the fifth game, it felt like a breath of fresh air. Perhaps the gamemakers had moved on from us , he had thought, and had half a mind to tell Scar how he felt right then and there. Only, when he had seen Scar’s sunken face after his so-called “victory,” he knew at once, the gamemakers weren’t done with them.
Nothing ever changed from that point , he recalled, wincing as he had seen Scar’s dejected face many a time after many, many near confessions, from both Grian himself, and Scar. He never explained it to the bright-eyed man, but he had a feeling Scar knew that what was between them could never be spoken of, lest they lose each other once again.
And they were content with that! Sparing glances, touches that lasted a second too long, smiles that reflected pure adoration brighter than the sun itself… that was all they needed… right?
“Hey,” Came a gentle, still sleepy voice, interrupting his thoughts. “You’re up earlier than usual,” Grian turned to see Scar slowly approaching him, rubbing his eyes tiredly.
“Yeah… didn’t sleep all that well, thought I’d get ahead on making clothes, or at least do something productive,” Grian huffed, before letting his face split into the tenderest of smiles, reserved only for Scar. It was easy to forget where they were, in the mangrove forest minutes before the sun rose, the fireflies still twinkling before their designated rest. It was easy to think it was just the two of them, the gamemakers far away and in some other dimension where they could never hurt Grian and his host again.
He was pulled from his thoughts once again when Scar’s face broke into a frown. “You didn’t sleep well?” He asked softly, his morning voice still groggy and deep and all the right kinds of beautiful.
“Eh, it's a bit hard to when it’s so void darned hot ,” he brushed Scar off with a quiet laugh, careful not to wake the still sleeping Pearl and Gem just a few feet away.
Scar’s worried frown melted into a knowing smile. “Yeah, I know what you mean. Hopefully it’ll feel a bit cooler inside the base when it’s built,” He stretched his arms out over his head, and Grian tried not to stare. What, were the gamemakers taunting him now? ‘Look at this beautiful man you could never have,’ was that it?
Scar seemed to catch himself, and lowered his arms sheepishly. “Sorry- I know we- I… yeah,” He stammered, avoiding meeting Grian’s gaze. Grian only sighed and offered Scar an apologetic smile. It would only ever remain unsaid.
“About the base,” He piped up, eliciting a relieved smile from Scar. “I was thinking we could build it half-submerged in the water? That way, it might regulate the temperature inside to be a bit cooler,” He suggested, finishing another line on the loom. Scar tapped his chin for a bit, then grinned eagerly.
“That’s actually a great idea!” He cheered, tossing that heart-wrenchingly beautiful lopsided smile at Grian. “We can make the walls out of glass too! With a hatch on the side, of course, for an easy exit.”
“I like it,” Grian grinned before returning his attention to the loom. “We’ll run it past the girls when they wake up and see what they think.”
It wasn’t long before Pearl and Gem joined Grian and Scar by the workstation. They discussed base plans for a bit before beginning their morning routine- planning out what they would do for the day. The decision was eventually made that the four of them would explore the map a bit, and get their bearings on where all the other groups were set up.
“I don’t think I’m ever going to get used to the mud,” Gem laughed when they finally emerged from the swamp, muck and silt coating up to their knees.
“Well, by the time the red wars start, we’ll be much better accumulated to it than anyone else!” Scar grinned with a wink, though he arguably had it the easiest, with long legs that easily traversed the mucky ground.
“You mean acclimated?” Pearl snickered, raising an eyebrow as Scar waved her off.
“Potato, potato,” He laughed, never once dropping the easy grin settled on his lips. Pearl only rolled her eyes with a lighthearted sigh and bumped Scar with her hip, earning a fit of giggles from the taller host.
Grian and Gem exchanged an amused glance, continuing to traverse the drier landscape until they came across what looked to be the beginnings of a base on the cliffside facing the river. Bdubs and Tango were mulling around, carrying blocks to and from in a hurried manner.
“Oh, hey fellas!” Tango waved cheerily as the small group approached. He put down whatever material he was holding to meet them halfway, Bdubs trailing close behind him.
“Building your base already?” Grian offered a warm grin, propping his hand up on his hip. Tango only laughed and exchanged a glance with Bdubs.
“What, thinking of stealing our blueprints?” he quipped, an eyebrow raised and arms folded across his chest teasingly.
“Who, us? Never ,” Scar snickered, an unnecessarily suspicious glint to his sparkling jade eyes. Pearl only kicked his shin, fixing him with a hard stare before easing into a soft grin.
“Wait, I thought you were paired with Etho-” Gem pointed at Bdubs, “Are you teaming with Tango instead?” She asked with an inquisitive tilt to her head.
Bdubs snickered. “Nope, we’re double teaming! Say hello to team BITE! B and T, at your service,” He bent into an exaggerated bow, earning giggles from the group in front of them.
“Aw, seems like we weren’t the only ones to think of that,” Pearl glanced between her teammates and then back to Tango and Bdubs.
“Oh, you guys are teaming up? Like an alliance or basing together kinda situation?” Tango asked, quickly picking back up his pile of materials after catching Scar’s lingering glance, mischief practically radiating out of him.
Scar let out a quiet “aw,” as Grian piped up. “Yeah, we’re basing together in the mangrove swamp. It’s not a comfy spot, but it works… sorta.” He laughed awkwardly, once again very aware of the mud coating his legs.
Bdubs’ nose wrinkled in disgust. “Yeah, I bet. The wood’s nice, though” He shrugged, trying for Grian’s sake to look on the bright side.
“That’s what she said-”
“Scar!” Gem laughed, smacking his shoulder, maybe a bit harder than necessary as the man stumbled forward, only catching himself at the last second.
“Right, we’ll get going then,” Grian huffed, biting back a grin that fought to overtake his lips. He was not going to give Scar the benefit of laughing at a “that’s what she said” joke. He would grab Scar’s collar to drag him along, if the man ever wore a shirt. Instead, he just started walking, trusting that his teammates would follow behind him, which they did.
“Think we have to worry about them? Team BITE or whatever?” Pearl piped up casually after the group was long out of earshot of Tango and Bdubs.
“Pfft, they may have an edgy name, but we all know they’re washed up,” Gem laughed confidently, earning a spluttering laugh from Grian in return.
“Throwing shade,” Scar commented with a smirk. “I like it,” He winked.
Pearl and Grian only glanced at each other and shared a lighthearted sigh. their partners were bound to be the death of them. This was the first time all four of them had been allied with one another, and Grian was quickly picking up on how sinister Gem and Scar acted when working together. Not that he was complaining, though. It was never a bad idea to show off how dangerous your teammates could be if a little intimidation is needed.
“Oh, there’s BigB!” Pearl exclaimed, picking up speed as the group approached a surprisingly expansive farm for the first week.
“Going for the Bad Boys’ trademark?” Grian teased, motioning towards the rather impressive amount of wheat slowly growing at their feet.
BigB laughed. “No, never! I couldn’t do that to Joel,” His face melted into an amused smile, the corners of his deep brown eyes crinkling with warmth.
“Ah, right right, you two are partnered,” Grian nodded with an easy laugh.
BigB paused. “Right… partners…” He said slowly, his gaze trailing over to settle on Scar, an unreadable look in his eyes. He looked… unlike himself, to say the least, as if someone else was seeing through his eyes. “Um, sorry, I have to go,” He blurted, shaking the strange look away. “Joel needed me for something,” He smiled sheepishly, quickly spinning on his heel and taking off into the birch forest behind him.
“That was… odd,” Gem broke the silence warily. “We can all agree on that, right?” She laughed nervously, glancing up at Scar who was frozen in place, beads of sweat forming above his brow. “Scar?”
Scar shook his head with a forced smile. “Yeah, yeah, all good… I mean, yeah, yeah that was weird,” He stammered, his wide green eyes meeting Grian’s, his entire rigid figure just screaming that something was wrong.
“Scar, what just happened there?” Grian pressed, swiftly approaching his host to take hold of his shaking hands.
Scar at once stilled with the contact, and released a shaky breath. “I… I don’t know,” he admitted. “It felt like he was… staring into my soul, I don’t know how to explain it… like it wasn’t even him for a moment…”he muttered, eyes still widened in fear.
“Right,” Grian said slowly, pushing down the sickening feeling of familiarity at the whole exchange. “Let’s just… let’s just keep exploring,” he suggested, to which the group nervously agreed.
The small team then continued exploring the map- taking note of where other groups were settled… Lizzie and Ren deep in the birch forest, Mumbo and Cleo on the cliffside, Jimmy and Skizz in the plains close to spawn, and Scott and Martyn on the other side of the river, where Grian and Gem had set up for the first night.
Scar still seemed impossibly on edge as they returned to their base. He contributed to the many conversations shared amongst the group, but his eyes were always distant, in a world far from their own.
It unsettled Grian, to be honest. Scar was never so quiet , so… unreachable. He placed a hand overtop Scar’s in a silent show of support, and he quickly held Grian’s back, squeezing just that little bit.
It seemed to relax him, though, and Scar was quick to return to his usual self, laughing and teasing and rambling as he did, never once letting go of Grian’s hand.
“I can’t wait to see what Jimmy and Skizz’s base turns out like.” He snickered, his green eyes flickering between amusement and genuine curiosity.
“All I’ll say is that I hope they don’t try and build a dolphin as their base,” Gem rolled her eyes good-naturedly.
Scar giggled, confused. “I feel like I’m missing something…”
Grian laughed in response. “It’s just something from another game,” He explained, feeling a strange twinge in his chest. A game far from the gamemakers influence, he thought.
“Well now I wanna see them build a dolphin base,” Pearl grinned as Gem and Grian both groaned lightheartedly.
“Trust me, Pearl, you do not want to see that,” Gem laughed, placing a gentle hand on Pearl’s arm.
The host stiffened at once, glancing at Grian in a panic, only for her worried blue eyes to catch sight of Grian and Scar’s hands intertwined. Her lips pressed together in a fine line and her stare hardened coldly. Grian didn’t need mind reading abilities to know Pearl was irritated by his hypocritical behavior.
She was right, though. He told himself, quickly untangling his fingers from Scar’s. He had told her to do as he had done– keeping the ones they loved at an arm’s length, only for him to go around holding Scar’s hand.
The conversation trailed off soon after that, the group taking turns washing up in the river before settling in for the fifth night.
Grian normally washed up last, as he was much more of a night owl compared to his teammates. By the time he returned, everyone else was sleeping soundly, curled up in their makeshift cots and sleeping bags meant to only last them the first week. He’d get to work on building beds tomorrow… He thought tiredly, slipping into his own sleeping bag and effortlessly drifting into a dreamless sleep.
Day 6 began slowly, but Grian could tell they were going to be in for quite a bit of heavy work. The 6th day was usually reserved for getting set up for the second week, and the group quickly got to work on just that.
Pearl had taken over the loom while Grian began building bed frames for his teammates, whittling away at the birch wood Gem had collected on their first day. Gem herself was busy tending to the farm and animals, breeding the cows as often as she could.
Further down the way past Gem was Scar, laying down the foundations of their survival base and seemingly having trouble mapping out the underwater portion of it. Grian tried to remain focused on the bed frame he was working on, but every so often his gaze sidled over to the man down the way, making sure to keep his gaze respectful , of course
“How long did you leave the fabric to soak for?” Pearl asked after a while, snapping Grian from his thoughts.
“Eh, when you feel it soften basically, we don’t want it to be stiff.” He shrugged, lining up the corners of two planks of wood, beginning to hammer in the wooden nails.
“Sounds simple enough,” Pearl shrugged, lowering another stiffened cloth into the basin full of warm water.
Grian gave her an easy smile before returning his attention to the bed frame he was working on. He had decided to make Scar’s first, since he was the tallest, and Grian could adjust the different sizes in comparison to his.
He found it a bit unnerving, and quite telling that he didn’t even need to measure his host, just building off of memory of the man’s frame in comparison to his own to get the size of the bed right.
He bit back a blush that fought to rise up into his cheeks, and quickly got up to find Gem near the wheat farm, needing an excuse to get away from his thoughts.
“How’re the farms doing?” He grinned, approaching a sickle-wielding Gem, cutting through their wheat fields with ease.
“Not bad, I think we’ve got enough wheat now for Scar to make into bread when he’s done with the base foundation,” She smiled back, wiping her forehead to rid it of sweat. “Void, it’s hot out here,” She groaned.
Grian couldn’t agree more. He had already traded his signature red jumper for the tank top he always wore underneath, and even then, it was still too muggy out to be comfortable. “You can say that again,” He agreed quickly.
“Pearl’s working on the clothes, though, so we should have something more lightweight to wear soon,” Grian mentioned, holding his arms out as Gem stuffed the excess wheat into his hands.
“That’s good. I already cut my overall pants into overall shorts ‘cause of this heat,” Gem sighed, motioning towards her raggedly cut overalls.
“Well, its already early autumn… by the time the game is over, we’ll be glad we settled in a warmer area,” He reasoned, carrying the crops over to the workstation for Scar to deal with later.
Speak of the devil, he thought, watching Scar approach with that easy grin of his, waving lazily at his teammates.
“What’s that about a warmer area?” He raised a brow, never once dropping the smile that sat so perfectly on his lips.
“We’ll be glad to be living here when it starts to get cold,” Gem repeated, handing the last of the wheat over to Scar. “Now get baking, bread boy.” She slapped him lightly on the back.
Grian tilted his head back in a laugh. “I thought I was bread boy,” He chided, wearing a shit-eating grin. “Y’know, Grain and all?”
“You’re more than welcome to help him,” Gem shrugged, a knowing smirk teasing at her lips, which she tried and failed to keep down. “The more bread, the better,” She winked, shoving the two over into the work area, and making her quick escape towards the animal pens.
“Well then, trusty assistant,” Scar clapped his hands together. “Let’s get to work,” He grinned, pulling out a mortar and pestle from the food supplies chest, and effortlessly grinding the wheat into grains.
“Assistant, is that how it’s gonna be?” Grian smirked, fixing Scar with a smug stare as he crossed his arms over his chest.
Scar only snickered. “Oh, Grian, Grian, you are but my apprentice, I am the bread master!” He emphasized, taking a pinch of the grains in the stone bowl and flicking them at his parasite.
“Hey!” Grian snickered, spitting out whatever grains had made it into his mouth, lightly kicking Scar’s shin. “I am bread itself,” He challenged, his competitive smirk returning.
Scar only smirked twice as wide. “Guess we’re gonna have to bake you, then,” He giggled, picking a cackling Grian up and carrying him over to the furnace as the man swatted at him repeatedly.
“Scar!” He shouted between bouts of laughter as the man sat him down on top of the furnace.
A long pause. “...I don’t think you’ll fit.”
Grian snorted, laughing just that little bit harder. Void, he loved Scar.
He froze for just a split second, but it was enough for Scar to notice. “G? You okay?” He asked softly, the teasing smirk now replaced with a worried frown.
“Yeah, yeah, we just… should get back to baking the bread,” He stood up off the furnace, avoiding making eye contact with Scar. He needed to stop doing stuff like that during the games. He winced, sparing a glance for the man quietly grinding wheat beside him, his brow still laced with worry. The gamemakers could see it all. He reminded himself, careful not to stand too close to Scar even though he wanted, more than anything, to be right up next to his side, baking together without a care in the world.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t so lucky.
The rest of the day passed by relatively slowly, the busy work taking up much of their time. It was nice though, Grian conceded, to have all his teammates close by, working together in a synchrony only found after many years worth of friendship.
Eventually, the fireflies came out, signifying the end to a long day’s worth of work. With the bread all baked, beds constructed, the beginnings of their new garments soaking in the basin, and farms tended to, they finally were able to get ready for the last night of the first week.
“Remember,” Grian had said to his team as they settled into their new beds that they probably should’ve waited another day to rest in. “The gamemakers keep us asleep for the seventh day, so we’ll all probably feel worse for wear when we wake up two days from now. Just a heads up.” He reminded them.
Scar, who had been a part of the games as long as Grian had, nodded understandingly. “Gotcha.”
Gem, on the other hand, groaned. “I hate waking up after that, it’s literally the worst feeling in the world,” She sighed, eliciting a giggle from Pearl.
“You’ll get used to it, don’t worry,” The host said softly, a comforting voice in the quiet of the night. Well, relatively quiet. They were going to have to do something about those frogs.
“Night, everyone,” Grian smiled warmly, barely able to make out the faces of his friends in the darkness. He was quickly reaffirmed that they were in fact there as they all called out various “goodnights,” and “sweet dreams.”
And with that, Grian settled into a deep sleep, full of dreams of the week to come, and maybe one or two dreams of his rather handsome host, but who was counting?
“Hello again, Chosen One. We’ve missed you.”