LETS GO ORANGE !!

LET’S GO ORANGE !!

I believe in them  🧡

If someone does a Pete and Grian compilation please send it to me jsjs /hj /lh

alright, @3lsmp made this post, and its been living in my head rent free, meaning i had to write something??

unofficially titled: Grian and Martyn Have A Talk

word count: 1736

tw: discussion of death, some description of violence (canon-typical), breaking down Trauma™ with your friends, this does end on a hopeful note bc im not about that angst entirely tonight

"Hey!"

Grian fumbled the block of cobblestone he'd been about to place, watching with that highly specific feeling of repressed rage as it fell to the ground.

".....you dropped this."

"Thanks, Martyn."

"You care if I come up?" Martyn scooped up the dropped cobble and waved it at him. "I'll even bring this with me!"

For a moment, Grian considered turning him away. He still had so much to do - finish his tower, hide the sugar cane, help gather resources, establish a perimeter for their keep, actually build the keep.....

He sighed, the weight of it all settling across his shoulders. A break would be nice. At least for a few minutes.

"Sure, come on up."

Martyn flashed a grin before hurrying inside. His head popped up a few seconds later, staring with wide eyes around the top platform Grian had made.

"You work fast, dude."

"I'm kind of an expert when it comes to towers, you know."

"Of course, of course." Grian stayed quiet, letting his ally poke around the corners. He whistled long and low, peering over the low wall acting as a barrier.

The urge to pull Martyn back from the edge and scold him burned in the back of his throat. It was a ridiculous worry - Martyn was sensible, he didn't need the watchful eye. Grian knew that. He knew that, there was no need for concern, and yet -

"....Grian, are you doing okay?"

"What?"

"You. You think I haven't noticed?"

All his softer feelings were swapped for indignation in an instant. Grian crossed his arms, ignoring how childish it felt (and probably looked). "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just fine!"

"And now you're getting defensive," Martyn traced a shape in the air, eyebrows raised. "Your wings stick out more when you're lying, Gri. Or did you forget?"

His flush might've matched his sweater. He forced his traitorous wings to settle with a huff. "I didn't forget. And I am fine, thanks for asking."

Martyn gave him a look that screamed sympathy, and that rubbed him the wrong way, too.

"You didn't come up here to just look, did you?" Martyn flinched; Grian rubbed his face with a sigh. "Listen - I'm good, okay? It's just that today's been a lot, and I've got a million things to get done before - "

"Grian - "

" - we get going again, there's the whole enchanter thing, and I need to go looking for sand - "

"G...."

" - and then help Impulse find better gear, make sure we've got a stockpile, and design a fail-safe with Mumbo - "

"Grian."

" - so just in case whatever happened to BDubs catches one of us - "

A hand clapped on his shoulder, cold even through his armour and sweater. Grian's mouth snapped shut, torn between wanting to shrug him off, or letting himself sink into the familiarity. Martyn shook him, gentle but firm. "Take a breath, Grian."

Now that he was closer, he could see that there was something deeper hiding in Martyn's expression.

Unfortunately, he knew his friend well enough to recognize it.

Guilt.

Another small shake prompted him to follow Martyn's suggestion. Grian took a deep breath, crisp autumn air clearing his mind a little bit.

"Good?"

"Better, yeah." Martyn stepped back, giving him some space. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you, you didn't ask for that."

"I don't think anyone asks to be yelled at, actually."

They both chuckled, any lingering tension dissolving.

The sun was slowly setting, casting a golden hue across the trees. Grian couldn't help but think that it looked an awful lot like the hearts on his wrist, hidden underneath sleeves and a hastily crafted leather arm guard.

"You know, Grian...."

"Hm?"

"You can let us help."

"You mean everyone else?"

"Yeah."

"I never said you couldn't help....did I?" He thought back to the day's events, even further back to the past *several* days, but nothing jumped out at him.

Martyn shook his head. "Not explictly, no. But you've got that whole list of stuff, it's not hard to tell that you're planning on going at it alone. We're your allies, for as long as we can be, dude."

Grian wasn't sure why the thought of leaning on his allies made him balk. They were all plenty capable, and he'd had no problems delegating in other scenarios. Why did it feel so wrong, here?

His gaze drifted past the treeline, further into the distance. At the very edges of his vision, he could see a faint impression of the northern mountain, where Scar was -

"Oh."

"Oh?"

The realization cut into him, sharper than the chilled breeze. His wings folded around him out of instinct. "I don't - I really don't think you'd get it, Martyn."

"Try me."

To his credit, Martyn was patient as Grian searched for the words to explain. The sun sank lower, sky fading into purple and obscurring what little he could see of the mountain.

He was patient even as the first stars flickered into sight. A faint murmer of voices rose up from below, their alliance bustling along as the two of them stood alone, far out of earshot. Grian was grateful for that.

"It's - I'm used to it," he started, haltingly. Martyn didn't speak up, but he looked lost. "Working on my own, I mean. Back - um, back when I was with - with Scar. In the first world."

The way Martyn's eyes widened would've been comical if not for how harsh his tone was.

"He didn't help you at all?"

"No, no! He helped plenty, it's just - it was easier if I got the stuff like building and farming done while he was off scamming the entire server, you know?"

"Not everyone got scammed...."

"Most of the server," he amended. "Scar had plans, and I carried them out. We worked best that way, and I didn't mind. That's just how it was - I didn't....I didn't realize I'd fallen back into old habits."

It was Grian's turn to stay quiet as Martyn processed the information. He'd thought that maybe the oppressive weight would've lifted now that he had acknowledged the root of the problem, but if anything, it seemed to crush him further.

"I understand better than you think I do, Grian." Martyn stared off into the distance. The torchlight flickered, illuminating the melancholy expression on his face. "Do you miss him?"

Grian couldn't speak around the lump in his throat. There was a beat; Martyn continued without him.

"Ren and I were the same, y'know. We fought for each other, and I laid my life down for him - for us - twice. I failed, despite that. I woke up here, and it - I couldn't bear to look him in the eyes again - "

"I stole Scar's life," Grian blurted, words tumbling out, and maybe he should feel bad for cutting Martyn off, but he got the feeling he didn't mind. "And it was - it felt wrong, even as we joked about it, then - then BDubs happened, and it felt like - " he swallowed hard, voice dropping to a whisper, " - it felt like killing him all over again. Back in that desert. I wanted to go with him so badly, but I can't, not without seeing him - not without seeing Scar dead again, everytime I look at him."

That, out of everything he'd admitted to, was the one thing that rattled Grian to the core. He hadn't been able to shove down the memories. Couldn't force them to the side, could barely even talk to Scar, now.

Partners, deals, side-by-side until they weren't, until it was just the two of them, blood cold in his veins and hot on his hands, unforgiving sun in his eyes, blinded by the red, and he didn't want to but he still -

"I see Ren dead, too." Grian jerked, pulled out of his thoughts to Martyn's steady voice and shaking hands. "The first time - Red Winter. Then again, when Scar killed him."

"I'm sorry, Martyn." It didn't feel like enough. Not enough to justify all that had happened.

Martyn's shoulders dropped. "I'm sorry too, Grian."

"Why?"

"If I'd been smarter, I would have left before the war climaxed. At least then I wouldn't have to see a bloody crown on Ren's head everytime we meet. The outcome might've been different."

"We're both too loyal for that, aren't we?"

A hollow laugh. "Yeah. We are."

The sky was a deep purple now, sun long gone.

"....I can't promise that it'll turn out any different this time," Grian said quietly, "But I hope you - I hope we don't have to watch it happen."

Martyn met his eyes for a moment, a small smile on his lips. Grian returned it, and noticed that his shoulders didn't feel quite so heavy.

"Me too."

They watched the stars turn for a few minutes before Grian shivered.

“Should we go down?”

“I could use some dinner.”

“As long as it’s Impulse or Jimmy cooking, you can’t trust Mumbo with any kind of edible product.”

“Really?” Martyn asked, sounding genuinely surprised as he followed Grian down the ladder.

“Dude, I watched Mumbo burn water, once.”

”How.”

“You tell me! Or better yet….” Grian stuck his head out of the tower entrance, grinning when he caught sight of the mustache in question. “Mumbo! How’d you burn that pot of water, again?”

”It was one time!”

“See? Told you.”

“Incredible.”

Impulse looked up at them, hands full with bread and roast chicken. “Finally! You guys done having a little secret meeting up there?”

“It wasn’t a secret meeting!” Martyn protested.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say. Come eat though, before the food gets cold!”

When he turned away to scold Jimmy for nicking an extra loaf of bread, Grian noticed that Martyn hadn’t moved. “Martyn?”

“If - If I wanted to talk to Impulse,” he said, uncertainty in his voice, “would you come with me?”

“For - oh.”

“Yeah.”

“Of course, whatever I can do to help.”

“Thanks.”

“No worries. Let’s hang out with everyone for awhile before we do, though.”

“Right.”

They settled down next to the campfire, and tucked into dinner while Mumbo tried his best to explain how redstone circuits worked to an enraptured Jimmy.

This was much better than working on his tower alone, Grian had to admit. Maybe….maybe he could get used to having some friends around.

He pushed his looming fears to the back of his mind, and enjoyed the company for the night.

Tomorrow, they could worry about the future.

my entire dash rn

are you really best friends if you don’t react to their shenanigans like this

Gem new episode, oh god so many feelings, so many things to unpack

Gem, she's just amazing both her character and herself. It's just god the editing??? The music for when the dragons appeared, the sky, camera just everything like all the effort she put into it and all. She's so so great

And her character, I love her character so much me cause she's such a interesting one, like her choices, actions all of it. I'm so interested to see on what her storyline will take us

And the moment that Sausage got closer to her? How she seemed scared of him, my heart. Since his betrayal against her and fwhip I just have pain </3 and just he didn't even seemed to care like aaah my feelings sir stop it

And god I'm so desperate for flower husbands, just- Scott saying "I've never needed you more in my life" I know it was like sarcasm and all but I miss them

God I'm so excited to see where all of this is going, empires is being such a fun smp to watch