The Turf War Twisted

Grian's Hiding Something...

"You never answered my question."

"What question?"

"If this whole Tag thing is really just a game. Not a war strategy, not some malicious plan."

"Scar, who do you think I am?"

Scar paused, looking down at Grian. "I think you're my enemy."

"Oh." Now Grian paused. He wasn't even sure how to respond to an answer like that. Though, he wasn't expecting any other answer. "Really?"

Scar shrugged. "What do you think? Do you think I'm your enemy?"

Grian was stiff, a statue, a fixture sitting on the floor. "I think you're a good guy with bad ideas."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I think you know what it means. Or you at least think you do."

"You're an interesting case, Grian."

Grian raised an eyebrow, breaking his frozen state. "Oh, I know." He wasn't as smug as he wished he'd sounded. He just sounded sad and broken. His voice was faltering and there was no passion behind his eyes, no life.

There was a long moment of silence. A long moment where neither Scar, nor Grian knew what to say. Talking to someone you considered your nemesis for months wasn't the easiest thing, after all.

Out of the blue, Grian started standing up. They hadn't moved for a while so the sudden movement surprised Scar. Before Grian could walk away, Scar grabbed onto the back of Grian's shirt, pulling him back a bit and ultimately stopping Grian in his tracks. Grian sighed, an exasperated one that Scar had heard many times. "I didn't realise you were so clingy, Scar. But would you please let go?"

"What're you doing?" he asked, his head in a slight tilt.

"I'm gonna try opening the doors again. We'll never get out of here if we don't try something."

"Okay..." Scar's words were hesitant, like he was trying to plan out his next ones as he spoke. "I'll go with you, maybe having both of us try to open them will work."

"Oh yay." Grian mockingly waved jazz hands, his voice montone and drawn out. "Open the doors with the power of friendship, I'm sure."

Scar rolled his eyes, smiling. He let go of Grian's shirt and stood up slowly. "You're not my friend."

"I know. You did say I'm your enemy." Grian and Scar walked side by side, almost hopping up the steps to the doors. "I'm the antagonist of your picture perfect mayor life story." Grian grabbed the door handles, tightening his arms and shoulders. He pushed with all his might on the doors, trying to get at least one of them to open.

"You're so overdramatic," Scar said bluntly.

He rolled his eyes, stretching out his arms. His body pressed up against Grian's enveloping him in a back hug. He grabbed the handles as well, his hands over Grian's. Grian felt his body begin to heat up, most of it concentrating in his face. His grip on the doors was loosening without him even knowing.

"Are you gonna push or not?" Scar asked, his chin right up against the top left of Grian's head.

"Uh, yeah, yeah." He regained his grip on the handles, pressing as much force as he could towards the doors.

Scar did the same, his hands cramming Grian's down. Still though, even with both of them trying to open the doors, nothing seemed to work. They tried pushing, pulling, kicking, and Scar even tried tackling the doors. Grian did get a good laugh out of Scar collapsing in front of them.

"We're never getting out of here, are we?" Grian asked, walking over to Scar.

Scar had already given up and sat against the wall to ground himself after tackling the doors. "Yeah... no."

Grian sat down next to Scar, not minding to leave much of a gap between them. He pulled his knees into his chest, hugging his legs. He slammed his head down into his knees, staying silent.

Scar glanced over at him. Grian wasn't giving much away, but he could just feel how much Grian was shaking. The faint sound of his heavy breathing was just within his hearing range. Scar carefully put an arm around Grian's shoulders, closing the distance between them. Scar rested his head on Grian's. He was trying to think of the right thing to say, but no words could seem to form. His head seemed blank, just an empty landscape.

Grian's breathing was uneven, but when Scar had wrapped him into a side-hug, he thought his heart might collapse. He supposed it just scared him, because when it happened, he gasped and felt his heart seem to skip a beat. Heat still burned in his face, the warmth making his heart feel fuzzy. Grian's chest felt hot, like a burning feeling was taking over him. It spread from his face, his heart, to the rest of his body. He gulped nervously, lifting his head slightly to look up at Scar.

Scar was still using Grian's head like a pillow, still holding him close. Grian wasn't even sure what to do. He wanted to make another snarky remark or be angry at Scar for getting so close, but he couldn't. It didn't feel right. He wanted to yell, but he also wanted to hug Scar right back.

Grian built up the courage to open his mouth, peel it open and spill the words out. That was when Xisuma abruptly burst through the double doors. Grian quickly pushed Scar away in a panic, his eyes wide and mouth hung open slightly. He stood up without even thinking, running to Xisuma.

When Xisuma caught sight of Grian, he called out, "Oh my god! This is where you two have been?" He paused briefly, his voice lowering. "Which one of you has the Tag?"

With a quick swoop, Scar shoved the Tag into his purple suit. He smirked, fastening his monocle onto his face. Grian glanced back at him, hearing the sudden movement. Just the same as always. He couldn't help but wonder what kind of act Scar was putting on when he hugged him like that.

"Thanks for the Tag, Grian," Scar said as he stood up, his presence growing the more he straightened up. "I guess I should be going now." Faster than Xisuma or Grian could even anticipate, Scar bolted out of the hobbit tunnel, rushing through the doors. Neither of them could really process what had just happened.

Scar never really changes, does he? Grian didn't want to think that Scar comforting him was just a bluff, but Scar had wasted no time to get away from Grian once the doors were opened up. He mentally scoffed. That man is impossible to read sometimes.

Grian's focus shifted back to Xisuma, who was still staring at the doors in awe. "That was insane." Xisuma turned to face Grian with wide eyes. "I barely even saw him start running before he was completely out of sight."

"No wonder we've been struggling with this whole war thing," Grian mumbled in a half-joke.

"Honestly." Xisuma stared sceptically at Grian. "What was going on before I got here?"

Grian flinched, his neck tightening suddenly. "Nothing, really," he replied, his voice rising with obvious panic. "We were just waiting for someone to get us out of here, and then you showed up. Thanks so much. Uhmm- well, anyways... I'm gonna head to HQ. Bye." Grian sped-walked out the doorway, exiting Mumbo's starter base and taking off without putting much thought into his flight.

Xisuma mumbled to himself. "Grian's hiding something..."

(word count: 1216 words)