TW: Self harm, angst, relapsing, mention of past self harm
3rd Person POV
Grian sighs, relaxing after everyone has left. Yes he was glad to see Dream again but he was exhausted after talking to Puffy. He knew it would end in a therapy session but to her knowledge and to Dream's, Grian was fine and that's how he wanted to keep it.
He didn't need anyone worrying about him, he was fine.
At least that's what he told himself.
Sure his wrist were scarred.
His mind was a bit of a mess.
Not all days went ok.
He wasn't exactly happy.
But that didn't mean anything. He was fine.
That's what he believed.
That's what he told himself.
Grian looks down as pain shoots through his wrist.
"Oh no, oh no, oh no."
He looks over at the clock, 3 am. When did it become 3? What was he going to do? Panic rushes through him, unsure of what to do. He wanted to stop but his shaking hands were close to continuing. Tears cloud his vision, a red haze becoming bigger.
"Scar he's not going to be up."
"I know he is! All the lights are on and I can feel it, I know he's up."
"That doesn't mean any-...Grian?"
"Oh my gosh..."
Mumbo rushes over to the pesky bird, carefully grabbing his hands.
"Scar I need a clean towel and some bandages now."
"R-right, on it."
"G, look at me."
He shakes his head no.
"Gri buddy, no one is mad, I'm more worried than anything. Can you please look at me?"
The dirty blonde looks up at Mumbo, tears rolling down his face.
"Oh Grian..."
"I'm s-sorry Mumbo."
"Are you hurt anywhere else?"
"I d-don't know, I didn't ev-even realize I did t-this..."
"Can I look?"
The shorter nods and Mumbo looks at his other arm.
"I don't see anything, we'll get you cleaned up and all better."
"I'm s-so sorry Mumbo."
"Shhh, focus on calming down ok? We can talk later."
Scar comes back, "Sorry, I struggled to find everything."
"Thank you Scar."
Mumbo gently cleans Grian's wrist, wrapping it and pulling the sweater sleeve down over it.
"There we go, all cleaned up."
Grian wipes the tears away, not meeting either of the other hermits faces.
"G, we aren't mad, this happens, its going to be ok."
"I was doing so well..."
"Like Scar said, relapses happen, we're here for you."
"You should be mad, you should yell at me, I did a terrible horrible thing."
The two share a look and Scar pulls the shorter into a hug.
"It doesn't matter what you did, we aren't mad and we definitely aren't going to yell at you."
He leans against Scar, relaxing into the hug.
"You're so tired G, get some sleep."
"I don't want to be alone."
"You won't be, Mumbo and I will be here when you wake up."
"You two need sleep too."
"We will, don't worry about us, just sleep."
Grian grabs Scar's hand, "Thank you both..."
"Get some sleep pesky bird."
He smiles a tiny bit, laying down and falling asleep.
"Mumbo, what do we do?"
The Brit sighs, "I'll talk to him later after he wakes up and calms down. Worse case scenario we have to go to Xisuma. I don't want to but if it means keeping Grian safe I will."
"Has this happened before?"
"...Yes."
"Mumbo we need to tell X, what if this has happened between now and then? Who knows how much this happens, it's not good, it worries me."
"You're right...he's online and Gri should be asleep for awhile, we should do it now."
Scar nods and the two get up, making sure Grian would be ok before heading over to Xisuma's.
"X? Are you here?"
"Hey Mumbo, Scar, what's up?"
"Do you have a minute?"
"Yeah, what's up?"
"Its about Grian but don't freak out."
"What happened to Grian?"
The American looks away, "We found him hurting himself..."
"What?"
"Mumbo and I found Grian hurting himself..."
"And you left him alone?"
"He's sleeping, I wouldn't leave him alone if he was awake."
Scar places a hand on Mumbo's shoulder to calm him, "We didn't want to wait to tell you, we don't know what to do X."
"Ok, I'm going to go get Cub and meet you two at Grian's base, ok?"
"X...Grian doesn't handle this stuff well, he's gone through so much. We can't push him."
"We won't Mumbo, I'll meet you at G's, ok?"
Mumbo nods and the three go in opposite directions.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Mumbo are we sure about this? I mean I want to help him but what if we messed up?"
"I know Grian, he won't get the help himself unless he's on the brink of death. I didn't want to go to X either but we had to."
"You two are so loud."
"Sorry G, did you have a good nap?"
"Mhmmm," He makes grabby hands, "Come here."
Mumbo sits next to Grian, allowing the smaller to wrap his arms around him.
"How are you feeling?"
"Better."
"Yeah?"
"Mhm."
"Good, why didn't you come to me?"
"Didn't want to bother you."
"You could never bother me pesky bird."
The three look over as Xisuma and Cub enter the room.
"Hey guys, what's up?"
"Hey G, how are you feeling?"
"Fine, did I do something wrong? Why is everyone at my base?"
"You didn't do anything wrong Grian, X and I just want to make sure you're ok."
"Why?"
"Grian...are you hurting yourself?"
"Cub! You can't just ask that."
Mumbo looks down as the parrot tenses, the room growing silent.
"Why would you think that?"
"Are you hurting yourself Grian?"
"No." He looks away from the mustached man.
"G..."
"Grian it's ok if you are, no one would be mad at you. Cub and I want to help you."
"Guys really, I'm fine."
"Enough Grian, Mumbo and I watched you slit your wrist, just let us help you!"
Grian sits up, looking over at Scar, "Scar..."
Cub sits on the edge of the bed, "Can I see?"
The shorter looks at Mumbo.
"Its ok Gri, he just wants to make sure it won't get infected."
The pesky bird rolls his sleeve up, showing Cub.
"Can I take the bandage off?"
Grian nods and Cub gently takes the wrap off, examining his wrist.
"It won't get infected, did you clean this yourself?"
"Mumbo did it."
"You've had practice Mumbo?"
"You could say that."
Cub rewraps Grian's arm, "You want to tell me what caused this?"
"...Relapsed."
"Bad trigger?"
He nods.
"Does anyone know?"
"Mumbo."
"Next time you feel like this can you go to him?"
He nods and Mumbo hugs him.
"Was it about him?"
He nods, tears filling his eyes.
"Oh G...you're safe now, ok?"
"Ok."
"Can you tell me your name?"
"Grian." He wipes the tears away.
"That's right, Grian the pesky bird."
A small smile tugs at his lips.
"If you need someone Cub and I are here for you, ok G?"
"Thank you X."
"Will you be ok with these two?"
He nods.
"Ok, we'll see you later, yeah? Scar don't forget to come see me tomorrow. Now go to bed you three."
"I won't I won't."
Xisuma and Cub leave the three alone and Grian makes grabby hands at Scar.
"Come here."
He goes over, getting pulled down in the cuddle pile.
"I'm sorry Scar."
"Don't apologize, I'm just glad you're ok."
The three relax, falling into a comfortable silence and eventually sleep.