#grilbo

"Oh, you've got to see this childhood photo I've got."

Tibbo yanks the book from Furlo.

“No. I've had enough of all of this. Whatever thing is messing with us, it's clearly evil! I'm taking matters into my own paws.”

“Tibbo, don't!”

It is far too late. Tibbo lights a match.

“You're scared of me, right? That's why you all avoid me, don't act like it's not true! Well,” It smiles. “good.”

“Tibbo, I don't, I'm not—”

“You? YOU? You have no right to FUCKING TALK to me! Where were you when everyone left me? You were scared of me then, right?”

“You… you cut me off.”

“Shut the fuck up.”

The book goes up in flames. They seem to consume Tibbo as well.

“This won't stop anything.”

“Isn't this a little… extreme?

“Et tu, Blombo? And here I thought you actually liked me.”

“I do, but just… you're not acting yourself.”

“Not acting myself? I'm Tibbo fucking Pinkflame! I'm the rebel, remember? Loyal to none? This is just what I do.”

“Tibbo…”

“I fuck shit up, I burn shit down! I ruin relationships, THIS is my role!”

“Tibs, you're scaring me.”

Tibbo says nothing. Breathes heavily. And runs.

“So the book’s kinda gone, and since you've been working with us on this… thing, I was wondering if you knew anything?”

“The book's gone? What happened?”

“That's what we're trying to—”

“Someone stole it.”

“We don't know that.”

“...You don't.”

Binbus falters, takes a step back.

“What aren't you telling me?”

“It's nothing. We have to go ask Furlo now.”

“Wait, can I join you?”

“...fine.”

“Binbus, I am so sorry to annoy you this early but it's really important and I don't know who else to come to and I really trust you and I just felt like I had to talk to you—”

“What's up?”

“The book's gone.

“What.”

“I don't know who would've stolen it but it has to be stolen because I don't MISPLACE things Binbus, that's not who I am.”

“You just woke up and it was gone? And you think it's stolen?”

“Yes. To both questions.”

“Well, I think we should ask…

“Okay. It feels mean, but let's go.”

“Grilbo, you've been at this for a while now.”

“Yeah. And I have found nothing.”

“...Take a break, maybe? You're just getting frustrated.”

“No! No, no, I can’t. I feel like I'm so close to finding something, you're all counting on me. I… I have to prove it's worth it.”

“Grilbo, it HAS been hours.”

“It'll just take longer if I stop.”

“You really should. You can't just burn yourself out, it's not-”

“Oh, like YOU ever take breaks? Hypocrite.”

“This isn't about me! You're always like this.”

“All I'm saying is that you have no right to ask anything of me when you're always pulling the exact same shit.”

…This is…CLEARLY something personal between them. Maybe he should leave.

“...Why do you care so much? I have a job, and it's getting done.”

“Because I care about you, dumbass!”

Bleepo breathes heavily, like he didn't mean to say that. Or maybe, like he's been waiting for a long time to say it.

“How many years have we known each other now? For how long do I have to watch you just… throw parts of yourself away just because somebody asked you to do something?”

“Well, you keep asking me to do things. So let me do them.”

“...you're allowed to say no to me, y’know. Please learn how to say no to people.”

Okay they're calming down maybe. Which is great, because Binbus actually has no clue how to interpersonal relationship.

“...not to you. I can't say no to you.”

“...I'm not gonna keep arguing with you on this.”

“Okay. You're probably right, but I am going to, uh, get back to work.”

“...”

“...”

…

“OH MY GOD do NOT tell me it was that easy the WHOLE TIME.”

“Wait, what is it?”

“How did I not see this oh my god.”

Grilbo flaps his paws up and down excitedly.

“Okay, okay. Look. The symbols here, they actually seem to line up one to one to the Crittish on the translation the humans gave. I don't know how THE FUCK I didn't realize earlier, probably because of how… seperated this language seems.”

“Does that mean we can translate the other pages?”

Whatever this notebook says, it has to be important.

“I don't think that's a good idea.”

Bleepo speaks with a strange energy. It freaks you out.

“What? Bleep, you were all for it a minute ago.”

“Doesn't this stuff freak you out? If something knows us, if something’s stalking us, why would you want to know what it thinks?”

“Because I'm a nosy little rascal? Obviously.”

“All I'm saying is that this could be dangerous.”

“Knowing what it says won't hurt us, right?”

“It shouldn't. If it says anything, I want to know.”

But they don't even need to knock on Furlo's door. It's already outside, talking (arguing?) with Tibbo. And in his paws—

“Furlo? You stole my book?”

“Told you it wasn't me.”

It's not yours, Grilbo. Can't a crittel examine an artifact in peace?”

“You couldn't have just asked. You know I would've given it to you.”

“I needed it. You wouldn't understand. It cared about me.”

“...it's a book, Furlo. It doesn't— it can’t…”

“Not the book, whoever sent it. It knows me, it knows us. So it can’t help but care.”

“What? Do you know something?”

“Me? That's your job, silly.”

“You don't… sound well.”

“Sorry. It's odd, isn't it? The fact that I'm the first one?”

“What the hell is up with you?”

Veevee, hearing the commotion, approaches.

“Tibbo? Furlo? What's going on?”

“See? Tibbo gets it.”

“I do not fucking ‘get it!’”

Furlo just smiles. “Binbus, you've been awful quiet.”

“You're freaking me out.”

“... sorry. I just think the contents of the book don't matter. If we were meant to see them, they would've been in Crittish.”

“If we weren't meant to see them, they wouldn't have been encoded with a basic substitution cipher.”

“If an entity knows us, and if it’s above us, why would you force it down to our level? The book's not important, it's served its purpose.”

“You were all for reading it earlier! Why are you so against it now?”

“Wait. What makes you think there's an entity?”

“To answer both questions: I just had a feeling. Can't you feel it?”

“And you had to steal the book about it? I thought you—”

“Sorry.”

“Can you give it back?”

“Not yet. I'm waiting for—”

"Oh! Hello, everyone! Tibbo."

"What's your problem with me, Grils?"

"Me? I could ask you the same thing, ‘Tibs’."

"Hey, you know what you did."

"Do I? Anyway, what brings the entire town to my door?"

"We found this, uh, glowing journal? Nobody can read it, but one of the voices in our collective heads could decode it just fine. We're hoping you might be able to figure out the rest."

"Let me see that."

Grilbo flips through the pages for a few minutes.

"First of all, this thing's not glowing? Second, where did you get this?"

"Does it matter—"

"Y'know the big tree in Talewave Park? It was in there."

"This is… I think I need to work on decoding this."

"Do you think you can?"

"I have to, right? That's why everyone came to see me."

"I mean yes, but—"

"Blee, Binbus, can you stay and help with this? This is big. Could be big."

"Of course."