thinking about the afterparty of the charity event. everyone invited to go to one of the airbnbs to decompress and drink and hang out without any further expectations or duties.
thinking about scar and how the hermits have demanded he take breaks throughout the entirety of the streams, yet it only felt like he was recharging physically, not mentally or socially. but as he was pulled into the house, transferred himself onto the couch in the middle of the living room, it finally felt like he can relax, sinking into the cushions and letting the tide of hermits bustle and laugh around him.
and it's not as if he's not apart of the conversations; someone pulled out spicy jenga, with truths and dares written onto the side, that grian insisted scar take part in and that, "gem is such a doll, she'll pull your pieces for you, right, gem?" and scar thinks neither of them can truly say no to grian.
cub sits by his right, nursing a beer, and gem sits primly on his left, with grian hovering close. and as it's his turn, she slips an easy tile out of the tower and goes pink as she reads the dare.
"'sit on the lap of whoever you want in the game,'" she reads, and a few of the hermits laugh, including scar. well, that's not possible, is it?
but then, grian speaks up. "well, it wasn't scar that pulled the tile now, it was gem. surely gem can still do the dare," and a few more hermits start hooting and hollering their agreement, a distinct skizz whistle cutting through the air.
scar expects her to balk, to push back, to roll her eyes and tell him to fuck off, but she doesn't. instead, she meets grian's eyes steadily and says, "i can still do the dare, but since it was scar's dare, i'll just have to sit on scar's lap."
which is how scar finds himself with gem tucking herself as close to him as she can. she asks, "is this okay?" before she settles close, and there's nothing more he could possibly want right now.
so he simply nods his head and says, "not directly on top of me, it's too– it's been a long day," he says, a soft longing bleeding through his voice, but her eyes soften and she nods back. she pulls his arm over her shoulders, like she so easily did with grian and tango back at the mojang office, and moulds herself against his side, slinging one leg over his, with her cheek pressed against his chest, and her head tilts up as she looks up at him.
he inhales sharply at her pretty look and instead of doing anything impulsive like kiss her, he fiddles with his oxygen tube and lets the rabble of the hermits come back into his focus. he can't ignore her warmth, can't help the arousal building low in his gut, but he can let himself enjoy this moment.
