#wahoo!!!!

Joel (the one that actually went by “Joel”) had informed him that Rex had filled him in on the situation. He wasn’t too surprised that Grian experienced something similar to what he had been dealing with for years. Tango was a little shocked, though, claiming that he had no idea over the course of six seasons of Hermitcraft. However, both parties were nonetheless supportive, and so, whenever they could, Joel’s and Tango’s systems (which Tango’s system lovingly refer to themselves as “The Blazey Bunch”) shared their experiences as well as some advice on what to do with Ari.

The methods that the two of them shared with Grian came with little success, though. He tried to reach out to Ari in their shared mind but not a sound was heard. He had left notes around their base that went untouched. He waited patiently, but he was desperate for anything from her, something that told him that she was still around. Unfortunately for Grian, there was nothing.

He ended up mulling it over lunch with Jimmy and Pearl, going off-server to both spend time with his siblings but also tell them about Ari, per Rex’s advice. He was very aware of his surroundings as he slowly chipped away at a chicken sandwich. It didn’t stop him from wishing he could retreat into himself, though.

“It does line up, if you think about it.” Jimmy spoke between bites of a burger. “I mean, I have seen ‘you’ get excited about clothes shopping with Pearl.”

Grian almost wanted to argue but then remembered that the trait was being attributed to Ari. “Fair. I can’t seem to reach Ari at the moment, though. Every time I’ve tried so far has resulted in failure, which sucks because I really need to talk to her.”

“She probably needs her space right now, Grian.” Pearl took a sip of iced tea. “If she’s anything like you, she won’t come around until she’s ready. All you can do now is wait.”

Grian fidgeted with the food in front of him. “I’m going insane. What if she just disappeared?! I’m barely sure how any of this even works!”

“I don’t think she disappeared, Grian. If she doesn’t want to talk right now, you can’t force it.” Jimmy explained.

“You gotta be patient, Grian. No sense in trying to rush it.” Pearl added, fork dipping into her salad.

“I really hate this.” Grian grumbled, taking a bite of his chicken sandwich.

“Well, now you know how we feel.” Pearl exclaimed lightheartedly.

---

“You still waiting on Ari?”

Grian decided to make a stop at Gem’s base to keep his head on straight. It was no secret that he had been struggling, and he didn’t even have the energy to hide it. He sat down on the grass next to Gem, who stopped her work on her base to address the exhausted-looking man.

“Yeah. Tim and Pearl don’t think she disappeared, but what if she did? What if this whole thing was all in my head and nothing had actually been wrong?!”

Gem took her place next to Grian. “You’re overthinking this. I’ve literally seen Ari take control from you. And I know you probably already heard to be patient, but you’ll run your energy into the ground if you keep this up.”

He let his head fall onto her shoulder. “You’ve talked to Ari before, right? What was she like with you?”

“Well, for starters, she loves iced coffee.” Gem mused.

“I figured out that part, Gem.” Grian attempted to shove at Gem but failed due to his exhaustion.

“Hey, you constantly remind everyone that you hate iced coffee. I’m gonna constantly tell you how much Ari loves the stuff.” She smirked. “But other than that, she’s nice and bubbly. Real pop star energy. You know the concert that ‘you’ did a while back for the server? That was Ari.”

Of course it was…

“But,” Gem pushed Grian off of her shoulder to make eye contact with him, “she also worried about you a lot. A lot of times it was about you finding out about her, but she also tended to be concerned about your well-being.”

He turned away, avoiding Gem’s eyes. “But I don’t need protecting. I can handle myself fine.”

“But can you, though?”

Grian turned back to her, raising an eyebrow. “What do you mean by that?”

“I don’t think it’s physical protection but more so like caretaking? You have proven multiple times you can hold your own in a fight, but I know you also tend to not take care of yourself, like when you’re deep into a project.”

Grian grimaced. He did tend to overwork himself, whether it was being too focused on building or, more relevant to his younger years, making sure his siblings were taken care of. He just didn’t like that he was faced with that fact.

“I think you’ll start to know her better once you two talk.” Gem gave him a playful pat on the head. “You just have to wait for it.”

---

Grian kept waiting day after day. He reminded himself of his talks with his friends and family to cope with the silence. He almost gave up when the days turned into a week, but as he was lying in bed, ready to drift off to sleep, he heard her. 

“Hey, Grian…”

He blinked and saw Ari standing across the room. She looked almost exactly like his vision of Ariana Griande when he first made the bit back in Season 6. The Ari in front of him was more cleaned up with better hair and makeup than he could have ever done himself. He frowned a bit, though, at the sight of her. Grian knew that she wasn’t truly there. It was a trick of their brain to help comprehend their meeting, but he allowed it to occur, feeling more relieved that he could finally get the conversation he had been waiting for.

“I take it that you’re still upset…” Grian noticed.

“I am.” Ari responded dryly.

“In my defense, I was told nothing. I was kept in the dark for all my life. How was I supposed to know what you were doing?”

“And that’s part of why I’m still upset.” Ari sighed, fluttering her wings slightly out of nervousness. “I can’t hold something you were never aware of against you. That was unfair of me, and I shouldn’t have done it. But I did, and I’m sorry.”

“I mean, calling you selfish didn’t help any.”

“But I get why. Some random person in your brain being in control of what’s supposed to be your life would probably warrant a freak out.”

Grian hummed in agreement. “I mean, I talked to Joel and he also had to go through all of this before.”

“Wait,” Ari paused him. “Joel deals with this, too?!”

“Yeah, and Tango, too! Joel, or, well, Rex…he’s one of the guys Joel shared a brain with…he showed up at our window and started talking to me about this.”

“Wow…sorry, sorry. I got us off track. What were you saying?”

“Anyway, they had to go through this, too. The realization that you’re going from believing that it’s solely your life to learning that you’re actually sharing it is kinda a lot to handle.”

“I know. I just thought that with more time, you’d be ready for it, but that was wrong, too.”

“I mean, I’m still trying to process everything, but I learned from Joel that you were right in one regard: it’s your life just as much as mine, and I’m sorry that our initial meeting made it feel like it wasn’t yours, too.”

“Thanks, Grian…”

Words of forgiveness were not needed between the two of them. The subtle acceptance of each other’s apologies were enough for both Ari and Grian. However, there was more on Grian’s mind, stuff that leaned more toward emotional vulnerability than anything that had to do with their previous argument, and because they shared a brain, Ari could tell that he had more he wanted to say.

“What’s on your mind, Grian?” Ari’s worries rushed into her words. Grian hesitated, not wanting to come to terms with what was going on in their head. The words eventually came out, though almost imperceptively.

“…why are we like this?”

The visage of Ari walked over and sat on the edge of the bed and petted his head. It wasn’t real. He couldn’t feel the sensation even if he wanted to, but it felt more comforting than he could have ever imagined.

“I think a part of you knew that you couldn’t do this alone.” She whispered soothingly. “After mom and dad died, we had to be the ones to take care of Jimmy and Pearl. That’s a lot to put on a child, but we had to do it. Otherwise, all of us would’ve struggled to survive.”

Grian focused on how calming Ari’s hand running through his hair was. It took him back in time, and it washed away any nerves that would’ve shown themselves in the moment. He listened as she continued to speak.

“You’re strong, Grian. You had to be, but you don’t have to keep going if you’re having a hard time. You can rest. I can help. You don’t have to do everything alone, not while I’m here.”

Grian felt tears run down his face. He hadn’t cried in a long time, probably not since his mother’s funeral. He allowed them to fall, though. He had been holding back his emotions for a while. Not this time.