#zombiegretho

grian is terrible at pillow talk. etho and cleo find this out very quickly, the first night they all spend together in fact.

they’re all laying out in the big bed etho made by pushing several smaller beds together, cuddling and enjoying one another’s presence when grian speaks up.

“you know…” he starts, sitting up and staring at cleo and etho in the dark. “i think that if it came down to it, i’d let one of you kill me.” his eyes shine faintly purple, probably the light of the nether portal across the room. etho stares for a moment, his tail twitching where it was curled over cleo’s stomach. cleo just drags grian back into their chest, ruffling his hair while he squeaks out protests, sounding remarkably like an offended bird.

“hush,” cleo chastises, rolling onto her side to squish grian between herself and etho. “we can think about that later.”

“cleo’s right,” etho agrees, wrapping his arms around grian’s waist. he’s worried about what will happen, about when he’ll end up losing the two of them like he’s lost everyone else he ever bonded with in these games, but cleo is right, they can think about that later.

for now, the three of them are comfortable and safe. etho is scared, probably, but they’re all okay right now and that’s what he should be focusing on.

-💕anon

(new life series reignited my hc hyperfixation and i can’t stop thinking about these three, they mean so much to me)

Grian knows 'later' will come sooner than they expect. It always does, somehow sneaking in when they've settled into something like normalcy. Things like pillow talk seem a little meaningless when he looks ahead into the future. This is time they could be strategising - discussing ideas and builds to maximise their time.

(Not that Grian wants to win, no. He's done that already. There's nothing waiting for him on the winners podium.)

But, Cleo and Etho are right. Later, however soon it'll come, is still later. And he should enjoy the now whilst it lasts.

The clock was ticking. Grian knew just as much as Etho and Cleo that the clock was ticking. They were all red. One wrong move and they would be goners. Today everyone would be picked off, one by one, til one stood victorious. 

Grian could feel the bloodlust surging through him that came with being a red life but he also felt something else. He felt the loyalty to his team. Grian told Etho and Cleo that he would stick with them, even if he turned red. And he meant what he said. He was tired of keeping people just out of reach. It never served him any good, he still was the reason those that meant most to him would leave. So this time, this time he would do what he hasn’t. 

Cleo was in the base with Etho getting some last minute gearing up done while Grian was outside keeping an eye out for any reds coming to get them. Grian wished he still had Jimmy with him, despite how annoying he could be. He wished he had someone he could talk to. If Grian was going to do this, there would be no turning back.

grian and cleo had beenwaiting for etho at their bases after the day had ended and the infected poeple were no longer effected by the boogey curse. the two had regrouped at the base before etho and had just nodded at each other and made themselves busy while waiting for etho to get home.

when etho got back to the base, cleo and grian both got up from the mundane tasks they were doing and went to etho. the three wordless pulled each other into a hug and just stayed like that for a few moments. they pulled apart and shared a look before setting to do some end of day tasks before bed.

all three had been pretty in their head over the day they had had. cleo and grian over having watched etho run into the horde, which bought them time to get away. grian over being resonsible, in his mind, for etho getting infected in the first place. etho over feeling like he let his partners down by getting infcted. and all three of them kept thinking about how etho had spared grian and cleo when he had clear oppurtunity to infect them.

as etho grian and cleo got ready for bed, they all felt a very thick tension in the air. finally, as grian stretched out his wings behind him before climbing into bed beside etho, he decided to break the tension.

"i feel bad for killing you etho." it was so quietly mumbled that it could almost be missed, but cleo sat up on her side of the bed and etho's ears flicked as he turned to look at the avian. "you wouldn't have ran and became infected if i hadn't placed that enderman egg." grians wings were puffed up and it was clear that grian was upset over his actions.

etho fully turned over to wrap his arms around grian. "my death was my fault and mine alone. you did not cause my death." he placed a soft kiss to the top of grian's head.

(i saw the theme and imeddiatley thought about session 7 of secret life and the after math of the roomies.)

Cleo rolls over onto both of them, arms spread out.

"It's a death game," she mutters. "People die."

She knows how easy it is to get obsessed about this stuff. She's done it plenty herself, and she'll doubtless do it again. Why Etho decided to save them, she doesn't know. She might never understand, she might feel guilty. But what's the point?

They have so little time left here. There's no point spending it like this.