Half of the dessert's rotten. || Scarian

Chapter 7: He did. I ignored him.

The polystyrene hadn't hurt.

At least, not in the way you'd expect it to. Sure, it's felt itchy having it between fingers, under his fingernail, finding some on his arms once he'd showered.. But it hadn't hurt.

It was the scratching. The scratching he did to himself. And of course he couldn't admit that to Mumbo, what would he think? So instead, he just blurt out his excuse for anything: Scar hates me.

Doesn't that make him a terrible human being?

He'd had art that morning. Spending more time with Scar was always awkward, no matter how much the other tried to act that it wasn't.

They'd played around with their polystyrene a bit, both proud of their hard work. Scar had bought a light yellow spray paint yesterday on his way home, thinking it would be the easiest way to paint all of the 'sand' in one go. Grian couldn't argue that it wasn't: It was.

Grian would spray it on the bowl while Scar dipped his hands in to mixt the polystyrene bits to make sure each were painted. 

He'd asked why he gave him the easy part of spray painting. Scar had said it was because he knew he had a hard time after cutting the polystyrene yesterday, and didn't want to get his sensory issues all worked up again.

Scar's hate did sure feel odd, the more time he spent with him.

"I feel like a single bowl of sand won't be enough." Grian said, because of course he did. He's always negative. That's why Scar hated him, wasn't it?..No. Scar hated him because Grian was the worst person on earth. A murderer. "Because, get this, we're in a desert, sure we'll add cactus and lava- But it might be in our favor to add dunes and stuff. To get extra points."

Scar seems to be thinking about it, before his face lights up.

"Could we make a mountain?" No surprises there; Scar always wanted to go a little over the top. Grian found himself smiling at the proposition. "Sure."

It felt oddly peaceful.

Well, peaceful wouldn't be the word to describe it. Grian was, after all, thinking about all the ways this could've went differently- If only this stupid teacher didn't put them together. If only he wasn't so stupid.

But for the circumstances- It was peaceful. Really.

Scar had taken on the task of making more polystyrene bits and bobs, while Grian was writing down lists of materials they'd be needing and figuring out some sort of budget.

A cactus garden.

A promise cactus ring.

It had been an innocent little comment. In hindsight, Grian could see what Scar meant with it's title. A promise for a better life. A better life in a desert who seemed to only contain dust. But it didn't feel like that to him.

It felt more like a battle to the death.

So, they'd both scratched down that idea. There would be no way of passing along that message anyway, the only things they'd be able to put in it would be cactuses and dead bushes.

There would be no promises between them.

The ones they shared had been broken long, long ago.