The Chained Watcher

A touch of whimsy

~~~

"Man can you believe how weird that one guy was yesterday?" Scar gossips, checking his costume for any rips or tears. "I've read about a ton of different theater villains here, but that guy was weird weird. What kind of name is 'The Inconveniencer'?"

"An accurate one," Grian grumbles, glaring at the small puff of glitter that comes off his ribbons when he shakes them. "I swear I cleared off all the glitter yesterday. How is there more?"

Scar smirks.

"No," Grian warns preemptively.

As expected, this does nothing. "So you could say it's-"

"Don't."

"-quite the inconvenience, isn't it?"

For a second, he just buries his face in his hands, muttering his grievances in tongues long forgotten by any mortal who yet lives. Then, with a sour glare, he threatens, "Make another pun like that and you'll wish glitter was all you had to deal with."

"Alright, alright." Settling down into his chair, the playful teasing gives way to, oddly enough, some odd blend of affection and concern. "Can I uh, ask you something?"

"Yeeees? I'll never deny you the right to ask questions, even if I might refuse to answer."

Scar's fledgling ability to sense emotions reaches out to him, half deliberate and half subconscious, and he asks, "Are you having fun?"

Grian blinks. That was not what he thought Scar was going to ask. "Am I having fun? Yeah, I'd consider myself to be having fun." He lets his emotions show just enough for Scar to detect them, letting him feel the warmth he feels when hanging out with him.

For some reason, this doesn't seem to be what Scar is looking for, as the wizard seems unhappy at this response. "No, I mean... Playing at being a hero. I realized it when I watched one of the videos of us fighting. You're barely participating, mostly just watching from a distance, and I know you say you're having fun but I can't help but feel that you'd be having more fun doing something else."

Oh. That's... Hmm. He doesn't have a good response to that. "...I just don't want to unbalance the encounters too much. You know what I am; if I try to treat this as anything but playfighting, the fight will be over before it even starts."

"But surely there's something we can do to make it more fun for you, right? Like- I don't know, what about whimsy?"

Grian raises his eyebrows. "Whimsy?"

"Yeah, whimsy! You like whimsy, right? You should add some whimsy to your hero-ing!"

With as much amused sarcasm as he can muster, Grian points very deliberately at his costume's winding ribbons.

"No, I know you've got those, but those are- They're- They're just passive whimsy. I mean, they are whimsical, but it's them that's whimsical, not you."

"I made them Scar. How can I not be being whimsical?"

"No I get that, and it was whimsical! But it's not... For you, wearing something whimsical isn't the same as being whimsical."

"...What?"

Scar gestures wildly in his general direction. "That's not how your type of whimsy works! You can't just have whimsy, you have to do whimsy!"

Shockingly, the words strike a chord in him. "I- What?" What does he mean, he has to 'do' whimsy?

His confusion apparently spurred Scar on further, because the costumed superhero clarified with great vigor, "Whimsy isn't the same for everyone. One person's whimsy could be using a teapot with five spouts, while someone else's whimsy could be speaking in riddles, and just because the teapot is really whimsical for that person doesn't mean the riddle person has the same whimsy."

Scar pokes him right in the chest, declaring confidently, "Your whimsy is doing things. If it involves magic, even better! But once it's passive, it stops being whimsical, it's just... there." He gently grabs one of the drifting ribbons, letting it curl around his fingers like a mysterious mist. "Wearing this isn't whimsical for you, not much. Making it is what was whimsical."

"I... I guess that makes sense?"

"So I think you should let yourself have a bit more fun! Jimmy and Martyn already know you're a –well, you know– so why not have a bit more fun with your magic?"

Though not really against the idea, Grian is currently feeling very exposed, and thus decides to play devil's advocate. He crosses his arms, challenging, "And what makes you think they won't tell me off for that? Every time they've seen me use magic in the past, they've grilled me about what I did, why I did it, and they never ask any question less than twice."

"I'll just tell them I told you to do it then." Scar throws an arm around his shoulder, insisting, "Come on, let yourself have some fun! I know the whole superhero thing is fun for me, but just think about how fun you'll have showing off wacky magic tricks to people!"

"I guess..."

"Oh, and don't tell me beforehand. I want to be just as surprised as everyone else!"

A hint of a smirk starts to grow on his face. "Sounds like you're challenging me to do something you're not expecting."

"Why of course! I eagerly await the magnificent magical marvels you manufixture- manlfacture- manu- Oh you know what I mean. I can't wait to see what magic you use!"

Grian smiles. And unlike before, where he was treating this like going to watch a school play or supervise a field trip he's not terribly interested in, he finds himself looking forward to playing hero with Scar. "Me too, Scar. Me too."

~~~

The next time a villain challenges the duo of HotGuy and CuteGuy to a theatrical playfight, though he's still a little skeptical about the wisdom of this, Grian uses a bit of magic.

From his perspective, this is nothing but a silly little magic trick. A novelty, even. But it's visually impressive enough to someone as new to magic as Scar that he's willing to give it a shot. Once.

With a snap, the grass beneath his feet grows long and tough, weaving through the air like anemone underwater. He points at the army of critters swarming Scar. The critters, birds and squirrels and rabbits and moles that Scar was currently buried under due to refusing to hurt them, all make various noises of confusion and alarm as they're seized by the lengthened grass, tangled and restrained and held in the air like the neighborhood's oddest balloons.

Scar stares. The villain stares. The few spectators watching the fight from their third story apartments and sharing popcorn stare. Then, Scar starts clapping excitedly.

"Man, that was so cool! I told you using magic would be awesome!"

Grian chuckles, shaking his head. "You're still in the middle of a fight, HotGuy. Save the compliments for later."

"Wasn't that fun though? You look like you're having fun!"

"Perhaps."

In spite of the noncommittal answer he gave, Grian knows there's a smile on his face, one that's warmer and more honest than the one he wore the day before. Because Scar was right. That was fun.

He's still going to let Scar do most of the work in fighting villains and being a hero, but maybe it won't hurt to lean into it and be a bit more active in the support side of these battles. Just to add a bit of flair to it, you know? Just for fun.

For the sake of whimsy.

~~~

Link to part 2! Why? Because Wattpad has a chapter limit, and I don't want to make people need to hunt for it.

https://www.wattpad.com/story/412672288-the-chained-watcher-part-2