-Grian's POV, 1st-

Mumbo woke up slowly as I watched EX come back into the room and try to hide in the corner out of what I assume is embarrassment. Mumbo's hair was all messy but it was barely noticeable considering he was always changing it. Interrupting my chain of thoughts, fireworks sounded, and Iskall landed in Mumbo's base. He walked over to us. I don't know about Mumbo and EX, but I felt really energetic. I sprung off of the bead, tackle-hugging Iskall before he could say anything.

"Wha- Hey Grian, nice to see you too?" He laughed. I chuckled too and stood up, offering my hand. He took it and I pulled him to his feet. "Oh! Meet EX, Iskall." EX waved, face still red. "Nice to meet ya, dude! As you heard, I'm Iskall," Iskall said, extending his hand out. EX shook it awkwardly and Iskall turned to Mumbo. "Hey, man, came to ask if you and Grian were free today. Grian wasn't at his base so I figured he was with you. Guess I was right." He looked between the two of us with a small smirk. I ignored it.

"We're free. Is it ok if EX tags along?" I looked over at the other, briefly meeting his gaze. "Yeah, the more the merrier!" Iskall responded. "What are we doing, anyway?" EX asked. Iskal stopped, staring at him. Actually... What were we going to do? "Walk around town, go to the thrift store— Whatever you guys want, as long as I'm not alone in my base. It's cool but really lonely." Iskall responded.

"Ooh, I know a few cool spots around town!" I piped in. There was a new ice cream shop I had been dying to check it out; Now I had an excuse to do so. "Let's go. While we're at it, me and EX can chat." Mumbo said with what seemed like a meaningful look at EX. "Uh, sure, why not?" EX said distractedly. Nobody else noticed so we all headed towards town.

When we arrived, we did a little bit of poking around, looking at the cool shops and hangouts. Then, we all walked towards the ice cream parlor. The flowers in its garden were springing up in the vernal season. I recognized a few from my limited plant knowledge. There were peonies, sunflowers, lilies, and all sorts of other flowers. It looked nice and it smelled amazing.

———

"You okay, Grian? You seem lost in thought."Iskall asked as we ate our ice cream. I hadn't noticed, since I was, indeed, deep in thought, but I had been staring off into oblivion. "Just... some stuff that came across my mind. Nothing much!" He nodded. "What kind of stuff?" "Hmm, I can't really recall, but I like those flowers over there, don't you?" I said, changing the subject.

In all honesty, I had been thinking about the kiss from earlier, but I would never admit it. EX was probably still embarrassed and it wasn't my place to further that. However, the blackmail was there. Iskall mumbled something inaudible under his breath. "What did you say? I couldn't hear you, sorry." "It's nothing, don't worry." "Okay..." I sighed. Looking over at Mumbo and EX, I saw them deep in conversation. They seemed relaxed, like they were enjoying each other's company. That made me happy. At least they were getting along well.

I felt a pull at my eyes, and I felt really tired all of a sudden. It was probably because we had been walking all day, and also the fact that good food always made me sleepy, no matter the temperature. "You good?" Iskall asked. I nodded. "Are you sure? You look like you're falling asleep, so..." "Mhm..." I responded. I leaned my head on my elbow, trying to stay awake. "Just a little tired s'all, no worries..." I continued. That only made him look more worried.

"Yeah... You want to go back to your base or something?" He asked. I nodded. "Let's go, then. I'll tell Mumbo and EX. I'm sure they'll understand." I nodded sleepily. He went over to them, spoke for a few minutes, and came back. Mumbo and EX looked over at us and both waved when we said goodbye. EX's white eyes followed me out of the parlor. It was a weird feeling but a welcome one.

-Iskall's POV, 1st-

As we approached Grian's base, he started falling asleep again. He had been doing this on and off the entire way. "You sure you can make it all the way inside?" I asked. He nodded. "Okay..." We made it up to his bed, where I laid him down and sat beside him. "You wanna talk or just sleep?" I asked. "Talk.." He said, humming the tune to a song. I think it's called Over the Horizon. It's that ringtone for Samsung or something. I like it.

"What'cha wanna talk about?" I asked. He shrugged. "Is it okay if I stay overnight? It looks like it's going to start storming outside." He nodded. "Can you come here?" He asked. I nodded, apprehensive. What if he was sick? Regardless, he pulled me into a hug. It felt kind of nice but he was freezing cold. He probably was sick... Oh well. He laid his head on my chest and fell asleep. When I tried to get up, however, he only hugged me tighter.

I guess I was sleeping with him, then. I stayed up for a bit, thinking about random stuff like projects and whatnot. I thought about Mumbo, Grian and EX. Mumbo and Grian were my friends but EX was a total stranger to me. I thought about that for a good bit of time, but decided to sleep on it. "Good night, Grian." I said. Then I fell asleep at last."