"Are we seriously spending the night here?" Scott asked incredulously, standing in the doorway of their new, empty practice room.

Grian quirked a brow at them. "I mean, if you really want to go back to staying at the homeless shelter, you definitely. can," he said. "I could use the extra space for more useful things." Scott looked down at the floor. "That's what I thought. That sofa over there is for me. Poseidus, you can have that hammock. There's a couple blankets over there in the corner."

Scott furrowed their brows and looked back up from the ground. "But what about me?"

"Oh, you'll sleep on the floor."

"The floor?!"

Grian turned around, their eyes a flaming red. "I'm sorry, do you see a problem with that?" they asked with a tilt of their head. Scott shifted nervously and shook their head. "I'm glad that we're on the same page."

"...Why exactly do I have to sleep on the floor?"

Grian sighed. "You have been disrespectful to me and directly disobedient to my orders," he explained, keeping his voice low and quiet. "You've put us in danger more than once by using my name in public."

Scott scoffed. "You literally-"

"Taceo." At Grian's order, Scott's mouth closed on its own. "You listen to me and you obey, or there will be vast more consequences than having to sleep on the floor."

Scott nodded and kept quiet.

•°•

Xisuma yawned as he walked into his chemistry class. He was definitely wrong when he assumed he'd be able to sleep without the melatonin, so he took it much later than he normally would have. Did that mean he got at least some decent sleep? No, not really. He'd gotten enough, he guessed, but he was still exhausted.

He sat down next to Cub and yawned again, shaking himself to try and wake up some more.

"No sleep, huh?" Cub asked without looking up from what he was writing. He was probably finishing homework he didn't feel like doing the previous day.

Xisuma sighed. "I got some," he said, earning a snort from Cub. "I did! I got, like, three hours."

Cub looked up at him now, a subtle glad look in his eyes. "Really? That's great, at least compared to nothing."

Xisuma nodded, and they sat in silence as their teacher did whatever teacher-y things he had to do before he could start class.

"Hey, do you have the notes from yesterday?" Cub asked, and Xisuma was already reaching into his binder before Cub was finished asking his question. "Dude, you're a life saver."

"You'd be your own life saver if you actually took notes and did the work," Xisuma teased.

Cub rolled his eyes. "Now, where's the fun in that?"

"Not getting detentions?"

Cub pursed his lips awkwardly. "Yeah, you've got a point."

Xisuma giggled.

•°•

"What if you changed that C-sharp major to an F-sharp minor chord?" Scar suggested, looking over Fwhip's chord chart. "I think that'll sound better."

Fwhip hummed doubtfully to himself and quietly strummed the chords with the change. "I mean, I guess it might sound better with the rest of the band," he grumbled.

Scar grinned triumphantly. "See? I'm always right."

Fwhip rolled his eyes, but he was smiling all the same.

"Sorry I'm late," Xisuma said as he hurried into the practice room. He was tripping over himself as he had his guitar case slung over his shoulder, his coat hanging over the same hand, his backpack over the other shoulder, and folders in that arm. "I got caught up in tutoring. Scott doesn't take well to math and Jimmy's Spanish is a bit rough- Woah!" He stepped on his coat and slipping, falling onto his side. His guitar case hit the ground with a loud thud, and he could hear a string or two snap from inside.

Zedaph gasped and rushed over, Impulse following after. "Are you okay?" he asked as he took things from the boy on the floor so he could more successfully help him up. "You're not hurt, are you?"

X groaned whilst he sat upright with Impulse's help. "I'm fine," he said, then glanced at his band sticker-covered guitar case. "Not sure about my guitar, though."

"Well, the important thing is you're not hurt," Zed reassured him.

Impulse opened the case and let out an oof. "You might... want to invest in a new guitar," he said slowly and painfully. "It's pretty banged up."

Xisuma whipped his head around. "What?" Sure enough, Impulse was right. The high E string and the D string were both in two bits and there was long crack that zig-zagged unevenly down the middle of the fretboard that looked man-made. The body was also damaged, broken-in holes and scratches and dents all over. "How did that fall do all of this..."

"I don't think it did," Impulse said. "Did... Did your parents-"

Xisuma cut him off with a gasp, but he didn't say anything as tears built in his eyes. He couldn't believe that either of his parents would go as far as destroying his guitar, without even giving a reason as to why. He didn't have a slightly crappier one to replace it with while he saved up for a new one, either. And this one was special, too. Keralis bought it for him.

"Hey, it's okay, don't cry," Zed attempted to comfort X, hugging him from the side. "We can use the band funds for a new one."

Xisuma sniffled. "But we need that to get a kickdrum for Joel's set," he mumbled. "And you need a new amp."

"Well, yeah," Fwhip said from the small stage, "but we kind of need a lead guitarist."

"I have an extra one you can borrow until you can afford another," Impulse offered. "It's pink, but..."

"Why is it pink?" Fwhip asked.

Impulse sighed. "My dad thought that Gem was the one that wanted it," he grumbled, leading to everyone but Xisuma giggling.

Zed wasn't hugging Xisuma anymore, instead leaning against his side and resting his head on his shoulder. "It'll be okay, 'Zuma," he said. "Maybe you won't even have to get a new one, it might just need some repairs."

"The fretboard is split in two, Zedaph," Xisuma said, his voice nasally. "And look at the body... Keralis spent so much on this for it to be perfect and I ruined it."

Nobody said anything for a moment.

"You didn't ruin it," Zedaph said quietly. "It's not your fault." There was a knock on the door. "Impyyyy," Zed drawled, and Impulse rolled his eyes playfully before standing up to answer the door.

He let out a soft, "Oh," when he opened it. "Hey, guys," he said happily. "Did you need something?"

"We were just wondering if we could sit in and listen to you practice," a semi-quiet voice said cheerfully. Xisuma recognized it as Grian's voice. "We... also need some music stands if you have any to spare."

Impulse stepped to the side to let them in, Grian waltzing in happily while Scott and Jimmy bickered and poked at each other. "We don't have any extra stands, but you can totally watch us practice," he said. "I'll go grab a couple chairs from the closet."

Grian nodded, then noticed Xisuma on the floor. "Did something happen?" the dirty blonde asked curiously.

Zed looked up. "Oh, Xisuma's guitar is broken," he explained. "It was pretty important to him, so he's a little upset." He wrapped an arm around Xisuma and gave his hand a small squeeze. "He'll be okay, though, right?"

Xisuma nodded.

"Can I see it?" Grian asked, and Scott gave them an odd look.

"Sure." Zedaph moved the instrument to where Grian could see it in all of its broken glory.

Grian winced at the sight of it. "Damn. Who did that?"

Zed looked at Xisuma, searching for any kind of permission to tell Grian, but Xisuma was looking back at him. "Uh... Some bullies," Zed decided. "They're pretty mean to X."

"Hm." Grian stared concentratedly at the guitar. "Do you mind if I take it for a moment?"

Xisuma looked up now. "Why?"

"I can probably fix it with-" He stopped. "Um. I saw a similar-looking one in our practice room," he said with a nervous laugh.

Xisuma eyed Grian for a moment then glanced down at his guitar. He didn't know why they needed it to go get a different guitar, but Xisuma really didn't want to look at this broken one any longer. "Sure."

"Great!" Grian took the instrument carefully into his arms. "I'll be back before you know it!" He turned to leave, and Scott followed him out.

"What are you doing?" Scott asked when they closed the door.

Grian ignored them, setting the broken guitar onto a table.

"Xelqua."

"I'm fixing it," Grian huffed, stepping back slightly and holding their hands out. "Haereo," he whispered, and suddenly the guitar was outlined in red, hovering just above the table and putting itself back together in a way that looked like time was reversing.

Scott frowned. "You're wasting energy," they said, but Grian didn't respond. "Xelqua-"

"Quiet!" Grian shouted, and the guitar dropped onto the table. "Dammit..." It wasn't completely fixed; it still had some dents and scratches on it, but it looked good enough to at least be playable. He sighed and spoke over his shoulder, "If you're not out of my sight in the next two seconds-" They didn't have to finish before Scott was gone, and they hoped they had been smart enough to not go back to the other practice room.

Xisuma was still on the floor when Grian got back, but he wasn't crying anymore. He just sort of... sitting there.

"I'm back," Grian announced, holding up the (mostly) fixed guitar.

X looked up and his eyes widened, shining with fresh tears. "You fixed it?" he murmured. A smile grew on his lips. "You fixed it!" He got up and took his guitar from Grian, who was smiling brightly. "Oh, my- How did you fix it so quickly?"

Grian shrugged. "Call it magic," they giggled. There was a warmth blooming in his chest as they watched Xisuma examine his instrument happily. Strange. Must be a human thing.

"Thank you so much." Xisuma set the guitar down, leaning it against the door, to hug Grian. "Thank you so much," he repeated in a whisper.

Grian could feel his shoulder quickly becoming soaked, but he wasn't focused on that. He was focused on the massive amount of pure energy coming off of Xisuma. It wasn't like anything they'd ever felt before as it flooded into their body. He wanted more of it. He needed more of it.

Xisuma blinked as Grian tightened their grip on him. "Uh, Gri- Oh-" Grian tightened their hold again, as if trying to squeeze every last drop of energy out of him. "You can let go now," Xisuma huffed out a nervous laugh, but he sounded exhausted. "Grian-"

Grian blinked and immediately let go, taking a large step backwards. "Sorry, I don't know- why I did that..." They watched as Xisuma essentially passed out, everyone else in the room gasping. Uh oh...

"He probably got no sleep last night," Fwhip said, and Grian pursed his  lips. "The guy runs until he's so exhausted that he can't even function."

Yeah, that's totally why that happened, yep.

Zedaph sighed. "I'll take him to the infirmary," he said. "Hopefully they won't send him home."

"Why not?" Jimmy asked, sitting on top of a table in the corner. He was kicking his feet, too.

The band members exchanged awkward glances.

"Family issues."
"He's homeless."
"His house burnt down."
"His parents are bullies."

Everybody looked at each other again after they'd all spoken at the same time.

"Really, Scar?" Fwhip said. "He's homeless?"

Scar huffed. "You just said that his house burnt down," he retorted.

"I'm just going to go now," Zedaph said, pulling one of Xisuma's arms over his shoulders. "I probably won't be back for a bit. Go ahead and practice without me!"

"How exactly are we meant to practice without a bass player?" Scar deadpanned after Zed was gone. "Hey, that necklace is cool," he said, noticing Grian's glowing pendant. "It looks just like mine." He pulled out a black obsidian crystal as Grian hid his beneath his hand. "My grandma gave it to me."

Grian nodded. "That's... cool," he said awkwardly.

"But mine never glows like that," Scar continued. "Is it LED?"

"LED?"

"Yeah, like, it has little lights in it."

"Oh. Um... yeah, it's a DLE."

Fwhip blinked. "That's an autoimmune disorder," he pointed out, very obviously trying not to laugh. "It's LED."

Grian rolled their eyes. "Whatever, you obviously know what I meant," they huffed.

"What's an autoim- autoim-moon disorder?" Jimmy struggled to ask, making Grian sigh.

"It's, like... when you're sick," Scar answered, and Fwhip ran a hand down his face.

"It's when your immune system attacks your healthy cells instead of the sick ones," Fwhip said.

Jimmy paused as if processing the information, then shrugged. "I have no idea what that means."

"I think Jimmy and I have overstayed our welcome," Grian said suddenly with a smile that was little too bright. "Come on, Jimmy." Jimmy jumped off the table and started toward the smaller.

"But you didn't even hear us practice," Scar frowned.

"Uh... We'll come back another time," Grian said. "I need to find where that brat went."

"Huh?"

"Nothing!" Grian grabbed Jimmy's wrist. "We'll be out of your hair now." He pulled Jimmy with him, closing the door as they left the room. "Holy shit, they have a lot of magic," they breathed, staring down at their pendant.

Jimmy frowned. "But this place doesn't have magic."

Grian let out a low, menacing chuckle that made Jimmy shiver. "Oh, yes, it does," he said. "And I'm going to take all of it and make everyone adore me."

"You... you mean us, right?" Jimmy said nervously.

Grian rolled his eyes again, waving a hand. "Yeah, yeah, you'll get some, too," he said. "Be patient, will you?"

"Right..."

•°•

Lore things are happening!!!

This story is my new hyperfixation /hj/pos

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed!! Love y'all <33 /gen/p