That picture is there as a visual for a bit later in the chapter. You'll understand in a bit lmao

Anyway, enjoy the chapter!!

•°•

"It was really nice of you to invite us," Grian said,  smiling as Zed took his coat for him. "I've never had a sleepover before." They glanced over at Scott. "Not any that were enjoyable at least."

Scott sighed and rolled their eyes. "You're not really a bundle of joy, either, Xel," they said, then froze. "Grian, I mean."

Grian gritted their teeth and smiled sarcastically at Scott, grumbling something that nobody else could hear.

"Uh, well, anyway," Zedaph said nervously, handing Grian's coat to Tango for him to hang up. "How about we play some Jackbox?"

"What the fuck is that?" Grian asked.

Impulse laughed. "It's a bunch of games that are super fun to play, especially with a lot of people,' he explained. "If you want, for the first round, you can be in the audience so you can learn how to play."

Grian shrugged. "Sure?"

"I'll get it set up on the Switch," Zed said, rushing over to the TV stand to grab his Nintendo Switch off of its charger.

"Who's going to sit out for the first round?" False asked. "I will if nobody else wants to."

Bdubs hummed. "How many of us are there?" he asked, then pointed to everyone and himself to count. "There's twelve of us, so... if Grian, Scott, and Jimmy are all sitting out of the first game, I guess none of us need to."

The first game they played was Tee K.O., Bdubs' personal favourite. But the winner was Shelby, with her silly shirt that had a picture of an anchor with eyes and a mustache that said "Make it so." There was something so oddly hilarious about it that made everyone vote for it.

In the second round of Tee K.O., Grian and Jimmy played and Xisuma sat out when he got a phone call.

"What do you want, Keralis?" he sighed, walking into Zedaph's kitchen to be away from the others.

"I want to apologise," Keralis said. "For lashing out, and... being a dick."

Xisuma huffed. "So does that mean you're going to tell me what's going on?" he asked, hoping Keralis would say yes.

"...No," he answered, crushing Xisuma's split second of hope. "Not yet. But I'll tell you why, if that will make you not hate me?"

X sighed. "Ffffine," he grumbled. "Why won't you tell me?"

"Because I don't have permission," Keralis admitted, and Xisuma's mouth formed a small 'o'. "If even one of you guys doesn't have your sp- weird experience, then I can't tell you. Another thing I will tell you is to be extremely careful around Grian, Scott, and Jimmy. Especially Grian. Don't let them touch you."

Xisuma blinked, confused. "Why?"

Keralis sighed. "Just... trust me?" he requested. "I promise, I will tell you everything once you all have your... experiences."

"I... is there something wrong with them?" Xisuma asked. "Are they like, some evil monsters trying to kill everyone or something?" He paused, then laughed at his own question. "Jeez, of course not, X, they're teenagers. What harm could they do?"

Keralis was silent.

"You there?"

"Oh, uh, yeah, sorry..." Keralis took a deep breath. "Just trust me, please. Grian is not your friend."

Xisuma paused for a moment, then said, "Sure. I should probably go, though. We're playing Jackbox and I think the game is almost over."

"Oooh, Jackbox, you say?" Keralis asked, obviously intrigued. "Win a round of Quiplash for me?"

X giggled. "I'll try."

•°•

After several games of Quiplash, Mad Verse City, and Talking Points, the group was pretty much all tuckered out.

"Man, I don't think I could ever eat popcorn again," Impulse groaned jokingly, rubbing his stomach and laughing when he and Tango made eye contact.

"Are you kidding?" Fwhip said. "I'm never touching a bottle of soda ever again!"

Shelby yawned. "Maybe we should go to bed," she suggested, and there was a round of agreements before Zedaph stood up.

"I'll go get the blankets," the blonde said, his boyfriends following after him and insisting that they help.

Joel stopd up and stretched. "Are we all sleeping out here?" he asked.

Fwhip shrugged. "I guess so."

When Zed, Impulse, and Tango came back with the pillows and blankets, they all helped in setting up their "beds" on the living room floor.

Fwhip and Joel ended up sleeping together, practically cuddling each other in their sleep, and Zed, Impulse, and Tango did the same, except on purpose. Scott and Grian slept on opposite ends of the room, Grian next to Xisuma and Scott and Jimmy on the other side of Shelby and False.

Soon, everyone was asleep except for Xisuma.

He sighed, tapping his fingers on his stomach. His phone was charging so he couldn't use it right now, meaning he was just awake. And bored. With nobody to talk to and nothing to do.

But Grian was also awake. He sat upright and huffed, then turned around and patted his pillow, pausing when he noticed X was awake. "Oh, hey."

"Hey," Xisuma echoed, lifting his hand slightly to wave a bit at them. "Do you have insomnia, too?"

Grian sighed and laid back down, still engaged with Xisuma. "You could say it's a curse," he joked, making Xisuma laugh quietly. "I hardly ever get any sleep, ever."

Xisuma smiled slightly. "Me, too," he said. "But you always seem so cheery and energetic. How do you do it?"

Grian shrugged and started playing with their pendant, twisting the crystal between their fingers. "I try my hardest to keep a happy face," they said with another shrug. "I don't like to burden people."

"I know how that feels," X whispered.

They sat in silence for a moment before Grian spoke, changing the entire mood of the conversation.

"Do you like Keralis?" he asked, sitting up, making Xisuma's face turn red.

Boy, am I glad that it's dark right now. "I, uh... Is it that obvious?" he asked, fidgeting with his fingers.

Grian giggled. "A little bit," he teased. "You're always blushing around him." He paused, his expression changing to a not so happy one. "But, uh..." They turned their head away. "There's something you should know about him."

Xisuma sat up now. "...What is it?"

"Keralis and I were speaking the other day," they began, "and he... he said some really awful things about you."

X immediately felt his eyes burning. "Like- like what?"

Grian looked at him. "Like you're self-centered and you think you're entitled to everything," he said slowly. "Which is quite obviously a lie, but... I think he was trying to get me to hate you."

"Hate me?" He was trying his hardest not to cry now. "He- does he hate me?"

The dirty blonde didn't say anything at first.

"G-Grian...?"

Grian sighed. "Yes, he did say that," they caved. "He said he thought you were, uh..." He shook his head. "No, I shouldn't say that."

"What? Tell me!"

"I really shouldn't say it," Grian repeated, turning away.

Xisuma groaned. "Come onnn," he whined.

"He told me you were an idiot to think he would like you back." Grian glanced up slowly, then seemingly started to panic when he noticed Xisuma silently crying. "Wait, don't cry-"

"I'm sorry," X whispered, wiping his eyes. "I didn't mean to." He sniffled. "It's just... I mean, it really does kind of make sense. He's been a lot more irritable lately, and... maybe he's just sick of me-" He cut himself off with a quiet sob. "And- I think he was trying to get me to hate you, too."

Grian hesitated before reaching for Xisuma's hand. "Listen, he doesn't matter," they said, gently pulling X closer to them for a hug. "I care about you. I know we just met, but I feel a strong connection between us and I just know that we're going to be great friends."

Xisuma chuckled. "That sounds nice." He sighed contently, then yawned, suddenly feeling quite drained. "Jeez, crying always makes me so tired..."

"Then lay down," Grian said, pulling away slightly. "Go to sleep."

"But you'll be bored all by yourself."

Grian smiled. "Not if you lay next to me."

Xisuma rolled his eyes playfully at how cheesy the comment was before lying down, Grian messing with his hair.

"Just go to sleep, and forget all about Keralis." Grian waited until Xisuma was snoring to look up and glare at Scott. "Why are you awake?"

Scott sighed. "I heard you two talking," they mumbled.

Grian huffed. "You know, I haven't forgotten about that slip-up earlier," he said coldly. They lifted their hand and Scott's pendant began to float in the air. With a flick of Grian's wrist, the pendant was snatched right off of Scott's neck, flying over to Grian, who caught it with ease.

"Wha-"

"You're lucky I can't send you to the Void," Grian grumbled. "But don't worry, this is only temporary. You'll earn it back when you learn to be nice to these people and obey me."

Scott huffed, but didn't argue.

"You'll also have to steal some magic from one of them before you get this back."

"How do you expect me to do that?"

Grian took his own pendant off. "With this."

•°•

False groaned as she sat upright, her back achy for some reason. It also felt... heavy? Like she had-

"Wings?!"

Her shout startled almost everyone awake, aside from Xisuma, Scott, Grian, and Jimmy.

"Huh?" Fwhip lifted his sleeping mask up. "Why are you-" He froze when he looked at False, giant hawk wings protruding from her back. "Holy shit."

"How come all of you have had weird things happen to you and I haven't?" Joel huffed, crossing his arms. "It's not fair."

Shelby blinked. "You might, uh..." She took a breath, pursing her lips. "Hm..."

Joel looked at her. "What?"

"You, uh... your- your arms," she stammered, pointing to Joel's forearm.

He looked down, seeing what looked like a lightning bolt tattoo. "Who the fuck gave me a tattoo in my sleep?"

Zedaph blinked at him. "Nobody?" he said.

Joel paused, then smiled brightly. "Is this my thing?!" he shouted excitedly, holding his arms out in front of him. Sparks of electricity flew from his hands, landing on his blanket and lighting it on fire. He screamed and quickly backed away, stepping on Fwhip's stomach and drawing a wheeze out of him. "Sorry-"

"Well, put it out!" Shelby shouted.

Zedaph rushed over and stomped on the small flame, putting it out. "What the hell?!"

Joel sat down on the sofa. "I didn't mean to-"

"You could have set my house on fire, Joel!"

The brunette didn't say anything for a moment, looking more confused than anything else. "It was small," he said quietly. "And since when did you yell at people like that? You've never yelled at me before."

Zedaph huffed. "Well, you've never set my shit on fire before either," he said, sticking his tongue out.

"I should set you on fire," Joel grumbled.

"Excuse me?"

"Why are you fighting?" False demanded, raising her voice slightly. "Zed, you need to relax. The fire was put out, it's fine now. Joel, do not set him on fire." She sighed. "I don't know what's gotten into you boys lately, but I'm sick of all of this arguing constantly. What has gotten into you guys?"

Joel and Zed glanced at each other before looking away, both of them feeling guilty.

Xisuma whined as he tossed in his blankets, his body tensing and his fingers twisting in the pillow case. "No, don't take me," he mumbled, then relaxed a bit.

"Is he dreaming?" Bdubs asked, still tired. He glanced at his watch. "Also, why is everybody up before eight?"

Xisuma gasped and sat upright, grabbing his blanket and bunching it up to hold against his chest. He froze, his breathing ragged, then blinked and looked down at the blanket in his arms. "Oh..."

"There's too much going on," Shelby said, flopping over to lay on her side.

Xisuma looked up at False, his eyes widening. "You have wings," he breathed, and she laughed.

"Yeah, I kind of just woke up with them," she said, glancing back at them.

"Did Joel wake up with something weird, too?" X asked eagerly.

False gave him an odd look, but nodded anyway. "Yeah, he shot, like, electricity from his hands."

Xisuma gasped and got up, tripping at first, then grabbed his phone off the end table where it was charging. "I have to call Scar," he murmured to himself. He put the phone to his ear and bounced on his toes as he waited for Scar to answer, ignoring the weird looks from his friends.

"Hello?"

"Scar! Has anything weird happened to you lately? Like maybe you can levitate things or see through things or-" Xisuma had to take a breath from talking so fast.

"Oh, uh..." Scar paused, and Xisuma could hear him moving around on the other side. "When I did my homework yesterday, the answers just, like... wrote themselves."

A large smile crossed Xisuma's face. "Yes!" He did a little cheer in place before speaking to Scar again. "Can you come to Zedaph's house? I still need to call Keralis, but-"

He hates you.

"Um..." He paused, then shook his head. "Just come to Zed's." After Scar's okay, he hung up and sighed, staring at Keralis' contact.

This is going to be hard.