#Convexweek

[tyxaar]

Day 1: Sun/Moon Featuring Scar's floating caboose house and the telescope. Had to do something space themed lol.

My @convexweek thing day 1!

[frozenjokes]

they are afraid. they probably should be

[convexweek]

Thought we forgot? Sorry for the wait, but happy holidays. Our main mod was out for a while which lead to not a lot of updates. We are very sorry. We do have a set week now! We can’t wait to see what everyone comes up with.

we don’t mind the typo…

[eggopath]

Oh my void..hear me out, Convex week. There is so much you can do with those silly vexes. The thing is..don't know if it would get a lot of traction and I definitely will need help making prompts. Would appreciate help to actually make this a reality :]

To piggyback a bit off of the last reblog - we here at Treebark Week would love to see even more event weeks dedicated to fanwork creation! We are a fairly established one, but as long as you've got even a small community and have people interested in participating, it's relatively easy to think of a prompts list, choose some dates, and get the word out.

Fanwork weeks are a lot of fun, and we think it'd be lots of fun to see some more! If you organize an event week and send us the info, we'll reblog the post to help promo it 💪💪 Let's all have fun together!

[iheartfurrympreg]

quick sketch for this! day 1: sun & moon @convexweek

[tyxaar]

So uh- I did not mean to make this as detailed as it is. @convexweek Day 2! Lost/Found (I know it's a bit late heh...) When a world-hopping traveler gets lost in a snowy wasteland world infested by undead, he's discovered by one of the... more welcoming locals. Headcanon lore dump to explain appearances:

Scar's black marks are the Withering, a chronic version of the Wither effect and the sickness that created the zombies TCD has. However, it's early enough in its progression that it hasn't affected his mobility yet. It's not until Hermitcraft 4 that he starts to feel the harsher effects. Similarly, Cub was cursed with rapid aging for various shenanigans, and it's only partway in its progression when he ends up in Scar's home world. Grey hairs are spreading and his hairline's thinning, but it's not full-on old man Cub yet. I also gave him a bit of stubble. :P

[frozenjokes]

tall claims court!

convex week day 4 - gift/prank - prev/next

@convexweek if I name drop the prompt in the end it counts right

“So you see, your honor, this sun is unworthy of his position in such a high value system, and I believe that the rest of this hearing should leave you and the jury thoroughly convinced!” Scar made a little flourish with his hand at the end of his opening statement, which Cub thought was stupid, but all of Scar’s opening statement was stupid, so this wasn’t a huge surprise.. but the judge, Bdubs, seemed to enjoy it regardless. This was going to be a long day.

At least Mumbo’s response was strong, even if Cub was only half listening. Mumbo was nearly as confident a speaker, and the things he was saying actually made sense, so that helped! Cub felt the need to emphasize that he literally hadn’t done anything, but whatever.

The other half of Cub’s splintered focus was on Scar, just sitting at his place in the stand, regarding Mumbo with more attention and respect that Cub was giving his own lawyer.

“Despite his rocky exterior and curt dealing with the moons in his system, my client has done nothing deserving of this drastically out of proportion proposed sentencing.”

When Mumbo sat down, Cub was still looking at Scar. Mumbo elbowed him and Cub jumped, a few sparks flying from his shoulders.

“What?”

“Stop ogling the prosecutor.” Mumbo hissed under his breath, to which Cub responded at a normal volume, no need to whisper.

“I’m not.”

Judge Bdubs glanced their way, but said nothing as the court was passed back to Scar, the moon introducing his first witness. Cub had no idea who this ‘witness’ was, not by name or face, and he assumed this would likely be a trend. Whoever they were, though, they did not look happy with Cub. Scar prompted them to begin.

“I was a Mars moon, one of the two orbiting that planet, and I was having some interpersonal issues with the other moon, with few places to go. We just didn’t get along, and I was feeling lost, anxious, and while I would have loved to visit Earth, I just felt too anxious to be in such proximity to other life. I was in a bad way. So I went to Cub.” The moon turned their frosty glare to Cub, which took him a second to notice with how intently he’d been staring at Scar, but then he remembered he didn’t care, and continued his Scar-gazing.

“Cub doesn’t have to leave the sun to watch the Earth, I never knew what kind of magic made that possible, but I thought this could be a solution for me, a break from the other moon, and a less anxiety inducing way to witness the life I’d worked so hard to be able to see. Cub was civil, I guess, when I first visited the sun. I’d never met him before, I didn’t know what to expect. I told him exactly how I was struggling and what I wanted, but he was always more concerned with the moons, that everything was okay on Mars, and the other moon was doing their job and not how the two of us were getting along. Mars was fine, the moons were fine, everything was fine, but when I told him that, he just stared at me and asked what the problem was. I told him! I had run him through it several times! I was sent back to Mars before I could even ask about his alternate Earth viewing station.”

“From there, everything was worse. When the other moon found out I’d gone to Cub, they were furious, my anxiety was debilitating, and I was desperate, I just needed an escape. When I tried to go back to the sun, explain what was happening, Cub was nothing short of foul. He extended no pity, no empathy, was frustrated with me for bothering him, for asking for something so stupid when I could just go to Earth with no issue, and I felt my position was threatened when his concern lied only in how well I could perform my guardianship of my moon. After spending decades working towards that position, I didn’t even last another month. I never got to enjoy the Earth, and only got berated for issues outside of my control.”

Scar nodded to his witness when they finished, turning his gaze to Cub. “Now, I would just like to know if the defendant has anything to say about this. It was a long time ago after all, maybe he’s changed his point of view.”

Cub rolled his eyes and made Mumbo tensed, kicking him under the table, which, everyone probably saw. Deny deny deny.

“I am the guardian of the Earth system. My first priority is ensuring every moon, planet, and star are being properly and competently cared for. I have no other obligations, especially for asinine requests. No life on Earth knows we exist, you don’t have to bother me every time you want to see it, you can just go, that’s so stupid-“

“My client has nothing else to say!” Mumbo cut in, but Scar looked pleased nonetheless. Luckily, Mumbo had a lot of reasonable smart things to say to the jury, so Cub didn’t have to, and even after a seemingly endless amount of mostly benign accounts from moons Cub barely remembered, Cub felt very little like he was on the back foot here. Maybe Scar’s goal was truly just to waste his time. He certainly kept throwing smug looks back after each of his exaggerated flourishes.

But in the end, Cub was just bored. There was nothing better than doing fuck all on his own sun, but it was cold and Cub couldn’t just space out because people kept talking at him and getting mad and telling him to stop staring at Scar, but Scar was the most interesting thing to look at in the room, and if Cub was going to be subjected to this much bullshit, he might as well rest his eyes.

And then all the fire in the courtroom flared with a loud fwoosh, then burnt away into nothing, embers floating to the ceiling and promptly dying, leaving the entire room in complete darkness.

Something clicked, and Cub was suddenly blinded, squinting at the bright light assaulting his vision. There was another spotlight across the room, centered on Scar. Cub threw Mumbo an alarmed look, but his lawyer looked just as surprised.

A dim light faded in over the judge’s stand, Bdubs’s imposing form illuminated in his raised position overlooking the court room.

“I’ve noticed..” the judge drawled his words, making sure he had the attention of every single star and moon in the courtroom. “Some tension abound.” Bdubs looked from Cub to Scar and back to Cub again, which was weird and annoying.

“You’re being weird and annoying.”

At the same time Mumbo elbowed him, Bdubs grinned, not without menace. “It’s not your turn to shine yet, Cub, so why don’t you simmer down before another strike is added to the board.”

Cub looked up, the ‘strikes’ above his head illuminating once more. He had four, three from talking out of turn and one from a brief scuffle between Mumbo and Scar, but both of them had gotten a strike for that, then got dropped into The Pit for a brief twenty minute recess. In Cub’s defense, Scar also had two additional strikes, it wasn’t like it was exactly hard to get them. If Cub’s side got five.. well, Cub didn’t know exactly what would happen, but he was a little bit afraid of Bdubs and didn’t particularly want to find out.

“Comment revoked.”

“Thank you.” Bdubs sat up a little straighter, pleased. “Now! Let’s play a game called Will They Won’t They!” Scar groaned, head hitting the desk, and Cub was almost certain he’d get a strike for that, but Bdubs was too intent on explaining his game.

“Now, unless I’m mistaken, and I’m never mistaken, it seems to me that kindled passion burns bright in one of our contestants tonight, and the other; heart burned and scorned so many times before, still shows interest despite it all..”

Scar sat up suddenly, flakes of frost flying from his hair, “Objection! Bdubs, will you stop trying to set me up with the criminals on the other side of the stand? I don’t know how to explain to you that this is possibly the worst place for me to find a partner, especially if that star is the asshole I dragged here in the first place!”

“Ah, yes, yes, young love.. You say you can’t stand them, yet you’re always bringing the same kinds of stars back to my courtroom, I see you, Scar, I see you.”

“I’m a criminal prosecutor!”

“Objection dismissed. It seems to me, Cub’s got the eye for you too. What say you, Cub?”

“I’m confused.” Cub looked to Mumbo, but Mumbo seemed nearly as resigned as Scar as did distressed. “I’m confused,” he said again, to Bdubs this time. The judge was no less radiant.

“He’s confused..” Bdubs spoke slyly, like this was some grand reveal, “Now, is he playing coy, or does he really not know..”

“Is this part of the trial?” Cub tried, strained. He didn’t like all this attention, he didn’t like standing out so much, it had been a long time since he’d been in a courtroom, but he didn’t remember this.

“Ogling was the word Mumbo used, and I think it suits your behavior over the course of this trial quite impeccably, don’t you think, Scar?”

“You know, I thought he was into me too for a very short couple of minutes, but I really think he’s just stupid.”

“What?” Cub bristled, caring very little for the way Mumbo tensed up. “I’m not- I’m not into you, where would anyone have gotten that impression?”

Bdubs knit his fingers, squinting at Cub with a great scrutiny. “If I thought this star had any capacity at all to play coy, I would be greatly suspicious right now. Maybe he is stupid. He just doesn’t know he’s in love with you.”

“That is not what I meant!” Scar hissed, while Cub just sat there, dumbfounded.

“Do no one else’s eyes hurt, like, all the time? My eyes were so tired I didn’t even know it until they got a break, I don’t even know why his insides are so black, but I refuse to believe that no one else here’s eyes aren’t constantly drawn to the dark.” There was some murmuring among the crowd, faint discussion that seemed to come to the conclusion of yes, Cub was the only person in the room who had this problem. Great.

“Irrelevant!” Bdubs declared, drawing the attention back to himself. “Now everyone in the stands, the jury, witnesses, everyone, please look under your seats where you will find three cards; they will! they won’t! they could! I am going to introduce the contestants, and on the count of three, the audience will decide their fate! Are you ready?”

The silence was deafening. One star in the back gave a small pity whoop.

“Great!” Bdubs clapped his hands together, having no qualms with the lack of enthusiasm from the crowd. “On the right we have the civil hero, actor for justice with a mysterious past rivaling the dark side of the moon, Scar!”

A few small, if not hesitant claps followed this up.

“On the left with have Cub, the infamous Earth sun, a light in the dark, but certainly not for most moons in his system, though, our hero seems to have caught his attention, and on a journey of love and acceptance, the two of them might just make each other more fulfilled celestials..”

Silence.

“What do ya say? Will they, or won’t they!?”

The dark walls of the courtroom suddenly ignited, flame greedily swallowing up the cold that had drafted in, its light revealing the opinion of the entire courtroom. ‘They won’t!’ Unanimously, except for Bdubs, who was holding a ’They could!’

“Great.” Scar seethed through gritted teeth, firmly setting his ‘They won’t!’ card face down on the desk, “Can we get on with it now.”

“Ah, yes, the sentencing!” Bdubs declared, and it was probably lucky for Cub that Bdubs couldn’t hear Mumbo’s WHAT over the sound of his own voice, or they might’ve gotten their fifth strike.

“I- Objection? Objection, your honor!” Mumbo gathered himself, though Bdubs looked less than interested, “The jury haven’t even decided whether or not Cub is innocent or guilty, how can we just move to the sentencing?”

“This is my court mister Mumbo, and in my court, anything goes! Anything I want that is. And I want the Earth system to be open!”

Cub’s heart dropped. What!?

“Cub, sun of the Earth system, for your crimes of negligence and unnecessary cruelty to the moons in your system, past and present, you will be sentenced to one Earth month of complete accommodation for any moon, star, or planet that wants see life on Earth.”

“I- I can’t do that, I literally can not do that.” Cub whipped around for any kind of support, but it seemed every single celestial in attendance was greatly excited by the idea of visiting a life system that had been so exclusive for so long. “Your honor, I have these strict entrance guidelines in place for a reason. Just because most life forms can’t see us, doesn’t mean we don’t exert energy- a lot of energy, heat especially- Cramming a trillion celestials in the Earth system would destroy it, and if you think that number is an exaggeration, you would be wrong. But even with smaller numbers- life is sensitive, I could not possibly sustain the kind of parade you are suggesting without massive consequences.”

Bdubs considered Cub thoughtfully, but hoping was a mistake, Bdubs’s eyes narrowing in keen interest. “This is true, I know. But you aren’t the only sun in charge of a life-system, and nearly all accommodate some kind of visitation. The number of celestials a life-system can accommodate without affecting the atmosphere isn’t anything to scoff at either, and many have already dug into the metrics of your own system, Cub, despite your continued insistence that it is more fragile than what is reality. I will have these numbers double and triple checked, then halve it, and that will be the final tourist population you will be accommodating. I can assure you, no life will be harmed. But I think you already knew that.”

Oh god. Oh god.

But Bdubs wasn’t finished.

“Additionally, I understand it’s been many, many years since your initial training, and that’s a lot to forget, truly it is. You seem to have forgotten how to act, and we can’t have anything but the best for your future visitors, yes? Your sun training aids will be reinstated, and I am personally appointing Scar to supervise. You will be delivered the dates personally, and be included in all planning meetings to ensure this goes smoothly.”

Cub felt his blood run cold. He wanted to speak, argue, but his voice seemed to have left him completely. This- This had to be some kind of prank or some- some- he didn’t know! He opened his mouth to try and negotiate- anything, he’d take it all, he’d take the whole universe in his system, but not the training aids. He couldn’t do that again.

No words left him.

Cub looked to his right, stunned. Scar was smiling.

[frozenjokes]

a new moon in the sun’s lonely system

convex week day 1 - sun/moon - next

Cub had always been sensitive to changes in temperature, he chilled easily, and he didn’t very much like company for a multitude of reasons, but it appeared today was his unlucky day.

It was cold. There was a moon around, maybe more than one. They had a pulsing sort of presence, fighting the heat of Cub’s star, and though ultimately dwarfed by it, a moon still left their mark. Well, whatever it wanted with him, it certainly wouldn’t find Cub just wandering around. Their silver frost stood out like a lone star in Cub’s domain, while Cub’s fiery orange blended right in with the rest of the landscape. Not to mention the cold. It wasn’t long before Cub found the inquiring soul.

“Hello-“ Cub didn’t even get to finish before the moon startled, yelling in a display of fright that was so exaggerated it couldn’t have been genuine. Cub pursed his lips, waiting for the moon to collect itself. He did not want to risk speaking lest the entity screamed again; Cub did not like the sudden noise.

“Well- Well hello there! Goodness gracious, you snuck up on me! I thought I was a goner!”

“Unless there are any new moon-eating predators roaming the skyscape today, I don’t think it’s untrue to say you don’t have anything to worry about.” Cub had to squint against the moon’s light, rather, his own light reflected back at him. Why was this one so bright? Cub didn’t think he recognized it, but with nearly three hundred in the system, who knew. Cub only remembered the names of the particularly annoying ones.

The moon laughed like Cub had said something legitimately funny, and it didn’t seem disingenuous, but still Cub felt his own walls climbing higher.

“Oh, this is great! I’m so relieved, I’ve heard bad things about- nevermind, you just seem like a perfectly nice guy! I’m Scar, newly promoted moon, and I thought I ought to trek out here and introduce myself!”

Ah, this made sense now. Moons didn’t typically come around to introduce themselves, even after recent promotions, but some were simply drawn to the sun. Or married to formalities, Cub supposed. Politely, Cub ignored that first comment, for the most part at least. He had a reputation to keep up. “You already know my name, then.”

“I do, but I’d love if you introduced yourself regardless!” Ah, married to formalities then.

“Well, if you intend on sharing all the boring, gory details of this encounter with your fellows, you can call me Cub.”

“Unfortunately, Cub, I have no fellows of which to share this with!” Scar’s voice took on an odd lilt, and Cub thought for a moment he might be making fun of him until the moon swiftly continued, “All alone, I'm afraid. A real shame! But it’s an important job, big deal, big deal, there’s all sorts of life down there on Earth that depends on me doing my thing!”

Cub made a valiant effort not to scoff, though given the light in his eyes, he was likely already scowling. The Earth moons were always the most obnoxious. Cub would miss the last one; she almost never visited, and what a reprieve that was, good grief.

Cub had nothing nice to say, so he said nothing. Scar seemed like he quite expected Cub to say something with that wide, wanting stare, but Cub didn’t want to say anything, he wanted Scar to go away and his sun to return to its proper temperature, he wanted to be alone, however, for a moon who had taken up one of the loneliest jobs in Cub’s system, Scar did not seem to share this ideal. A bad sign. A desire for company and an ego larger than Cub’s sun made for a disastrous combination in Cub’s quarters. If this moon was planning on bothering Cub often, he was going to have to start falling back on old tactics (hiding).

“You know, I don’t think you’re an asshole, you’re just like, really awkward.”

Cub blinked at him, slow, unthinking. “You’re mistaken.”

“No, you’re definitely awkward.”

“I’m mean.”

“No you’re not.”

“Yes I am.”

“You’re not, really, you’re not,”

“I am mean!”

“You’re almost nice!”

“I am not nice!”

[convexweek]

Convex week has now officially started! We can’t wait to see what you make! We will try and reblog everything we can!

Thank you for all your patience with the delays and lack of updates. We hope to keep Convex week running. We also wanted to thank @treebarkweek for inspiring this event and just giving a point of reference. A majority of our guidelines are basically theirs. We apologize if the text is hard to read or misspelled. We also apologize if anything is unclear, please send us an ask and we will clarify!

[emberdragon34]

Convex week day 6: Natural/artificial

Someone knocks on the window.

I frown, looking over from my laptop to where a rather cheerful guy is beaming at me through the glass. He adjusts his battered hat, waving with one dirt-caked hand. For a moment, I consider just continuing with the astrophysics essay I’ve been working tirelessly on, but the uniqueness of this situation, paired with just how happy this guy looks, means I can't. Instead, I cross to the window and open it.

‘Hello? Do you need help with something?’

‘Oh! Hello there! Sorry, I’m not used to people actually responding to me knocking at their windows.’

‘Do you need help?’ I repeat.

‘Oh, no, no. I’m just curious. And I could actually reach your window from my wheelchair… the floor in there’s lower down than out here. I think. Or you’ve got really short legs.’ I have to laugh at the gardener’s rambling. He gives a little giggle back. ‘So… What’s this big building you’ve got here? What are you doing?’

‘This is the university. I’m a professor of astrophysics’

‘Oh, sweet! What’s your name?’

‘Cubfan Vex. Cub.’

‘Cub. I like that! I’m Scar, a gardener, sent to help on this big garden out here. What astrophysics do you do? What are you working on now?’

‘Star formation, mostly.’ I explain. ‘Right now, I’m working on an essay explaining my findings for this big space journal.’

‘Oooh! I love space! Have you ever seen any of the Star Wars films?’

‘I’ve seen the one with the little green guy. Yoda?’

‘Empire Strikes Back?’

‘Maybe? I dunno, I don't really watch much sci fi. But I did like that one.’

‘Well you have to watch Star Wars. The original trilogy, a lot of the other stuff, some of the modern series, you don't want to watch those. Terrible things have been done to them, Cub. But the original series?’

‘Oh for goodness- you’re talking about Star Wars?!’ another gardener questions. Soon they come into sight, wiping their sandy hands off on their red sweater. ‘I’m so sorry about Scar, he’s obsessed… come on, buddy, we need to finish planting cacti.’

‘I’m on break, though!’

‘They’re not! And your break ended 5 minutes ago.’

‘Cub’s happy to talk!’

‘Come on.’

‘Fine… bye, Cub. Sorry for disturbing you.’

‘I don't mind, man. Lovely to meet you… bye!’

‘Bye!’

Scar disappears and I close the window.

‘Dude, do you ever rest?!’ questions Doc, one of my fellow professors, as we discuss my completed paper, a few days after meeting Scar. ‘You mad lad really wrote 15,000 words in 3 days?!’

‘I just really liked the project.’

‘How many breaks did you take? None of us have seen you much in a while. You’ve been on your own a lot since-’

‘I took breaks.’ I interrupt.

‘Really?’ Doc sounds sceptical. ‘How long were your breaks? What did you do on your breaks?’

‘Dude, Doc, I’m fine. I just really got into a rhythm with writing. It’s a fascinating topic I was discussing, so I managed to write a lot about it in a short time.’

‘Did you go home and sleep? Zed told me he saw your light on at, like 4am.’

‘Why was Zedaph here at 4am?’

‘Because he’s Zedaph.’ is apparently a good enough answer for Doc. I sigh, forced to find an excuse.

‘I needed to check something through my telescope, the sky wasn’t clear until then.’

‘Don’t you have to turn the lights off for that?’

I struggle for an answer. Doc crosses his arms.

‘Come on, man. We’re all worried about you. You need to get out more. Talk to people. Find new friends. Watch films and television like a normal person,’ My gaze shifts to the window, where the gardeners are still working.

‘Mmm, yeah.’ I reply vaguely as Doc stops speaking. ‘Yeah, I will. I’m just… still processing.’

Doc places a hand on my shoulder, looking me dead in the eyes.

‘You need to move on.’

‘I’m fine,’ I repeat, perhaps a little too harsh, breaking free. I shove my hands deep into my labcoat pockets, hiding the scars. ‘Everything’s fine. I’m fine. I’m getting on with my job, making up for the time I lost,’

‘The university’s happy to give you an extension on your research. They still will be. You don’t have to overwork yourself.’

‘I’m not overworking myself.’

‘You haven’t slept in days, man!’

‘I can’t get to sleep, so I make the most of that time and work on the project I wasted half the time I was supposed to spend on. I’m distracting myself from what happened.’

‘You do realise how unhealthy that is, Cub. Aren’t your friends worried about you?’

I don’t reply. Doc realises.

‘You don’t have any friends?’

‘Of course I do. I’ve got you, and False, and Joe, and Tango always says hi when we cross paths.’

‘Outside the university, do you have any friends? Or family?’

‘Why does it matter where my friends are?’

‘Get yourself a good friend. Outside the university, someone you can go on trips with, hang out with. Disconnect from your work. Or we’re volunteering you as a research project for the psychology department. See you around.’

 Doc leaves.

Doc’s words stop me getting anything done over the next few days. Instead, I sit at the window, searching for Scar. Every second away from my research is a second I spend lost in thought about the incident. The damage to my house I’m too scared to go home and handle. The risk of it coming back. Waking up in hospital with those marks down my arm, learning what I’d done…

‘...stole part of the display just to give me a present I didn’t want?’

I blink, looking out the window at the sound of talking coming nearer.

‘You didn’t like the poppies and lilacs I gave you?’

Scar.

‘But the seeds of those poppies are really good for sleep, you said you were struggling to sleep… And lilacs, well I think I got confused between them and lavender but… Grian? Grian, where are you going? Oh man…’

I open the window, far enough to lean out and towards where Scar’s staring off after who must be Grian. After a moment, I gain the confidence to speak.

‘Scar, right?’

He gives a little scream of surprise, turning his chair sharply around. 

‘Oh- you really scared me! Hello there! Wait, you’re Cub! You’re the nice space guy I spoke to before!’

‘Are you free to chat?’

‘Well, technically no, but Grian didn’t like the flowers I gave him, so I don’t care what he thinks… what did you want to talk about?’

‘Well…’ I stare at the path outside the window. Half of me wants to mention Star Wars, and just zone out to Scar rambling about it, as he warned he could. But the other half knows Scar’s a gardener. And just heard him explain the properties of plants. And maybe he knows about other kinds of plants. That plant. ‘Well I have some plant questions.’

‘Plant questions? Go ahead! I’m no bottomist, but I know a lot.’

‘You mean botanist?’ I laugh.

‘Oh shoot I said the other thing again, didn’t I?’ Scar turns pink.

‘No worries, no worries… anyway,’ my stomach churns. I take a deep breath. ‘Do you know anything about sculk?’

Instantly, Scar recoils.

‘Sculk?’

I nod.

‘Yeah.’

‘Well… I know it’s not a real plant. It’s artificially made by some meanie people, but it still takes over your whole garden… I’ve never seen it, but apparently it also makes you act kinda weird. Apparently. I hate the stuff. Almost as much as I hate stitch, and snakes, but not quite. Why do you want to know about it? Did some get into your garden? I’m happy to deal with that, no problem.’

‘Well… not quite.’ Another deep breath. The familiar choking fear rises inside me, writhing up my arms. I start fidgeting. Consider changing the subject entirely. ‘Well about a month ago, I found sculk in my house. I tried to get rid of it. But it fought back. According to another professor, Joe, he found me covered in sculk, the house covered in sculk. But all I remember is waking up in the hospital, 3 weeks later. The doctors told me I’d nearly died.’

‘Oh my goodness,’ Scar manages to reply. ‘Oh Cub that’s awful.’

I nod, fighting tears.

‘Yeah.’

‘What can I help you with? Did they get it out your house?’

‘I don’t know. I’ve been staying at the university since. I wanted to know… I don’t really know what I wanted to know. I think I just wanted to get everything off my chest. And another professor, Doc, told me to make more friends, and you were the first person I thought of. Because you seem nice. I’m sorry, I’m rambling. You barely know me and I’m making you listen to all my troubles…’

‘It’s ok,’ Scar smiles. ‘And… well, I don’t know how to help with the sculk, I’m afraid. I don’t know how to get rid of it, but what I do know is that I’ve got lots of blankets, and space in my home, and the most amoyzing cats in the world. And all of the Star Wars movies you could ever watch, because you still need to see Star Wars. And I know that, if it would help, I’d be more than willing to have you around for as long as you wanted.’

‘You really don’t have to, man.’

‘I insist. Notch knows I’m familiar with medical emergencies. And I’ve gotta get you to watch Star Wars somehow, jeez Louise. Here, I’ll give you the address… I have a pen somewhere… and my phone number…’

‘Are you free this evening?’

‘Yeah?’

‘Can I come around then?’

‘Of course! Of course! You know the bridge over the river just over that way? I’ll meet you there at 5pm, and we’ll head off. If that works with you.’

‘Yeah. Thank you.’

‘No problem… see you there, Cub!’

I smile.

‘See you there.’

@Convexweek

This wasn't supposed to be this angsty and sculky I swear it was just supposed to be Cub and Scar befriending each other through a window.

[convexweek]

Interest Check!

Inspired by @treebarkweek

We decided to make our own little event week but instead of Treebark, we have Convex! This is first event we have run so please don’t expect perfection! This is just a fun thing we wanted to do.

We are gonna following very similar rules to that of the Treebark week event, mostly because the main mod running this is busy with their life. We only wish for your patience and support. If you can, we would appreciate sharing this. We just wanna make something fun for the community

Thank you <3

Our ask box is open if you have any questions. We will try to respond as quickly as we can

[frozenjokes]

it’s so over

convex week day 3 - embers/frost - prev/next

this one follows the prompt because he’s fire boy and he’s water girl trust @convexweek

Cub wasn’t used to being around this many people, much less talking to them, and so far from his sun he was cold, it was loud, and all of these things were making him quite irritable.

Apparently being on fire at all times was a ‘bad look’ and Cub should really try to ‘cool off’ lest people get the ‘wrong impression,’ but maybe Cub wanted to be on fire, maybe he was cold and angry and didn’t want to be touched not even on the shoulder, seriously would people mind their own fucking space, Cub didn’t care about the court of public opinion, he just wanted to be left alone.

His lawyer was alright at least, a star called Mumbo who took a similar form to Cub, which Cub assumed was common practice; it’s not like he attended many court hearings in his lifetime, being the sun was a full time job. Mumbo looked a lot like a human through the lens of someone who had never actually seen one, and only had it described to him from a friend whose cousin’s wife’s ex husband’s sister in law’s dog saw a human once, so, fairly accurate and appropriately unnevering. Long, lanky body, arms, legs, fingers, tiny eyes, squareish head. Despite looking like he might unhinge his jaw and swallow Cub whole at any given moment, Mumbo was well mannered and just a touch anxious, but he seemed to know what he was talking about at least, which would have been nice if some of the things Mumbo said didn’t make Cub want to leap over his desk, rip out his tongue and then gouge his own eyes out.

“Listen Cub, I think you have a pretty strong defense here. Besides being generally unpleasant, based on the more major accounts against you, I don’t really think you’ve done anything illegal per se, but the bigger problem here is that no one can stand you.”

“I don’t care.”

Mumbo knit his fingers, expression strained, “Well you should care, because Scar is going to build his case around well disguised personal attacks, and where he’s very charming, you are not. Scar is looking to win the public opinion and sway the judge and jury that way, which, given his long history of successful cases, you should be concerned. Scar is going to try to strip you of your position and possibly all future positions in desired systems, so if you don’t want your current fill-in to be the new Earth sun, you’d better pull it together.”

Cub frowned, deep. He really didn’t want that. She was so annoying, and so smug too, like come on, Cub wasn’t going to be gone for very long.

“I just don’t understand how Scar even has the grounds to sue me. My moons aren’t even moonionized, complaints ledged against me are few and far between, and I don’t go out of my way to be a dirtbag unless moons go out of their way to make themselves a problem to me.”

“These are all good points, but with moonion popularity on the rise and Scar being the moon that spearheaded that movement in the first place, I really wouldn’t come out and start talking about how anti-moonion you are.”

“I’m not anti-moonion, I don’t think suns should get to blow up their moons, that’s not cool, but I don’t think I should have to go out of my way to be nice either when I think I’ve made it extremely clear to the entire galaxy I don’t want anything to do with anybody because everyone sucks.”

“That’s certainly a stance.”

“It’s how I feel.”

“I wouldn’t bring that up in court either. Insulting the jury is a bad idea.”

“How do I get them to not dislike me then. I’m going to say right now that I will not put out any fires and I will not smile.”

Mumbo pursed his lips, fingers knitting tighter, “Well, I definitely don’t think you should smile in court, no, but it might help you not to look like you intend to kill everyone in the room and then yourself.”

“This is my resting face.”

“Your resting face sucks.”

“Go fuck yourself.”

“I would advise against telling the jury to go fuck themselves.”

Cub leaned back in his chair, exhaling a vent of hot air through his nose. He would try very hard not to tell the jury to go fuck themselves, but he could not express this thought out loud, so he chose silence.

“Right then,” Mumbo, apparently, was not one to let the silence lie, “Well I want to discuss a few other points with you, things I’m positive are going to be brought up in court, so please try to be receptive and honest with me, and remember that my job is to help you. First, for the more ambitious stars, Scar is going try appealing to them by making the argument that you hate your position in that extremely desirable system of yours, and the only reason you’ve commandeered it for so long is out of spite; you don’t want it, but you don’t want anyone else to have it either. I know it’s rumor, and I will make this argument in court, but that doesn’t necessarily-“

“No, that’s true.”

Mumbo gawked, at a momentary loss for words. “Seriously.”

“Well, mostly. I do like that system, I want to keep it. I like the Earth. But I will never give it up, never, because all those stars with their grubby little hands want it so bad, and they can’t have it because it’s mine. ‘You’re so sad looking for a sun, you should try smiling, you don’t act very much like a sun, you should really smile more, why don’t you blink, Cub?’ They will never see the Earth like I do. A moon would have an easier time witnessing my system’s life, and that’s perfectly fine, I like moons, it’s the stars that are having their penance paid. If you had a star on your back every day of your formative years telling you you’d look more sUnNy wiTh a sMiLe you’d be a soulless hermit too.”

When Cub looked up, Mumbo’s head was in his hands. “Don’t say any of this in court. Actually, do not speak at all in court, just let me handle it. If you must speak, deny deny deny. Lie. Anything but your true feelings please.”

“Are we done then?”

“Yes, we’re done.”

Cub got up from his chair, stretching. He felt a little calmer now; who knew it could be nice to talk about your feelings? Maybe it helped that Mumbo’s office had a similar fire to Cub’s sun back home, not nearly as hot as Cub preferred, but almost pleasant when compared to most other shared moon/sun/planetary environments. The familiar yellow orange of the walls and furniture made Cub feel at home, safe and relatively blended in, though that was only coincidence. Mumbo had a whiter fire to him, and stood out quite a bit against the backdrop. Cub couldn’t imagine wanting to be seen.

Just as Cub was about to leave though, the door to Mumbo’s office burst open and in walked a very jolly looking moon with half a face, his silver cold brilliant against the bright fire, but in a world of constant light, Cub couldn’t stop gaping at the inky dark that soothed his strained eyes.

“Mumbo Jumbo! Wow, you look terrible today! Tough case?” Scar grinned, leaning nearly all of himself over Mumbo’s desk, dark eyes utterly jubilant. Cub was so starstruck, he hardly grasped the implications before Mumbo spoke.

“Scar, I’m seeing a client right now, I told you to knock before you-“

“What client? I heard no talking, no one’s in the waiting room, and no one’s here. Y’know, Mumbo, if I didn’t know any better, I’d think you just didn’t want to see me.” With a frown to match Cub’s own, Mumbo moved his files out of the way before Scar swooned directly on top of his desk, turning over with unnatural grace to lay on his stomach and kick his legs. “So.” Scar said, all movement stopping to accentuate the word before he started back up again with his legs, “How’s it going.”

“Bad. You literally have no case and it’s going bad. But Cub’s right there, he can tell you himself.”

Scar turned around and screamed, exactly the way he had when they’d first met, rolling off the back of the desk and directly into Mumbo’s lap. Emotionlessly, Mumbo scooped Scar up and set him on his feet. Cub still couldn’t stop staring.

“I think it’s against my best interest to speak to you,” he mumbled, silently pleased when Mumbo gave him a thumbs up. “Not unhappy to see you though.” Cub didn’t know where that last bit came from, but he wasn’t embarrassed either. He was speaking his truth, as he’d always done.

“That.. so..” Scar eyed Cub suspiciously, stalking around the corner of the room like a bobcat across from a cobra. “I hope you’d forgive me if I said I didn’t believe you.”

“That’s fine. We were done anyway, I just like a place that feels like home. Do.. whatever it is you were doing.. intimidation tactics or..”

“No, no, I really didn’t mean to intrude. I will knock next time, Mumbo, especially when your clients are.. so difficult to see.”

“You still won’t,” Mumbo sighed, as if resigned to the fate. “Cub, when Scar follows you out, keep your mouth shut. Not a word.”

Scar scoffed, mock offense, “I’m not going to follow him out, Mumbo, geez!”

“Well, the last reason I had to stay was the temperature, but you’ve gone and taken it down, so I’ll be going now,” Cub shrugged, giving Mumbo a small nod, “Bye.”

“Goodbye, Cub,” Mumbo sighed, and Cub was not at all bothered by the strain in his voice. Very good, very good, he was not here to make friends.

But just as Cub was leaving this star to travel to the one he was staying at nearby, Scar cut past, stopping him over the vast expanse of nothingness all around them. Scar looked brilliant on this backdrop, the light reflecting off him less intense, and the dark holes in his form as beautiful as they were unnerving. Cub very rarely looked at people’s faces when he spoke, but with Scar, he couldn’t stop staring. Maybe that’s why he missed the first thing Scar said.

“Hello? Hello hello? Earth to Cub, anyone home?”

“I’m here. Was leaving, though.”

“Humor me for a moment before you go then, will you?”

“I don’t think I mind, but my lawyer might.” Scar must have found this funny, but to Cub his laugh sounded fake. Though, so did his scream, and regardless of how exaggerated it sounded in Mumbo’s office, Scar had absolutely been frightened.

“Well then, Cub, I just came down to tell you that you do something many suns do that I fucking despise,” Scar continued on sweetly, never wavering, “Would you like to know what that is?”

“I don’t really care, honestly.”

“Well I’m going to tell you.” Scar clapped his hands together and Cub flinched at the noise, which seemed to please him. Bits of frost floated like dust off Scar’s fingers, and Cub got the sense that Scar’s anger was real. “I can not stand it when I meet a sun in their domain and I’m treated like the scum of the galaxy; useless, unimportant, insignificant, but after I reveal myself, after I drag them to court, suddenly everything’s so civil, almost nice, like I’ve earned your faux respect by evening the playing field, by meeting you face to face as a fellow, and not someone to stomp beneath your heel. I’ve forced you to care by bringing you here, yes, but when you’re bordering on friendly after showing me how you really feel, that makes my blood boil. So let’s cut the shit, alright?”

Cub stared, not that he wasn’t staring before, but this time it was a more confused kind of stare, one he made when someone had said something that didn’t make any sense. “Do you think I’m treating you differently?”

Cub squinted against the wave of icy fury that surged off Scar, his crooked smile forced and eye twitching. “Do you take me for a fool?”

“A little bit. I think this whole endeavor is a pointless waste of my time, but the only difference between then and now is that then you were an obnoxious pest looking for a fight, and now you’re still a pest, but there’s nowhere I can avoid the company of others, so I’m not too fussed. Comparatively, on the scale of bullshit I’ve come across after being forced to leave my sun, my encounters with you rank relatively low. You are cold, which I hate, but you’re also easy on the eyes, which is a huge relief everywhere.”

“I- I’m what?” The fierce chill that radiated from Scar’s form faltered, and Cub didn’t know what was wrong with him, but this was much better.

“Cold. Not as bad now, but it’s honestly cold everywhere here, so I’m eager to get going. Only thing keeping me speaking to you right now is that the star’s going to be so damn bright everywhere, and it’s rare to get reprieve like this. You forget what it’s like to rest your eyes, and then you remember, and you never want to leave.”

“I- Oh! Oh, right, I..” Scar bit his lip, glancing back and forth as if looking for an escape, “That.. That makes more sense. That makes a lot of sense actually, I did think you were looking at me weird, but not because- you know, it’s not very nice to stare.”

“I don’t particularly care, if I’m being honest.”

“You might give someone the wrong impression with a look like that.”

“Let them think what they think.”

Scar stopped for a moment, looking at the ground. He seemed to feel a little more awkward looking at Cub now, but that didn’t stop Cub from staring at him, gosh, his own eyes had never felt so free of strain.

“You know, Cub, I take back what I said here. I think you’re callous, but I don’t think you’re pretending. The circumstances then and now are different enough that if I really try to worm my way into this horrible little brain of yours, I almost see where you’re coming from.”

“Please get out of my brain.”

Scar laughed that fake laugh of his, but for some reason this one rang true, and Cub might have smiled, maybe, something unnatural definitely happened on his face, but he was too caught up in Scar’s infinite dark to be disturbed by it.

[frozenjokes]

please go back to doing your job. wait no not that job

convex week day 2 - lost/found - prev/next

these prompts are about to be followed. extremely loosely. flying by the seat of my pants here. @convexweek

Much like many lifeforms on Earth, Scar had made a habit of screaming when he wanted the sun’s attention. The sun was not interested, however, so Cub took to hiding away instead; not that Cub actually had to hide. Scar had walked right past him three times by now.

“Cub! Cuuuuub! Cub, where are you!? Are you okay? Cuuuuuuuuub???”

Certainly one of the more persistent moons in Cub’s system, that was for sure. Cub was getting real tired of it real fast. At the point where the Earth had made two full rotations on its axis, Cub was beyond irritation, and given the blatant disregard of Scar’s own duties so recently after his promotion, Cub was ready to rip him a new one for all this wasted time.

“Scar.” The moon yelped when Cub growled his name, but Cub expected as much and he did not stop, “You’ve been around far too little time to excuse this amount of criminal negligence from your post, a position of great honor, must you be reminded, since clearly you do not value it. Does your position need to be suspended to make you realize how lucky you are to witness a planet’s life, or do you just not care.”

Scar was taller than Cub, but he may as well have been looking up at him with that terror-struck expression, eyes wide and stunned and fearful- good! He should be!

“I.. How much..” Scar looked back into the vast expanse of space, like he might see his Earth from here, when of course he could not.

“Go on. Do you have an excuse for me? Lost track of time? Is your moon self-sufficient, does it not need you? I’ve heard it all, but please, let’s hear it again.”

“Are you okay?”

That made Cub stop completely short. “What? Yes- Of course I’m okay, what’s your problem?”

“I thought- You just didn’t show up when I arrived, I really.. I thought something was wrong. I thought you were hurt or- or you’d gotten lost and I didn’t- I didn’t know who to contact if the sun just disappeared, you know??”

Cub gaped at him. He had met few people who were truly this stupid. “You. Thought I was lost. On my sun? Do you get lost on your moon?”

“Well- No, not really, but I have landmarks, and the moon is so much smaller, isn’t it? You blend in so well, if something had happened to you and no one could find you-“

“What, did you think I got assassinated? I can’t just die, Scar! You’ve been spending too much time watching the Earth.”

“I was worried.”

“I’ve been a sun likely longer than you’ve existed, I don’t need to be coddled, and I certainly don’t need any lonely moons howling at my door every time they need a little company. You have closer neighbors, bother them. If anything’s wrong with your moon or any other moons are acting up, that’s when you come and bother me. I can’t imagine how you stumbled into one of the most prestigious positions in the galaxy when you clearly care so little for it. Perhaps you should savor the time you get to experience Earth before you aren’t allowed to return to it.”

Scar didn’t seem to have any more words to speak, a refreshing change from previous nuisance visits. Good. Good! Maybe he’d finally wake up and get back to his damn job.

“If you hate being here so much, why do you do it?” Scar’s voice was hoarse, a familiar anger burning beneath it. Earth-watching was a privilege everyone in the system was allowed, and most took forms that mirrored the life on the planet they were all so proud to be in such close proximity to. Scar had clearly seen much of Earth, his human body reacting so realistically to his emotions. Cub cared very little for this display, and even less for the question.

“Don’t be benign with me.”

“I think it’s a perfectly fair question! You hate the sun. You hate the moons! Do you even like Earth, or have you just kept this position for so long just so no other star could snag it? Are you so bitter and miserable that bringing everyone else to your level is the only way you manage to sleep at night?”

“Neither of us sleep.”

“That’s not the point!”

“You heard your fair share of rumors about how this position would be, you decided they weren’t true, and now you’re learning it the hard way. Grow up.”

“I gave you a fair chance.”

“I don’t need to prove myself, I think I’ve made it very clear to the entire fucking galaxy that I just want to be left alone.”

Scar’s expression grew stony, and he shook his head, sliding a hand across his silver face. The places he touched seemed to shimmer and darken, the light Cub radiated no longer reflecting back, which may have been a relief if Cub wasn’t so confused. What the hell was this moon doing? What was wrong with his face? Similar holes and cracks of inky darkness appeared across his neck and forearms, but Cub didn’t get the chance to ask what was with the dramatics before Scar spoke.

“Far from done, sir. In fact, I think you’ll find yourself wishing you were a little nicer to your residing moons, since you’ll be seeing more than a few of them in the stands.”

Cub blinked, slow. He blinked again. “What are you talking about.”

“I- Seriously? You don’t recognize me?”

“Am I supposed to know you.”

“I- I’m Scar! The Scar, for goodness’s sakes, stars and moons and planets alike have been naming themselves after me for centuries!”

Good god, this moon seriously had an ego problem, Cub really didn’t want this guy around any longer than necessary. Did he have enough evidence of negligence to file a complaint? “That’s great..” Cub trailed, absently thinking of ways he could escape this conversation. “Get going now, you’re skating on thin ice each second you linger.”

“I’m not- I’m not a moon! I mean- I was a moon until- You have no place to talk here, I’m hauling your ass to space court!”

Cub stared, blank. “No you’re not.”

“What do you mean ‘No I’m not,’ this isn’t- What do you think is happening right now?”

“On what grounds? ‘I hurt your feelings’ is not going to cut it.” Any style points this moon had gained in Cub’s book for being easier to look at and having cool black eyes were quickly vanishing; what was his fucking problem?

“Abuse of power! Poor treatment of the moons under your jurisdiction for nearly all the time you’ve held this post! There are cases upon cases of misconduct that I pioneered, and I’ve been trying to conduct an investigation on you for ages, but it’s so fucking difficult to get near this place by your own design that-“

“It’s not my fault you were an annoying pest and also not doing your job.”

“I am not the Earth moon!”

“I didn’t know that.”

“I have thousands of accounts of your mistreatment! You are famously a piece of shit to suns, moons, and planets alike! No one is on your side!”

Cub rolled his eyes. Unbelievable. “I’ve done nothing punishable in court. Being curt with moons and harsh with the incompetent ones isn’t a crime. If they left me alone, they wouldn’t have a problem, and 95% of them leave me alone. Congratulations, you riled me up enough to prove to yourself you have a case against me in space court, good luck. If the moon that got their face exploded by that crazy sun couldn’t scrape a win out in the jury’s eyes all those centuries ago, I highly doubt anything will come of this.”

Cub looked up at the heavy silence from the not-moon or whatever he called himself, cold pulsing off him in stark waves, the part of his mouth that wasn’t gone showing gritted teeth, goodness, Cub had never seen a moon so angry. Oh.

“For what it’s worth, I thought more of your face would be gone. Sorry about that. I was kinda shocked that sun got off so easy.”

“I am going to fucking ruin you.”

[frozenjokes]

the autism chapter

convex week day 5 - possession/puppet - prev/next

tw: all sorts of ableism and cub being generally failed by the society he lives in. cub has a meltdown in this chapter and experiences self destructive impulses synonymous with autism meltdowns

@convexweek

Cub should have just given up the Earth system. Anything. Anything would be better than this.

He’d convinced himself in the time before that it wouldn’t be that bad. It couldn’t be really, it’s not like he even had to do very much to prepare; celestials didn’t exactly need accommodations like humans did, they just needed a place to exist, and the stars could exist perfectly well on his sun while the moons could hang around Jupiter or Saturn but no closer- As much as Cub’s rules were generally meant to keep stars out, he was concerned about his system’s life, no matter how many times he was reassured. Humans were perceptive things, and Cub could hide thousands of stars in his sun without anyone detecting a thing, but moons were trickier, moons were small, and the humans kept eyes on everything. Not that he necessarily thought they’d notice space getting More Cold, but he was neurotic enough about it to lay those form guidelines.

Truthfully, having this many celestials in his domain frightened him in ways he never would have guessed. Three hundred? That’s nothing, if Cub really wanted to he could learn them all by name, check in, keep tabs, make absolutely sure everything was running smoothly. He didn’t do that of course, he didn’t want to, but he could, and what a luxury that was. Thousands- tens of thousands of entities at once? He’d have no hope of keeping track of them all, no control over what they did beyond his sun.

Scar was watching.

Scar showed up a few Earth days before the event, his chill lingering even in his many absences to prep the rest of the system for the incoming celestials. In some ways, it was a relief to have him around; Scar did all the talking, communicated exact instructions to every single one of Cub’s moons. In other ways..

Cub felt the chip in the back of his neck. It wasn’t there, not yet, but he felt it all the same, the spasms in his core, the corners of his mouth, the wrinkles beneath his eyes. Shoulders wider, more open, welcoming, kind. Was it even possible for Cub to look approachable, kind, or would they have to mold him personally, make him exactly how he was meant to be.

Cub didn’t know how it worked. He didn’t want to know how they could control him, how they knew, who they were if there was a ‘them’ at all, he just had to escape.

What an exceptional star Cub was. All the necessary pride and diligence of a future sun, clever, not charming, but he didn’t need to be charming, he needed to be intelligent, and he surely was. He was perceptive, direct- quiet, but some stars liked that quiet, liked talking at Cub, feeling important and listened to without any other ambitious, loud stars stepping on their ego. Cub made connections, back when his sociality hadn’t atrophied so completely. He was very good at small, social manipulations, all building to his final master plan.

Leave. Forever.

It would not be accurate to say he was happy, no, this kind of numbness was not the same as fulfillment, but Cub was free, he was free, and freedom was everything. He had everything he wanted, which was no one, and it hadn’t taken long to build a reputation that kept him alone and at peace. He had a telescope, one of his only possessions. Through it, he saw the Earth, or at least whatever Earthen being it decided to show him from day to day. He could drown in it. If he did not wish to drown, he could bask in the warm silence.

One more day until it all came crashing down. Dramatic, maybe. It didn’t stop Cub from fantasizing about running away. Fighting back. What would the consequences be? How could this be happening? Had he really been this cruel to deserve- to deserve-

It was in.

It was not so bad. Not as bad as Cub remembered. He felt it’s influence like electricity, but just a hum, not the hammer of a shock like the collar of a disobedient dog. Cub identified a lot with the dog. He never quite understood what he’d been doing wrong.

“Are you alright?” It was Scar asking after the stars had left, old, old stars, much older than Cub’s own perception of time. It took him a moment to process the question, but he was too late in recognizing the words to know if it was asked in derision. He stared, stared hard, searching for any sign of emotion, and could parse nothing. For a moment he felt alarmed at his own social ineptitude, perhaps even disability, he used to be able to do this, he used to be able to tell, but when he looked in Scar’s blank eyes, Cub saw absolutely nothing staring back at him. It scared him. He didn’t know what to say, but terror that seized him out of nowhere cut the speech from his esophagus, and though Cub opened his mouth, he only nodded that he was fine.

Cub left, disappeared. He had very little time to himself before he lost it to the strangers invading his home, and he could not waste it. Unfortunately, he couldn’t relax either. A damn shame, since he wouldn’t get another chance for a whole Earth month. Such little time had never seemed so daunting.

It was fine until it wasn’t.

One moment there was no one, and then they were everywhere. At the same time his hands shook, he smiled.

///

Scar was enjoying the festivities, and for several reasons beyond simple spite. Hundreds and hundreds of stars weren’t the company Scar typically chose to keep, but there was so much joy to be had and shared, and really, despite his ‘position’ here being to keep an eye on Cub, he wasn’t convinced he really needed to. Cub could be as bitter and mopey as he wanted, but Scar wouldn’t let another miserable sun ruin what was truly an incredible event.

Scar had visited Earth in his brief stay in this system, of course he had, it was likely at the time that he’d never get the chance to do so again, but he’d been more focused on his business with the sun, and hadn’t really gotten to enjoy it. But now, the joy was palpable, infectious, shared by the entire system population including the residing moons, and everyone wanted nothing more than to admire the beautiful life in a previously closed off system. By the end of the second week, Scar had met so many tens of thousands of new stars that his head was spinning, and while the smaller visiting moon population was often a breath of fresh air, even his own extroversion had limits.

He needed some space, and he considered seeking it out on Venus or Mercury, but planets could be more fickle than suns, and as entities, were far more private, rarely took a physical form. What set them most apart from stars and moons was that they lived and died with their celestial body, interchangeably connected with their planets, irreplaceable. They were certainly gods among moons, and while the larger stars held a big name for themselves, there was a certain mystic that a planet entertained which could not quite be captured elsewhere. Scar had tried to warn each planet of the coming change, but none of them appeared to speak to him, or gave any sign they’d received his message, so just in case the sudden population explosion was a surprise or in any way straining, Scar thought the respectful thing to do was leave them alone.

So it was the sun then, probably one of the least peaceful places in the system at the current moment, but unlike the moons, the sun was huge, and Scar didn’t feel so awkward ignoring the temporary residents as he would have staying with another moon.

A lengthy throng of stars caught Scar’s attention as he made his way across the sun, and while the last thing he wanted to do was engage, curiosity drew him in. Why would so many be here and not around Earth? Stars could sit and chat on any sun anywhere, what was keeping this number of them here?

Cub’s darker amber stood out amongst his more cream colored audience, but Scar wasn’t convinced he was seeing this right until he got closer, Cub’s human form the most accurate in proportion in comparison to the many visitors. The shape was the only thing about Cub that actually looked like him, the rest felt so wrong, like a doppelgänger had gotten 95% of him right, but anyone who’d met Cub before, even briefly, would be able to sense something was deeply.. strange.

When Scar got close enough to see Cub was smiling, nearly showing teeth, he had no more doubts. Scar weaved through the crowd, and maybe in reaction to his chill, they parted.

For just a moment, a fleeting glimpse of truth, their eyes met, Scar saw Cub crumble, and then another star had Cub’s attention, and the thing that was not Cub turned with a small, quivering smile. How long had this been going on? How long had Cub been this mobbed- Sure, part of the sentencing was Cub having a presence during this event, but there was no one actually enforcing that- It was meant to be Scar of course, but obviously he hadn’t been paying very much attention.

“Excuse me,” Scar cut in to whatever nonsense two different stars were rambling to Cub about at the same time, pushing himself between them, “I’m going to need to borrow him for an issue with a few of the Saturn moons, they don’t like crowds, you know how it is.”

“Sorry- Oh, I’m so sorry!” Cub couldn’t seem to allow himself to leave even when Scar had him by the wrist, borderline fighting Scar on every movement, push, and pull. It was weird, everything about this was deeply unnerving, even down to the tone of Cub’s voice.

And then Cub broke free from the crowd, and like a flipped switch, he was gone. Just- gone, disappeared, and it wasn’t that this was an impossibility or anything, celestials were fast, they had to cover those large distances somehow, but the contrast was just so sharp, it left Scar’s head spinning. Dumbly, he looked for Cub a little while. He didn’t know what else to do. Scar didn’t find him, of course. He never would, certainly not if Cub didn’t want to be found.

Despite the influx of visitors, the sun was still large enough to provide a substantial amount of quiet space. Scar’s body insulated well, but the heat didn’t particularly bother him, his form somewhat adjusting its temperature based on his surroundings; so mostly the dead of space. Even with Cub at the back of his mind, the release of strain from the crowded system put Scar at ease, and it didn’t take long for him to close his eyes in a mostly comfortable rest.

“Which Saturn moons were having problems, and where are they? Is it an emergency? They aren’t here, I don’t think they’re here. Did they tell you what the problem was, or just send for me?”

Scar startled up only to smash foreheads with Cub, yelping in turn, but Cub was rigid, eyes wide and deeply unblinking.

“Oh. I lied.”

It was never easy to see Cub, not here, not when he was the same color as the world, but Scar just knew something was wrong with him, something was- blurry-? His neck maybe, something was wrong with his neck, chin, and chest.

Maybe the more alarming thing should have been the way Cub was crouched over Scar, nearly on top of him, but stiff, unmoving and unspeaking for what was now a seriously concerning amount of time. This was still less scary than whatever the hell was happening with Cub last- well, Scar didn’t actually know how much time had passed.

“Are you.. good..?” he tried, but this did not seem to unlock the stuck gears on Cub’s limbs. Scar realized he couldn’t quite see Cub’s mouth, and was momentarily concerned Cub had lost it until he remembered Cub had been the one to initiate in the first place.

“Peachy.”

“You don’t sound peachy.”

Again, there was a deeply uncomfortable long pause. “I have to think very hard. About what to say. Or it’ll take me.”

“That’s very ominous, Cub.”

Something like rage flashed across Cub’s face contorting nearing immediately into an expression that must have meant to be more pleasant, but Scar still couldn’t parse out Cub’s mouth, just looking at that part of Cub’s form was like looking through the lens of a severely intoxicated soul.

“Did you get what you wanted?” There was no accusation there, and Scar got the sense that it was not from a lack of wanting on Cub’s part.

“What’s wrong with you?” A reasonable question in Scar’s opinion.

“I’m doing everything I can, Scar. I’m doing everything I can, and it isn’t enough. It was never enough before and it will never be enough now. We all know I’m broken, you’ve proven your point, but it is excruciating to be fixed.”

Scar scooted backward, offput by Cub’s intensity. “I don’t know what you're talking about, seriously.”

“You do,” Cub breathed, desperation leaking through his form, “You planned it all, didn’t you? The trial, the judge, it was all a front, you’re part of a- someone hired you, this was all a setup, some elaborate revenge plot for my own- my own spiteful final act. Taking the Earth system, closing it. All those old stars, they’re here, they’re celebrating, mocking me, I know I lost, Scar, I’m sorry, you won. Take it. Celebrate. Just please remove the leash. I can’t go back out there.” Cub’s fingers twitched, he started rocking on his feet, abrupting stopping, rocking, stopping, until Scar couldn’t bear to look at him anymore.

But Scar couldn’t help but be annoyed too, the emotion amplified by his discomfort, “If you don’t want to mingle, don’t, I don’t care, Cub. And I don’t work for hire, I follow stories and investigate, I hold seemingly untouchable celestials accountable, and I’m not sorry you’re remembering what it's like to be just like the rest of us. I’m not sorry the Earth system is open for a month, just a blip in your centuries of life, and your entitlement over what’s really just an inconvenience to you is seriously disturbing. Listen, keeping the Earth locked up is your prerogative, I don’t care, you’re not hurting anyone by keeping them out, my problem has always been your treatment of your moons. Congratulations, you’ve felt a fraction of the discomfort you’ve been putting the moons in your system through over the course of your reign, wow, yeah, I feel just terrible for you.”

Something animal left Cub’s lips, a scream or a whine, so guttural it made Scar flinch. Cub’s form suddenly seized, violent enough to send Scar scrambling back on his feet. He clawed at his neck, but it didn’t seem to be corporeal, all but for a tiny chip his fingers caught on, then uselessly slipped off. Cub wasn’t- Scar supposed he shouldn’t be so startled, stars weren't rock and ice like the moons, but they had solid forms, they were supposed to be solid.

“GET IT OUT!” and then he was screaming, Cub just wouldn’t stop screaming, he wouldn’t stop clawing at that little chip, Scar didn’t even know what it was, he wanted to help, he wanted to make this better, but the moment he stepped forward, reached out, Cub’s terror turned violently on Scar, wild, slashing fingers hot across Scar’s forearm. It did not hurt, would not have harmed him, but Scar remembered heat and agony too clearly not to be scared away. In his swing, Cub must have unbalanced himself, falling back on his butt and curling inward, hands finding purchase in his own hair. Scar was terrified they would fall through, everything about Cub’s form suddenly looked fragmented and unstable.

Cub shivered, violent, uncontrollable, his screams redoubling until Scar was certain Cub was going to destroy himself with just his voice. The animal part of him wanted to run away, but equally strong was the instinct to stay, fix this, make everything better even when he had no idea how. The vengeful part of him wanted to destroy that chip in Cub’s neck. To eviscerate the technology that could reduce anyone to this state. What was that anyway-? Surely this hadn’t always been there, and if it had, no wonder Cub was in such a constant state of- of- whatever his problem was. This wasn’t a facet of the sentencing, was it? Had one of the visiting suns implemented it as some kind of personal revenge?

“It’s- It’s going to be okay.” Scar didn’t know how many times he said it, or if he was even helping at all. It was a miracle no one heard them, Scar couldn’t imagine how horrible it would have been if a visiting star had stumbled across this- or maybe it would have been better. Maybe this was something that just happened to stars sometimes, maybe they could have helped. It didn’t matter now.

Time passed, and Cub got to a point where he didn’t look on the brink of explosion, no longer ripping away at his own form. He grew too exhausted to scream, but not to sob, his heaving breaths drifting off of him like smoke. He did not speak. Scar wanted to take him away from here, find a familiar face, but the world was just.. stuck.

For now that would have to be okay. Scar would wait as long as it took.

…

So it turns out the ‘training aids’ designed for to-be suns were not people, not celestials probing you through a boring, but ultimately harmless How To Be A Sun course.

Scar had no idea how he didn’t know about this before, nearly every star he spoke to about this knew what they were, and no one seemed to find it nearly as horrific as Scar did. Mumbo had explained it so casually, just a standard procedure for stars looking to be suns, aids buried in their forms designed to make physical distortions for the most effective feedback. A sun ought to stand like this, smile like this, act like this; most corrections were a short movement, so the recipient understood exactly the form they should be taking and how they should be acting.

No wonder Cub had looked possessed. No wonder he couldn’t leave on his own. No wonder he had lost his fucking mind over it!

At least Mumbo was appropriately horrified by the fact Cub had been left unchecked for two weeks, but he had the gall to get angry at Scar- ‘You were specifically assigned to watch over him!’

Scar hadn’t spoken to Mumbo since then. He hadn’t spoken to Bdubs either, Scar was furious, and he did not know how long it would be before he could stand to face him again. Given that Scar had limited options of courthouses when it came to prosecuting high profile suns..

Just.. fuck! Fuck!

Scar was miserable. He should have asked more questions. He should have been suspicious when Cub kept trying to negotiate out the training aids, but Scar was just so used to suns trying to weasel their way out of any kind of punishment, he’d stopped giving the benefit of the doubt ages ago.

Cub was- Cub was cruel. Scar still believed Cub to be cruel. But that wasn’t.. nothing about that was okay. Scar hadn’t seen Cub since that day, since he’d left to investigate the purpose of that chip and have it removed.

He wasn’t sure if he should go back. He heard that no one had so much as seen Cub in those last two weeks before the Earth system closed its gates once more.

Scar let his head drop into his hands. What the hell was he supposed to do?

[convexweek]

Thank you everyone for supporting Convex Week! We are working on gathering prompts and putting them in a good order. Intrest check will remain open if anyone has any prompt suggestions. We hope to get Convex Week going during December. We apologize for the wait <3

-Mod ⭐

[frozenjokes]

honestly abysmal hurt/comfort

convex week day 6 - natural/artificial - prev/next

@convexweek

For the most part, the comings and goings of the celestials in Cub’s system were pretty hands off. If he wanted to know whenever a moon came or went, he could, but typically these things weren’t strictly necessary, the relatively small size of his system making it reliably self sufficient. But there were ways to reach Cub if need be; most celestials that did reach out were asking for special permission to see the Earth, requests that were denied 99.9% of the time. Honestly, Cub wouldn’t even bother checking his mail if not for the extremely important mandatory random check in events, surveys put in place specifically to keep lazy suns like Cub on top of their messages. He was only allowed a few accidental misses per every dozen years or so, and failure to comply indicated a possible case for negligence and subsequent removal from the position. Annoying, but not anything life ruining; truthfully, it was probably a good thing to keep suns on their toes in case of an emergency.

Luckily, there were certain barriers Cub could put in place to keep just anyone from piling up messages in his inbox, but that didn’t stop him from sifting through (throwing out) hundreds of requests a day. You’d think this number would go down in the immediate aftermath of the Earth system being open for an entire month, and you would be wrong.

Cub rarely got past the names before setting nuisance letters aflame, but just as he was getting in his groove, there was one name that stopped Cub short. He held the message for a long while, just held it, he couldn’t bear to read it yet. He set it aside.

Cub did not know what to expect from Scar. Cub didn't want to see him, and simultaneously needed to, because fuck, right? Cub was beyond embarrassed, humiliated, he’d lost his fucking mind in front of a stranger and for what? He supposed he got what he wanted. You can’t fake that kind of distress. It’d just been so long since..

It didn’t really matter now, did it. The request had been granted, so now all Cub had left to do was wait.

Why did Scar even want to come back? Cub didn’t really believe Scar cared if he’d let this happen in the first place. He’d extended zero sympathy for Cub’s pleas to remove the training aids from his sentencing. Did Scar only change his mind when he saw the consequences for himself? Would he have changed his mind on the entire sentence when Cub inevitably lost it regardless, likely in front of a crowd of hundreds of stars. Cub was honestly shocked he’d lasted so long, but it was surely the aids that suppressed him; the Cub in front of the crowds was just a robot, the real thing hiding away deep within his own subconscious. He couldn’t remember a single conversation he’d had. He didn’t even remember being taken away by Scar until he was free, and even after he’d run, Cub was left with only the vaguest memory that something was wrong on Saturn.

Cub huffed a small breath. It didn’t matter. He would let time pass.

…

Cub did not want to initiate the conversation here, but Scar was really really bad at seeing him. Cub had been borderline trailing him for a few hours now, but Scar only looked directly through him, impressively unperceptive.

Wait, was Scar blind? Had Scar been blind this whole time? His whole face got blown up, it would make sense if he was blind, but Cub didn’t even know celestials could have those kinds of disabilities, it wasn’t like their forms were static or anything. Well, in that case, he should probably say something.

“I’m over-“ Cub didn’t get to finish before Scar screamed, fuck- “Can you fucking stop doing that! It’s fucking obnoxious and fucking scary when you just start yelling, fuck!”

Scar stood like a deer in the headlights, blank eyes wide and hands tight over his heart. “You just- you just scared me! You come out of nowhere every time!” Cub bristled, about to snap back before Scar raised placating hands, lowering his posture. “I’m sorry. Wasn’t trying to be loud, I just spook easily.” Scar pursed his lips, drawing a hand to the back of his head. “You’re not the only person who’s fed up with it.”

Cub wished he would stop shaking. He wished he didn’t feel so fragile. “It’s fine..” he mumbled, “I’m just. Recovering.”

“I’m sorry.” No space was left between Cub’s last word and Scar’s first, the words falling like an uncoordinated attack. “Cub, I’m really, truly sorry. The damage was done, I can’t take it back or make it better, but that- that section of the sentencing, the training aid, that was-“ Scar’s hand moved to one of his temples, and he seemed to need it to support his head, “I honestly don’t know what to say. In all my years, I never knew what those aids actually were. I’d heard of them, but I never-“

“You didn’t know?” Cub’s suspicion was blatant, and Scar shrank back.

“It’s okay if you don’t believe me,” Scar said it like this was very much was not okay, and Cub got the sense he hadn’t prepared for this to be the part of his ‘apology’ that got rejected, “But I- I just wanted you to know. I think- I mean, seeing what it did to you-“

It was Cub’s turn to flinch, his breath quickening. He didn’t want to be here, he didn’t want to be here, why had he let Scar come back?

Scar must have noticed, continuing on like a bomb laden timer was locked around his neck, “Regardless of the purpose, I wanted- I wanted to start some kind of investigation, one I highly doubt anything will happen because of it, but I think it’s important, important to try, right? Obviously yours is an extreme case, those chips aren’t meant to be used in that way and the neglect made everything worse, but the whole idea- it’s barbaric, isn’t it? That’s terrifying! And it’s making me wonder about how many modern issues in sun management are shaped by the way suns are trained- I wanted to ask you, I want to know everything, and most sun-stars won’t talk to me for obvious reasons, like, I could disguise myself like I did before, but it’s such- Cub-? Cub? Are you-?”

Lightheadedness brought Cub to a sitting position, and it wasn’t long before his head was between his knees. He was full, too full, the walls of his form were bursting, he could feel it, energy, pushing at the top of his head and especially behind his ears and his stomach, his hips, his knees, no, NO, this couldn’t be happening again!

A fierce cold seized his hands, and Cub gasped real air he’d been failing to breathe. He gaped at nothing as his mind blinked, then quieted, leaving behind the phantom trace of pressure, and little else. Stupidly, he looked at his hands. Scar’s own were locked around them.

Violently, Cub yanked himself away, scrambling unsteadily to his feet. “Don’t touch me!”

“I’m sorry!” Scar jumped back in turn, looking as frightened as Cub felt, “I’m being insensitive.”

“You are.”

“I’ll go.”

“No. Stay.” Cub put his head in his hands, not recognizing the words coming out of his own mouth. “I’m very- very hot. Too hot. I need to cool off.”

“Oh! Oh! I can do that!” Scar puffed out his cheeks, squeezing his eyes shut and blasting Cub with a wave of ice so strong it nearly knocked Cub off his feet. Maybe Cub made a noise, because Scar startled, reaching to steady him until Cub batted him away.

“Stop fucking touching me! Go away! Leave me alone!”

Scar didn’t need to be told twice, and Cub didn’t wait for him to scamper out of sight before collapsing in on himself with a hoarse sob. Why was Cub like this. Why did he have to be so stupid, little more than a breeze knocking him off balance into a complete breakdown. And he was cold, now he was so cold, whatever Scar had done made the frost stick to Cub’s form like a stubborn stain, just another terrible feeling to add to his mounting list of positively wretched sensations.

Cub wasn’t sure how much time passed when he sensed someone near, looking up from his stupor and freezing at the silhouette of a human, black as night. It waved, quiet as a ghost. Tentatively, Cub waved back. Hallucinations were a new one, a little concerning, but Cub didn’t find himself overly alarmed. It was odd, yes, but strangely.. peaceful. Somewhere to rest his eyes.

Slowly, it crept closer, though not in any ominous sort of way; it moved almost like it was playing a game, like if its steps were small enough, Cub wouldn’t notice it was trying to sneak closer. Cub could’ve been amused. It was easy to be amused with a shadow.

And then the shadow got closer and its shape got clearer and any gentle amusement drained out of Cub when he realized this was just Scar. Well, a Scar shaped hallucination more likely. Cub had never known a moon to change this color.

“I’m sorry,” the Maybe-Scar whispered, “I panicked. I wanted to help. I did not help.”

“Are you real.”

“What?” Maybe-Scar seemed to be shocked out of its commitment to whispering, “Oh- Yeah! I thought you might find this cool since you like the dark spots. I kinda broke when I got blown up, so I don’t really generate cold in the same way other moons do. I can keep frost for some time! I can also expel it! I thought you might find that cool. You did not. I’ve always kinda wondered if I would catch fire if I stayed on a sun long enough, but I don’t generally spend a lot of time on stars if I can help it. Not that I don’t want to be here of course!”

“I told you to go.”

“I was going to!” Scar gave no other explanation.

“Great. Then do that.”

“Well, but then I heard you crying..” Scar pursed his lips when Cub frowned, but did not stop, “and I thought, hey! Cub likes all those dark spots that won’t take on frost anymore, I bet he’d love it if I was all dark!”

“You feel guilty.”

“..Unusualy perceptive of you..”

“Don’t think I haven’t seen the aftermath of a guilty moon thousands of times. It’s obnoxious, and I don’t care. I’ve had enough of humiliating myself in front of you, stop fishing for ammo to use against me for round two.”

Scar cocked his head. “What? Cub, I’m not taking you back to court. I can not like you while also recognizing that what you were put through back there was cruel. Honestly, the vulnerability I’ve seen out of you makes me feel a lot better about how things shook out- it terms of you not having your position stripped, I mean. Sometimes I see a sun go back to their system and I just know they’re going right back to their old ways- it makes you feel so hopeless.”

Cub whirled on him, seething hot enough to make the last of the frost melt away, “What a relief that you were at your highest when I’m at my lowest, you fucking piece of shit.”

“I- Oh god, that was a pretty horrible thing to say, huh. I really- I just wanted you to know I’m not coming after you anymore. I don’t want to hurt you even if- even if I’m doing a pretty bang up job right now.. Listen, my bill is piling up for the list of things I don’t have a way to compensate you for, but I think.. I don’t know. A favor. I owe you a favor, more than one after today. I can’t make any of this right, but I want to make it better. I thought maybe- maybe you’d be interested in investigating those training aids, those chips, working to get them taken out of the sun program altogether, even if that’s a bit of a pipe dream I know.. I think maybe you also know by now I get a little caught up in the things I want for the reasons I want them. But I really- I want to know what you want.”

“I want you to go away.”

“Anything else?”

“I never want to see another star as long as this sun lives, and when it burns out, I want to die with it.”

“Well then, it’s a good thing I’m not a star!”

“Stars, and moons with names that rhyme with ‘star,’” Cub amended, and Scar stalled for a moment, looking at his fingers as if counting on them would aid in processing which moons had names that fit the bill.

“Hey!” Scar declared, belatedly, “I can’t think of a single reason you’d never want to speak to me again.”

“Seriously.”

“I was joking.”

“Oh.” Cub paused, squinting. “I was also joking.” With Scar only being a silhouette, it was impossible to tell if he bought this, but Cub chose to believe he did.

“Y’know, you might want to reconsider the rhyming thing, there’s a whole bunch of moons called Scar out there, you might be ruling out some really awesome celestials to watch over your system!”

Cub shrugged, “They can work here, but they can’t talk to me. I prefer this tenet apply to everyone, actually.”

“What if there’s an emergency?”

“I will make an exception for emergencies.”

“What if they’ve grown up learning about the brilliant sun, Cub, and think you’re super awesome and mysterious and have been wanting to meet you their entire life so they work super hard to climb all your weird barriers and get put on the worst waitlist of all time just to find out they missed a rare once-in-a-hundred-years window of opportunity to be a moon in your system for the sixth time and they’re really losing their cool and tempted to quit but they don’t because they love you so much and then they finally get in and find out you don’t speak to moons whose names rhyme with ‘star’ but surely you’ll see them because they’ve been dreaming of your their whole life?”

“That sounds like my worst fucking nightmare. Absolutely not.”

Scar laughed, slapping his knee, “You’re terrible!”

“Do you ever stop talking.”

“I’ve been told not.”

Cub huffed a sharp breath through his nose. “Have you gotten the hint that I want you to stop talking and also leave me alone forever.”

“What!? Cub! My feelings, you’re hurting them! And here I thought we were growing to be friends.”

“I seriously have no fucking clue where you got that idea from. You have been at best unbearable this entire visit.”

Scar shook his head, sheepish and somehow just as nonchalant, “I was like, half joking.”

“Explain.”

“I was joking about being friends, but not joking that I kind of like you. At least a little bit. Maybe I don’t like you, I just find you utterly fascinating, like life on a planet I’ve never seen before. You’ve got so many walls up all the time and you’re firing cannonballs at the people who knock on the outer ring, but when you get through that outer ring you’re kinda like yeah it was obvious before that this guy is deeply, deeply miserable, but he’s also really fucked up in all kinds of magical ways. How’d he get like that? You, me, kinda want to know. He’s also kinda funny, and he’s always been kinda funny, but he’s so miserable he doesn’t have any idea. Maybe he’s not funny, but he just has a way of delivering sentences that’s very silly especially when he’s not trying to be. Not that I think you have any silly inside of you. Maybe like. Deeeeeep down. Deep.”

“Great. I can’t stand you. Leave forever.”

“Y’know, you keep asking me to go, but I can’t help but notice your ass is planted right here next to me, no signs of going anywhere. If I was a betting man, I just might say you’re enjoying my company!”

Cub blinked. He’s forgotten that was an option. Not a moment later and he was gone, relishing in the immediate, exquisite quiet.

He squinted. His eyes returned to their strain. Damn. In the distinct lack of Scar’s mindless chatter, his thoughts returned to their dark, his skin reverting to its typical itch of constant irritation. Damn. This sucked. Too bad it was going to suck forever and there was absolutely zero things Cub could do about it.