#duckystuff

[friendball-irl]

[It's a selfie of Gray, who is laying in a hospital bed. He's HEAVILY bandaged, including half of his face, covering his purple eye. He's got a few smaller bandages that are likely covering smaller injuries on his face. He looks pale and somewhat sickly, but he's managed a very small half-smile regardless. An IV drip can be seen half in frame to his side.]

livdd bitcges

{You should not be on your phone. You have a minor concussion.}

lol

[oh-hey-its-gray]

{Quack. Now with asks.}

I may be stupid.

[friendball-irl]

Hahauh whatavbout. A meteror. @aerial-aceing-it

...

...

...

{DUK-3E online.}

{1 U̷͚̻͚̪̝̓͛Ṕ̶̛̜͉͈̩̪̩̇͐̄́͘͜D̸̛͓̲̣͖̫̘̹͈̟̪͍͒̐͆́̀͋̀̔Á̴̱̲͉̠̗͕̥̙͔̯́͆̐T̶̢͚͖̉̀̐̊̔̒̒̓̄̋E̷͓̦͔̤̟̲̣̫͎͗͒͐ added.}

{Update Notes: You're welcome~}

{...}

{...quack?}

{Marvin...? What's that about a meteor...?}

{File Loaded: Info~}

{...huh...?}

{...wait, that's...}

{...Gray?}

[friendball-irl]

{Quack... here we go. This... might be it.}

[It's a video feed.]

[Gray sits in his usual spot with Zagreus in his lap, resting against Andi. He's holding his phone in his hand, just... staring at the screen. You can't make out what he's looking at but he seems... scared, almost.]

[After what feels like an eternity of internal deliberation, he takes a deep breath and shakily taps it, holding the phone to his ear.]

[...]

Hey.

[The male voice that comes out is... actually somewhat similar to Gray's. He closes his eyes at it, and he responds, barely above a whisper.]

Hey, Lou.

...

...

...Lou, I-

No.

[Gray flinches at the interruption, curling in slightly on himself. He looks almost like he's going to cry.]

Don't apologize.

[Gray freezes, but slowly let's himself untense while his bother speaks.]

We both know you hate making people worry. I don't blame you for not reaching out. That's just not what you do.

But I'll admit I was a little scared. You've never really... broken down like that before. Mom and Dad were struggling. I was too, a bit.

But Ducky showed us everything everyone you made friends with immediately jump to help you. And now you're almost better. I can tell.

...heh. I'm... not great at this, but...

You're one of my best friends. I can't wait to have you back.

We're gonna meet up soon after this, okay?

[Gray chokes back a sob, a smile making its way across his face.]

Y-yeah. Okay.

[A huff of laughter can be heard from the other side of the phone, but it's followed by a sniffle too.]

...I love you. You know that, right?

[Gray nods, even if they can't see each other.]

...I-I do. I love you too, brub.

I love you guys so much.

[Everything goes white.]

The World: Completion, Integration, Accomplishment

[Stage 5 complete.]

[Purification Successful]

Heart and Mind Arc End

[friendball-irl]

{...alright. Role call. Who all's here? This... this might take more than one day, so... others can join in if needed.}

[friendball-irl]

den: ...gray. back??? if. ducky needs. processing power. to help. use. our servers.

{Estimated time remaining: unknown minimum. One week maximum.}

{Most optimal settings selected.}

[friendball-irl]

{...}

{...q...}

{...ck...?}

{I... I can't... why can't I...}

{Why can't I say it...?}

{I...}

{...}

{...I'm going to sleep. Good night...}

[friendball-irl]

{If anyone wants to meet up before we head to intercept Gray, meet us in Driftveil. Here's Gray's address.

XXXX XXXX XXX

XXXX Driftveil City

See you there.}