#Grian embracing his past in a hug

[max05nb]

War of hearts (but if they were signing about their past)

I can't help but love you,

Even though I try not to,

I can't help but want you,

I know that I'd die without you.

I can't help but be wrong in the dark

'Cause I'm overcome in this war of hearts

I can't help but want oceans to part

'Cause I'm overcome in this war of hearts

(YHS, Evo, Xequla, Grian)

(So basically idea is you can't live without your past and no matter how much you hate it you can't help but appreciate it, it made you, you, for better or worse. Was it bad? Yeah. But you can't help but love your past self at the end of the day. No matter how hard you try not to. You survived, you should be proud of that.)

[mochiwrites]

Jellie tends to be a very curious cat, sometimes. She likes poking her nose into places it doesn’t belong, or snatching things from Scar and Grian when they catch her interest.

Maybe Scar should’ve known better, then.

He sits in his and Grian’s bedroom (it’s been theirs pretty much after the second month Scar moved in), a ring in his hands. The metal is cool against his palm, a soft rose gold. The band isn’t anything special, a simple engraving in it. Scar knew Grian would throw a fit if he found out Scar spent so many diamonds on the ring. So he tried to get something reasonable.

He can spoil Grian with the actual ring.

If he says yes, that is. Just the thought makes a shiver run of Scar’s spine. Is he really doing this? He and Grian have only been together for a year and a half, but Scar just knows that he’s the one. There isn’t any doubt in his mind about it. But does Grian feel the same?

Jellie jumps up on the bed next to Scar, meowing at him. She brushes her head against his arm as she settles beside him, and Scar smiles. “Well hello there beautiful lady. Are we requesting pets?” he teases as he brushes a hand through her fur. She curls up close to him, leaning into his touch. Scar sighs softly, scratching behind her ear. “I don’t know Jellie… do you think he’ll say yes?” he asks quietly. She stares blankly up at him. “Yeah okay, fair enough.”

Past their bedroom, the front door opens and shuts. “Scar, I’m home!”

Scar jumps up, disturbing a content Jellie. He shoots her an apologetic look, giving her one last pet. But the most crucial piece?

He makes the mistake of leaving the engagement ring on the bed.

As Scar walks out the room to greet his boyfriend, Jellie takes to making their bed her own. Yet as she moves, the shiny ring catches her attention. She tilts her head, curious about the shiny object. Sticking a paw out, she swats it. Again. And again. And again. Until the ring tips over the side of the bed, dropping to the floor with a ‘plop.’

Her pupils widen in that playful way they tend to do, wiggling before she pounces.

Oblivious to what his cat is doing, Scar is sweeping his boyfriend into a hug. “How was work?” he questions, looking down at Grian with a curious yet soft gaze.

“Tiring,” Grian huffs, content to melt into Scar’s grasp. He lifts his arms, returning the embrace as he does so. “I had to remake the blueprint at least five times until the guy was happy with it.”

Scar winces, “Eesh. Now I’m kind of glad he only wanted you to meet with him.”

Grian glowers at him in return, though the look is entirely playful. “Yeah, yeah.” He leans up, brushing their lips together in a soft kiss. “Consider yourself lucky.”

“I think I will, thank you.” Scar grins, stealing a kiss. “How does a movie and dinner sound?” He bumps their noses together as he smiles.

“Let me think about it,” Grian hums, booping his nose against Scar’s as he does so. “As long as there’s ice cream after.”

Scar lets out an affronted gasp, pulling away. “I’m offended you think there wouldn’t be ice cream after all!” he says as he walks toward the kitchen. “Go sit! I’ll grab the takeout leftovers.”

Laughing, Grian takes his shoes off and heads over into their living room. He finds Jellie there, playing with something caught between her paws. He fondly shakes his head at her, “What do you have now, miss?”

Jellie looks up at him with a meow as she swats at whatever it is she’s deemed her new toy, chasing at it. However, said mystery object knocks into Grian’s foot, and he gets it first.

Leaning down, Grian picks up what appears to be a rose gold ring. He inspects it in his hand, eyebrows knit together as he does. “Where did this come from?” He blinks at it, looking down at Jellie. “Did you rob someone?”

Jellie sits in front of him, slowly blinking. The perfect picture of innocence.

Shaking his head with a faint laugh, Grian looks at the ring again. His heart skips a beat as he really takes in the detail of it. He certainly didn’t buy it. Did Scar? And if he did then….

Heart a little louder, he turns to his boyfriend. “Hey, Scar?”

“Yes, love of my life?”

“Any clue what this is?”

Scar walks into the living room, the soft crackles of a furnace behind him. He pauses when he notices what Grian is holding in his hand. His eyes go wide, looking a little pale. To the side of Grian, he spots the movement of Jellie’s tail, and looks directly at her. “Traitor,” he mutters.

“Scar?” Grian questions, confused and… maybe a bit nervous.

“Haha uh… any chance we can forget this all happened and revisit it like. Next month?” Scar weakly chuckles, the epitome of nerves as he looks at Grian.

“What’s going on?” Grian’s brows furrow in confusion, a bit of concern leaking into his expression.

Scar knows trying to lie about it is practically pointless. Grian is too curious and too stubborn to let it go. And now that he’s seen the ring… Scar takes in a shaky breath. “Void, alright. Guess we’re doing this.”

He walks over to Grian, “May I?” He gestures for the ring, and Grian slowly nods. He hands the ring over to Scar, who accepts it with shaking hands. “Okay.” Scar sucks in a breath, unbelieving that he’s really doing this right now.

Slowly, Scar drops down on one knee in front of Grian, watching the way the other’s eyes go wide. But something about the position doesn’t feel quite right. Brows furrowing, Scar sets his other knee on the carpet below. “G? Mind kneeling with me here?” he asks, to which Grian nods. He joins Scar on the carpet, kneeling with him as well. “Much better,” he hums, pleased.

“Scar what?” Grian questions, lost and confused, and goodness his heart is beating so fast.

“I uh, I had a whole thing planned out, but Jellie seems to have thrown a wrench into all that,” Scar chuckles. “But it’s fine! I can improvise, who needs a plan?” He does. He needs a plan. Shaking his head, Scar reaches for one of Grian’s hands, grasping it in his own. He takes a measured breath, and begins to speak.

“I love you. More than words will ever be able to describe, G. You’ve done so much for me, more than I think I’ll ever be able to thank you for. You found me on the street, and despite being scammed by me, you still offered me a roof to live under, and a home to heal in.” Grian’s eyes are focused on him, listening with rapt attention. His gaze only worsens Scar’s nerves, heart beating a mile a minute. “You’re stubborn and witty, and sometimes you steal the blanket from me.”

Grian laughs.

Scar loves the sound.

“You don’t let me wallow in self pity, or memories of the harder times. You’re endlessly kind to both myself and Jellie, and everyone around you, even if your patience runs a little thin and you get snippy. We may get into a minor disagreement here and there, but you always come back around to me.” Scar smiles softly at him, so painfully fond and loving. “Back on that world… I never thought I would get to live life again. Or even enjoy the night sky without being afraid. It felt like a part of me was always missing, but I found that part with you.”

“Scar…” Grian trails off, face going red.

“G, you’re my home, my light. I want to spend every day waking up next to you and messing up pancake batter with you,” Scar laughs, the sound wet and shaky. Grian laughs with him, sounding just as affected. “I want to hold you on your bad days, and on your good ones. I want to be there through everything, for the rest of our lives. You’ve reminded me what it’s like to live and love, what it’s like to be me. There’s no one else for me, my heart and souls are yours.”

Scar swallows, holding the ring out to him. “So… will you entangle your life with mine forever? And marry me?” His expression turns bashful as he asks, and Grian is red in the face.

“You…” he trails off, amazed and in disbelief all at once. He looks between Scar and the ring, and he shakes his head. “I’ve been trying for days to find the perfect way of proposing to you, and you go and pull the rug right out from under me,” he laughs. “Curse how perfect you are sometimes.”

“C’mon G, you’re really leaving me hanging here!” Scar whines at him, making Grian laugh all over again.

Grian wraps his arms around Scar’s shoulders, pressing their lips together. “Yes, you spoon. I don’t want anyone else. Just you.”

If their neighbors hear how loudly Scar yells, well… it’s a warm congratulations to the newly engaged couple.

Jellie watches her humans cry in each others arms, tail flicking lazily at her side. She better get extra treats for this.

(It’s only later, when they’re sitting on the couch, curled into each other, that Scar realizes what Grian said. He turns to him, “Wait, you were planning to propose too?”

Grian snorts with laughter, “Hadn’t even picked out a ring, but yes Scar, I was.”)

[carry-on-my-wayward-gays]

Oh The Things Our Hands Do: a Bird of Prey spinoff

SURPRISE @roxie-roo IT'S ALL ANGST >:) everyone else I hope you enjoy :3

-

"I'm so proud of you, Tim..."

[Grian was slain by SolidarityGaming][GoodTimesWithScar died]

Jimmy was... oh Void he felt like he was going to puke. Bile stung the back of his throat but he swallowed it down.

The grass below him was slowly becoming stained red. A dark pool slowly spreading over the hillside, thick and warm and seeping into Jimmy's jeans at the knees.

At first he felt like crying. Sobbing and clinging onto Grian's body before they had to bury him and Scar. Jimmy wondered if the two would want to be buried together...

But as he reached forward and grabbed Grian's red sweater, he felt a little giggle bubble up. He pulled his friend closer and pulled his sword from his chest, laughing just a bit louder. His hands shook as he put his sword back in his inventory. Oh he was so shaky and his mind was racing and why couldn't he stop laughing?!

Jimmy took one last look at Grian's body. His best friend, someone who he considered a brother. And he.. he...

He let go.

Loud, maniacal laughter. It was hysterical. He felt like his throat was being torn apart by just how loud and deranged he sounded.

It was a sound that could be heard all the way from Pearl's tower. It carried across the ravine and broke the stillness of the meadow. It ripped up whatever electricity had been floating since Grian's death message.

There had been a change that day. Not just in people's perception of Jimmy, or the ranchers, but maybe in the code itself. Something broke. Something just broke.

Jimmy stands up, shaking and all sorts of uncoordinated. He's still laughing as he makes his way home. His knees are soaked and stained with Grian's blood and everything looks blurry.

Fuck, he really just did that. Took someone's life with his own bare hands.

Jimmy giggles as he opens the door to the ranch. Tango isn't home, though that's probably for the best. He doesn't want his rancher seeing him like this, hysterically laughing at absolutely nothing and covered in blood. Shaking like a leaf in a hurricane to boot. Notch only knows what he'd think of Jimmy then.

When Jimmy calms down - stops wobbling around with a wicked grin on his pale face - he finally throws up. Killing someone never gets easy, no matter how red your name gets. At least not for him. He prefers setting traps and waiting to see his victim's name pop up in chat. That was enough adrenaline for him.

Tango comes home as Jimmy is changing his pants. His skin is also stained red from the blood underneath the denim. And it sticks to him too.

"Jimmy that was amazing!" Tango tells him. His eyes fall to Jimmy's bloody knees, and his demeanor changes.

Tango walks past Jimmy, keeping his back to the blond so he can change. "People kept asking if it was an accident. They looked scared." Tango continues, still giddy but keeping his voice down. "I heard their whispers on the way home."

[Etho was obliterated by a sonically-charged shriek][Smallishbeans died]

Jimmy sighs, pulling his belt through the loops of clean jeans.

"Hey, you ok?" Tango asks, coming up behind Jimmy. His hand rubs comfortingly over his shoulder and squeezes his bicep. He's tense.

Jimmy nods first. Maybe trying to convince himself above Tango. "Yeah I-" He swallows, "I'll be fine. I will."

"I don't wanna know if you'll be ok later, I wanna know if you're ok now."

Jimmy nods again. His Adam's Apple bobs and he breathes out. "Just.. a bit shaky. I've never been good with actually taking lives." He explains. He turns to Tango with a hardly convincing smile. "I'm ok. It's the point of the game."

Tango still hugs him. He wraps his arms around Jimmy's ribs and pulls him close, into a nice warm embrace. Jimmy hugs him back with his fingers twisting Tango's jacket in fists.

"I love you." Tango whispers.

"I love you too." Jimmy mumbles back.

They go to bed shortly after. It feels like the sun sets faster in these games, and the moon lingers longer than she's supposed to.

Jimmy lays on his belly. His wings - which need to be dyed first thing tomorrow - rest comfortably on top of him. They act like a weighted blanket for both him and Tango, who makes himself comfortable under one stretched out wing.

"Sleep well, buttercup." Tango wishes quietly.

But they're not the only ones who sleep like shit that night.

[litteral-sunshine-ao3]

Wildfire - a rancherduo fanfic

original fic by me on ao3

Jimmy sighed deeply as he stared up into the night sky. He had never in his life felt this much regret for anything ever.

If he had known where this whole thing would lead, he would've never taken Grian up on his invitation to the latest life series. If he had known how much he would ache, if he had known how deeply it would hurt, he wouldn't have gone at all.

He closed his eyes, feeling the strong wind of the mesa rush past him and it was cold. It was so terribly cold in his mesa nowadays, Jimmy hadn't thought he'd ever miss the sweltering heat of the sun, but here he was.

His sherif hat sat next to Jimmy on the wooden roof of whatever building he climbed up on. He sat on the edge, feet kicking and swaying slightly with the wind. Although the cold was biting and bitter, relentless and harsh, Jimmy liked it. He embraced it, even. It gave enough of a distraction that he was sure he'd be able to get up tomorrow and keep doing what he was doing, keep building his town and keep on living.

But that was for tomorrows Jimmy. Tonights Jimmy stared up into the stars, before closing his eyes, waiting for familiar red to take over his vision, his thoughts, his heart, his very soul.

He would never get used to it. Jimmy had missed people before, often times. He had lost friends before, he had mourned before. But this... This was different. Maybe because his own memories were foggy and incomplete, maybe because he couldn't tell anyone about it, maybe because the world, the very plain of existence on which it happened was gone now, or maybe just because it was him.

He missed him. Jimmy missed whatever it was that he had been so graciously offered and it pained him that he would never be able to feel it again- the touch of someone too hot on his skin, the press of a too-warm body against his as they stood against the harsh winds, the fire, the glorious fire that, although destructive and merciless, had painted his partner in the softest shades of yellow and orange, had made him glow and his eyes spark and he had been so beautiful as he stood amidst the utter chaos of their destroyed home.

His partner. His mate, his soulmate. His lover, his anchor, his world, his reason to hang on, to keep trying to keep going forward. His boyfriend.

His rancher.

Jimmy missed Tango so much. Although, it was much more than just yearning for a relationship that he would never get back. His very soul ached and groaned, it missed and longed for the link, the bond that used to be there.

But that wasn't the worst part. Oh no, not by far.

The link, the bond between his soul and Tangos, it hadn't broken when the server was closed. Jimmy didn't know why. He didn't care why. All he knew was that he still got random ticks of damage, random deaths, because of things he himself didn't do, but undoubtedly were Tangos pain, shared through that damned link.

He was sure it was the same soul bond, it felt the same. That's why, the past three weeks since he had gotten back to the empires server, Jimmy had been extra careful to not take any damage.

He didn't want Tango to know the bond was still open. Jimmy was selfish about it, he knew he was, and he felt awful about it, but he couldn't bear to lose this. He had gotten so used to the connection, the comfort that came with it, he was afraid of it closing forever. If Tango knew, he'd go to Grian and ask him to fix it. And Grian would get it done fast, probably sending an apology to Jimmy about the inconvenience, but Jimmy didn't feel inconvenienced. Not by the bond still being there. Only by the fact that Tango wasn't.

That he wasn't there, wasn't with him, holding him, hugging him, kissing him gently, just like he had done for a month. Jimmy couldn't lose this.

He refused to lose this.

The whole situation was quite ironic, Jimmy thought. Especially considering the last proper conversation he had with Tango. Jimmy had told him about empires, had told him about his troubles with the neighbourhood god and how he treated him. And Tango, blessed Tango, had listened, had looked at him with love and understanding and he had smiled. Had eyed Jimmy from the side, a grain of wheat stuck in his teeth in the most cliché way possible, and he had watched as Jimmy's eyes filled with tears of frustration and anger.

He had reached out then, gently, to wipe the tears away, his gaze had been fond when he had told Jimmy "No man is worth your tears." Jimmy had stared at Tango, at the love that practically poured out of his eyes, out of every fiber of his being, he had stared at the way the sun cast light and shadow over his face and Jimmy swore to this day, he had never seen a man more beautiful than Tango.

Jimmy hadn't known what to say to that, so he had tried for a joke, his voice only breaking once as replied. "You're certainly not worth crying over."

Tango had smirked, had chuckled in relief when Jimmy had smiled back and they had sat in silence for a while.

Oh what a lie that had been.

And the worst part of it all was that Jimmy had already known back then.

Of course he couldn't have known that the bond would stay, but he had known that he would never truly forget Tango, that he would miss him, that the memories of that world would stay with him across servers and lifetimes.

He couldn't explain why, but he had known the second he first met Tango, after the creeper had led them to their first death, to find each other, all the way back then, Jimmy had already known that he would love Tango until he physically couldn't.

And now he sat in his mesa, his town, in the middle of the night, and the sting in his eyes and the tears that fell weren't because of the harsh winds or the sand that they kicked all the way up to the rooftop. Those tears were for Tango, because of him, for him, they were Tangos tears as much as they were Jimmy's.

As the memory of Tangos warm arms holding him in a close embrace drifted away, Jimmy could swear the mesa got even colder.

This, Jimmy decided, this was torturous. It had fascinated him back in Double Life how quickly and how deeply he would miss his soulmate whenever they weren't physically close. But now, they were worlds, servers apart and the part of Jimmy that was tied to Tango screamed at the distance, howled at the coldness, the loneliness.

Jimmy ached. He ached and ached and it wouldn't stop, his heart, mind and soul yearned to find rest, proper rest, to find the only person that would make Jimmy whole again, to find his way back home.

Jimmy yearned, above all else, to be home again.

But he wasn't. And unless Tango would agree to keep whatever they had in Double Life going outside of that server, he never would be truly home again.

It was a few weeks later when the rift appeared. Jimmy had been drawn to it more than his fellow players, for reasons beyond his understanding. All Jimmy knew was that he liked the rift. He trusted it, much to the surprise of everyone else, and he asked the others to just let it be for now.

A couple of days later, Jimmy had build a small cottage in the western theme of his town near the rift. If the other leaders noticed or found it odd that Jimmy spend so much time there, they didn't comment on it. Even Joel seemed to give him a break, which Jimmy was thankful for.

Ever since the rift had appeared, Jimmy's emotions had been even more of a mess. Something about the soulbond felt off, almost like it was flickering, sometimes strong and intense, almost as if Tango was right next to him again, some days it was much more distant, back to the aching loneliness and longing.

It messed with Jimmy much more than he was even close to comfortable admitting. He was much more agrivated than usual, short tempered, snappy, he was frustrated at everything and anything and lashed out easily for weeks. He was a mess and the entire server knew.

fWhip and Sausage had come to visit him by the rift frequently, telling him the rift might be cause for his poor mental health and suggesting he should maybe go back to Tumble Town. But Jimmy couldn't move away, couldn't stray far from the rift. Something deep inside of him, the part of his mind and soul that ran on instincts alone, that couldn't be reasoned with, begged him to stay close the swirling, purple mist of the rift.

Sausage insisted that it was unhealthy, that Jimmy was not doing okay and he needed help. Jimmy knew that he was right, of course, but when Sausage had tried to carry him, drag him away from the rift, he had screamed and cried and in the flash of a second, Jimmy had drawn his sword, had held it up to Sausages throat and all but growled at him to leave, to run.

Sausage had fled before Jimmy could harm him, had left Jimmy by the cottage, alone. Jimmy had returned to his house and curled in on himself the second the door was shut. Tears and sobs wracking his body, he had sat in the hallway for hours, well into the night, shaking and picking at his own skin. He was mad at himself for loosing control, for threating his friend, Jimmy hadn't wanted to do that.

Something about the very idea of being away from the rift made his instincts go crazy, made his mind clouded with searing anger.

fWhip was the one who had found him, after he had broken down Jimmy's front door. fWhip had been the one who sighed and crouched down, who had pulled him close and hugged him, rubbing soothing circles over his back and whispering hushed, comforting words.

And while that was nice and it helped, it wasn't what Jimmy wanted, what he needed.

Because fWhip, no matter how gentle and kind, wasn't Tango. He wasn't warm like a netherborn, his touch wasn't rough, fingers calloused from smithing and engineering, his voice wasn't scratchy, he wasn't Tango, wasn't Jimmy's partner, Jimmy's soulmate.

Jimmy needed Tango.

He didn't tell fWhip about the soulbond. Jimmy knew he probably should've, but he was afraid he'd try to break it, or ask Grian to. It was hard to keep it secret from the admin tho- fWhip was persistent and he wanted to help. Eventually, he made peace with the fact that Jimmy wouldn't tell him and settled on doing what he could to keep Jimmy alive.

So fWhip visited him often by the rift, bringing Jimmy water and food and making sure he saw Jimmy eat before he left again.

Sausage came by a few times more as well, after Jimmy apologized profusely about lashing out. He promised Sausage that he would explain to him why it happened once his mind was in the right state again.

Scott came by once as well, per request of fWhip to see if the rift had left any weird magical properties or other lingering effect on Jimmy. However, Scott couldn't find any traces of magic on Jimmy at all, so he offered Jimmy a warm smile before he left.

And then, one day, Jimmy woke up in his cottage with a start. A shiver ran down his spine, but it was a pleasant one. The coldness that had been gnawing, eating away at him for what felt like months had ebbed away- instead, an all-consuming fire burned inside him, set his mind and soul ablaze. Jimmy felt restless all of a sudden, he felt something like an invisible force pull him outside, outside the house and down the hill towards the rift.

His feet dragged along the grass, his boots heavy against the earth and his steps unsteady as he climbed down the hillside. And then, suddenly, everything was loud.

There were people by the rift. Many people. Many many more than there were players on the empires server. They were chatting with each other, talking loudly, some sounding frustrated, others amused, but Jimmy couldn't make out what they said. His vision was a little blurry, he felt dizzy as an overwhelming feeling of warmth and home took a hold of his heart.

Fire flashed before his eyes, not the wild, uncontrollable flames that destroyed the ranch, but gentle fire, dancing calmly no matter how strong the wind blew around it. Yellow and red warped and mixed together, familiar words ringing in his ears and then warmth. Scorching hot heat spread through his body from his shoulder all the way to his toes. Jimmy blinked against the blinding sun, trying to get the searing red dots to leave his vision so he could see properly.

Except the two red dots didn't go away and it wasn't the sun that was shining bright and yellow, consuming him inside and out.

Jimmy's breath hitched as the weight of the hand on his shoulder properly settled in. "Jimmy? You're starting to scare me, man, are you okay?" Tangos voice echoes in his head for a couple of ticks before they registered in Jimmy's brain.

Tangos voice. Tangos hand on his shoulder. The bond between them flared to life, making the heat rushing through Jimmy turn into a wildfire, burning him from the inside.

Tangos face twisted in worry. "Jimmy? Jimmy, what's going on?"

But Jimmy couldn't speak, the bond was fully re-opened and the sensations, the pull and drag on Jimmy's very soul were too intense for him to do anything but cry, hot, wet tears spilling out of his eyes and flowing down his cheeks. Jimmy heard Tango call his name again in a panic, before he swayed on the spot he was standing in, loosing balance and collapsing forward into the blazing storm that rearranged his soul and made him whole again.

When Jimmy came to consciousness again, he was laying on the ground at the foot of the rift, way too many faces above him, looking at him with a mix of worry and sadness. He could recognize fWhip sitting on the ground next to him, one hand on Jimmy's arm, a small trickle of light connecting Jimmy to a window of code- his own player code, Jimmy realized. He could feel the code changing inside of him as fWhip worked.

If the situation had been different, Jimmy would've smiled fondly at the relief that washed over fWhips face whe he realized that Jimmy was awake again.

Most of the other people surrounding them, Jimmy couldn't recognize. Grian was easy to spot, his red sweater bright and sticking out everywhere he went, but his face was tinted with something close to guilt and regret as he leaned against Scar. There were two others here, two scientists in white coats, both standing a bit to the side and sharing a heated discussion, occasionally looking over at Jimmy, but he didn't know their names.

fWhip cleared his throat. "Jimmy, how are you feeling?" Jimmy turned his head and focused on the admin. "Uh... My head hurts." He said quietly, voice rough and raspy. fWhip nodded and pulled out a potion out of his inventory. "Drink this." He said, pressing it to Jimmy's lips. Jimmy took a hesitant sip, but quicky downed the rest once he recognised the familiar taste of glistering melon and sugar. "You should've told me about he link, Jimmy, that was dangerous." fWhip told him as he stored the now empty bottle away. Jimmy sighed. "I know. I was stupid. I- I'm sorry." fWhip nodded and pulled a specific part of Jimmy's code up for closer inspection. As he started rewriting a line of code, Jimmy could feel the feverish heat inside him subsiding.

His hand shot up suddenly to grip fWhips wrist tightly. "Jimmy! I need to fix your code, you can't-"

Tears welled up in his eyes again, which thankfully made fWhip stop. "Please don't. I- unless Tango wants to, I don't- please, fWhip, please don't break it." fWhip stared at him for a long moment. Jimmy heard hesitant footsteps come closer, then Grian came into his field of vision. He crouched down next to fWhip, laying a gentle hand and Jimmy's knee. "We're not breaking the bond, Jimmy." He said, voice clear and steady and not leaving any room for doubts or arguments. "You- you're not?" Grian and fWhip both shook their heads.

"The code I used in Double Life only works on that server. You must've already been linked with Tango, the code I used just strengthened that bond and amplified it. When you left the server, your code got all messed up because these two seperate soulbound codes corrupted each other." His voice was gentle as he explained what had likely happened. "We would never take this bond away fro you." fWhip continued. "The one that existed before Double Life. It's a core part of who you are, and if it gets damaged or broken, it can rip your entire soul in pieces. It can lead to permadeath." Jimmy stared at him. "Oh."

He watched as fWhip got to work again, carefully rewriting the broken bits of code and he could feel the blinding heat inside him subside to a pleasant warmth, not nearly as overwhelming. Once fWhip was finished, Jimmy took a deep breath in.

"I want to see Tango." He said, looking around, only to find that he was gone. "I- he's not mad at me, is he?" Grian shook his head and fWhip chuckled. "He's not mad at you at all." Grian promised. "He needed a moment to breath and calm down and then he set off to Tumble Town. He said he wanted to prepare a little surprise for you to come home to."

Jimmy's heart was beating rapidly in his chest when he stumbled out of his nether portal and into the familiar dry heat of the mesa. The bond between him and Tango pulled him through the streets of Tumble Town, deeper into the town until he saw a familiar figure leaning over a couple of chests in front of a half-finished building.

Jimmy took a moment to take Tango in. He had changed into an outfit more fitting to the mesa and Jimmy's empire. He wore dark brown pants and heavy cowboy boots, a big brimmed hat to shield him against the scorching hot sun and nothing but a leather vest to cover his chest.

Tango turned around at the sound of Jimmy's sharp inhale. He looked good, Jimmy thought, Tango looked amazing, it looked so right to have him here, part of Tumble Town.

He was home, Jimmy realized then. Tango was home and so was he.

He walked towards his partner and Tango met him halfway, wrapping his arms around Jimmy's waist and pulling him close, one hand settling on the back of Jimmy's head to hold him gently and guide him to rest his head on Tangos shoulder. Jimmy smiled softly and let himself relax in Tangos arms, finally letting his mind rest after months of longing and loneliness and pain. "I missed you." He whispered against Tangos skin. Tango shuddered beneath him but sighed happily. "I know. Missed you too."

They parted and smiled at each other, but then Jimmy recognised the building Tango had been working on. Tears welled up immediately as he pushed past Tango, only two steps, to look at the familiar beginning of what would undoubtedly become their ranch.

"Tango-" he sniffled into the dry air. Tango was there immediately, worried expression shifting into adoration and love when he recognised the awe in Jimmy's gaze. "It's not finished, I thought you'd take a little longer." He said, an almost apologetic smile on his lips. Jimmy turned to look at him again, one hand rising up to cup Tangos jaw and stroke the side of his face fondly. "It's going to be perfect." He said, staring right into deep red eyes. Tangos smile brightened.

Jimmy took him in for another second, before he gave in to the pull of the bond and leaned in, pressing his lips on Tangos in a soft, delicate kiss.

"I love you." Jimmy breathed against Tangos lips once they parted. "I love you so much, Tango. I love you." Tango rested his forehead against Jimmy's and sighed, content, happy. "I love you too Jimmy. On every server, ever world, in every lifetime. I'll never stop loving you, I promise."

As their lips connected again, Jimmy smiled. He was sure that Tango was right. They would love each other, no matter the world, server or whatever. He sank into the feeling of warm comfort as Tango kept kissing him.

Jimmy was home. Finally.

[patchwork-oil]

❧ "I didn’t say goodnight”

Pairing: Mumbo/Grian (romantic) Word count: 1,256 Warnings: Includes what may be a panic attack, but I don’t know enough about them to say that with certainty. I think that qualifies as angst. Ask for more warnings if necessary

Summary: Mumbo is working late, and Grian is getting just a bit lonely, but it seems there’s a little more to the puzzle than that.

Author’s note: The first fic of mine I’ve ever posted! umm critical feedback may be ignored bc im just doing this for fun but I’ll consider it ^^ Pointing out typos is always appreciated! The pair is in an established relationship and live together. Please enjoy :)

   Grian stared down the empty side of the bed with discontent. He’s tried to sleep, but at least an hour of struggle has passed to no avail. He knows Mumbo said he would be working late, he knows he told Mumbo he understood, and he knows he’s working on something important. Maybe he wouldn’t be so restless if Mumbo hadn’t been acting so odd lately.

   Grian pawed absentmindedly at where Mumbo should be. Just shut your eyes and go to bed. You can’t just ask him to stop working. He tried to knit eyes closed, honestly he did. Don’t be selfish. You sleep beside each other every day, you can handle one night without him. Grian knew this much logically, shouldn’t that be enough to coax him to sleep?

   Grian sat up with a knot in his gut. If he just said goodnight to Mumbo one last time, he would be satisfied. Yeah, yeah! He’d just walk out that door and into Mumbo’s workshop, kiss him goodnight, give him a big hug, and he’d finally be able to fall fast asleep. It’s a plan.

   So he padded through their dark base, keeping a hand dragging across the walls he passed for a bit of stability and wings dragging along the floor. Down the stairs, turn at the hallway, and open the door. The welcoming squeak of the floorboards beneath him as he walked closer to desk made Mumbo jump sharply, turning to see Grian in his loose pajamas and feathers misaligned and trailing the floor behind him.

   “Hiii! Mumb!” Grian’s chirp came out as a slurry of sleep.

   “My love, what are you doing up?” Mumbo’s words weren’t much more awake than Grian’s.

   As Grian approached, Mumbo swiveled around and they wordlessly embraced in a hug. Grian buried his head down into Mumbo’s neck, taking as much of a breath of him as possible before he knew he would have to go back. Mumbo seemed to relish just as much, holding onto Grian’s back as if they had to hold so tightly if they wanted to stay upright.

   In sync, they pulled away.

   “Grian it’s…” Mumbo pulled back his sleeve “it’s past midnight, you have to be up tomorrow.”

   “I’m only saying goodnight.. n’ then I’ll go back.”

   Mumbo’s heart thumped and his face of knitted worry softened just a bit. “My dear…”

   Grian reached for Mumbo’s face, staring at his eyes for a thick moment before planting a kiss square on his forehead. “How much longer do you still have to work, Mumb?”

   Mumbo’s eyes widened, then he quickly turned back to his work, trying to hide the way his face knitted with worry once again.

   “Erm, well. I’m… About that I’m… See you don’t really need to worry about it I’m sure I can… it’s… erm…”

   Oh. Grian was expecting a concrete answer. He craned to get a better look at Mumbo, but Mumbo flinched into turning further away.

   “Mumbo? Are you alright?”

   “Yea—! Er, well no yeah it’s not- I’ll be fi—no it’s fine, really!”

   Grian’s feathers bristled.

   “Mumbo, tell me what all of this is about.”

   “You said you’d go to sleep after you told me goodnight.”

   “And I didn’t say goodnight yet.”

   Mumbo finally swallowed, stared up at Grian, and sighed. He braced his grip on the rim of his stool.

   “I haven’t—” he choked, “—I haven’t been working on this blueprint Iskall asked me to rework. He asked me—“ he curled in on himself and hugged his sides, “—2 weeks ago. And I just haven’t been working on it! I haven’t been working on it and he’s been asking for it and I just haven’t done it.” Mumbo started to breathe quickly, and flung arm gestures into the air in front of him.

   The twinge of disgust in Mumbo’s voice wrought Grian’s heart with distress.    “And I don’t know why! I’ve quite literally had all the time in the world, Iskall’s been the most understanding and each time he asks for it I disappoint him and I’m so sick of disappointing him and—“

   “Mumbo! Mumbo listen to me! Stop! Oh—“ Grian grasped Mumbo’s shoulders and attempted to pull Mumbo to face him, but Mumbo was so stiff and his chest raising so quickly that he couldn’t move him. “Mumbo if you would breathe—“ Grian tried shouting so Mumbo could hear him over his sobbing. Thinking quickly, he wiggled himself between the stool and the desk and used the leverage from the furniture to push the chair back just a bit with the force of his legs. When just grabbing a hold of either shoulder didn’t draw Mumbo’s attention, he took a hold of mumbo chin, and pulled it up to face him. Mumbo’s eyes were clearly clouded with tears but he started finally gasping for breath.

   “Mumbo breathe for me, can you please?”

   Mumbo’s heaves came out terribly trembling, but continued them thankfully.

   “Oh good, Mumbo, good job. Great job, that’s it,” Grian worried circles into Mumbo’s shoulders. “My poor thing.”

   Mumbo’s body shuddered just a couple more times before stilling. Sniffles continuously rose from him.

   “Mumbo if you can hear me, please hear that you doing so well. Not breathing, I mean. You’re doing fine work on the blueprint, Iskall is your friend and he will understand.”

   “I’m awful.”

   “You will not say that again. How awful could you possibly be if you’re killing yourself over this desk in the middle of the night, trembling and shaking like a rabbit in front of a.. a hawk! Just trying to do a favor for your friend? I know you feel bad. We can fix this Mumbo, but we can’t fix it in the state you’re in now if you could breathe for me just a bit more.” Grian pulled Mumbo’s disheveled hair up and out of his eyes.

   Hushed, Mumbo shivered. “Grian. I don’t know what to do.”

    “We will figure this out Mumbo. I will help you.”

   “You’re too… kind to me Gri.”

   “You’re silly. You’re quite silly Mumbo.”

   “I’m not silly,” Mumbo sniffed.

   “Right right right, of course. Would you like to come to bed with me? Get out of your work clothes. It’s not good to be dressed up like that for so long y’know.”

   “Who says that?”

   “I do. And I say you’re coming to bed and we’ll think about this in the morning.”

    “I’m sorry Grian.”

   “No, you’re coming to bed, you don’t get that choice.”

   “Not about that! Not about that! I mean, sorry for troubling you.”

   “Would you quit with that, your struggles are never worth an apology. Especially to me.” Grian closed in on Mumbo once more and hugged Mumbo tightly, another kiss to his forehead.

   Mumbo put up no further resistance and leaned on Grian for the majority of the way to their bedroom. Down the hallway, up the stairs, though the door.

   Mumbo in his pajama pants and Grian leading him under the covers, Mumbo offered a new question. “How did you know, Grian?”

   “Hm? Know what?”

   “How did you know I needed help?”

   “Wasn’t it obvious?”

   “I mean how you knew to come downstairs to me.”

   “Oh, I didn’t know that. I just—“ Grian stopped himself, now fitted under the blankets and Mumbo snuggling closer and closer into Grian’s chest. “I well, um.”

   Mumbo raised his head, looking up to try and find Grian’s eyes this time. Mumbo expected a concrete answer.

   With Grian’s absence of a response, Mumbo smirked. “If I didn’t know you better, I’d say you missed me?”

   “Oh shut up.”

Author’s note: Tell me if you liked that! it’s very self-indulgent so i ask you be a little nice ^^; I’d also love to get to know more writers in hermitshipblr bc this is my first time ever posting stuff! Also... how do i tag this lmao

[anarchy-and-piglins]

red bros au prompt, as per your request: how about Techno meeting Grian? like i can just imagine Techno hiding behind Mumbo's leg and glowering, and Grian crouching down to introduce himself- maybe he even bought a pig plushie to bribe Techno with????

Mumbo was beyond nervous. Keeping it together all day had already been hard, but for the past several minutes he had gone straight into blind panic mode.

And frankly, he couldn’t even feel bad about it. This was nerve wracking: one of the most important people in his life meeting another one of the most important people in his life? Lesser things had put him on edge before.

What if Techno didn’t get along with Grian? What if Grian couldn’t stand Techno? What if they hated each other and then Mumbo would feel bad because he loved them both and liked being around them both but they’d abhor him for it and-

Grian squeezed his hand, probably noticing he was silently working himself up for no reason. He always seemed to know, seemed to notice the tiny little tells Mumbo himself didn’t realize he had. Squeezing back, he took comfort in intertwining their fingers for a moment.

“I brought him a gift,” Grian said, holding up a stuffed pig like the ones you might get in claw machine games. Its big beady eyes stared at Mumbo in silent judgement. “I figure bribery always helps, hm?”

Mumbo exhaled. “Yeah, yeah bribery will hopefully help.”

A tiny part of him was thinking about backing out at the last second and calling the whole thing off. But his parents were almost never both out of the house at the same time so it might be a while before such a perfect opportunity presented itself again. Mumbo would never dream of bringing Grian to his place under any other circumstances. It had been a carefully considered event.

Thinking back on the past, Technoblade didn’t always do so well with strangers. Mumbo was hoping that if his little brother first met Grian within the familiar territory that was their home, it would help Techno feel at ease and cope better.

And Mumbo really wanted this to work.

As they got inside, he tried not to see the way Grian looked around. Tried not to see him take note of the dirty floors or the dishes piled on the kitchen island or the empty beer bottles sorted in some type of jenga-formation near the couch. Quickly as he could, he herded Grian into the hallway and towards the room he shared with Techno, the only room in the house that was actually habitable.

His little brother was sitting on the ground, surrounded by three puzzles he was all trying to complete at the same time for some reason. When Mumbo entered he started to get up, but seeing Grian right behind made him stop again.

“Hey Tech!” Mumbo knew his voice sounded a little too high-pitched to be natural but he’d take it in stride. “I brought a friend today. We’ve been hanging out a lot, so I thought you two should meet.”

Hanging out a lot - well that’s an understatement. Techno titled his head a bit and inched closer, suspicious of the situation but his tendency for routines won out in the end. They always greeted each other the same way, after all. Techno latching onto Mumbo’s sleeve so he could half-hug him and bonk his head into his brother’s arm. Mumbo laughed and stroked his hair, returning the embrace.

And Grian - smart, patient, lovely Grian - clearly knew that he should hang back a moment to let them do their thing. Mumbo felt his heart do that weird squeeze of fondness it often did whenever Grian was concerned. He should have gotten used to it by now but he hadn’t, really.

When they were done he pushed Techno forward. “Go on then.”

Techno rolled his eyes but let his brother prod him on. He stared at Grian, not looking very convinced yet. “Hi...”

Grian knelt down to be on the same eye-level, so Techno didn’t have to awkwardly crane back and look up at him anymore. “Hey there. Mumbo told me a lot about you, it’s nice to finally meet you.” He stuck out his hand.

Techno didn’t shake it. “What did he say about me?” he asked instead, voice grave.

“Oh, lots of things. Most of them good.” Grian glanced at Mumbo, who was busy trying not to combust from sheer nervous energy. “He told me you like pigs.”

Predictably enough Techno perked up at the mere mention of his favorite animal. He rocked back on his feet a bit. “Pigs are cool, I guess.”

“They’re very cool,” Grian agreed. “And I’m glad you think so because I brought this little guy with me.” He pulled the pig plushie from behind his back. If Techno’s eye would become any wider they would have fallen out of his head probably, Mumbo tried not to laugh. “I was hoping you could help me find him a home?”

“He can live with me!” Techno blurted, already holding out his hands for it. Then seemingly realizing his own enthusiasm, he dropped them again and averted his eyes. “I-I mean... if it’s okay... I have other pigs too.”

“Sure,” Grian handed him the plushie. Techno snatched it as if he expected the gift to be taken away again if he wasn’t fast enough.

He brought it over to his bed, opening the secret drawer beneath it. All his various stuffed pigs and other comfort items had been shoved inside, safe from the wrath of their parents. It had been Mumbo’s idea, a little too used to seeing his own items destroyed during one of their mom’s drunken rampages. He couldn’t bare the thought of that happening to Techno, so he had made the compartment himself. Nobody except them two even knew about it.

“What’s his name?” Techno asked, settling the pig safely inside, making sure it was snug and secure underneath one of the towels he used as blankets.

(Mumbo had seen Techno steal them from the kitchen, insisting his stuffed animals would get cold if he didn’t. Mumbo didn’t question the logic there)

“Uhm...” Grian faltered, head whipping around to look at Mumbo for help. Mumbo shrugged. Grian was on his own with this one. “Uh, his name is... Oinky?”

Techno frowned at him over his shoulder. “That’s a dumb name,” he said. Grian had the decency to look only mildly affronted by a ten-year-old tearing down his idea of a good pig name. “But I don’t mind because I like him.” Then he went back to rearranging his toys.

Grian slid up to Mumbo with a shit-eating grin, close enough that their shoulders touched. It kind of made Mumbo’s heart skip a beat. God, he was easy. “He likes him,” Grian said, pleased. “And if he likes him, he likes me. Told you bribery would work.”

Relieved that it had all panned out, Mumbo would not disagree with him.

[strawberrylemonz]

Past and Present

Part 12

Part 13 [CURRENT]

Part 14

DT: @petrichormeraki @applepie1000 @jump-in-the-cadillac @ivorylin @sydneys-sketches 

------------

Tommy quickly slapped a hand over his mouth, but it was too late. The group in front of them turned to face the source of the group. Tommy mentally smacked himself upside the head as he pulled Fundy behind him, the Lovely Trio slipping behind him as Kristin and Grian stepped in front of Sam and Puffy, who held the children close. It wasn’t until three familiar faces made their way to him, that he felt like breaking. It wasn’t because Phil was there, concern and relief flooding his face as he looked over Tommy. It wasn’t because Techno was looming over them, facial expression unchanging, only betrayed by the several emotions going through his eyes. It wasn’t because of Ghostbur, because Ghostbur wasn’t floating there. He wasn’t even floating he was standing. There, standing with his hands stuffed into his pockets, stood Wilbur, who was very much alive. The three of them stepped towards the youngest member of their family, the one they missed so dearly, only to stop when he put his hands up in defense, stepping closer to the fox shifter behind him.

“Wilbur, you’re...you’re-”

“Tommy, you’re okay!”

Everyone on the Dream SMP frowned as Tommy made an “eh” noise, making a balancing movement with his hand as he peered back at the group behind him, all who, aside from Sam and Puffy, made similar noises and movements back at them. Much to their embarrassment, they were the only ones who found amusement to it. Regaining his composure, Tommy turned back to Kristin, giving her pleading eyes. She nodded before nudging Grian, who was already moving to pick up Theo. Clem smiled as she climbed into the embrace of her grandmother, hugging her with delight. After being reassured that the children were away from the group, Tommy returned his gaze to the members of his older server. 

“Let’s go to a more private space. I would very much like you all more if you don’t start anything unnecessary during my opening.”

Without waiting for a response, Tommy turned and, after ensuring Fundy was safely in front of him, began walking out of the cavern, everyone else following behind. As he waved to guests and Hermits alike, he led the group into one of the larger taverns. Taking out a keycard from behind the automated desk, he patted the robot working there before walking over to a large set of double door. Humming a tune that caught Wilbur’s attention, he inserted the keycard and pushed the doors open, leading the group in. He closed the door after the last two people, who happened to be a very disgruntled Jack and Niki. After everyone was sat down in their own seats, they all exchanged uncertain looks. Finally, Fundy decided it was best to break the silence. 

“So, I see the resurrection was successful.”

“Yeah, we managed to get Wilbur bac-”

“You have a son.”

Tommy saw Fundy stiffen beside him as the voice of Wilbur spoke up, quieter than they remembered. Fundy pressed his lips in a thin line as he peered up to his newly revived father. Giving him a little nod Fundy cleared his throat as he scratched the back of his neck. 

“Yeah, I do. He’s great, you know. Very smart and fun, sneaky too.”

“Do I know who your significant other is?”

“I wouldn’t call him my significant other, we aren’t together. He was very...the situation was...we didn’t work out. But, yeah, you know him. You all do, actually.”

“Who is it?”

“Dream”

Fundy quickly spoke the name, reeling back as he waited for the expected backlash. Hesitating for a moment, he almost believed that, much like the situation with Tommy, he would receive no backlash. He was, however, quickly proven wrong. The only other revived man there was the first to speak up.

“WHAT?!”

“YOU FUCKED DREAM?!”

“LANGUAGE!”

“THE FURRY FUCKED GOD, OH MY FUCKING ENDER-”

“George? George, can you hear me? Dude, blink if you can hear me-”

“When we said ‘suck it green boy’, we didn’t mean literally!”

“How did you manage to get him to-”

As the chaos began to rise, Fundy began to shrink in his seat, panic settling in. Taking note of this, Tommy frowned as he tried to settle everyone down. When no one responded to him, he grew frustrated. Getting annoyed, Tubbo sat up to yell at the source of the chaos, only to find that he was beat to it. With a loud foot stomp, a booming voice yelled over the chaos. 

“Will you all shUT UP?!” 

Silence filled the room as everyone turned to face the source of the yell. There, fists clenched tightly by her side, stood Drista. Everyone hesitated about her next course of action, as the eyes on her mask seemed to glow with her annoyance. As she sat down, crossing her arms and legs together, she huffed as she prepared to speak up once more. Much to her annoyance, however, the door to the room creaked open, a new presence creeping in. 

“Sorry I’m late, you all have seem to have forgotten me back on my server.”

Everyone watched as the figure approached, Fundy shrinking in his seat. Tommy stiffened in his own, one hand in Tubbo’s, the other clamped around Fundy’s wrist. Tubbo, on the other hand, glared at the floor as he held onto Tommy’s hand, as if that alone would solve their issues. The figure, now more visible to be Dream, hummed as he stood in between the three boys and the members of his server. Seeming to only focus on the three, he crossed his arms as he laughed.

“Wow, I didn’t think I’d see you three again. Tommy, Tubbo, it’s been years. Good to see you two in good shape. Fundy, I haven’t seen you in a little over two years. Didn’t think that I’d find you here, of all places. Did you all miss m-”

SMACK

Everyone stared in shock as Dream held onto his face, trying to keep his mask steady as he regained his balance. Once he quickly regained his composure, he quickly turned to face his “attacker.” Standing in all her glory, stood his sister, hands on her hips as she stood there, anger simmering underneath her mask. As she stood up straight, she hummed in acknowledgment as Lani walked up beside her, leaning on her for support. Holding her hand out, Lani smirked as Drista gave her a high five. The beginning of their best friend handshake was cut short, however, when Dream spoke up once again.

“Drista? When did you get here? Is this where you’ve been? Why haven’t you come by to visit me-”

“Oh, I don’t know, why did you never reach out to me? And if you had bothered to show up to the revealing of the park on time, you would have known where I’ve been. Now sit down and stay quiet so we can all catch up.”

“And none of you better try attacking! All guests are unable to do any form of pvp that’s not in any of the special arenas, so don’t even try!”

“Yeah, what Lani said!”

--------

The group was walking to the opposite side of Tavern Town, towards the booth games. Fundy was walking with Quackity and Karl, telling them of al the projects he had done since he last saw them. Not trusting her brother at all, Drista walked beside Dream, Lani joining in on keeping an eye on the admin. Tubbo was catching up with Ranboo, as well as timidly speaking with an unusually kind Schlatt. Humming as he walked in the front of the group, Tommy bopped his head as he replayed a song in his head. Opening his mouth, he quietly sang out the lyrics that swam in his head.

“He’s in your bed-”

“-I’m in your Twitch chat”

Jumping slightly, Tommy turned to see Wilbur, walking up to be by his side. Joining him in this was both Phil and Techno, the three of them as awkward as ever. Unsure as to what to expect from them, Tommy just gave them a nod of acknowledgment. As much as he wanted to embrace the three of them into a grand hug, telling them how much he missed and loved them, he didn’t dare to do so. After all the years they spent away from each other, he was able to reflect and forgive them for the wrong things they’ve done to him, intentional or not. What he didn’t know, however, was how they viewed him after all these years. Did they forgive him for all the troublesome chaos he caused, intentional or not? Could they find it in themselves to do so? He didn’t blame them if they didn’t, he wasn’t even sure if he would.

“You know, we thought that you had died, mate. No one had seen you in so long after...after L’manburg. And I know he isn’t family, but he practically was, so it was concerning when Tubbo went missing too. Then, out of nowhere, Fundy was gone overnight. I thought I lost my family, so I became desperate to get Wilbur back so that the three of us could get you all back.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean, mate?”

“Why get us back? Why want us as family?”

Did he forgive them? Yes, of course he did. Doesn’t mean that he had to forget their actions, as well as the consequences that came from them. Doesn’t mean that he wasn’t allowed to question their decisions. He still loved them, sure, but he needed answers. He needed to know if they loved him back, if they loved all of them. He watched as Wilbur was in deep thought, trying to find the right words to say. He turned to see Phil, emotion running through his face as he stared at Tommy, not knowing what to say to his questions. The last person he thought would speak up, spoke up.

“We were blinded by our own emotions, Thes- er, Tommy. That’s not an excuse for our impulsive decisions, especially ones that put your life at stake, we know this. But we are family, as much as I tried to run away from that fact over the last few years. I let the voices and the power that I held as a pvp god distract me from my original mission.”

“Original mission? What was that?”

“Protecting you. Well, protecting everyone in my family. I have always been protective of my family, but the first night you were brought home changed how I handled that. The moment you laughed, I knew that I had to get stronger to keep all of you safe. I never thought that I’d use that strength against the very same person who brought me to want to become stronger. I’m not going to beat around the bush, we’ve been a shit family to each other these past years. We’ve hurt you, in ways that we may not even know. But, Tommy, if you let us, we can try to be the family you deserve.”

Tommy stared at his eldest brother, surprise painting his face. Blinking a few times, he switched his gaze over to both Phil and Wilbur, before returning it to Techno. Lightly biting his tongue, he took his gaze off of the pink haired warrior and faced the front, refusing to look at any of the three men walking beside him. Finally putting proper words together in his mind, Tommy spoke up once more.

“You all have hurt me in a handful of ways, that is true. But I’ve also hurt all of you, too. For all that, I’m sorry. As for not being a family, that can’t be solved quickly. This isn’t something we can speedrun into a healthy dynamic.”

“Tommy, we-”

“But that doesn’t we still can’t heal. If you are all willing to take the time and effort to work with all of us to fix our family, I’m willing to give you that chance. Oh, and Technoblade? You can call me Theseus, it is a part of my name, after all.”

Tommy couldn’t help but smile as the tension from the three men left their bodies, relief taking its place. Peering behind him, he made eye contact with his nephew, who stared back with worry. His worry, however, melted into a content smile as Tommy gave him a reassuring nod. Waving him over, Tommy smiled as Fundy excused himself, jogging up to be at his uncle’s sign. 

“Hey, Tom- Hey!”

“Haha! Look at you, being all amazing!”

“Can you not be an embarrassing uncle for five seconds?”

“Nope!”

Fundy rolled his eyes at his uncle, laughing for a while before standing up straight. Ducking his head in nervousness, he gave a shy smile and wave to his grandfather, as well as his other uncle and father. Before words were exchanged, however, a frantic wail filled the air, catching Fundy’s attention immediately. Taking a few steps in front of everyone else, he kneeled down with arms open. Running towards him was Theo, wide eyes as he reached for his father, who lifted him into the air in an instant. Burrowing his face into the neck of his father, Theo dramatically wailed once more. The concern that once filled Fundy and Tommy had melted away at this. They now knew that he wasn’t in danger, he was just overreacting. The two of them would bet anything that a certain gremlin was behind this. 

“Theo, what’s wrong, buddy?”

“SHE WAS GIVEN A SWORD, WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIIIIIIEEEEE!!!!!”

Fundy and Tommy gave each other a look, both unsure as how to respond to that. A shrill shriek of joy caught the entire group’s attention. There, frantically swiping a wooden sword in the air, came a joyful Clementine at full speed. Running up to Fundy, she began to jump up and down, sword waving in the air, as she tried to reach Theo, who had managed to climb on top of his father’s head.

“DON’T LET HER REACH ME, PAPA!!! SHE’S CRAZY WITH THAT THING!!!”

Theo shrunk behind his father’s hat as Clementine reacted to his statement by growling at the fox hybrid. Sighing, Tommy scooped up the rowdy child, who squealed as she hugged the sword.

“Clem, ya can’t go around swinging a sword at your cousin. And don’t ever hug an actual sword, ever, dear god. I’d like you to keep your fucking limbs, Jesus Christ.”

Clem only responded to this with a giggly smile, turning back to face her cousins. Fundy rolled his eyes as he plucked his son off his head, cradling him in his arm as Theo hugged his father’s hat in his chest. 

“Clem, what do we say when we hurt someone or make them scared?”

“SUCK IT!!!”

“For fucks sake, Clementine, no. We say that to jackasses and assholes, not to your cousin. Try again, Clem.”

“Humph, sorry, TT.”

“Hm, okay! I forgive you, CC!”

Before the children, who were now conversing in their own secret language, were introduced to everyone, a concerned Grian and Kristin ran over. Once they saw the children, they physically relaxed. 

“Thank goodness they came to you guys, we nearly panicked when they ran. Things were going great, but then Clementine whacked Grian on the foot before turning her attention to Theo.”

“It’s what we expected, this is Clementine we’re talking about.”

“Grian? Is that really you?”

Grian stiffened as he turned to face Phil, Wilbur and Techno staring at him in disbelief. Rubbing his arm in uncertainty, he watched as Phil walked up to him. Eyes scanning his face, Phil let out a strangled noise as he threw his arms around Grian, never expecting to see his first missing son after all the years that passed by. Grian let out a sigh as he hugged back, a smile painted on his face. Pulling away, he let out a laugh as he turned to his brothers. Shooting Tommy a look, Grian snickered at the nod of approval given to him. Turning back to Wilbur and Techno, he let out a hearty laugh as he yelled out words that Techno knew too well.

“OH, I’M PRESSING THAT HUG BUTTON!!!”

“Wait-”

Tommy wheezed out a laugh as Wilbur and Techno were pulled into a group hug by Grian, the triplets finally being reunited. It wasn’t until they heard the choked up and shy tone that came when Phil spoke.

“Kristin? How, uh, hey! How up? What’s you? Shit, wait, no. How are you?”

“Really? Decades separated, and this is the greeting I get.”

“I didn’t mean to be-”

“At least buy me dinner, sheesh.”

[cd-head]

A old fight

Prompt - “Why didnt you just tell me?” and “Please dont go to sleep yet” Characters - Bdubs, Keralis, Stress, and Xisuma (Very minor on X and Stress, just mentioned) TWs - Blood, bullets, guns,  superhero powers AU - My superhero au! Bdubs centeric  Tags - @asexualbert @commic-jester (If you wanna read it!!!)

~~~

Adrenaline pumped throughout his veins, legs moving on their on will. Pulling the body they connected to along with them. Blood stained down his face as he heard the sound of a gun being reloaded. Without thinking of it, he sent sand out behind him. Hoping - praying - to the gods that he’ll be fine.

A shot rang out and he didn't have time to process the stinging pain of his cheek, as he let out a small gasp and sand began to form a cloud behind him. Protecting the one that formed it, as Bdubs ran faster and faster, blood beginning to drip faster from the wounds that stinged his skin.

Sirens rang within the warriors head, as dirt was kicked up under those old boots that he wore no matter how much X would complain about it. Barely paying mind to the blood that was dripping down his tanned skin and sucking into his stubble.

A idea finally registered within the mans mind and as he stumbled with his turning, he couldn't help up begin to form sand clouds beneath his feet. He normally would’ve enjoyed this, it was as if he was flying, forming sand under each and every foot, having it follow his every movement  - something he was quite good at.

And yet, he wasn't. As pain radiated throughout his mind and exhaustion  began to set in within his mind, far past what he was used to. His eyes began to droop a bit but he kept pushing forward. He wanted - No. - He needed to get home.

And as the headquarters appeared within his vision, adrenaline filled him once more and he began to go faster and closer to the ground. 

The ringing in his ears grew louder and his eyes fought to close but he refused. His entire body trembling the moment he hit the ground to the point his legs gave up on him, crumbling underneath him.

A voice reached within his ears, crying out for him, he barely made out the words - ‘Please dont go to sleep yet love’ - as his eyes began to fall once more, a blurry figure forming within his vision and he let a weak smile take over his lips before pain eased within him and a small gasp left his lips from how fast he was healed.

Blood still poured from the wound on his head, and exhaustion was still hounding at him but he no longer felt like he was going to die. Pushing his eyes open once more as the figures of a worried Stress and Keralis formed within his vision.

After a little bit, Keralis had him propped upon a chair within the kitchen area which was surprisingly empty, albeit for Grian curled up fast asleep on the counter.

 As he watched Keralis move around in his vision, his mouth opening and closing but his words went over his head as he was sucked up into his thoughts.

So what if the gash was a bit bad? He knows hes been through worst, a graze from a bullet cant be that bad right? 

Well, Keralis seemed to think different. The injured man could tell by his whining and endless scolding that came from his eldest friend. And yet, Bdubs couldn't bring himself to be upset, not even fake it or over exaggerate it as he normally does. He was just... so tired, but he knew he couldnt sleep.

Not yet. That he knew.

A sentence finally registers within his mind once he was being pulled out of his thoughts, eye unclouding to the picture of Keralis kneeling in front of him, looking irritated but worried. Very worried.

“Why didnt you just tell me?”

The feeling of dread entered his stomach and his eyes darted to the side once more. Opening his mouth a few times before closing it, words never leaving his tongue like they should.

A small sigh could be heard and before Bdubs could register the thought that he disappointed his friend - he felt arms wrapping around him into a warm and welcoming embrace.

And who was Bdubs to say no to a hug? 

Neither of the men wanted to move from the hug, so they didnt. Not until Keralis pulled away and gripped him (gently) by his shoulders and went - “Please be more safe next time.”

And all Bdubs could do was promise.

A promise he’d do his best to keep.

~~~~

Hope you enjoyed it!!!!

Reblogs > Likes!!!!!

[thelionbyname]

Together We Are One (Prequel part 11, Final)

(Hello everyone :) So sorry for the huge gap between posts, I just moved back to my home country, so there wasn’t a lot of time for me to write. I also knew this was going to be the final part in this story, and I didn’t want it to be over. But I may write another Hermitcraft fanfic soon. Because this is the final, it is quite a bit longer than usual, hope you don’t mind. Enjoy!)

As soon as Grian landed beside him, Mumbo pelted him with questions. “Are you okay? Who was that? What happened to him? I’m sorry I was no help, I couldn’t climb down the tree fast enough…”

“That’s all right Mumbo, I don’t blame you. I’m fine, a few scratches and bruises, but otherwise unharmed,” Grian assured him.

“Who is he, though? You must know him, or at least, he knows you, or he wouldn’t have attacked out of the blue like that.”

Grian shrugged and brushed his fringe out of his eyes. “I don’t know, Mumbo. He looked at me like he knew me, but I’ve never seen him before. If I had, I would remember.”

Mumbo nodded thoughtfully. They decided they should probably tell Xisuma what happened; perhaps he knew more. They found the other hermits still sitting on the side of the road, Tango, Xisuma and Keralis trying to convince False to start singing again.

“False can sing?” Grian asked, surprised. He momentarily forgot what he came to them for.

“Right, yeah! You and Mumbo haven’t heard it! She’s phenomenal!” Tango told him. His crimson eyes sparkled, but then he clenched his fist behind his back and his smile faded. It looked to Xisuma like he was punishing himself for something. He pushed the thought aside for now.

“Yeah, Falsie sang in Argentina, and she really is incredible.” X agreed.

“I need to hear this!” Mumbo said excitedly.

“You know what, guys? When this is all over, I’ll sing for everyone and get us into the new year.” False decided.

Everyone smiled triumphantly. They continued to chat about other things, until Grian remembered what he came to tell them.

“Wait, guys. There was something I was trying to tell you before, but I forgot. A man attacked me when Mumbo and I were over yonder. I don’t know him, but we figured he must know us to have any reason to attack me. I was wondering if you guys knew anything about that.” Grian said to all of them, but facing Xisuma. He figured that if anyone knew, Xisuma would. He knew everything regarding the hermits.

“What did this man look like, Grian?” Xisuma asked him.

“Um… quite a handsome man, olive skin, but bloodshot eyes. He had a long scar along his right cheek.” Everyone except Mumbo gasped at his description. “What?” Grian asked, confused. He glanced at Mumbo, who shrugged, feeling just as out of the loop as Grian.

Xisuma was the one who responded. “Remember that night in the other world, when Tango and Keralis were held hostage, Tango died, and you two had to capture a bunch of people?”

Mumbo and Grian nodded, starting to understand.

“The man that attacked us back then matched that exact description. Malus.”

They recognised the name from the recount the others had given them after the fight. Their eyes widened in surprise.

“I assume your fight led to him being thrown into the black hole? It would explain how he got in that world.” Xisuma guessed correctly.

Grian nodded.

“No point dwelling on it, there’s nothing we can do about it, and we shouldn’t mess with the past anyway.” Keralis said, looking at Grian, knowing the latter would beat himself up over bringing the dangerous man to the other world for many nights to come if wasn’t reassured. Keralis knew Grian would blame himself for Tango’s temporary death, once he connected the dots.

Grian smiled at Keralis gratefully, aware of what he was doing. Keralis smiled back.

At that moment, light returned to the road up ahead; the black hole had closed.

Everyone hurried back to the taxis, this time not fussing over who sat where, so Tango ended up next to False, with Xisuma in the passenger’s seat.

Xisuma motioned for the driver to continue, and looked via the rearview mirror at the two in the back. Tango was sitting very stiffly, arms on his lap, like he really didn’t want to come in contact with anything.

...Or anyone…

Before Xisuma could dwell on that realisation, Tango noticed him watching, and looked in his eyes through the mirror. Tango blushed slightly from the embarrassment of being watched, and looked away. Nobody talked for the rest of the trip.

At some point during the drive, Tango sensed the other hermit’s minds. He could only really feel their aura, not their thoughts, but if Cleo was paying attention, she would feel them nearby too. Though to be fair, they were probably still recovering from the black hole and watching the six of them get sucked through, so it was unlikely that she was paying attention.

Then, suddenly, Tango felt an overwhelming wave of emotion. Pain, sadness, loss. This grief came from someone else’s mind, and he immediately recognised the aura. It was Impulse.

“Stop! Stop the car!” Tango shouted. He needed to get to Impulse, now.

The startled taxi driver hit the brakes, and Tango jumped out. He couldn’t bear the pain that wasn’t even his own, it was too much to know what his best friend was going through.

He sprinted in the direction of all the presences, but there was still a long way to go. The reach on his telepathy was quite far, so he felt the hermits far before he was anywhere near them. Then Xisuma was next to him. Without a word, he super-speed-ran all the way to the Hermits, taking Tango with him.

They stopped behind a few trees that hadn’t been torn from the earth, a few meters from the hermits, and Xisuma let go of Tango. Tango immediately ran through the group gathered around a single person, curled up in a ball of dread, arms wrapped around his legs, trying to protect himself from pain that came only from within.

“Impulse!” Tango screamed as he pushed his way through the mass of people.

Impulse, the one on the ground, just shook his head and whimpered, rocking back and forth. He mumbled to himself, “That’s not Tango, he’s gone, he’s never coming back.” And he let out a scream.

But then comforting arms wrapped around him, and the same voice that had called his name whispered, “Impulse, it’s all right, it’s me, I’m okay.”

Something in Impulse’s heart mended, a hole sealed. Even though it went against everything he just saw, Impulse wanted to believe him. And he did.

There’s some strange connection that forms in friendships such as these, and when your best friend is nearby, you just know, even when every logical part of your brain says it’s not possible.

Impulse carefully raised his head, and looked directly into his favorite pair of blood-red eyes. And as the final cracks in his heart and soul mended, miraculously, Impulse smiled.

“Tango! You’re alive!” he yelled, and despite himself, giggled with relief. “Wh- how? I saw you die!”

“You didn’t see me die, you saw me vanish into the black hole,” Tango corrected him. “It wasn’t deadly. Long story short, it led to another world, we traveled back in time, and now we’re home!”

“We? Where are the others? Did they make it?” A new expression of worry clouded his chocolate eyes.

“Yes, they-” before Tango could finish his sentence, someone else jumped playfully on top of both of them, knocking both of them over, and embracing them.

“Zed!” Tango laughed, and hugged him back. Then he smiled again, to himself. I’m back with my family.

All the hermits gathered around them just stood, some confused, most just watching the trio’s heartwarming happiness. Xisuma had not yet emerged from the trees, trying to get everything together and prepare to see all the people he was closest to in the world, after all those years. He didn’t quite dare to believe it, and once he’d laid eyes on them all, he stood frozen. Xisuma had always been the sensible and logically thinking one in the group, their leader of sorts. But now he was just afraid of it all being a dream, and he was terrified of getting his hopes up.

He stood there, numb but scared, between the trees, and watched team ZIT wrestle and roll around playfully. But then Cleo, having sensed him telepathically, and noticing his hesitation, came towards him.

“Xisuma, it’s okay. It’s really us. I know how you feel,”-she gestured at her head- “obviously, but you don’t have to worry that it’s all a dream”. Xisuma didn’t move. “You’re making me do this,” she said, and in one movement, twisted his arm behind his back and forced him to the ground.

“Ow! What was that for?” Xisuma demanded, coming to his senses.

“Could you have dreamt that?” Cleo asked, releasing him.

“I suppose not…”

“Good. Come join us. Where are Grian and the rest? The ones who went with you?”

“They took the taxi. They should be here soon.”

“Taxi? From where- you know what, tell everyone the whole story later. I’m just glad you’re all alive”.

“Me too.”

They joined the people still huddled around the now again-hugging team ZIT, and once people saw Xisuma, he was embraced by at least ten different hermits.

Just then, two taxis appeared at the end of the street, and Grian and Mumbo tumbled right out. They jumped to their feet as False and Keralis stepped out a bit more gracefully, but all four of them sprinted over to their friends. Everybody was hugging everybody.

“Bubbles!!” Keralis yelled, peering over the many heads in search of the little fella. And he was tackled to the ground and embraced tightly by bdubs.”Bubbles!” Keralis said again, happily.

But then Grian caught sight of team ZIT, still lying on the ground in the middle of the crowd. “Group hug!!” he shouted, and flopped on top of them, Mumbo right behind him.

Impulse grinned. “Hey G! Welcome back!”

Then another body added itself to the pile of happiness. Scar threw his arms around Grian and giggled in a way only he could. Then Iskall threw himself on top of Mumbo. After that, the rest followed, one by one, until all twentyfour of them were one big pile of pure euphoria. Even Jellie perched on top. 

They could have remained like that for hours, just soaking up each other’s warmth and friendship, but eventually Zedaph said, “Um, I know we’re all very happy, but perhaps Impulse and Tango would like to breathe. I wouldn’t mind some fresh air either, actually.”

Everyone laughed and started gently trying to disentangle themselves from the heap of limbs. Before they could all disengage, however, two more young women showed up and just stood watching them, confusion on their faces, but also an expression that said, ‘yeah, seems about right’.

“Uh… Hi! I thought this was a New Year’s party?” one of them asked in her Australian accent.

At this, someone deep within the pile somehow jumped up, throwing all the hermits off him. Grian attempted to flatten his now messy hair with one hand, while he waved at the girls with the other. “Pearl! Right! I forgot I invited you… years ago.”

“Ehm… I’ll ask later. Is it still okay that we’re here? Oh yeah, I hope you don’t mind, I brought a plus one. This is Gem.” Said Pearl, gesturing at the woman beside her.

In a voice a hundred times sweeter than candyfloss, Gem said, “Nice to meet you all. You must be Grian, judging by the chaos around you.” This was met with welcoming laughter from all around.

Pearl and Gem helped everyone out of the mess of bodies, and then everyone- some skipping, some running, some just walking- went back to the ballroom where, a few hours or a few years ago, depending on who you asked, everyone was dancing, not a care in the world. Grian flew through the open doors and looked around at the place he had always continued to call home, with every day that had passed in the other timeline.

As he flew around, Mumbo and Iskall jumped up to reach him and each grabbed hold of one of his legs, pulling him down. “Come back down to earth, Grian!” Mumbo joked.

“Yeah, get your head out of the clouds,” Iskall added, laughing his contagious Swedish laugh.

Grian allowed his friends to pull him down, and hugged them again. “I love you guys.”

A few minutes later, it was as if no time had passed. Everyone stood around the room in little groups, chatting, while the big clock on one wall ticked off the minutes until the new millennium began.

Team ZIT stood around the same high table as they had before everything happened. They were talking about all sorts of things, but not the one thing everyone was wondering about. They had decided that was a story best told when everyone was together and listening, so all six time travelers could talk about it together.

“Oh, by the way, did you know False speaks Spanish?” Tango asked his two best friends.

“What? No way!” Impulse said in disbelief.

“Of course she does. That sounds like something she’d secretly know.” Zed grinned.

Their conversation was interrupted when False came over to their table.

“Hey Tango, wanna dance like we did in Argentina?” she asked with a smile, not knowing how pained that made him feel. 

But he didn’t want to disappoint her, so he said, “Can you give me a few minutes?”

She nodded and slipped back into the sea of people.

“Tango, are you okay?” Zedaph asked, watching the way his friend stared after her.

Impulse saw it too, and had also noticed the flicker of hurt in Tango’s crimson eyes when she asked him to dance.

“I don’t know what happened in Argentina, or how in the world you even got to Argentina, but something changed, Tango, and it’s hurting you. We don’t want to see you hurt.” Zedaph told him.

Tango tore his gaze away from where False had disappeared between the mass of bodies, and turned back to face him. “I- I think I’m in love with her, guys. But I don’t want to be, I don’t want to ruin our friendship, or make things awkward with the rest of the hermits.” Tango confessed.

Impulse nodded, he’d suspected something like that. Zedaph looked surprised but understanding, and asked, “Have you talked to her? Maybe if you just told her how you feel, you can get it off your chest. It might be awkward for a bit, but you’re both mature...ish, your friendship will survive.”

“I think Zed is right. Maybe you should just confess.” Impulse concurred.

Tango sighed. “I guess it’s worth a shot. I don’t want to live like this.” And with that, he trudged to the dancefloor, where False was waiting for him. But when he put his hand on her waist, his mental connection with her seemed to become more focused, and narrowed down from his general view of all hermits’ thoughts, to only her’s. He felt her every emotion with every fibre of his being, and while that may seem romantic, it had the opposite effect. He felt everything she felt towards him, which was pure friendship and platonic love. And as he felt that, all his romantic notions seemed to melt away. He valued their friendship more than anything, and didn’t believe in lost causes anyway. He knew how she felt, and now he felt that way too. And he was grateful for it.

They tango’d into the final five minutes before the clock struck twelve, and Tango happily led. They were already warm from the wild movements when Xisuma approached them. “Two things. One, Falsie, were you going to sing us into the New Year?” he asked.

Tango and False stopped dancing to face him. “Yes, I’ll head to the stage.” False confirmed.

“Hold on. The second thing was that I was just talking to Stress, who was watching you dance, along with the rest of the hermits, I might add, and she mentioned the year the tango was invented.” He paused, looking at them meaningfully. “1880.”

False and Tango glanced at each other. “That was the year we went to in the time machine.” Tango said, realising. “Do you think we-?”

“I think we did!” False said, laughing.

Xisuma smiled. “Now you can sing, Falsie.”

And sing she did. Even more beautifully than in Argentina, over a century ago. She sang them all the way into the New Year, and everything was as it should be. As Xisuma watched Tango watching False, he saw no sign of his strange behaviour from earlier. He smiled to himself. Whatever had been going on with Tango, he was alright now. And the two of them, along with the rest of their family, shouted, “Happy New Year!”

                                             THE END

[melon-wing]

The Kissing Challenge 7/8

[PART 1] [PART 2] [PART 3] [PART 4] [PART 5] [PART 6] Grian grinned happily as he landed in the Hermitcraft Challenges area next to Mumbo. Apparently Mumbo had finished his challenge, which meant that Grian was also done with his, didn’t it? He’d be done with all the kissing… Not that it was that bad. He’d really gotten used to it and most of the other Hermit’s seemed to be more amused than annoyed by his new behaviour. He also didn’t know how he felt about suddenly stopping. It would mean he wouldn’t get to kiss...

“So I need to show you what I got”, Mumbo greeted him and then pulled out item after item from his shulker box. Grian wouldn’t admit it, but he was slightly impressed at how fast Mumbo had acquired all those things. Well… All those things except the bell maybe. That was rather unimpressive.

“I also brought something to show my progress”, Grian replied proudly once Mumbo was done and pulled out his book to throw it at his friend who barely managed to catch it. Turning the pages, a tiny blush began to appear on Mumbo’s cheek. Whether that was because he saw his own name or because of how many names were in there, Grian wasn’t sure.

“Well, I see Scar’s name in there quite a lot. Any Explanation?” Mumbo looked at him curiously, but Grian just shrugged.

“He is my neighbour, you know? I see him more often than the rest of you guys. And I don’t like to pass up any opportunity to make you happy.”

Mumbo raised an eyebrow, looking at him doubtfully, but he didn’t say anything else on that matter and Grian was thankful for it. He didn’t want to think about any of those kisses meaning anything. It was just a prank after all.

He took the book back after Mumbo had read all the pages.

“Now that that is done, I think I won my challenge, right? You need to ring the bell!”, Mumbo finally concluded, a bright smile lighting up his face again.

Grian grumbled a little, looking at the bell like it had personally offended him. But he still punched against the metal. Mumbo laughed and then hit the bell as well. This whole thing was so absurd. “Congratulations Mumbo, you won. You got good. Now that this is over,  I can stop with the kisses as well, right? You won, I didn’t.”

Mumbo only shook his head. “Oh no. Hermit Challenges is not about winning. It’s about the challenge. And I did challenge you for the whole season, didn’t I?”

“But you rang the bell!”

“Oh yeah I did… To tell you, good job so far, keep going!”

Grian frowned, but then a wicked grin appeared on his face. “Well you see Mumbo, if I’m not finished yet, that means I still have to keep going, right?”

Mumbo looked at him in confusion, but as he nodded something dawned on him and he shook his head. “Don’t you dare.”

“Oh but Mumbo… You said it yourself. I need to keep going.” Grian walked up to Mumbo, who was standing with his back to one of the pillars now. “So I’ll keep going until you ring that bell announcing my victory”, he finished, grabbing Mumbo’s tie to pull him down. “And until then I think I need to visit you more often.” Grian pressed his lips onto Mumbo’s and enjoyed the blush that appeared on the other’s face. He kept the kiss short and chaste, but it was still enough to get Mumbo pretty flustered.

~

Grian was whistling a cheerful tune on his way back, walking through the forest instead of flying, just enjoying the soft breeze blowing through the trees. Sure, he had to continue that stupid challenge, but somehow he didn’t mind. He had fun and he hadn’t even gotten to all of the Hermits yet. He really wanted to put all of their names into his notebook at least once before the season was over. If he did something, he always did it right.

A beep came from his communicator and Grian looked at it, a pained grimace appearing on his face. So Scar was fighting the Wither, huh? Why would he do something like that now? Guys like them were supposed to buy their beacons. They weren’t good enough at the whole fighting thing… But well, maybe Cub was helping him. They usually partnered up for stuff like that.

Grian couldn’t help but grumble a little at the thought. Cub should really be more careful at protecting Scar if they were really fighting together.

Grian kept walking and another death message popped up on his screen, making him wince.

<Grian> You alright? Need any help?

Grian kept walking into the direction of their bases, mentally already planning what he would need to gather to join in on the fight. A few minutes passed without a reply, but there had been two more death messages and it made Grian worry a little. Tango had now also send a message, offering his help.

<Grian> Scar? Tell me where you are! I’m coming over to help. Respawning so often can’t be good for you.

And finally – finally – there was an answer. Just the coordinates and a short thank you, but that was enough. Grian flew off towards his base, gathering his stuff and almost crashing through his door in a hurry to get to the mine Scar must be in.

He jogged through a long tunnel and the sounds of fighting and a Wither on the lose grew louder.

“FUCK!” Scar’s voice echoed through the tunnel and Grian’s communicator beeped once more. He didn’t have to look at it to know that Scar had respawned again. Grian reached him a minute later, next to a makeshift quarter.

“You alright Scar?”, he asked, startling the other a little.

“Yeah sure...”, Scar replied, slowly turning away from the chest and looking at Grian with a weird look in his eyes, looking him up and down, as if he was searching for something. “You came to help me?”

“Of course I did! I can’t have you dying here! You had me really worried. And we still have a dinner date to get to this week after all. Can’t have you miss that.”

Scar’s eyes widened and whatever had bothered him seemed to disappear, as he smiled again. He gently grabbed Grian’s arm and pulled him into a hug, resting his head on Grian’s shoulder. “I knew he was wrong...”, Scar murmured so quiet, that Grian wasn’t sure, he had even understood that right, but before he could reply, Scar had raised his head and pressed a soft kiss onto Grian’s cheek.

“Scar… Why are you even fighting that thing alone? You know it’s dangerous.”

Scar looked a little guilty at that, but he simply shrugged. “I just I needed to get some steam out of my system, you know?”

“Couldn’t you have gotten Cub to help you?”, Grian asked.

Scar’s face hardened after that, turning into a scowl. “We… No, he’s the reason for this. We had a fight. Just… some differing opinions on,” Scar took a deep breath. “things. He’ll come around and see how wrong he was. I don’t really want to talk about that now. I know I’m right and everything will turn out fine. I just… I… Let’s go and kick that Wither’s ass. And after that… Maybe we could celebrate together.” Grian smiled at the pleading look Scar gave him and nodded, leaving Scar’s embrace reluctantly.

Grian stood in the destroyed cave, trying to catch his breath. He hadn't thought battling a Wither would be this hard. They had managed, but it had cost him a lot. His armour had been blown to pieces and he had to retreat more than once to get suited up again. Not to mention the trouble Scar’s ridiculous bed placement skills had given him. Just as the dust of the Wither blew away he could hear loud footsteps and Tango came rushing into the cave, all decked out in shining diamond armour, sword ready in his hands, looking like a dashing hero right out of a fairytale.

“I’m here. I’m…” He looked at Grian, then at Scar and then to the Nether Star in Scar’s hands. “Oh…”

Grian laughed a little and pushed one singed strand of hair out of his face, before walking up to Tango. “Thank god, Tango. You saved us all. You are my saviour”, he said and pretended to faint right into Tango’s arms, putting one of his own arms around Tango’s shoulders.

Tango looked at him in confusion and then to Scar, who just shrugged, and giggled. “You are welcome?”

Grian grinned and put his free hand onto Tango’s cheek. “Let me give you a token of my gratitude, dear knight”, he whispered in a low voice and then put his lips onto Tango’s. He had planned to make it a chaste kiss. Nothing special. He wasn’t sure if it would make Tango uncomfortable. But Tango seemed to have other plans. Confused, Grian noticed, that Tango’s eyes were still on Scar for a few more seconds, before he buried his hands in Grian’s hair and pulled him flush against his body.

Grian gasped in surprise and a tongue entered his mouth. Well… That was unexpected. Unexpected, but not unwelcome. He’d just never thought Tango to be up to a spontaneous Make-out session. He felt his heart beating faster, pressing his mouth harder against Tango’s, their tongues moving against each other. He could taste Tango in his own mouth and it was exhilarating. All thoughts left his head as he just tried to get even closer to the other body. He felt one hand wandering under his jumper and he let out a tiny moan into the kiss. Oh god… This was good. This was…

“Guys?”

Oh damn. Scar!

Grian broke the kiss a little abruptly, completely out of breath. Tango seemed unaffected, still grinning happily, his eyes wandering from Grian to Scar and back again.

“Well that was nice. I need to save you more often, Grian”, he said mockingly, planted another soft kiss onto Grian’s lips and laughed. “I’ll leave you two to it then. I bet you have a lot to talk about. Call me when there’s another Wither to fight, alright?” Grian was still slightly dazed as Tango looked past him at Scar, his grin becoming almost demonic, before he turned around and left them.

Grian’s heart was still beating unbelievably fast. But no longer because of Tango. He suddenly dreaded turning around and facing Scar. And he didn’t even understand why he reacted like that. He surely must have kissed someone in front of Scar again. They were neighbours after all and if visitors dropped by he never passed up the opportunity for a kiss. And why would he care about how Scar reacted anyways? Why would Scar care? Grian took a deep breath. He was no coward. He had no reason to be scared. Slowly he turned around and for a second there was an absolutely devastated look on Scar’s face, but it disappeared so fast Grian almost thought he must have imagined it.

They stood there in an uncomfortable silence for about a minute, uncertain what to say or how to proceed. That was until Scar finally spoke up.

“So Cub was right, huh? You really do go around the server kissing everybody just for fun?”

Grian looked at Scar in confusion, but then shrugged. “It’s just a joke. I mean you must have known about Mumbo’s challenge. Almost everybody does. But don’t worry, I try to keep it all in fun. I don’t want anyone to be uncomfortable. Tango was a little unexpected though”, Grian replied, feeling even more heat rush to his face thinking about what had just happened.

“I see. Well… It’s all good then. Just some fun…” Scar smiled at him, but for some reason it felt off to Grian. He just couldn’t put his fingers onto it though. Maybe he was just tired after they fought the Wither together.

“Scar…?”

“Let’s go, Grian. We still have to talk payment for helping me with the Wither.”

Grian looked at Scar’s retreating back in confusion, but then shrugged it off. He was probably reading too much into it. Scar would have told him if something was wrong, wouldn’t he?

~

Grian slowly crept into the Guardian Shop. He needed Dark Prismarine. Again. It felt like the moment he had some of the materials he needed, there were already gone again. And the building of his mansion didn’t progress as fast as he had hoped. Impulse probably earned all of his diamonds from him. The problem was, Grian was almost out of diamonds. Between the building and planning he barely had time to go mining any more. And because his own shop wasn’t done yet he had no other real source of income. He was willing to sacrifice a lot for his base to look just like he wanted it to.

As he opened the chest an impressed whistle left his mouth. He was lucky. Impulse had restocked and nobody else had raided the shop yet. If he got all of the blocks, he might be able to finish the front. Then it would at least look finished from one angle.

In a rush, Grian took all of his diamonds from his Enderchest to switch them out for a few stacks of Dark Prismarine. He didn’t even get half of what Impulse had in stock. Maybe… Maybe he could take a little more. Maybe he’d just write an ‘I owe you’ note and get away with it. Such a note could be far more valuable than diamonds sometimes. Impulse could get almost anything from him with that note.

Having made up his mind, Grian put a paper onto the shulker box, bending over it to write. Just as he was finished he felt the warmth of a body against his as someone was leaning over him to read the note.

“‘I needed some more Dark Prismarine. I owe you, G.’… Well look at that. So early in the season and you are already getting into debt? That isn’t healthy at all, Grian. I can’t support that bad habit of yours.”

Grian hurriedly turned around, looking straight at Impulse, who smirked at him just like he always did, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

“You could have just asked, you know. I’m sure I would have come up with a really creative payment method. Just like old times, when I helped you with your redstone and you got down onto your knees and…”

Grian hurriedly shut up Impulse by pressing one of his hands over the other’s mouth. He didn’t need to hear anything about that time. It had been just once and they had both been high on some stuff Ren had smoked with them.

“That was just once! You agreed that we wouldn’t talk about that again! I won’t ever pay you like that again. ‘m not that easy…”

Impulse eyes still looked amused and suddenly a tongue darted out of his mouth, licking over Grian’s hand. He pulled it away as fast as he could, stumbling back and landing in a sitting position on the barrel he had just emptied.

“We only agreed to never talk about it again in company. I don’t see anybody around here. But it’s fine with me. I only have fun with those who want to have fun. Not even an ‘I Owe you’ note changes that. I’m just wondering, what you are willing to do if I offer you a Shulker filled with Dark Prismarine for free… What is it worth to you, Grian? How badly do you need it?”, Impulse asked in a low voice, leaning against the wall, basically looming over Grian.

“I mean...” Grian felt heat rise into his cheek, as he averted his eyes. He had meant what he said, about no longer paying Impulse like that, but he couldn’t get the memory out of his mind. But that still left the question: What was he willing to offer? “What would you give me for a kiss?”, he finally made his offer, not sure if Impulse would really be satisfied with that. But hey, it would help Grian with his challenge… And he’d rather not repeat the failure that had been his experience with Doc… Though he was still pretty sure, that it had just been the stress getting to his head that time.

“Well if we talking of a peck I’d give you a stack. I’d say half a barrel for-”

Grian didn’t let Impulse finish, pulling him down by his shirt to smash their mouths together. He could hear Impulse chuckle against his lips and then Impulse pressed back with even more enthusiasm. They separated a few times only for their lips to meet again. Somewhere in between kisses Impulse had moved from his looming position to sitting in Grian’s lap, the barrel creaking below their combined weight, but none of them cared enough to notice.

Suddenly there was a hand on Grian’s back, moving lower and lower and making its way under his waistband. And Grian just froze. He didn’t even know why. It was like back at Doc’s mansion. It felt like he was doing something utterly wrong here and it all came crashing down on him.

Impulse’s hand retreated at once and he broke the kiss to look at Grian in worry.

“Sorry. I guess I misinterpreted the mood there. You alright, little guy?”

Grian shrugged helplessly. Was he okay? He didn’t know. He had always done these casual hookups before. Why wouldn’t they work for him anymore? A thought tried to come to the forefront of his mind, but Grian pushed it down as hard as he could. He was alright. He was just a little off, that’s all. He had been losing too much sleep over building. It had nothing to do with...

“It’s alright, Impulse. I’m… just not… I don’t know… feeling it?”

“You wanna talk about it?”

Grian opened his mouth, so close to spilling all of those things that had been on his mind lately. He really needed someone to talk about it and a sudden burst of courage overcame him to say aloud what he hadn’t even dared to think about before.

“I think I might be fall-”, Grian started, when someone slammed open the door to Impulse’s shop and froze. Etho stood in the door frame, with wide eyes, taking in the scene before him. The way Impulse still sat on Grian, both of them out of breath, their lips an angry red.

“Oh… Well that is interesting now isn’t it? Not the place I’d pick to get into the mood for a quick-” “Etho!”, both Impulse and Grian interrupted in unison, looking at Etho, who just shrugged, grinning at them.

“Hey, you fuck in the shopping district, you gotta live with the audience… Gotta admit, it’s a nice way to draw attention to your business, Impulse. Will that be the new add campaign? Buy this Prismarine and the hot guys will be falling for you?”, Etho kept on teasing, the smirk clearly visible below his mask. “I wouldn’t mind to have you sit on my lap as part of a business deal.”

Impulse groaned and finally stood up, turning his back onto Grian. “You are an idiot! I swear the next time you buy something here I’ll double the price!”

“Ooooh, so I get double the amount of kisses? Done! You got a deal, sir. No take-backs now!”

The two kept on bickering and Grian used the opportunity to compose himself, standing up slowly and taking a deep breath. “Sorry to interrupt, but I’ll leave now. I’ll just pick up the Prismarine next time I’m here.”

“Grian, wait...” Impulse tried to stop him, but Grian pressed past him and Etho, hurrying to get out of the shopping district. “Grian, please. We should talk. You’re not okay. I’m sorry, I...”

But Grian shook his head, fumbling to get his rockets out and soaring into the sky. The small moment in which he had almost been ready to talk about his feelings, or whatever was going on with him, had been long gone. Now all he wanted to do was throw himself head first into some more building.

Flying high over the island, he suddenly noticed a huge stage that hadn’t been there before and it caught his interest. Turning around once more to make sure Impulse had stayed back, Grian landed in the middle of the stage, looking at the signs. A head hunting game? Well that sounded like something that would help him relax a little. Nothing better than an opportunity to cause some chaos.

~

Grian smiled to himself as he put Zedaph’s head onto the board at Cleo’s minigame. He felt pretty good about his little stunt there. Nobody had expected him to interfere. He wasn’t that good at fighting after all. But being sneaky was probably the only way he could win this game at the moment. He wasn’t a total asshole, though.

He finished putting Zedaph’s stuff into a shulkerbox, intending to just leave it here for him to find. He didn’t want to be hit for being a nice guy after all. The only thing he had miscalculated was Zedaph’s spawn point. Apparently it hadn’t been in his base but right here in the shopping district.

The blonde was running up to him and Grian readied himself for another fight. That was until he saw the broad grin on Zedaph’s face. He also wasn’t armed at all. If Grian wanted to be mean, he could kill him all over again and get a few more points for a second head.

Well, it looked like both he and Zedaph knew he wouldn’t stoop so low.

“I collected your stuff”, he simply said, gesturing vaguely to the shulkerbox next to him.

“Thanks, mate! It would have been annoying to lose everything.”

Grian had never really interacted with Zedaph much last season and seeing him up close like that. Well he was nice on the eyes… And still missing for his challenge. Some small voice inside him, tried to hold back Grian, reminding him of his encounter with Impulse the day before, but he decided to ignore it.

“Hey how about a little thank you.”

“… For killing me?”

Grian blushed a little. Yeah, that might have sounded utterly stupid. “No for sticking around to get your stuff and risking being killed by you, Cleo or Keralis. I mean I am a good guy and do it out of the kindness of my heart, but if you were to give me a little thank you kiss, I wouldn’t say no to that.”

Zedaph stopped rummaging through the shulker, apparently frozen at such a blunt request. “What?!”

“Well you don’t have to, if you are scared…” Grian’s grin widened and he tried to look as innocent as possible. I just thought it would be nice to find out who’s the best kisser of Team ZIT. Tango and Impulse weren’t as reserved as you. Amazing kissers those two. But if you aren’t as brave as…”

Grian never got to finish that sentence as soft lips pressed onto his. And while Zedaph wasn’t as aggressive as Tango or Impulse had been, he wasn’t shy by any means. It only took a few seconds for a tongue to enter his mouth and hands to land on his butt.

When they separated, they both were a little out of breath, lips red and wet.

“So… Who is the best kisser of Team Zit, huh?” Zedaph looked at him in amusement before stepping back, a cheeky grin on his lips.

Grian couldn’t help but grin as well. Zedaph’s good mood was really infectious. “Would you let me kill you once more if I said you’re the best I ever had?”

Zedaph just laughed, shaking his head. “You probably say that to all the guys you kiss.”

[hermits-that-craft]

Lost and Found

I have, once again, written a one shot for the amazing @target-block and their Stuck Au.

"What do you mean Impulse is gone?" Tango asks, running to keep up with Xisuma. The admin looks exhausted, as though continuing on with the server is wearing him down. "Why haven't search parties gone out? He hasn't left the server, surely we can find him - and Ren and Grian! There's gotta be a way to-"

"Tango, they disappeared through time. We have no idea where they are, just that they're still technically on the server." Xisuma's voice is hollow, tired. He takes off his helmet, purple eyes looking into Tango's red ones. "He's gone, Tango. We've tried our hardest to find him, to find them all, but short of losing more people we can't find them. I'm so sorry, Tango."

Tango is frozen, his heart heavy in his chest. He doesn't know what to do, what to say, and his hand reaches for the golden hairclip in his hair. Zedaph has been dealing with this alone, without anyone there to help him because Tango left and now-

"Zed. Where's Zed, Xisuma? Please tell me he hasn't been alone."

"I'm not sure." The admin admits. "I don't know if he's been with other people, I'm sure he has, but I wouldn't know." It must be written all over Tango's face how much he doesn't trust that statement, because Xisuma sighs, putting his helmet back on. "I'll ask  the chat, everyone will know. Don't worry, he's probably been with Joe.

---

Joe in fact, had not seen Zedaph. Neither had TFC, nor had Bdubs, or Keralis, or Iskall, or False. Stress had, in fact, seen Zedaph since Impulse disappeared, but she admitted to Tango that she was so busy making sure that Iskall, Mumbo and Doc didn't careen into oblivion, as well as keeping Doc and Scar separated. Tango couldn't hold it against her, especially as he watched her fret about Iskall and Mumbo as they stared off into the distance every time a chicken clucked. Doc apologised to Tango, though Tango wasn't sure why he would apologise - none of this was Doc's fault. 

---

Zedaph places the last block down on his newest base - or really his first mini base but in a new location. Time is strange, locations are strange and nothing truely makes sense anymore. Not that it matters, he's got a lovely new bed in a lovely new sarcophagus, so he really shouldn't complain. He spins the ring around his finger, looking longingly outside. The sun isn't setting yet, and if his clock is correct it's only the mid afternoon, but he wants to sleep. He isn't tired, far from it. Zedaph could probably run a marathon and still feel wide awake. No, sleep doesn't beckon him because he's tired, it beckons him because it's the the only place that everything is good, everything is /normal/ again. Where Tango and Impulse are back, where they're all together and fine. Tears spring in his eyes and he chokes back a sob. He really shouldn't - no one's around. There's no one near him for miles. Still, he tries to hold back sobs as he curls up into a ball, the ring on his finger burning hotter than lava but he can't take it off. He just can't lose them, not yet.

Tango isn't even lost, but that's a small comfort. 

Tango said that he wouldn't be back for a while, Zedaph knows that Tango should be alright, but he doesn't know, he can't know. Is Tango alright? Does Tango even know that Impulse is missing or did none of the hermits send him a message? Why didn't Zedaph send Tango the message? Would Tango even come back if he knew?

Zedaph doesn't want to think about these things, doesn't want to think at all.

So he doesn't. 

Mindlessly, Zedaph walks over to the bed, ignoring how his clock screams that it's 3pm, he shouldn't be going to sleep, not yet. Zedaph doesn't think, just letting himself fall into the bed. Sleep holds him in it's embrace, dreams washing over him like the tide. It's calm. It's better, asleep.

---

Tango can't sleep. He's flying out, looking for Zedaph. Guilt tears at his insides, the small white lie he told the hermits replays in his head. But he has to find Zedaph, how can he sleep while his friend is alone? How could he leave his friend to suffer?

Tango's further out than he's ever been before, so far away from everyone. He'd turn back now, but he wouldn't put it past Zedaph to make a base far away from everyone, he wouldn't put it past him to hide. Tango wants to hide, hide away from the hermits, all of whom look either tired or sad. All of them look at him with pity. They've given up, though not quite as much as he thought that they would have.

He did see Scar and Doc, in the shopping district. The three of them all clearly sneaking away from the people who were supposed to be watching them. Silently they brought rockets, as many as they could carry, and nodded to each other. Doc claimed the west side of the server, Scar claimed the north and east, saying that he hadn't had the chance to fly around those areas since Cub started to watch over him. Tango only nodded, the south side of the server as good as any to look for his friend. Scar and Doc looked as though they wanted to say something, not to Tango but to each other, so Tango left to give them both privacy. He doesn't know if they were caught, he wouldn't put it past TFC to have told Xisuma, Cub and Stress that the two men were meeting up. From what Tango had heard, the two area 77 creators had tried to make a time machine based off of what they had studied from it, so that they could find Impulse, Grian and Ren, and they aren't allowed to meet in private anymore. Tango would harbour them, if he got the chance too. Any progress, any chance to bring Impulse back is one that he's willing to take.

A light appears over the horizon, not bright enough to be the morning, and too bright to be natural. A base, god he hopes it's Zedaph's base. One of them, he doesn't even have to be there. Just to be able to tell everyone that he's found one of Zedaph's bases would be a relief. Progress.

A pyramid, not unlike the one that Zedaph first made, appears over the horizon, and Tango can't help but let his hopes get up. He prays to anyone who will listen to let it have Zedaph in it, awake and tired or asleep and dreaming. Tango lands, the cool desert air seeping into his bones. Who made deserts get colder at night? Who designed that? It's terrible. He shivers in the air, walking around the base in an attempt to find the entrance. There are no mobs around, not even a husk, which does nothing to help his nerves. If Zedaph is in there, surely there would be mobs spawning?

The door lies open, and Tango enters the room, warm air flowing around him. It's still cool but it's so much better than the outside. He looks around the room, his eyes scanning for Zedaph, asleep on a ledge or sitting and reading a book, before they land on the centrepiece of the base. 

A sarcophagus sits on the floor in the middle of the room. It's beautiful, wood and gold mixing to make the perfect image of luxury, but it does nothing to calm Tango. In fact, fear and desperation mix to create panic as Tango looks at down at the golden hair that pokes up inside it. Tango rushes to Zedaph's side, looking down at his best friend.

Zedaph looks so peaceful, his hair spread underneath him like a halo. His eyes don't flutter, his breaths short and deep, and Tango collapses by his side, sobbing. He can barely think to notify the hermits, though his communicator buzzes every few seconds. He's found Zedaph, he's found him, but he isn't awake. He looks so peaceful, he looks like death.

"Please wake up. Zedaph please. " Tango begs, sobbing onto the side of the sarcophagus, the coffin. "Please. Please Zed I can't lose you, I can't lose you as well. Please."

"Tango?" Zedaph's voice is small, and Tango looks up, his red, tear filled eyes meeting Zedaph's blue ones. Zedaph lets out a small, lifeless laugh. "I'm still asleep. This isn't real, please don't cry dream-Tango."

"No! No Zedaph please I'm real, this is real Zed. I'm back. I'm not leaving you again." Tango pulls Zedaph into a hug, sobbing into Zedaph's shoulder. "I'm not leaving you. I promise Zed. I'm not leaving you. Not again."

Zedaph's arms slowly make their way around Tango's sides, and Zedaph grips onto Tango's back, sobbing into Tango's jacket. The two men stay like that, clinging to each other as though their lives depended on it for the rest of the night, and most of the next day. 

Maybe their lives did depend on each other, on staying together. Maybe they didn't. It wouldn't matter, they wouldn't know. They are together again, safe. Nothing else mattered in those moments, just each other. The fear of falling asleep and waking up alone once more was too much for them. They held each other tight through the night, chanting that they were /here/. That they were /real/, that they weren't leaving the other lost its effect of a chant and became a prayer, then it became a promise. A pact. They were together, though the loss of Impulse weight heavily down on the both of them. It was too much, losing him, but they had each other. They have each other.

[ceaderblocks]

The Devil’s in the Detail’s Ch. 5

Chapter One // Chapter Two // Chapter Three // Chapter Four //

On A03 here

Join our discord here

made alongside @thematrixmutual

Scar woke up.

He was no longer in the dark space that tore at his lungs and dismembered his thoughts. He was home, tangled in his sheets with Jellie sleeping at the foot of his bed.

Did any of that even happen? Scar thought to himself, sitting up slowly. His muscles were still tender, but if it was from filling in the Cherry hole or the Vex incident, he wasn’t sure.

“Hi, Jellie.” Scar murmured, and the cat stretched, chirping as she settled in his lap, purring loudly. “Yeah, it’s been a weird week. I hope it’s over.”

Scar’s communicator pinged, and he reached to the bedside table to look at it.

Grian: Cool build Scar! Looks awesome!!

Grian: Fits in nice with the aesthetic of the nether portal

“What?” Scar said, his stomach dropping. He hadn’t built anything lately, especially not on Black Sands Island. Jellie meowed at him, rubbing her cheek against his communicator.

Panic raced through Scar’s mind. The Void version of himself, the time in the endless expanse, it was all real. What did he build? Throwing off the covers, Scar stumbled to his feet. He reached for his jacket, but it didn’t hang on the back of the door like usual.

“No,” Scar said staring at the empty hook before throwing open the door and fumbling with fireworks and his Elytra. “No, no no no! This can’t be happening. This- it- it can’t be.”

Finally managing to light the firework, Scar took off, clipping the side of the volcano in his rush. He saw the build as soon as he flew past the tip of the volcano. A pure black column, the size of a chunk, was rooted right beside Black Sand Island, the bottom extending and swallowing part of the island. The rest of the column went into the sky to build height, and Scar could only assume that it also went to bedrock. Grian was on the base, hopping from block to block and examining the base of the pillar. Scar landed on the sand beside it, his legs shaking.

“Scar!” Grian called out with a smile and a wave. “This is amazing! How in the world did you get bedrock into this build?”

Scar didn’t answer, instead covering his mouth in shock. The build was formed of various black blocks, like coal, concrete, concrete powder, obsidian and bedrock. It was imposing, looming over everything and making panic rise in Scar’s chest.

“Scar?” Grian asked, hopping off a block of bedrock to walk to his friend’s side. “Are you alright? You look pale.”

Scar just shook his head, unable to form a coherent thought. Panic buzzed in his veins and blurred his thoughts. Oscar had done this in a day. What else had he done? What were his plans? He felt weak. How had he gotten bedrock? What else could he do?

“Do you need to sit down?” Grian asked, already helping Scar onto the soft sand. “Do you want me to get Cub?”

“No,” Scar said, remembering Oscar’s threats. His fists clenched around the black sand. “I just… didn’t build this.”

“Wait, really?” Grian asked, looking surprised. “I thought I saw you working on it yesterday. Are you pulling a joke on me?”

Scar bit his lip. Did he tell Grian? He didn’t want anyone to get hurt. He opened his mouth to say something, but the whooshing of rockets interrupted him. Xisuma landed on the sand nearby, taking off his helmet and staring in awe at the pillar.

“Isn’t it stunning?” Grian asked with a wide smile and gestured to the pillar, oblivious to Scar’s panic. Xisuma frowned and looked at Scar.

“Did you build this?” Xisuma asked, looking at Scar, worry crossing his face. Scar shook his head and looked at the ground, nervous.

“Hey Grian?” Xisuma asked.

“Yeah?”

“I need to talk to Scar for a bit, if that’s okay?”

Grian smiled, looking more concerned. Taking the hint, he said: “Sure! I’m working on Sahara today anyways, so it’s time for me to go. See ya!”

Xisuma waited until Grian had flown far enough away, before sitting on the ground in front of Scar. Scar hugged himself tighter. Even if Xisuma was a Void Walker, both the Void and Oscar made it clear that he couldn’t tell anyone what was going on.

“Hey,” Xisuma said softly. “I wasn’t talking to you yesterday, was I?”

Scar hugged himself tighter, looking away from Xisuma’s soft gaze. He bit his lip, refusing to answer.

“The Void was different around them,” Xisuma continued. “It was colder than usual. You’re also not as rude.”

Scar snorted a little at that, but still said nothing. Oscar was very rude.

“Scar, I don’t know what’s going on with the Void or the other you, but I want to help-”

“I can’t tell you what they’re doing.” Scar said, tears slipping down his face despite his best efforts. “They said they’ll perma-kill whoever I told. I can’t have that happen to you. You can’t help me.”

Xisuma said nothing, simply moving closer and wrapping Scar in a big hug. Scar froze, then fell into Xisuma’s embrace, clutching onto the Void Walker with desperation.

“You don’t have to tell me anything,” Xisuma muttered, and Scar shoved his face deeper into Xisuma’s shoulder, touch starved. Xisuma hugged back, a solid foundation as Scar simply ignored everything that had happened that week and savoured the moment of support.

“Thank you,” Scar muttered after a few minutes and let go of the hug, sitting up on his own. He wiped a stray tear away and smiled. “Really.”

Xisuma smiled back. “Any time. Can I ask a favour of you?”

Scar frowned a little. “I can’t do much,” he admitted.

“That’s okay. I was hoping for company while working on some server issues,” Xisuma said, “Can I stay with you while you build?”

Can I stay and make sure you’re okay? Was what Xisuma was really trying to say, and Scar smiled.

“That would be great.” Scar said. “Can we go to Cherry? I need to rebuild shop.”

“Of course.” Xisuma said.

The bedrock in Scar’s inventory was heavy. His chest felt lighter, however, knowing he had a friend to help him if anything went wrong.

The grey mask in Cub’s hand was hot. It buzzed with magic and burnt against his skin. Vex whispered around him, swirling in his head in an unpleasant tickling manner.

Where is he? The Vex demanded.  He hasn’t answered our calls.

“I don’t know.” Cub responded, his own mask already on his face.

He needs to come. The Vex snarled. Blue lit up his vision, and Scar’s mask grew hotter in his hands, glowing with untapped magic. Cub’s mask was cool against his face.

“I know.”

Bring him to us. He is not answering our call. He needs us.

Cub sighed. The Vex were always so impatient. Scar had been avoiding the call all week and that was a dangerous game. If the Vex called, you had to answer. Cub didn’t know what would happen if they didn’t. He didn’t want to find out.

“He’s been avoiding me.” Cub admitted. The Vex hissed. Cub placed the mask on the table. It shook with untapped power.

“Me? Never.” A familiar voice said.

“Scar!” Cub said, and turned his own mask to the side, blinking the blue tint out of his vision. He smiled upon seeing his friend leaning against the doorway. Scar’s jacket was cloaked on his shoulders, and he tipped his hat in greeting.

The Vex screamed louder, seeming to be in outrage. Cub ignored this, overjoyed to see his friend.

“You changed your hair,” Cub said, and gave a little tug on the ponytail his friend now wore. Scar’s smile didn’t quite reach his blue eyes.

Blue eyes? Cub thought for a split moment. Must be leftover tint from Vex. Scar has green eyes.

“Needed a change of pace,” Scar said with a light laugh, and embraced his friend. “I thought my hair was a good place to start.”

“It looks good.” Cub smiled. He had missed his friend. “And you’re still my friend, pigtails or ponytails or no tails at all.”

Scar laughed again. “Glad to hear it. It would be so tragic if a ponytail ruined our friendship.”

“Maybe now you’re going for ponytails, I can start doing pigtails.” Cub gently split his beard into two sections, mimicking the pigtails Scar usually wore. “What do you think?”

“I think you better stick with a normal beard. Those pigtails might drive us apart.” Scar nudged Cub in a teasing manner. Cub rolled his eyes while smiling.

“Anyways,” Cub said, and held out Scar’s Vex mask. “I’m assuming this is what you came for?”

“You bet.” Scar said, a wicked smile overcoming his face. He looked at the mask greedily.

Cub frowned, suddenly uneasy. The Vex, instead of calming as they usually did when the two answered their calls, screamed louder as Scar grabbed the mask. Cub winced at the unintelligible noise, growing steadily the longer Scar held the mask. Scar didn’t seem bothered by the noise. It was almost if he couldn’t hear the Vex screaming at all.

“Is something the matter, Cub?” Scar asked, looking worried. His blue eyes met Cub’s brown.

Scar doesn’t have blue eyes. Cub thought. Scar doesn’t wear his hair in a ponytail.

“No,” Cub said.

“That’s good,” Scar said, and donned the Vex mask. “I wouldn’t want any problems.”

The mask slid easily over Scar’s face and for the first time in a very long time, Cub couldn’t hear the Vex at all.

---

Xisuma watched from the sidelines of the Cherry shop as Scar built. He had command screens open, but there really wasn’t anything to work on. He was there to keep an eye on Scar, and both of them knew it. Whatever Scar was building, it wasn’t Cherry.

The dopplegänger from yesterday had made quick work of their pillar, but Scar worked slow and thoughtfully. Even when forced to build something under ransom, Scar was the only person Xisuma knew that would still take his time in making it look good. He watched Scar hum and haw over placing a block of obsidian or bedrock.

“Maybe another block of coal?” Xisuma offered.

“Yeah, that’d look right.” Scar agreed and gazed into the distance for a moment before pulling coal from his inventory. “Thanks!”

Xisuma didn’t ask how Scar had bedrock or seemingly endless supplies of black materials. He knew the Void provided it to him, and if there wasn’t a need for conflict with the Void then Xisuma would rather avoid it. He wasn’t sure what It was up too. He had never known It to force players to build before, and certainly not to replace players.

A cold feeling crept into his chest, and Xisuma stood, startled. The Void was contacting him? Now? The Void never contacted him while he was with people. To speak to the Void was sacred, and It usually called out to him when he was alone.

“Hey Scar?” Xisuma called out, and Scar turned around. He was about 50 blocks into the air on his tower, the walls made but the middle hollow.

“Yeah?”

“I’m going to pass out for a couple of seconds, okay?” Xisuma’s breath was short, the cold overriding his lungs and spreading into his veins. He’d fall unconscious to speak with the Void, and he didn’t want to scare Scar.

Scar looked distressed. “What?”

“The Void. When it speaks, it usually knocks me unconscious.” Xisuma said, his head buzzing. His joints ached with cold, and he winced as he called out, the freezing burning his limbs. The Void didn’t wait. Despite his best efforts, Xisuma curled in on himself, the pain overriding his determination to seem fine. Gasping for air and trying to hold onto consciousness, he didn’t hear Scar land beside him.

“Xisuma? Xisuma?” Scar’s panicked voice reached his ears, but it was too late.

God, he hated this part of being a Void Walker. The pain that came with speaking to the Void was unbearable. He felt himself slump against Scar, and suddenly he was surrounded by darkness.

Floating in the emptiness, Xisuma took a deep breath, placing his head in his hands. He had probably scared Scar senseless. He didn’t know what the Void wanted, and Its recent actions towards Scar scared him.

I̡̩̼̻͉͇ ̰̥̪̻̜̙͕n̲̰̲̕e͜e̸̤̺̜̜ḓ̖͙̫͇͇̪͠ ̤̜̣̹̱̻̙y̡͇̰̬̬̥o͔u̘͉̪̜͞r͏͇̰̫ͅ ̦̟͕͍h̹̦̜e̵͔̥̞l̤͖̮̮̹̺p͎̭̳̠̣͚̺͠.̼̜

“What?” Xisuma asked, surprised, lifting his head. The Void neverasked for help. It simply told him what to do.

Y͉͍͉̺͙o̪̭̳͉̺͔̪̅̑̑ͫͣu̖̭̬̭̝͇̓̏r̓ͤ̈ ̖̙̰͂̏ͯ̌w̻ͤͨͭ̇̑ͯo͕͛̋̀͗ͮ͊ͅr̃ͧl̩̹͒d͈̤͎̟̳̙̙ i̜̓̉͂s͚͓ ͓ͥ̈i̳̗ͦ̿n̘̏̚ ̘̘̣͓̯̌̆ͬͤ͆̑t̖̘̭̲̹̔ͩͦ̈̿͆̅r̠̯͙̓ͨo̜̥̞̔u̳̯̯̞̤̺̞̎̅̃͌̀̓b͕͎͕̭̿̔l̮̞̝͋ê͉̠ͮ̾͑͐ͯ.͕̺̩ ͬ̈́S̤̞̯̜o̳̣̬̭̍̎̏̆̂͂ͥm͙̫͙̠̌ͪ̍e͓̞̲̦ͮ͛͐̄̏͐͌t͎̮̝̠̰̻̿ḥ̙̺ͬ̓î̳͙̭̲̝̦͌͆ͤͫ͛̎n̺͓ͅg͕͙͓̐ ̩̯̫̜͔̗ͥ̿ͪ͊̍̊ẖ̺̙͙̝̦̾̆͐̆ͭ̀̌a̞̠̪͇̩̥̗̒ͣ̆̇̌͗ͧs ͕ͅc̭̻̳̯͙͚̟͆̏h̤̼͊̿ͬ̍ͧ̽a͎͈̤͚̻͕͎n̈ͨg̘͙̺̯̯̒̎ͨ̿̄̚e̠̬d̝̝̭͔̜̞̜̈́ͦ͊,̪͓̘ ̤̙͓̰̫̒a͋̀̄̌ͧ̚n̮̣̬͇̜̟̱̐̈́͂ḍ͔̙̆͗̋̃̌̆ͤ ̭ͭ̄I̜̹̫ͧ͆̐ͅ ̬͓̟̥͚͇͋̃c̤̏̃̓͊ͮ͛ͮa̬͎͉͓ͫ̽͊́̀n̥̜̺̲̖͔͈ͥ̓̓̈́̒n͖͚̜̩̹̆ͥ̈́̍ͫ͐ọ͖̖̗̼ẗ͈̟͎͇̜͋͛ͣͤ̀ ͧf̱̯̤̹̤̘͛͐ͪ͌i̻̹̦̻͈͔ͬ̉ͧx̲̤̦̞ͬͣ̈́̆̐̔͋ ̥̘̮͖̝͇͆̋i̝͓̜̿ͧͦ̀t̙̖̐ͬͩͨ.̥̬̞͒ͤ͆́ͬ̒

“…You can’t?” Xisuma frowned. “Is this to do with your threats to Scar?”

T͉̮̩͉͙̀ͪͪḫ̭̌̔͋͑̋̈́o̥̗̥͍̟̺ͪ̐́̉̐ͅs̖̖̳̞̫͎̋ͯ͐̓ͫ̋̈́ͅe̥̫̓̈́ͨ ̘̳̟̊͂̑̊ͅa̪͚̟̣̾̓̌͛r̟̦͒ē̮̣͎͍̐̇ͭͮ̃ ͚̭̫̤͙̣͓̏ͦ̐̃̃̏ͧn̠̾͌͌̋͌̐͊ọ̪̻̻̣̫͍͂̏̅t̰̹̘̦͍̽͂ ̝̩͓͍̗͑ͮ̏m̹̮̩̼͙̈́ͣ̃̒̉̑̀y͇̻̻͍̣̯̋̽ ͨ̀̆ͦ͛ț̤̘͍̺͈̓̽ͥ̒h̫̪r̻̜̘͖ͭ̈́̍e̋͂̑̑ầ̰̩͇͂͊̈͐̚t͓̅s͕̱͙͌.͔͖̦͍͚͉̈ͪ͌̀̈̉ͪ ̮̮͊̋̅̓͆

The Void snarled, and Xisuma winced at the burning in his head that followed with it.

Ḿy p̛u͠ni̷sh͘me͢n̛t͟ ̴f͟o͢r ҉t̛he̕ Vęx t҉ram͜p͏l̀ing͝ ͘on͏ ́m̛y҉ ͘r͞e͘alm w͡as ̨to̵ r͠em̵ơv͢e҉ them f̸rom̧ ́the̛ir ̀Ho͏st ̸for ́à ̧w͘h̀i̷le̵.̀ The͡ Vex̷ ̀se͝paŕa҉ted̢ t̕hemsęlves͏ ̛an̷d̵ inf͞u͢s͡ed ̛t҉hem̵s̷el̀v͝es ͟w̡it̀h͡ ̢my ҉m͢a͡gi͘c̕. ҉That̡ ͏is̡ w͏ha͝t p̷l͢agués̶ you̢r͜ frie̵n͠d.͘

Xisuma’s head spun. “But… the towers…? The perma-death…?”

Th̴ę ̶f̛alse V̶o̢id ͟h҉as ͞i͘mm̧ęn͜se power̨s҉.҉ ̧Ţh̷ey͠ a͘re ͠t̛he͘ cḩi͝l̡d͡ ̷of pa͞i̕n̸ ànd̵ ḑesper̴atio̴n ̷and ͘the ̀spli͢t͜t̢ing of̡ the V̡ex ̛and̛ t̴h͢é ̀Ho͟st. ̸T͞hey ha̷ve t̴a̛k͜e̵n͜ ͏t̛he͝ir ow̸ǹ ac͜tio̡ns,͞ a̷n̡d ͞I ̵canno͠t́ stop ́the͘m.̸

“That would be like killing yourself.” Xisuma realized. Scar’s dopplegänger was the result of the Vex trying to control the Void and failing. The Void couldn’t destroy Itself.

The Void was silent.

“You need me to kill the other Scar.” Xisuma said softly. He had never killed someone before.

I n̴e͜e͢d y͜oư make the͏ ̕H̴os̀t̀ ͞ki̸ll t̴h͘e͏ ̢Vex C̀hild. To brin̶g ͠t́hemse͠lve҉s̸ b̵a̛ck͝ to̡ ͝one ͘b́e̵in͡g.̶ Or ̢the͡ V͞e͟x C̷h͘il͟d́ ̕w͘i̶l͘l͟ ͜destr̢oy ́th̛e̕ ̶un͘i̧verse҉ ̀ùnd͟e͞r ҉my ͏na͘m͡e̸,͝ ̷a͠n͘d̕ your ͢f͢rien̷d̕s w̵i͡l͘l̢ ̷d͜i͡e a̛long͘sid͡e̡ ͜i̷t.̸

“But how do we kill something that’s Vex and Void magic?” Xisuma asked.

Y̗̥͍̕ou̷̦̻͎̟̱ ̲̦͓͇m̫͓̤̻̬̕ụ͘ş̱̙͎̤t̷̥-̵--

A sudden burst of magic tore Xisuma from the Void, and he screamed the cold searing his limbs and burning his lungs and he was being torn to pieces atom by atom and he wouldn’t survive this he w o u l d n’ t-

Xisuma’s eyes flew open, and he saw Scar hovering over him, blue eyes filled with concern. Xisuma rolled onto his side, coughing and gasping for air as the phantom pains of being torn from the Void wracked his body. He clumsily tore his helmet off his head, tears leaking from his eyes as he pressed his forehead to the Endstone, trying to find some grounding.

“Oh my god,” Scar said, relief overcoming him. “Thank goodness you’re awake. I was so worried.”

Still wheezing, Xisuma winced at the sickly-sweet stench of Chorus fruit. He tried to focus on Scar and rolled back onto his back to face his friend.

“Scar,” Xisuma said, and Scar looked at him, concerned. “Scar, I know what to do.”

“And what’s that?”

“The Void doesn’t want you to build those pillars, it’s the dopplegänger. You have to kill him before he ruins the server.”

“Correct.” Scar said, impassively.

“…What?” Xisuma’s heart sank, his heart pounding in panic. Why was Scar so calm?

Xisuma sat up, leaning heavily on the Endstone beside him.

Endstone? Wait. That’s not right. He was just at Cherry and-

“Fuck,” Xisuma said, putting the pieces together. Oscar smiled, leaning over Xisuma, who was too exhausted to defend himself.

“I’m part of the Void, remember? I can sense when you’re speaking to it. I knocked Scar out, got Cub to move you here under the guise of a prank, and now you’re stuck.”

Xisuma didn’t answer, instead attempting to pull up his admin screens. Typing in the first command he thought of, Xisuma cursed when it didn’t go through.

[ COMMAND NOT RECONIZED. ]

“You didn’t really think I was that stupid, did you?” Oscar rolled his eyes, standing and pulling up his own admin screens.

“Oh! Look here! It seems the only admin on the server is…. BadTimesWithScar! Good news, Xisuma! No one can interfere now.” He snarled.

Xisuma’s heart sank.

“Wait, do you know what you’re doing? You’ll ruin everything, including your chance at living here. It’ll all be gone!”

“I know.” Oscar said. “I’ll see you in Hell when I get there.”

Xisuma scampered to his feet, reaching for Oscar, but he teleported himself outside the iron bars that surrounded Xisuma’s prison.

“Please, you can’t do this!” Xisuma called out, holding onto the iron bars. “We can work something out, just listen to me! Everything will be gone!”

Oscar looked up from his admin screens, uninterested. Instead of responding, he gave a mock salute and disappeared, teleporting to who knows where.

Xisuma was left in the End, abandoned.

[ask-elementalhermitcraft]

Simple in the Moonlight

Summary - Rendog is a creature of the night. For the first time, Grian shares Ren’s lonely night with him. (Inspired by Ren’s cover of Lua, by Bright Eyes)

Word count - 1.7K

Ren, with rockets in hand, flew up and out of his base, making sure that it was nearing sunset. Finally, Ren thought to himself, daytime couldn’t seem to pass fast enough. He flew to the nearest shore, ready to just spend a calm night to himself on the beach.

For Ren, going out during the day took quite the toll on him. Being in such harsh, direct sunlight only gave him headaches and brought him dizziness. He could handle dozens of torches, or staring into pools of lava, but something about sunlight brought Ren to an unforgiving state of nausea. Mumbo, amidst the end of his mole duties, gifted his sunglasses to Ren. These did improve his day-to-day life significantly, but nothing as drastic as to rid the incessant headaches.

He landed on a patch of grass along the sand, and he took a moment to take off his shoes and his elytra, just to rid the extra weight. He rolled up his pants before stepping on the shore, knowing it was inevitable he would end up wading through the water. The waves were small as they hit the shoreline, providing him with the comforting sound of movement and motion, letting him know that he was not the only thing with life on the quiet night.

As he took a seat into the damp sand, letting his hands sink down beside him, the moon began to rise in his line of sight. It was a clear night, with nothing but hundreds of millions of stars twinkling in the sky, and a full moon coming into view. It was beautiful, the most perfect night Ren could’ve asked for.

A full moon always brought a new type of energy onto Ren, something that even after years and years of experience, he was still never quite clear on predicting its effect at any one time. There were always trends he picked up on - the ability to see miles past what he can during daytime, a heightened sense of smell, even faster reflexes than what the night brought him normally. It was hard to differentiate the effects of a full moon versus the effects of nighttime in general, but one thing was for certain - the night made him stronger.

His eyes worked like a night vision camera. It could work during the day, sure, but its abilities shown best once the sun was down. Hermits could splash themselves with night vision all they wanted, but nothing could compare to the all-seeing eyes of Ren at night.

His teeth were sharp like those of a wolf, an untamed and unhinged creature. He could tear zombies apart with nothing but his teeth latching on to exposed skin. He could eat rotten flesh and never feel the effects of poison. To him it was another meal.

He could run as fast as his legs could take him. He could run endlessly without stopping, at speeds unmatched by anyone or anything the hermits had seen. He could run for hours on foot, never stopping, with rotten flesh hanging from his mouth as a source of protein if needed.

Ren was a wild animal, with nothing comparing to the werewolf abilities the man had once the moon rose and the sun had disappeared. He was strong, and fierce, a force not to be messed with. He could snap at a moment’s notice, and Ren himself would never even know.

But Ren was not only a creature of unforseen powers in the night, but he was also a creature of grace, of nature, of the given world. He was a creature of light.

He has a glow to him, only to be seen when light is lacking. He could create spheres of light, orbs of photons, all from his bare hands. A gift as his could only be found within a god, within a divine being, but here he sat, throwing up balls of white light out of sheer boredom.

Ren was powerful, a man who could both control the darkness of the night and the creation of light, and bend and shape both to his own will, to work with him. His strength and his abilities brought positive light to his name, his kind soul earning him many friends by his side. He was loved by everyone, and seemed to bring nothing but fascination and joy to those around him. What was he to be upset about?

Ren was alone.

"When everything is lonely, I can be my own best friend."

As a creature of the night, Ren lost a lot of valuable time to spend with his friends. It physically pained him to go about life during the day. It was the most awful feeling in the world. He felt useless, he felt as if he contributed nothing to his friendships. While everyone worked on projects together, and spent time with one another, Ren was confined within his base, with nothing but the cave walls to keep him occupied. His sorting system had the most perfect redstone, every inch of his walls were immaculate, because what else was he to do? When trapped in a cave during every moment the sun is up, what else was he to do aside from sleeping?

At night, everyone was asleep after a busy day out and about. Ren, however, was wide awake. It would be him, pacing around the cold and darkened world, wondering what would be different if his friends were here, night after night. Occasionally he and False would share nighttime adventures; False being Ren’s neighbor could see when he was out and about.

He always found joy in creating builds at night, however. Knowing that the hermits would wake up to a new addition to the railway network, or a new build in the medieval district, or a sudden surplus of diamonds within their shop, always brought him joy. He felt like Santa Clause, each and every night, and that was the one spark of joy no one could take away from him.

"What was easy in the evening by the morning’s such a drag."

Everything came to Ren during the night, his inspiration and his ability to build, his creativity, his joy, it all happened by the sunset. He could run freely and build freely with perfect vision and without a pounding headache. But once the morning came around, he was reduced to nothing. He immediately went to hide. He does it in the name of his health, but at what cost?

Is he truly any healthier?

Ren stared into the ocean, his legs pulled up to his chest. He wanted to do something, he wanted to be productive, but he felt no motivation. Once the morning came, all his efforts and energy would be useless.

"It was so simple in the moonlight."

He felt himself drifting away with the sounds of the moving water and the swirling of his own thoughts. He caught himself in a half-asleep stage after he heard another person in the distance. "Is someone there?" he called out, secretly praying that his senses hadn’t led him astray. After hearing no response, he turned to his sense of smell to find the source of what he heard.

"...Grian you know I can smell you, right?"

"You sly dog, you!" Grian shouted at Ren, swooping out of the sky and landing swiftly beside him. "I sometimes forget that even my sneaky-sneakerson skills can’t outperform your K-9 senses," Grian huffed as he tucked his wings tightly behind him, as to not whack Ren with his feathers. "No one outsmarts the diggity-dog, you should know this by now!" Ren exclaimed. They were both giggling at Grian trying to act pouty, which was an act he could never quite pull off.

"What are you doing out here man? It’s super late at night, you should be catching up on your sleep," Ren turned to face Grian. "Well, I kinda slept during the day so I could hang out with you, it has been quite some time since we last saw each other."

Ren was quite frankly taken aback by his response. He felt tears form in his eyes, and he had no clue what to do. Ren never really expressed his emotions so openly, but everyone knew he was quite the soft guy.

Grian could see the tears in Ren’s eyes glisten in the moonlight, and immediately went to bring Ren in for a hug, extending his wings to wrap around him for added comfort. Caught up in Grian’s kind gesture, he could do nothing but cry.  He hated crying in front of others, as something in his instincts told him it was a weakness, but he knew it was perfectly healthy, and he knew he could confide in Grian.

For a few minutes they embraced, Ren profusely trying to compose himself so they could carry on speaking with each other, but Ren struggled to pull it together. He had become so accepting of having the nights to himself, accepting of having his friendships exist but never acted upon, accepting of being physically alone. Aside from False, no one had taken such an effort to spend time with him. He and everyone around him had come to a silent agreement he existed on his own schedule, whether he wanted it to be that way or not, that was simply how it was.

Ren sniffed and looked up. "Thank you. Just thank you Grian. This means more than you could imagine." Grian smiled at him, radiating nothing but happiness. "You are very welcome buddy. I’m very thankful to spend this time with you."

"I know everyone always talks about the concept of the ‘lone wolf,’ but nothing about it applies to me. I don’t know what I would do without someone like you around." "I think you’d just go about, doing lone wolf things whether you wanted to or not.  It’s kinda in your instincts." "Thanks, captain obvious," Ren replied, shoving Grian’s arm.

The two always found peace and laughter in each other’s company, and nothing changed, despite the time they had spent away from one another. While they hadn’t known each other forever, their souls seemed to go way back. Ren created spheres of light for the two to admire by the shore, and the wind took it upon itself to send them dancing throughout the air. Everything seemed simple, and the universe seemed at peace.

Maybe the night was not as solemn as Ren once thought.

[strawberrylemonz]

A Lovely Encounter

Part 5

Part 6 [CURRENT]

Part 7

(DT: @applepie1000 @petrichormeraki @jump-in-the-cadillac )

------------

“I’ll be okay, they’re already waiting for me in the Hub.”

“What if I just walk you to-”

“Grian, I’ll be okay!”

Tommy huffed for the fifth time in a row as Grian tried to follow him around. Chat was fawning over Grian’s protectiveness over Tommy, something that annoyed the younger boy big time. Kristin, happily settle in her new house, laughed as Tommy griped at his brother. Finally feeling tired from all the laughing, put a hand on Grian’s arm as she messed with Tommy’s hair.

“Let Tommy be on his way. You don’t want him to deal with angry ladies, trust me.”

Grateful, Tommy ducked under Grian’s hand and thanked Kristin. Before Grian could utter another word, he ran towards the Hub portal. Opening his inventory, he made sure that he had everything he needed. Letting out a sigh of relief, he climbed into the portal without a single thought. Stepping out into the portal station, Tommy couldn’t help but smile as the chattering of other people filled the air. Humming a familiar tune, the made his way to the center. He felt a light, cold hand grab his shoulder, squeezing it slightly. Peering over, he saw one of the individual spirits, swaggerrsouls_, peering down to him while floating above everyone else. Giving a blank smile, the spirit pointed behind Tommy.

“The girls are approaching from behind” 

Nodding a thanks to the spirit, he turned around, smiling. He let out a laugh as Drista groaned, playfully stomping her foot. Lani just laughed as she pushed Drista and waved at Tommy. Drista pulled the girl back and ran up to Tommy, giving him a nudge.

“How dare you catch us before we could jumpscare you.”

“You can’t scare me, I’m fucking badass. Now, let’s go see Tubbo.”

Lani happily interjected as soon as those words left Tommy’s mouth. 

“Oh! About my brother, he kinda, maybe, doesn’t know you’re coming.”

“What?!”

Panic settled into Tommy’s stomach. Tubbo didn’t know he was coming? What was going to happen? Would Tubbo turn him away? Yell at him? Did he not want to see him?

“Don’t worry! You’re a surprise! He’s been doing well, but he’s been missing you very much! Drista and I figured that you would surprise him with a visit?”

Huffing, Tommy crossed his arms with annoyance. Sighing, he nodded his head at the girls, who shared a high five.

“Just let me know this shit beforehand. Nearly panicked while working myself up to greeting him upon entering. Now I’ve gotta quickly work myself up to surprising him.”

As the girls apologized, waving off the boy, the pulled him over to a portal. Rolling his eyes, he peered up at the sign of the portal.

Stampy’s Lovely World

Lovely? Tommy couldn’t help but smile at that. Out of everyone he knew, Tubbo was one of the few that deserved to thrive in a peaceful place. Nearly toppling over as he was pulled forward by the eager girls, Tommy entered the portal to the new world.

--------

It truly was lovely. After exchanging a nervously polite greeting to the admin, Stampy, who was getting ready to board his hot air balloon, he set off with the girls as they walked through the magnificent world. He was honestly blown away with the creativity, love, care and dedication put in it all. Going through the amazing, colorful builds, the girls slowed down as they approached a cozy section, one that was easy on the eyes after all the color they walked through. Three cottages with different designs sat peacefully by each other. Bees were buzzing around in peace, pollinating the random flowers strewn around the ground. A small pond full of fish sat in between the center of the three cottages, each fish swimming in peace. Lani nodded before turning to the other two.

“Okay, here’s the plan, so listen up. I’ll go and get Tubbo and blindfold him, telling him that Drista and I got him a gift. Meanwhile, Drista, you hide Tommy in the present box we got-”

“Wait, I’m gonna be in a fucking box-”

“-and wait until I bring him over. Then, most likely confused by the size of the box, my brother will open it cautiously. Then, BAM!!! TOMMY’S HERE!!!”

“Sounds good to me!”

“Use a knife to get him to move faster.”

Lani laughed before bidding adieu, heading towards one of the houses. Once she was out of sight, Drista pulled a nervous Tommy over towards the back of the houses.

“Alright, get in the box, nerd.”

--------

The box was tiring to stand in for Tommy. Why couldn’t the girls pick a wider box? At least, then, he could lay down while he waited. Doing his best not to make a single noise or move that could give him away, Tommy tried to entertain himself as he stood there, ignoring the way his knees began to buckle. Just as he was about to groan, a familiar voice caused him to freeze.

“Where are you taking me? If you push me into the pond, Lani, I will pull you in with me.”

“I’m not pushing you in the pond! Stop being so paranoid!”

Tommy sucked in a nervous breath as he heard the footsteps stop. After a few seconds, the speaking began.

“A box?”

“Open it! Your present is inside!”

“It’s the best gift you’ll ever receive, guaranteed. Lani and I really popped off this time.”

“Really? Even better than the-”

“Absolutely, even better than the bees.”

Tommy prepared himself as he heard the wrapping paper being torn away. He heard nervous laughing as the box was being opened. A beam of sunlight caused him to shield his face from being blinded. Once he adjusted, he put down his hand, coming face to face with Tubbo, who looked as if he was seeing a ghost. Giving a nervous chuckle, Tommy opened his arms with hesitation.

“Hey, Tub- OOF”

Tommy didn’t even get to finish as he fell back, falling to the ground. Propping himself up with one arm, he peered down at the sobbing mess in his arms. His sobbing mess of a best friend. His Tubbo. Feeling the tears well up in his own eyes, Tommy engulfed Tubbo in a firm, desperate hug. Together, the two boys embraced each other in relieved tears as Drista and Lani shared a fist bump, smiling brightly at the scene before them.

“We’re awesome”

“Oh, absolutely, no questioning it”

--------

“So the same portal we both fell in took us to different servers? That’s strange”

“Totally. Need some help with that honey?”

The girls had left to play mini games much earlier, leaving the two boys to catch up in peace. They filled each other in with that they had been up to prior to that day. Tubbo was quite shocked to see that Tommy was much calmer than he remembered, more mellow. He was even more shocked to find out about his family. 

“What? You have another brother? And a mother?”

“I know, right? Nearly had a breakdown about Grian. Finding Kristin was hilarious, though.”

The two boys exchanged stories and adventures with each other, not wanted to leave anything out from their time spent apart. They didn’t even notice when the girls came back, announcing that it was time for Tommy to head back.

“I swear, he’s overreacting! I mean, I know why he’s adding a curfew, but I’m an adult now!”

The girls teased Tommy about his brother, who, according to him, was reading too much into Tommy spending too much time outside of the server. As annoyed as he was at it, Tommy understood his reasonings. Kristin hasn’t been told the whole story, but he just knew that she’d be the same way once she found out about what he’s gone through. Holding onto Tubbo’s hand, the four of them headed towards the portal to Hub. Once they arrived, Tommy let out a shaky breath as he squeezed his best friend’s hand.

“I’ll be back, okay? Not only do I need to bless you lot with my presence, I’ve gotta take proper measurements to make you guys your outfits for the gala. VIP and shit, that’s what you guys are! Custom made, just for you. Be safe, I’ll see you guys soon.”

Drista was the first to throw herself in for a hug. But, as predicted, she was also the first to pull away after Tommy hugged back for more than two seconds. Giving him a soft punch, she reminded him to pick a good color for her. Lani was next to embrace him, thanking him for taking the time to come to the server. Letting him know that she trusted his choices regarding her outfit, she let go with a smile. Tubbo didn’t even get the chance to move in for a hug, mainly due to Tommy wordlessly pulling him into one. The two stayed like that for a while, holding each other, scared to let go. As he pulled away, however, Tommy pulled something out of his inventory. Smiling at Tubbo, he gently placed it into his hand. 

“I’ll see you soon, Tubbo. Be safe.”

The three watched, waved, as Tommy disappeared through the portal. Peering down, Tubbo examined the gift. It was a replica of the green bandana from the Dream SMP. The only difference, however, was the little bees sewn on the end of it. Holding it close, Tubbo smiled as he walked back home, his sister and sister figure following behind, laughing amongst themselves.

Everything would be okay.

--------

Too much in a good mood to be bothered, Tommy paid no mind to the people who pushed past him in the Hub. Humming to himself, he almost missed the sound of soft whimpering. Stopping in his tracks, he listened closely, hearing it again. Frowning, he followed the noise to the source.

It was a small child, a little girl. She was a bit scuffled and was crying in front of a dark colored portal. Frowning, he looked up to see the name of the portal that she appeared to have come out of.  

2b2t

He had heard tales of the server from Phil, who spoke of the terrors that the anarchist server held. Blood running cold, he carefully bent down in front of the girl, carefully watching his tone. 

“Are you alright?”

She seemed frightened and hurt, reeling back from him and into the solid blocks of the portal. Doing his best not to scare her off, he offered a kind smile and a flower, to which she accepted after a moments hesitation. Seeing this as a promising sign, he tried again.

“Are you alright?”

The girl, who appeared to be no older than two, shook her head. Ignoring her own small injuries, she held up a torn stuffed bear. The sound of her small, soft, raspy voice caught him off guard.

“Broken...”

Humming, he looked around the crowd, searching for anyone who may have been looking for a child. Frowning, he bent back down to the child, who was looking at him with newfound hope. 

“Where’s your parent’s? Maybe they can fix up your bear for you. Doesn’t that sound nice?”

The young girl looked down at her scraped hands. Shaking her head, she Tommy’s pointed gaze to the 2b2t portal beside her. Her small voice spoke up, breaking the young adult’s heart.

“Broken”