#I hope i made it clear how much Grian loves his boys | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

s0larts · 1 year

Text

Family Christmas

( Clock family )

Summary

Grian takes his beloved Mumbo to meet his family. But after meeting Grian's brothers, Mumbo has mixed feelings. He hopes everyone will like him.

Ships :

- Grumbo

- Joel x Susage (+ Hermes kid)

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"Do you think that's a good idea?"

Mumbo stood in front of the mirror, trying to tie his tie. But each time, the tie ended up in some odd shape. He even nearly choked on it once. How? He doesn't know.

"You'd have to get to know them eventually anyway" Grian said, walking over to him and adjusting his tie "Now it's better."

"I didn't think I'd get to know them all at once..." he mumbled, running a hand through his black hair. He was stressed out terribly. What if they don't like him? It's enough that Grian's siblings don't like him very much. But that's probably because he spends quite a lot of time with him.

He remembered meeting Grian's siblings for the first time. What they liked to call themselves "Bad Boys".

It was in a coffee shop. Grian went to order them something to drink and he stayed with Jimmy and Joel. Quite an uncomfortable moment. Both of them stared at him with unsatisfied eyes.

"Um... So... Nice to meet you," mumbo muttered, trying to start a conversation.

"Is that so?" Joel spoke up with one eyebrow raised.

"Yeah. Is that so?" repeated Jimmy.

"...Yeaaah?" replied Mumbo, not knowing what else to do.

Once again, silence fell between them. Mumbo didn't know what to talk to them about.

"...Okay 'Mumbo'. Let's be clear," Joel said after a moment, placing the menu at the end of the table to hide them "We don't like you."

"Ou..." muttered the moustached man, pressing his lips into a straight line.

"And we don't like you spending time with our boy" added Jimmy, and the feathers on his wings puffed up from his anger.

"Because of this, we can't do our bad boys stuff. Do you understand?" Joel continued, staring at the confused black-haired man.

"Um... I think so...?" replied Mumbo, not knowing whether to feel embarrassed or scared.

"Good" said Jimmy, putting down the menu as Grian returned to the table.

"Something happened?" Pesky Bird asked smiling, as he sat down next to Mumbo.

"Nothing" Joel replied with Jimmy smiling innocently at him.

"Do you think they'll like me...?" Mumbo asked, standing with Grian in front of the apartment door.

They both said they would go here together. Grian's brothers should arrive in a while. They probably weren't happy to go without their third Bad Boy...

"Of course they will" he replied with a smile, straightening his Christmas scarf. Rather strange to see a person in a leather jacket and sunglasses, wearing a Christmas sweater and scarf underneath. But that's how Grian was. And Mumbo loved him for that.

"What if not?" repeated Mumbo, grabbing his hand as he was about to ring the doorbell "Maybe I should go home though? There will be another holiday next year!"

"Mumbolio Jumbolio. You are amazing person. I'm sure they'll like you," Grian replied, intertwining their fingers together. He smiled warmly at him, which made Mumbo feel warm all over his face. Sometimes he hated that his whole face could turned red.

"And if they don't like you, you'll have to deal with that because we're staying for the night. he said, and as Mumbo ignored his hand, he pressed the doorbell.

"...WAIT. WHAT?"

Mumbo didn't even have time to react when he heard footsteps and shouts from behind the door. After a while, the door opened, and a rather tall and well-built brunette with scars stood in it. He was wearing a rather neon outfit, reminiscent of the 90s or 80s.

"GRIAN. MY FAVORITE WEIRD COUSIN!"

They both began to be happy to see each other. Like teenagers girls squealing, when they see their best friend. At the end they hugged tightly, as if they hadn't seen each other for many years. Although, as far as Mumbo knew, they had seen each other maybe two weeks ago. Plus they often talked on the phone. They even could talked for over an hour. HOUR.

But back to Mumbo. He stood like a pillar of salt behind Grian, not knowing what to do.

"...I'm like a stick" he thought, looking at his beloved's cousin "He could break me like a match..." he added, glancing down.

When Mumbo had a breakdown, Grian had already exchanged a few words with Scar. He immediately took Mumbo's arm, pulling him closer.

"Hi! I'm Scar" he greeted with a smile, extending his hand to Mumbo.

"Hello... I'm match ... I MEAN... I'm Jumbo Mumbo! No, wait! Mumbo Jumbo! Yes! I'm Mumbo Jumbo" He quickly grabbed his hand, feeling sweat trickle down his temple. He was obviously very nervous.

"...It's really nice to meet you Mumbo Jumbo!" he laughed, unable to stop himself.

Grian also chuckled softly, and Mumbo felt his whole face turn red once again. He looked down quickly, trying not to die of embarrassment.

"Hah... Sorry... I couldn't help myself!" he mumbled with a smile, stepping away from the door so they could come in.

Grian stepped inside, dragging an embarrassed Mumbo with him.

"I will die here" Mumbo thought as he slowly took off his boots and jacket.

As soon as they took off their jackets, Grian walked towards the living room with his cousin. Mumbo was left alone in the hall. What was he supposed to do? follow them? He didn't want to disturb them... But he couldn't stand here either. That would be rude!

Luckily, he didn't have to wait long when he felt someone's touch. He shuddered, suddenly interrupting his thoughts. He looked down, noticing a white-haired boy with a red bandana.

"Hello mr. tall!" he smiled at Mumbo, showing two holes in his teeth "You came with cousin Grain?" he added, some of the words rather slurred.

"Um... Yeah" replied Mumbo, not quite knowing how to behave around a child. He rarely had contact with children!

"Wanna play with me?" he asked, tugging on Mumbo's suit sleeve.

"...Sure" He smiled uncertainly at the white-haired boy, feeling him being pulled towards one of the rooms.

°^°^°^°^°

"How did I end up here..." Mumbo thought as he was sitting on a small chair and was strapped to it.

He did not expect that Bdubs, who had already introduced himself to him, would tie him to a children's chair and make him a victim. He was joined by his friend - Hermes. Apparently it was Joel's son. And he, seeing this situation, would even like to join. But then he'd rather tie Mumbo to the train tracks...

"Ha! You won't free Mr. Jumbo!" cried Bdubs, holding his wooden sword in his hand. Before him stood Hermes; blond with a purple streak in his hair. He had a plastic revolver in his hand and a cowboy hat.

"You can't escape the law!" he exclaimed, mimicking the sounds of gunfire.

"Oh noooooo!" Bdubs theatrically lay down on the ground, pretending to be shot. He glanced in Mumbo's direction, urging him on with his hand.

"...Uh... Oh! My savior!" he mumbled, sighing softly. His back was starting to hurt from sitting in the tiny chair.

"Okay kids. Go play somewhere else and stop bullying your uncle" The red-haired woman leaned out from door frame. She had a stack of plates in her hand, wanting to start putting everything on the table.

"Okay mom!" answered Bdubs, then he and Hermes ran out of the room.

"Sorry Mumbo. I didn't see that the kids had already gotten you" she laughed softly, as she saw him strapped to the kids chair.

"No, no... It's okay! That was... Something" Mumbo laughed softly as well, rising to his feet.

However, he was still tied to the chair. That's why he now stood slightly bent over, still having the chair tied to him.

"Wait, I'll help you!" she laughed, placing the plates on the cupboard and helping him untie the string.

"Thank you ma'am" he thanked, putting down the chair carefully. He could finally stretch out! What a relief!

"You don't have to call me ma'am! Enough Cleo!" she smiled at him, taking the plates back into her hands.

"I-I'll help!" he immediately grabbed most of the plates.

"Oh... Thank you!" She smiled at him, then headed for the dining room. Mumbo followed right behind her.

Cleo went to the kitchen when Mumbo started to put all the plates on the table. He noticed that Bdubs and Hermes ran through the dining rooms from time to time. He smiled slightly, noticing it out of the corner of his eye. It was a really lovely sight. Sam lived alone, so he wasn't used to the family and loud atmosphere.But it didn't even bother him. He even got used to it.

But what he liked the most was when everyone sat down at the table. The whole family and him. Although he even started to get along with some. He also started working as an electrician when traffic jams blew out. Everyone enjoyed eating and talking together. And he could spend time with Grian.

Scar even wanted to get them some mistletoe. However, Mumbo ended up with it in the eye. It wasn't supposed to end this way, but at least he got a kiss on the cheek. Even though that was how the evening ended, Mumbo was having a good time. He readily agreed to stay for the night.

"And was there anything to worry about?" Grian asked with a smile.

"Honestly? I'd love to come next Christmas," Mumbo replied, closing his eyes.

#mcyt #empires season two #hermitcraft #limited life #grian #grian and mumbo #grumbo #oneshot #fanfiction #clock family #fluff #mumbo x grian #hermitshipping #minecraft

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bluiex · 1 year

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I have made a part 2 (of 3) to the mafia au, where everyone is at least somewhat unhinged and Scar heavily pines.

(Tumblr keeps crashing every time I try to send this :/)

—————

The Bad Boys arrive at their place at midnight, earlier than Scar expected. They’re clad in their leather jackets and sunglasses, with only Jimmy wearing his properly.

Cleo nods in approval, “you’re early.”

“Of course,” Grian replies, voice clear of the humor in it when he was chatting to Scar earlier. “These things go easier when you’re prepared.”

She grins, “it is.”

Scar zones out of the conversation as he stares at Grian. He always looks good in leather, incredibly good. How could Scar not fall for him looking like that. Scar doesn’t really care that he’s losing focus to stare at Grian, Cleo’s briefed him on the plan already and no one else is here, so Scar will gladly take the chance to stare when there’s no repercussions.

He startles out of his staring by an elbow to his side, he quickly looks over. Bdubs is staring at him seeming unimpressed while Cleo looks at him expectantly.

“Uh… y-yes?” Scar mumbles, uncertain. He casts a glance at the Bad Boys, relieved to see them talking together, unaware of Scar’s earlier staring.

Bdubs shakes his head, exasperated. Cleo seems to share the sentiment, but takes mercy on him, “I was asking if you had everything prepared.”

“Right, yes, I do,” he replies, still caught off guard a little.

“Good, we can’t trust them to play fair.”

“You have *got* to say something,” Bdubs says, nodding his head towards the Bad Boys.

“Quiet,” Scar hisses, casting another glance at them. Thankfully none of them seem to have heard.

His brother just rolls his eyes, “this is just getting painful.”

He’s saved from responding by the Bad Boys rejoining them, they stand in a line but Joel takes the lead, “we’re all set.”

“Are you prepared for the worst?”

Immediately after Cleo finishes speaking, Grian pulls out a Glock from where it’s hidden under his jacket. Scar wouldn’t say he’s swooning over Grian with a gun, but damn does he look hotter holding one. He doesn’t hope this goes bad, but Scar would love to see Grian in action with that gun. He knows the Bad Boys’ reputations, but he hasn’t seen what earned them it though. He would love to see it, especially Grian. Scar would love to see how much of a badass Grian can be.

Cleo nods, “so you’re all ready to go?”

“I have one question first,” Grian says, putting this gun back.

Cleo raises an eyebrow, “go ahead.”

A grin spreads across his face, “will we need explosives?”

“What exactly do you have in mind?”

“I have plenty of kinds, short fuse, long fuse, destructive, not destructive, and some other fun ones.”

“What do you plan to do with them?” Bdubs asks quizzically.

“Anything you want,” he replies easily, though the maniac grin remains on his face.

“Preferably non destructive,” Cleo replies, “we don’t need to cause structural damage. And only use them if you have to.”

“Of course, of course.”

“Do you have any here?” Scar asks, curious.

Grian casts an evaluating glance over the three of them, “I can get some easily enough.” His tone is guard, wary.

As eager as Scar was for their deal, he forgot one crucial thing, they all play dirty here. They will always keep their cards close and only reveal what’s needed. Scar would never betray Grian, no matter what, but he can’t say the same for any of the others on either side.

Scar lets out a breath, if this meeting goes well, hopefully it can lead to a more steady alliance with the Bad Boys. Maybe one that’s built on more then just business.

“Right, we’ll meet you there,” Cleo says, voice holding no argument as she holds out a slip of paper.

Joel snatches it and reads it over, nodding as he shoves it into his pocket. “Come on, Bad Boys.” They give one final parting nod before heading out to their truck. Grian’s eyes linger briefly at Scar, before he turns around to leave.

“Scar,” Bdubs says, tone chiding.

“I’m focused,” Scar counters, turning to face his family again.

“You better be,” Cleo says, a warmth back in their tone that’s only present when they’re talking to their sons, “we all need to be prepared for things going wrong.”

Curse tumblr for crashing after sending this beauty omg

Grian *has a gun*

Scar: god i love this man he is so perfect

#bluie gets an ask poggers #clockers mafia au

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lovebug5151 · 4 years

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Family Bonding (With a hint of Angst) Robodad Grian Au

(Yes, unless y'all have better ideas for the name of this Au, this is what i’m going with lmao. If you do have any, go ahead and say em! If i like it and it fits, ill rename it and say it was your idea in the next chapter.)

So this is about 2040 words, and i’m quite happy with it. I don’t think I made this one as sad as the first one, but im not sure. I actually have a story line for up to ch 5 of this story, and I hope that this is one of the last true sad chapters (Though I might spice some things up, dont want things too happy, do ya :D

This is also about a week or so after the events of the first chapter.

Grian sat on top of his mansion, just watching and listening to the wind, breathing in, and out. He needed to clear his head. Earlier Mumbo had made a offhand comment about how Grumbots heart was missing, and ‘maybe it fell into the ocean’ before laughing.

While Grian knew Mumbo didn’t have the same background as he did with considering Aware AI’s ‘just robots’, he had called Grumbot son, even if it was awkwardly. It hurt Grian, to know that Mumbo might hurt Grumbot, even unintentionally, if he did see him. And Jrumbot… he was just a child, his dad saying hurtful things would hurt him so much more.

Grian had to quickly finish up what he was doing, and rush back to his base to breath. He couldn’t work beside Mumbo at the moment, couldn’t explain how Mumbo had hurt him, and so had run off.

Grian leaned forward slightly to look down. It was a far drop. Grian had never truly been afraid of heights, he loved climbing high in the air.

It was joked that it was because he was short, that he liked to be tall, but he just liked feeling the wind rush around him, and the feeling of falling and pulling up right before hitting the ground. It was elating, and whenever he was feeling bad he just took a leap off a roof and fell, before swooping up using his elytra.

He wondered if Grumbot would like flying, he could fix up some Jet boots for him, maybe mechanical wings? Yeah, he’ll make some wings for Grumbot and if he liked them, maybe some for himself. He liked the idea of being able to mostly hover in one place.

He let out a breath and looked at the sun. It was nearing lunch, and if he didn’t come inside Grumbot would come looking for him.

Grian swooped down, landing in front of the door, before heading inside.

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Grumbot hummed as he finished cooking some steak. He and Jrumbot were able to eat regular food, and no one knew how, but neither Grumbot or Grian really wanted to question it so they let it be.

He put the steak on plates and turned around just as his Dad walked in. He smiled and said hi to him while bringing the plates to the table. Jrumbot was already there and they sat on chairs to eat.

It was quiet for a moment before Grian yawned. “Have you two ever wanted to fly?”

Grumbot looked at him weirdly for a second before nodding. “Yeah, kinda, but I'm way too heavy for an elytra.”

Jrumbot paused with his steak halfway in his mouth

“If fould fe fun fu fly” He said, still chewing his food.

Grian sighed slightly and smiled at Jrumbot

“Jrumbot, dont talk with your mouth full.”

Jrumbot finished his mouthful and squirmed slightly. “Sorry.”

“|Its alright. Its just something to that we dont make a mess okay?” Grian told him.

“Okay.” Jrumbot muttered, before continuing “But yeah! It would be so fun to fly!”

Grian smiled “I have an idea then, but let's finish eating, yeah?” Both of them nodded at him before starting to eat their steak again.

After dinner, Jrumbot went to go mess with some of the blocks Grian had given him, and Grian and Grumbot went down to the Lab. They called it a Lab, but it was just a basement with too many tech pieces in it.

Grumbot sat down in a chair before waiting for Grian to talk, while Grian went over to look at something on a table.

“Dad,” Grumbot started, when it was obvious Grian wasn't gonna start talking “What was with the questions about flying?”

Grian glanced back at him. “Not much, I was just thinking about something. You both know how you're too heavy for elytras, but I was thinking, if we remade some of your body into lighter but still strong metals, and used,” His talking stopped as he walked towards a wall. Grumbot was confused until suddenly a Shulker Box opened.

Grumbot stared for a second before laughing. “How did i not know that was there?” He got out between giggles.

Grian smiled at him. “I havent opened it around you, and you haven't snooped. I'm not surprised you haven't found it. I keep my old ideas in there, old blueprints, old mechanical pieces I just couldn't throw away, those sort of things.” Grian started unrolling a big piece of paper “And I remembered I had a blueprint of these old things.”

Grumbot stood up to look at the paper, and after taking a moment to understand it, froze with excitement. He glances up at Grian with a giant smile, and Grian smiled back.

---------

Grian let out a oof as Grumbot collided with him. Grumbot was giggling uncontrollably, and Grian was happy that Grumbot was happy. Grumbot let go to look at the blueprint again and looked up with eyes so full of excitement that Grian felt excited too.

“Can we actually make these?” Grumbot asked, almost bouncing up and down.

Grian laughed and nodded. “Yeah, we'll have to test them out, but there's no reason we can't. It will take a while.” He warned Grumbot “And I will test out the wings first when we think they're ready.”

He saw Grumbot take a breath, to say something when Grian continued. “I haven't tested these designs yet. I would rather, if something goes wrong, to have me gone for a couple days respawning, and you safe, instead of you-” Grian couldn't even finish the sentence before he had to take a deep breath before the tears started coming. “Instead of you getting hurt.” He ended quietly, putting his hand on Grumbots shoulder. Grumbot looked down for a moment, before looking up at Grian with sadness.

“I understand Dad, but please don't get hurt, Don’t d-die and have to respawn, I don't know what I'd tell Jrumbot.”

Grian looked at him and smiled sadly. “I wasn't planning on dying anytime soon kid. Let's start figuring out what we need to get for the wings, yeah?” Grumbot nodded excitedly, and bolted for the metals cabinet. Grian laughed as he followed along.

--------

Grian Yawned and stretched out his arms. They were all sitting in front of a fireplace, enjoying tea and Jrumbot was cuddling with Maui.

The good feeling couldn't last forever though, because eventually Jrumbot looked up and over at Grian. “Dad,” He started “Why haven't we seen Papa?”

Grian froze for a second before closing his eyes. He didnt wanna talk about this to them, he didn't want to hurt them.

“Dad?” Grumbot questioned, seeing his Dad freeze up and look on the verge of tears.

Grian sighed and rubbed his face. “Both of you come here.” He murmured finally, patting the couch he was sitting on either side of him.

Grumbot and Jrumbot quickly came over to sit beside him, and Grian put both his arms on their shoulders.

Grian took a deep breath. “You have not seen mumbo, and have not been able to explore outside of my mansion area, for a couple reasons. One of these is that I'm not too sure how mobs will react to you, and How you'd react with being hurt by a mob. The other,...” Grian took a deep breath, and closed his eyes, letting his chin drop to his chest. “The other,” Grian continued, “Is because I'm not too sure of how the other Hermits would react to you.” He finally looked up and saw both of them staring at him in confusion. Grian tried to explain. “I'm one of the only ones who have experience with actually aware AI’s, I believe, and when some people are scared of something, they decide that they should hurt it before it hurts them.” He took another deep breath and looked into Grumbot and Jrumbots eyes, one after the other. “I do not believe that many of the Hermits would react this way, but I don't know exactly how they would react, and I don't want them to hurt you, either unknowingly or not.”

He saw Grumbots eyes widen and Jrumbots eyes narrow slightly. “I understand that reasoning dad,” Jrumbot started “But why haven't we seen papa?”

Grian sighed again. “Do you two remember yesterday morning, when I came back early and stayed on the roof for a bit?” they both nodded and Grian continued. “I did that, because Mum- Papa, upset me with his words.” He said, before taking a pause. He didn't look at either of his boys, but rather the ceiling as he said “He made some not nice jokes about Grumbot. Both of you must know however,” Grian started saying immediately when they both froze “That Mumbo doesn't know much about Aware AI’s. He believed Grumbot was an unaware aware AI, and that he was killed when he broke down. He did not know you had actual feelings, instead of manufactured ones. Mumbo often has issues figuring out other people's emotions, and most of the time redstone doesn't have emotions. Mumbo doesn't know about you two, and you haven't seen him,” Grian was starting to slow as he tried to find the words he needed. “Because, Because I am afraid. He murmured quietly. I am afraid he will unwittingly hurt you with his words, and I didnt want that to happen before you were aware it could happen. I'm sorry I kept this from you, but I wasn't aware of how to say it, or if you were ready for it, and decided to let one of you bring the topic up.”

There was silence for a moment before both of his boys hugged him. “I understand Dad,” Grumbot murmured into his shirt. “You didn't want us to get hurt, but thank you for telling us now.” Jrumbot nodded in agreement and Grian let out a wet laugh. Sounding on the edge of tears he said “What did I ever do without you boys?”

Grumbot pulled away and giggled as he said “Forgot about eating dinner.”

Grian paused before letting out a loud laugh which made Grumbot and Jrumbot start giggling.

“I can't say you're wrong.” Grian laughed, running a hand through his hair.

Grian then yawned, and stood up to stretch. “However nice this bonding session has been.” Grian started, turning toward his boys. “I believe it is bedtime. No buts!” he smiled at them as he said that, both of them having opened their mouths to deny it. It is nighttime, and very dark, and both of you need sleep.”

“Will you read to me dad,” Jrumbot murmured, fidgeting on the couch.

Grian smiled at him. “Of course, you only need ask.” He smirked at Jrumbot before saying “However, the first one to get to your room gets to pick the book, and oh look, Grumbots already at the hallway-” Jrumbot shrieked out a laugh as a sudden race took place in the hallway, and Grian smiled as he tidied the place up, talking the mugs to the kitchen to wash tomorrow.

He then walked to the boys bedroom, to find Jrumbot pouting as Grumbot sat on his bed.

“What will the story be?” Grian asked them, and Grumbot smiled before saying, “what about the one about the Dragons saving the world?”

Jrumbot glanced up with wide eyes and Grian grinned. Even though Grumbot had obviously won, he had also chosen his brother's favorite book to read.

Grian walked over to the bookshelf and found the book, “A Warrior's Tail” before walking to Jrumbots bed. He started reading to them, and within the third chapter, they were both asleep.

Grian smiled and leaned over both of them to kiss their foreheads, before whispering ‘night’ and leaving the room. He walked toward his own bedroom and climbed into bed. Grian looked at the ceiling and felt Maui joined him, purring as he curled up around Grians head. He reached up to scratch Maui under the chin, before yawning and turning off his lamp.

That talk was one he had been dreading, and it went over quite well. Grians last thought before sleeping was ‘Maybe I should introduce them to another Hermit.’

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For whatever reason, Autocorrect really hates all names. Anyways, I know who the Hermit is, But do any of you? I want to see who you think the hermit is!

Also, if you liked this story, please comment! I loved reading all of your comments on the last one! They helped me make this chapter as quick as possible! (I may also be procrastinating on other stories with a Grumbot Fix-it Fic but, oh well)

#grian #hermitcraft #Grumbot #Jrumbot #hermitcraft season 7 #Mumbo Jumbo #I love this family so much #The best family is a man and his 2 robot sons #I hope i made it clear how much Grian loves his boys #and how much he doesnt want to see them hurt #>:)#robodad Grian Au

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theminecraftbee · 3 years

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Hi there! I finally read stuffed bird and I have Thoughts (all positive! I loved it!) so I think I'll send two asks, one with questions and one with a bit of a semi-related ramble. So!

Regardless of whether you'd tell us what it is, do you have an idea in your head if how it ends? Like, I know you left the ending intentionally ambiguous so we'd come to our own conclusions, but do you have an ending you personally believe?

Also, what was the significance of the hearts in the eyes? Was it symbolic? Is there a reason in-universe that it made more sense? Is it just a really cool mental image? (I thought it was very cool lol)

And lastly, how did the mutation spread all over the world so quickly? It seems like it was near-instantaneous, or at least shorter than a month.

Anyway! I loved it and will be back in a moment with another ask with a ramble lol. Thank you for the fic!

hello! i'm so glad you liked it! :D

questions that i have previously answered "that is ambiguous" i probably. won't give a specific answer to because i recognize that, as the author, my opinion on the answer will be taken as 'canon', even if i'm like "but the ambiguity was important to the themes". it will destroy the ambiguity. i will say that i do like the stuff people have drawn or done with "the three of them after stuffed bird" so if you scroll through the stuffed bird art tag, there are a few things i think are cute that you could do something with...? but like, the ending of the fic is the ending of the fic in my head. that's how the story ends, their fates after that are beyond the scope.

there is no specific symbolism of the hearts in x and xisuma's eyes so much as me coming up with that design element and going "that would be sick" and then doing it. you could probably read something into it re: heart on your sleeve sort of metaphor, given that x is relatively consistently more emotionally open after the helmet comes off, but that's the symbolic role the helmet already fills? (not to. give that away or anything. but i feel like the helmet is one of the more obvious pieces of symbolism lol.) you can also read something into it re: x being one of the monsters but also having this clear vulnerability that he doesn't like exposing?

but i really do want to make clear that my main thought there was "wouldn't that be fucking sick" and then i did it. so often in this fic my reasoning was either "wouldn't that be fucked up" or "wouldn't that be cool in a my inner 12-year-old-boy way" and then i just did it because no one could stop me my city now. i put thought into symbolism and emotional depth but ALSO one of the very first scenes ever planned for stuffed bird was the car chase, a scene that mostly exists solely because i thought it was funny and cool. (of course, the OTHER first scene planned was chapter 12, so, you know. the duality of me, i guess.)

finally, as for "how did the mutation spread"... something something airborne? something something weapons misfire? look "how exactly the monsters work" is something i did not put that much thought into. in a lot of ways how the apocalypse happened in stuffed bird doesn't matter nearly as much as "how much is mumbo/grian/concorp involved" and "what does it mean for us now". the mechanics aren't as important as the emotion of the thing, you know?

...and also the monsters are intentionally a little strange and fantasy and dream-like. i'm not 100% certain the right term here is magical realism but it's definitely more inspired by that than by scifi in a lot of places.

anyway, i hope these answers are good! and i'm really glad you liked the fic.

#answered #stuffed bird meta #once again my answers can be an unsatesfyingly shallow sort from time to time #you wouldn't believe how often the answer is 'shrug. idk.'#because yknow often its just. shrug. idk

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strawberrylemonz · 4 years

Text

A Mother for Two

Welcome to the continuation! As always, time to dedicate these chapters! Hope you all enjoy, especially @applepie1000

@petrichormeraki I will fist fight you lmaooo /j

Part 3

Part 4 [CURRENT]

Part 5

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

“You two sure you have everything you need?”

“We’re sure, Xisuma, jeez. It’s not like we’re leaving for good, we’ll be back by tonight.”

Grian snickered as Tommy was swiftly swatted on the backside of his head by Xisuma. Huffing, the boy griped as the group walked over to the portal leading to the Hub. As Xisuma gave the two another look over, Grian finally spoke up.

“Tommy and I will be just fine. We’ll just set up the fliers, get supplies, get our asses back here. Done, easy work.”

“Yeah, easy work!”

“Nothing is easy work when the two of you are together for too long. Just don’t cause too much trouble, nothing more than usual.”

After bidding farewell to Xisuma, the two boys walked into the portal. Instantly, voices chatting with each other filled the silence. The two stepped out of the portal and into the Hub. Players of all kinds here entering and leaving several portals. As the two made their way through the portal transportation section, Tommy examined all the portals.

Hermitcraft

Stampy’s Lovely World

Pixelmon

MCC

Hypixel

Cops and Robbers

There were so many portals to so many places. He had only been through the Hub to get to MCC. He was always focused on getting to his destination that he didn’t stop to look closely at every other portal around him. Stopping in his tracks, he stared at a ruined portal. It was grand and beautiful, but falling apart. It was cracked and broken, no longer activated. The giant sign above it proudly held it’s name, keeping the world from being forgotten.

SMP EARTH

Grian was walking when he felt something off. Turning around, he noticed that Tommy wasn’t following him. Tilting his head and looking around, he saw that Tommy was just standing there, staring. Excusing himself as he pushed passed the crowd, he eventually made his way to his brother. Before he could get onto his brother for immediately separating from him, he saw what his brother was looking at. Making a humming noise, he nudged Tommy before pulling out a large banner. Tommy nodded in understanding, and helped Grian unravel the banner. Working with haste, the two strung up the banner on the inactive portal. Once it was secured, they stood back and admired their work.

GRAND OPENING!!!!

HERMITCRAFT PROUDLY PRESENTS:

INNIT AN ADVENTURE?!

We, in Hermitcraft, happily invite you to join us in the opening day of our latest amusement park, Innit an Adventure! Created by our very own TommyInnit, we encourage you to spend the day with us! Come join us as we make unforgettable memories! Keep an eye out for festival week, and join us for a wonderful night of dancing!

Are you innit with us?

“Looks great!”

“Of course it does, we made it.”

“Yeah yeah, lets just finish the set up.”

Smiling, the two boys set up two podiums underneath the banner. Taking out a good amount of pamphlets and fliers, they neatly set them down on the podiums. Content, the two began to walk away from the portal as people began to stop at the ruin, murmuring in excitement for the adventure park.

“This is going to be a success, I can already tell you that. Good job, baby brother.”

The two laughed as they made their way through the portal Hub. Grian noticed some people he recognized and waved them over, already pulling pamphlets out of his bag. Tommy laughed as he looked around, fliers in hand, searching for anyone who was willing to get one. That’s when he saw it. Gulping, he quietly walked up to a neon green portal.

DREAM SMP

Reading the sign attached to the portal, Tommy saw that only whitelisted people could enter. He was whitelisted. He could walk in, right now, and possibly lose his final life tied to the world. Shaking his head, he snapped himself out of his thoughts and scoffed at them. He liked it in Hermitcraft, he didn’t want to leave it for a terrible past. He didn’t have to worry about permanently dying in Hermitcraft. He didn’t have to worry about losing his shit or having said shit used against him.

“Although...”

As Tommy mumbled to himself, he eventually came to a final decision. Nodding to himself, he crumbled a couple fliers and chucked them into the portal, sending them to the SMP. It was common knowledge that, even though people couldn’t enter, they could send items. With the fliers crumbled up, it would appear as if random passerby’s just threw trash in, making it easy for Tommy to deny inviting them.

Tommy knew that he didn’t want to go back to his past, that much was crystal clear. But what was stopping his past from going to him? If they missed him as if and wanted to see him again, they would need to make the effort. Humming with approval, he walked over to Grian, who was finishing talking to his acquaintances.

“Hey, big man, maybe we should send some of the fliers and pamphlets into the portals.”

Grian thought for a bit, before nodding in agreement. Taking half of Tommy’s fliers, Grian gave him half of his pamphlets. Nudging towards the main server, he explained his plan.

“I’ll handle the portals and the travelers, okay? You go out and hang up banners and set up more podiums. Meet me at Feast Street for lunch, okay?”

“Okay, okay, calm down. I can do this, I’m not useless.”

“Far from it. See you later, Toms, love you.”

Tommy stood in silence, watching his brother walk away. His brother’s proclamation of love had caught him by surprise. A smile formed on his face as a warm feeling bursted through his chest. Looking around, he found some crates nearby. Standing on them, he inhaled before hollering out.

“GRIAN!”

He saw his brother turn around, confused. He felt his face flush as a couple of strangers faced him as well. Ignoring them, he yelled out in confidence through the crowd.

“LOVE YOU TOO, BIG BROTHER!”

He saw Grian laugh, a big smile painted on his face. The two exchanged waves of goodbyes before turning their separate ways, ignoring the cooing noises from the crowd. Tommy laughed as he situated his satchel. Nodding, he made his way down to the capital city.

--------

Things were going great for Tommy. Do take note of the use of past tense, just pointing that out there. Now, Tommy was being scolded as if he were a child again. For Nether’s sake, he was 18! Yet, here he was, being scolded for something he didn’t do.

“I swear that I didn’t do shit!”

“Then why are you being so defensive?”

“Because you’re accusing me of crap that I didn’t even do!”

Apparently, according to the stupid shopkeeper that was currently giving him a hard time, some kids were going around and stealing stuff from the shelves. Due to the stress, the shopkeeper immediately accused Tommy of being apart of that group of kids. She wouldn’t let him leave, even after he explained himself. So there he stood, feeling like a helpless child once again.

“Is something the matter?”

Tommy turned to see a petite woman standing behind the shopkeeper, arms crossed. Despite her height, or lack of it, she seemed very intimidating. At least, that’s what the shopkeeper seemed to believe.

“Oh, ma’am, my apologies! I was just reprimanding this deli-”

“My son. You’re reprimanding my son.”

“Son???”

“SON??? WHAT???”

“What is she doing?”

“NEW PARENT POG???”

“Huhhhhhh??????”

“FINALLY OBTAINING A MOTHER, POG???”

“MUMZA???”

“MOTHERINNIT???”

Tommy perked up at this, peering over at the lady once more. The shopkeeper seemed flabbergasted at how blunt the woman was with her. The woman, however, stayed firm with her stance and gaze.

“You’re son, ma’am?”

“Yes, my son. How many times do I need to repeat myself? I sent him in here to buy some fresh fruit to snack on before lunch, but I now see that was a mistake.”

“W-Wait, no! Ma’am, I didn’t-”

“We will find a different shop to go buy fruit at, instead. Do think about things before acting. Here,”

The woman grabbed a flier and a pamphlet from Tommy, handing it to the shopkeeper.

“You can make things up to both me and my son by telling shoppers about this. Now, we shall take our leave. Come on, dear.”

The woman held her hand out to Tommy, who nodded his head and took it. She led him out of the store and to the street, ignoring the apologies coming from the shopkeeper. Once they were a good distance away, she let go.

“Sorry about that, but you seemed stuck with her hounding you like that. I was going to ask for a flier or pamphlet, but figured I should help you instead.”

Tommy blinked a few times before laughing alongside the woman. Chat was laughing alongside them, taking a liking to the mysterious woman who had saved their little pogchamp.

“Ah, I should introduce myself. I’m Kristin, very nice to meet you! I’m originally from SMP Earth, but I somehow ended up here many years ago.”

“SMP Earth? Holy shit, I’m from there, too! I’m Tommy, by the way. Well, my actual name is Thomas, but everyone calls me Tommy. I’m from Business Bay, but I eventually became the youngest prince of the Antarctic Empire.”

“Youngest prince? Are you Phil’s brother?”

“What? Nah, he adopted me as his son.”

Tommy was startled as the woman, Kristin, began choking on air. Alarmed, he pat her back as he gave her a water bottle he had on him. After a while, she raised her hand and nodded, indicating that she was okay.

“Wow, he has a son. The world is ending, hah.”

“Four, actually. He has four sons.”

“Oh my god, I’m going to have a heart attack.”

Tommy laughed before asking what was on his mind. Judging by the breezy feeling that moved across his starry face, he knew that Clara led this woman to him.

“How do you know Phil?”

Kristin’s face brightened up as a small blush painted her cheeks.

“Er, how about I tell you about it as we walk?”

“Better yet, why don’t you tell me and my older brother about it over lunch?”

--------

Grian was not expecting Tommy to come back with an older woman. He didn’t mind, however, after hearing how she saved his brother from the shopkeeper’s rage. Laughing, he ruffled the younger boy’s hair.

“Haha, you found a mother!”

“We’re brothers, so wouldn’t that make her our mother? Sheesh, dumbass.”

Kristin laughed out loud in the background, holding her stomach and she doubled over. Tommy happily smiled, very glad to have someone appreciate his language. Once they all gave proper introductions and a reason as to why Kristin was with them, they all got food and sad down at one of the outside tables. After getting a few decent bites into their meals, Tommy spoke up.

“So, how do you know Phil?”

“Ah, yes, that old fart-”

She smiled as both boys snorted at that statement. Taking a bite out her bread roll, she waited for them to settle down before. Nodding her head, she continued.

“It’s true, he is! Anyways, I knew him when I lived back on SMP Earth. I was, well, am the princess of a smaller kingdom back there. Phil’s parents had started a small kingdom of their own, the Antarctic Empire. My parents, along with his, arranged for the two of us to be married to one another. I would have usually thrown a fit at an arranged marriage, like I always did when they brought up suitors, but Phil and I actually liked each other, so we agreed. I disappeared before the wedding, however, fell through my mirror and into a hardcore world. Once I made it out of there, I ended up here. Been here ever since.”

Grian started choking out of surprise. Tommy and Kristin both moved quickly to help him, worried. Once he gave them a sign that he was okay, he adjusted himself.

“You’re Queen Kristin?”

“Queen?”

“Yeah. I read it in one of the books in the archive when I was younger. Although you disappeared, you were still married to my dad, and the two kingdoms were merged into one.”

“What?”

Kristin stared at Grian, confusion and disbelief painted her face. Suddenly, she groaned and hit her head against the table.

“This explains why some of the things I bought took way too long to finalize! My last name has been Minecraft this entire time!”

Tommy and Grian shared a look of disbelief. This was the only thing she was concerned about? Being married to Phil wasn’t troubling or shocking news to her at all! Suddenly, Tommy’s eyes widened as he gasped, pointing at Kristin.

“WHAT THE FUCK?! THAT MAKES YOU MY ACTUAL MOTHER.”

--------

Kristin helped them finish setting up banners and podiums. She also aided them in passing out fliers and pamphlets to passing people. Once they ran out, she walked them over to the Hub. As they stood at the entrance portal to Hermitcraft, Tommy hugged Kristin, who ran her fingers through her head. She may have been new to the whole mother thing, but her caring instincts were enough to comfort the young boy.

“I wish I could come, I really do, but I’m not on the list. I’ll have to wait until opening day.”

Before Tommy could whine, Grian spoke up.

“What if we got you on the list? Would you move in, then?”

Kristin laughed as she pat Grian’s shoulder, a smile painting her face.

“Of course! I just found out I had family! You guys aren’t getting rid of me that easily. Here, take this. If you guys get me on the list, use this to get to my house.”

Tommy brightened up as he was given a compass labeled Kristin. He nodded as Grian promised.

“Bye Kristin! See you around!”

“Bye Tommy, Grian, I’ll see you two soon.”

The boys watched as she walked away, a pep in her step as disappeared into the crowd. Nodding to each other, Tommy and Grian went home.

#memories in the stars au #memories in the stars #hermit!tommy au #Mumza #Mumza has entered the game #kristin minecraft

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give-grian-rights · 4 years

Text

Bets Against The Void Ch3

Well. it’s HERE. sorry it’s a bit short, if I fit in the next events then it would well succeed a reasonable amount of words. about 1500, a few words off. Reblogs fuel me 1000% more than likes. please enjoy and comment any typos ‘n stuff

my askbox is also temporarily turned back on, for this!! after a few days they’re closed, and i’ll hopefully go back to queuing up a bunch...

This is crossposted on AO3

and for Chapter 1, head here

Chapter 4 is HERE!

and @petrichormeraki Hope you didn’t forget about your Whitelist AU :)

Now that they were settled in their boats, Tommy was given a moment to realize where exactly it was he was going. And, oh shit. The builds he could see were bigger than any one solid, finished structure he’s seen on the Dream SMP.

Pockets of strange, purple clumps of spores poked out by the shore, in contrast to the rest of the island. A portion of hte island, too, was covered in the crimson netherrack. It was absolutely insane- Tommy didn’t think he’d ever seen buildings quite like them.

“...Holy...Fuck..” He voiced, breathless.

The brunnette woman in the boat beside his frowned, peering over her and Grian’s own boat. “We’re not exactly a PG server, but I think we’d all appreciate it if you tried to keep your language just a smidge cleaner,” She’d passively comment, eyes narrowing on the blond boy who turned to glare at her.

“Stress, they’re teenagers.” Grian would laugh, before the blond would be given a chance to respond. “I’ve heard Doc’s drunk ranting. We’re definitely not clean.”

She turned, raising a brow at the dirty blond. “Grian, I haven’t heard you say a naughty word, even once!” She chuckled, tilting her head.

“Sure,” he remarked agreeably, “but I was a teenager.” Giving a small, sharp smile, he turned his head back out to sea.

Tommy, huffing with effort as he continued rowing his and Tubbo’s boat, felt the fight sizzle out. His defenses dropped, too busy looking at the buildings cluttering the island. Masses of structures, all of varying sizes and designs, were impossible to look away from.

As if remembering suddenly of Tubbo’s lack of perpetual vision, he turned, nudging their arm.

Tubbo practically jumped, almost tipping out of the boat. They pulled their arm out of the water, where they’d been contently dragging their arm along, and tilted their head towards their friend. “Huh? Uh- hey! Sorry. I was spacing out. Are we there?”

“Nope,” Tommy shook his head. “But this island looks insane! Seriously, what the hell? How many of you people are there! What the FUCK is this place!” He gawked, turning back towards the Hermits. Considering Stress only gave an exasperated smile, he didn’t feel too bad with his language.

“Our Cowmercial district! Mind the, uh, terrain. We’re in the middle of handling a.. Disagreement.” Grian chuckled, a wolfish grin sprawling across their face. “Just for the principle, y’know?”

Tommy stared blankly at the back of Grian’s head, the older Brit unphased.

“..Sure, right. But no! What the fuck! I’ve never seen, like, half of those blocks before in my life! What are those buildings?” He gawked.

The strange, shadowery mansion- intricate patterns and overheads marking each wall, with scales on top. A giant chest! With..Eyes? It was twice the size of the community house! He could see four separate beacon lights! At least!

“Tubbo! There’s a- a huge ass chest with eyes! And a fuckin’ mansion, and it’s all dark and shit! Is- is that a cloud made out of glass, up there? What the fuck!” The boat was practically rocking as he cried out.

“Tommy, we’re gonna fall in, Big Man!” They chuckled nervously, grasping at the wooden walls of the boat. “Are all the buildings huge? I bet they are! I heard Hermitcraft servers always have huge builds!”

“Yes, and there’s SO FUCKING MANY! WHAT THE HELL!”

“You’ll be able to see them in time, don’t worry!” Grian chuckled, drawing his boat into the shore. “We have a lot of builds, we’re almost a year into this world. These are just our shops! You’re more than welcomed to pick up something if you need it.” He explained breezily, throwing his legs over the sides as he pulled himself to land.

“We’re sure you don’t plan on staying long, and we can’t blame’ya,” Stress added on, as Grian helped pull her out of the spruce boat. “But we’re sure there’s some necessities you’ll need.”

Grian beside her nodded, pulling up his Tablet. “I have shirts and hoodies that should fit you guys, and some other Hermits would happily pitch in. We have more than enough resources to house you two.”

Tommy, who’d already pulled himself and Tubbo out of the boat, slumped, rolling his eyes. “We’re fine. Thanks.” He tackled the last word on half-hazardly, his lips drawn down into a scowl.

“Mate, whenever your server’s ready, we’re happy to get you back. Or get in contact with your Server Admin now, even. You just need to say the word to X, and he’ll take care of it.” Stress looked over the two, her brows pinched as she looked over them.

What in the Sun’s name is happening over there to leave these two so roughed up? She thought idly, noting it in the back of her mind to bring them potions later.

“C’mon, we can get you more situated later, if that’s fine with you two. You both need to eat, asap.”

Food. Right. That’s a thing, Tommy pulled his stares away from the towering structures, naturally slipping his hand back into Tubbo’s.

The two Hermits led their way at a slow and even pace, the two teenagers trailing behind. Tommy and Tubbo both were quietly thankful for this. They were less quiet when it came to Tommy’s rambling, incoherent rants from his attempts of describing the District to his friend.

Whatever works to get them on their way, the pair of Hermits agreed, sharing a look.

It was a struggle all of itself, getting them both on track to the bakery. Tommy had poked his head in every building they crossed, with Tubbo going at an increasingly slow pace, trying to allow their Communicator to describe the complex surroundings.

They made it in decent time to the bakery, all things considered.. Tommy’s jaw dropped at the size of it, bright blue eyes surveying the large, detailed replica of a cake.

“What the fuck! There’s- there’s so many blocks! It looks crumblin’ and bitten! What shit! Tubbo! Tubbo the bakery is a giant fucking cake! It looks so realistic! Holy fucking Prime-”

“It smells so good in here, too! Wow! Does this place just sell cake? Is there enough demand, for that?”

“Wh- are those shulker boxes! What! That’s- that’s like, seven shulker boxes! Is that all just for the shit for sale??? What!”

Both of the teens were incomprehensible. Neither Stress, nor Grian, could get a word in.

“Hey! Guys, both of you, it’s alright, yeah? We have plenty of shulkers. Also, Keralis is..Yeah, probably the richest Hermit, so shulkers for his shop isn’t out of the ordinary at all.

All of us have a buncha shulkers. I’ll clear out some of mine, too, for you to have. It’d make setting up a base much easier, I’m sure.”

...Everyone has shulkers. And he’d be willing to let Tommy and Tubbo just..Have some? No way. Tommy gave a look towards Tubbo, and he could tell the other was as perplexed at the notion as he.

“You guys just.. Just have shulkers- I. Yeah. sure. Rooms with diamond armor and fuckin’ elytras lying around..Right.” Tommy took a breath, fist clenched beside him for a moment.

Tubbo, with their hand holding his arm, above his elbow, gave him a reassuring smile before turning generally towards the Hermits direction. “Thank you, like- so much?” They chuckled, sheepishly. “We really don’t need, like, anything like that. We- we should be getting back to our world soon. Hopefully- uh, probably.”

Grian frowned, humming. “Sure, but I think any Hermit that went even twenty-four hours without working on something, would lose their mind. When you go home, you could give them back. Even if you took them home, I promise that it wouldn’t be a big deal.”

The two teens shared a look. The older brit’s word may sound sincere, but they both knew better than to blindly believe someone, other than each other. Tommy shot a glare to the man, eyes narrowed.

“Yeah, whatever you say.” He scoffed. The dirty blond met his stare, unphased. A relaxed, easy smile remained on their face. Tommy didn’t trust it for a second.

Stress had begun opening some of the shulker boxes, exposing the sweets and goods inside to the starved teens. “C’mon, now. If you two want to work on some of that later, you can do that. But you’re with us, right now, and it’s time to eat. Grab whatever you’d like, Loves.”

The brunette teen gasped, tugging at the blond boy’s arm. “C’mon Tommy, do you smell that! Oh Void, this place must be lovely! Thank you for bringing us, uh, ma’am! ‘N sir!” Tubbo beams, their smile lopsided.

Tommy glanced around, towards the candy-and-sweets themed furniture in the dining area. Right. Sure. I can deal with this, for Tubbo.

#bets against the void fic #hermit tommy and tubbo au #hermit clingy duo #hermitcraft au #whitelist au #whitelist fic #tubbo underscore #tommyinnit #dsmp fic #dsmp au #dream smp #mika-posts #mika writing

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square-blunt · 3 years

Text

Don't trust english boys with far too much free time (SPOLIERS FOR 3RD LIFE SMP)

its that time again, i wrote a fic run in here come get y'alls juice. 3rd life smp fic that i threw together rq. (HUGE SPOILERS) Basically, during Scott's 7th episode, I make everything worse than it was.

Tw- Death, major gore/blood mentions, suidical intentions, but it's only a few lines and it's nothing explicit, and overall hurt. Wc: 2994 AO3: here!

It had all happened so fast. The battle of- Scott couldn’t be bothered to remember what Grian had called it. Why should he? It was the battle where he lost everything. Fuck, it had all happened too fast. He and Grian were killed. Him by Ethos, Grian by Martyn, and then- and then Jimmy. Jimmy was shot by Skizz. Scott had respawned somewhere outside of the flower kingdom, running back to the desert as quickly as he could, but when Jimmy’s- when the message popped up- Scott stopped running. He could feel it, too, a ringing in his ears, a phantom pain in the right side of his head- he didn’t need the message to know that his husband was dead. He becomes lightheaded, vision blurring, and he stumbles into and leans on a tree for stability. He- he didn’t- he couldn’t- he shouldn’t have- just left Jimmy there- how could he have been so stupid? If he just hadn’t died- if he had just told Jimmy to stay home- if he had just told Grian and Scar to fuck off- he stumbles down the hill towards the desert. Why hadn’t the TNT gone off yet- Scar wasn’t dead why hasn’t he pulled the lever? As the desert comes into view, Scott sees that the lever had indeed been pulled. Dogwarts just got lucky. None of them died. He sees some of them still hanging around the bunker where Scar and- no, Jimmy- Jimmy- his husband was more resilient than that- he- Scott knew- Jimmy wasn’t dead he couldn’t be that wasn’t how this worked- no, no, no. No- no- it’s not- he’s not-

/msg SolidarityGaming: [This user doesn’t exist]

No- no, fuck-

“Jimmy?” Scott whispers to himself. He needs- he has to- Jimmy’s name- he needs to hear someone say it. If he has to say it himself then so fucking be it. “Jimmy- Jimmy, Jimmy I’m so sorry, Jimmy- please- I’m sorry please, Jimmy, please come back, Jimmy, I can’t-” he doesn’t want to alert the Dogwarts people- he has extra potions behind the desert house. He avoids any Dogwarts that stayed behind and snags his extra potions. He feels numb. He doesn’t know where Scar is, he doesn’t know where Grian is, he doesn’t know what’s gonna happen next but quite honestly he doesn’t care. He doesn’t want to go back to the bunker- but he doesn’t have a choice. He makes his way back over, and he hears Grian worrying over Scar inside,

“Grian?” Scott is surprised at how horse his voice is.

“Scott? Scott- what- it- what happened? ” Grian climbs out of a hole in the sand, dirty, bloody, and worried

“It all went- horribly, horribly wrong-” Scott pushes down the massive pit in his stomach, and tries to put some lightness in his voice.

“Oh- all is- all is lost- what happened? Did the explosion- the explosion- what-” Grian starts to sprint towards the massive crater in the desert- and Scott follows closely behind.

“The explosion went off but it didn’t kill any of them- Cleo was shot by Ren??” Scott sees the message pop up on his communicator- the pit in his stomach expanding as he tries not to look up at- or not to think about what Bdubs might be thinking. He ponders reaching out- but he doesn’t think he could handle that right now. He knows Grian is talking, probably going on, and on about the explosion, maybe wondering where Scar went- if he was anywhere he’d be in the bunker- where Jimmy…. Where Jimmy was supposed to be. The ringing in his ears grows louder.

“-all is lost.” Scott slowly regains his bearings and hears Grian fretting over… everything that’s just happened. “We must- Do- ugh- Is there any stuff here to get back? Are we completely dead?”

“Um, I have this, I- I’m- I was smart in my excess potions, I put away-” Scott says, opening his bag and handing a few to the other.

“As you can see I also had a backup room-” Scott does notice that Grian has iron armor, which was more than him at least.

“Yeah, I have a few more diamonds- oh-”

“Tango was shot by Ren- Tango is out-” Grian says, calling attention to yet another death message.

Scott responds, but he doesn’t know what he said, he doesn’t understand what Grian says next, because they’re standing at the doorway to the bunker. It wasn't the doorway Grain had built, just a hole in the wall. 2 blocks high, one block wide, beckoning for Scott to go in, to see what had happened. Scott knows his husband is on the other side of that wall.

"-Scott?" Scott snaps back to reality when Grian places a hand on his shoulder.

"I’m- I'm okay, really-" Scott rushes, feeling a familiar sting in his eyes. Do not cry do not cry do not cry-

"Do you want me to go in with you?" Grian says, as soft as can be. Fuck, he hates that. He's supposed to be this battle-hardened warrior- do not cry do not cry- Grian wasn't supposed to remind him of how vulnerable he is. Grian wasn't supposed to see how vulnerable he could get.

Scott shakes his head, putting on a smile, do not cry, "What do you mean? I'm just gonna go see if there's anything we can salvage-" his voice shakes, but he hopes Grian doesn't notice.

Grian notices

"Scott, I'll be waiting out here." Grian gives Scott a friendly smile, "Here." Grian offers him a water bottle and a washcloth. Scott chokes back a sob and takes it, his smile wavering. He nods, not trusting himself to speak. Grian walks a few paces away, out of soft speaking distance, and Scott turns back to the gap. He takes a deep, shuddering breath. Fuck, he doesn't want to do this. He wants to turn around, run back to his kingdom, lock himself inside his house and pretend that all of this never happened. That Jimmy- that Jimmy was still across the pond, making a fuss over the cows and the chickens, asking him to mine, and then mining for hours and finding nothing but companionship. Scott wasn't ready to face the truth. Scott wasn't ready to face his last two lives without him- Scott wasn't ready to face anything without him. He takes another breath, and steps in. He looks down at his feet- that was a mistake.

There's so much blood.

It's everywhere he looks.

Everywhere he looks is just… red.

Fuck, there's so much blood.

It's smeared on the floor, a sign of struggle? There are footprints. Maybe- no, the footprints lead out the door- they're Scars. Any hope Scott had left leaves his body in a sob. He covers his mouth and backs up against the wall, squeezing his eyes shut.

He knows what's in this room.

He knows.

He doesn't want to accept it but he knows.

He opens his eyes, and it's like a stab to the gut.

He can't look further than Jimmy's hand.

That hand that Scott took as he pulled him out of a hole the first day, the hand that Scott shook to promise friendship, the- the hand that Scott held, last night, under the stars, listening to an owl far in the distance, trying not to fall asleep, confessing to each other that they might be more than friends. The hand that quickly fashioned a makeshift ring out of a red tulip stem. The hand that couldn't build for shit, but somehow built the most important thing to Scott- a bond. The hand that laid limp, lifeless, grey, covered in its own blood.

Scott wishes it were him.

Scott wishes that he was the one whose blood was all over the floor, the walls, the ceiling.

Scott was tough, blunt, sarcastic but Jimmy was bright and happy and his smile lit up the entire world- he was Scott's entire world- fuck, why'd it have to be Jimmy? Jimmy was so… unapologetically loving. Scott loved few and far between. Jimmy was carefree. Scott was a pushover. Jimmy couldn't give two shits about what other people thought of him. Scott was meticulous and worried over the slightest details. Jimmy was willing to hear everyone out, to give people second chances. Scott was toxic and everyone knew it. Jimmy was loved by everyone. Scott was loved by Jimmy. Why did it have to be Jimmy?

Scott's stomach is turning itself inside out, his head is spinning, his lungs won't take in enough air, he sobs again. He falls to his knees. He can taste the salt and iron that hangs in the air, its sting seeping into his skin. His hands are stained with blood- with Jimmy's blood- he crawls over to Jimmy. Grasping his hand- somehow it's colder than Scott remembers. Jimmy's hand was already cold due to him being a red-life but now it's so cold that Scott can barely take it. He sobs again, but this time he can't stop. The sobs won't stop, the tears won't stop, the pain won't stop- as they roll off Scott's cheeks and fall to the floor, to his hand, to Jimmy's hand- they fall and clear circular patches of blood away. It reminds Scott that the blood hasn't had time to dry yet.

Scott sobs harder.

Scott makes the mistake of looking up.

Jimmy really does look like he's sleeping.

His eyes are closed, his lips, soft and slightly parted.

He'd look so peaceful.

If it weren't for the arrow in the side of his head, and the gashes in his chest.

Those fucking- they raided the bunker and made sure- that's where all the blood came from- they fucking- Scott moved to cradle Jimmy's head in his lap, wiping away the blood on Jimmy's face. Scott wants to believe he's sleeping. Jimmy just… fell asleep in his arms. They were up on a ridge top somewhere, and Jimmy just fell asleep. He can almost feel the landscape around him, the cool breeze… he can hear Jimmy's laughter and indignant protests over the simplest things, he can't feel a phantom hand cupping his cheek. He can hear Jimmy say 'I love you'.

Scott screams.

Scott screams until his voice feels torn to shreds.

In honor of a voice he'd never hear again.

He screams as many 'No's and utter denials and one can muster, he screams at those- those bastards that took Jimmy from him, he screams 'If I had' after 'If I had' after 'If I had', he screams for the tears that drown his vision, the tightness in his chest that feels suffocating. He knows Grian can hear him through the sandstone walls but he doesn't care. He hadn't cared for a long time. Not until Jimmy. Jimmy, his fucking starshine, his morning glory, his fucking dumbass husband, who didn't hesitate to protect Scott from the most powerful people here- because Jimmy didn't want to lose him.

It should have been Scott.

But the universe is cruel.

He hunches over, sobs tearing through his body, protecting what's left of his husband, watching his own tears leave clean streaks in the bloody mess. He takes the water and the rag and wipes away what he can. Scott clears Jimmy's face, his beautiful fucking face, wipes the blood from his lips, nose, hair. Oh, his hair. Jimmy never did anything with it. Never brushing it, leaving it in whatever state it was in when he woke up, starting a few days ago, Scott would hold him down and fix it for him. 'No husband of mine is going to walk around with hair as bad as that.' It didn't matter, Jimmy's hair was still matted to the side of his head. Scott couldn't even look to that side of his face without almost throwing up-

The arrow despawns.

Scott pulls his sword from his inventory with hysteric breaths and unforgiving sobs. He holds it at arm's length. He's still a yellow-life, this wouldn't fix anything. He'd become a red-life, and then have to do it all over again. He doesn't have the energy. He wishes he had the energy, but… he knows Jimmy would be appalled. That is, if the afterlife would be kind enough to put them together. But Jimmy would still be upset. That's one of the many things he loved about Jimmy. If you did something for him, a gift, rebuilding his house, doing his hair, he'd get so flustered. He'd get red in the cheeks and would start stammering and it was the cutest thing. Scott would start teasing him about it and Jimmy would sheepishly smile and hide his face in his shoulder.

But that smile is gone now.

Scott lets the sword clatter to the floor.

"I'm so sorry, Jimmy" Scott whispers, rocking back and forth, his thumb circling Jimmy's cheek. "I never wanted it to end this way." Scott lets his head hang, his hair brushing Jimmy's forehead. Jimmy loved Scott's hair, too. He would constantly tuck it behind Scott's ear for him, sometimes adding a flower. He would constantly complement the blue, make up little nicknames. Jimmy's favorite color was blue.

"It's because of you," Jimmy had said, "blue being my favorite color, it's because of you. Your eyes, your hair, everything about you is blue in the best way. The flowers are jealous." Scott saw blue in everything after that. He sees something blue in his jacket pocket that hadn't been there before-

It's a hyacinth.

Jimmy must have slipped it in before the fight, how it stayed in his pocket he has no idea, but it's the most thoughtful thing anyone has ever done for him. He gingerly pulls it out, some of the petals are stained, but it doesn't matter to Scott. Jimmy put it there. Jimmy put it there. Jimmy saw this flower, thought of him, snuck it into his pocket, and- maybe Jimmy thought it would bring good luck? Scott starts to sob again, holding a simple blue flower in one hand, his best fucking friend in the other.

Scott tucks the flower behind Jimmy's ear.

Scott's chest and hands and legs are red, his eyes are red, he is broken beyond repair. But he still sees the blue. It stands stark against the red. The blue in Jimmy's clothing, the blue of the hyacinth blending with his hair. Jimmy's eyes were blue, too. He wants to see that blue again more than he's wanted anything in his life. He wants to be mad at those who took it away from him. He can't bring himself to be mad. He should be blind with rage, but he's just tired. If Jimmy were here, he'd make him tea and tell him to stay inside, Jimmy might have even stayed with him instead of going out to farm or mess around with Joel or Impulse.

Why, why, why, why did it have to be Jimmy. Jimmy was the last person who deserved this. Jimmy honestly deserved the world. Jimmy… he made the world a better place. The world feels wrong now.

"I'll be back to bury you, my love, but I can't stay," Scott whispers. He lightly kisses Jimmy's forehead. "We've had each other since the beginning, I will see this through to the end. They won't get away with this. I can't let them. You were everything to me, you still are. I love you with everything I have, even now that death has parted us, I can't stop loving the memories we shared." Scott can't recognize his own voice. It's strained and raspy and it hurts to speak. It hurts to breathe. It hurts so fucking much. Scott has to tear himself away. If he had his way, he would stay there until someone came along to kill him, too. But Grian still needed him. He- he let Jimmy down, he wasn't going to let Grian down. Scott kisses Jimmy's cheek one last time and picks up his sword, planning vengeance. He'd have to survive that long, but he would. He can't give up. He only realizes how bloody he is as he steps out of the bunker. Sure enough, Grian is waiting for him as promised. Before Scott can say anything, Grian runs over and scoops Scott up into a hug.

"You're gonna have blood on your clothes now, too" Scott rasps, Grian laughs lightly.

"I'm so sorry. We'll kill Skizz, I swear on it." Grian says, rubbing Scott's back. Scott tucks his head into Grian's neck.

"What am I supposed to do without him?" Scott whispers, barely audible to either of them

"Kill Dogwarts. Bring them down. Make them regret everything they've ever done." Grian whispers back. No one's around, they have no need to be whispering, but neither of them wants to raise their voice.

"They deserve it, they're homophobic," Scott says, some of his trademark sarcasm creeping back into his voice, Grian giggles.

"There he is. I missed you, Scott." Grian smiles, pulling away.

"This is gonna suck, isn't it," Scott says, sniffing, chest tightening again, a sad smile on his face.

"It might- hey, hey, it might, but Scar and I are here for you. We'll fight tooth and nail for you, and for Jimmy, I swear." Grian offers some armor, which Scott gladly accepts.

"Well, we have to find Scar first," Scott and Grian both laugh, "I'll come back for him, to take him and bury him back home. But… I just can't do that right now." Scott sighs.

"Take all the time you need, Scott," Grian says. Scott was lucky to have him and Scar. Scott knew they were his friends, his allies, and Jimmy trusted them until the end, and so too would Scott. They- they were all he had left of Jimmy.

He wasn’t gonna lose them too.

He can’t.

He couldn’t.

He didn’t.

#tag time yayyyyyyy #3rd life spoilers #3rd life smp #3lsmp #flower husbands #jimmy solidarity #3l!jimmy #3l!solidarity #scott smajor #3l!scott #3l!smajor #angsttttt #blood tw #death tw #Grian tries his best #gremtalks #my fics

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votederpycausemufins · 3 years

Text

Another chapter of Surprisingly Familiar. Time to write for Grifter again!!!

hermit Tommy au is by @petrichormeraki and @helleborusangel gets tagged in my writing because I can.

Grian groaned as he woke up. It sounded like someone was up pretty early, and based on the fact that he seemed to be the only one in bed, he had a guess as to who it was. He was too tired to look at the time, but either way it was supposed to be the weekend and he wasn’t awake enough to be his normal wake up.

“What’re you doing?” Grian asked tiredly, wrapping himself in the covers more. “Come back to bed. ‘M feelin’ cold.”

Grian was glad to hear footsteps, but then realized they didn’t sound right. He turned in bed to face the source before opening his eyes and then finding himself face to face with the minimalist image of a face with a mustache.

Grian tried to jump back, but that was hard due to still being in bed. He still moved back some, and was able to see the image seemed to belong to a screen that was attached to a robot. “Dad! He’s awake now! I think I scawed him a wittwe!”

Grian didn’t pay attention to any answer as he looked around the room. He was in a large fancy king sized bed in a room that matched it. In other words, this was not his normal bedroom. Grian tried to get up out of the bed, but the robot pushed him back down, being much stronger than him despite being smaller.

As the robot’s hand kept him in bed, Grian started struggling, trying to find some way to escape. He wasn’t going to let himself be stuck in a place like this. If he just had something to use against the robot, maybe he could get out, but his punches and kicks did nothing except leave himself in pain.

“Stowp stwuggwing. You’we gonna huwt youwself awnd Dad’s nowt gonna wike thawt at aww.”

That just made Grian struggle harder. “Well I don’t care! I’d rather not be kidnapped and want to go home. If you want I could just scream bloody murder until someone shows up!”

“Thawt pwobabwy won’t work.”

“What, is that normal here?” Grian asked jokingly, but then was disappointed to see the robot nod. “Oh course it is.”

“If uwu don’t twy weaving, I’m gonna get my Dad. Awnd even if uwu twy, Seftew’s pwobabwy going tuwu stowp uwu.”

“Lovely.” Grian deadpanned, and then the robot left. Despite the warning, Grian still tried to leave, but found his escape blocked by another similar robot, though it was different enough that it couldn’t be the first one again. When it saw Grian, it stared him down until he reluctantly went back to the bed and sat there pouting.

He had to wait a bit while sitting there, lying back down at one point, but eventually the door opened again. Instead of the heavy metallic footsteps of the robot, they sounded much more like a human’s. They cleared their throat to get Grian’s attention, but he wasn’t really in a hurry to give them that. “So, mind telling me what you kidnapped me for?”

“You’re the one who was napping.” The person replied, and Grian’s eyes widened before he sat up. Standing there was himself, well, their face was definitely his. They seemed to be a few inches taller, red sweater replaced by a green tunic shirt, and black wings just barely visible folded up behind their back. “I was just trying to help.”

“What- but- why do you look like-” Grian fumbled out, mind trying to wrap around what he was seeing. “Dad?”

There was silence before the person held in some laughter, well, tried and failed. “No. No I’m definitely not dad. Absolutely not. I mean you’re close I guess, but he’s more blond than mousy brown.”

“But you look like him!” Grian argued. “I mean, he wore green a lot, and he’s got black wings. Wait are you related to him?”

“Yeah. Let’s see. I’ve got a dad and mum, one of which is literally death, I’m a triplet with two brothers, and then we’ve got a younger brother who was really little when I went missing from the rest of my family at the age of seven, living at a high school with a pair of friends, if you can call them that, and just trying to survive.”

“But that’s-” Grian started, before getting cut off.

“The same as you, right?” The person asked, sitting down on the bed. “And the answer of why should be obvious.”

“Are you…? Are you me? Like, me but older and from another dimension or something.”

“Or something. It’s a bit complicated with everything that happened.”

“Okay. And you’ve got robots. Why do they have mustaches?”

“To match their dad.” The person replied.

Grian’s eyes widened. “Wait, Taurtis has a mustache?!”

The other person’s eyes widened. “No. It’s not- I’m not with- Taurtis is…”

“What do you mean you’re not with Taurtis?” Grian asked, now very confused. “Did you break up or something? Or I guess did we break up… this is weird.”

“No. I didn’t break up with him. I… I didn’t want to… he was just…” the other person said, face falling. “When he stopped mo-“ and they cut themselves off. “Ignore that.”

“Were you- is… is Taurtis dead?”

“Uh, no. No he’s not dead. Just…”

“Oh my god…” Grian said, slumping down. “Taurtis…. Taurtis is… h-how did he…?” The person didn’t answer. “What happened to your Taurtis?”

“He and… and my Sam. Well we found something we shouldn’t have, and then I was the one to leave.”

Grian didn’t say anything else, just stayed silent. On one hand, this meant Sam was dead too, so he wouldn’t be causing any problems. But Taurtis. Taurtis was gone and he wasn’t coming back. Wouldn’t come back. Why had he even come to a future as horrible as this? But then he had a thought. “What happened to Taurtis?”

The other him was briefly taken aback by the suddenly serious tone. “I said. Essentially we messed with higher beings that shouldn’t be messed with.”

“Then what.”

“Well, they wanted one of us for something, but they didn’t tell us who or for what. Next thing I know, I’ve got blood on my hands and the other two are dead. I didn’t really get to do anything before I was dragged away.”

Grian nodded, completely quiet. The other Grian almost said something, but the look he was given stopped that. “That didn’t happen yet for me. If I get back, I can stop that, right?”

The other Grian blinked. “I mean, I’m not sure if it would work that way. I mean, I don’t remember getting pulled into the future when I was still in high school.”

“So it could work.”

“If we can get you back to that time, yeah, probably. But that’s if it will even work. I mean, since then I’ve learned magic, but I’ve never been able to really go back in time like that.”

“Well, maybe I should stay with you a bit longer, at least so I could have a chance by knowing what’s supposed to happen.” Grian said, trying to cling onto some sort of hope.” And you wouldn’t lie about it to make me feel better, right?”

“Hey, would I lie to me?” The other Grian said, sounding as genuine as he could muster. “Telling you about it is nicer than actually going through it, so of course I’ll tell you.”

“Thanks. So uh, where are we by the way?” Grian asked, looking around the room.

“We’re sort of in my castle.” Grifter replied. “Welcome to the NSMP!”

Tommy was woken up by someone shaking him awake. He groaned a little, wishing he could stay in bed a bit more, but then he recognized the hands. “Grum? What’s up?”

“Dad’s been kidnapped.” Grum responded, panic in his voice. “I-It was Grifter. He was here and we didn’t know, and now he took Dad away. And then everyone started arguing and you weren’t around so I came looking for you.”

Tommy pulled himself out of bed the rest of the way. “Where’s Jrum? Why isn’t he here too?”

“He’s still with Daddy. He went to get Kokatori, which I think is good since I guess he’s warming up to them.” Grum explained, and Tommy nodded, pulling out his comm and looking at the messages in chat.

“Hey, why the fuck is Grian’s old name in there?” Tommy asked, making Grum shrug. “Well that’s not fucking good. Where’s everyone at?”

“Still over where the party was unless they’ve moved since then.” Grum answered.

“Alright, here, hold this.” Tommy said before putting Tubbee in Grum’s arms and then slinging the robot over his shoulder. “Let’s see if people will tell us shit about what’s going on. Can you message them that we’re on our way?”

Grum said yes and a few moments later Tommy felt his comm buzz, followed by Tubbee buzzing in response and Grum giggling at that. Good. With whatever was going on, it was a good idea to keep traumatized kids distracted. Tommy definitely didn’t know that from experience.

A quick trek through the nether got them back to Aque Town, where everyone was in a bit of a crowd. Tommy set Grum down on a bench nearby before pushing his way through the crowd, though most of the Hermits didn’t really need to pushed aside to let him through, doing it willingly. When he finally reached the center, he frowned upon seeing the group in the middle.

Xisuma and Mumbo were there of course since it involved Grian. Phil and Paul were also there, arguing a bit. Then, there was also someone Tommy didn’t recognize at all, who seemed to just be standing there awkwardly. “Hey, you in the bathrobe. What the fuck’s going on around here?”

Xisuma and Phil each tried to give some sort of explanation to Tommy, but he just stopped them. “Hey! I asked shower boy, not you shits. Obviously he’s important if he’s right here, but no one’s really dealing with him, so you go back to yelling while I give him something to do.”

“We weren’t fucking yelling-” Phil started to say, but then Tommy shushed him.

“Alright, what do you think happened?” Tommy asked the guy in the robe.

“Well, I was asked here by King Soares for some task. I met the local hedgewizard and we proceeded to have a magic duel. To make a long story short, I defended against an attack, the hedgewizard tried to stop my attack, and a Watcher intervened which seemed to cause some sort of issue with the Listener and now he’s gone.”

“Wait, you think Grian was a Listener?” Mumbo spoke up, making the robe man nod.

“Of course. The magic was coming from his direction and matched his magical signature well.”

“Alright, so this is all Grifter’s fault.” Tommy spoke up. “Grifter is like… an evil alternate version of Grian. Grian’s a Watcher while Grifter’s a Listener.”

The hooded man’s eyes widened and he nodded in understanding. To the side, Paul pushed away from Phil. “Wait, this whole time Grian was one of the Watchers here?”

Tommy nodded. “Yeah. His kids are too.” And that seemed to shock Paul more as he went to sit on the ground rather than stand, not trusting his legs.

Before anyone else in the group could say anything, Jrum ran in, holding Kokatori above his head. “The chicken doesn’t know anything which I think is weird!”

“Why the fuck would the chicken know anything?” Tommy asked, a bit confused.

“Because it’s not a chicken.” Phil was the one to speak up, Paul nodding to agree. “The question is how it even got here in the first place, because while it might not know what happened with Grian, any information it’s got could help.”

“You’re not seriously suggesting we interrogate a chicken, right?” Tommy asked, but the serious looks that Paul and Phil and even the magic guy’s faces told him otherwise. “How do you even do that?”

Paul stood back up and cracked his neck, which seemed to actually scare Kokatori. “I’ve got a couple options.” The chicken struggled a bit in Jrum’s arms before Paul grabbed its neck and pulled it out of the bot’s arms. “You want to do this the easy way or the hard way?”

The chicken struggled a bit more before hissing and then shooting something out of its beak. That caught a number of people off guard, but not Paul, even though what vaguely resembled a dart had stuck itself into his neck. “This isn’t gonna get any easier for you. It’s almost night and I think training some kids for their interrogation badges could be a good way to pass the time. Torture too if they don’t have them yet.”

“I’m sorry, do you mean badges as in…?” Tommy asked, trailing off.

“He means boy scouts, yeah.” Cleo was the one to answer, which surprised Tommy. “He’s sort of an honorary troop leader for them.”

“Yeah, the kids love me.” Paul chuckled, then looked around. “By the way, does anyone have any milk? I’m losing feeling in my legs.”

Hoodie went to Paul’s side a moment later and cast a spell, making everyone notice that he had gotten a bit pale after the chicken, or whatever it was, attacked him. “So, If I may ask, what exactly is this creature?” Xisuma spoke up, worried about whatever it was being on his server.

“Cockatrice.” Paul replied. “Belongs to someone I know.”

“I’m guessing that they’re not really a friend of yours, huh?” Tommy asked, earning a nod from the man.

“Yeah. Kokatori’s his main ‘chicken’, which makes it more odd that they’re all the way out here and not with him. How long have they been around Grian?”

“Maybe about two weeks.” Mumbo answered. “Everything was a bit of a mess around here recently. Grum and Jrum got stranded in another world and we had a number of issues getting them back. Somewhere near the end of all that, this chicken, or I guess, this cockatrice, showed up.”

“Good to know. Anyone got questions they want answered?”

“Well, I would say ‘where’s Grian’, but if Grifter is involved, he’s likely in Helscraft.” Mumbo responded. “It still would be nice to know why, though.”

Paul nodded and looked back to the mob. “Well, you heard him. What’s the answer?” And he glared at the cockatrice, which gave a feeble chirp of sorts. “Wrong answer, try again.”

“Wait, you understand it?” Tommy asked, making Paul nod. “How?”

“Deal with them as long as I have and you pick up some things. So, what’s the answer?” And again the cockatrice gave a feeble cluck, though this time with a hiss. “Last chance.” Another hiss, and then Paul sighed. “Alright, so somehow it doesn’t know. Koka was just ordered to keep an eye on this place, so they don’t know what’s going on with Grian.”

“What do you know then?” Tommy asked, getting closer to the mob. “Because I bet you’re not completely fucking clueless.”

Paul nodded. “Nice and to the point, I like it.” The cockatrice clucked and hissed a bit. “Alright, it noticed Grifter lurking around a little bit, but didn’t see him actually doing much because it was around, guess he doesn’t like chickens. Anyway, he was trying to get Grian for something, but for what they don’t know, just something.”

“Well, that’s better than nothing I guess.” Tommy said, and then there were more noises from the cockatrice. “What did that bitch say now?”

“Stuff about Punchwood.” Paul said, a dark look on his face.

“Who the fuck is Punchwood?”

Paul looked up. “You’ve been calling them hels versions? Well, I’m pretty sure he’s mine. I’ve known about him for a long time. He likes to send chickens to spy on me and others and I’ve had to make excuses about him showing up more than once. Technically people know me by either Paul Soares or Pablo Punchwood. That’s because he showed up and made a mess of things. Since then I’ve used the name Pablo Punchwood as a sort of alternate name, and so everyone assumes that the first Pablo to show up was me doing an editing gag as a promotional piece.”

“So your hels version is making a mess out of things?” Phil was the one to speak up this time. “Wait, I half met mine not too long ago and he was death instead of Kristen. Does that mean-” Paul nodded. “Well shit.”

“Well, if we end up dealing with him, we’re gonna need to get prepped.” Paul said, finally letting Kokatori go. It didn’t have freedom for too long though, as almost immediately Jrum grabbed it again. “Phil, Doc and Wels can lead a number of teams to get properly prepped. While I’m sure a number of you can prep well on your own, I don’t really trust you with a team.”

“Hey! That’s- You know that’s fair.” Bdubs was the one to speak up.

“Hoodie, while I’m sure your magic would be helpful, I know we’re going to need it to help Grian and it would also be good to keep this place safe. If anything happens, you have a way to contact us of course.”

“Then I will do what I can to assist those staying behind, sir.”

“Why the fuck do we need to prep?” Tommy spoke up, making people turn to him. “He’s in Helscraft. We know enough people there that are on our side, and more that while they’re not on our side, they hate Grifter more, and right now he’s the problem. Let’s just get over there first before we try figuring things out, especially since they could help us get gear.”

“Tommy, it’s not that simple.” Phil was the one to speak up, but was then cut off again.

“Why not? We just showed up there last time and we were fine.”

“Yeah, because we weren’t going in there alone and weren’t dealing with Grian’s Hels version. I think you saw what he did to the SMP.”

Tommy frowned. “Yeah, because we didn’t know he was gonna show up, but now we do. And sure, we still might need to prepare or whatever, but the more time we take to do that, the more time he has to do whatever the fuck he’s up to.”

“Tommy.” Xisuma was the one to speak up this time. “While I know the past few hours, Paul hasn’t seemed the most trustworthy, the other hermits seem to trust him and he does know what’s going on. None of us know exactly what’s going on here, so preparing in advance for anything is going to be our best bet.”

“I don’t want to waste any fucking time preparing for something that might not even happen!”

“Then let’s try and make it quicker.” Paul spoke up, looking up at the sky where the moon was rising. He put two fingers in his mouth and let out a large sharp whistle. At first, nothing happened, but then there was suddenly a crowd of baby zombies coming over to the group of hermits. A number of the hermits pulled out weapons, ready to fight, Phil also getting out a sword of his own, but Paul just stepped closer to the crowd of zombies and knelt down in front of the one at the front of the group. “Hey Bub.”

“Heya Mister!” The zombie spoke, which caught a few of the hermits off guard. “What’s going on?”

“Well first of all, I heard you got a new member related to Cleo here.” Paul said, gesturing to the zombified hermit.

“Oh yes! He’s already doing a lot! We’re even scheduled to go on a week-long trip to a scout camp to earn plenty of badges and he’s signed up for seven badges!”

Paul chuckled. “Good for him. Say, I’m sure plenty of you guys have your badges already, but I’m dealing with Punchwood again and I’ve got some friends that need to properly gear up.” He said, gesturing to the hermits.

The baby zombie nodded. “Say no more Mister Soares sir! As long as you sign our blue cards, we’re happy to help!”

“Alright.” Paul said, standing back up. “Let’s get to work.”

Perfect Sense looked back and forth between Grifter and the shorter, more angry looking copy of him that was standing to the side. “What. The hell. Is this? I though-!”

Before Sense could say more, Grifter started pulling him into another room. “If you want to shout, let’s go to another room before you accidentally scare someone!”

Sense sputtered at the accusation. “Accidentally scare someone? I wouldn’t do that!” He got out before the door shut behind him and viridian magic appeared around it. “It’s always on purpose!”

Grifter grabbed Sense’s tie and pulled him down into a kiss. “Oh I know, but Grian doesn’t know that.”

Sense looked back to the door. “So that was him. Why is he here and not locked up like he was supposed to be, hmm? You’re just letting him stand there, completely conscious, nothing stopping him from using magic.”

Grifter rocked on his feet. “Well, he actually can’t use magic because he doesn’t know he has any.”

“What.”

Grifter stopped rocking to look Sense in the eye. “Okay, so I know the plan was to kidnap and trap him, and we still might do that. But stuff happened.”

“And by stuff… you mean?”

“Okay so I get there and they’re having a party for their Grifect because it’s his birthday or something. I think it’s perfect to kidnap him from because the chaos will hide his disappearance. And then I run into a chicken.”

Sense facepalmed. “Oh dear lord, tell me you didn’t.”

“I didn’t! I just hid, no screaming. And that definitely wasn’t a normal chicken. Those eyes weren’t right. But anyway, then I moved and then I saw Punch!” Grifter said, shouting a bit. Sense also was surprised, but before he could comment, Grifter continued. “Apparently it was actually his wels counterpart, which is so much better, and then he messed with things so I couldn’t get Grian because then the chicken was watching him. And that thing scaled a fucking building, it’s not a normal chicken. I mean it’s worse than a blucker.”

“A-alright.” Sense said, just a little bit confused, then he looked back at the door. “But what about Grian?”

“Shit, right. Anyway, follow Tommy because he leaves alone. I try to figure out if he knows anything, but doesn’t look like it. I go back, and then there’s another new guy! He’s got magic shit and I’m pretty sure he’s working with not-Punch and then Grian’s nearby. I’m worried he’s going to do something to Grian so I just try a little spell to maaaaybe leave him unconscious for a day or two or something. But then he reacts and attacks back before I can get the spell out, and then their Scar is doing magic, and then Grian interferes and now poof! He’s a kid! So I dragged him here before anyone could notice and he woke up, saw me, and assumed he’s in the future since I’m also here.”

“So, he doesn’t know who you are?” Sense asked with a slight tilt of his head.

“No! So as far as he knows I’m future him and I know what’s going to happen. I just try to remember what’s different between here and wels based on what he says and it works fine. He has no clue he’s still got Watcher magic because that won’t fucking go away, but I can work with that! If he remembers, we shove him in the Anesi box and take it from there. But for now…”

“What do you need?”

“I need to go threaten some people so they don’t ruin some things. I want you to stay with Grian and get his trust. He’s already influenced into thinking he’ll love you since I do, but still play it a little safe. And if necessary, say that I don’t like to talk about my past too much.”

Sense nodded and the magic was lifted from the door. Grifter opened the door again and grabbed the redstoner’s hand to pull him out. “Feeling calmer now?”

“I… yes. I apologize if I scared you at all.” Sense said before getting an elbow in the ribs for him to be less formal.

“It’s okay.” Grian said, though he didn’t look like he was, still glaring a bit. “So, you’re Sense?”

“Perfect Sense, at your service Grian.” And Sense took Grian’s hand and kissed the back of it.

“Seesee, you’re going to make me jealous of myself.” Grifter said with a little giggle. “And don’t make him uncomfortable with that.”

“N-no. It’s fine.” Grian said, taken aback by what just happened. “Um, should I just go by Xelqua so you can tell us apart?”

“Well, Gri had a nickname some people use. A bit of an inside joke. Of course, people still might call him Grian, so you using Xelqua should be fine.”

“What do they use?” Grian asked, worried about what it might be.

“Grifter. And he’s completely fine with it.”

Grian nodded. “Okay. I just thought it might be something else.”

“It’s not.” Grifter said, teeth gritting slightly. “No one’s used that name in years.”

“Gri, are you-” Sense started, but then Grifter was off. “Well, I suppose he does still have things to do. Why don’t I show you around then?”

Grian looked to where Grifter stormed off before back to Sense. “That sounds good. I’m sure he’ll want some time to himself.”

“I suppose you would know that, wouldn’t you?” Sense said with a smile. “Well then, let me show you around the castle. I’m sure you’ll love it here. By the way, Gri didn’t say, how old are you at this point?”

“Eighteen. I’m legally an adult so you don’t need to baby me. I just got pushed back a few years, I’ve still got more high school to deal with, but I’m hoping I can find a way to graduate early.”

Sense nodded, making sure he was behind Grian so he couldn’t see his smile. “Well, I suppose you’re out of there now. Now I can’t remember if we have any guest rooms available, but if not, we can always add a bed in our own room. It’s large enough for that.”

“That sounds good. I was in there earlier and it did look pretty big.” Grian nodded, oblivious to what exactly he was getting into.

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hyperactivelittlebee · 4 years

Text

Dancing in the Moonlight(Hermitcraft)

@gridoc

This is for ur pirate au, bean! Based off my "bring on the men" ask I did. I also promised GriDoc fluff sooo~

The soft sound of waves hitting the boat did nothing to drown out the sound of blissful celebration. Grian could blame them really- they had encountered SIRENS. They were just happy to be alive and celebrated it the only way they knew how; with bellies full of rum, a good meal, and a night out on the town.

However, this wasn't Grian's way of celebrating a near brush with death- as tempting as it was.

Instead, Grian had stayed back on the empty ship, much more content at having his privacy on the large vessel. He spent time in his quarters, pacing as he tried to wrap his head around the whole encounter. Why had the siren said that to him? Why did he feel such a burning sensation at the sight of Doc falling for the siren?

Surely it was because he didn't want the captain to succumb to such a terrible fate, right? Nothing more than moral dilemma.

Or maybe that was just what he was telling himself…?

His hand reached into his shirt, pulling out a small silver locket decorated in rubies and sapphires. He opened it, staring at the small framed photo of Taurtis inside.

What if that's only what he was telling himself.

That this was only moral dilemma.

That it was nothing more than just the right thing to do.

That he didn't want to save Doc, but had to for his own sake.

Grian swore off love a long time ago. With Taurtis gone, those butterflies he felt in his stomach just didn't feel right with anyone else. Those butterflies did nothing but remind him of something he lost long ago. It had been so long, but moving on just didn't feel right.

Shaking his head in frustration, the blonde snapped the locket shut and shoved it into his shirt again. He made his way up to the main deck of the ship, climbing up the stairs to the rear railing. In the clear night, Grian could see the entire starry expanse stretching and reflecting along the calming endless ocean before him. The moon shone, big and beautiful in the sky, reflecting off the waters below him.

Out here, he felt something he hadn't felt in a long while.

He felt in control of his life.

A familiar tune reached his ears from a nearby tavern, and he couldn't help but smile as the familiar lyrics played in his mind and rolled off his tounge.

"There was a time, I don't know when- I didn't have much time for men…"

Climbing on to the rail, he grabbed hold of a stray rope hanging from the mast, "But this is now, and that was then, I'm learning…" He leaned back to get a better view of the street, making sure nobody was nearby before continuing, "A boy alone, all on his own, must try to have a heart of stone!" The blonde walked along the rail, spinning slightly and clutching a hand of his heart, "So I try not to make it known, my yearning~" Humming, Grian looking down at the boats deck, smiling as excitement started to course through him, "I try to show, I have no need! I really do, I don't succeed…" Preparing to jump, his grip tightened around the rope. Taking a running leap, Grian swung his way through the air, relishing in the way the wind whipped through his hair, "So, let's bring ON THE MEN-!" Letting go, Grian landed on of the deck with a loud thud, "And let the fun begin! A little touch of sin~! why wait another minute?" At this point, he was belting into the night sky, the feeling of being free ever present, "Step this way, it's time for us to play-!" Grian could feel his heart thumping as he danced freely and sang on the deck, the feeling of having wings never leaving him, "They say we may not pass this way again, so let's waste no more time bring on the men~!"

That was the last time Doc went drinking with Ren. He loved the guy, really he did- but this was the third time his first mate had run off who knows where with Iskall and Mumbo.

His footsteps were heavy as he approached the dock, fully prepared to pass out the moment he got in bed. However, as a familiar tune hit his ears, he slowed down and softened them.

"So, let's bring ON THE MEN~!"

Climbing onto the boat, he jumped a little as a familiar figure landed with a thud on the other side of the deck, back turned to him, "And let the fun begin! A little touch of sin~! why wait another minute?" An amused smile crossed Docs lips as he recognized the figure as a certain former navy boy. So, this was what he was doing.

"Step this way, it's time for us to play-!" Not one to ruin such a performance, Doc silently made his way to lean back against a crate of supplies, watching Grian's every movement in the moonlight.

"They say we may not pass this way again, so let's waste no more time bring on the men~!"

The German snorted softly at the chorus, raising a brow.

"I always knew, I always said, that silk and lace in black and red...will drive a man, right off his head it's easy~"

Silk and lace in black and red?

Well, if Doc did see that on the smaller male, he surely would lose it.

"So many men, so little time! I want them all, Is that a-"

Spinning around, Grian met eyes with Doc and his voice broke off, "C-crime-!"

Smirking, Doc slowly clapped, adoring how Grians cheeks lit up bright red, brows furrowed, "H-how much did you see?"

"Enough." The creeper hummed, staring down the human boy with pure amusement, "And my, that really was quite a wonderful performance…"

"Not. A. Word." Grian growled softly, glaring in a way that made Doc shudder.

God, was he slightly drunk?

"Relax, I won't say anything…for a price."

"A...price?"

Doc hummed a yes before holding his hand out in offer, his smirk softening to something more genuine, "Come out on the dock and dance with me."

Sensing the other man's immediate protest, Doc held up a single finger, "One dance. Just you and me, the crews all in the tavern drinking their giddy asses off." Holding out his hand once more, Doc held out hope, "What do you say, hm? Let bygones be bygones?"

Grian held his breath, his heart fluttering in his chest as his eyes flickered between the captain's hand and face; searching for any trace of ulterior motives. Yet all that seem show was a man who was making a small request.

Sighing deeply, Grian hesitantly took Docs hand, "One dance and just one. Any wandering hands or wrong moves and I swear I'll shove you into the water with zero hesitation." While his tone was joking, he could tell Doc had taken it seriously, "I promise, no funny business…"

Walking off the boat, Doc took off his coat, draping it over a barrel before following Grian to the end of the Deck.

As he went to stand beside the blonde, Doc couldn't help but notice how nervous he seemed.

Resting a hand on his bicep, Doc sent Grian a reassuring smile, "Relax..it's just a dance. As much as I adored fighting with you before, this is supposed to be a break from all that. Okay?"

Taking a deep breath, Grian nodded, "Good. Now, ready?" Turning to the smaller male, Doc slid one hand to take Grian's, and the other gently gripping his waist. Grasping the captain's hand, Grian reached with his opposite hand to hold his shoulder.

Slowly, the two began to dance to the quiet music from the tavern, the moonlight guiding their steps as their movements became so in sync they were moving at one.

As time lost meaning to them, Doc's arm slipped to wrap around his back, pressing them together. Their bodies flush against one another, they seemed to get lost in eachother, Grian's head resting on Doc's chest.

Their bodies fit together like puzzle pieces as the world around them seeming to lose all meaning.

To Grian, Doc smelt of sea salt, bourbon, and gunpowder- reminding Grian of a victorious battle at sea. His body was incredibly warm compared to the night chill, making Grian not want to let go. The tender way he held him made Grian's head dizzy, and the softness in his eyes made his knees shake.

Those butterflies in his stomach were worse than ever.

To Doc, Grian smelt of lilacs, salt water, and roses- reminding Doc of a flower garden in the spring. His body was shivering from the night chill, and it only made Doc want to hold him closer and allow him more warmth. The way he clung to him with such trust had him reeling and the relaxation in his form made Doc want to scoop him up, lock him in the safety of his cabin, and keep him forever.

"Grian?"

Liftng his head, the blonde looked up at the creeper, a soft, far off haze in his eyes, "Hmm…?"

In the light of the moon, Grian looked almost heavenly. His soft cheeks flushed a soft pink, lips slightly pouted with the corners upturned in a coy smile, and hair a beautifully wind blown mess.

"I-I...Well, I…" Doc's voice trailed off as he began to slowly lean forward, heart leaping as he realized Grian was doing the same.

Too lost in the moment, the two didn't notice they were edging closer to the edge until it was too late. Just before their lips touched, they slipped.

With a shout from both of them, they fell into the icy cold water.

Doc was quick to act, tugging Grian to follow him to shore as they emerged on the beach soaking wet.

Doc shuddered, only mildly bothered by the freeze, "Dammit- I should have been paying attention I-" He stopped as he looked at Grian, realizing how violently he was shaking on the ground.

Quickly, the captain scooped Grian into his arms and ran to the dock again, holding the shivering ball to his chest.

"We have to get you warm, fast…"

Picking up his dry coat, he headed to his quarters, nudging the door open before setting him down on a chair.

He quickly peeled the soaked vest and shirt off Grian before draping his coat over his shoulders. He scooped him up once more before placing him in the bed, wrapping him in blankets, "There. Nice and cozy. Better?"

His face flushed, Grian nodded softly, embarrassed over the fact the captain was so quick to baby him.

"Y-Yea...uh...thanks…" Doc let out a relieved sigh before leaning forward, pressing a soft kiss to Grians forehead, "Good. You can sleep here for tonight, I'll sleep on the sofa…" He gestured to the lounge seat against the wall as he walked to the door, humming, "Stay warm, alright?"

"O...okay…"

Just before he left, Doc smiled softly at Grian, "Oh, and Grian?"

"Huh?"

"I'd...love to do that again some time. Dance that is- without the whole falling in freezing water, that is."

And with a chuckle, he was gone before Grian could say, 'What about you?'

Reaching and touching the locket around his neck, Grian felt his cheek grow warmer at each time Docs words played in his head, those butterflies acting up in his stomach again.

But this time…

Maybe those butterflies weren't so bad.

#docm77 #grian #GriDoc #pirateau #hermitshipping

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chaoticrqccoon · 4 years

Text

“Hm, anything?”

Grain was enjoying the new season, a lot, he had many plans for his base, but he kept getting distracted by his next-door neighbor, Scar. It was not his neighbors’ fault; Scar had done nothing to pull Grian away from his work but Grian could not help but just want to talk and hang out with Scar all the time. Grain had no idea why he wanted to see Scar all the time but he didn’t mind it because he was happy talking to Scar and Grian was finding so many reasons just to visit Scar, if it was just to check if he was at his base to steal Scar’s door or pull a little prank; Grain would find any excuse to go over. Grian really did not know why he wanted to be around Scar so much, but he didn’t dwell on it.

Talking about making excuses to see Scar, Grian had left a message at Scar’s base (along with stealing his door) asking if Scar would be interested in helping him build something, he did ask Bdubs too. They were both amazing builders but Grian really wanted Scar to help just because he would be seeing Scar the whole time. Grian was trading with his villagers, he was getting materials, bricks. Grian had got some shulker boxes, and he was filling them up with all sorts of materials that he think would go well with this up-coming build. He was jumping around slightly and talking to himself, going place to place to trade with all the different villagers. This was not his ideal kind of thing to do but he did not mind the little jumps he got while running about to see each villager, it upped the fun he could have in such a small place.

Grain felt his communicator go off, he pulled it to look at it, Grian saw an message displayed on his screen, ‘Hey Mr G I want to hear more about the “this project”’, it was from Scar. Grian smiled to himself reading the message, Scar wanted to help! Which meant he would be spending time with Scar on the build, Grian typed his response into the communicator, ‘Heading over now’, Grian hopped down from the upper level to get to his shulker boxes to put the last of his materials away, he was trying to get ready as quick as possible, he wanted to go over to Scar’s base and talk to him. Grian made a swift turn to exit his trading area only to be greeted by Scar himself standing in his doorway, Grian jumped clutching his red jumper. Scar had startled him. Scar chucked.

“You scared me!”, Grian pointed to Scar, “Or should I say you ‘scared’ me?”, Grian laughed at his own joke, Scar found the joke funny too and laughed a little. Grian let go of his jumper and smiled at Scar, “How long have you been there?”.

Scar hummed, “Not long, I don’t think? I’ve just been watching you trade.”, Scar actually knew he had been standing there for quite a while, it wasn’t often he got to see Grian so chill and not being a gremlin for at least 5 minutes. Though he loved each side of Grian, if it was Grian pulling n prank, rambling on about things or like how Grian was right now jumping around minding his own business. Scar had figured from a long time ago that he was infatuated with Grian. Scar was really enjoying how much time Grian was spending with him too, Grian just kept coming over. He also knew it was Grian stealing his doors, and the only reason he kept replacing them was because he knew Grian would come over again to steal them. He was glad Grian was his neighbor this season.

“Not long? But you were watching me trade?”, the tip of Grian’s turned red, “Creeeeppyy.”, Grian choked out trying to make a joke. Grian just realized he had been caught in the act of jumping around and talking to himself. Scar just smiled.

“Who knew you talked to yourself?”, Scar had actually caught Grian talking to himself many times before, Grian would be causally be somewhere talking to himself, muttering on about plans or the most random things. Scar had noticed many things over the time, the way Grian wouldn’t bother to push his glasses back up if they fell down to the bridge of his nose or how Grian’s fringe always got in the way of his eyesight and even took notice that Grian jumper was actually a little too big on him.

Grian’s cheeks spread of the colour red at this comment. “You will not tell a soul!”, Grian found it pretty embarrassing that he talked himself and really did not want other people knowing. Scar’s smile became a grin, Grian’s eyebrows furrowed. “Don’t!”, Grian knew that Scar’s grin meant he was going to do the opposite of what he asked of him not to do.

“What you going to do if I do?”, Scar teased.

Grian folded his arms, “I’ll prank you, badly!”, it was an empty threat to Scar. Grian pranks him and many hermits all the time so if he told the other hermits that Grian talked to himself he would still get pranked if told them or didn’t. So, Scar did not mind the threat at all.

“Really?”, Scar faked a gasp. Grian stared at Scar for a few moments, Grian knew his threats were useless. Grian really didn’t want made fun of for his little habit.

“I’ll do anything, just don’t tell anyone. Pleaseee!”, Grian was snooping low but anything but his silly talking habit to not be told to the other hermits.

“Hm, anything?”, Scar hummed, tapping his finger on his chin. Grian nodded eagerly.

“Yes! Anything!”, Grian walked up to Scar, looking up at him. Scar looked at down at Grian pretending he was thinking of something he would want so that he wouldn’t tell anyone. Scar knew exactly what he wanted, a kiss. Scar wasn’t actually going to tell anyone; he’d liked keeping the little things no one knew about Grian to himself. It would be a shame if anyone else knew it too. Scar put his hand underneath Grain’s chin and tilted his head up.

“How about a kiss?”

Grian’s jaw dropped, he spluttered a bunch of words, not sure what to say. This worried Scar and he let go of Grian’s chin, should he have not said that, should he have just told Grian that he not going to tell anyone, or should he just tell Grian the kiss was a joke? Scar felt like he messed up everything. He really liked Grian and now Grian was not responding to his request. This was just slowly getting awkward and Scar had to get away.

“Uh- it’s a jok-“, suddenly Scar felt himself being pulled down and felt a pair of chapped lips on his soft ones. Grian gave him a quick kiss, just a peck.

Grian pulled back, flushed red and was looking at the ground. Scar himself had turned a little red and was touching his lips. “Grian-“, Grian looked back up to meet Scar’s loving gaze. Scar was so happy, Grian had just kissed him but Grian wasn’t sure how to feel, he knew the small peck was amazing to him. He really has not kissed many people in his life, but this kiss felt different. Scar put both his hands on each side of Grian’s cheeks and pulled him in again, a few centimeters from kissing again.

“You don’t if I kiss you, again, do you?”, Scar’s voice was filled with hope, his eye were screaming for it. Grian nodded and grabbed Scar’s shirt. Scar didn’t take any time to get back to kissing him, he quickly planted his lips onto Grian’s, he moved his hands to Grian’s waist pulling the smaller boy closer to him and held him close as he deepened the kiss. It was in this moment that Grian finally understood why he wanted to be around Scar so much, he was smitten over Scar. All this time, wanting to hang out with Scar, talk to him, just wanting to see him in general was because he was head over heels for Scar. Grian gripped harder onto Scar’s shirt and was standing on his toes just to keep the kiss going.

Scar pulled away first, panting, trying to catch his breath. “Gosh Grian, eager, are we?”, Grian looked away, embarrassed. “You always have something to say, know I know next time you If you don’t stop talking nonsense all I have to do is give you a kiss.”

Grian let go of Scar and punched him in the arm, “Ow!”, Grian actually had some strength to his small frame.

“You were meant to be here to talk about the project, not to kiss me, you- you- argh!”, Grian punched him in the arm again. Scar hissed but the chuckled.

“About that, I wasn’t actually going to tell anyone.”, Scar ran his fingers through Grian’s hair. “I just really wanted to kiss you.”

Grian smiled, “You didn’t just ask for a kiss for the sake of it, did you?”

Scar raised his eyebrows, “What, no! I thought it was clear enough that kissing you meant I liked you!”, Grian giggled and Scar realized Grian was just messing about. “Grian.”

Grian shrugged, “I just wanted to hear you say, ‘you liked me’!”

Scar leaned down and kissed Grian again, “Well, I do like you.”

#scarian #hermitcraft grian #hermitcraft scar #hermitshipping #hermitship #i took way too long on this #I don't know how to write kissing #grian x scar #rqccwrites

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ineffably-good · 4 years

Text

Faeted (2/15) - Good Omens AU

Summary: Ezra fell is an English professor at a prestigious academy for boys. Crowley is the lord of the Unseelie court in the lands without sunrise or moonfall. Somehow fate will bring them together.

Read Chapter one here

Read it on AO3!

Chapter Two - Into The Woods

Monday morning came soon enough, and Ezra spent the morning preparing for the outing he was taking his afternoon literature class on. He’d reserved one of the school’s vans and was driving the twelve boys out for a ramble in the local hills to visit several key points mentioned in some of the recent readings. This term’s subject had been early British and Celtic mythology, and they’d covered everything from the Irish Ulster cycle with the great warrier king Cuchulain, to legends of the little people who supposedly predated the human occupation of the British Isles, to the great early versions of Arthurian legend. It was just the thing, he’d found, to stir the interest of early adolescents in literature, with their focus on heroic feats, dramatic battles, and of course, magic.

The twelve boys from his class piled into the van in a raucous explosion of noises and smells, and kept up lively conversations (consistently largely of insults, as far as Ezra could tell) as they visited an ancient cathedral built on the site of an old holy well from pre-Roman times. They stopped to examine a battle site that was supposed to have been involved in Arthurian legend, which the boys found quite a bit more fun than the church had been. He let them beat each other with stick swords while shouting out bits they remembered from Le Morte D’Arthur for a good half hour, and then he gathered them back into the van and made their way to an old conical hill that had a reputation as once having been the home of the little people, the fae themselves.

“This it, boys, last stop!” Ezra called as they pulled off onto the side of the road. “Bring your snacks and your notebooks – we’ll be walking for a little while to get to the site!”

Twelve gangly boys tumbled out of the van behind him, and he quickly arranged them into scouting format.

“You, Adam, take the compass,” Ezra said, “and Brian, you’ll carry the blanket. Wensleydale, you’ll be rear guard. Everyone ready? Off we go.”

After a few minutes of concerted hiking through light forest, they emerged into an open field covered in grass, with a large, round, flat-topped hill before them. An ancient, picturesque tree was its lone companion – a hawthorn, perhaps? There was a peaceful stillness to the site, broken only by birdsong.

Ezra gathered the boys and explained that this was a site worthy of respect, likely a burial site at a minimum, and that no one was to dig or pick up rocks or otherwise take or change anything at all about it. He met each of their eyes in turn to emphasize this closely. And with a few more dire warnings, he set them loose to explore while he laid out a blanket nearby and set out of a few of their provisions for their missing tea time.

A half hour later, Adam Young flopped down on the blanket beside him. Ezra smiled. Adam was one of his favorite students, mischievous but highly intelligent, always asking an unexpected question or surprising him with an unusual turn of phrase in a paper.

“Do you really think the fairies lived here, Professor Fell?” he asked.

“I don’t, really,” Ezra said, “although it’s lovely to think about. I think most of these hills are the remains of old ring forts, or perhaps burial mounds.”

“Why did they build these stories up around them, then?”

Ezra thought for a minute. “The fairy legends, as I interpret them, are representative of a loss of innocence as the world moved from nomadic into more settled lifestyles, with the coming of farming and larger settlements,” he said. “I think civilizations codify their losses into stories, and stories hold that grief for them for the things they can no longer remember.”

Adam looked thoughtfully at the landscape around them, then grinned. “Would be wicked cool, though, if it were real, wouldn’t it?”

Ezra smiled. “I suppose it would,” he said, just as an enormous clap of thunder pealed overhead.

A moment later, a torrential rain began to fall. The boys near him pulled their blazers up over their heads and ran squealing into cover under the nearby trees at the edge of the clearing, and Ezra quickly made his way up to the top of the hill to make sure everyone was off of it. He paused in shock for a moment to watch an enormous bolt of lightning strike much too close by for comfort, then quickly spiraled counterclockwise down the sides of the tor until he reached the bottom and headed off to follow the voices of the boys into the woods.

Oddly enough, he couldn’t seem to locate them, despite hearing their voices seemingly just up ahead. The air around him had gotten significantly darker with the coming cloud cover, and it was difficult to see under the thick branches. The rain and the odd quality of light gave everything a slightly greenish cast.

“Boys!” he called, beating a little deeper into the woods. “Adam! Everyone, please stay together!”

“Professor Fell!” he heard someone call from worryingly far off. “Where are you?”

A branch hit him in the face as he turned towards where he thought the sound came from. “Here!” he called. “I’m here! Please stop where you are and stick together.”

He heard no further sounds, but continued to move forward towards the last direction he had heard the boys from. Rain dripped down off the leaves of the trees and ran unpleasantly down his neck. He stopped to pull his tweed coat a little closer around himself, then took a few more steps before realizing he had no real sense of the direction in which he was traveling.

He turned in a slow circle and looked around him, but he saw absolutely nothing but trees. Strange, he thought. I don’t remember the woods being quite this deep here.

A branch cracked behind him and he whirled to find himself eye to eye with a large horse.

A horse. With a rider.

A rider who happened to be a beautiful woman with long, flowing brown hair, dressed in a green gown with golden accents. Her horse was decorated with flowers and bells and appeared unusually tall and glossy. She looked like nothing so much as the living embodiment of Spencer’s faerie queen.

“Greetings, fellow traveler,” she said in melodious tones.

Ah, Ezra thought, of course. It’s a prank. The boys have decided to prank me with an actual, genuine fairy encounter of my very own. How very droll of them. He suspected Anathema had had a hand in this as well. The boys wouldn’t have achieved this level of detail on their own. He took a peek around to see if he was being filmed on one of the boys’ infernal phones, but he couldn’t see anyone. He decided to play along, just in case.

“Why hello, fair lady,” he said with exquisite politeness, offering her a smile. “I seem to be lost. Have you seen my students?”

She studied him for a moment. “I have not,” she said gravely, “but I can offer you assistance if you’d like.”

He had to give her credit, she was taking her role very seriously. “Did Anathema put you up to this?” he asked sotto voce. “I must say, you look wonderful. The detailing on your gown is exquisite! Where did you source your materials?”

The woman looked perplexed. “What nonsense you speak,” she said. “Do you require assistance? The woods can be treacherous in such a storm and you appear to be far from home.”

“I’d be most appreciative,” he said, “if you could help guide me back to the clearing.”

“Very well,” she said, leaning over and offering a hand, clearly indicating that she expected him to climb up on the horse beside her.

“Oh no, I couldn’t,” he replied, taken aback. “Horses and I – well we don’t really get along. I’ll just walk beside you, if that’s all right.”

She laughed in surprise, and gently guided her horse around to face to the west, then offered Ezra the reins to hold. They set off at a gentle pace, the horse leading the two of them through the woods for longer than seemed reasonable and Ezra walking at the side of the lady until they began to see more light between the branches. Finally they emerged into the clearing where he’d been before, at the base of the hill.

He glanced around quickly but saw none of the boys he was hoping to find. Instead, he saw a half dozen people, similarly attired in old-fashioned outfits of green and gold, many with equally fine mounts. Four were men and two were women; all of them were so attractive it nearly hurt to look at them.

Ezra revised his opinion for the moment – this was undoubtedly too elaborate for a prank. Perhaps what he had chanced upon instead were role playing enthusiasts out for a day in the woods? He knew some of Anathema’s friends partook in this peculiar hobby, often dressing up in costume and spending a day or two acting out some elaborate fantasy storyline out in the countryside. Never one to laugh at another’s hobby, Ezra was inclined to respect the thoroughness with which these particular people hewed to their chosen personas. They were tip to toe the exact image you would think of for the fae.

“Lady Griane!” one of the menfolk cried. “We feared for you when you did not return immediately.”

His companion, a tall, broad-shouldered man with odd violet eyes, looked Ezra over thoroughly. “But we see now what detained you,” he said with a smirk.

“I have found a lost traveler,” the woman said, dismounting gracefully. “He asked for our assistance.”

“Hello,” Ezra said politely. “You all look quite lovely in your costumes. What game are you playing today?”

The purple eyed fellow eyed him in distaste. “My Queen, this one is clearly of inferior intellect. Perhaps you should return him to the bush you found him under.”

Griane made a shushing gesture with one hand, and the purple-eyed man fell silent. “I have taken him under my protection. Although I do admit he speaks an unusual amount of nonsense.” She laughed musically, and her companions echoed it.

One of the other women moved forward. She held a pouch in her hands, and smiled at Ezra with brilliant white teeth. She had dark skin and a smattering of what looked like a golden-ink tattoo across her left temple and onto her cheekbone. “I am Uriel,” she said. “Would you like refreshment?”

She reached into the pouch and pulled out a small cake and a flagon of what appeared to be wine. The scent of the pastry wafted through the air enticingly, making Ezra realize that he was quite extraordinarily hungry.

The entire woods seemed to still, as if the trees themselves were watching him closely to see what he would do.

Ezra looked from Uriel to his host, Griane; they both looked back at him with pleasant, expectant faces. He felt a brief tingle in the back of his mind, as if there was something he should be worried about, but he felt hot and thirsty and tired and could not, for the life of him, summon the energy to worry about what that might be. A group of role players was offering him what appeared to be a very nice snack. He liked snacks. He liked little cakes. He especially liked wine.

What, he thought, could be the harm?

“Why thank you, Uriel,” he said politely, reaching out to take the offered cake. He brought it to his lips and took a small bite and was rewarded with an explosion of effervescent flavor upon his tongue that made him close his eyes and moan. When he heard quiet laughter, he opened his eyes again, feeling somewhat embarrassed, but Uriel moved to his side and met his gaze kindly.

“Have a drink as well,” she said, offering him the flagon. “Being lost in the woods is thirsty work.”

“Er, thank you, my dear,” he said, taking it from her and bringing it to his lips.

The wine, he thought, almost burned with its goodness. It was the best wine he had ever tasted. It was light and golden and rich and playful all at once, tripping its way down his throat. As it reached his stomach, he was filled with an immense sense of peacefulness, making him feel as if nothing could ever be wrong again in his world. His arm which held the flagon dropped to his side of its own volition, and he felt someone removing the flagon from him without rousing himself enough to care.

“Pardon me,” he mumbled, as his knees folded, “but it seems I simply must sit down for a moment.”

“It’s no trouble, Ezra,” he heard Grian say, as gentle hands helped him to the ground. “Sleep now; you’ve chosen well.”

Ezra cracked one eye open and saw the faces leaning over him filtered through an odd greenish cast of light, almost as if it were suddenly twilight, and he struggled for just a moment before giving in to the deep pull of sleep.

“Cake,” he heard the purple-eyed one say in a disgusted tone. “He didn’t even pause. Imagine if we’d offered him an entire feast.”

Ezra slept.

#good omens #good omens au #good omens fanfiction #slow burn #fae AU #crowley is unseelie #aziraphale loves cake entirely too much #ineffable husbands #angst with eventual happy ending

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yhs-silly · 5 years

Text

Hang on there buddy #2

Trigger warnings: suicide mentions, character death, murder mention, ghost s, self harm, self harm mention

After another week or two, people began to notice how Grian was getting; he stopped joking around with Sam and Taurtis, he just sat quietly during class, he never really ate much- Chan had even spread a rumour that she’d seen him drinking from a bottle of wine in the bathroom at lunch, no one was sure if it was real or not as Grian refused to comment. In all honesty he figured he could use it to cope, he didn’t mind the taste, though it was a little bitter. The real reason he drank it was he thought it could help him cope, it was what his mother had used after all, his father used something else but they didn’t sell vodka nor whiskey in the store, so wine it was.

Grian kept up the cutting, as soon as his money had been transfered he went straight out and bought a pack of razors. The cuts got longer and deeper but he cried a little less everytime. He felt like he was coping at least a little when he did this, the fresh cuts hiding just under his sleeves reminding him just how much of a terrible person he was and how he shouldn’t do anything to display his emotions- he simply didn’t deserve them. Sometimes this mentality meant he felt guilt whilst cutting, like it was only a plea for attention and not a way to cope, but he pushed those thoughts out of his mind when the steel made contact with his flesh.

But that wasn’t the only change happening, when Grian moved into the apartment, they told him that there were only two beds but he was fine with it, he didn’t mind the sofa.

That wasn’t the issue he had with living with those two.

Grian was no stranger to emotions, that was obvious. But positive ones always seemed to elude him, lately though, he’d been feeling very warm and fuzzy around his friends. He hated that feeling, he didn’t deserve to be happy, he simply didn’t.

Then it happened, he realised what he was feeling. Sam had started cooking, just small things like savory muffins and omelettes, veggie burgers and the like but Grian and Taurtis always enjoyed them, even if they were bad. He was currently making some strawberry pancakes using Yuki’s recipe, Grian could smell it as soon as he woke up, Taurtis hadn’t woken up yet so Grian was just sat there, playing with his hands and breathing through the pain coming from his arms. He watched Sam lazily, the rabbit had the radio on and Grian couldn’t help but smile at how Sam’s left ear bobbed to the beat, twitching up and down in time.

Grian didn’t even realise he’d been humming along to the radio until Taurtis walked in and sat next to him, yawning and leaning against him. “Nice humming there G.” He chuckled a little before getting comfy, his head resting against Grian’s shoulder. Grian felt his face heat up and his heart both swell and drop, he liked them. He realised with that awful sinking feeling setting in, he had a crush on them, his two best friends in the worlds and he was here acting like a creep. He felt awful, these were his friends, he wasn’t supposed to like them, he felt like a pervert for simply looking at them.

Grian sat in class a few hours later, staring out of the window, he was remembering being small, he used to sit on his aunts lap and tell her all about his cool idea and thoughts. He remembered how Gareth was there sometimes, the poor guy always tried to talk to him, to play with him, but Grian didn’t like him, he always smelled of smoke and he was so sappy and boring to be around. Any normal kid would avoid him, Grian knew that- he just wished he at least tried to make the guys life a little easier. He wished he hadn’t drove the man to suicide, he didn’t know how to fully grasp what he’d done and he didn’t want to think about it- he’d start crying, and he didn’t want to cry in the middle of class.

Then there was the fact that he’d developed feelings for his best friends, or maybe it was just his desperate desire for validation that fooled him into become in love with the first people to show him kindness, maybe it was just him being dramatic. He was straight after all, he wasn’t gay whatsoever, sure he dated Ellen and they happened to not be female but that wasn’t really Grian’s fault- or maybe it was and he was just being an assuming bigot? He really didn’t know and his mind felt like it was messing with him, he watched a little bird fly around outside the window for a few moments, just letting his mind wander like that.

“Grian? Grian are you listening?” Okamis voice rang in Grians ears harshly, tearing him from his thoughts and back into the classroom. He jolted up in his seat, slightly embarrassed that he was called out. He looked up at her with an awkward smile, it was clear that Okami was waiting for him to say something. “Uhmm…”

“You weren’t listening were you Grian?” Okami sighed when Grian shook his head in shame, walking back up to the board. “I asked you what the primary colour set are.”

“Oh!” Grian perked at that question, he knew that- he’d been educated with the upperclass for the first six years of his life, are was taught excessively. “It’s magenta, yellow and cyan.” He rolled his eyes at everyone snickering and saying that he’s wrong, he knew he was right- he might be worthless but at least he knew his damn colours.

Okami smiled and went on the explain how he was right, Grian couldn’t help but smile at that. That was until he realised why Okami was teaching art- she wasn’t normally the art teacher.

Jane used to be the art teacher, she used to teach art and english. No wonder those subjects were ones Grian loved so much, his dear aunt was the one that influenced him the most.

A few hours later, Grian sat on the school roof, it was late at night, maybe the morning- he was unsure. He looked down to the pavement bellow, if he fell then he could die. Dying sounded pretty good for him, he didn’t want to bother anyone- Sam and Taurtis had offered to let him sleep on their sofa but after catching feelings he really didn’t want to trouble them. He’d caused everyone enough pain anyway, moving in would just hinder them more. He caused the death of one of their teachers and now he was crushing on them, he’s better off not living with them. Poor miss Okami has to cover the lessons of two teachers now, not just her own. Grian had never felt guilt like that before, it felt like thousands of eyes were glaring at him- bearing down on him like a layer of water with the texture of a blanket and the weight of a world. He hoped no one could see the pain he was in, he’d hate to appear weak in any way.

He could see a lot from up here, he could see the yakuza going about their business in the town. They looked so small from where he sat, he felt strangely safe up here. The ghosts that haunted the school, Gareth and Salex, Gareth avoided him for good reason- Grian couldn’t blame him but he did wish he could tell him how sorry he is. Salex sometimes joined him on the roof, he supposed she felt a duty of care- Grian was friends with her boyfriend after all. He hated the way she looked at him, with pity, she never spoke of him and always sat a distance away- like she was scared of getting too close.

“Please say something…” Grian muttered, glancing back at Salex who’d been watching him in silence for quite a while now. She merely lowered her gaze in response, not even gracing him with a single word. He sighed and turned back to watching the yakuza, Yuki’s father owns it- that he knew. Yuki was a sweet girl, a little troubled but who isn’t these days- at least she has a good reason. Grian grew up in high society, sure he might not have been given as much attention as he probably needed and maybe he run away at age seven but they had found him again at eight. He’d had such a good life, one that most people would kill for. Yet he’d still driven a man to death, he really was a monster- there was something horribly wrong with him and his friends didn’t deserve to be around him, they deserved better.

It was then that Salex decided to speak for the first time. “Poor boy, blinded by guilt, unable to see his friends and instead wallowing in selfish grief…” She wasn’t speaking to him but about him, he could hear her whispers from over where he was sitting- it wasn’t her fault that a ghosts voice isn’t masked by the wind. Grian had to agree that he was selfish, he must be so selfish she’s right. But he doesn’t know how else to feel, the only thing he really felt strongly these days was guilt. Other emotions felt weak and hollow, he could be laughing one moment and empty the next. He never forced a laugh nor a smile but he always felt they were fake.

“Do you hate me Salex? Do you hate me for who I like?” He turned to face the ghost, his tone was slightly confrontational but even though he hated himself for liking his friends it was the only thing he was currently sure of.

Salex looked at him, her ghostly features portraying surprise. “I don’t hate you anymore then I do Chan for dating him or Yuki for killing me.”

Grian sighed and frowned. “That doesn’t answer my-” His eyes widened as he processed her last question. “Yuki killed you!!?” He couldn’t believe he’d been privy to such information, that freudian slip gave him so much insight into Yuki’s life. He scooted closer to her along the side of the roof and leaned forward towards her. “Did she mean to? Was it murder or did she just make a mistake??” He stared at her with wide eyes.

Salex blinked at him, shaking her head in disappointment as she faded away. “You stupid boy, focus on yourself, stay away from other people before you get hurt- they don’t need you butting in.”

She left Grian feeling worse then before, he didn’t really know how to feel but bad. He wished Salex had stayed silent, he felt like he would’ve been better without her input. He looked back down at the edge, maybe he should jump? He felt the world would be better without him.

But he was angry now, Salex was so rude to him. If he died now it would only grant her the satisfaction, he refused to do that. He took his hoodie off and balled it up to act as a pillow, he pulled a blanket from his backpack and wrapped himself in it, laying down to sleep. He counted himself lucky to get such a good view of the stars to sleep under.

#yhs grian #yhs #yhs taurtis #yhs sam #yhs salex #yhs gareth #yhs yuki #yhs okami #tw ghosts #tw self harm #tw suicide #suicide #self harm

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redstone-sun · 5 years

Text

The Dead Sun - Redstoner Sad Ending AU

The Dead Sun- Redstoner Au AU

Takes place right after the ending of the Sad Ending and based on that one ask about Grian respawning when Mumbo dies.

(hoo boy here we go)

It had been nearly a week since Iskall made the decision of seal off the obsidian box and progress from moving his base away from it was slow but steady. Both Stress and Ren promised to assist him in rebuilding it and seeing just how much stuff needed to be transfered, he was glad for the help.

Iskall sighed and glanced up at the black cube floating in the sky.

“A tome” his mind supplemented.

The one-eyed swede grit his teeth and turned away. He was glad he was moving. Having the box constantly hanging over his head was too much for him. A constant reminder of what happened to his two dead friends.

“One dead friend. The other is still alive. He’s still up there. Starving. Hoping you’ll come help him. Save him”

It was true. Mumbo was still alive up there. His death message had yet to appear but knowing how long its been, the message would be due any day now. Iskall bit his lip to keep from crying. He dreaded the day the message would arrives. Every notification he got on his communicator put him on edge. Iskall shook his head to clear his mind. He had to leave. He can’t deal with the stress and guilt today.

Quickly packing up all his shulker boxes, Iskall sent a message to Ren and Stress saying that he’s gonna call it quits for today.

RentheDog: Yea no prob buddy. Im almost done with my section anyway

Stressmonster101: Same here! Do you want to go check out the shopping district after? I heard there might a new shop opening soon

Iskall85: maybe, I wanna stop by X’s base first thou

Stressmonster101: Ah okay, say hi to Xisuma for me yea? Take care Iskall

RentheDog: Yeah dude, if you need us we’ll be here

Iskall85: thanks guys

A small smile formed on Iskall’s lips as he read through the messages his friends had sent him. They had done so much for him in the past few weeks. He wanted to give them a gift for all of their help. The shopping district always had interesting stuff to buy, he could easily find them some gifts there after he was done at Xisuma’s.

With that plan in mind, Iskall took off towards Xisuma’s base, never once glancing back at the obsidian box.

—–

“Good afternoon Iskall, how have you been?” Xisuma said as Iskall landed by his door.

Iskall shrugged his shoulders and quickly scribbled out, “I’ve been better” in his book and showed it to X. X nodded sadly before gesturing Iskall to follow him. Xisuma knew why Iskall was here and rightfully so, they’ve done this routine many times in the past weeks.

The room that Xisuma lead Iskall to was small and bare, save for a few chairs at the side and a shelf on the back wall. Sitting on the shelf stood a lone shulker box. Grian’s shulker box.

“Hey,” Xisuma placed a hand on Iskall’s shoulder before continuing. “Me and the other hermits were thinking of pooling our resources together to create a funeral for him. For both of them.”

Iskall looked at X, even covered with the visor, Iskall could tell his eyes were sorrowful.

X gave his shoulder a small squeeze. “Mumbo was my friend too. He was friends with everyone here. He least deserves some sort of funeral, regardless of what happened. I think it’ll be beneficial for everyone if we have their funerals soon. Of course, we won’t move or do anything yet without your approval.”

“Mumbo’s not dead yet. We can still save him. Break him out of the box and set up a new respawn point for him!” A small voice spoke up in the back Iskall’s mind.

Iskall ignored that voice and nodded solemnly. Xisuma gave his friend a small smile before giving his shoulder one last squeeze.

“Think about it okay? I’ll be in the other room if you need me. Take as much time as you need”

With that, he left the room, closing the door behind him and leaving Iskall alone with the Grian’s shulker box.

Iskall stared at the box. He’s been here so many times now but everytime it feels like the first. Knowing that his was dead and a dusty bottle and some stone was all that remains always made him choke up.

Sighing, Iskall opened up the shulker box.

Only to find it completely empty.

Iskall dropped the box in shock. There was no way. Iskall rubbed his eye and looked inside the box once again.

Still empty with absolutely no traces of any sort of dust being there.

Anger replaced his shock.

How dare someone do this. How dare they mess with Grian’s remains. Iskall was going to kill whoever did this 3 times over.

“Xisuma would know what happened" Iskall thought.

With righteous anger, Iskall kicked down the door and made a beeline to Xisuma’s figure on the far side of the room.

"Oh hey Iskall, that was quick, how are you doin-!” With one arm, Iskall slammed Xisuma’s frame against the wall, effectively pinning him in place.

“Iskall! What are you doing?!” Xisuma cried out, trying to break out of the swede’s grip.

Iskall didn’t reply, instead with this free hand he brought out his book and wrote out his message before he shoved it in X’s face.

“WHERE IS HE" was scrawled across the page.

Xisuma clawed at the arm holding him in place.

"Iskall! I swear I don’t know what you’re talking about! Please, let me go!”

With a grunt, Iska dropped Xisuma to the floor and furiously started writing in his book. Xisuma stared up at the man before slowly lifting himself to his feet. Iskall’s eyes snapped to Xisuma’s and Xisuma put his hands up in a peaceful manner.

“Iskall, I don’t understand what’s going on,” Xisuma said in a slow calm voice. “I swear. I don’t mean you any harm, okay? Let’s all just calm down.”

Iskall huffed and shoved his book at X to read.

“The shulker is empty. Grian’s dust is gone and I swear if you have anything to do with this I end you”

Xisuma’s eyes widened in shock.

“That… That makes no sense! No one has been in that room recently but you and me! And last time I checked everything was still there!”

“Then where did he go!" Iskall wrote.

Xisuma put a hand to his chin before mumbling to himself,

"This is absolutely bonkers. The only way Grain’s remains could have left is if someone had snuck in here when I wasn’t looking, or …”

Xisuma gasped before his body went ridgid. Iskall watched as his friend’s eyes glazed over and numbers and symbols that Iskall himself couldn’t comprehend filled X’s helmet visor.

Being the guardian of this world had its perks and downfalls. One perk being able to access and change the “code” as Xisuma liked to call it, of the world, though the downside was the enormous amount of energy it took. Xisuma rarely ever used this power unless absolutely necessary. In fact, the last time Iskall remembered X using this was went he destroyed all of Mumbo’s spawn points in order to ensure the moustached man’s death would be permanent.

Iskall shivered at that memory as he paced the room. There wasn’t much Iskall could do when Xisuma was like this. He would just have to wait for his friend to come back.

Nearly 15 minutes passed before Iskall heard a sharp inhale and turned to see Xisuma stumble. Iskall rushed over and put arm across the helmeted man’s chest to help support him.

X gripped Iskall’s arm like a lifeline.

“Iskall, Iskall! He’s okay! He’s alive! His code is good!” Xisuma’s voice was laced with disbelief. Iskall stared at his rambling friend in hopes of gleaming any sort of context. Iskall gently shook the man to get him to focus, pleading with his eyes for Xisuma to explain.

The grip on his arm tightened as Xisuma pulled Iskall closer,

“It’s Grain. His code is alive! He’s respawning. Oh my gosh, Iskall I don’t know how or why but he’s coming back! I saw it Iskall! His code is in its respawn stage. Oh my gosh he’s okay…”

Iskall was shocked. Could Xisuma really be telling the truth? Shaking the rambling hermit more, Iskall tried to get Xisuma to focus more and hopefully get more information. But Xisuma’s ramblings had quieted down and he seems completely out of it. Iskall carefully placed X on the floor of his base and just for good measure, place a couple of golden, carrots on top of him.

If Xisuma won’t tell him, then he’ll figure it out for himself. Running at top speed, Iskall took to the skies. His destination, Grian’s base.

—–

Cutting through the Shopping District was the fastest way to get to Grian’s base and Iskall refused to stop for anything.

As he sped through the air over the various shops, he vaguely recalled hearing his name being called from down below by two people, before his focus shifted back to Grian’s base coming over the horizon.

Swooping down to the bottom layer of the tower, Iskall scanned the area hoping for any signs of life. As far as Iskall remembered, Grian’s last respawn bed had been in his base but from his viewpoint, the bed was being obscured behind some of Grian’s cluttered storage. Rushing into the storage area, Iskall peeked into the center.

If Iskall could use his voice he would have yelled for joy.

Laying on the bed was a slightly burnt but very much alive Grian.

Before Iskall could move further into the storage, the sounds of two people landing alerted him.

“ISKALL? ISKALL BUDDY? WHERE ARE YOU?” Ren’s voice echoed across the room.

“ISKALL, LOVE? ARE YOU OKAY?” Stress’s voice soon joined Ren’s in calling for their friend.

From his vantage point, Iskall could see Grian groan from the sudden noise and slightly turn on his left side before a flash of pain streaked his face. Iskall had to check up on him but first he had to get Ren and Stress to quiet down.

Iskall poked his head out of storage and waved his arms to get their attention. Ren was first to notice.

“Iskall! There you are! What’s got you so worked up man?” Ren said as he and Stress made their way to the storage. Iskall quickly placed a finger to his lips to shush them and beckoned them over. Quietly they followed him into the storage.

“Oh my gosh?!” Stress whispered, lifting a hand to cover her mouth when she spotted Grian lying in his bed.

The three hermits hurriedly made their way to the resting hermit. Kneeling down next to the bed, Iskall gently shook Grian awake.

“Uuuggh, why does it feel like I got compacted in an oven.” Grian hoarsely called out. Grian moved his hands up to rub at his eyes before a horrified look crossed his face and he shot up in bed.

“Love?” Stress called out. “Are you okay?”

“My… my ARM?! WHERE’S MY ARM?!” Grian yelled, wiggling his left shoulder and grasping at the empty space with his right hand.

“Grian?! Oh my goodness!” “Dude you gotta calm down!”

It took a good few minutes of combined comforting from the three hermits to get Grian calm enough to talk.

Iskall locked eyes with Ren before tapping his throat and then pointing at Grian’s missing arm.

Ren nodded sadly, “Yea, it’s probably something similar.”

Noticing this interaction, Grian asked, “Iskall, are you okay? You haven’t made a peep this entire time. Normally you’d be non-stop talking.”

Iskall held up a hand and brought out his book. Grian watched as the one eyed swede began to write.

Once Iskall finished writing, he held up his book for Grian to read.

“I can’t talk. Something about dying in that red world messed with my respawn. I think that’s why you don’t have your arm anymore. We’ll have to check up with Xisuma. That’s later. I’m so glad you’re back buddy! You’ve been gone almost a month.”

Grian slowly nodded, taking all of this new information in.

“Yeah, yeah… I guess that makes sense…” Grian gripped his stump with his remaining hand before turning towards Iskall. “Iskall, where is Mumbo anyways?”

A sharp DING rang out into the silent room.

MumboJumbo has died from starvation.

Iskall suddenly felt his breath stop and sucked in sharply. Next to him he heard Stress choke back a sob and Ren let out a low shaky breath. And Grian?

Grian was just confused.

“Guys? What’s wrong? Mumbo’s just being a spoon,” Grian tried to joke and lighten the mood. “He probably just ran out of chicken and golden carrots and then tried to run all the way back to his base. What a silly spoon man.” Grian chuckled and used the edge of his bed as support to stand up.

“Heh, we should probably go meet him at his base. He’s gonna be so surprised when he see me! Ah man, he probably feels so guilty! We gotta tell him right now!” Grian said excitedly before glancing down at his missing arm. “Though, I’m probably gonna need some help flying there, what with me being down an arm. You guys can help me though right?”

The rest of the room was silent save for the quiet sobs coming from Stress. Grian looked around the room. Stress was turned away from him, her shoulder hunched over. Ren refused to look Grian in the eyes and Iskall looked as though he was lost in a different world.

Grian waved a hand at his fellow hermits, “Guys? Seriously, what’s wrong with all of you? Mumbo dying isn’t anything special.” Grian quirked an eyebrow when all three of his friends visibly flinched at his statement. “If it’s about my arm, I’m fine! I swear! It’ll just take some time getting used to it, that’s all!”

“Grian love, that’s not why… That’s not what we…” Stress tried to say between sobs. “Mumbo, he-”

“Mumbo what? What’s wrong with Mumbo?!” Grian was starting to panic. Judging by his friend’s expressions, something very wrong happened in the month he was gone. So why wasn’t anyone telling him what the hell’s going on?

“Mumbo’s gone. He’s dead, permanently. He’s not going to respawn,” Ren finished Stress’s sentence sorrowfully. “Xisuma destroyed all of his spawn points.”

Grian took a step back in shock.

“No, no way. You’re lying. Why? Why would you do something like this?” Grian asked.

“Grian sweetie, please! Let us explain!” Stress reached out an arm trying to comfort the panicking hermit.

“Explain what!? That you let our friend die? I can’t wait to hear how you explain that!” Grian yelled, slapping Stress’s hand away.

Ren stepped in between them. “You don’t understand man! Mumbo was acting insane! Something about that world we saved him from messed him up really bad! He killed Iskall! And we thought he killed you permanently!”

“So? I’m alive aren’t I? I’m here now and guess what? Now Mumbo isn’t!” Grian shouted, venom lacing his voice. “Did you even try to help him?!”

“We tried to help him! Iskall spent almost every day with him but it wasn’t enough. Iskall tried his hardest and Mumbo wasn’t getting better! We… we all did what we thought was best. We couldn’t stand seeing him suffer like that,” Ren explained desperately hoping Grian would understand. Grian shook his head and turned towards Iskall.

"Iskall, Iskall please! Please tell me this isn’t true. Tell me you didn’t actually kill him!” Grian pleaded towards the kneeling hermit. Iskall bowed his head, refusing to meet Grian’s eyes.

With Iskall confirming his worst fears, Grian bit his lip to suppress the cry that was forming in his throat.

The silence between the hermits was deafening before Grian spoke up again.

“Get out”

“What?

“GET OUT!” He growled. The fury and anguish in Grian’s eyes were evident and Iskall flinched at the sight of them.

“GET OUT GETOUTGEOUTGETOUTGETOUT-” Grain screamed at them. Tears were streaming down the builder’s face and Iskall could feel his own face wet with tears.

With one swift step, Iskall turned around and ran. This had all gone horribly wrong. Guilt and pain swarmed in his heart as he took off into the sky. All of this was too much.

Glancing back, he saw Grian collapse against his bed while Stress and Ren frantically tried to comfort him.

Iskall should be happy. His friend was alive. But the aching in his chest told him otherwise.

—–

Mumbo’s funeral was held at the garden in Mumbo’s base and was later buried underneath the garden’s tree. Nearly all of the hermits that could make it attended and those who couldn’t promised to visit the grave when they had a chance. The precession itself was nice. Various hermits came up to share stories of Mumbo and lament on how they wished things could have ended up differently.

“In a different life, in a different story, these anguishes that have consumed you, Mumbo, that have consumed all of gathered here today, wouldn’t be for naught and together as a community would could have helped to create the beautiful future we all deserve. But that is not our story today. We are on a different path and as such we can’t change what’s already happened. Together, we all must traverse this challenging times and look out for one another for the good of everyone still with us.”

Joehills turned from the audience towards the casket laid under the tree. “My dear friend Mumbo Jumbo, these past months have not been kind to you and I wish from the bottom of my heart that you can finally find peace in that eternal rest.”

As the funeral came to a close and the casket was lowered into the ground, Grian made it clear to the rest of the hermits that he would be taking over Mumbo’s base despite the protests that he himself still need help. Along with this, Grian announced he would be closing both his and Mumbo’s base off from the other hermits.

“Just a break. Not forever. I just want to keep to resort myself okay?” Grian reassured their questions and with that, the one armed hermit was off.

One week later and Iskall’s new base was complete.

Seating by a window in his base that overlooked the ice landscape down below, Iskall couldn’t help but feel the weight of the obsidian box still floating above his head. A constant reminder. Moving bases did nothing to help ease the guilt, so Iskall did the only thing he could do.

He closed his eyes and wished for things to be different.

—————————————————————————————

aH, This took much longer and ended up way longer than I anticipated and I went off the fuckin SHITS with this.

I hope you enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed your fic!!

.....................................................................

HOLY FUCKING SHIT OH MY GOD this is amazing and omg. omg omg omg. it’s so much worse than the original sad ending oh my GOD im in pain

#fanfic #??? maybe #fanart #biffaplays redstoner au #submission

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strawberrylemonz · 4 years

Text

Campfire Tales

Part 3 of my series! Thank you for 100+ followers!!!

As usual, do ask me any questions you may have regarding this series!

This is dedicated to both @petrichormeraki and @applepie1000

Enjoy!

Part 2

Part 3 [CURRENT]

Part 4

————————

“You’re gonna burn the ‘mallows”

“Am not”

“Are too”

“Am not”

“Are too”

“Calm down, you two”

Everyone was sitting around the campfire as Tommy brought out the sticks and marshmallows. He had already taken out the rest of the supplies to make snacks and drinks using the fire, doing his best to make sure that everyone was comfortable before he explained his time before joining the hermits.

“You doing alright?”

Tommy stiffened at the sound of being addressed so suddenly. Turning to his side, he saw his older brother smiling up at him. Tommy had been feeling very anxious since the group began their hike up to the campfire, so the sight was comforting for him. He returned the smile to his brother, who extended a hand out to him.

“Let me help you with those, Toms. Just sit down and relax for a bit. You’re probably very nervous.”

Now, Tommy would usually bite back with an overconfident comment, but Tommy didn’t feel like his usual self. Instead, he shrugged his shoulders and handed Grian the remaining supplies. Grian, in turn, grabbed the supplies before sitting his little brother down on a seat. Ruffling his hair with affection, Grian handed Tommy some marshmallows before setting off to finish handing everything out.

“You get near that majestic cat, Iskall, and I will stab you”

“Okay, okay, I’m backing off.”

Peering up, Tommy saw Cleo scoop up a cat, before walking off to sit on a different log seat. Iskall, in turn, nervously laughed as if he just escaped death. ‘Wouldn’t be an understatement.’ Tommy thought with slight amusement. Iskall then turned to Tommy, smiling at the younger boy. Tommy, returned the smile, waving at the man. Iskall saw that as an invitation and proceeded to sit down next to Tommy on the log.

“Nervous?”

“Is it really that obvious?”

“Well, yeah. You started to tone down on the cussing when we arrived at Pirate’s Pier. You stopped cussing in general when we took Captain Puffy’s ship to the campsite, and you haven’t cussed since. You’re also fidgeting around a lot.”

“Shit”

Iskall let out a laugh as Tommy shoved his face into his hands. Patting the young adult’s back with care, he did his best to comfort Tommy.

“Hey, it’s alright. We’ll understand if you decide to stop telling us. But don’t push yourself to either share past your comfort or to coop up all your feelings. It’s not healthy for you, and we’ll all attack you with care and affection until you feel better.”

Tommy barked out a laugh as he playfully pushed away Iskall’s face.

“That’s all you lot have been doing since I arrived. Been acting like I’m your baby brother, or some shit.”

“Well, that’s the case. At least, for one of us.”

At that, the two peered over to Grian, who was putting up the left over supplies with haste, obviously eager to begin unraveling his brother’s pain.

“He seems more hyper than usual”

“I’m pretty sure it’s on the account that he found out that his favorite raccoon is, in fact, his younger brother.”

“I hope he isn’t disappointed-”

Tommy was interrupted when a hand covered his mouth. Feigning irritation, Tommy peered over at the owner of the hand, Iskall. Quirking an eyebrow at him, Tommy gave a pointed look. Iskall huffed before removing his hand from Tommy’s mouth.

“What the hell was that for, Isk-”

“Don’t say that.”

“Don’t say what? Your name?”

“No, Tommy, not that. Don’t say anything about Grian being disappointed in you being his brother. The two of you have been acting like brothers since the day you two met. You guys are two peas in a pod, burrowing in bases together and pranking any fool who let their guard down. He is more than happy to have you as his brother.”

“How can you be so sure when you say that?”

“Because, Tommy, I saw how he reacted. The two of you obviously couldn’t see that well, with the two of you weeping up an ocean-”

“-Did not-”

“-Did too. Anyways, I saw his reaction to putting the pieces together. It was a whole new Grian, one we never got to see before. His facade fell the moment he saw who you were. Something changed in his eyes, and he held you with more pride and love than he ever did before. He’s more than happy to have you as family.”

Tommy furrowed his eyebrows before looking Iskall in the face. He wanted to doubt his words, he really did. He wanted to believe that he didn’t deserve so much of Grian’s love, that he didn’t deserve a special place in his heart. One look at Iskall’s face, however, was more than enough confirmation that he wasn’t being lied to. As much as Tommy wanted to avoid his brother’s love, he knew he couldn’t. All Tommy could do was to just pray to Clara that this brotherly bond would not be torn apart and bombed, just like his last two. He just wanted a family member he could rely on, not one that would break him with betrayal and miscommunication.

“What are you two talking about?”

Tommy peered up to see Grian standing there, munching on a melted marshmallow. Rolling his eyes, Tommy snorted at him as Iskall laughed.

“Talking about how much of a big man Toms is.”

“Hey! Watch the sarcasm! I am a big man!”

Grian snorted before sitting down on the other of Tommy, getting comfortable on the log. The two brothers shared a smile before Tommy faced the rest of the group.

“Everyone ready?”

A chorus of confirmation was given, a single nod to return them. Sighing, Tommy situated himself and cleared his throat.

“I’m severely grateful for all of you, truly. You’ve all looked past the fact that I was a bastard and decided to keep me around. You guys helped me come to terms with things that I once thought was impossible to come to terms with. You’ve all even helped me heal from those stupid, shitty triggers. I really don’t know where I’d be if I hadn’t ended up here, especially looking back to where I was at my previous server.”

He saw everyone’s face gain some form of affection at his words. The pat on his back and the hand on his was all he needed to know that he woild go through with this. They’ve housed him and healed him for over 2 years, they deserved to know what they saved him from.

“Alright, it all started when I got an invite to Dream’s server, the Dream SMP.”

————

Grian didn’t know how to react, how to feel. How could he? It’s not everyday that you find out that the amazing big brothers you idolized weren’t so amazing after all. How could the people that vowed to look after their baby brothers turn around and break the youngest one? Tommy claimed that everything was a misunderstanding, and that he deserved his punishments, but no one deserved punishments that severe.

“-I tried telling them how that made me feel, but Technoblade and Wilbur said that it had to stay in the pit. Tubbo tried to tell me that it wasn’t a big deal, but he was terrified of fireworks for so long after that. Not just fireworks, loud noises in general.”

Grian could tell how uneasy everyone was feeling, but they all understood not to prevent the boy from sharing. He had a lot of built up trauma that he tried forcing away, and that wasn’t healthy for him. He had to get everything off his chest, for the betterment of his mentality and health in general. Grian tried not to grimace as Tommy moved onto the death of the president, how he died of a heart attack. Doing his best to make sure his brother was comfortable, he periodically offered the younger boy drink and snack breaks in order to collect his thoughts. Tommy was grateful for these.

“-He was so mad that we reinstalled a person to be our leader, saying that we betrayed him, but that’s not the case! I promise you it wasn’t! I wouldn’t have intentionally betrayed someone that I saw as my brother, my idol, my...my friend.”

Grian put an arm around the slouching boy and after making a mental note to help him fix his posture offered him a hand. Tommy happily accepted the comfort, trying his best to compose himself.

“And then he...he...”

“What is it, Tommy? What did Techno do?”

“He asked me if I wanted to be a hero. I didn’t even get to properly answer him. I still remember his words, they are forever engraved in my brain. ‘You wanna be a hero, Tommy? Then die like one!’ Then he set fucking withers on my nation, my home. Pathetic, isn’t it? Haha, and that’s not the worst part! That wasn’t even the worst disaster to have happened on that stupid, cursed day. My nation was blown up, and when I had turned to see what happened, I saw Wilbur, standing there, laughing at the chaos. Next thing I knew, dad- er, Phil, he...he killed him. I lost Wilby. I couldn’t save him from his madness.”

His voice had gotten much quieter as he spoke about that painful day. If everyone wasn’t so quiet they would have missed it, the way Tommy’s voice broke and quivered. Trying not to break, he leaned into his older brother, not paying any attention to the height difference. Grian, in turn, was holding his little brother as if the world would crumble if he let go. His brother was dead, the other blinded by his personal morals. And his father, his hero, murdered his son in front of the others. Grian did his best to listen to what Tommy was saying, not wanting him to feel unsupported. He just sat there and listened.

“-He didn’t even say goodbye to me. He just stood there as Dream took me away. Ghostbur went along with me, which I was grateful for, but the company of a ghost can only go so far, especially when it’s of your late brother.”

No one could believe the burdens put upon the shoulders of these two boys. They shouldn’t have had to deal with any of this, yet they were forced to do so. They couldn’t get mad at Tubbo, he didn’t deserve to be despised after having to deal with such a stressful decision at such a young age. Iskall took over trying to comfort Tommy while Grian tried to drink as much water as he could, as if it would drown all the emotions he was feeling. He felt absolutely sick hearing what Dream put his baby brother through. He suddenly felt amazing at being a Dream slayer. He was sure Tommy would find comfort in that. Tommy eventually got to the end of his stay with Techno.

“I was hoping that he would understand why I didn’t stay, why I had to leave. As much as I care for him, he was feeding in to my negative thoughts, and I had to prevent myself from becoming everything I didn’t want to be. He didn’t get it, though. I still saw him as a friend, a brother, but he only saw me as a selfish traitor. He only saw me as someone who wanted to use him as a weapon. Phil called me a traitor, too, and they took down my tower. It’s okay, everyone sees them as ugly pieces of shit. Tubbo and I began to slowly heal our friendship as we prepared for Doomsday, but that’s when things got weird. As Tubbo and I went on a walk to discuss our plan, some weird portal opened up in the ground. I felt weightless as I fell in, and then I ended up here. I’ve been here with you guys ever since.”

Before he could say anything else, Tommy was engulfed into an embrace. Grian buried his brother’s face into his chest, kissing his brother’s hair as he rocked him back and forth. Iskall joined in and rubbed the boy’s back, Mumbo approaching and supporting Grian and Tommy’s weight so they wouldn’t fall. Xisuma stood behind the two, hand on Tommy’s shoulder. One by one, Stress, Scar, Joe, Tango, False, everyone began to join in on the comfort circle to give support to the brothers.

--------

Grian and Tommy had not detached from each other since the campfire. No one pointed that out, not this time. They just gave the birdie personal space with his raccoon of a brother. Everyone gave the two smiles, wishing them goodnight as they all left to stay in the lodging of their choosing in the adventure park. Tommy and Grian waved at them before turning to leave to their choice in lodging. After a while, they arrived to their destination, the Antarctic Empire. After standing in the hall and debating which room to stay in, they eventually decided to stay the night in Grian’s room. Once the were changed for bed, the two just sat on the bed, unsure whether or not they should talk about something or force themselves to sleep. Finally, sucking in a breath of confidence, Tommy spoke up.

“So, since festival week is in a few months, wanna help me plan our outfits and hand out fliers?”

#tommyinnit #hermit!tommy au #memories in the stars #memories in the stars au #I really need to think about other tags to put on these lmao #Grian Wilbur and Techno are triplets au #Grian is an Antarctic Prince #Grian Wilbur Techno and Tommy are brothers au

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