Chapter Text
Grian has lots of secrets.
He was in little words a mysterious person to most of the hermits. Everyone knew Grian was blond, they knew he was a wonderful builder and prankster. They knew he loved parrots and cats, they knew the two wings on his back were the parrot kind and they knew he didn’t talk about anything that happened before Hermitcraft.
His life was a ball of confusion and chaos that even he didn’t like to dwell on. He was notorious for mysteriously disappearing from people’s lives and reappearing later on.
The first time he disappeared from someone’s life was when he was a kid. He lived with his twin brother and older sister in a large house somewhere on the coast of England on an earth server. His life with his siblings could be described as… problematic. While his older sister was beloved by their parents and his twin brother doted on by maids and servants. He was often left to his own devices until his siblings found him hidden in one of the many hallways. While both his brother and sister had been planned to be there he was the odd one. Their parents hadn’t wanted twins.
“What are you doing?” The canary hybrid asked his twin once he’d found him hidden in the corner of one of the unused rooms in the house.
Grian looked around, trying to find some kind of excuse for why he was sitting in an empty room alone. “Sitting.”
His twin glared at him, eyes squinting in a detective kind of way. “Why?”
“Why not.” He stated, unbothered.
“It’s boring.” Jimmy said, but he sat down in front of him anyway.
“Then you can leave.” The parrot hybrid said, picking on the leg of his pants.
“But Pearl wanted me to find you.” Jimmy said, “She said we were going to eat dinner with mom and dad.” Jimmy smiled, as if he had just ruined all of Grian plans.
“They won’t want me there.” Grian said, matter-of-factly.
Jimmy’s face broke into confusion as he paused, “Why? It’s family dinner.”
“I’m not family.” Grian said, firmly.
“Since when?” Jimmy asked, crooking his head to the side.
“Since we were born.” Grian said, simply.
Jimmy just looked more confused, he stared at his shoes for a moment, thinking. “But…”He drew out, the same way a regular five year old would, “I’m family, and you’re my twin! So you’re family.” Jimmy smiled, feeling as if he’d won the argument.
Grian sighed, shaking his head, “No. You’re family. And I’m your twin. Therefore, I am not their family. It’s different.” Grian said.
Jimmy huffed, “That doesn’t make sense.” But the canary sighed, knowing he’d lost. He leaned his head on his hand, elbow in the crook of his leg as he sat criss-crossed. “Can you at least play hide and seek afterwards? Pearl likes to cheat.”
Grian smiled, nodding small, “You just use the same hiding spots every time.”
He would disappear from their lives two weeks later, when their parents finally had enough and sent him to Japan. He had no idea when his siblings came to understand what had happened, but he knew that not long after Pearl left home with Jimmy right behind her. He never got the chance to tell them where he was leaving to, his parents sending him away with only a few hours notice.
Japan would lead to be one of his worst experiences, but he would disappear from Tuartis and Sam’s lives just a few years after entering it.
“Where are you going?” Taurtis whispered from the stairwell of Sam’s house. Grian still had his school uniform on and his backpack was around his shoulders. His hand still on the doorknob of the front door as he stared outside. He was so close to leaving, if only Taurtis hadn’t woken up.
He turned around slowly, a sad, careful look on his face. “Grian?” Taurtis asked, again.
“I can’t-I can’t stay, Taurtis.” Grian whispered. His hands gripped his backpack straps tightly.
“Why?” Taurtis asked.
Grian frowned, he took a step away from the door, “You can’t say you don’t see it.” He whispered, sharply. “Sam’s not-He’s not right. I can’t-I can’t stay.”
Taurtis’s brow furrowed, “Sam’s fine, what are you talking about. I’ll go get him-”
“No!” Grian almost shouted, trying to grab Taurtis’s arm before he could move. “No. Please, don’t. I can’t-please. Taurtis, I have to go. I have to leave. I can’t stay like this. And-And you shouldn’t either.” Grian bit his lip, he shook his head, “You can come with me.”
“What?” Taurtis asked, confused.
“Yeah!” Grian smiled, a few tears brimming his eyes, “Come with me. I’ve-I’ve got a ticket for the train to the airport. We can sneak you on. I’ve got two tickets for the plane. Please, Taurtis, this isn’t safe.” Grian grabbed his friend's arms, pleading with him.
“No. No, we can’t leave Sam. He’d be so sad. Friends don’t leave friends, Grian.” Taurtis said, snatching his hands away.
“He is not my friend!” Grian snapped, and he flinched from his own voice. Taurtis stared at him with wide fearful eyes. Grian frowned, “Maybe-Maybe he was once, but not-not anymore.”
“Then leave.” Taurtis snapped back, eyes hardening as he stared at him. “No one’s stopping you. Leave.”
Grian’s shoulders fell as he took a step back. “Taurtis, please-”
“Leave. If you don’t want to be there for our friend, then don’t. But don’t try to make me do the same.” Taurtis growled out, pointing to the door.
Grian swallowed, his tears started to fall from the corner of his eyes. “Please, don’t tell Sam.”
Taurtis frowned, “What do you want me to say?” He sighed, shrugging. He didn’t look Grian in the eyes.
Grian let out a breath, “Tell him-Tell him I’m sick.” Taurtis nodded, and pointed to the door sadly, his anger draining from him and all he felt was somber sadness and Grian ran out the door, as it slammed behind him.
Only when he made it back to England, and his eyes landed on his old home he was met with the news that his siblings had left. He had successfully disappeared from Japan but failed to reappear in his siblings' lives. His parents still lived in the house on the coast, but neither his twin nor older sister had been there in years, as they had claimed to never go back there.
Which left the nine year old grian to walk the streets of england, in his old school uniform worn from fights and travel. However, it led him to the feet of his best friend in the world. While he’d failed to re-enter his family's lives, he found himself appearing in Mumbo’s.
“Why are you wearing that?” The raven haired boy had asked him. Grian looked over to see the boy was sitting on the steps of a toy shop that was in the process of opening. He wore just a simple white shirt and black cardigan with a red bow tie, but he couldn’t look any less proper. He had an unnatural amount of redstone stuck to his clothes and a couple of twigs stuck in his hair. “You look like you got in a fight…and lost.” The boy added.
Grian glared, “You don’t look much better.” He muttered.
The boy frowned, “I tripped on my own redstone and landed in a comparator. Then the pistone trapped me with the clock running so I couldn’t get out till my dad found me.” He muttered, as if he’d in fact lost a fight. Grian chuckled, not having laughed in a bit, the noise surprised him and he flinched.
The flinch caught the other’s attention, but he seemed to smile as Grian laughed. “I guess it is kind of funny.” He huffed, “What’d you do?”
Grian froze, unsure of how to answer, but the other had been honest with him even though his story was embarrassing. He sighed, “You gotta not tell anyone.”
The boy smiled, “You won’t tell anyone ‘bout my embarrassment, right?”
Grian nodded, smiling, before he sat down on the side of the boy on the steps. “I ran away.”
“Oh.” The boy mumbled, they were both silent for a moment, “I’m sorry.”
Grian shrugged, “It’s okay. I think I just wanted to see my family again.” He muttered.
The other boy looked at him confused, his brow furrowing in a funny way. “Wait. I’m confused. I thought you ran away? You want to see your family?”
Grian shrugged, he picked at the ground underneath them. His fingers danced around a tall blade of grass. “I was running back to my family. Ran away from someone else, but I don’t think either one really wants me.”
“Oh.” The boy sighed, “Well, I want you here.”
“You don’t know me.” Grian huffed, rolling his eyes.
The boy shrugged, “My name’s Mumbo.” He turned to Grian and held out his redstone stained hand. Grian sighed, taking the boy’s hand, “Grian.”
Six years later, Grian disappeared once again. Of course, he learned from his mistake and told Mumbo he was leaving for a visit to Japan. The two fifteen year olds parted ways promising to talk as much as they could and to see each other once Grian got back. Only he never did come back.
What was only supposed to be a few months visit, turned into a year. Which turned into two, and a missing persons case and several close calls. Mumbo didn’t forget his friend, but he did mourn. The police claimed Grian was a closed case after no more evidence could be found about where he was. Grian had successfully disappeared once again from someone’s life.
Reappearing in Sam and Taurtis lives would go on to be the worst mistake of Grian’s life. One he’d never share to anyone, no matter how hard it got to keep the secret of what happened.
Three years later he escaped once again. A sort of deju vu fell over Grian and Mumbo when they saw each other again. Mumbo was sitting on the steps of his parent’s toy shop, redstone staining his suit after he’d spooned his way through another redstone contraption. And Grian was still wearing his school uniform, dirty from fights, murders, and travel as he and Mumbo stared at each other.
“Why are you wearing that?” Mumbo asked, after a long tense silence. His dark eyes trace Grian’s terrible form. He was malnourished, that was obvious, but he also had blood spilling from scratches and scars that marked his face.
“Could ask you the same thing.” Grian muttered, moving to sit down next to Mumbo.
“What happened?” Mumbo asked.
Grian didn’t answer. He just stared dead ahead, his fingers twitching as he picked at the ground the same way he had years ago. “I can’t stay.”
Mumbo snapped his head over to look at his friend, “What?”
“I can’t stay.” Grian whispered. “He’s looking for me. If I stay on this server, he’ll find me.”
Mumbo was silent this time. His own hands fiddling with his tie. “Who?”
“I can’t tell you.” Gria whispered, he could feel the burning in his face that came with fresh tears. “I want to but I can’t.”
“You’re here. Can’t you stay? Can’t we keep you safe?” Mumbo asked, his eyes stealing a glance at Grian. The blond was tracing over the blood that was stained on his shirt and uniform. He shook his head.
“I can’t do that to you.” Grian muttered, “He’ll hurt you.”
Mumbo offered his hand to the blond. Grian stared at the hand that was laid against his leg. He flinched at first, but slowly relaxed and handed his own hand over to his friend. It was the first positive contact he’d had in a long time.
“Then what?” Mumbo asked.
“I have to leave. I have to leave the server.” Grian muttered, “I have an idea. I’m-I’m going to make a server. I’ll invite some people I know. And I’ll be safe,” Grian turned to look Mumbo in the eyes. The raven haired boy looked back sadly.
“You’re going to tell me I can’t come.” Mumbo said.
“I can’t-if something goes wrong-if he finds it…I’m sorry.” Grian muttered.
Mumbo nodded, “I know. You may call me a spoon, Gri, but I’m not dumb. I know what’s going on.”
Grian looked at him, his eyebrows raised and face confused. Mumbo smiled, “Japan’s big but I think what was happening there was enough to reach across the server. You’re right. You’re not safe here. So let me help you get out.”
“Are you sure?” Grian asked.
Mumbo sighed, and Grian could see the tears that were falling from Mumbo’s face. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m sure. I know you’re good at disappearing but-but let me help this time.”
Grian frowned, but nodded, “Okay.”
Disappearing to Evo, and leaving Mumbo behind was one of the hardest things Grian had to do. He swore to stay in contact this time with his best friend. He promised to tell him if something happened, and Mumbo promised to always be a call away.
Becoming Evo’s admin was something Grian never saw coming, but it was something he wouldn’t give up. Because Evo gave him the chance to reappear in his sibling’s lives. He’d been able to invite his siblings to the server under the guise of ‘Admin of Evo’ with the help of Mumbo. He just had to hope they'd accept, that he’d be able to see them again.
In the end only Jimmy accepted.
“When exactly are you planning to talk to me?” Jimmy asked, staring at his brother from the entrance of his home. Grian had been avoiding his twin after seeing him during his initial introduction of the server.
He had seen the broken face his brother had made when he recognized Grian. He’d seen the fear and sadness that switched from the first excitement he’d had. He didn’t want to ruin his brother’s first moment on the server, but he hadn’t exactly thought about how he was going to speak to him.
Instead he’d run away to make his starter home and forget he was anywhere near his twin. Jimmy didn’t seem to have the same idea though.
Grian shifted in his spot in his front entrance. “Would you believe me if I said I was leaving to find you now?”
“Really?” Jimmy asked, knowing his twin was not in fact doing that.
“Sorry.” Grian muttered.
Jimmy sighed, looking around before his eyes landed back on Grian. He traced over his brother, for the first time in years. “You look terrible.”
“Thanks.” Grian grumbled.
“When was the last time you slept?” Jimmy asked, his wings puffing up behind him.
Grian shifted again, “I’ve been busy.” They were both silent, neither knowing what exactly to say. Jimmy was shifting on his feet now, nervousness itching his skin.
“Can I come inside?” Jimmy asked, pointing into the starter house. Grian nodded, moving to let his twin inside. Grian shut the door behind him, quietly. “Can we talk?” Jimmy asked.
“I thought we already were?” Grian tried to joke, with a tiny smirk.
Jimmy glared at his twin, “I mean about serious stuff. Like, you know.” He crossed his arms, uncomfortably.
“Are you sure you want to?” Grian said, sitting in a chair at a small table. Jimmy frowned, and Grian just sighed, “It’ll ruin your view on our parents.”
Jimmy frowned more, sitting down in the chair across from Grian, “You’re forgetting that me and Pearl left after we figured out what they did to you. Whatever you say will not affect how I feel about them, at least not in the way you think.”
Grian sighed, smiling to himself sadly, “Okay.”
“Just be honest with me.” Jimmy said, “We’re not-We’re not five-you can tell me honestly what happened.”
Pearl’s appearance on the server took longer than Grian would’ve expected. Apparently, after Jimmy had learned who the admin of evo was, he’d told Pearl. She’d been adamant about joining the server after that, but it had taken a longer time than any of them would’ve hoped to get her to transfer servers. In fact, Jimmy and Pearl had been working on it secretly without Grian’s knowledge until he was needed for the transfer himself.
Still, with the three reunited, Grian made sure to inform Mumbo all about his news. Luckily, to his credit, Mumbo was quick to celebrate with him, even if it was just through messages. All during evo, Grian thought things were finally going to smooth over, everything would be fine. Mumbo had been invited to a server called HermitCraft and was making all types of new friends there. And Grian was living happily with his siblings in his own safe server.
Except, Grian was notorious for appearing randomly in people’s lives.
Which just so happened, when he went to visit the main hub for a few needed items for his players. It was a simple trip, one he’d made plenty of time before. All he had to do was pick up a few small items that they couldn’t get in their world and he could head back.
He was picking up an order for Netty when he saw the kid.
Small, malnourished, and bruised the kid was getting pushed around by the busy streets of the hub.
He didn’t look any older than maybe six and was getting pushed and shoved by the many shopper and visitors walking around paying no mind to him. The kid was even trying to escape the crowd, desperate to leave the groups of moving people. But any chance he had was blocked by someone else.
Grian huffed, grabbing the order for Netty and exiting the shop to see if he could get a better look at the situation. He wasn’t just going to let this kid drown in the crowd. It didn’t take him long to find the kid, the blond was getting shoved by a taller, more brutish force.
“Watch it, brat.” The man grumbled, shoving the kid out of the way. The kid glared, before an indigent squawk erupted from the kid’s throat as he stomped on the man’s shoe.
Grian’s face twisted as he looked closer to see how the kid managed to make such a noise if he wasn’t an avian. The man cringed, turning away from the kid and leaving him alone. Grian let out a sigh of relief that the situation hadn’t escalated anymore.
The kid however, was still trying to escape the rush of players that were flowing down the streets like a river. Grian could see as the kid was just about to make his way out of the crowd, he was pulled back in by another hand.
Grian raised an eyebrow watching closely to see where the hand had come from and saw that another player was gripping the kid’s wrist tightly. The kid however, didn’t seem to like the grip and was tugging out of it.
A pit grew in the parrot hybrids stomach and he rushed forward, trying to get a better view of the situation. He pushed through the crowd, moving people until he could see a player dragging the younger blond along as the kid started squeaking and stomping his feet.
Abandoning the list of things his players needed he ran after the two before grabbing the player’s shoulder and stopping them from moving forward anymore.
The player turned towards him and Grian didn’t take any time to try and commit the details of their face to memory, instead he turned towards the kid who was still trying to get away.
Grian huffed out, roughly, trying to catch his breath from running, he pointed to the player, “You know them?” He asked.
He stared at the kid intently, trying to make the kid understand he was serious and he needed to be honest.
The kid shook his head, eyes wide with fear and tears brimming as he stared up at him. Grian looked back to the person he still had a tight hold off, “Let him go.”
“What?” The player scoffed, confused, “He’s lying, we’re going home. I don’t think that’s any of your business, what we’re doing.”
Grian glared at the player, “Let him go.”
The next moments happened so fast that Grian still years later had a hard time processing what happened. In a moment’s notice, the player’s grip loosened on the kid and the player moved forward shoving Grian off of them. With the player’s grip no longer on him the kid bolted.
Grian had watched for only a second, as the kid bolted out of the crowd as fast as possible. Then he recognized which way the kid was going. The kid was running right into the middle of the road. Grian’s eyes widened and he righted himself quickly before chasing after the kid.
Cars were not something that players had to worry about much, not unless they were on a very modded server. Elytras, however, were just as dangerous if you were caught by someone flying too close to the ground and much too fast to stop. That was why roads in the main hub were dedicated flight paths, and a kid running right in the middle of one was a terrible idea.
Grian didn’t had a lot of time when he saw the players flying down the roads talking together as they flew. He could see the kid running directly into the road, and he could see the fliers moving too fast to stop.
Grian cursed under his breath, something he was honestly trying to curb, before he ran out into the street pulling the kid back to the sidewalk as soon as he was within reach.
The fliers just barely missed the kid’s hair as Grian and the kid landed on the sidewalk after a rough tumble.
Grian shot up, patting himself down before he turned to the kid, “Are you alright?”
The kid was breathing harshly, tiny puffs of air coming out of his mouth quickly. The blond was staring at the street with a newfound fear, his feet struggling to kick the road away from him and get himself farther away.
“Hey. Hey, you’re okay.” Grian tried to calm down, he pushed himself off the sidewalk, pulling himself to the kid’s side who was still lying on his back.
Blue eyes stared back at him with wide eyed fear, “Why did you do that?”
Grian tried to control his own breathing, “You were going to get yourself hurt.”
“And?” The boy snapped, “You don’t know me.”
Grian frowned, remembering saying that exact same thing to some, “My name’s Grian.”
The boy stared at him, rather than giving him a name like Grian had done with his best friend years ago, the boy shoved himself off the pavement. The boy stared at him for a moment as Grian tried to lift himself from the ground. The kid looked confused as Grian stood up, brushing himself off and giving him a tired smile. The boy grimaced and ran away before either of them could say anything else.
Grian opened his mouth to call out for the kid, but he still didn’t have a name for the blond and didn’t know where he’d come from or was going to. He stopped himself from getting too involved in something that didn’t involve him. He didn’t need to disappear from his own server.
So he tried to forget about the kid.
Tried to.
Look, Grian had never been the best at staying on task. He’d never been perfect at finishing one project before starting the next. And he certainly couldn’t leaveany mystery unsolved once he’d found it.
Even after going back to Evo, handing out whatever he needed to give to his players and talking to his brother. He still hadn’t forgotten about the kid. He survived two weeks before he felt the pull of his curiosity get him again.
Luckily, he had the newest excuse of leaving the server to gather materials for their next time jump.
He entered the main hub and started cautiously walking towards the same place he’d seen the kid two weeks ago. Some part of him told him there was no way the kid was still there, and yet another part of him told him that the kid wouldn’t leave.
He was entering a lesser occupied stall when he saw it. He’d been talking to the shopkeep on some random topic when in the corner of his eyes he saw a smaller figure running through the crowd of people on the sidewalk. He paused his talking, turning to fully see the scene.
The blond had learned how to follow the crowd now, he was getting trampled and he wasn’t getting pushed around. Instead the kid was working the crowd pretty easily. Grian could spot it from across the street how the kid was slipping his hands into their pockets and swiping whatever he could get.
Grian nodded to the shopkeep, leaving the stall to continue his watchful gaze. The kid slipped his hand into another player’s pocket pulling out a bundle of some kind tied in string.
He started heading towards the crowd, where the kid was pickpocketing, when the last person the kid had stolen from spun around. The player patting down their pockets noticing the missing bundle. It took less than three seconds before the player had locked eyes on the younger blond.
The player snatched the bundle away from the younger, easily overpowering the clearly malnourished kid, and holding onto their wrist for a bit too long.
The boy’s eyes widened, as he wrangled to get away from the player.
“Sorry. Sorry! Sorry!” The boy was repeating, as he tried to pull away from the player.
“What the hell?” The player scoffed, “Little street urchin! Learn to keep your hands to yourself, no one wants you touching anything they own and work for.”
“Woah, hey, little harsh there don’t you think?” Grian interrupted, stepping up behind the kid. The player looked up from the boy to Grian, glare squinting into something scathing. The kid, however, just looked up, moving all the way back so he could see Grian behind him. The kid’s face turned from something nervous to something scared in moments.
“Teach not to be a little pick pocketing scamp and there wouldn’t be a problem.” The player glowered.
Grian frowned, “Honestly, I think you should take your own advice and keep your hands to yourself.” Grian nodded to where the player was still gripping the kid’s wrist tightly. “Let him go.”
The player took back their hand quickly, like the boy’s arm had scalded them and swiftly turned away. The player moved along with the rest of the crowd leaving just Grian with the boy.
Neither of them said anything, both just watching as people made a small circle around them to avoid getting near the kid.
“What do you want?” The boy huffed, crossing his arms as he turned to face Grian.
“Pro tip: don’t go for the ones that look like they come from modded servers. They’re always a bit too careful when they’re walking around and are always checking for pickpockets. It’s best to go for the ones from single player worlds. They’re a bit more…” He paused, thinking of the best way to put it, “Loopy from loneliness.”
The boy stared at him for a moment, completely wide eyed and shocked, “Why the fuck would you tell me that?”
Grian cringed at the language, but shrugged, “Look kid, not everyone gets the same start up as these guys, some people just aren’t that lucky.”
“You saying you’re not like ‘em.” The boy said, a bit more of an accent pushing through his voice as he motioned to the people behind him.
Grian squinted his eyes in a mocking glare, “I’m saying I’ve been in your spot before, so shut up and take the advice.”
The boy smirked, a tiny laugh breaking through his resolve, “Alright, Mister, this is the second time we’ve met in this situation, I say the time calls for dinner.” The boy said, confidently, nodding to himself like he was answering. “You’re paying!”
Grian straightened, “I’m sorry, what? That- I don’t think you fully understand what’s going on here.”
The boy stared at him, an eyebrow raised, “Really? You just decided that it would be a good idea to help out a strange orphan kid in the middle of nowhere twice? You want to do something good for the little kid and I want food. So dinner.” He said, nodding once again.
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea.” Grian muttered.
“Look, man, are you going to buy me dinner or not, because my other option just kind of walked away.” The boy sighed, pointing to where the player had left.
Grian sighed, “Come on, I know a place.” He said, holding out his hand in case the kid wanted it. Instead the kid just jumped a little in place and grinned wider, before running up ahead.
“Great, let’s go, I haven’t eaten in days.” He cheered, dashing in front of the older avian.
“That’s concerning to hear.” Grian muttered.
Grian took the kid to a slightly quieter section of the main hub, it was still bustling with people but there were as many crowded in one place. In fact the two had found a nice secluded corner never the stall Grian had order food from.
There was a nice picnic table, underneath a large oak tree that gave way to shade over them. The blond sat at the table, tapping playfully on the wooden picnic table, while Grian stood off to the side waiting for their food.
When their food was ready, the older blond brought it over, placing it down on the table and separating their orders.
The younger, immediately grabbed hold of the food unwrapping it and starting to gobble it down as quickly as he could. Grian watched, a bit concerned, his brow tightening. He slightly wondered if he acted this way when he was younger in Japan.
The boy swallowed down another chunk of food before speaking, “Why are you still here?”
Grian shrugged, “You asked me to get you food.”
“Doesn’t mean you gotta stay and watch me.” The boy grumbled.
“I’m not watching you. I’m just-Look did you want the food or not.” Grian huffed, sitting down across the kid and unwrapping his own order.
“Just don’t know why you stick around-less your some creep.” The boy pointed out, an eyebrow raised, “Are you a creep?”
“What?” Grian paused, a bit shocked, but he shook his head, “No. No, absolutely not.”
The kid hummed, “Then why are you still here?”
Grian sighed, “I’ve just been in that situation before. I know at least a bit of what it’s like. I kind of wish someone would’ve helped me.” He took a few bites of his food, “You’re right to be wary of strangers, though.”
“Yeah, Stranger Danger and that shit.” The kid muttered, “You gonna kidnap me?”
Grian rolled his eyes, “Definitely not.’Got enough to deal with on my own server. My players already act like children there.”
The boy snickered under his breath, “You an admin?
Grian nodded, “Yup.”
“You keep saying you’ve been in my spot before. What do you mean?” The boy asked, finishing his food and licking the rest off his fingers.
Grian hummed, staring at the food in front of him, “Exactly what I said.”
The boy groaned, huffing dramatically, “You’re so cryptic!”
Grian laughed to himself, “Big word for a kid.”
The blond glared, “I’m not a kid. I’m the biggest man there is, and know lots of words.”
Grian nodded, “Mhm,” He set down his food, leaning forward on his elbows, “How about this. I tell you how I ended up in my spot and you tell me how you ended up here. That way we’re not the strangest strangers to each other.”
“Why do you talk like that?” The boy asked, cringing.
“Like what?” Grian asked, almost offended.
“You talk so silly.” The boy chuckled, “Like you’re constantly telling a joke.”
Grian rolled his eyes, “You wanna talk or not?”
“Fine.” The boy huffed, “But you have to go first.”
Grian shrugged, “Alright. Well, when I was younger around six my parents got a bit tired of me. They sent me off to Japan to live there while they doted on my siblings. I lived on the streets of Japan until I met two old friends of mine. I can’t say I’m still friends with them, but at the time they helped me get a roof over my head and some food. Eventually they even got me in school, I left though, I headed back home to my parents. And although I didn’t end up staying with them then, I did end up meeting my newest best friend.” Grian recounted, a bit melancholy and sadly. His tone shifted from the upbeat conversation to something a bit tired and morbid.
The boy across him was silent, staring at the wooden picnic table. His fingers danced along the edges, while his legs bounced underneath him. “Parents aren’t supposed to abandon you.”
“Nope. No, they’re not.” Grian sighed, trying to give the boy a tiny smile.
“My parents didn’t abandon me.” The boy muttered.
Grian sighed, “Yeah?”
“They kind of just died.” He whispered.
“Oh.” Grian breathed out the air he’d been holding in. He wasn’t sure what he was hoping for. Maybe that the kid was just lost and needed a bit of help finding his server. Or maybe that the kid had a friend he could find and go to. Maybe that there was an admin out there searching for a player they’d lost. He didn’t want to comfort a kid who’d been abandoned, he wasn’t sure if he could, but he certainly didn’t know how to help a kid who’d been orphaned.
“Yeah.” He whispered, his fingers twisting as he fiddled in place. “My mom was a bird. She was like you-had wings and feathers.” Grian felt a new pit grow in his stomach as he listened. This kid was an avian, or at least related to one. There was a long list of new terrible things that Grian was aware of since the kid had obviously been out on the streets for a while.
The kid didn’t have wings yet, meaning that once the kid did manifest he wouldn’t have either parent there to help him. He’d be left alone and imprint on the first person he sees on the street. There wouldn’t be anyone to teach him how to care for his wings properly or even himself once he got old enough.
Avian’s weren’t supposed to care for themselves until they reached the age of twenty. Grian, of course, was an exception for multiple reasons that weren’t exactly correct but he dealt with it. Either way, Avian’s weren’t even supposed to be alone until they were about fifteen, and even then it could be a tricky situation.
“You’re an avian?” Grian asked, the words forming before he could even think.
The kid looked up from his fingers, he shrugged, “I think that’s the word, but I don’t really remember. Dad wasn’t a bird though. We lived on our own world and then the stupid hunters came in and ruined everything.” The boy pouted, angrily. “They killed them and I ran. I don’t really remember how I ended up here, but I know that my parents aren’t here anymore.”
Grian was silent, waiting to see if the kid would say anything else, “I’m sorry.”
The boy shrugged, “I don’t know.” He pulled his legs up to curl into a small ball on the bench. “I miss them, but it feels like it was a while ago so I don’t really care either.” He paused, before looking up to the older, “Is that bad?”
Grian was silent, he bit the inside of his lip, wondering how to respond. “I can’t really tell you how to grieve, kid.”
“Did you miss your parents?” He asked next.
Grian took a sharp breath, “Well-I mean-that is a complicated question.” He stopped there hoping the kid wouldn’t make him elaborate. However, the younger blond jut stared at him waiting for him to continue, “I don’t know. I miss what they didn’t do, but I don’t think I miss them.”
“Oh,” The boy mumbled, slouching into his ball more, “I think I just miss them. Kind of like they just left and aren’t here with me but there somewhere else having fun without me.”
“I can’t speak for them, but I’m sure they’d miss you.” Grian whispered, hoping that it offered some kind of comfort.
“How did you deal with it?” The boy asked, randomly next.
Grian paused, “Deal with what?”
“The loneliness.” He whispered, sadly.
And if that didn’t break Grian’s heart he was sure the next few minutes would. The pit in his stomach was growing more than it had when he first saw the kid. He shivered, remembering the long nights in the Japan alleyways waiting for the day things would turn around. He kind of wished he had just walked away, just gone somewhere else rather than staying in Japan.
“I don’t know if I’m the best person to answer that.” Grian replied, remembering the day he met Taurtis and Sam. The day he just wished never happened sometimes. On bad nights he’d rather deal with the loneliness than live through highschool again.
“You’re all I’ve got.” He mumbled back, shrugging.
Grian sighed, “I guess, all I can say is hold onto to what you do have.”
The boy sat in silence for a moment, just staring at Grian, his eyes glancing over the avian. The boy sighed, pushing himself from the bench. Grian almost thought the kid was through, that he’d gotten what he wanted and was going to leave now. But then the younger walked around the table, until he was standing right in front of the older-and he hugged him.
Grian flinched at the sudden feeling of tiny arms around him, as the younger hugged him.
He wasn’t too sure what to do.
“What-What are you doing?” He asked, looking down at the blond hair below him that was tightly hugging his waist.
The boy didn’t let go just looked up at him and spoke, “You’re what I have.”
“Oh…”Grian mumbled, as the kid hugged him again. He wasn’t sure when the last time someone actually hugged him. Maybe it was Mumbo before he left for Evo. Or maybe Jimmy when he saw him again? Grian lifted his hand above the boy’s head just patting it in a way he wasn’t sure was comforted or patronizing.
He got his answer when the kid hugged him tighter, pressing his nose into his sweater.
“Are you going to come back again?” The kid asked, his voice muffled. Grian froze at the prominent question. He wasn’t too sure what the answer was. He still had a whole server to look after and the Watchers were making him more and more nervous as things escalated. Still though, he couldn’t just leave this kid.
“Do you want me to?” Grian asked, looking down at the boy below him.
“Yeah” The boy whispered, like the answer would get him in trouble.
Grian nodded, his mind made up, “I will.”
“My names Tommy.”
Grian realized then that he’d found someone he couldn’t disappear from. There was no way he was going to be able to disappear from this kid’s life. Not after he’d jut entered it.
_______________________________________
It became routine from there. Once, maybe even twice a week, Grian was meeting up with Tommy and spending the afternoon with him. Grian hadn’t told anyone in his server about his secret meeting with the younger but they didn’t really need to know. He never had any reason to tell them why he was disappearing for the afternoon. They always just assumed it was some admin business or something that would help him relax from the stress that had come with dealing with the Watcher’s lately.
Neither of them really realized until halfway through another month of their meetings how healthy it had proven to be for the both of them.
Grian was gaining back the moments he’d missed out own, by giving them to Tommy who’d never had the chance to have them.
Grian wasn’t sure when the shift happened, but at some point he stopped seeing Tommy as just some kid he’d found. He stopped seeing him as a orphan that he was giving back to. He stopped seeing him as a curiosity, but just as one of his players that he was in charge off. And from there that feeling only escalated.
Tommy was hopping along the side walk, in a hopscotch pattern even though there was no game chalked on the ground. Still he was jumping along ahead of Grian as they walked down the lesser crowded streets.
“You hungry, yet?” Grian asked, carefully watching their surroundings for anything that might trip the kid. It didn’t take a long time before the older avian was slightly more protective of the younger than he should’ve been.
Tommy paused in his game for a moment, to look around and look back to Grian, “A little. Where’re we going?” He asked.
Grian shrugged, “You choose.” He said, nudging the kid as he passed him.
Tommy grinned, thinking for a moment before deciding, “Can we go to the first place we went to. Like the first first time?”
Grian nodded, “Sure, why not?” He motioned for the kid to follow him and Tommy jumped along the path to follow.
The two found there spot underneath the shade of the large oak tree, and Tommy sat down next to Grian at the picnic table. Grian handed over their regular order, before sitting down next to the kid and they watched the passer bys silently together.
“What’do ya think about that one?” The now seven year old asked, pointing to a certain player who was distractedly walking down through the stalls.
Grian hummed watching for a moment before shaking his head, “Nah, they might be distracted but they’re definitely anxious enough to notice if you stole from them. You gotta go for the ones that are so confident they are safe they let their guard down.”
Tommy nodded taking in the knowledge that Grian gave out so willingly and placing it in his back pocket for later. He ate more of his food pointing out the next target.
“They’re from a modded server, right?” Tommy asked.
Grian hummed, “It’s hard to tell.” He sighed, “I haven’t been to a normal server in a while, staying in the past for a while has its faults. I’ve got no idea what could be modded or was just added recently.” He paused, before looking at the younger beside him, “I doubt you have any idea either.”
Tommy nodded, taking another bite, “Yeah.” Tommy was about to point out another player when an idea popped into his head, “Have you ever thought about going to the future?”
Grian’s brow furrowed, as he chuckled, “What?”
“You already invented backwards time travel, can you go forwards?” Tommy asked, standing up from his spot on the picnic table.
“I feel like those are two different things, neither of which are very…” He paused, thinking of the best words, “helpful.”
Tommy frowned, moving to the other side of the picnic table, “But then why are you doing it.” He plopped down on the other side, laying all the way back so he could stare up at the oak tree.
Grian frowned, “I’m not sure I can stop now that I’ve started…” he muttered, knowing it was all to close to the truth to say out loud to a seven year old. Tommy’s brow furrowed, confused but he shrugged the odd feeling off.
“I’d want to time travel! I’d go to the future and I’d see what kind of big man I become. I’d see how awesome I am in the future and tell myself so.” He declared, staring at the sky above them. He turned his head over to face Grian, “What would you say?”
“To future me?” Grian clarified, then he shrugged, “I think I’d just question them.” He said, knowing exactly what questions he’d ask. He needed to know how to deal with Evo. How did he deal with the Watchers? They were getting out of control.
“I wanna question you.” Tommy declared once again, he sat up from his spot staring at Grian with a wide grin, “What are your siblings like?”
Grian raised an eyebrow at the change of subject but shrugged, used to Tommy randomness by now. “Why do you wanna know?”
“You always talk about the other players on your server. You’ve talked about Netty, and Taurtis, and Martyn, but you haven’t said anything about your siblings. Are they like you?” Tommy asked, looking at Grian with his head crooked to the side.
Grian let out a breath of air as he thought, “I guess they’re a bit like me.”
“Did they get abandoned, too?” Tommy asked, out of the blue. It took one choked laugh from Grian and Tommy was apologizing. “Sorry! Sorry, was that rude? Did I just do a rude thing again?”
Grian laughed, taking no offense to it but finding it incredibly bold of the kid, “No. No, it’s fine. You’re fine, Tommy.” He calmed his laughter down as Tommy’s red face dissipated more. “And to answer your question no, they stayed with our parents. They didn’t even understand what as happening at the time.”
“What about now?” Tommy asked, laying his head on the table.
“Well, there’s my older sister, Pearl. She’s a moth hybrid, not exactly an avian but close. She’s an incredible builder. And then there’s my twin, Jimmy. Although, I do love calling him Timmy to get on his nerves. He might not be the best at building but he loves telling stories. After I disappeared, Pearl figured out what happened and took Jimmy with her and they left. I met up with them again quite recently. I’m the admin of the server the three of us are on together. So I see them just about everyday.” Grian described.
“Are siblings fun?” Tommy asked.
“They make life interesting.” Grian chuckled.
Tommy smirked, “I think I want a sibling.”
Grian laughed, “That’s-It’s a bit more complicated than that.”
Tommy shrugged. They were quiet again, Grian finishing his food as Tommy played with his fingers. There was something that had been nagging at Grian that had been there for a while. Ever since he’d found out the boy was an avian the same thing was itching at his skin.
One of these day, Grian knew, Tommy would start gaining his avian instincts and parts. He’d start growing his wings, feathers would show up in his hair and he’d be imprinting on whoever walked into him on the wrong day. It was reckless to have the kid just roaming the streets of the main hub by himself at this point. But Grian wasn’t sure what else to do. Well, he wasn’t, he had an idea know.
“Tommy, I need to ask you a question.” Grian said, Tommy lifted his head from the table and stared at Grian with his eyes a bit wider than normal.
“Yeah?”
“I need you to take it completely seriously.” Grian said, and Tommy nodded, “How would you feel if I set you up a world you could stay in.” Grian blurted out. Tommy stared at him, confusion and worry marking his face. “It’d be completely safe, I swear.” Grian clarified, “You’d be fully able to leave and go as you want, but it would be yours. You could live there and it’d be your space.”
Tommy shuffled in his seat, “Why?”
Grian sighed, “Remember how we both agreed to be careful with strangers?” Tommy nodded, “It’d be safer. Safer than me checking in twice or once a week.” He let out a breath knowing he’d have to say it a some point, “You’re an avian, Tommy. You’re getting to the point where you’re going to get your wings.” Tommy froze, his whole body flinching at the thought. Grian bit his lip, nervousness eating at him, but he continued, “You need to be somewhere you feel safe when that happens. If you want it to happen here, then I can’t stop you, but I know that’s not healthy.”
Tommy was silent, his fingers twisting in his lap, as he stared down at his feet. “That means Imma imprint, right?”
Grian nodded, “I’m a little shocked you knew that, but yeah. You would, is there someone you’ve got in mind?”
Tommy was silent again, this time he didn’t speak.
Grian sighed, “It’s up to you want you do.”
“Would I go ‘Loopy from loneliness’,” Tommy repeated, mumbling.
Grian chuckled, remembering saying that to the boy months ago, “No.”
“Would you still come visit?” Tommy asked, hoping he knew the answer already.
“Yes, Tommy. I’d visit, nothing about this,” He pointed to the both of them, “would change. Not unless you wanted it to.”
“No!” Tommy almost yelled, snapping up in his seat, “No, I-you can keep coming.” Grian smiled, nodding, “Could you even do it?”
“Tommy, I’m an admin. It’s my job to create worlds for players.” Grian said, “The question is do you want me to?”
Tommy paused, before nodding silently.
“Okay,” Grian said. “I will.”
______________________________________________________
It took two weeks, but the world was created, and Grian was right there with him when he walked onto the world for the first time.
Grian stayed a bit longer that day, helping the younger get set up and creating him a small starter house to stay in. There were a few rules that Grian set in place with the server though, it was peaceful meaning there were no mobs to spawn anywhere. Secondly, if something went wrong Tommy was to contact Grian on his comm as soon as possible. There were lots of others that Tommy was going to be sure to break the moment Grian left the server.
However most of them, Tommy couldn’t argue with seeing as Grian was leaving a seven year old alone on a world without help.
He could still be problem though.
“And you swear to tell me if something happens? Even if it’s small?” Grian asked, about to leave the server back to Evo. Tommy nodded in front of him, behind him was the starter house Grian had built for him.
“Promise!” He declared, hands on his hips, proudly.
“And if your back starts hurting you’ll tell me?” He asked. Tommy nodded, “And you’ll-”
“Will you just go!” The kid yelled, stomping his foot, and pushing Grian away. “I’m fine! Go! Evo’s waiting!”
Grian huffed, “Alright, alright, I’ll be back next week at the latest.” Tommy nodded and Grian disconnected, before appearing on the Evo server seconds later.
He was walking down his pathways to his empire when he was spotted by Pearl and Jimmy.
“You were gone longer than normal.” Pearl said, crossed arms and glare fixated on the parrot hybrid.
Grian yawned, faking his exhaustion. Even though he was in fact very tired, “Got caught up on something. I was busy.”
“You’re keeping secrets.” Jimmy pointed out, eyes squinting at his brother.
Grian blew a raspberry ignoring his brother’s look, “What? Nah, no secret here.”
“We called Mumbo. He said you weren’t there.” Pearl said, following Grian as he continued walking. Grian shrugged.
“Cause I wasn’t.” Grian said.
“But you also weren’t with any other admins either. And no one here asked you to run any errands.” Jimmy declared like a detective.
“I know.” Grian said, “I ran a few errands for myself.”
“What were those?” Pearl asked.
Grian sighed, “Look, there’s a few things that I have to do for myself every now and then. I don’t want to talk about it, okay?”
His siblings looked at each other before looking back at him. Jimmy sighed, his feet shuffling underneath his nervously, “You promise it’s nothing bad? You’re not-You’re not pulling away to disappear again, are you?”
Grian froze, shaking his head, “No. No, definitely not. I won’t-I don’t plan on doing that at all.” Grian said, hugging his torso, wings fluffing up at the thought of leaving his siblings again.
The canary hybrid relaxed more, his shoulders releasing tension as he slouched forward and let out a breath, “Good.”
“Pearl?” Grian asked, hoping Pearl believed him.
His sister just stared at him a bit more skeptical, “Okay.” She muttered, looking away.
____________________________________
Evo lasted three more weeks before everything went to hell. The story was told thousands of times afterwards. The Watchers destroyed the server, to interested in admin of the server and bored with the rest. The admin gave up his life to the Watchers to save his players.
Even then the watchers still took one more of the players, and the listeners stole away two of their own.
Everyone else died or disappeared without a trace.
And Grian…
Grian never showed back up on that world.
He never came back to visit Tommy in his little single player starter home. And the kid grew up alone, until he finally gave up years later on waiting for him to come back.
At eleven years old the boy left his safe bound server and went back to pick pocketing on the main hub. Until he found a flier for a new server, that was looking for players. The eleven year old still missed the only person who he really thought of as a father figure, but he moved on slowly. He took up the opportunity of a new server with people after he found the flier.
He didn’t realize that it would be the worst mistake of his life.