Chapter Text
The first time Theobald had ever heard of the name Wifies was from a sleep talking Parrot on their journey to the next location of their treasure hunt.
Theo was never one to hang up on unnecessary details, especially not one from his friend who is very sleep deprived. He would have missed the mumbling in between the rustling leaves and crickets of the night around them. The hoarse whisper flickering away with the sound of fire crackling out– its woods turned charcoal as dark as the starless sky above them.
But Theo had caught it, albeit unintentionally. It was a miracle he could even hear it, his eardrums had definitely been injured from all the carting he's been doing. The word slipped out from Parrot's unconscious mouth and slithered into his mind; forever engraved like a mystery stone tablet they had found in an abandoned civilization.
Parrot had never said anything about Wifies before.
Their conversation has always been about the treasure they're hunting, or how to survive another 5v2 against players who want their heads hanging up on their walls like a mistletoe. They've never really had time to talk, oftentimes too exhausted to even make proper camps.
Theo could see his friend's eyebags slowly getting another layer the further they travelled, and he could barely force his sore muscles to work for a campfire– he wouldn't blame Parrot who straight up fell asleep as soon as it was safe enough to do so.
The green macaw definitely had been through shit, that much was obvious to anyone who has ever set their eyes on him. Nobody gets stranded in the Farlands for nothing, let alone someone like Parrot with almost zero PvP ability to defend himself. So this Wifies thing must've been important to him, with how much Parrot has been muttering his name in distress and nervously sweating in his sleeping bag.
Actually, the more Theo watches, Parrot might be having a nightmare.
"Wifies… stop…" his friend muttered, almost sobbing to a point. Hearing it was tearing at Theo's soul.
He could probably ask; shake the poor guy awake from his nightmare and question him about the mysterious name. Let his curiosity take hold of him, to finally peel every layer Parrot has until its core was exposed to the world; to him.
It was tempting.
"Parrot, wake up" he called, gently shaking Parrot's shoulders. His friend grunted before finally blinking his disoriented eyes open.
"W— Theo?" Parrot hurriedly sat up, still half asleep yet his posture was of someone who's ready to bolt for their life. "Is someone coming?"
Parrot didn't look much better than when he was asleep, Theo observed. His posture was rigid and he's slightly out of breath, despite having been sleeping and not running a marathon away from assassins. No matter how good he tried to hide his shaking hand, Theo had already seen everything before Parrot was even aware he's hiding something.
Theo shook his head, offering a bottle of water to his friend, "No man, you just look like you're having a nightmare."
"Oh," Parrot gasped softly. His eyes were fixed to the bottle like it had just insulted him. He pushed it back to Theo, "Thanks bro, but I'm fine."
"You're sure? you look like you just got held at gunpoint by a llama in your dream or something," Theo tried to joke, even if it landed too dry for his liking. His hand was still offering the water bottle– silently hoping Parrot would at least accept it if he wasn't going to talk.
Because Theo doesn't want to force Parrot for anything. He had learned his lesson that pushing often leads to mistakes he would regret, and he doesn't want to repeat that. The mysterious name could wait, he decided.
Parrot was silent for a moment too long before he huffed at the joke, finally a lighthearted smile forming on his lips. He was no longer shaking, which was a good sign. "Okay man, like, I'm not that bad."
"Uhuh, sure. Drink up, man," Theo offered again. Parrot hesitantly took it, taking a swig of fresh water like a dehydrated puppy. He could see Parrot's complexion getting better, Theo didn't care whether the water was magical or the fact he wasn't having a nightmare anymore was the reason. As long as Parrot was happy, Theo would too.
Silence stumbled back into the camp, crickets continued their singing and the two pairs of soft breaths were the assurance that they're the only ones here; as safe as they could be in the server. It wasn't uncomfortable, nothing could be with Parrot beside him. But it was unnatural– the quietude was a rare occurrence for them and it's not something they could over indulge without risking their life. Peace had to break sometimes, that's one of the rules of the server everyone had learned to accept.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Theo tried his luck.
Parrot was quiet, taking a deep breath before he whispered a small, almost inaudible, "no."
Which was fine, he had expected it. As friendly as Parrot seemed, he was probably the most closed of player Theo had ever had the pleasure to know. Theo kept to his word– he said wouldn't push, so he won't.
"Okay…"
But he understood how Parrot often got stuck in his own head, tunnel visioning so often he might as well forget he could walk. Parrot could easily plan everything, he could find the treasure himself, run away from assassins smoothly and survive out of every unfair fight he often found himself in.
But Parrot couldn't think by himself. Every moment spent of Parrot being too silent was another moment for Theo to try and guess what other way his friend was about to hurt himself. It was one more conversation to calm Parrot down from his own head, one more night spent in anxious hiding from an invisible enemy.
It was scary to see someone you trust dig deeper into their imaginary hole– afraid that if Theo had looked away for a few seconds too long, it would have been far too late to save Parrot.
Turns out, saving someone from themselves isn't as easy as carting an enemy, or parrying a slash aimed at your beating heart. For the first time in a long while, Theo had realized how truly fragile they were.
Parrot eventually curled back into his makeshift bed, his wings folded around his torso and breathing stabilised. The dawn was slowly crawling up and the crickets died down, Theo could see morning dew forming onto the leaves above them.
Parrot muttered something about getting as much rest as they could before continuing, and Theo reluctantly agreed.
Theo reached out anyway– some sort of attempt to fix the crack before it even begins.
"Hey," Theo tried to whisper.
"Hm?" Parrot tiredly hummed back.
"I'm here if you want to, y'know?" He assured Parrot, mumbled beneath his jacket as he tried to make himself comfortable.
Parrot didn't stir, and Theo spent the rest of the early dawn staring at the brightening sky alone–his mind repeating that name, trying to figure out where he had heard it before.
Maybe if he finds out what Wifies is, he could finally help Parrot. Repay him for all he's done to him, be the best friend he had always wanted to be– someone more than just the muscle and the protector.
Maybe, if Theo could do this successfully for once in his life, people would finally stop leaving him.