Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

They had just left the server to practice for MCC, that was all. Wilbur would be so proud, the youngest two thought for sure, if they managed to win one. For Tommy, it would be his first win not aided by his (Troubled, distrustful, anarchist-) family, and Tubbo’s first-ever. 

Teams for the next MCC had yet to be announced, but it hadn’t mattered. Tommy had been invited back to every competition since MCC 2, after all - and the competition had already become accommodating to Tubbo, following the outcome of The Festival. 

The Admins hosting the competition were concerned, following the events of the Dream SMP. They hadn’t known much of the happenings; no one outside their world did, really. But, well… When asked about the status of Wilbur, and if he’d attend- the silence and reaction of the residents of his world was telling.

Barely a handful of Players were at the practice server. It was calming, for the teenagers. The two had primarily stuck together, as they tended to do, after the Pogtopia-Manburg war. The siblings were back together again. And they had each other- something they couldn’t say about anyone else, anymore. They didn’t have anyone else. Not Philza, Not Technoblade, and not Fundy. Their estrangement was tentatively tying each other together. Their weary, desperate trust for each other is thin and worn, like one last thread holding a rope together. But without it, without the other, they were alone.

By the time they made it back to the world hub, they were already exhausted. Hours of practicing on the Parkour Warrior set and Dodgebolt. The timezone of their server would be late, they were sure. It was hard to keep track of time on either of the MCC servers, who’s day and night never changed, if the Nox Admins weren’t present.

Their arms ached, and legs wobbled with every step. Tubbo and Tommy both felt as if they could fall down, anytime. It was a rough training session, but one that they hoped would be worth it.

Tubbo’s arm was looped around Tommy’s, content to be in the presence of their best friend, without the responsibility of the world on either of their shoulders’. Other Players had barely batted an eye at the two- it wasn’t uncommon for teenagers or children to Server hop by themselves. Nor for someone passing through a world hub to have outlandish and otherworldly scars. For them to both be teenagers, and scarred so heavily- well, that was a different story.

Still, not a soul stopped them as the tall blond led his friend to a nearby empty portal. As they stood still, Tubbo instinctively released his arm from the boy. Tommy kept Tubbo grounded to him as they worked, talking idly to them and inquiring about build plans. As Tubbo talked, Tommy quickly fidgeted with his communication tablet.

The thin, hovering device was pressed against the large obsidian frame of an otherwise normal, unlit portal.  Tapping on the device, he closed out of his Inventory, which by default was empty, Tommy opened his server list. The individually named servers popped up. 

Some servers were empty, others grayed out and unavailable, no longer tended to. Muscle memory brought him to Dream SMP.  The status of the server was buffering- it’s availability of connection was unclear. It wasn’t unusual- not for world hubs filled with tens of thousands of Players at any given time, all having servers they were trying to join into. 

With their SMP selected, the portal flickered for a moment- sparks of neon green rippling within, before quickly fading. The whooshes and crackling of a portal being lit, before failing, caught Tubbo’s ears.

“Uh… Is- is the portal good? Why did it distinguish?” Running a hand down the obsidian frame, they tilted their head to the side, towards Tommy. 

Tommy paused for a moment, blinking in bewilderment with his brows furrowed. “No- no it’s not lit..Uh.. What the shit? Hold on, Tubbo-” he huffed, pulling his tablet off the obsidian wall with ease to inspect it.

Blue eyes squinted at the screen. In the corner of the selection for Dream SMP, was an error sign, much to Tommy’s slight horror. “Fucking..Shit-” he hissed, pressing the icon. “‘Server closed for maintence’- what the fuck!” The teen spat. That got a few heads turned towards him, at his shouts. Most continued walking, merely giving him a wary glance.

Tubbo’s mouth dropped, scrambling for words. “Wh- why? I- I mean, I guess it makes sense- the- the server’s been acting up, and stuff- but- with what notice?” They squawked, fumbling with their own device. Gliding their hand over the graphics, each thing they touched was read aloud to them quietly in the comm systems.

While Tubbo worked on locating his own messages, Tommy already found his. He scoffed indignantly, his hand clenching at the frame of the tablet. “The chat system for the server’s down too! Holy shit, fucking- what? You’d think they’d have instructions! Y’know, telling us what time it opens. Or if there’s a server we should be waiting on.!” Slight panic edged into his angered words as he shouted.

“Guess there’s not,” Tubbo shrugged, pushing their tablet away, already frustrated with it. “Did Dream really not send out any sort of alert for this?  Nothing in the backlog of the Server’s chat?”

Tommy only scoffed. Tubbo was sure he was rolling his eyes, as well. Nonetheless, Tommy scrolled through the backlog of messages from the Server.  “Yeah, with a three minute fuckin’ notice!  Just told everyone to figure it out for themselves, while he fixed shit! What a lil bitch!”

Glares were most certainly being sent towards them by now, Tubbo was sure. They nudged against Tommy’s side, looping their arms back together. “We’re not gonna get anything done shouting ‘n shit about this. We’ll bully Dream about this later.” They’d huff.

“We can’t just fucking stay here, Tubbo! We ain’t got shit to eat, or anything. It’s not exactly like we thought of packing shit for a few hours of practicing!” The boy protested. He had just gotten L’manburg back, finally a place where he and his Tubbo were okay.

After a moment of silence, Tubbo would speak up once more. “I started installing some more, uh..Hack clients-”

“TUBBO WHAT THE SHIT!”

Tubbo shot their hands up pacifying. “Please, I’d really like to not get in major trouble today.” They’d wince, rubbing the back of their neck sheepishly. The feeling of stares lingered on their back. “I got a client that should let me into the world last opened on a portal- which, in this case, should be Dream’s server. It’s not all that busy today. And this one’s a bit outta the way. Chances are, it's our server. At worst, it’s some frequently traveled one, like Hypixel. Assuming its ours, though, we can get on there and-”

“Call Dream a dick.”

“Exactly. I wouldn’t think it’s dangerous, or unstable or anything to be there..I’m sure he and the rest of Dream Team are there.”

Walking back to the portal, guiding Tubbo back with him, Tommy unattached his own device from the frame. “Uh, want me to put yours on the portal? Or do you have it, Big Man?” Tommy tilted his head towards the other expectantly.

Dipping their head in thought for a moment, Tubbo hummed. “I got it, what’s a few more seconds of this text to speech? Seriously, though, this voice is annoying. Blaugh.” They’d huff, tracing their hand over the app, before landing on the Multiplayer server list. Rather than having an individual server selected, the “Connect” button had been highlighted. All Tubbo did was press it, and automatically, it filled in the frame with a sharp shattering noise.

A flurry of colors splashed within the portal, before settling on a distorting purple. Tommy squinted, glancing towards Tubbo. “That..Does not look like Dream’s server color.”

Tubbo blinked, brows furrowing. After a moment, they gave a small nod.. “Well.. The site did say it could do that- It’s kinda just ripping the IP and plugging it in illegitimately- it’s incapable of displaying the correct resource, basically.” They’d give a small shrug, picking at the sleeve of Tommy’s shirt.

“..Fucking- alright, sure. Assuming this is safe- are you ready to hop in?” He pushed down any doubts. Really, nothing worse than what the two already lived through could happen. He's the Vice President of his own country! And Tubbo’s president! They can handle a hissy fit from Dream, and a bit of crime.

Tubbo grinned, nodding their head. And so, Tommy led Tubbo into the portal alongside him. Swirling particles filled his vision, as they flurried around the two-

and then they were stumbling to the ground.

Tommy’s eyes shot open- a dull, thudding pain in the back of his head, as he got his footing. 

Tubbo was doing the same, losing their hold on Tommy, to lean against the portal frame to catch themself. 

“...Well. Fuck.” Tommy hissed, rubbing his temple as he looked around the room.

The large portal behind them had dropped them into a large, pyramid-shaped room. The floor below them was sandy, greenery and bookshelves pressed against the walls. Tommy’s mouth dropped to the floor as he viewed ahead of him.

“W-What the fuck! What the shit these people- th-there’s just! Diamond armor! On display - t-they have fucking elytras! Holy fucking shit! ” He stammered out the words, his brows furrowed together in complete bewilderment.

“What? That’s insane!..This- this sounds like an ocean? Why can I hear water? Are we on an island?” Tubbo warily stepped, testing his footing.

Tommy instinctively reached back to grab his friend’s hand protectively, nodding vigorously. “I think we’re fuckin’ underwater, or some shit! There’s a water column, and- and the walls fuckin’ tilt, and then it’s all water and shit! The ceiling is just the ocean!”

..Descriptions never seemed to be Tommy’s strong suite. Nonetheless, Tubbo nodded along to the words, warily listening. All that could be heard was the crashing water overhead the water-bound structure. The boy shivered with unease at this.

“Are there any Players? Did- did us joining get sent through the comm system, do you think?” 

Tubbo summoned his comm’s back to their hands, but Tommy must’ve already had his out. “Fuckin- I’m still connected to Dream’s. It didn’t give me the option to look at whoever the fuck’s this is.” Tommy growled, uneasiness and anxiety gnawing at him.

 And then, there was a flash of light and particles. A man in a..Bee-themed, space or futuristic-esque suit appears on the other side of the room. Another, far more mundane seeming man, manifested next to him.

The energy in the room shifted to something unfamiliar to the two teens. Tubbo shivered, desperately grasping tighter at Tommy. Tommy had stood rigid, blue eyes cold and wary as he stared challengingly at the two strangers.

While the helmeted, bee-colored man visibly had plates of enchanted Netherite glittering on him, the human beside him was bare of any protection, defenses, or armor.   The teen didn’t know what to make of either of them.

Pacifyingly holding up a weaponless hand, the helmet man cleared his throat. “We weren’t particularly expecting visitors, or any surprise drop-ins this late to our season.” Their voice wasn’t accusatory, but it certainly edged on the skeptical side.

From the yellow-tinted helmet, Tommy could barely make out a faint reflection of light in purple eyes. His throat felt full of vile, Tommy practically growling as he held he pushed himself in front of Tubbo.

In retaliation, Tubbo gently shouldered the boy before poking out beside him, facing vaguely towards the man who spoke. “I’m sorry for him- this..This is an accident, uh, Sir.” They chuckled anxiously.

The helmeted man- who by now, Tommy had presumed was the Admin- tilted his head.

“While accidents aren’t necessarily uncommon on a server such as ours- one quite like this, so far into our progress certainly is.” The Human-ish Player beside the bee-helmet man spoke up, his expression passive and at ease as he stared over the boys.

“You two don’t look like you’re here to give us issues- don’t you agree, X?” The helme- X, apparently- surveyed the two teenagers for a moment more, before nodding. “Good, then.” The human(?) smiled, dipping his head.

Tommy scoffed, glaring at the man.  “Where the fuck are we?” Tommy’s eyes flickered between the two adults standing opposite of them. While the man remained unphased, glancing expectantly at X.

“Well, considering there’s not really a way to accidentally derp your way into here- I’d expect you’d know.” While X wasn’t unkind, his tone was expectant. Accusatory, maybe. 

Before Tommy could open his mouth to blabber and cover their asses, Tubbo put their arm out in front of the other. “It really was an..An accident- it wasn’t this server we were trying to get into- wherever we are.” they’d chuckle uneasily, shifting their weight. They weren’t sure what to make of their unknown surroundings, unable to really focus on what their Communicator was trying to explain to them.

“Our home-server seems to be down.. And- no one told us where to go,  so I said I knew a way we might be able to go back, and uh..It got us here.”  They’d finish, anxiety spiking as they were unable to gauge their reaction.

“Yeah- and we’re not gonna fuckin’ do shit. We don’t even know where the fuck we are. Just- leave us be!  Or send us back, or some shit-”

“Alright, alright! Hey, we’re not fighting with you!” X would cut off Tommy, who’s blue eyes shot a cold glare to the slightly frazzled man.

Tommy couldn’t help but get amusement from the way the masked man was so visibly startled from his swears. “You two..Don’t particularly look in the condition to just.. stay in the World Hub. Do you have someplace else to go? How long have you been locked out?” 

Beside the apparent Admin, who had not-so-subtly manifested a transparent screen in front him, the human looked in exasperated amusement at his helmeted ally. “Forgetting something there, Shashwammy?” The Human-ish man spoke with fondness.

Before the Admin could react, the man turned back towards the accidental intruders. “You’re in the wonderful world of hermits and crafting, my friends! Hermitcraft Seven, to be specific. I’m Joe, of the Hills variety. I go by just about any pronouns. This is my pal, Xisuma Void! Though he’ll likely go by just about anything you can think to call him.”

Tommy looked beside him at Tubbo for a moment, his brows pinched together as he quietly scoffed. This is gonna get really tiring if he talks like this all the time. Tommy thought absentmindedly.

In the meantime, Tubbo himself was speechless- positively bursting at the seams. “Hermitcraft?! This is Hermitcraft? Oh, oh void I just broke into Hermitcraft-” They babbled for a moment, jittering as they attempted to compose themself.

Tommy raised a brow, eyeing them. “You say that as if that means fuckin’ anything to me, Tubbo-”

“I. I’m so sorry, uh, Mr. Hills, Mr. Void!” Their voice cracked, as the words ran out of his mouth. “I swear this isn’t something we do on the regular, I’d never want to disrespect anyone, or any server- especially not Hermitcraft!” They’d continue, laughing anxiously.  “I’m a huge fan of the work done here! Just, everything I’ve seen- uh, and, and heard, about the Hermits! Fu- frick. Uh. Sorry!”  Tubbo finished, practically panting. 

While Joe had seemed appreciative and amused, Tommy couldn’t get a read on Xisuma. Not that he particularly cared what either of them felt; he barely understood the meaning of the words from Tubbo, all that mattered was they weren’t about to belittle them.

“Mr. Void.. That- that might be a new one-” Xisuma had quietly chuckled easily, shaking his head. “No, no need for that. I’m Xisuma, or X. I’m glad you appreciate our work, the Hermits around here are creating non-stop. And we’d be glad to try and help you two, yes?”

“We don’t fuckin’ need help- We stay here, or we don’t. We don’t need pity or some shit. If you’re gonna get all fussy at the fuckin’ idea of us staying in the Worldhub, then just leave us be here, I guess. We don’t need anyone’s help, or charity.” Tommy scoffed, his arms crossed stubbornly. He could hear Tubbo sharply inhale beside him, weakly nudging at his side.

The two inhabitants, Hermits, Tommy mused, seemingly shared a look for a moment. Tommy’s blue eyes were unyielding from them, as Tubbo’s quiet babble of scolding went through deaf ears.

Slowly nodding, the helmeted Admin stepped back. “You two don’t have anywhere you could go?” He’d ask, hesitantly. Tommy glanced beside him, at his closest friend, and biggest ally. Blue from Ghostbur weakly stained his own hands.

No one else outside of Dream SMP had learned about Wilbur’s fate, not yet. That certainly wasn’t a conversation either of them were willing to have yet, with anyone. Dream would be mad. Dream would be furious , if word got out on the nature of his server. 

With that thought, Tommy tore his gaze away from his friend. The boy stared as close as he could to the Admin’s eyes, a challenging look in his hardened blue eyes. “No where.”

Xisuma conceded, nodding. “Fine, then.” He agreed, his tone far softer than it had any right to be, from such an imposing figure. Tommy pondered for a moment if the Admin was taller than him. The possibility made Tommy feel all the more disdain towards him.

Tommy tilted his head, watching expectantly. “Well then? Can we just be- be fuckin’ left here, or some shit? We don’t need to be babysat.”

“Tommy, please, don’t pick a fight here-”

“Yeah, yeah, Tubbo..”

Xisuma winced, nodding. “Sure.. If you want to be left alone, that’s fine. There’s Elytras’ in the room behind us, and rockets in the chest. That’s the only way to get out, besides from the Nether. It should be linked to our Netherhub, so you shouldn’t have too much trouble, yeah?”

Tubbo hesitantly nodded, their grip tight around Tommy’s hand.

“Alright, then.” Xisuma nodded, glancing towards Joe.

Tommy had all but forgotten the man was there, as they had been quietly observing the duo. 

 “Joe, you’re free to go, my friend.”

To Tommy’s perspective, Joe certainly seemed to have some reservations. Whether it was about leaving teenagers unattended, or leaving strangers on their server, Tommy wasn’t sure. Nonetheless, Joe accepted his fate, nodding breezily before Ender Pearl-ing their way out of the Spawn.

Xisuma turned back to the two, one finale time. Tommy didn’t miss the way that Xisuma flinched at Tubbo’s large scars, nearly growling when he saw the Admin’s reaction.

“You two have been competing in MCC.” That caught Tubbo, off-guard. Their brows furrowed together, tilting their head. “Huh? How do you know that-”

“My Hermits have been competing there for a good while. I need to keep track of them all, I haven’t missed the team announcements.” Xisuma explained breezily, something akin to fondness in his tone. “The other Hermits said that they love MCC. Almost all of what they said about the other participants were great. Feel free to reach out to anyone who feels familiar, alright?”

Quietly scoffing, Tommy looked away. Beside him, Tubbo nodded. “Yeah, yeah… Thank you. For letting us stay here, just for now.”

Despite the situation, Tubbo couldn’t help but feel slightly giddy at the idea of being in a Hermitcraft world. They hadn’t been able to hear about, or see anything about their recent achievements in a long while.

“If you need anything, don’t be afraid to ask. I’ll add you two to the communication connection. Most of the Hermits have a…Tendency of getting themselves in trouble, quite a bit. Don’t be alarmed if someone spawns, they’re almost never here long enough to be dragged in.” He spoke casually, easily.

 Tommy wondered for a moment what exactly their definition of trouble was.

“Someone will be here to check on you, soon. Don’t get yourselves hurt, please. We’re happy to help here.” He continued, glancing between the two. Tubbo fidgeted, nodding numbly. They could practically hear Tommy roll his eyes beside them.

Quiet mechanical whirring buzzed as holographic, shimmering bee-like wings expanded behind him.  “Good, then.” Xisuma dipped his head, before familiar red-and-white rockets appeared in his hands.

Before Tommy could lunge to cover Tubbo’s ears, Xisuma had already taken off. White particles were left behind him, but the expected boom never came, merely a small pop and smoke. The sight of them, nonetheless, couldn’t help but leave a bitter taste in Tommy’s mouth.

While Tubbo was visibly startled, cringing and nearly tumbling over, the constricting, choking feeling was more subsided. Their panic wasn’t as intense, though the shock of the short burst alarmed them. Even more so, for a brief second, when the boom didn’t come. They’d both consider it a win, for now. Tubbo fell over into Tommy’s arm, as their best friend pulled them into a side hug.

They both slid down against the wall. The conversation alone had taken out all remaining energy they had left in them. Tommy’s gaze surveyed his friend for a moment. “So,” He said pointedly, Tubbo lifting their head to face him. “What the fuck was that, and what the hell is Hermitcraft?”

Chapter Text

“What the fuck was that, and what the hell is Hermitcraft?”

Tubbo quietly chuckled, their laughter growing louder as their friend squawked indignantly. 

“Tubbo! I’m serious, explain some shit, fuckin’ nerd!” Tommy scoffed, prodding at their side with his elbow.

“Shush! I’ll fucking bite you. Hermitcraft is a super crazy popular server. If you’ve ever searched for examples of builds on your Communicator, chances are, they’re from one of the Hermits. Or if you looked up something about redstone! Anything! You’ll find one of their instructions. They’re geniuses- just, complete geniuses. Grian’s one of them-”

“Grian’s one of them!?” Tommy exclaimed, his eyes shooting open.

Tubbo’s grin widened, nodding vigorously. “Yes! He’s the newest Hermit, last I heard.. Most of the guys he’s teammates with every MCC, they’re usually other Hermits!” They’d continue explaining to the best of their ability.

“Should’ve fuckin’ started with the fact that Grian’s here! That fuckin’ dude! He killed Dream three times! Three times, Tubbo! The dude could be a terrorist otherwise, I don’t care, he killed Dream like it was no sweat!” Tommy continued with his excited shouting.

Well, that certainly fixed the situation, Tubbo mused.

Tubbo nodded along, laughing. “Yeah! He, and most of the others, are posting a bit more frequently right now.. The new World Client, with the axolotls and caves ‘n stuff? They’ve started posting and sharing discoveries about that. I know Grian did, at least. But considering they call themselves the ‘Hermits’ it makes sense to be a bit inactive.” Tubbo shrugged, tapping the chilly cool sandstone beneath them.

Tommy nodded dumbly, glancing around the room for a moment. Tubbo, meanwhile, had pulled their Communicator tablett up. The holographic Comm system was displayed infront of them, everything on the screen they touched being read aloud to them.

Launching an accessibility app, the tablet began describing aloud the block palette, dimensions, and colors. As the tablet’s robotic voice played in his com system, reading aloud the details of the surroundings, Tubbo nodded along to an incoherent rant from Tommy.

Tubbo wasn’t too sure what Tommy was ranting about- likely MCC, and Grian. Grian got a kill on Tommy, last MCC, if they remember correctly.  They wouldn’t be surprised if that was the target of the Tommy’s current tangent. Tommy hadn’t even been able to get a word out, when Grian began shouting vigorous apologies between matches.

The descriptions from the tablet were long, and boring. The robotic voice drew on and on, as it attempted to describe the intricate room. Shutting down the program, Tubbo tuned back into whatever it was that Tommy was on about. 

“Fuckin’ am..So fucking tired. Of course we ended up here. It’d be too easy if we’d just be let back into Dream SMP, huh? Think Dream even knew we were out? I bet not. Even if he does, probably didn’t even care, fuckin’ dick. Bet that green asshole’s just sitting over his code and shit, simping over Gogy-” Tommy ranted heatedly. Tubbo could hear the shifting of fabric, before the boy’s voice became muffled.

With his head pressed against his knees, legs drawn to his chest, Tommy sat there practically panting. His chest heaved, the rage draining from him. “Why is all- all of this, always so complicated, Tubbo?” Blue eyes turned to meet the scarred, burnt front of the other.

Tubbo picked at faded and torn tennis shoes, tentatively listening. The rhythmic pattern of the boy’s breathing, and the crashing water overhead, offered some vague comfort. “All of what?” They’d tilt their head.

The younger of the two quietly sighed, his mouth pressed in a thin line. His hand clutched the bottom of his torn, tan cargo pants, fidgeting with the frayed ends. “Us. Shit with us, it always gets so fuckin’ complicated. Big Man, you’re president. You’re- you’re the fucking president, now, Tubbo.”

Tubbo’s brows furrowed together, as they inched closer to their friend. “Yeah. But it’s- it’s still us, y’know? If- if life was easy, then we’d be missing out on a lot of things. What if we had just never met-”

“We’d always meet eachother, Tubbo. There’s no fuckin’ getting rid of me, even in your fantasy world.” Tommy nudged the teen’s shoulder, a wolfish grin evident in his tone.

That made the other crack a smile, shaking their head. “I hope so, Tommy.” They’d chuckle, shaking their head. The weight of the day came crashing down all again. Before the rushing thoughts could boggle down their mind, Tubbo slumped against Tommy’s side, and released an exhausted sigh.

“This is just, livin’ the fucking life, huh?” Tommy remarked, looking over his friend. The tall boy already scooted himself, his long legs sprawled out on the floor with his back leaned against sandstone walls. His head leaned against that of his companion, half-lidded eyes giving one last surveillance of the room. “We’ll figure this shit out tomorrow..” Tommy mumbled, glancing beside him..

Tubbo was already asleep, their expression finally one of peace. Tommy wasn’t given a moment more to appreciate the serenity of the quiet room, before he’d be pulled into slumber as well.

Both of the teens were stirred awake by the whirring noises of an active portal- the Nether Portal beside them, with particles flying, gave way to two Players.

Tommy kicked himself up to his feet, defensively. Tubbo stumbled along with him, pulling away from the strangers.

Though two stepped out, only one immediately caught Tommy’s eyes. “W- Holy shit!  You’re Grian!” Tommy squawked indignantly.

Tubbo’s head immediately shot up, excitably breaking into a grin. Any exhaustion the two held was wiped away- neither was sure how long their unrestful sleep had been, but it was more than some of their nights. They had quickly guided their hand to the Communicator, to let it announce and describe the surroundings.

The target of the excitement, Grian, sheepishly stood there, nodding.
“Uh, yeah! You guys are Tommy and Tubbo, yeah? I’ve seen you at most of the MCC’s I’ve been to. You both did really well last time, by the way! I’m really looking forward to the next one!” 

This was easily the closest they probably ever were to Grian. He also looked far more at ease, on this Server. The iconic figure, ever-present in the community, had his wild mop of a fringe frazzled and framing his face.

Poking under the bangs, Tommy could now see faint, ragged lines from a scar, along with other various healed-over wounds. Another contrary to how either of them had seen Grian, at MCC, was the large circular glasses loosely sat on his face.

Seeing one of his heroes like this (The only one that hadn’t betrayed, killed him, turned against him, despised him-) in such a..Domestic state, was bizarre. Tommy was scrambling for words, starting and giving up on getting his tongue around what to say.

“This is so cool! Hi! I used to watch and- and listen to a lot of your old build tutorials! A lot of people on our server would always say how we learned building from you!” Tubbo would blurt out, practically bouncing on their heel. Grian turned to the teen, slightly shocked but amused. 

“Oh! I- well thank you! I’m glad I could be of any help at all- my builds are nothing compared to some of what the other Hermits have going on..Speaking of others- this is Stress!” He’d take the opportunity to escape the small spotlight, glancing towards the brunette woman next to him.

The woman- Stress, apparently, quietly chuckled. A fond smile grazed her face, as she looked over towards the two teenagers. “Ello there, Loves! Sorry to interrupt your fan meetup,” She teased, side-eyeing Grian beside her.  “We just wanted to come and check in, is all! X told us two to come visit, yeah?”

Tommy quietly hummed skeptically,  surveying her. Short brown hair hung barely as low as her shoulder, a neat white, blue, and pink flower crown sat upon her head. The colors must’ve been very purposeful, considering they matched with her colorful outfit of the same color.

“Fine, sure..Well, we’re still fuckin’ breathing, and we’re here. So you don’t really need to be here any longer, yeah?” Tommy scoffed, slumping back against the wall. Tubbo was already standing, nudging at his side. 

“Thank you for checking in. I- I’m sure this is a bit of a strange situation. That- Yeah, that’s my bad.” Tubbo chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of their neck. This caught Stress’ attention, turning towards the teen.

“Oh, no! This isn’t a problem at all. Dear, this happens all the time. Grian just- just appeared, one day, on our previous server. We walk out the portal for the first time- and boom! There that weirdo is!” Stress chuckled, her grin unwavering as she gave a playful nudge to her friend beside her.

Grian gasped dramatically, jabbing her lightly right back with his elbow. “I know very well I’m not the first- or last- person that happened with. You don’t have to pick me out specifically.”

“Sure I do, Love! You’re the first new Hermit to join, after me and Zed! I get to bully you, lovingly!” She cheered. Stress’ energy was absolutely efficacious, Tubbo couldn’t help but smile and cackle at her and Grian’s banter.

“Uh huh,” Grian scoffed playfully, rossing his arms. “Last I checked, that was Iskall’s job to bully newcomers- oh, Gord, when you all walked out of the portal and they just decked me ? I mean, it didn’t really hurt all that bad, but it’s a matter of principle!”

Stress seemed like she was almost gonna break down with laughter, clutching her stomach. “I forgot they did that with you, too! Iskall certainly is one that needs work with their introduction, that absolute weirdo!” She chortled, shaking her head fondly. She then turned towards the two teens, reassuringly smiling. “They won’t give you any hard time, they’re just like that sometimes, especially in the beginning of a new season..They’re usually just incomprehensible in the beginning, I learnt!” She giggled, covering her mouth.

Tubbo awkwardly laughed, nodding. “Yeah- they, they sound like something.” It was..A strange environment, to be sure.

Sure, they knew of the Hermits, their reputation impossible to avoid- but most outsiders didn’t know much about the actual Hermits. They went by that title for a reason.

Tommy was having similar thoughts, he felt as if he was completely imposing on everything. But he couldn’t find it in himself to care- it frankly was..Warming, almost, to see this. He missed being able to have that, on Dream’s server. Snapping out of his thoughts, Tommy realized that Grian was speaking again.

“We’re glad to see you’re both alright, but, I don’t think we’ve been exactly great hosts. You both have gotta be hungry- I know the last thing you two seem to want is help, but..We’d be happy to help you however we can.  We can go get you fresh, real food. Or- you both come with us, and we take you to our central area, the Cowmercial district.”

Tommy stared blankly at Grian for a moment, brows knitted together in bewilderment. “The… Cow..merical district?” He’d repeat, squinting.

Grian snickered, nodding. “Yeah! The name just stuck. It’s our shopping district. We have a bakery- it’s never, ever too early for cake. There’s Doc’s shop, but that’s all villager-bought, if it’s the rare occasion that it’s stocked at all- so the Bakery may be the only option, for today.” He glanced back at Stress, who nodded in agreement.

“Only if you’d want to,” Stress would interject. “Either of us could bring back some food for ‘ya here, but we figured you might want to get out. You’re allowed to leave here whenever you want- but, navigating our server by yourself, for the first time? Not the easiest.”

The two teens glanced towards each other. Tubbo looked like they were practically buzzing in place at the idea of exploring the Hermits’ world. Tommy watched them for a moment, before quietly scoffing.

“..Yeah, okay, sure- how the hell do we even get out of here though, for starters?” Tommy crossed his arms, inching closer towards Tubbo. He, for one, was really not a fan of the idea of having to fly out.

Stress cheered excitably, pulling open her inventory. The woman promptly dropped a stack of Ender Pearls to each teen. “I came prepared, just in-case!” She grinned. With a swipe of her arm, the digital screen dissipated.

“If you know how to use Elytras, X already said he’s more than happy to lend out two from the back-up system. I have some to spare, as well.  But- you two never seemed the most comfortable in the air, during flight-based games.” Grian would add awkwardly, adjusting his own wings behind him, an unnatural shade of purple.

Tommy didn’t pay much attention to the words- instead, he promptly threw open his inventory, gawking at the full stack of pearls. “What! I don’t think I’ve ever had this many pearls! Holy shit!” He pulled out the stack of sixteen.

One pearl manifested in his hand, while a holographic icon hovered beside him. The pixel-image of an Enderpearl, with a large 15x in the corner in white font was projected for only his vision. Tommy couldn’t remember a time he had so many Ender Pearls.

“Thank you! Wow- yeah, pearls aren’t really common in our server!  This- this is really nice!” They felt giddy, as they pulled their’s out as well, the action muscle-memory.

“Well, I’m glad you two can put them to good-use, then!” She chuckled. The idle question of how can a server lack pearls skimming through her head for a moment.

Within seconds of her saying that, Tommy had already blindly tossed one of his pearls- promptly falling down from the ceiling, and landing on the floor with a short shriek. Tubbo straightened up from the sidelines, tilting their head.

“Tommy! What did you do?” Tubbo called out accusatorily, as they quickly popped their surrounding descriptor back on.

“Nothing!” Tommy quickly yelled back, lunging to their feet with a stumble as they dusted themselves off.

At the sidelines, Stress and Grian cackled, watching in lighthearted amusement. Tommy could feel his face flushed red with brief embarrassment, quickly attempting to play it off.

“Truer answer; I was being awesome. That was what, Tubbo. Are we eating or what? I want to throw pearls and go places. And eat, that too.” He quickly turned towards the two Hermits expectantly, narrowing his eyes at them.

Grian grinned, nodding. “Yes, yes we are! I have boats. Go ahead and pop up with your pearls, and we’ll fly out to you.” He explained briefly, pulling the boats from his inventory. The thin, digitized object manifesting in his hand. 

Tommy turned expectantly to Tubbo. “You got this, Toob?” He tilted his head, watching his friend. Tubbo had immediately nodded vigorously, running over towards the center of the room, the ceiling above open to the water. 

“Yeah! I’ve got this, Big Man! No sweat!” They gave a toothy grin, shifting the enderpearl in their hand. Arching their arm back, the teen cautiously stepped back.

Their communicator had continued reading off the details of the room into their thin earpiece,  primarily the dimensions. All they had to do was hit the wall leading up to the surface to get out. They could do that, surely.

With a huff of effort, they chucked the pearl. They heard it  break through the under-surface of the water, and then they were submerged. Breaching the surface, they gasped for a moment. The ocean rippled, clothes heavy and soaked. They were certainly glad they had been in their casual clothes, rather than their presidential outfit.

Within a moment, Tommy was up beside them, quietly gasping as well. Tommy pushed his hair back, lightly nudging Tubbo away from the gaping hole in the water beneath them- and then Grian and Stress flew out.

The sound from the rockets were deafened from beneath the ocean, thankfully. Only a thin trail of smoke followed them, the sight certainly unfamiliar to the fireworks the two teens had been accustomed to.

Both Hermits had dived straight into the shallow water with a splash, before Grian dropped down two boats.

“I want to drive! Tommy, I'm driving us!” Tubbo cried out, at the sound of the wood hitting the water. Beside them, Tommy squawked.

“Tubbo! I’m not gettin’ motion sickness! We just woke up, no way. Your idea of ‘driving’ is no one else's, my friend.” He rolled his eyes, crossing his arms as he pulled himself into the boat. Beside him, Tubbo whined.

“C’mon, man! Nothing like a bit of motion sickness to get the day started!” They playfully remarked. Despite that, they had already accepted their defeat, pulling up into the boat.

Stress and Grian watched the teens carefully, with Stress laughing lightheartedly at the banter between them as she pulled herself into the boat, behind Grian.

Grian, on the other hand, was mostly quiet. A thin wisp of a smile was present, conveying one of bemusement. Tommy didn’t get a good look, but he couldn’t quite pinpoint the look from Grian. He didn’t like it.

“Alright,'' Grian started. “We’re really close. No one should be at Looky Looky At My Cookie- and it should be early enough that there isn’t any real occupants at the Cowmerical District.” He explained, turning the boat as he got a small start ahead of the teens.

“Sure, then! That sounds g- wait, what’s that name?”

“C’mon, then!” Grian wouldn't answer Tubbo’s valid question, before boating off. Tommy quickly followed behind, shouting indignantly after them.

It certainly was odd. It felt..Comforting, here. Certainly not relaxing. The opposite of relaxing- Tubbo had nothing but the craving to do something, wreak havoc. But it was Welcoming. It was strange. They hadn’t felt so- so unbothered, since..Ever, really. They liked it.

Tubbo wondered if it could stay this way.

Tommy wondered what the hell they were about to get themselves into.

Chapter Text

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, made up of spores poked out by the shore, in contrast to the rest of the island. A portion of the 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.

Stress,  in the boat beside him, frowned, peering over her and Grian’s own boat. “Ay, now. Language, mate.” She’d laugh, glancing towards Grian.  “I think a few of us Hermits might jus’ die upon hearing a bad word!”

“Would not,” Grian argued. “I would merely threaten. Unless it’s Cleo. She could put me higher up on her list,” he’d give a theatrical shiver. “I miss not knowing about her list.”

What list? Both Tubbo and Tommy would think to themselves.

“Ay, that ain’t even fair, you had ages off from it once you showed us all your,” Stress gestured vaguely to his wings, “gorgeousness. She likes to know what we are. I had a good season or two off that wicked thing, when she realized my body could get a bit kooky! O’ course, the shock wore off. They ain’t in all that good a place to be picky.”

“I’m still in the boat that it's vaguely sacrilegious, for them to include me.” Grian sneered a laugh. “Lines are too blurred there.”

Stress gave a pointed look to Grian, who was steering the boat and pretending not to notice. “Joe’s on the list and that’s probably sacrilegious.”

“He’s not really a religious figure!”

“He’s more so than you, c’mon, now.”

“That’s like- he’s- he’s on the opposite end of sacrilege, Stress.”

Tommy finally groaned. “What are we talking about? What is happening here? Also, fuck no.”

“Nothing, we’re not talking ‘bout anything.” Stress would say quickly.

Opposing Stress, Grian would add immediately after, “Cleo harvests our limb and skin. Zombie Hybrid health can be a funny thing.” He’d say with a cheeky smile.

Tommy faltered his steering to stare in horror. Tubbo gapped, slowly turning their head towards the direction of the Hermits boats, to Tommy, and back to the Hermits.

Making a choking noise, Stress gawked at Grian and shouted “GRIAN! Don’t tell that to visitors! They’re baby-faced!” She turned to the two teens, “she only does it to Hermits. And Hermits that consent- and aren’t green, alien, furry or gooey.” 

“And have limbs to spare! Weirdly enough, Doc is excluded due to all but two of those categories. Huh. And besides, Stress, we’re all exposed to bizarre amounts of gore if we’re Spawned at that age, or born.” Grian waved his hands.

Stress slowly blinked, side-glancing to the teenagers and then back to Grian. “...I don’t think they all do, love.”

Grian hesitated. “..Nah. I- I think they do.”

“Oh, yeah. We do!” Tubbo pitched in.

Shrugging, Tommy gave a small nod of agreement. Stress stared at him and Tubbo in distress.

“C’mon, we’ll get there soon.” Stress sighed, a tinge of distress in her tone.

Grunting, Tommy, huffed with effort as he continued rowing his and Tubbo’s boat. Still a bit on edge, the tension left his body when he spotted the island. There were 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. And contemplating life ‘n shit. Who knew these guys were regularly being harvested by their friend? Anyway, are we there?”

“Nope,” Tommy shook his head, “almost. 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, who was seemingly 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, shadowy 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 there really that many buildings? I bet there is! I heard Hermitcraft servers always have huge builds!”

“Yes, 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 welcome 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 Comm. “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 on the last word half-hazardly, his lips drawn down into a scowl.

“Love, 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 Void’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, which were more-so incoherent rants, attempting to describe 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 barely 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.” Grian chirped in, 

...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. Grian words may sound sincere, but they both knew better than to blindly believe someone, other than each other. Tommy shot a glare at the man, eyes narrowed.

“Yeah, whatever you say.” He scoffed. Grian 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.”

Tubbo gasped, tugging at the Tommy’s arm. “It smells so good! 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.

Chapter Text

By the time they had managed to leave Looky Looky at My Cookie, being around the two teens felt like a hurricane. When Stress managed to convince them to get something to eat- not that cookies and cake were exactly a healthy breakfast- that certainly hadn’t slowed them down from bouncing off the walls.

Though wary at first, Tommy couldn’t get himself to turn down free goods, without even being accused of stealing. While Grian had been digging through an Enderchest, finding payment for the goods, Tommy and pulled Tubbo along to gawk at the builds.

“I don’t fucking get it! Why don’t you guys just, steal shit? I don’t see anyone here to stop that! Or- what’s stopping someone from griefing?” Tommy turned, eyes narrowed on Stress.

Stress merely tilted her head, brows knitted together in confusion. “We’re a whitelist server, Love! Of course none of us would steal. We’re on a mooshroom island, so we don’t have any worries about any creepers or the like, either.” She had explained, much to the boy’s frustration.

“Yeah, but if someone wanted to, they could just fuckin’ come here and steal! I mean, why would anyone care? Or how would you even notice, you all seem loaded.” He scoffed in frustration.

Tubbo, at his side, laughed. “That’s the coolest part, Tommy! They don’t worry about that! That’s why, like, they’re so cool! No one disrupts eachother or steals, so people can just..Work, and do crazy shit!” They gawked, clapping their hands as they bounced in place.

“I’ve always meant to go back and explore one of the replica worlds you guys put out. The fact that after you’re all finished, you just- put out the code? So others can make replicas of just- such intimate places? And experience it and walk through it? That’s so cool.” Tubbo finally stopped, having nearly ran out of breath.

That earned a flustered laugh out of Stress, nodding along. “Oh, I agree. I only got to join the Hermits two worlds back, on Hermitcraft Five! Me and Zedaph- oh, is he something- were the new Hermits up until Grian finally joined us, last world.” 

“New Hermit is definitely a heavy torch to carry,” Grian would chirp in, emerging from the shop. “Gotta commit as much chaos as physically possible. Make a good name for yourself.” He finished with a wolfish grin, unruly bangs falling past gray, almost purple eyes that glanced between the teens.

“He’s got a point,” Stress snorted, nodding. “If you’re ever bored during your stay, no Hermit is short on stories. Anywho, Grian, you got the spending diamonds for the two?” She turned towards the man- not even a hair taller than herself.

“Yep, of course. Here you two go, I don’t have all my diamonds on me, but this should help cover just about whatever you need.” Pulling out the diamond icon from his tablet, he dropped a numbered amount to both, being deposited into their system.

“W- what!” Tubbo exclaimed, pulling out a diamond from their system. “Surely not. Is my tablet reading this right? A stack of diamonds?” They gawked, clutching onto the jewel.

Tommy merely screeched, pressing his tablet against his chest. “Holy fucking SHIT-”

“ Jeez does this feel like a language moment-” another voice chimed in, cutting Tommy off.

The boy went rigid. Tommy’s head snapping in the direction, as Tubbo nearly jumped out of their skin in surprise. Stood by an igloo- out of place in the clashing mycelium-grass island- was an equally odd man.

Platinum white hair held back(mostly) by a well-worn black headband, a silver plate on the front reading off NHO. A faded, dull green jacket- littered with patches, pins, and buttons- with, a black mask covering most of their face. And- most notably- the glistening and slick snowy owl wings behind them, with a purple-tinted glow to them.

The white-haired figure paused, shifting their weight awkwardly. “Uh, hi.” The guy gave a small wave, expression unreadable past mismatched black-and-red eyes. The Player’s hair barely even allowed for those to be viewable- aiding in his masquerade, made the combination of mask-and-bangs shield most of the visible emotion from the newcomers.

“Hey, Etho!” Grian chirped, pleasantly pleased by the appearance of the shady figure. For some reason that Tommy, yet again, doesn’t quite understand, Tubbo gasps.

“Holy- you’re Etho? Like, Ethos Lab?  Oh, oh Void, I spent so much time watching so many of your old redstone videos! It’s what got me so interested in it!” They grinned. 

Oh Prime, who doesn’t this place have? Tommy scoffed at the thought, eyes narrowing on the figure. What’s with the scary mask people always being the ones getting popular, and shit-

“Oh, thanks. Always happy to hear, there’s always a use for more redstone users. Uh, looks like you got a bit of a tour going on?” Etho turned towards Grian and Stress. 

“Yep! We wanted to check in on them, I know the announcement in chat gave us all an announcement.” Stress grinned, glancing towards the teens. “These two are Tommy and Tubbo. Glad to see you have some idea about Etho, already. He’s always bound to be around somewhere. Oh, and they use he, its and they pronouns.” 

Tommy scoffed, eyeing the Player, a few inches taller than his own height, frustratingly. “Hi, and shit.” He sniffed, crossing his arms.

Etho shuffled in place, nodding. “Uh, yeah. Language, by the way.” It sheepishly huffed, running a hand through his hair. “Welcome, for however long you guys stay… And if I may recommend, make sure you head down to Shade-E E’s. Quick profits all around.” They added, pointing with their thumb behind them, towards the dark mansion.

Tommy raised a brow, tilting his head.  Prime, what is up with this guy.  “Excuse me?” He scoffed.

Grian groaned, rolling his eyes. “Etho. Please. The amount of glass I've picked up coming out of the District portal.” He glared pointedly towards the other.

“Mhmm..I don’t see what there is to be so upset over. I think I'm providing a very generous service, to our server.” He snickered, quirking an eyebrow.

Pointedly sending a scolding glare towards Etho, Stress turned towards the two teens. “C’mon, now. Mind that Mx. Ice Queen, now.” She huffed, fondness seeping into her voice.

“I know when I’m unwanted,” Etho chuckled, holding up gloved hands in mock-defense. ”See you two around. You too, Tubbo, Tommy.” It nodded towards each person as he named, before a rocket was summoned to their hand. And, he was off with a trail of smoke.

The poof and small bang from the minor explosive was all it took for an incident to form. Tubbo cringed, visibly flinching before they curled in on themself, ducking their head down as their arms clung around their head, their ears covered.

Tommy, on the other hand, nearly jumped a foot in the air before throwing himself on Tubbo.  The two went tumbling to the ground with a huff. 

The two Hermits shot up, turning towards the teens. “Oh Gord, hey, it’s okay, those were just flight duration rockets! They can’t do a thing. Etho’s gone, now.” Grian dropped down next to them, brows pinched in concern. 

“We promise, it’s alright! We all use rockets like that. It’s alright, see? Everything’s fine. No Hermit would do a thing to purposefully scare you, like that.” Stress chirped in, her heart sinking at the thought of two kids being so terrified at a simple firework.

Tommy pulled his head away from the crook of Tubbo’s neck, glaring harshly at the adults. Distrust was obvious in his blue eyes, before he untangled himself, pulling up Tubbo with him. “Why the fuck would he need fireworks? They had fucking wings.”

The Hermits exchanged a gaze for a moment, before Grian held up his hands pacifyingly. “That was just an Elytra. They take the form most fitting for the wearer, at the moment. Stress marked him the Ice Queen of the season, since it owns that Ice shop,” He’d point with his thumb behind him, at a snowy igloo with an Ice sign above it. “So, he had snow-themed wings. Last world, my-” Grian’s eyes widened, catching himself. “Yeah, Elytras are cool. Etho- they don’t have wings. It’s an Enderian, actually. I think…They’re albino? I haven’t spent much time with it yet. But there’s no doubting it. They give me the spooks, sometimes.” He’d laugh.

“..Right. Sorry- I- Uh. I didn’t realize he had an Elytra.. S-Should’ve expected the rocket, if I knew.” Tubbo sheepishly laughed it off, their head dipped down.

The correlation between the splattered, sparked burn scars scattered across their face, and their reaction, wasn’t lost on the Hermits. 

There was a brief silence between the four, Tommy’s arm wrapped tightly around the other teen’s.

“So- what are your wings? Other than Grian, I guess. Since I know you had them at MCC…” Tubbo eventually asked, breaking the tense pause.

Grian gave a quick, anxious glance to Stress. Stress cleared her throat. “Mine are floral-based and skeletal, when I wear them.” Stress chirped, her tone warm. With a swipe of her holographic tablet, wings were equipped to her back. 

Indeed, they were as described. A frame of skeletal bones, a light, magenta glistening aura surrounding them. Moss, and large flowers clung to the wings. How exactly she flew with them was beyond anything Tommy knew- or was willing to take the time to understand.

“We won’t be using them, or flying, since you two don’t have any. But it is about time we discuss what your plans are. Has your server’s admin sent any updates?” Grian switched subjects, glancing between the teens.

A tense energy still surrounded them, as Tubbo fidgeted and gripped onto the fabric at the bottom of their shirt.

“No,” Tommy scoffed, pulling his Communicator into his free hand. “The bastard hasn’t said a word.” The boy practically growled out the words, in frustration. 

“Alright,” Grian said easily. “Then we figure out what you two want to do.”

“There’s a lot of spare builds. Keralis, real close to here, has a whole big city. There’s a hotel there. It’s not empty, but it is.. Overwhelming, and a bit much. There are also Hermits starter bases.” Stress explained, trying to lay out the options for the two.

Tommy scowled, while Tubbo looked- well, spaced out. Easily the quietest either Hermit had seen them, so far. This only added to their concern.

“I have my starter base. No Hermit would bother you, but it’s close enough that we can drop off supplies, and you’d be able to reach others if you need help. Both of you could have anything I left in those chests, Gord knows I have more than enough resources.” Grian offered, glancing between the teens.

“The spawn room was fine, Mr. Grian.” Tubbo cringed, tilting their head towards the builder.

Grian persisted, gently shaking his head. “No, it isn’t. There isn’t the supplies to really just- let you guys sustain, there.” He grimaced, before manifesting the spruce boat icon into his hand. “Hobbit hole with everything in it going to you two, or empty hotel room with no elevator.” He’d offer.

The pair were quiet for a moment, before Tommy groaned. “Fine. Hermithole, or whatever.” 

Nodding along, Grian trailed off towards shore. “Alright, we have a short journey ahead of us, then. And then you two can decide if you want to settle there and make do with what’s stored, or come back on your own accord for more. I won’t make either of you stick around for much longer.”

“Good.” Tommy grumbled, pulling back out his own boat.

Both groups were soon in their boats, and once more, were off into the ocean.

Chapter Text

The Hobbit Hole was more than Tommy expected. Birch and spruce windows poked out throughout the hillside, a round entrance carefully carved from the wood. Poking his head inside, Tommy’s eyes darted across the spruce-built interior skeptically. “..Thanks.” He’d halfheartedly grumble. He warily stepped in, his hand resting on the doorway entrance for a moment as he investigated for potential traps.

“You’re..Sure we can just- stay here?” Tubbo asked once more, their head turned back towards Grian, standing aside the messy front garden.

“Of course. I swear, I don’t need another place to hoard stuff! Chances are, I’ll only be out here if I finally get around to moving my villagers out of their old setup.”  Grian confirmed once more, his tone light. “Seriously, it’s not a big deal. Promise.”

Hesitantly nodding, Tubbo offered an appreciative smile his way before they turned back towards Tommy. “How’s it looking, then, Big Man?” They hummed, tilting their head.

“Fuckin’ cool as shit-” He glanced around, apprehensively surveying the ground for any traps.

“It needs a bit of cleanin’ up,” Stress chirped, sending a lighthearted glare towards Grian as he stuck out his tongue with a chortle. “We’d all be happy to help.” She finished, with a warm smile.

Tubbo politely nodded. “I think we’ll handle it. Thank you, again.” They ran their hand over the wooden arc in the entrance.

Grian shook his head. “Really, don’t worry about it. Stay here. Get settled. Either of us may be over to check up. Across the lake’s my neighbor, Scar, who you might see. But he shouldn’t come around here.” 

With a bit of exasperation, ready to be left alone, Tommy wordlessly nodded as he bounced his leg. 

Clearing his throat, Grian nodded. “Alright, then we’ll be out. We’ll see you two soon. Cya, Stress, thanks for the help!” He dipped his head towards Stress, who grinned bubbly back.

“See ya! Bye, loves.” Stress cooed, before deploying her glowing skeletal wings and ascending off with a quick poof of smoke.

Instinctively when the item had come to her hand, Tommy had thrown his arms around Tubbo’s ears- an action that didn’t go unnoticed by the Grian.

Grian simply put his hands up pacifying, as Tubbo was shrunk back curled, shielded away from where the brief poof was. “They’re duds, almost all fireworks here are duds.” He had calmly spoke, his tone soft. “I’ll let you be alone, and calm down. I’ll come back to check up on you guys soon, ‘n make sure you have the supplies you need. You have free reign of that base, alright?” He’d hesitate, looking between the two. Tommy stared at him expectently, before giving a sharp nod- signaling him to leave.

Tommy uncurled himself from Tubbo. “You good, Bigman?” He tilted his head.

“Yeah,” Tubbo breathlessly laughed. “It doesn’t really.. Scare me it just- it startles me? Hearing it? ‘Cause I don’t really have time to prepare myself for the noise..Even if it’s not the same as- the kind from. Then.” Their voice wavered for a moment, before they took a shuttering breath. “Yeah, I’m fine, Man.”

“..Mhm..Alright.  Well, this set-up is better than just ‘bout half the shit on’ the SMP.” Tommy diverted the subject, sweeping his foot over the top of the floor, watching the small streak it left beneath a thin coat of dust.

Tubbo tilted their head. “Really? It smells..Very dusty-” They sneezed into their arm, sniffling. “I.. feel like it might need a bit of work, yeah?”

Tommy shrugged. “Yeah.. We can see ‘bout gettin’ a towel wet or something and wiping all this shit down?”

Humming in agreement, Tubbo felt around, listening to the words their Comm robotically had been reading off.

“I’ll see ‘bout findin’ shit. They’ve gotta have wool in some of these chests,”

With a bit of digging,  the two teens had gotten to work. Not everywhere in the practically abandoned place was dusty or dirty. A small lush crevice was fresh and clean- or, relatively so. Bright feathers had littered the area around it. A path from a window seal, which had been opened, and to said crevice was nearly spotless of debris, outside of such molting feathers or a few leaves.

Having dusted a fair bit of the base,, the two messed with the chests, rummaging through what could be found...Which was a lot. Just not in the places they had expected.

Out of the chests they had searched through, they managed to find almost a doublechest full of various stacked enchanted books-

“How..How did he just leave all of this here?”
“Well, he has enough he definitely won’t notice a few gone!”

A totem of undying in a miscellaneous chest-

“Woah.. WHAT THE SHIT..”
“Dude… This is.. A gamechanger”

A golden apple held by an item frame-

“Finders keepers! This counts, its on a chest.”
“Sick!”

Bafflingly, a diamond in the food chest-

“What the actual shit. WHAT THE ACTUAL SHIT-”
“What? W- WHAT? WHY?”

Two enchanted, nearly broken bows with enchants-

“Better than nothing, I’ll see about combinin’ each of’em with a plain bow- there outta be some string ‘n shit.”
“Sounds like a good plan, yeah.”

And in the middle of the room, a chest with an enchanted diamond axe-

“..Fuck. Wow- There’s just a wholeass enchanted axe! What the fuck is the point of the itemframes if there's no system here?”

“Whats it enchanted with..?”
“..Fortune? What a waste. Uhh, some efficiency, too.”

There wasn't much in the main storage room, but they weren't quite willing to push their luck and explore too far. At least not until they got some food and set up some sort of game plan.

The two teens distributed some of the loot they scavenged, damaged iron armor going to Tommy, a shovel to Tubbo and a spare shovel to Tommy, The totem of undying to Tubbo, and the two diamonds they scavenged turned into a diamond sword for Tubbo as well, with the axe and golden apple going to Tommy.

They turned their focus to food. The two sat beneath the support pillars against the walls, taking the time to eat a handful of watermelon slices.

The wall of chests ahead of them had been broken, exposing the opened window with feathers trailing from it. It was an oddly live scene in the otherwise abandoned wooden hole.

Neither of them quite enjoyed the feeling of being holed in, or the small nature of the hole-home. Nor did either teen mention it.

“The Hermits don’t share all that much online about themselves. The Admin, Xisuma- he sometimes puts out videos on the developmental features in Snapshots the Devs created. Etho- they did a lot of really cool tutorial stuff. It made a really important redstone device- the Etho Clock. He doesn’t do much, anymore.” Tubbo hummed, pulling another watermelon slice from their inventory.

Tommy shrugged. “I guess I should’ve known you’d be into this nerd shit,” he’d tease lightly. “I think I heard of Grian. He’s a good’in, no doubt.”

“It feels weird taking all his stuff,” Tubbo would add. “Surely he didn’t know what all he left behind?”

Snorting, Tommy shrugged. “We’ll ask him one last time- but I say, fuckin’ take it. The guy’s got- got his fucking mansion already.”

Tubbo huffed a laugh. “Yeah, that’s true. Still rude. We’re guests.”

“No no,” Tommy corrected, “We’re hackers. We’re big wrongin’s, us lot.” He snickered, giving a small jab to Tubbo’s side- who hissed and swatted him back.

“Ha, ha,” Tubbo said plainly, taking a big bite of their snack. “I dun’ knuw-” they swallowed their bite, “I don’t know what you could possibly mean!” They exclaimed, rocking back. “I am so- so innocent. I’m just a little bee boy, me.” They gestured to themselves, laughing.

In feign annoyance, Tommy groaned. “Yeah, yeah, little president. You’re- you know, we’re technically veterans. Ain’t that a fucking trip to think about?” He stilled a little, a grimace taking his expression.

Going quiet, Tubbo shuffled. “I…Is it bad I’m enjoying this? A bit? I feel bad for intruding on fuckin’ Hermitcraft- but- I’m…I’m getting tired of being the president. It’s hard. I don’t feel like the others in the cabinet totally get it,” they frowned.

Tommy waved his hand dismissively. “They probably don’t. None of those assholes know how to be a good president- y’know why? Because Fundy, and Quackity- and, well, Karl’s an American,” he shook a fist to drive a point, earning a surprised laugh from Tubbo. “Fundy and Quackity, they both lost. Quackity was just…Fuckin’ there- taking orders. Giving orders. Being a little bitch.” 

At Tommy’s words, Tubbo’s expression sharpened. “Tommy. I- I know what you and WIlbur were going through was bad. I know, I was there too- but I was also with the other members of Schlatt’s cabinet. I don’t- I could never hate Big Q for what..What he did. He’s- a complicated guy, yeah. But he protected me- “

“Did he, now?” Tommy said dismissively, raising a brow.

Tubbo tilted their head forward, pissed, “Yeah. He- he thought I was going to be imprisoned. Not- not murdered. Did he watch? Yeah- sure. But he, he didn’t-” Tubbo bit their tongue, taking a sharp breath in, and shaky, quivering breath out. “I’m…Making a room for us. Quackity helped us. Fundy helped, too. And- we’re an Administration, we…They’re probably there, to, y’know. Actually challenge me. Make sure I’m doing the right thing. That feels like something a cabinet was supposed to do, doesn’t it?”

Wordless for a moment, Tommy shuttered and shook his head. “I- I mean, yeah, but…”

“I’ll work on clearing out a room for us.” Tubbo let out a breath, clenching and unclenching their hands as they tried to calm themself. “Go- find more chests, I guess.”

Fidgeting with his fingers, Tommy stared. “You’re not…Mad at me, are you?” He asked, watching Tubbo collect themself and dust themself off.

Tubbo stilled for a moment. “...We’re okay, Tommy.” Is what they said, their hardened expression crumbling a bit. “I’m just- just stressed, is all.” They mumbled, pushing forward.

Tommy collected himself for a moment. Raising to his legs, he wrapped his mind around what to do. He settled on going off and rummaging through more chests.

Tubbo found a dead-end room beneath a spruce-log room on the second story, and had begun trying to carve it out, as the other teen worked through more and more chests.

Tommy eventually worked his way outside and into the yard in front of the entrance, rummaging his way through the bits and pieces- the best so far, being another golden apple which he happily held onto.

Half way through his second chest, something caught his attention- or, more like, he caught something’s attention.

A blue, yellow-cheeked bird had fluttered around him, its head quirked curiously as it stared him down.

Tommy shrinked back. “What the fuck do you want?” He squinted at the parrot as it lowered itself down onto the top of the open chest, hopping along the edge.

“F⚍ᓵꖌ!” The bird cooed its response incoherently, chirping at him.

Tommy paused, eyes lighting up in realization. “Oi! You’re the one that flies into the house, huh?” 

In response, it turned its head away, nodding. “Hobbit!” It shrilled.

As Tommy had opened his mouth to respond, the hobbit himself, Grian, had flown down, sweeping down with a soft thud.

“Sorry! Uh, Professor Beak has a little spot in there. He likes to go ‘n stay there most days, it's a lot cozier than the mansion,” Grian chuckled apologetically, putting out his hand for the parrot. 

Tommy snorted. “‘Professor Beak?’” He’d raise a brow. 

The named bird chirped, stepping onto Grian’s wrist without hesitation. It swiveled it’s head, “Professor Ellen Taurtis Beak!” The voice was  mimicking that of Grian himself.

It was… A strange display, to be sure.

Sheepishly, Grian hummed, running his spare hand through the bird’s feathers. “They may try ‘n break back in, they’re a pesky bird like that. I’m sorry for bothering you, though. You two doing good?”

“..Hm, Yeah, thanks. Are you..Like, fuckin’ aware of all the stuff you’re leavin’?” Tommy eyed the strange man, folding his arms.

Grian merely gave a shrug. “Not really? But that just means they’re nothing important. If they help you both get started, they’re yours.”

Huh. Well, that was easy enough.

“..Right. Cool. Bye.” Tommy watched the man, as he easily nodded, striding off with his bird held by his chest.

Tommy let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. “..This place is fucking weird. Fuckin’... birds speaking garbled nonsense.. Fuck , we need to get out of here.” He’d mumble, resting his arms on the edge of the chest.

Chapter Text

“Tommy.”

The blond grumbled, rolling on the floor as he tucked the corner of the blanket underneath himself.

“Tommy,” Tubbo repeatedly groggily, clearly having just woken up themself.

 Tommy took a breath, opening an eye to squint at the brunett. “Wha’ Tubbo..” He’d murmur, rubbing at his eye.

“..Why is there a bird here?”

Groaning, Tommy slumped upwards, peering towards the end of the teens’ makeshift bed. Indeed, there was the blue feathered yellow-cheeked parrot.

The bird cooed, shifting between its feet. “What’s your name?” It cawed, wings fluttering as it hopped up onto the blankets.

Letting out a sigh, Tommy turned towards Tubbo. “It’s Grian’s… Fuckin’... Beak or something. It breaks into here, apparently.”

“Ooh! Okay. Well. That makes a bit more sense.” They nodded, turning their head towards the bird. “It’s too early for this. Uh.. Go, dude.”

Prof. Beak just tilted its little head, before hopping and swooping off.

Tubbo flopped back down on the rough pillow, huffing. “What an impolite bird.”

Nodding, Tommy dropped back down as well. “This bed’s shit.” He grumbled, shifting and wiggling as he attempted to get comfier on the pile of blankets and wool they had piled in a tucked-away corner.

Sprawling out a bit more, Tubbo hummed. “Yeah. We’ll get a proper bed soon… This is kinda comfier than whatever you can throw together with a crafting menu, though.” They yawned.

With a moment of hesitation, Tommy turned his head towards Tubbo.
“Tubbo. What are we gonna do?”

Tubbo threw their head towards him.
“Whatcha mean?”

“The server? Our server? The server where you’re leading a country now?”

Mouth opening and closing again, Tubbo gave it a second of thought.
“..I guess i’m not being a great president right now, huh?”

Tommy cringed.

“You’re- you’re definitely..The best. For what it counts.” He grimaced.

Sadly smiling, Tubbo messed with their unkempt mop of hair, the unruly and frizzy bangs shielding most of their face.

“We’ll probably be able to get back in soon.”

“..And what if we’re not? What if Dream did this on purpose?”

Tubbo’s expression faltered into a frown.
“..I- maybe? Maybe he did?..But- no. no, he’d give us..Something. He wouldn’t just be done with us. I think he’d try to say something to us. Get the last word? Y’know? His..Grand finale for us?”

“Or he could just tell us to fuck off. Never let us get our finale word in. Never let us get any sorta chance. Or closure.”

“..Tommy, we’ll do what we can do. I know how much it all means to you. And… I don’t..Wanna let L’manburg down.”

The blond laid there for a moment.
“..You won’t, Tubbo.”

Quietly Tubbo sighed.
“Thanks. When it..Doesn't feel like the asscrack of dawn i’ll try ‘n think.. Of what we should do to work on getting back to the server.”

“Back home..”

“...”

“...”

“Yep. Back home.” 

“...”

“Let’s go back to sleep..”

“..Yeah.”

Chapter Text

They never quite fell back to sleep.

It took only three hours for them to start rolling out of their makeshift bed, and back to scrambling around the hobbit hole and making the most of the resources.

The two teens didn’t really talk, after how their last conversation finished.

Tommy peaked down into what looked like a not-so-hidden stripmine, before Tubbo’s head perked up.

“Someone’s at the door,” The brunett chimed, carefully striding their way over.

It was once again Grian, with a shulkerbox in tow.

“Sorry to bother you guys again,” Grian gave a sheepish wave while balancing the box against one arm and his chest. “I remembered last night that I didn’t leave any cooking supplies, or open up where the kitchen is.”

“It’s not just you,” Tommy decided to add, turning back towards where the entrance was. “That fuckin’ bird showed up again this mornin’. Woke us up.”

At that, Grian groaned. “Yeah..He does his own thing in the early mornings and at night. The hobbithole was basically his house. I’ll enclose him tonight, sorry for that.”

Moving the box under an arm, Grian tilted his head. “Can I go back and show you where the kitchen’s hidden?”

Tommy merely raised a brow. “It’s your house, ain’t it, dickhead?”

Tubbo lightly jabbed Tommy’s side.

“I made it, yeah, but you two are staying in it. As long as you’d like it it’s yours and I won't come in without your explicit permission.”

With a second of baffled confusion, Tubbo cleared their throat and nodded.

“Yeah! Uh. Come in, I guess..?”

It took only a few minutes for Grian to expose the tucked away room by the super smelter setup Tubbo and Tommy were yet to investigate.

“I didn’t feel like decorating a kitchen since I already had so many plans with my megabase..If I had it my way I wouldn’t have made a kitchen at all, but the Jungle Gang of Hermits would’ve been severely disappointed if I was only having menu-crafted food.” He’d casually explain, pulling out a paper towel roll from the shulkerbox as he swiped down the tops and barren counters.

“How many Hermits are in the jungle?” Tubbo asked, brows furrowed. Their tablet’s visual narration was muted, as it repeatedly described Grian wiping off the dust from the counters.

“Ehh..Five? Including me? There’s also Ren, but he’s right on the edge, down in a masa. Beautiful setup he’s got going on.” He’d breezily explain.

Nodding along, Tommy glanced around the room.

“This is cool ‘n all but we don’t have to use this space. You left.. Shitloads of stuff, in the chests.” The blond had pointed out, turning back towards Grian.

With a shrug, Grian hummed dismissively. “Real food’s a much better idea, and i’m fairly certain steak’s most of what I got left, down here. Maybe for dinner but..Not really for breakfast, or anything.”

Tubbo shrugged. “Fair enough, yeah..We don’t exactly..Cook much? I mean- I know I certainly haven’t had the time to get much in me, other than coffee.” 

“Ooh, yeah, definitely a good traditional-prepped item.. Other than tea on occasion, I don't tend to stray from crafted food. Even on the days I sit down and eat it like a proper meal.” Grian nodded along, glancing off as he dropped the paper towels he had been using to clean into a little bin.

Tommy sighed, leaning against the wall. His head was pounding from the lack of sleep.
“What’s the d-”

He was cut off  by a not-so-distant firework bang.

Tubbo flinched and ducked their head down, throwing their arms over their head. Tommy, on the otherhand, lowered to the ground, eyes sealed shut with his hands slammed against his ears.

“Hey! Hey, it’s okay, they’re duds, they’re fireworks! No firework stars, either, just a puff of smoke. You’re both okay. You’re in the hobbit hole. It’s fine, everything’s good.” Grian hushed, giving exaggerated movements as he demonstrated slow breathing.

The blond boy growled, turning to snap at Grian- “We’re not babies!  We’re fine.”

Grian nodded, stepping back to give them both more space. “Okay. It’s okay. And it’s alright if it’s not okay. That was probably just Scar. He’s gonna be in and out of there. He’s the closest neighbor.” He had calmly explained to the pair.

Tubbo had deflated, taking a breath. “Thank you. Sorry. Uh. Y-Yeah.” They nodded numbly.

Tommy raised, folded his arms and didn’t meet the gaze of Grian. His face was twisted as he glared down at the floor. He felt weak.

Taking a small breath, Grian tentatively stepped back towards the door. “I’m going to head out and let you guys cool down, okay? You’re both free to go anywhere you want.”

With that, he departed, leaving the two teens alone.

A brief, tense silence fell between them.

“..That was fucking stupid.” Tommy scoffed.

Tubbo’s brows furrowed, turning towards him.

 “Excuse you?” They spoke, voice edging towards accusatory.

“They’re gonna fuckin’ think we’re weak, Tubbo-”

“I’m sorry that i’m not a fan of explosions! Yeah- that- that one’s my bad, Tommy.” Tubbo growled, going to step away.

Tommy grabbed their arm with a loose grip. “That doesn't matter, Tubbo, we’re- we’re supposed to be able to do better than that! We look like kids to him. We look like cowards-”

“I’m not a coward, Tommy! Oh, void, can’t you just drop it?” They hissed out, yanking their arm free.

“For the love of Prime- Tubbo. Tubbo, I'm not mad at you! So I need you not to be mad at me-”

“Too late for that!” They spat, rushing themself out the door with a slam.

Left behind was Tommy, tense and red in the face with a growing pit of guilt.

The people slowly started to pour back into the server. With everything going as expected, the admin breezily flicked and dismissed his communication screen, leaning back as he rested atop the incomprehensible mess of community chests.

Frequent pings and beeps ran through his ears as the comms went off, mixed with alerts and chatting as people settled back down.

He hadn’t bothered to check the messages until an hour in, when a high-pitched chirp emitted. A private message.

Summoning his screen back, he read over it.

ItsFundy: Hey Dre? My messages aren’t reaching Tubbo. Why aren’t the two back yet?

Dream quietly laughed. The server could use a quick break from them. 

It only took a quick flick of the wrist to pull up Tommy and Tubbo’s info. They were both in a world. With the MCC servers closed to the public for maintenance at night, Dream could only assume the two had scampered off to Hypixel or something of the like.

Upon a brief investigation, the servers were left as unlisted.

...Nonetheless, Dream will allow himself to revel in some peace for now. Let them get a little scared. A little more respect for the server-

Dream sneered.

They’re lucky they’re as tolerated as they are, here.

...And without them present, well- that sure will leave L’manburg in an interesting situation…

Dream: Can’t say I know. Sorry. They probably ran off, dont worry too much about them.

Making up his mind, Dream scrolled back to the Player information.

“It would be a shame if they went M.I.A, especially with how fresh the wound on L’manburg is..” He mused.

A click or two on the screen and it was done. They were locked from the server. 

“Enjoy yourselves, idiots.” He yawned, kicking his legs off the chests and onto the floor.

His axe was summoned to his hand, and he stalked off, a chill running through the air.

Chapter Text

Tubbo didn’t particularly care where they were going. They simply took off, activating their narration system to describe their surroundings and warn them of any falls along the way.

They wandered off, brushing past the jungle’s overgrowth and narrowly stepping around what- if the neverending narration is anything to go by- well-decorated pond. 

I don’t mind this, they thought. This is fine. I can be on my own. I’m sure this place looks beautiful, but it sounds nice too. This is okay.

Taking a breath, they loosened their posture and walked with the natural path, carefully pushing past reeds and vines as they had gone.

An irrational- or maybe sensible- side of them wanted to go back. Maybe it wasn’t that big of a deal. But they didn’t have to- no. They weren’t gonna go stepping back within a minute, as if Tommy did no wrong.

They wandered a tad more, along the coast of the pond, before someone called out to them.

“Heeeello?” An individual called, dragging the word out. “Hey,  bud! Wasn’t expecting either of ‘ya to be out!”

They heard the voice come closer, along with the sound of wings cutting through the air before coming to a halt. “I’m Scar! Hope I didn’t shock you.” They added on with a brief nervous chuckle.

Tubbo shrugged passively, not showing how tense they quite were. “Uh, yeah, I’m Tubbo.”They cleared their throat, nodding. “T’was just out. Sorry if I disturbed you- or, uh, something.”

“No way! It’s always great to meet new folks. The word going around was that there were two new Players hangin’ around. ..There are two, right? Or did I read that wrong?” Scar chuckled sheepishly.

Nodding, Tubbo folded their arms, slouching a bit. “Yep. He’s back at the uh..Base, for now, I guess.”

Scar easily hummed, nodding his head along. “No problem. If you’re out lookin’ around, you’re able to come with me for a bit? I’m going towards the shopping district anyway. So you’re always free to dip off there ‘n uh- explore a bit there.”

Tubbo dipped their head in consideration for a moment. “Yeah, okay. Sounds good to me.”

Breaking out in a grin, Scar glanced through his inventory before faltering for a second- “Would you like to get there by flying?” He asked tentatively, glancing at the teen hesitantly.

To be fair, Tubbo was.. A bit of a sight. Their crinkled, sloppily buttoned t-shirt they had slept in, mixed with the ratty nest of partially bleached hair, and the shock-inducing ragged lines and sparked-shaped burn scars splattered across their face made them nothing short of a spectacle. The gnarly growing horns atop their head was merely the cherry on top.

“Uh..No, not really.” They cleared their throat, turning their head down. “Boating would be fine with me? That’s how I got here. Or, uh, the Nether I suppose.”

Scar dipped his head in thought, humming. “Uh… Something usually manages to go wrong, in the nether. I suppose we can boat. I usually don't make that journey, at all.”

“Thank you,” Tubbo sheepishly chuckled.

“Oh, no problem at all!” Scar beamed. “It’ll be a change of pace- and I mean, I can’t possibly die by boating? It’s just a matter of remembering how to get there on the ground..” He remarked, tilting his head in thought.

Tubbo hummed, nodding. “Sorry about that, then, if it’s confusin'.”

“Nah!” Scar scoffed, “It’s no big deal. I get to be one of the few to hang out with one of the visitors! Usually only family gets to come, during the season.  We haven’t really had any new faces since Grian!”

The two had started trekking carefully along the jungle, traversing further into Scar’s base.

“This is my area, it’s a fantasy jungle village! It’s basically just my villager hall, but it feels so calming to me. Really my favorite place on the server, I’d have to say.”

Tubbo tilted their head to the side. “This place seems pretty big- and my, uh, visual narration mod that plays on my Comms is listing some pretty exotic blocks? Did you really do all this for some Villagers..?”

Scar chuckled. “I mean, yeah! It makes me feel good being here. It’s calming and something I created with my own hands!  Besides, It’s better than putting them in a tasteless hole or cave. This has functionality and style points!”

That made Tubbo ponder for a moment. “Huh. Yeah, I guess that makes sense..  I bet it’s gorgeous.”

“Thank you.”  Scar said earnestly.

Casual small talk continued, Scar’s air of cheerfulness never wavering. Eventually they paddled down a river, before they had to get out to continue the path through the untamed jungle. 

“You’d really think Iskall would’ve done more with the trees around here. They’re the one closest to the ocean, but the land around their area’s the most untamed..
I suppose it goes with their base. They have a super omega tree, it’s absurd. They’re not working a lot on it, right now. Off-world responsibilities and fun.” He explained cheerily, staring at the towering trunk of the tree.

Tubbo nearly choked as their comms read off the dimensions of the trunk. “What?! How long did that take to make!?” Their jaw dropped in awe, making Scar softly chuckle.

“I mean, they got most of the trunk done in.. I don’t know, the first three months of the server?”

“I don’t think that many logs- or even wood- have been used by.. Everyone on my server, combined.” They said earnestly with a halfhearted chuckle, thinking back. “Ponk used to have a lemon tree- maybe two? They were all very ugly from my memory, though.” They lightheartedly laughed, before faltering a bit. They haven’t really interacted much, after Manberg. They hoped he was still doing well.

Scar nodded along, “Yeah trees can take a while to understand I guess. I love building them, though. Not that I could ever build something on the scale of what Iskall has. I really love terraforming! ..Maybe I’ll see about trying to make a better path from the general jungle gang up to the ocean..” He faltered for a moment in thought, before shaking his head and continuing his pace.

“No one really terraformed at home. Creeper holes just became too much, man. We stopped caring well before I got there.” They shrugged, a lighthearted half smile present.  “It’s fun, watching- ..Uh, listening- to the hope drain out of the new people's eyes as they realize there's no point in salvaging the terrain or paths from the holes!”

The builder stared inquisitively at them. “That doesn’t sound super fun?”

Tubbo shook their head. “No, it is. Everytime someone new joins they always think they’re gonna be the one to fix the place, y’know? They’re gonna be good and fix those hills and tidy the path- they don’t last a month of trying!”

“..Wow, really? Is it that bad?” Scar frowned, turning his head back to look at the teen, who merely shrugged.

“I mean..The creeper holes? Yeah, bad as in there’s a lot- but I don’t think the creeper holes make it bad, bad, y’know? It’s a quirk. You fuck up and you can move on, it’s kinda nice? I mean- my country can’t really be handled that way. Since it’s all suspended on bridges and that would be an unpleasant fall if there were holes everywhere..But the community area is always messy.”

“A floating city sounds nice, is it between mountains? I bet that’s gorgeous.”

The innocent, supporting words made Tubbo cringe. “Err..No. I mean- there are some hills, I guess. I think I saw uh- a member of my country working on some sorta mountain? It’s over a… Man-made hole. It’s slowly filling up with water, too. Which is.. Hopefully gonna be fine.”

After that, Tubbo shut down a bit. They hadn’t meant to shed as much light as they had on the server. Talking with Scar was just.. It felt like the words fell from their mouth. It was weird. 

Despite the cozy and warm tone he’d taken on, the air around Scar felt cold, making the hairs on the back of Tubbo’s neck stand. Tubbo couldn’t understand it.

So, Tubbo quieted down for most of the remaining trip. Not that there was much of one left.

Once the two arrived to the mainland, Tubbo wandered a bit farther from Scar, but always within distance that they’d be able to toggle their comms to traverse them to him.

Tubbo allowed themself to carefully feel out the paths that transverse the place, learning that each of them were made of different materials. Eventually, they even rode the strange attraction inside one of the roads- minecarted llamas you could sit on, that pulled you throughout a street of the shopping district.

After a few dizzy stumbles,  Tubbo worked their way back down the path and to Scar.

Scar, at this point, had been having an animated conversation with someone.

“-We’ve got so many stakes now, that the bidding board’s getting bigger ‘n bigger! And I really don't wanna owe Grian help with that mansion of his. I really have to focus on Aque Town and getting everything done before the season’s end.”

“Trust me, I have no intention of spendin’  weeks with sparkles all up behind me.” Another man snickered.

Tubbo could hear the faintest small whips of a tail behind the new Player.

“You took a deal with Etho..I’m a great businessman, as I’m sure you know, and I can’t say I have any intention on making any sort of bet with him.” Scar gave an unsympathetic but bemused laugh.

The other Player groaned. “Etho is an evil, evil man. I think he's making bets with everyone he can, for this week.”

Apparently, Tubbo took a few steps to close because they both stopped, turning towards them.

“Oh! Hello!” The unfamiliar Player greeted, sounding taken aback. “I’m Tango.”

“Tubbo.” They nodded, attempting to wrap their brain around where they’ve heard the name before.

Scar stopped, lightly slapping himself in the face. “Tango, I forgot to mention I rode with Tubbo over here! Kinda lost them though,” he turned to them, “sorry about that.”

Tubbo shook their head- “Oh, no, I wandered off.   I didn’t get to experience much yesterday, me and, uh, Tommy didn’t sleep well.” They sheepihsly chuckled with a small shrug.

Tango’s eyes lit up, his thin black tail with a golden tuft sweeping around behind him. “Ooh! I’d be happy to do a tour. I haven’t really done anything proper since the first day of the server. It’d be nice to take a nice trip around here. I just have a few shulkerboxes to fill down a bit past year anyway.”

“Oh? Really, are you sure?” Tubbo turned their head towards the Player to reaffirm. They truthfully didn’t want to leave Tommy by himself for all that long, but, well..

“Absolutely! Do you like redstone? I heard it was Grian and Stress that gave you the tour. If you have any interest I’ll show you around some of the hotspots for some wild -inators ‘n machines up in here.”

That made Tubbo grin, nodding. “Sure! I’d love to se- experience some stuff!  Most redstone gizmos don’t last long, on the server.” Their smile faltered towards the end.

Tango nodded. “We have a code of honor here that we can’t just break redstone or blocks to get to someplace, so we can have some pretty cool- or useless- bits and bobs around. Would you like my arm to help get around, or..?”

Tubbo hesitated and shrugged. “Uhh, I stumbled a bit already around some of the paths so sure, it wouldn’t hurt to start off with..”

“Okay,” Tango carefully hummed, giving the short teen his elbow to hold onto. “And I’ll make sure they get back to wherever they're staying, too, Scar!” He called back to the brunett, who gave a wave and shouted a farewell to Tubbo.

“Lets see what we can find, shall we?”

Chapter Text

Tango was a very fun guide, Tubbo discovered. There was no doubt about it that Tango’s energy was enough to excite a whole room, just absolutely infatuating. He was also really fucking cool, Tubbo would learn.

“A buncha Hermits are all scattered around the outskirts of the island! Myself included, of course. I love my base this season a lot, as hard as it was to build!” Tango explained, as they walked down one of the paths. “Big cartoonish style build, inspired by a lotta old fashioned cartoons ‘n stuff! You ever get a chance to see any shows or movies? I know not everyone’s experienced that kinda stuff, if they lived in a Standard Server.”

“I saw a couple,” Tubbo shrugged. “Not a lot. I was more interested in learning the history of those Modern Domesticated Worlds, and the slight differences between them. But learning about how they developed such unique technology you don’t usually see is really interesting.”

Nodding approvingly, Tango chuckled. “That’s fair, yeah, some of the sciences they used were quite interesting. Some stuff is cool to repeat on these servers, if and when possible, but it feels weird to use’em, y’know? I mean, they made junk like airplanes and cars because they couldn’t make speed potions, or ice bridges! It’s pretty interesting how they adapted. I can appreciate a good few replicated vehicles, Keralis is great at making them. Half of the stuff he makes looks like he just cut a city right out of one of those servers!”

Tubbo smiled, nodding along. “That’s cool! Cars are real hard to make, a friend of mine made one in like.. Less than a minute and it was hideous. I still don’t quite know why he absolutely needed a car right then, for the situation, but ay.. It worked, I guess?”

With a laugh, Tango nodded. “Yeah, it’s a bit of a finicky thing to build. OH! Here’s Iskall’s shop. I never need to use it, but I believe a certain something is still working..” He led Tubbo over to the shop. “It’s definitely not Iskall’s best work, or best shop. But False gave it a little something that makes it all the better.” He smirked.

“What is it?” Tubbo tilted their head.

“So this place is like.. White concrete, basically just a block of it, and in the center on the roof is a big, redstone ball. It looks like a clown nose. Which is why.. I’d like you to press this button!” The red-eyed man cackled, tail sweeping in the air behind him, putting Tubbo in position that all they’d have to do is put their foot forward.

Immediately, Tubbo grew tense, wiggling their arm off of Tango. “Uh- no- I uh- don’t press random buttons, thanks!” They shrank back nervously, wringing their hands.

Stepping back to give them space, Tango put his hands up. “Hey, hey, no kid, it’s okay! I didn’t think about how that might sound bad, sorry,” his brows pinched together in worry, glancing them over. “It’s a noteblock song, is all, a really short and fun one.” He attempted to reassure pacivingly, tail wrapping around his own leg.

Tubbo’s throat was dry, as they thought back to The Final Control Room. If I couldn’t trust Eret, Why the hell would I trust someone that’s been with them for an hour? They thought, their nails digging into the palm of their hand as they tried to get back in control of their breathing.

“I’m gonna press it, okay, just go ahead and step back-”

“DON’T YOU DARE!” Tubbo cried, before throwing their hands over their mouth. Where am I. What’s around me. Where am I, where am I, something could happen, something could happen, something’s gonna happen-

Tango stood perfectly still, taking a deep breath loud enough for Tubbo to hear. “This is fine, alright? It’s okay. I’m sure this makes it a lot worse to not be able to know where you are. This is about the center of the island. We’re on the pathway, on a big ol’ platform that Iskall made as a grand entrance to his shop. There’s an add-on to the building completely coated in slime. They really like slime, they call it Iskallium and it’s not their base if there isn’t at least a little bit of slime somewhere.Their shirt even matches the color of slime.” He calmly spoke.

Despite the words, Tubbo remained silent and still, like a deer caught in headlights. The most movement from them was shaky breathing.

“And..” Tango continued hesitantly, taking small steps closer to the shop. “Iskall really liked what False did, despite the fact that it was a prank.” Hesitating for a moment, Tango glanced over Tubbo, who remained as they were. “We can walk away from this, ‘n come back later if you feel like it. It’s a redstone song. Just a short song. But if you don’t want the button to be pressed, okay.” He said, all in one breath. The last thing he had planned to do was scare the kid, as badly as he had.

After a moment, Tubbo broke out into a short, shocked laugh. “Yes- please. Yeah. Just. Buttons freak me out a tad? It’s stupid- I-..Void! Void am I- I..” They grew flustered, ”I’m. uh.” They stared, with visionless eyes, down towards the ground.

“You’re rightfully worried, because you’re somewhere new that you don’t know.” Tango finished, words warm and tentative. “C’mon, there’s something else around here that Iskall made that is extraordinarily fun!”  He promised, extending an arm to go back to guiding the kid.

Shaking off their nerves, Tubbo returned to their place at his arm to allow the older to go back to showcasing them around. Their stop was back at the llama path that Tubbo had found before meeting up with Scar and Tango. After he took the time to explain the other silly details within the path, Tango helped Tubbo get onto the llama.

Tubbo had then decided that it had to be one of the most amusing things they ever got to experience. “A llama that takes us zooming down rows of the pathway! This is brilliant!” The kid shrieked.

Tango watched and cackled as Tubbo shouted excitedly on the llama, which was secured in a minecart.

“It is! Tell me when you’re getting dizzy!” Tango shouted, jumping over the various miniblocks that went zooming by through the path, cackling.

“Never!” Tubbo threw their hands up, knowing full well they’d definitely be getting motion sickness later. “This is the new way to travel! I’m never leaving!” Not the fastest way to travel, but dear Void, is it the funniest! Tubbo thought, grinning ear to ear . Yep, this is a blast.

Tommy shuffled through the hobbit hole, a lump in his throat as he clutched his shirt end. “This is fuckin’ fine, just fine, innit? Yep. Yep- fuck , where the hell did Tubbo go?” The boy hissed, nerves bubbling.

“At least in L’manburg I know others are lookin’ out and shit, most the time- shit, they can’t have gotten that far, right?” He mumbled to himself, dropping his hand to his side with a shuttering breath. He tried to write again to Tubbo.

TommyInnit: ayyy ybiggman you good? foumd gold apples n shit? ?wasgonna give u some ? ?

TommyInnit: or wew oculd go mining?? get us op as hsti . makess rgese guys our bitches ay yy 

TommyInnit: sorry. Sorry. tubbo please talk to me please r yi y ok ???

Throwing his Comm Tablet to the ground, it smashed, spilling into bits of code before slipping over to him, ready to be used again just like that. “Please-” Tommy grunted, pulling on his hair. Don’t, please don’t be gone please don’t be gone, where are you, what are you doing, please don’t get hurt please not this again - ran through his head, but then the door creaked open.

“Hey? I brought some stuff for you guys- are- are you okay?” Grian peaked in, brows creased with worry as his wings fluttered, folding behind him as he looked over the teen.

“Where the fuck is Tubbo!” Tommy shouted, stomping a foot down as he covered his head. “Why aren’t they back yet-”

Reeling back slightly, with a tiny flinch, Grian put his hands up pacivingly, a box of clothes dropping at his feet. Tommy tensed at the sound of it hitting the floor.  “Hey, hey, it’s alrigh’ I heard from Scar, Tubbo was with him. Tubbo’s okay, they’re fine. Promise.” He said slowly.

“Where?” Tommy’s eyes widened, summoning the half-way-broken sword he had found through his rummaging.

“Tommy. I’ll tell you where they are, but can we just talk for a second? Did something happen? Scar said that Tubbo seemed upset when he found them.” Grian said coolly.

Tommy glared at Grian scrutinizingly, fists clenched and stomach churning. Within a few seconds, he faltered, stepping back and throwing his hands in his face as he crouched down. “I didn’t mean to upset them- I was helping, I was trying to help, I didn’t say anything that he didn’t tell us both already-” He let out a low, annoyed cry, clutching at his arms. Wilbur told us that’s how we look strong, and he was right- we always looked strong- we won, we won, we won- until we didn’t but- “No!” He blurted out, hissing and clawing at his arms as he buried his face in his legs.

Slowly taking a few steps closer, Grian crouched down a few feet away from Tommy. “I don’t think they’re that mad. Sometimes friends have a lil disagreement, and need to walk away. They’re still on the server, they’re just taking a breath.” He spoke hesitantly, never the best at emotional advice.

Taking a shuttering breath, Tommy pulled himself to his trembling legs .”Please. I want Tubbo-”  his voice faltered off, making him cringe as he glared daggers at the smaller man.

With a sad smile, Grian nodded. “Okay. I’ll call Scar about getting them back, alright? Go get yourself cleaned up. Pick out some clothes, here, so Tubbo can have a turn next. Can we do that?”

Glare not faltering, Tommy shifted his weight. “..I want to hear their voice.” He quietly requested.

Grian was already typing away at his tablet, before a soft ring played briefly. “Hi, G!” Exclaimed a cheery voiced man on the other side of the screen.

Fondly smiling, Grian nodded. “Hey, Scar, you still have Tubbo with you?” he asked, making Tommy hold his breath anxiously.

“Oh!” Exclaimed Scar, “they’re with Tango. I figured he’d be a more uh- reliable tour guide.” Scar gave a small self-deprecating laugh and clumsy smile.

Tommy was staring at the screen, having stepped behind Grian to glare scrutinizingly at the scarred Hermit over the Comm Tablet. Scar noticed the appearance of the boy, and gave a small gasp of surprise.

“Two for one today! Heya, nice to meet’cha-”

“Hurry up and call that Mango guy!” Tommy turned towards Grian, fidgeting in place. He just needed  to see Tubbo, and know they’re okay.

Giving a small scolding glance, Grian sighed and nodded. “We’ll talk later, Scar, I gotta call Tango.”

Vigorously nodding, Scar chuckled. “Yeah, not a problem, I get it. See ‘ya soon, neighbor!” And so, with those parting words, Grian quickly dialed Tango into his Comm Tablet.

Grian’s screen was illuminated with a wild-haired blond, with pure red eyes and slitted white pupils and a pointed-tooth smile. “Hey, G-man!” He greeted, yellow-feather tufted tail flicking behind him, “To what do I owe this appearance?”

“Where’s Tubbo!” Tommy exclaimed, pushing himself into frame. Grian tensed slightly as the boy unexpectedly brushed against him, but made no move to alert the boy of any discomfort. Tommy’s brows were pinched with worry, giving the coldest glare he could muster to the semi-intimidating man.

“Tommy?” Tubbo’s voice broke through in confusion, Tango’s tablet flickering towards the teen. Tommy visibly let out a shuttering sigh of relief.

There was silence between the two for a moment, both Tango and Grian watching their own respectful teens with vaguely confused baited breaths.

“..Hi.” Tommy managed to get out. “Uh. Come back to the hobbit hole ‘n shit, would’ya? We uh. Got clothes now. So we won’t smell like shit. That’d be really nice, innit?”

Hesitantly, Tubbo nodded along. “Uh. Yeah… Sure. Hm. Maybe we could have lunch.” They said slowly, clearly a bit tense. 

“Okay. And we can talk then..?”

Thinking over the offer, Tubbo slowly nodded again. “..Okay.”

After a tense pause, Grian cleared his throat. “Okay. Uh, I’ll make lunch for you guys if that’s fine. And if it is, then maybe Tango can come along too?” Neither teen protested. “...Right. Tango, you in?”

Blinking and snapping out of the perplexed and concerned stare he was giving to Tubbo, Tango turned back to his own screen. “Uhh, yeah, yeppers, can do.”

“Cool.” Grian slowly nodded.

“..Yep. Sounds good. I’ll uh- start taking Tubbo over.”

Tommy’s head perked back up. “ Please-"

Void. Grian thought with a frown, I do not miss being a teenager.