Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

This was Xisuma’s first mcc and Grian could tell he was buzzing with a nervous excited energy, the man fidgeting with his admin panel as they waited for the rest of the hermits to get to the world portal to go to mcc. They were arriving a few days early to give X the chance to look around and take in the main lobby where they would be staying until all of the competitors arrived and the competition started. 

“X, you excited?” Grian asked the voidwalker, a smirk playing across the scarlet macaw hybrid’s face as he watched the voidwalker in question jump a little at the sudden question. 

“Oh yea, a little. After watching all of you guys compete and now finally being able to be down there with you, it’s-” the voidwalker paused, unable to find the words to put his feelings in, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. A few of the other hermits that were gathered chuckled at the admin’s energy as they waited for the last few of the hermits. 

“YO! Sorry we’re late, Ren lost his glasses and couldn’t find them.” Cub hollered down as he, False and Ren swooped down to the portal. They were the last of the hermits that the group was waiting for so they could leave, Grian taking lead and gesturing for everyone who was going to go through the portal to mcc when he noticed X’s hesitance at going through.

“Hey X, it's ok. I'm sure you’ll do amazing.” Grian put his hand on the admins shoulder before turning to the portal and walking through. Feeling the admin not far behind him Grian let the nausea of the world portal wash over him, no matter how many times he’s done this he can never get used to it. Stepping out of the portal with a shudder, his wings fluffing to try and remove the last of the feeling of the world jump. 

“Come on Grian, let's go catch up with the others and see the teams.” Xisuma grabbed his hand and drug him behind to follow where the others had gone ahead to look at the team placements. Gazing over the board slowly looking for his team he heard X gasp. 

“You alright X?” Ren stepped closer to the voidwalker, his eyes following where the admin was staring after a second of staring Ren broke out in a smile, clapping X on the back.

“Yo G! Congrats you get to help X out. Y’all are the Purple Pandas with... “ Ren paused at the other two people on the purple pandas team.

“With who?” Grian looked to the purple panda team and saw two people who knew about them but he didn’t know them personally. 

“I didn't put Dream or tommy on the list. I don't even really know them.” X said softly a pondering look in his eyes as he looked upon the board. Both Grian and Xisuma knew about the fabled Dream and how he was almost invincible when it came to 1v1 pvp, the only thing they could think of was that both tommy and dream had put them down, but for why neither one could fathom. 

“It's ok X we'll talk with Scott and see what’s going on and I mean we are on a team with the Dream!  How exciting is that!” The scarlet macaw hybrid bounced a little his wings fluttering in excitement as he reassured the admin. More people were approaching the team line up board, the hermits backing away and letting more people see the board. Leading X around Grian pointed out some stuff that was around the main lobby area while simultaneously looking for Scott to ask him about their team match up. After wandering the main lobby area for about an hour they found the man in question talking with another of the Nox crew. Catching his eye with a wave Scott turned and said something to the other person before walking down to the two a smile on his face. 

“Grian! Xisuma! I am so glad yall made it, and i hope you are enjoying everything so far X.” Scott shook both of their hands and brought them into a half hug. 

“Yea it's great, but uh we did have a question about the team line up” X said slowly, glancing over to Grian before looking back at Scott.

“Oh yea there was a slight mix up with a few of the teams and by the time we caught it, it was too late to fix it.” Scott sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck as he explained the situation the admin and hybrid nodding along in understanding.

“Eh it's ok Scott, we’ll make do with it. We were just curious. Anyways how have you been?” Grian clapped the man on the back as they walked around catching up, X tagging along and asking questions every so often. After about half an hour Grian and X bid Scott goodbye and headed to their team cabin where they would stay with their other two teammates for the week-long competition. As they got to the door of their cabin they heard voices coming from inside, too muffled to make anything out. 

“Well guess the two are here, time to meet them.” X glanced at Grian before opening the door leading into the room, the two people inside stopping their conversation as the door opened. A man with a green hoodie and a smiley face mask stood slightly over the freakishly tall teen, the air turned tense as the four teammates looked at each other in silence for a minute before Grian decided to break it. 

“You must be Dream and Tommy, right? I'm Grian and this is Xisuma, we are your teammates!” Grian said excitedly, a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes aimed at the two. X seeing this looked at the two, trying to figure out what set G off when he noticed the body language of Dream and Tommy. 

“Yes hello! Yea Im Dream and this is Tommy. Do you know what happened with the teaming, I had put different people on our sign up sheets?” Dream spoke up, controlling the conversation for both him and Tommy. Neither X nor Grian like the implications of the masked man’s actions but from where they stood currently they have no way to help. 

“Oh yea we talked to Scott about that. Apparently there was a mess up in the teaming and a few teams got mixed up and by the time they caught it, it was too late to change them.” Xisuma explained to the two men looking for any change in body language but Dream seemed to have not changed one bit, if anything he seemed completely unbothered. Tommy on the other hand looked relieved and unsure at the same time, shifting away from the masked man and closer to Grian, who in turn shifted a wing to be open to the boy. 

“Well we have a few days to get ready so do we want to go out and practice a little? We can pair up since we don't know each other. Me and tommy and then you and X?” Grian suggested, but not leaving much room for argument, and before anyone could think to argue the hybrid bounced up to Tommy and wrapped a wing around his shoulders. Grian frowned slightly as the boy tensed under his wing as he led him out of sight of the other two. 

“So Tommy, what would you like to practice first?” Grian asked the teen as they walked to the practice area.

“Oh um we can do whatever you want to do.” Tommy mumbled, ducking his head refusing to look Grian in the eye. This didn’t match up with the loud energetic kid from past MCCs that Grian had been able to be at. 

“Hmm well, from what I remember you're really good at rocket spleef, wanna help me with that?”  Grian asked the boy, wording it where the boy could back out or refuse if he wanted. 

“Rocket spleef sounds good.” Tommy mumbled but started to relax into the wing that was still tossed over his shoulder. The teen seemed to relax at the mention of rocket spleef being what they practiced instead of something else. Arriving at the rocket spleef practice arena Grian shifted away from Tommy to tuck his wings away so he could put on an elytra. As soon as both of them had on their elytra and rocket spoon Grian gave an impish grin as he turned to tommy

“Race you to the top? If you win I'll get you whatever you want from the concessions.” Grian offered the kid an easy win because he was always clumsy with the fake wings over his real ones. He was also hoping that this would help the kid loosen up to him, Grian wanted to help him because he saw himself in the kid and no one deserved what he went through and what he thinks may be going on with him and dream. 

“And what if you win? What do I owe you?`` Tommy asked hesitantly, nervous as to what Grian wanted from him. 

“Hmm, maybe we could spar and you can give me some tips. I’ve seen you fight and you’re definitely better than me.” Grian said lightly with a slight shrug, he really wasn't anticipating winning, but the way the blond untensed at his end of the deal made Grian wonder what he was expecting. 

“That sounds like a deal.” there was a faint smile on Tommy’s face as he seemed to gain a little energy. 

“Ok ready, set, GO!” Grian counted down and like he expected Tommy shot ahead of him with G not far behind, Tommy let out an excited yell as the top drew near. Tommy landed on the top platform first with Grian not far behind. He started jumping around as he realized he won the race, Grian laughing along with his childish antics, feeling relieved that he still was the loud child he had seen in the past. 

“HELL YEA! I WON, TAKE THAT PUSSBOY!” Almost as soon as he said that he froze as if he was about to get into trouble for yelling at the other man. Wanting to stop a further spiral Grian decided to see if positive reinforcement would help him.

“Great job Tommy! That was awesome, how about after this we go to the concessions and you can tell me what you want.” The hybrid kept his body language light and open, angling his wings in a slightly submissive position to make him look even smaller than the tall teen, after the blond teen relaxed Grian perked back. 

“Ready to practice now kid?” Grian held out his hand for Tommy to grab and shake, initiating the start of the practice round. Both dropping down on the course the screams of delight they began the play against each other. After a few practice rounds with Tommy winning most of them, Grian called it quits. 

“So what do we want to do now big man?” Tommy peered at Grian curiously, seeming more relaxed now after the matches had gone smoothly, and grian hadn’t snapped at him for winning the rounds. 

“Well I'm starving, want to go get some food? And you can grab a souvenir if you want.” Grian shrugged and turned to walk to where the food court was making sure that the kid was following him. As they got to the food court Grian looked around and saw a few of the other hermits but not X and Dream. Gesturing for Tommy to follow him, Grian led him over to False Ren and Cub. 

“G! Hey man what's up? Who's this?” Ren said excitedly, the dog hybrid’s tail wagging as he greeted the two newcomers. 

“Well this is Tommy, he’s one of my teammates. Scott said that there was a mix-up in a couple of the team matchups and me and X are teamed up with Tommy here and then Dream.” Grian said the last man’s name with none of the usual awe that people held him in. Tommy looked at him with a strange look in his eye, as if the kid couldn’t understand someone not wanting to worship the ground he walked on. 

“Dream? Isn't that the dude you beat in one of the pvp games a while ago?” false pondered out loud before shrugging and turning her attention to tommy.

“So kid how does it feel to be on a team with Grian?” false asked with an impish grin leaning towards the blond teen 

Chapter Text

Tommy didn’t know what to think of these people. First, they act nice and don’t get mad when he does something better than them, and second they don't treat Dream like a god. Tommy held back a shudder at the reaction he knew the green clad man was bound to have at the disrespect. And now, he was being asked what he thought of being on a Team with the winged man that held the most disrespect for his admin. How was he supposed to respond? 

“Uuh, it's ok I guess.” Tommy picked at his hand, avoiding eye contact to not make anyone mad. He glanced around, hoping to see someone familiar to get him out of this situation. When he saw Tubbo and Ranboo walk into the food court holding hands, both scanning the area for potential threats. Tommy could tell immediately when they saw him when Ranboo looked over and Tubbo looked over as well. Tubbo took the lead in walking over dragging Ranboo behind him, both perking up at the sight of a familiar face. 

“Tommy! Did you hear about the crazy team mix up?” Tubbo bounces a little on his hooves as he reaches the taller blond teen. The short moobloom hybrid glancing at the people behind him, his body language carefully being kept neutral in the presence of strangers.

“Yea, I heard. Who ended up on your guy’s team?” Tommy focused on the couple that stood before him, ignoring the curious glances of the hermits behind him. He noticed how Ranboo’s tail wrapped itself around Tubbo’s leg as he kept an eye on the group behind the youngest of the trio. 

“Oh yea we are with Scott and Hbomb. He was teasing poor Scott with the whole master bit and so we decided to wander around and left Scott alone to deal with that.” Tubbo shrugged, a glint in his eyes saying all Tommy needed to know and that he had probably started the whole thing for the poor man.

“You say that as if you actually regret putting Scott through that.” Ranboo jested at the small hybrid, his tail unwinding from around Tubbo’s leg to flick at his ear a small smile on his face 

“What? You blame me for Hbomb, it's not like I knew that if I said that Scott should hire a mage to help with after competition clean up would set him off into calling him master.” The look on Tubbo's face was anything but innocent as he looked up at the other two, a small grin on his face. 

“Moving on from our shenanigans, who is on your team Tommy?” Ranboo flicked his attention to the blond, his ear twitching a little towards the hermits behind Tommy, making him remember that they were sitting a little bit behind him. They seemed to have moved on to their own conversation; after seeing that there was no attention on them Ranboo gestured for them to sit at a nearby table.

“Well I have Dream and two others, Grian and Xisuma.” Tommy glanced over to the short scarlet macaw hybrid joking and laughing with the three other hermits. “Not quite sure what to make of the other two yet, like they are just so nice and happy.”

“Like the Dream kind of happy? What could they want?” Ranboo asked, tension and worry creeping into his tone for the youngest of the trio. While Ranboo and Tubbo had each other, Tommy had Dream and two new strangers, they had no way of knowing if he would be safe or not. 

“That's the thing, I have no idea. The bird boy over there seemed so genuine and when we were on the way to practice rocket spleef he offered to race and if I won he would buy me something. How am I supposed to trust him, like surely he wants something in return, right?” Tommy gasped, trying to catch his breath from the worried rambling, shutting his mouth with a click when he realized he was rambling. Dream didn’t like rambling, it always made him annoyed. 

“Maybe they’re just nice?” Tubbo offered hesitantly, even though none of them believed it. Life had shown them that no adults had good intentions and just cared for their own gain. A silence settled over the three teens as they tried to process where this situation could lead, none of which were good. 

“Tommy are you going to reveal during the competition at all?” Tubbo broke the silence with the soft question. 

“I don't know, I thought about it but I wasn't sure if it would be safe.”

“I mean there is always the parkour tag, you could pick to be our tagger and we can just goof off during that round.” Ranboo suggested, his tail swaying in tune with a song unheard by everyone but the ender hybrid. 

“Tru- '' Tommy stopped midword as he saw a flash of green by the entrance of the food court, his gaze snapping over in that direction to see Dream walking in with his other teammate next to him. Ducking his head he turned back to Ranboo and Tubbo as his shoulders grew tense. He had been hoping that maybe he would get a bit longer without the man hovering nearby but he knew better than to hope, Dream had taught him that a long time ago. 

“Hey! X-eye-s-you-maaaa! Over here!” Tommy stiffened at Grian’s yell, and the horrible butchering of the name. Surely the admin of Grian’s world wouldn't let him get away with that, especially in such a public place. Tommy’s panicked eyes darted around, watching Xisuma for any anger or a sign of distress from the hermits, but they were all relaxed. Tommy glanced at Tubbo and Ranboo confused, all three worried what would happen to the winged hybrid that had shouted. 

“That is their admin right?” Tubbo leaned forward and whispered the question to Tommy and Ranboo, Tommy just nodding numbly along as he watched the scene play out. The trio’s confusion grew as the hermit’s admin just laughed and sat down and joining in on their jokes. So focused on the interaction they all missed Dream sitting at the table with them until he leaned in and spoke.

“You better not get any ideas from them. I won't tolerate that kind of disrespect, in fact I bet that their admin is planning a punishment already. I know I would.” Dream spoke lightly, but suddenly. Tubbo yelped as he threw himself into Ranboo, who wrapped his tail securely around the moobloom hybrids waist. Tommy just stiffened, not showing any weakness in front of the green admin.

“We won't. Do you think he will be ok?” Tubbo asked almost hesitantly, his gaze darting between Dream and Grian, who was still giggling about something with the other hermits, worriedly. Tommy understood how he felt, Grian had seemed nice, even if it was an act. 

“Oh I can talk to Xisuma and see if I can work out a lighter punishment.” Dream said smoothly, Tommy could tell he was lying. Dream had used that same tone on him in Logdeshire, when he would promise to do something yet never do it. He wanted to believe that Dream would try and help Grian, but he knew that Grian also had to learn, just like he did that disrespecting your admin had consequences. 

“Hey Tommy!” Tommy’s head snapped over to the voice that called his name and saw Grian waving at him, a big grin on his face. “Why don't you introduce us to the other two with you.” Tommy glanced back and saw Dream had gone off to talk with someone else, leaving just the three teens at the table. Nodding numbly, Tommy led the other two to the table with the hermits. 

“You guys must be the hermits!” Tubbo put a smile on his face as he spoke to the group, stating the obvious.

“No Tubbo, they aren’t the hermits, they are just a random group of people that know Tommy and two happen to be on his team.” Ranboo deadpanned at his husband, making Tommy snicker under his hand when Tubbo paused and glared at him. 

“Yea no shit, I was trying to be polite. Cut the attitude with me again or I will skin you alive and sell your organs.” The moobloom finished the sentence with a smile making Tommy double over cackling as Ranboo just sighed. The three teens all knew that Tubbo actually wouldn't, he loved the enderman hybrid too much to actually follow through with it on him. 

“I would use a sharp knife, and make sure to remove the hands and feet or else the skin will tear.” Grian piped up with a giggle, recognizing the threatening words for what they were, just words. Tommy noticed the looks of horror on the other hermits' faces that turned to the winged man when he joined it. 

“That's horrible! Please tell me you were joking.” The woman with blond hair asked, her voice pitched a little higher into a squeak. 

“Oh yea, no, he's joking, if anything he would nuke me. I think.” Ranboo said with a smile, his ear twitching with nerves as all the attention was put on him. Tommy looked at the hermits and saw the looks of worry and slight humor creeping in. He glanced at Xisuma but only saw the mask the man wore, reminding him way too much of Dream. Suppressing a shudder Tommy pulled up a chair to the table, with Tubbo and Ranboo doing the same. It was better to go along with what the adults wanted rather than to make them mad, or madder in Xisuma’s case. 

Chapter Text

After a couple of hours of talking, and no hostile moves or threats to the trio of teens, they began to relax slightly. Assuming that the adults wouldn’t do anything while they were in public. Tubbo, after untensing, began to lean into Ranboo’s side, his eyes drooping in exhaustion, Ranboo not faring much better with his arm thrown over the smaller’s shoulder and tail wrapped around his waist. Tommy had an elbow on the table and his head in his hand, the adults still talking about random stuff. Tommy didn’t understand how they were still talking about trivial stuff like stores and mansions, if it wasn’t a political meeting why did it last for so long. Tommy watched as Ranboo said something to Tubbo in endspeak that made the boy nod and let his eyes fall shut, Ranboo becoming more alert as he did. 

“Hey why don't we all turn in and go back to our rooms to sleep, it's getting late.” Tommy jerked up from dozing off, internally cursing himself for showing weakness in front of strangers. 

“I'm not tired, I’m a big man.” Tommy said off of the instinct of someone saying he needed sleep. He had gone the past week with barely any sleep, he could go longer. The small traitorous part in the back of his mind said that he needed sleep for the competition but he brutally shoved that aside. 

“Sure kid, and you look like you haven't slept in a couple of days.” Grian scoffed, lightly as he stretched. 

“Actually it's been a week if my calculations are correct.” Ranboo remarked lightly, his pale hand resting on his chin as he looked to be in thought. 

“Oh fuck off Ranboob. I don't need sleep, I can go longer.” Tommy glared at the enderman hybrid. He didn’t need some bitchboy ratting out his shit sleep schedule, and he definitely didn’t need these new people staring at him with their fuckin pity. 

“How about this, Tommy, why don’t you make sure Grian makes it back to our room? He can be a bit of a spoon. And I will make sure that Ranboo and Tubbo make it back to their rooms.” Xisuma said, drawing Tommy's attention to him. The boy tensed in worry that X might do something to his friends.

“Fine but only because bird brain here need help and if I find out you hurt one of them I will kill you till you lose your third life.'' Tommy snarled before spinning and walking off trusting Grian to follow him. When he heard footsteps he glanced over his shoulder to see the short man following him. Slowing down so that the macaw wasn’t walking behind him but beside him. 

“So what’s a third life?” Grian asked after walking a few paces next to the teen. Tommy gave him a bewildered look, was Xisuma really that cruel to keep that from his server? Were they just going to not respawn and not know why? Tommy was suddenly regretting letting him walk with Tubbo and Ranboo, he was worse than Dream by doing this. 

“Has Xisuma really not told you guys? You get three lives in a world so after your third cannon respawn then you can’t come back any more. Well, I say can’t come back, there is a way. You respawn as a ghost and you probably have memory problems. Like my brother, he was killed by our father and then came by as a ghost that gave you blue shit and was stupidly happy.'' Tommy explained, how could the man not know any of this. 

“Tommy, that’s not normal. A world is supposed to have infinite respawns.” Grian looked at the teen in horror, his wings fluffed up showing his emotions like an open book. That kind of thing would get him killed, Tommy thought idly, a small part of him wondering what kind of world that the man came from for him to feel safe enough to do that. Not quite sure how to respond to convince the man that he has been lied to, Tommy just kept quiet and kept walking. The sooner he got to the cabin and made sure Grian got there safe, maybe he could go to sleep. The final bit of the, admittedly, short walk to their room felt like it took forever, Tommy breathing a sigh of relief when he saw the door. 

“Fucking finally. Ok bird brain, I got you back to the room like a big man. Now we should probably get to bed before we piss off our admins.'' Tommy let the offhand comment fly out of his mouth as he got ready for bed, not changing into pajamas in case he needed to be up in a moment's notice. The blond teen climbed into his bed, and stared at the ceiling, feeling exhausted and wide awake all at the same time, a nauseating concoction. 

He heard, rather than saw, as the Scarlet macaw shuffled around getting ready to sleep, when the room to the door busted open Xisuma strolled into the room with a Dream not far behind. Both masks seemed to glow in the dim light of their room, both figures seemed imposing and took up too much space. Tommy tensed on his bed but stayed down, he didn’t want to bring attention to himself with the already furious looking admins. Tommy felt a wave of horror wash over him as Xisuma marched over to Grian, who had taken the top bunk on the opposite side of the room from Tommy who was also on a top bunk. 

“You never learn do you? You just had to go and disrespect me in front of everyone didn’t you?” X growled as he dragged the bird hybrid off his bed by his wing, making him land on the ground with a small cry. Tommy winced back at the thud, glancing over at Dream, he made eye contact with the mask making him curl in on himself and lean away. 

“I tried to talk to him and give Grian a lighter punishment, but he’s really upset. You have to understand, Tommy, we do this for your own good, because we care about our friends.” Dream said as he moved closer to the boy on the bunk, both watching the scene unfold. Tommy wanted to look away, to close his eyes, something anything. However, the teen was unable to move or say anything. Every kick that landed against the macaw hybrid made the teen cringe, every punch made him whimper. This was for his own good, but was it really? Why did this seem so wrong? Why was Xisuma so mad over his name being said wrong? Tommy really wished that he would calm down, or go easier on the hybrid, his soft pained cries and trills making the boy wanting to cry. 

Chapter Text

Grian sat on his top bunk, with his legs drawn up to his chest to support a sketchbook that he was using. He sat hunched over the book, trying to figure out a design for his mansion and the barge, none quite fitting how he wanted. He sat up and stretched his wings that were sore from earlier, a soft groan leaving his mouth as he felt his joints in the wings crack. Glancing around the room, he saw Tommy and Dream sleeping on their bunk, soft snoring from X underneath him told him that he was also asleep. His eyes flitted back up to Tommy, who looked just plain uncomfortable in his regular clothes and his scrunched up face. He wished that the kid could get some peaceful sleep, but with what the small hybrid was seeing, though he wasn’t sure how successful the kid was. His point was proven when the teen shot up in his bed with a strangled cry, as if trying to silence himself from another horror. Slipping off of his bed and silently walking over to the distressed teen to try and calm him before anyone was woken up.

“Hey kid, you ok?” As soon as the soft words left his mouth, Grian wanted to slap himself, of course the kid wasn’t ok. Grian frowned when Tommy flinched back from his voice, glancing down at Dream who looked to still be asleep, Grian made a decision. The avian climbed up onto the bed with the teen but made sure not to touch him. 

“Shh hey kid, you’re ok. You're safe. Is it ok if I touch you?” Grian whispered, aware that the kid was somewhat hearing him when he shook his head, breaths coming out in slight gasps but slowly evening out. 

“Ok that's ok, do you want me to talk to you?” Grian was hoping to get the kid calm enough to either talk to him, or see if he wanted to get some fresh air. When Tommy nodded, Grian started talking about random things, things he hoped that had nothing to do with the kid’s nightmares. 

“So I have this giant mansion that I have back on our home server, right. And well it's almost done, however I have yet to do the back of the mansion.” Grian was about to continue with his soft spoken story when tommy spoke for the first time

“No one has blown up your mansion?'' Tommy asked, his eyes a little clearer than they were a couple of minutes ago. 

“No, why would someone blow up my work? I mean unless I paid them they wouldn’t blow up anything that anyone has built.” Grian watched as Tommy shifted closer to him as he spoke. A soft smile made its way onto his face as he saw the look of confusion on the kid's face. Tommy opened his mouth to ask another question when Dream’s head suddenly poked over the edge of the bed, mask strangely in place.

“Tommy, why are you awake and bothering people?” Dream asked, his words gentle, but dangerous if Tommy clamming up had anything to say about it.

“Oh he isn’t bothering me, I was still awake when he woke up and I figured I would come over and talk with him.” Grian said, concealing the distrust he had for the man with his placating words.

“Well you can go back to bed now I can handle him.” Grian saw how Tommy shrunk in on himself at Dream’s words, the need to protect flaring up. 

“No it's ok really, if we are bothering you we can go outside and get some fresh air.” The unblinking mask that was on the green clad man’s face turned and stared at him.

“Fine.” Dream relented before stepping back. Grian wrapped a wing around Tommy but not quite touching him as he guided him off of the top bunk and to the door, the boy remaining tense as if about to run at the slightest threat. When they made it out of the door and into the cool night air of the mcc server 

“You with me kid?” Grian asked gently, not removing his wing from around the kid, but not keeping him in place if he wanted to. Tommy nodded slightly, and leaned back into the wing that was thrown over his shoulder. 

“Why did you stand up to him? You’ll just get into more trouble.'' Tommy said, his voice barely a whisper, fear lacing every word. Grian guided him to a bench and sat down with the boy with a sigh. He wasn’t sure why the boy thought he would get into more trouble, especially when he didn’t know he was in trouble in the first place. 

“What do you mean kid? I'm not in trouble, last I checked.” Grian prodded gently, trying to understand what was going on through the blond teen’s head. 

“‘M not a kid, I'm a big man. And I saw you get in trouble earlier, for disrespecting your admin in front of everyone. He punished you when he got back to the room, I saw it.” Tommy ducked his head, his shoulders hunched, he looked smaller than his 6 foot frame should be able to be. Grian let out a soothing chirp and used his wing to draw the teen into his side, rocking back and forth slightly to try and sooth the child. 

“Tommy, I wasn't ever in trouble? X never did anything to me, was that in your nightmare?" Grian had never been in trouble with X since he had joined a few years ago in their season six world, and the thought of the tall blond scared him because his admin would punish him. The puzzle pieces were making a picture, and Grian wasn’t sure he liked it. 

“No no, you don't have to lie to me. I don't need your fuckin pity i can handle myself. And I saw you get punished for saying Xisuma’s name wrong earlier in the food court. And dream said that he would try to talk to X and get you a lighter punishment but then he said that X was super pissed off and wouldn’t listen” and with those strained words Grian finally understood what the teen was thinking. 

“Oh kid, no. X wouldn’t get mad at me for saying his name in a funny way. I do it all the time. And when X and Dream got back to the room you were already asleep.” Tommy’s breath hitched at Grian's words. 

“I don't understand. You have to be lying, you have to want something. So why are you being nice? Why have you not asked for anything?" Tommy's faded blue eyes looked up at Grian from his hunched over position that made him shorter than the smaller man, his gaze filled with confusion and fear masked by anger. 

“I have no reason to lie to you, or to ask something of you, and I just want to be kind. That shouldn’t be something that has to be brought up, and if it is then the adults in your life have failed you. I'm sorry, you shouldn’t have to go through that kid.” Grian gave the kid a gentle squeeze while trilling softly. 

“Don't want your fuckin pity. You can keep it to yourself.” Tommy spat while leaning away slightly but not removing himself from under the wing

“Why do you think it's pity? That I say I'm sorry? You have lost trust in the people that were supposed to help you grow.” Grian asked, hoping that the kid would come to understand his point of view.

“Because it fuckin’ is, that is all that people ever do is pity.'' Tommy's voice had a hint of anger but the teen was losing steam, his eyes drooping in exhaustion that was finally dawning on him. Sensing that the kid was done with the conversation, Grian decided to take a little bit of a different route to a possible trust. 

“Ok, well I will not pity you, however, you look like you’re falling asleep kid. Why don't we head back to the room and get some shut eye, hmm?” Grian gave a soft chitter as he moved his hand to scratch lightly at Tommy's scalp, knowing that by morning the kid’s walls would be back up. The only reason he saw as much as he did with him just now was because he was running on fumes. The teen let out a grumble but leaned into Grian's hand on his head, making the man think of a small animal like a tanuki dog. The kid was sneaky enough and it felt right to the man, the thought of Tommy being a raccoon dog made Grian smile a little. 

“Alright come on, let's get back to bed.” Grian helped the tall boy up and led him back to their room. Tommy, leaning heavily on Grian, made the short trip back a little more cumbersome for the small avian but he managed to do it. Opening the door quietly and walking in with Tommy, Grian glanced at the two admins and saw them both asleep, making his life a little easier. He tried to pry off the teen and guide him to his own bed, but the low whine and the tighter clinging made Grian shrug and give up. 

“Ok kid, you win.” was whispered to Tommy, Grian guided the kid to his bunk and let the kid cuddle up to him with a wing thrown over the boy. 

“”M not a kid.” was mumbled before the kid fell asleep in Grian’s hold, a warm wing acting as a soft weighted blanket shielding him from the nightmares and horrors that life held.

Chapter Text

Tommy woke up feeling warm and safe, which was unusual on both accounts, but his sleep-addled mind didn’t think anything of it. Content to lay in the borderline smothering warmth with his eyes closed, dozing in and out of sleep. A noise from across the room made him fully wake up, but not open his eyes, pretending to be asleep in case of danger. 

“Tommy where the fuck are you.” The growled out question made the teen flinch and the warmth tightened around him. He was in his bed wasn’t he? So why couldn’t Dream find him? Cracking his eyes open, he blinked in confusion at the dark still surrounding him. Why was it dark? It had to be light out if Dream was looking for him. Shifting a little to sit up, he felt the dark shift around him, as if he was under a blanket. Whining is slight confusion he put a hand out to feel what was on top of him and maybe push it off, his hand landing on feathers only heightened his confusion. Squirming to try and get out from under what he now realized was a wing, a sleepy chirp made him freeze. Only one person on their team had wings

“Grian?” Tommy hesitantly mumbled out, his voice barely louder than a whisper, not quite ready to face Dream, but also unsure of the situation at hand if this really was Grian’s wing over him. 

“Hmm?'' The hum greeted his answer as an eye cracked open to stare at him, lifting his wing a little to let a small stream of light under it. Tommy opened his mouth to respond when he felt the bunk move, from what he assumed was Xisuma getting up.

“What’s the matter Dream, why are you pacing around?” Tommy listened as the groggy man spoke, squirming away from the warm body he was cuddled up to. What had happened last night for him to be under the avian’s wings on his bed? 

“Tommy is gone, and I can't find him.” Dream’s tone changed as soon as X spoke, going from borderline snarling to sounding concerned, but Tommy could still hear the venom under the words. And based on how Grian narrowed his eyes he heard it too. 

“I’m sure he’s just around. Maybe he went out to go meet his friends on the other teams.” X sounded almost bored as he spoke, and Grian pushed down on the wing, making Tommy lay flat on the bed. Bristling at the action and holding himself back from yelling, if it wasn't for Dream sounding pissed off he would have spat and cussed up a storm. The slamming of their room’s door caught him off guard causing him to flinch back away from Grian, who lifted his wing completely off of him. 

“What the fuck?! Why was I under your wing?! What the fuck!” Tommy pushed himself back on the bed, his back against the wall, a growl rumbling in his chest. He didn’t remember what happened after Grian took him outside for him to calm down. He knows Grian saw his nightmare and even stood up to Dream, but the kid didn’t understand why. What did he want?

“Tommy, you had a nightmare, are you ok?” Grian was watching him with that stupid pity and concern. Tommy hated it.

“I'm fucking fine, I don’t need your pity.” the snarl that broke out of the teen was borderline animalistic 

“Tommy, it isn't pity. We just want to talk.” Xisuma was standing next to the bunk with his arms resting on the rail as he leaned against it. Tommy wanted to howl at the lies that they were telling him, there was no way they cared. It was just fuckin pity.

“Yea, well I don't.” Sneering at the two men who wouldn’t stop staring, Tommy decided he had had enough, and threw himself over the foot of the bed. Landing on the floor in a crouch. Standing up he stormed out of the room, determined to get away from the pitiful looks they were giving him. Tommy started looking for Tubbo and Ranboo because they wouldn’t pity him. After wandering around for what felt like hours, Tommy started towards the Decision Dome, the timer that was set for an hour at standstill, waiting. Glancing around for the couple tommy missed the flag that signaled the fireworks to go off. Jumping at the explosion of bright colors, Tommy watched in awe as the timer started counting. 

The games were about to begin

Chapter Text

Grian watched as the kid fled the room, worry settling in his gut. He had been woken up by Tommy moving under his large wing and the sound of Dream pacing in the room. Pretending to be asleep as he let X handle the other admin, his distaste towards the younger one only grew. 

“X, do we happen to have some open spots on Hermitcraft?” He voiced the question with a soft chitter, his light voice making it sound like a joke, but both knew that the avian was being serious. 

“I don't know G, we will just have to see. Maybe Tommy is going through a teenage rebellion against his admin. Void knows that you did.” Xisuma tried to joke but it fell flat between the two, both knowing the server Grian had come  from before Hermitcraft. 

“He acts like I did X. we both know that isn’t normal.” Grian looked at the man in all seriousness, his admin sighed knowing that the winged man was not going to let this go.

“Ok, how about a compromise. You keep an eye on the kid and his friends, and I will keep an eye on Dream. If anything happens, we will come back to this conversation.” X said, hoping to placate the now grumbling man. The voidwalker then jumped when he heard an explosion, a squawk of laughter coming from the bird man. 

“It's just the countdown timer starting X, we better head to the Decision Dome.” Hopping off the bed, Grian led his admin to the entrance of the dome, spotting Dream entering just before them. Grabbing his admin’s hand, Grian drags X up into the dome, partly to catch up to their teammates, partly to prevent the man from pulling anything.

“G calm down, we have time.” X laughed as he was dragged along.

“Noo X, come ooon. We need to explore and find the easter eggs that they always hide.” Grian whined half heartedly but stopped pulling when he got up to Dream. 

“Ok well you go on ahead, and see if you can find Tommy while you're at it, I’ll chill here with Dream. If that's alright with you?” X tilted his helmet to the masked admin. Grian saluted and ran off before he could hear Dream’s reply to X, but he did hear what sounded like Dream yelling after him to ‘tell Tommy I was worried about him’. Grian scoffed as he kept running to one of the elevators, he most definitely would not be doing that. 

“Grian, my man. Where are you running off to?” stopping and spinning on his heel, Grian came face to face with Ren.

“Oh hey Ren! I was just looking for the easter eggs and Tommy. Though, I'm not too worried about him, I bet he’s with his two friends we met.” Grian bounced on his heels as he explained, knowing that an hour would fly by, a quick glance at the clock confirmed that he only had 45 minutes left. 

“Oh, mind if I tag along then? Two eyes are better than one.” Ren was grinning at Grian’s antics.

“Sure, come on!” Grian ran off again, now with Ren in tow, both laughing as they wasted time. In their running around Grian saw Tommy hanging out with Tubbo and Ranboo and decided to leave him be, knowing the kid would come to the team meet up for the game picking. 

“Alright teams! You have five minutes to get to your stations and let the games begin!” the announcement came over the speakers. Grian saluted Ren before running off, the wolf hybrid yelling good luck after him. On his way to their team section the winged hybrid saw Tommy walking that way.

“Hey Tommy! Wanna walk back together? I mean we are heading to the same place.” Grian sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, feeling a little bad for making the kid uncomfortable earlier. 

“Uh sure, I guess big G.” Tommy said tensely, the walls that had come down the night before right back up. The pair walked in a semi-comfortable silence back to their meetup, where Dream and X were standing waiting for them. 

“So, what's the game plan?” G fluffed his wings in excitement.

“Well we need to get the worst of the games out of the way in the beginning so they won't mess us up too badly. That being said, I say we go for Build Mart because that is just a horrible game.” Dream spoke up, taking the lead.

“Alright, Build Mart it is.” 

Chapter Text

Tommy watched Dream take control of the situation, saying that they were gonna do Build Mart first. He felt kinda bad about storming out on the two but he wasn't about to take it back, especially not in front of Dream. Tommy watched with curiosity as Grian started chirping and twittering at his admin, and X didn't seem to get annoyed and even sent a few chirps back of his own. The blond teen faintly wondered if he could mimic the more complex noises that the Scarlet Macaw hybrid was making that the human admin couldn't and then if Xisuma could even understand Grian. Deciding to say fuck it Tommy shifted closer to the pair, ignoring the prickling stare of Dream's mask.

"Can you actually understand him?" Tommy's eyes sparkled with a childlike wonder that hasn't been there for a long time, he had never met a non-hybrid that could understand a hybrid let alone try to communicate back to them. X let out a fond chuckle as he shifted on his feet to better talk to the teen.

"Yea a little, at least the simple stuff. Although I think it is because I basically raised Grian since he came to my world as a teenager." X ruffed Grian's hair, forcing a squawk out of the much shorter man.

"This is bullying, you all are using your freakishly tall height against me." Grian swatted at X with a wing, a ding sounding off in the dome signaling the contestants to throw their vote in. Grian chittered again before throwing his egg vote down into the ring as soon as he got it, X doing the same. A muffled growl from behind him made him jump and spin around, clutching the egg close to his chest as he looked at Dream.

"Why did y'all throw it already? I thought we agreed on buildmart." Dream sounded annoyed, and an annoyed dream was a dangerous Dream. Tommy ducked his head taking a step back so he wasn't standing in front of the masked man and more behind. Once he was sure Dream's attention wasn't on him he lifted his gaze up to watch the scene unfold

"What do you mean? My chicken landed in the buildmart section." Grian shot back at the annoyed man, his body tensing as he spoke back.

"I'm just trying to do what's best for us, don't you see that?" Dream's words made the small avain freeze completely, his eyes blowing wide.

"You're right I'm sorry." The words that came out of Grian's mouth was the final push it seemed for X to step in between the two.

"Ok that's enough, go ahead and throw your votes we only have a little bit of time left." X spoke with an aura of leadership that made both Tommy and Dream listen in that moment. As the teams waited for the results to be counted Tommy glanced over at the avian and his admin, worried about how quick he went from cocky to reserved. He was shocked when he saw Xisuma giving the smaller man a side hug and he was leaning into it, seeming more calm now.

"And the game is Build Mart! Teleporting to the arena!" The voice over the announcer system called out barely giving the contestants time to prepare for the nauseous teleportation. Tommy stumbled as he landed in the team base for the building based game, the platforms for the build prompts standing waiting for the game to start to give the teams their builds they have to copy.

"Ok game plan, what do we have?" Xisuma spoke up with a clap of his hands.

"Well this game is all about running out and grabbing the blocks you need to craft and build to make a copy of one of the prompts on the platform, so X and Tommy y'all are better at elytra then me so y'all will go out and split the list in half and get as much of the stuff as you need. Me and Dream can stay here and craft and build. They changed the game up so we have to fly to the shopping areas now." Grian stepped forward taking the lead, seemingly in his element. The game bell sounded and everyone scrambled to get out of their game portal and to the supplies, Tommy dragging X along as he took off into the air.

Tommy floated in the air for a split second as he gathered his bearings and where the different blocks were before he dove towards the colored blocks section. Mining several blocks of different colors the blond took off and jumped off the edge, engaging his elytra and flew through the portal and dropped the blocks in front of Grian who helped sort them and started building two of the prompts at once, bouncing between them as he did so. The rest of the game finished similarly with Grian doing most of the building and their team finishing first in the round.

"Aaayyy, poggers mate. We got first!" Tommy fist pumped the air as he jumped around in excitement.

"Yes, yes, we won. Now we need to have a plan for the other games to keep this lead." Dream sounded almost exasperated, but Tommy could also pick up on his glee at winning the round. Grian chittered while nodding and seemed to sound in agreement with the masked man, Xisuma titled his head towards the hybrid before also nodding his head. The small shift between the two making Tommy and Dream curious as to what was exchanged.

"Do we have any idea what to pick for the next game? Because I was thinking about Sky Battle." Grian had a grin on his face that reminded Tommy of Tubbo when he was planning something mischievous. Not quite sure what the man was planning as he drew his wings up to make him seem taller among the group, as if his energy didn't make him noticeable enough. Tommy was secretly looking forward to what the hybrid had planned because it seemed to annoy Dream that he was just as clueless as everyone else.

Chapter Text

Grian was absolutely seething, hiding it behind a cold smile that seemed normal to anyone who didn’t know him. First Dream tried to manipulate Tommy in front of him and then tried to get Grian and X to go along with his crap. The small hybrid magicked his wings away to prevent them from giving away all the ways he was planning a murder. A familiar hand landed on his shoulder, a soft chirp from Xisuma urging him to calm down. 

“I'm fine.” Grian mumbled but left the hand on his shoulder to ground him. He didn’t like how Tommy acted so much like he did when X found him all those years ago, a small smile as he remembered trying to go into the man’s door for the first time. 

“Hey X, remember when you first found me and I couldn't get through your door because I was too young to magic my wings away?” Grian asked with a grin, looking up at the voidwalker, who also has a smile that could barely be seen from behind his mask.

“What do you mean you looked like a puppy trying to fit an oversized stick through my door?” X said with a laugh, seeming to relax now that he knew Grian wasn’t about to fly off the rails at the smile masked admin. The Scarlet Macaw hybrid glanced over to Tommy and saw him watching the pair, they stepped into the voting chamber and waited for the countdown to start. 

“Oh hush you, i was quite majestic, me and my shiny feathers.” Grian crossed his arms as he pouted and leaned against X, choosing to ignore the annoyed air around Dream. A smirk made its way onto Grian’s face as he had a genius idea, and X noticed right away.

“What are you thinking, you gremlin?” X asked fondly, making Grian trill a laugh as he switched over to simple avian dialect. 

“ Green mad no understand when do it earlier. We do again.” Grian trilled again as a look of understanding came over X’s face. They picked up their voting eggs as they dropped down for the teams to pick up for voting. 

“ Plan?”  X’s chirp made Grian look up at him then down at the egg.

“ Throw game piss off green.”  A sharp smile crept onto the winged man’s face, when suddenly someone different chirped up.

“ Piss piss piss piss.” Snapping their gases over to the noise, Grian and X saw Tommy mimicking the noise almost flawlessly, if not for the fact that the child had no idea what he was saying. Doubling over and cackling an impish grin spread across his face. 

“ Fuck.” Looking at the kid Grian waited for him to mimic it.

“ Fuck fuck fuck fuck.”  the mimic from the teen had Grian absolutely rolling

“ Child why teach bad” Xisuma scolded the macaw hybrid while smacking him upside the head lightly. Grian snickered and ducked away, moving to stand next to Tommy, who looked confused and intrigued, like a child that just saw the coolest trick and wanted to learn it. 

“ Funny, make green mad.”  Grian glanced over to said masked admin who was indeed looking more and more annoyed by the second, he then took his egg and tossed it into the voting ring to sky battle as the timer was about to run out. Oh man Grian was going to have a blast messing with his so called teammate, especially now that he knew his dumb tricks. He may still be a bit salty for that comment he said earlier, too many bad memories with people thinking they knew what was best for him. Pah as if. Sky wars did end up winning, teleporting the contestants to the area. Grian grinned it would be so easy to throw this game, the man looked around and saw the Philza on the starting island next to them. Knowing that he would know avian Grian decided to instigate a fight. 

“ FIGHT LOOSE COWARD.” Grian screeched out, tones of taunting and confidence twining into the more complex dialect. His grin became even wide when he saw that the other avian heard him.

“ DOWN LOOSE COCKY.” The responding screech came with tones of anger and annoyance, promising to target his team, exactly what the small avain was banking on. The starting bell went off and Phil’s team immediately came after them, taking them out almost instantly. Watching in spectator Grian cackled as the battle progressed, the other two round going the same as the first. 

"What did you say?" Dream snarled at him as soon as they were teleported out of the arena, an innocent look on Grian's face as he stared up at the taller man. 

"What do you mean Dream?" Grian said, the too innocent tone in his voice like when he would pull a prank and got caught half way through. X trying not to laugh as he knew partly what Grian had said, even if he only caught one or two words exchanged between the two avains. 

“You said something to Phil. you had to of for his team to so heavily target us.” Dream lowered his voice to try and intimidate Grian. Grian just smirked up at him as the green clad man tried using his height for intimidation, but now that Grian knew how Dream worked, how he manipulated. The tricks he used weren’t going to work, not while he had a support system to fall back onto. 

“Ooh that, yea I don't know mate, the avian language is complex at that level, he could have interpreted that as anything.” Grian shrugged and turned his back on Dream, walking away. He had a competition to throw, his game was only just beginning. Hole in the wall and ace race were easy to throw as they came and went, X following Grian’s lead as the younger planned out their moves for each game. Battle box was a little harder to throw with Dream being confident in pvp but Grian figured out that if he just broke the other wool and let the other team place they would go down in placement. Rocket spleef also turned out easy to throw as all he had to do was fly over the other hermits and his friends and tell them to target dream then proceed to fly into the void. Oh how much fun this was, and the scarlet macaw hybrid knew how much this was pissing Dream off as he figured out what he and X were doing. There was no way for him not to, not with the fact of dream that Grian has been on good placing teams in the past. It was at the point that both G and X could see practical smoke coming off the man in his baby rage. Only three games to go before Grian could finish out his plan, and oh what a plan it was. 

Chapter Text

Tommy was getting nervous with how both Dream and Grian were acting. Grian kept antagonizing Dream and they had yet to place higher than 8th in any of the games. Tommy inches away from the pair, trying to avoid attention on him, he silently thanked Xisuma when the other admin subtly put himself between the blond teen and the now bickering pair. Xisuma looked like he was about to step in when the voting eggs dropped down, interrupting anything that was or about to be said. 

"So what should we vote for this time?" Xisuma asked nobody in particular.

"Well parkour tag could be good?" Grian piped up, a slight flutter to his wings. 

"What? So you can throw it too?" Dream snarled at the bird hybrid, Tommy scratched his ears to hide the flinch from the hostility. 

"I mean we still have to pick a game of your choice, but I'm voting for the parkour tag." Grian shot back, throwing his egg as he did so. Dream growled but also threw his egg in the parkour tag leaving Tommy and X to vote, both of whom voted for parkour tag as well. Tommy looked across the voting pit and saw Tubbo and Ranboo waving at him smiling, the older teens pointing to their ears signaling to Tommy what they wanted. The teams floated up and were teleported to the arena, which Tommy realized looked like a factory. 

The rounds of the games went by fairly quickly, their team surprisingly not doing the worst out of everyone. Tommy even got a pretty good laugh when he saw Xisuma attempt a jump and just barely catch himself with his chest. When the last pair up came around Tommy jumped into the hunter box against Tubbo and Ranboo, and he saw Hbomb become the hunter for the other team. Both teams got teleported to their respective sides when the alarm sounded signaling to start. 

"COME ON TOMMY, LET LOOSE A LITTLE!" Tubbo called out as he jumped up to a higher spot tauntingly, knowing that Tommy stood no chance against him or Ranboo unless he did what the older said. Huffing Tommy listened to him, allowing his hybrid features to show finally for the first time in what felt like forever. An excited whoop sounded from behind him, making him turn to see Ranboo just across the way from him. 

"Oh it's on bitch boys." Tommy laughed as he launched across the jumps like they were nothing, making Ranboo yelp as he ran away from the now revealed tanuki hybrid. Tubbo and Scott laughing in the background as Ranboo desperately ran away, using his height to his advantage to pull himself up.

"Why me Tommy this is harassment. Go after Tubbo or something, he's short." Ranboo shrieked as Tommy just barely missed his tail.

"That's just a hate crime Ranboob, you can't just attack short people." Tommy called up after him, launching from a jump to land squarely on the ender hybrid's back before using him as a springboard to jump higher. 

"Hey now Tommy don't be like that, or I'll break your knee caps. Then we'll see who's the short one." Tubbo shouted from across the arena Scott doubled over laughing between the two. Tommy, taking advantage of the unsuspecting man, jumped across the platforms before he could recover and tagged him out too, leaving Tubbo and Tommy facing off from across the arena. 

"Look, don't be a bitch. We obviously know I'm the superior one here." Tommy taunted Tubbo. 

"Ha, yea right, I'm a freaking moobloom hybrid I can totally kick your ass." Tubbo called his bluff before climbing even higher in the arena, Tommy giving chase. The boys chased each other around, both laughing at how close Tommy was getting. Neither noticed the timer ticking down until they both suddenly shot into the air, the end of game buzzer signaling a teleport. 

"Oh shit." Was the last thing Tommy said before he was standing in the lobby next to his teammates, next to Dream. Spinning around Tommy stared in horror at the mask that was meeting his gaze as it studied the now revealed ears and tail on the teen. 

"Look Dream, I can explain." Tommy held his hands up in a placating manner ignoring the group of people that were gathered around. 

"Oh Tommy, I'm so proud of you. It takes a lot of courage to reveal yourself as a hybrid. I'm glad you trusted me as your friend." Dream said his voice was light and welcoming, throwing Tommy for a loop. Why wasn't he mad? Why wasn't he yelling? 

"Yea, my friend." Tommy said softly before ducking away, wanting to get away from the noise of the crowd and away from the blank stare of Dream's mask. The tanuki ran until he found a quiet corner on the back side of the decorative volcano, pushing the heels of his hands into his eyes. Tommy heard fireworks going off in the distance announcing the two finalists and he felt himself being teleported to the dodge bolt arena. Stumbling a little to gather his bearings he saw Tubbo waving him over, as he took a step to them however a hand deftly landed on his shoulder. 

"When we get back, you and you are going to have a talk. I can't believe you would show such a disgusting thing to the whole world, everyone thinks so. I'm just trying to help you, I'm your friend." Dream whispered into his ear before bouncing off to join Sapnap and George. Tommy stood there shaken from the encounter, he knew it, he knew Dream had to have been pissed and now he was gonna suffer for it. 

"Tommy, hey kid look at me." A gentle voice drew him out of his thoughts. Focusing on where it came from, the tanuki met Grian's gaze, the macaw looking up at him worriedly. 

"Tommy are you alright?" Another voice spoke from his right, Xisuma standing a few places further back. Nodding numbly Tommy tried to shift away from the pair, they were the ones who made Dream so mad, they were the reason that Dream was now pissed at him. 

"I'm fine." He tried to keep the tremble out of his voice, wincing when he failed. 

"Tommy, we know what Dream just said to you. One of our friends heard him and told us." Grian said gently, hands held as if he was approaching a cornered animal. 

"Oh so now you're eavesdropping on top of making my life a living hell. Thank you." Tommy snapped a small part of him regretting it but in the moment he was too scared, too angry to care. 

"Tommy Iwas hoping this wouldn't happen and I'm sorry. I was trying to keep most of his attention on me until I could talk to you without him around, but please would you maybe consider what I have to say?" Grian pleaded with him, but backed off a step to give the panicked boy some space to breathe. Glancing around Tommy saw the dog hybrid and blond girl from the first day standing between Dream and him, keeping him at bay, and over to the other side he saw Tubbo and Ranboo pushing through the crowd to get to him.

"Fine, what is it?" Tommy spat just wanting the whole thing to be done with.

Chapter Text

Brian watched as Dream moved away from Tommy and decided that now was the time to step in. 

"Hey toms i heard was dream said and we want to help yo-" Grian was cut off with a hit to the back of the head. Dream had managed to get past the other hermits and knocked Grian out. 

"Come on Tommy, we are going home. I'm your friend and i just wants what's best for you. I heard him planning Tommy Grian just wants to use you." Tommy looked around to see tubbo and tanboo with Sapnap and George. Nodding numbly Tommy followed dream to the portal room back to the dream amp. 

He was his friend, and Tommy was right. There was a party and cake celebrating that dream brought the teens home and kept them safe.

The end 

Ha ha jk :3 the actual think will be out within the next 24 hours i promise

Chapter Text

Grian let out a small sigh of relief when Tommy agreed to listen to him, and a soft chirp from X told him that the other two teens that he wanted to take with him were approaching. 

"Tommy, we know Dream has been hurting you. We want to help you, but you have to let us." Grian spoke softly, he didn't want to startle him and chase him off before he could get him away from Dream. 

"What's going on, what did y'all do to Tommy?" A new voice spoke from behind Grian. The avian looked over his shoulder to see the moobloom hybrid and ender hybrid that Tommy had introduced to him earlier in the competition. 

"It's ok boys, we just heard something concerning and wanted to talk to Tommy and you two." X spoke up, addressing all three teens, pressing a button on the side of his helmet that retracted the visor allowing everyone to see his eyes. 

"And how can we be sure we can trust you? You're practically strangers." Tubbo said, holding himself tall as he could against the older and taller admin. The tone of his voice betrays that all three of these teens have had their trust used against them and betrayed for it, making Grian's heart break for them. 

"You can't. And I won't force you, that will be entirely your decision and yours alone. But I will offer you a safe haven on my server where you can heal and take however long you need, or I can help you get somewhere safe where you can heal." Xisuma spoke with a level head as he looked at all three teens giving them his full attention. Grian took a small step back so he could look around and locate Dream, which he spotted looking at the group from the other end of the arena. The Scarlet Macaw hybrid stared back at him making eye contact, before angling his wings to seem more threatening. Men like Dream had no respect, only fear, and fear was bound to run out eventually. 

"Ok we'll go with you, however if any of us feel threatened we will leave, and I'm bringing mine and Ranboo's son." Tubbo said the conditions of him going with, and Grian got the impression that the smallest teen was the spokesperson of the group but that they all held equal standing with each other. 

"Of course we can get your son, I can either send someone to your server to get him and you won't ever have to step foot or I can go with you and we can get whatever you need or want." X held his hand out to shake on it, Tubbo taking his hand and nodding. The young hybrids moved a small ways away to talk amongst themselves and X moved closer to Grian and signaled over Cub, False and Ren.

"Ok so after the event Grian, Ren and I will be going onto the DreamSmp to gather anything that they want or need. Cub, False, you two will go back and let everyone know what is going on and set up a temporary place for them and we can help them set up their bases after they have rested." X looked for confirmation from the four, Grian took note how the dodge bolt match ended with the final arrow, teleporting everyone to the winner's stage. Grian moved over to the trio of teens and stood near them protectively, Scott waved at him then approached him. 

"Dream is planning on leaving soon with the boys, if you wanna do it I would suggest doing it now." Scott told him and nodded to X, who nodded back then looked at Grian. 

"Got it, thanks Scott." Grian turned to the boys who were now watching them. 

"Alright you three, let's go grab Ren and Xisuma. We are gonna go ahead and go to Dream's world and grab your stuff." Grian explained to the teens, all three hybrids nodded and followed him. 

"What if Dream tries something? He is the admin and Tommy and Tubbo are both on their last life." Ranboo fidgeted with his tail, his eyes darting around. Grian sighed softly, raising a wing he slowly put it around the tallest teen's shoulder, giving him the opportunity to duck away if he wanted. 

"That's why I'm going to be there kid, Dream won't be able to do a thing to y'all." Ranboo nodded and Grian looked at the other two, hoping to convey as much sincerity as possible. Jerking his head he turned to keep walking to X and Ren.

"Ok ladies. Each of us are going to pair up with one another and we will tag team get what we need and get out." Everyone nodded and the group left for the portal room, wanting to get everything over with as soon as possible. The group of six make it through the portal with no problem and Grian and Tommy manage to get all the way back to the portal room before they come across someone. 

"Aaay what's up Tommy. Who's this?" Grian watched as Tommy cringed back a little from the loud duck hybrid. 

"I'm Grian, and who might you be?" Grian held his hand out to the man in greeting. 

"I'm Quackity, and um what exactly are you doing with Tommy here? Tommy, my man? What's with the bags? You don't plan on leaving do you?" Quackity rattled off several questions that almost made Grian's head spin, but he figured it would be best to see if Tommy wanted to be the one to answer the man. 

"I well, heh, you see Big Q, Big G here invited me to stay with him for a little bit, and Tubbo and Ranboo are coming too." Tommy waved his hands around as he explained what was going on, the duck hybrid's face twisting into something malicious as the words sank in.

"So you're leaving us? Abandoning everything we worked for, everything you worked for? This is your home Toms and I don't know if this Grian fellow knows what's best for you." Quackity went to take a step forward toward the tanuki teen, and the macaw hybrid took a step between them. 

"He can decide what he wants for himself, he isn't some incompetent child." Grian sneered, fed up with all of the manipulation he had seen put upon the three teens. Facing fully towards Quackity, the shorter avain missed the look of shock on Tommy's face as he stood against Quackity. 

"Hey no-" Whatever Quackity was going to say was interrupted by the arrival of the other 4 people Grian can through with. 

"What's going on here?" X asked lightly though Grian knew that the man was watching him closely with how defensive his body language was. 

"Oh nothing man, I was just saying bye to Tommy here, and perfect timing too. I'll see you later Tubbo and Ranboo. Las'Nevadas will miss you." The last part of the sentence was laced with the implication of something malicious but none of the hermits could even fathom the beginning of it. 

"Well then, how about we get out of here. I'm famished and could sleep for a whole year man." Ren clapped and led the group through the portal. 

"Welcome to Hermitcraft boys. We hope that you enjoy the memories you make here." X said as they came through, and Grian watched the smile light up all three of the young hybrid's faces, as if a small weight had lifted off their shoulders. 

This would be a long road for them but this was a step in the right direction. 

Chapter Text

So this one along with several other of my first is getting a rewrite yall look forward to seeing yall again!!!!