Chapter Text
It is a beautiful evening in Boatem Town, very late in the evening that you could nearly call it night in fact, and Grian has called a Boatem Meeting. Because it is night, everyone WAS preparing for bed. Scar is wearing his diamond pajamas, rubbing his eyes. He’s already thrown everything into a chest. He yawns and puts most of his weight on one of his crutches as he stretches the other arm.
Grian grins at him, his wings folded loosely against his back. “Tired?”
“Yeah,” Scar says. “Why so late?” He yawns then sits down on one of the benches they have around the Boatem Hole for some reason. He doesn’t face the Boatem Hole, but he could always turn his back if he wanted to. “If I lose any more crutches to the Void, you’re buying me more sets while I use my chair.”
Grian laughs. “I’ll use your coins.”
Scar snorts. “You can’t lag coins from one person’s bank account to another’s. Unless you’re saying you’ll steal from me?”
Grian gasps, putting his hand on his heart. “I’ll have you know I have NEVER stolen a single item from anyone on this server! All of those diamonds DID lag their way into my inventory! I was just looking into the chests and they managed to turn up in my inventory!”
“You didn’t put them back, either,” Scar says, mischief glimmering in his tired green eyes.
Grian opens his mouth and holds up a finger to dispute then realizes he has no excuse for that. “Well… Hmm. ...I guess I’ll pay for them myself after all.”
Impulse nearly crashes into the ground on the way over, but he manages to catch himself and places a shulker box to put all his stuff in. “Hey guys! Why is the meeting so late today?”
“I thought it would be an interesting change!” Grian says.
Mumbo DOES crash into the ground, scattering all his items everywhere. Scar grabs some things before they fall into the Boatem Hole, but a few things do fall in.
<MumboJumbo hit the ground too hard>
joehillssays: f
GoodTimeWithScar: I didn’t catch all your things before they fell into the void! sorry
MumboJumbo: it’s alright i can get more later
As Impulse puts Mumbo’s things in a chest, Pearl walks out of her starter base, all of her stuff neatly sorted away in her room. “Alright, what’s going on, boys?” Mumbo returns in record time, having set his spawn in his van.
Scar turns in the bench to get up but as he adjusts his crutches to stand he realizes that there’s something moving in the Boatem Hole, and it isn’t a slime that escaped the slime farm. He reaches into his deep Inventory for his Optifine goggles before realizing he doesn’t have them. He does have a spyglass, so that’s the next best thing. Scar stands up and pulls the spyglass out of his regular Inventory, looking down the Boatem Hole, careful not to fall in.
“Scar, what are you doing?” Grian says.
“...There’s something down there…” Scar says, taking the spyglass away from his eye to make sure he doesn’t fall in. He replaces it and finally finds what he was looking for.
A person. A person with a white helmet that has two horns, a grey cloak covering their body. They have no armor, only a strange iron sword strapped to their back. They stare down at the Boatem Hole, head tilted sideways. They walk around the edge, swishing their cloak with their hands. Then they step closer to the Void.
“There’s someone down there!” Scar says. He takes his spyglass away from his eye. “There’s a person down there!”
“No, mate,” Mumbo says, putting on his Optifine goggles and looking into the Boatem Hole. “You’ve got to be joking m-” He flips them on and gasps. “There is someone down there!”
Grian takes Mumbo’s goggles off his head and puts them on himself to look in the hole before throwing them on the ground. He looks down the hole before nodding to himself. “I’ll go get them,” Grian says. “I’ll fly down and bring them back up.”
“Don’t miss,” Impulse teases.
“If I do, you go get them,” Grian tells him.
“Of course, demon’s honor.”
Pearl chimes in by saying, “Stories say demons don’t HAVE honor.”
“I have honor,” Impulse says, offended. “I don't flip animals on their heads, for one thing!”
Grian spreads his wings and dives into the Boatem Hole, nearly knocking Scar over into it.
And then Impulse does push him into it.
<Grian fell out of the world>
<GoodTimeWithScar fell out of the world>
GoodTimeWithScar: IMPULSE
impulseSV: hehe
GoodTimeWithScar: that was my last pair! youre buying more
impulseSV: a worthy sacrifice
PearlescentMoon: oy Xisuma did you whitelist another player
Xisuma: I have not
Grian: well there's someone at the bottom of the Boatem Hole, i missed when i tried to get them
impulseSV: I'll go fulfill that promise now. Demon’s honor and all that.
Tango: lol you have no honor and that's a fact
Impulse laughs to himself as he looks down into the Boatem Hole. His eyes can pick out the person better than the Optifine goggles (although he can't, you know, zoom in with his eyes) and he sees them reach down past the bedrock into the Void then straighten back up. That’s… Weird. How didn’t they fall in? He hops down past the Boatem Pole before shifting his wings out of his back and gliding down to the bottom. He gently lands next to the figure, who is sitting on the bedrock, staring at the Void. The person looks up at him, their mask having no mouth, only two eyeholes. Behind them, Impulse can see two big and round glowing eyes. The glow is faint, but it's there. The glow squints as if in a smile and the figure tips their head to the side. They wave cheerfully. Impulse chuckles when he notices a happily swishing tail coming from underneath their cloak.
“Hello,” Impulse says. “I'm Impulse. Who are you?”
The figure brings their hands up and signs something, probably their name.
Impulse doesn't know sign language. Even if he did, this person… Doesn't have fingers? They have a thumb, but the rest of their fingers are webbed together like a mitten. They drop their hands and stare blankly at Impulse for a moment. They huff in frustration and stand up, reaching up at Impulse with grabby hands.
Oh, they're a child. This is a child. This is a little kid that wants to be carried.
Impulse scoops them up, cradling them close to his chest. The child chirps happily and rubs their mask against Impulse's chin. His heart melts. They're adorable.
Impulse spreads his wings and flies out of the Boatem Hole, holding the child close so he doesn't drop them. They reach the top of the Boatem Hole and Impulse carefully sets the child on the ground. The child reaches out and holds Impulse's hand. They say something in a language that no human vocal cord could ever imitate, syrupy but still chipper.
“I’m sorry,” Impulse says. “I don’t know what you’re saying.”
Mumbo stares at the child. “That’s a kid.”
The kid turns their head to face Mumbo, tail wagging excitedly. They release Impulse’s hand to approach Mumbo, curiosity evident in their posture. They grab his cape, tugging on it experimentally. They are clearly very excited by this development. Pearl snorts. “They like you, Mumbo. A prize well received.”
The child suddenly straightens as if remembering something and pulls their cloak aside slightly. Then they push their hand into their body. The three Players jerk back. That is… Certainly a way to access your Inventory. Usually opening it midair is more comfortable, but maybe this kid was taught this way?
The way they open their Inventory is soon forgotten as they pull some of Mumbo’s items that fell into the Boatem Hole out of it and turn around to hold them up to Impulse. After a few seconds of stunned silence from the Players, the child makes a frustrated noise and shakes the items, shoving some back into their Inventory and pulling Impulse’s hand up to place a stack of rockets in his hand. Clearly they mean for him to take them and return them to the rightful owner.
“Uh… Here, Mumbo,” Impulse says, giving Mumbo the rockets. “This is yours.”
Mumbo slides the rockets into his Inventory.
The kid turns to Mumbo and pulls all the items he dropped down the Boatem Hole when he crashed out of their Inventory. They make a chittery laugh noise that sounds so similar to a silverfish or a spider that Impulse nearly pulls out his sword.
Their communicators ping and Impulse pulls his out to check it.
GoodTimeWithScar: My dear fellow Boatem Members: I am not coming to the meeting. I am going to bed. Good night.
Grian: valid.
Grian: meeting cancelled guys, we’ll have it tommorrow
cubfan135: boatem cancelled
cubfan135: deemed problematic for being a death cult
Impulse snorts and shoots a public message.
impulseSV: so the person we found is actually a kid
impulseSV: they don’t speak english but they understand what we’re saying
“HOW DO YOU HAVE THOSE?” Mumbo yells.
Impulse looks up from his communicator, ignoring the few pings of notifications, to see that the child has pulled Scar’s crutches out of their Inventory.
The crutches he would have lost to the Void when he fell in.
Impulse suddenly gets the feeling that they are way in over their heads with this kid. But he reaches towards the kid and says, “Hey, those aren’t Mumbo’s, those are Scar’s. But Scar is going to bed, so why don’t we go to bed in my base and we can give them to him in the morning?”
“Why your base?” Pearl teases, holding her communicator in one hand. “Don’t tell me you’re attached!” She turns to the kid. “I'm Pearl. I'm more responsible than these fools. Come on, you can come to my base.”
The kid shoves the crutches back into their Inventory and grabs Impulse’s hand tightly with both hands, snuggling close to his side.
Void, Impulse is attached, isn't he? “Come on, kiddo,” he says. “Let's go to my base.”
The child yawns, revealing that they do in fact have a mouth, just at the very bottom of their mask. They rub one of their eyeholes, but it looks like they're imitating something they've seen someone else do.
Impulse shifts away his wings and picks up the kid. He carries them towards his starter base, a low purr growing in his chest.
Impulse sets the child on his bed and tucks them in. They snuggle in, chirping happily. Impulse smiles. “Nice and tight. Goodnight, kiddo.”
The glow behind their mask dims as they presumably close their eyes.
Impulse stares at them.
Well. Now he needs a new place to sleep. He sighs and pulls out his communicator to check what people have been saying since he revealed their visitor was a kid.
impulseSV: they don't speak english but they understand what we're saying
Xisuma: a child? on the server?
Stressmonster101: in the morning I'm visiting I must see this kid
Etho: dibs
PearlescentMoon: sorry impulse has already adopted them
Etho: nooo
Zedaph: immediately?
PearlescentMoon: i think they adopted him too
PearlescentMoon: i tried to offer my base to them and they didn't even consider it
MumboJumbo: didnt get a chance to offer my base
Tango: Dadpulse
Zedaph: Impulse do we need to contact Skizz and tell him we're parents now
Tinfoilchef: I've always wanted to be a grandpa
Tinfoilchef: none of the people here let me visit their kids
Impulse groans, shaking his head.
impulseSV: do not tell skizz anything
impulseSV: we are not dads
Tango: bet i could be a better dad than skizz
joehillssays: If you were a father, so too would be Skizz
impulseSV: im going to bed
Zedaph: tell the kid that Dad Zed says goodnight :)
Impulse sighs and tucks his communicator away. He's going to need to make himself another bed.
He goes downstairs and rummages through his chests for wool and wood. Soon enough, he crafts himself a second bed and returns upstairs to place it on the other side of the room than the kid. Impulse turns off the light and gets into bed, snuggling in.
Impulse is almost completely asleep when he hears rockets outside. The door opens and closes. “Impy…” Tango calls quietly from downstairs. “Impulse…” He tiptoes up the stairs, trying to be as quiet as possible.
Impulse, who WAS nearly out completely, glares at Tango sleepily once he comes up the stairs. “Couldn't you’ve slept in your base,” he mumbles. “You jus’ wanted to see the kid.”
Tango snickers and places a bed next to Impulse's. “What, am I not allowed to cuddle with my best friend?” He does look over at the child. “They're cute. Gotta see them when the lights are on.”
“Oh, jus’ go to sleep.” Impulse rolls to his side, letting the inherent magic of the server connect the two beds together. Tango crawls in next to him, his tail wrapping around Impulse’s legs. Tango presses his face against Impulse's neck, falling asleep first. Impulse sighs, quickly falling asleep after him.