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Theo almost didn’t recognize him at first.
After taking care of two of the withers at spawn, Theo glanced over to look at the player he had inadvertently saved— not really the reason why he had killed the withers, but hey, maybe he’ll get some free stuff for saving them. Not that it really mattered, since at least he’ll probably be getting at least his elytra back with the wither stars—
Wait, is that Parrot? The thought cut through his drifting mind as his eyes widened slightly, looking down at the player that was no doubt Parrot.
The rustled green hair with strands of white blended in, the two small pairs of wings that curled slightly inward, feathers shifting from green to blue to orange. The widened warm brown eyes staring up at him in surprise— all of it was very familiar, and all of it made him feel like his heart stopped mid-beat.
Theo stopped whatever he was about to say short— probably a demand for some kind of reward for saving the players life —surprised filling him and leaving him unable to do anything other than stare incredulously down at Parrot.
It’s been… what? A month since he last saw Parrot? Maybe longer. Either way, it’s been long enough that seeing Parrot standing infront of him feels unreal, especially in spawn of all places. Honestly, he hadn’t realized how much he missed the other avian until seeing him now.
“Parrot?” Theo asked, as if he needed any clarification. But still, he couldn’t bear staying silent any longer, the name leaving his mouth with palpable excitement. He quickly made his way down the obsidian structure he had built up to when fighting the withers, wings flaring slightly to negate the fall damage.
Parrot hesitated briefly, hiding it quick enough that Theo almost didn’t notice. Unfortunately for him, Theo was still somewhat alert from the fight, and the shift in expression didn’t escape his notice. “Hey, Theo.”
“Dude, it’s been months, where have you been?” Theo asked, unable to resist stepping closer to Parrot, not doing very well to hide his excitement at seeing him again.
But Parrot’s reaction made him stop short immediately, confusion and concern swirling in his head. Theo was never the best at reading body language, but he easily caught the way Parrot’s shoulders hitched slightly in a suppressed flinch, the way he instinctively took a step back and tucked his wings closer to himself.
“Uh,” Theo hesitated, staring dumbly at Parrot for a moment as the shorter eyes him carefully, warm brown eyes that used to look at him with exasperated fondness turning cautious like a cornered animal. “Are you okay? What happened to you?”
Parrot shifted uneasily, gaze leaning back toward the center of spawn— the mess of cobblestone, dirt, screaming players, and withers —before alertly flicking toward Theo again, as if not wanting to look away too long, as if he’s expecting something bad to happen. “I was… busy with some stuff.”
Theo waited, but Parrot didn’t elaborate, and as curious as Theo is, he can tell pushing Parrot wouldn’t be received well. Making Parrot uncomfortable is the last thing he wants to do right now, so he decided to just ignore all the questions he had for now, instead nodding in response.
“Well, uh,” Theo hesitated again, looking down the obsidian path that led to capital city. He wasn’t sure if Parrot had anywhere else to go, but given he was standing alone, gearless at spawn, Theo assumed he didn’t.
He could at least make the offer, even if he wasn’t sure what he would do if Parrot refused. He didn’t want to leave him alone here after Parrot had already almost gotten killed by withers.
“I was heading back to capital city,” Theo explained, taking a few steps back toward the path leaving there. “If you—“
“You’re not going to kill me?” Parrot cut him off before he could finish, voice filled with genuine surprise as if he couldn’t understand why Theo wouldn’t have.
“What?” Theo startled, staring wide-eyed at Parrot. He got that Parrot was cautious for some reason, but what made him think Theo wanted to kill him? “Why would I kill you, bro? What??? We’re— we’re homies.”
There wasn’t a response immediately, Parrot falling silent as he processed Theo’s genuine incredulity at the idea of killing Parrot. His expression was unreadable as he stared up at Theo, wings twitching every couple seconds when the distant noises from the withers sounded.
For a long moment, Theo is worried Parrot’s going to say no outright. But then, the the unreadable expression flares with conflict before making again, Parrot glancing toward the rest of the havoc in spawn.
“…you said you were going to capital city?” Parrot asked, still guarded but less so now, hints of exhaustion creeping into his voice. His wings slumped slightly, dirt and broken feathers now more visible than when he was tense. When was the last time he preened, Theo wondered.
“Yeah,” Theo responded immediately, a bit concerned if his excitement was too obvious, but luckily Parrot didn’t seem to pick up on it.
“Is that near here?” Parrot asked, looking toward Theo with a notably less conflicted look in his eyes.
“Yeah! It’s just down the road,” Theo explained, hoping over the short obsidian wall to actually stand on the path, still looking toward Parrot, “are you coming with me?”
Parrot hesitated, glancing down the path and back at Theo, his nervousness more obvious than before now that he was less on-guard, “can I?”
“Of course, dude. Come on,” Theo gestured for Parrot to follow him, walking a slower pace as he waited for him to catch up.
Parrot stared for a moment, unsure if he was making a dumb decision by trusting Theo too easily. That was always his worst mistake, trusting too much too quickly… but still, he couldn’t help but believe Theo when he said he didn’t want to harm him.
So, Parrot fell into step beside Theo, glancing over as he noticed the way the other avian brightened at that.