Work Text:
It's been days since Parrot and Theo have found the Great Sea treasure. They've returned to their humble abode, the potion shop, shortly. The place got some upgrades, too. They decided to reside on the second floor — to take a bit of a break from all the adventures they've been through. The cockatiel made themselves a room, separate from the stashes and the brewing stands, since, well, they can be loud, and he would appreciate some quality sleep. He shared a room with Parrot, since they didn't really want to invest in this building more than needed, they were going to move out in no time anyway.
After all the stuff the two have been through, Theo's wings and legs hurt as shit. He could've laid on the bed for hours on end, but his stupid care for Parrot's well-being will be the death of him.
Parrot has been writing all day and night — he looked like a ghost at some point, with each passing day his eyebags were worsening. He didn't preen his wings, he didn't shower, he barely ate if Theo didn't remind him to (and brought the meal over to his desk). One night Parrot did fall asleep right at his desk. It didn't look comfortable, but Theo was debating if it was worth the risk of waking Parrot up. Maybe at least his back pain in the morning will make him lay down.
… Probably not though.
Parrot was thinking of another plan to "save the server", if giving out free stuff didn't help as much as he expected. Hell, Theo was sure it didn't help at all, but he didn't want to hurt Parrot more than he already did. Lashing out at him in the middle of the ocean was really not the best idea. Theo did apologize, yes, but he still stood by his point. He just should've executed it more thoughtfully, than speaking with his anger, not his care for Parrot.
It was another one of those nights. Parrot was still sitting at his desk, his wings looking like they've been broken 10 times, some of his feathers broke. The only source of light in the room was a candle, taking place on his workplace. Theo didn't really mind, the flickering warm light was kind of soothing to him, what he did mind, though, was the person using it.
He couldn't watch Parrot ruin himself any more. The people he was hurting himself for didn't even care about him, probably don't even know he exists, so why does he do this? He couldn't understand it. Maybe it really was Parrot's delusion.
"Parrot", Theo stood up from his bed on the other side of the room. The other lightly flicked his wing, indicating he was listening.
"Am I just not worthy enough to hear his voice?" The bird thought, a little irritated, but he tried to calm down.
"Can you like, stop, dude?" He took a step closer.
Parrot turned his head, Theo almost felt as if his neck cracked. His eyes looked terrible, he barely could even keep them open.
"Theo, I know you think this whole thing is stupid". His voice didn't sound better. It was like he was about to die. "I just—" Parrot was interrupted.
"No, dude, I know this whole thing is stupid! I don't know how you haven't realized that yet!" Theo spread out his wings. Maybe to seem more intimidating, maybe to make himself think he looked intimidating. He probably just looked stupid, though. "So much for the 'smartest player on the server', huh?"
Parrot looked Theo dead in the eyes, it was like staring into the void, and then turned his gaze away.
"You just… Wouldn't understand, Theo."
"Maybe I wouldn't, yes, maybe I'm not smart enough for that, but do you know what I'm smart enough for? Seeing how you're neglecting yourself for the server that doesn't care about you."
He sighed.
"Do whatever you want, okay? Just please take breaks. You're not going to save the server if you keep, like, making yourself more vulnerable. Do you know how easy it is to kill you right now?" That sounded threatening.
Parrot thought about that too, clearly, as Theo noticed his chest rapidly rising and falling. Did he cross the line once again? Did he make Parrot push him away once more? He didn't want to be separated from him more than necessary.
"Okay", Parrot agreed after a long pause, barely nodding.
"Wait- Huh- Really?" Theo was surprised that, with how persistent Parrot was, he folded immediately. "I meant-", He cleared his throat, "Of course. That's the only right thing to do."
Parrot smiled faintly. Oh how dearly Theo missed when he smiled. He didn't do that a lot, but whenever he did he felt warm in his stomach.
"Can I- Uh- Preen your wings?" Theo asked.
Parrot looked over his wings, almost like he never noticed the horrible state they were in. Then his gaze turned back to Theo.
"You want to preen my wings?" He said, more like a statement, than a question.
"Yeah. Well, you clearly wouldn't do it yourself any time soon, so…" The other said, scratching the back of his neck and looking away. "Maybe let someone take care of you instead of taking care of everyone else." He whispered. It appeared that Parrot didn't hear it or, at least, didn't seem he did.
"Uh. Sure", Parrot sat down on his bed, the one opposite to Theo's, and also the one that had a window next to it. Theo quickly sat behind him, as Parrot spread his wings carefully.
"Has anyone preened you before?" He asked, studying the other's feathers. He carefully picked on the loose feathers, starting off with the smaller ones.
"Not really", Parrot put his hands on the bed between his legs. "Wifies attempted to. He wasn't that good at it, I don't really blame him."
He stayed quiet for a while, trying to muffle the purring throat sounds he was making.
"Jumper tried to preen me too", he finally spoke. "She read a lot about birds in her library. On the internet, too. I don't think she's very well practiced, but she was the closest who's done it almost perfectly."
"Well, before me, obviously", Theo giggled, fiddling with the loose feathers in the other's wings. He carefully examined the broken feathers. "You poor thing", he exhaled under his breath.
"Huh?", Parrot turned his head. Did he hear that?
"What?", Theo stopped touching Parrot's wings, praying to any and all gods that he didn't hear that. He should stop mumbling out loud.
"Why did you.. say that?", Parrot turned his head back. He didn't sound taken aback or anything, he doesn't sound like anything at all most of the time anyway, but Theo expected him to show some type of emotion right now.
"Well… I already told you," Theo gently touched the other's wings, almost as if asking for consent. Parrot didn't object, so he proceeded. "You're way too selfless. And you think that is a good thing. And well—… It is, but not to the degree you take it, dude. You're willing to give out your arm for free if you think it would save somebody, but you'd never sacrifice someone else's for that… If-if that makes sense, y'know," He quickly added. Maybe it wasn't his business, really.
Parrot just quietly hummed. Theo was sure he would throw this conversation out of his head after a day or two anyway.
They sat there quietly, as the cockatiel was pulling out the molted feathers. Theo didn't have anything else to say, no matter how much he wanted to, and Parrot just wasn't the type to yap a lot. The guy was almost done, and the other's feathers looked much better than they did a few minutes ago. The moonlight nicely colored Parrot's wings gentle light blue, as their shadow creeped on the carpet.
Theo hurt. Not that he was hurting for himself, he was hurting for Parrot. He told him some stuff about his past, but that clearly wasn't all that he has lived through. And he didn't deserve it at all. With how selfless and determined he is with his goal to "save the server" while being barely able to save himself.
The first bird stood up, right infront of Parrot.
"Oh? You're d-", The later froze, as Theo almost strangled him in a hug, making him fall on the bed. Theo was a lot more stronger than Parrot. And weight also a ton more than him. He didn't really know how to react, his heart was racing, it felt so awkward, and aside from that he was barely able to breathe, yet Theo's warmth made it a little more worth it.
"You're strangling me bro-" Parrot exhaled, as if it was his last breath. Theo moved away, sitting straight up on Parrot's lap. "What the hell were you doing?" He almost wanted to laugh, mostly from the ridiculousness of this situation.
"I-… Parrot, you... you deserved a hug, y'know," Theo looked away, as if wiping his nose, but in reality he was blushing.
Parrot used his elbows for support, to look straight at Theo. He hummed.
"You're like a tsundere bro", he said out of the blue, biting his lip to not laugh.
"Dude." Theo couldn't help himself but giggle slightly. "I mean— Listen, I just want you to know I'm always here for you no matter what, okay? You can cry to me whenever you'd like, I will always listen. I just care about you so much."
Parrot tried to act nonchalant, but Theo noticed the slight blush creeping on his cheeks.
"Sure, yeah…", He said. Then, after a long pause, added, "Thank you."
"Anytime, dude."