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Seeing three familiar faces in a random LAW outpost in the middle of nowhere was… an interesting experience, Parrot can say for sure. Seeing his soulmates— his partners, his boyfriends, his other halves —after weeks or even months of rarely meeting up with them was as exciting as it was overwhelming.
But when Spoke explained his plans of destroying BAT and LAW shortly after showing up out of nowhere to spawn withers and blow up the LAW guards, it all of a sudden made a lot of sense. It was reliving, as well, to know he wasn’t the only one who had plans to get rid of LAW.
It was also nice to know that his soulmates were on the same side as him for once.
The last time that was even close to happening it was during their plan to take down the mafia— and even then, Flame had been one of the diamond guards for Ashswag.
He didn’t like when he had to work against any of his soulmates— that didn’t mean he wouldn’t, he knew that sometimes they just wouldn’t be able to see eye to eye on certain things, but still, it made something cold and uncomfortable settle deep in his chest everytime one of them raised a blade against him— even if he knew they would never do anything they’d regret.
But the past didn’t matter now, and the fact that Wemmbu and Flame showed up shortly after Spoke to help only proved that they were all on the same side this time. Parrot had already figured they would join their anti-LAW group given the LAW tried to ban both Wemmbu and Flame off the server, but the confirmation made something in him settle in content, a warm feeling that spread through his bones.
After they finished attaching all the chests to the happy ghast, the four immediately set off toward District 13. They flew high enough that they could feel the occasional chill of clouds pass through them. Even if they were spotted, by LAW or otherwise, it probably wouldn’t be a big deal with both Wemmbu and Flame to take care of them, but Parrot would rather be safe than sorry.
Parrot sat toward the front, eyebrows furrowed slightly in thought as he stared down at the ground hundreds of feet beneath them. They had succeeded in getting the armor, but he wasn’t sure if the army they had would be enough— logically, it probably didn’t matter since they had Wemmbu and his nukes, Flame, Spoke, and whoever else was in the group Spoke said he managed to recruit. The makeshift army Parrot had probably wouldn’t have any affect on the outcome, but still, he didn’t want them to die after getting them wrapped up in this.
Before his thoughts could get too wound up, before concern could knit through any of the positive emotions he had swimming in his chest, the feeling of cold arms suddenly latching around his waist startled him out of it. He blinked in surprise, feeling nails digging in a bit too sharply to be comfortable, a bit too unconstrained, as a face nuzzled against where his shoulder met his neck.
Normally, he’d be more startled by the sudden physical closeness— on most days he could barely deal with Theo touching him, especially after… Wifies. But he was surrounded by his soulmates, so he wasn’t sure he would be able to be uncomfortable even if he wanted to. Being around them made him instinctively feel safe, an utmost trust he was sure he wouldn’t have in them if not for the soul bond.
“Parrotparrotparrot—“ Spoke practically giggled, sounding somewhat breathless as aggressively nuzzled the bird, rubbing his head against his like an overly affectionate cat. His behavior was a sharp contrast to the last time he had seen the voidling, so he assumes that things had gotten… better for Spoke??
He wasn’t sure if this level of unhinged should be a cause for concern or relief.
“Hi,” Parrot sighed with exasperated fondness, already reluctantly accepting his fate because unfortunately, he does love Spoke, so unfortunately, he will go along with his whims, no matter how clingy they are.
“Parrot,” Spoke repeated, sounding breathless with ecstasy as white eyes bore into his own. “Hi hi hi. I misseddddd you…. It’s been months, y’know?”
“I missed you too,” Parrot admitted, unable to help the way his heart melted at the way Spoke’s grin widened at that with barely-contained glee. “But please tell me you didn’t commit any more war crimes since the last time I saw you.”
Then again, the last time he saw Spoke was when he had stopped the man from blowing up Capital City, so that’s not exactly a great point of reference.
Parrot loves all his partners, really. Thats exactly why he means it with nothing but love when he says that they’re all at the very least insane and have a bad habit of causing destruction wherever they go.
“Whaaaat? I don’t know what you’re talking about Parrot!” Spoke said in a tone that was far too innocent-sounding to be sincere.
“Spoke…” Parrot sighed, giving up in whatever reprimand he was about say before he could even start. He was way too happy about seeing them again to even joke about being upset at them.
Spoke giggled quietly, arms tightening around Parrot’s waist, holding on as if he couldn’t bear to let go for even a second, as if Parrot would leave if he gave him the chance. He wouldn’t, but he decided to allow Spoke that comfort without any sort of comment.
Flame made an exasperated noise, catching Parrot’s attention as he glanced back over his shoulder— the one Spoke’s head wasn’t occupying —to look at the tiger-blaze hybrid.
“Are you gonna detach from him soon?” Flame asked Spoke impatiently, striped tail flicking behind him in sharp, sudden swoops. “He’s not just your boyfriend, bro. I want time with him too.”
“Nope! You two saw him recently, it’s been months since I last had Parrot-time,” Spoke argued, tightening his hold around Parrot and sticking his tongue out at Flame petulantly. “Also don’t call me bro, I’m your boyfriend. You’re so unromantic, this is why I get to have Parrot first.”
“You do the exact same thing!?” Flame shot back incredulously, knowing he wasn’t the only one who overused “bro” and “dude” for his partners.
“And that recent time barely counts! I just needed Theo to train me and we didn’t have time to actually talk,” Flame huffed.
“Mmm, sounds to me you were just unappreciative,” Spoke taunted, a grin tugging wider on his lips as he nuzzled against Parrot with a self-satisfied purr. “You’re the one who wasted your chance on ‘pvp training’ instead of spending time with Parrot. Now it’s my turn!”
“I was in my training arc! And Parrot was busy so we couldn’t have talked! How do you even know about any of this, anyway?!”
“I’ve got eyes and ears everywhere. I’m just omnipresent like that.”
“Okay dude, we’ve been together for, like, a year, I’d know if you were ‘omnipresent’—“
“Would you, though?”
“Uh, yeah?? Bro, you’re not gaslighting me into thinking—“
“Is it gaslighting, though?”
“Bro I swear—“
“Oh my god,” Parrot murmured as the two continued to argue, his only saving grace during all of this being the fact that Spoke’s arms slowly unwound so he wasn’t being crushed.
Inevitably, the four of them would probably end up being dragged away to cuddle with eachother the rest of the night anyway, so there’s zero reason for them to be clingy right now. Sometimes, Parrot wishes his soulmates were normal people instead of possessive maniacs, but oh well. At this point, he wouldn’t choose anyone else over them.
Just as he was contemplating whether or not to try and play mediator— which would probably be unsuccessful, given Spoke’s love to ragebait Flame and Flame falling for it way too easily. But cutting through his thoughts, he noticed a blur of purple moving before disappearing in his peripheral.
He blinked in confusion, gaze shifting over toward where Wemmbu once sat and finding it empty. Odd. He supposes the demon may have just wanted to fly ahead and make sure the route was clear or something, or just wanted some fresh air away from them— okay, no, that sounded ridiculous even to Parrot. It’s odd enough that he wasn’t immediately draping himself over someone and forcing their attention on him, him leaving is incredibly strange.
Before he could give it too much thought, he heard the happy ghast let out a startled, wispy squeak and turned to look, concerned that LAW or another group of hostile players had found them, but wasn’t given much a chance as he felt long hands wrap around his own and pull.
“Yeah, so I’ll be taking him,” an obnoxiously cheerful voice quipped before suddenly wind was rushing past his ears like an ocean current.
Distantly, he heard Spoke and Flame’s startled shouts of protests about Wemmbu just yoinking him, but he paid them no mind.
“Wemmbu—!” Parrot yelled, a mix of frustrated and reluctantly fond as he heard the man’s laugh in respond, Parrot’s brown eyes squinting against the air to glare at him. They were still plummeting further and further from the happy ghast, but Parrot had no real concern about dying despite his lack of ability to fly without an elytra supporting his wings.
After all, he knows the demon would always catch him.
“Hi Parrot! Mannn, those two are clingy, aren’t they?” Wemmbu responds cheerfully, sparing a glance up at the happy ghast before his gaze refocused on Parrot.
His hands remained locked tightly but gently around Parrot’s own, sharp nails careful to not dig in or draw blood.
“I wouldn’t say just those two,” Parrot murmured back in discontent. At least those two hadn’t dragged him off a happy ghast hundreds of feet in the sky.
“Bleh,” Wemmbu complained, glancing at the approaching ground and deciding to finally flare his wings out to catch them. Their fall slowed as wind caught against wide leathery black wings; fanning out across the sky and looking out of place in the daylight.
Parrot felt himself being moved before he could do anything, Wemmbu’s hold on him more secure as the air around them settled into a smooth wave rather than the rush it was earlier. The demon spammed some fireworks to fly back up toward the happy ghast. Parrot’s own wings flared slightly to not get ruffled by the wind, but didn’t try to fly on his own without an elytra.
“WEMMBU!” Spoke yelled once they were in shouting distance, a visible pout on his face. “You can’t just steal our birdy like that, man!!! Have some decency!”
Flame was a lot less childish about it, but still had a moderately annoyed expression as he watched the two fly around, “every time.”
Wemmbu tilted his head toward them with an infuriatingly smug expression, eyes curved up in amusement. “Should’ve paid more attention.”
“I was, someone decided to rip him straight out of my hands,” Spoke huffed, still pouting in a mix of annoyance and petulance.
“Okay, bro, that’s enough of that,” Parrot sighed, pulling away from Wemmbu’s hold now that they were above the happy ghast. Wemmbu’s hands briefly tightened around him, but let go after a moment, watching with slight disappointment as Parrot’s wings flared and he glided down to the happy ghast.
“Parrotttt!!! Tell Wemmbu he’s not allowed to take you again!” Spoke demanded, practically melting against Parrot, which was a bit more difficult now thy they were standing and around the same height— Spoke had a few inches on him, barely, but it wasn’t enough to make collapsing his entire form against the shorter easy. “He doesn’t even listen to me himself, he’s such a bad boyfriend. So is Flame. This is why you’re the best.”
“Why’d I catch a stray?!” Flame looked at the voidling incredulously, but was promptly ignored.
“Okay, Spoke, stop ragebaiting Wemmbu and Flame—“
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, I’d never do anything like that. I’m innocent as a daisy, bro.”
“What does that even mean???”
“—Flame, stop falling for it, and Wemmbu, stop encouraging it,” Parrot shot a pointed glare at the demon that was now lazily gliding above them.
“Guys aren’t we meant to be starting a revolution?” Parrot asked half-seriously as he sighed, already exhausted but willing to put up with it for the sake of the love he holds toward them.
“Ohhh righttt… I forgot that’s what we were here for,” Spoke exaggerated, blinking with faux-innocence at Parrot.
“Oh my god—“ Parrot cut himself off, grumbling under his breath before sighing heavily. With full seriousness, he met Spoke’s eyes and said, “Spoke, I will kiss you if you lock in right now.”
“Wait, seriously?!” Spoke didn’t currently have any sort of tail, but Parrot was certain it’d be wagging vigorously if he did.
Flame coughed on a laugh, but was ignored by both of them once again.
“Seriously,” Parrot nodded in mock-solemn, glad at least Spoke would be taking this semi-seriously now.
“Okay then guys, we have a revolution to plan.”
“That was the corniest thing you’ve ever said.”