Chapter Text
Parrot, now crowned king of the Unstable SMP, now feels more at ease. Sure, the duties of ruling have been taking a toll on him, to some extent, but he still has amazing people around to lift his mood. Theo, Horace, Fymada… Even the smiles he gets from other players manage to relax him. It feels nice to have the support he has now, even if a lot of players still refuse to accept him.
Parrot and his friends recently freed spawn from the chaos that had been enveloping it for months at this point, rebuilding it and making it habitable for everyone. That was a win on its own.
Now that Parrot had a moment to himself, he decided to visit the tower he and Theo used to occupy during the election. He took the ladder, climbing carefully as not to fall. Once he got up, he looked around. It’s been a while since he’s been up here…
Even after the final fight against LettuceK, this tower stayed more or less untouched, so Parrot could safely explore it without the threat of getting hurt.
He took a moment to observe his surroundings. Everything was the same. The sheets were arranged the same exact way he left them, his stuff still in the places he’d last put them. Seems like no one messed with anything, even in his absence. He spent some time walking around, touching everything like it was foreign.
Parrot decided to go onto the balcony, get a breath of fresh air from all the dust that had gathered. It wasn’t much, but it still messed with him in an uncomfortable way. He made his way to the door, carefully opening it and walking outside.
It felt a bit better with the fresh air. The northern council felt more welcoming now that the LAW was no longer a threat. The castle he’d gazed upon so many times before felt like home now that it was his. It reminded him that all his efforts were repaid, he and so many other players were able to stress less now.
Parrot circled the balcony, and he was met with a shocking sight. On the railing was a nest… It looked unstable, the materials light enough that the wind could knock it down. The fact that there was an egg in it didn’t help either, and it made Parrot worried. There seemed to be no parent around, which was alarming. If that nest had been there in the days leading up to the final battle, he guessed the parents abandoned the nest due to the disturbance. It also made him worry that the egg was dead.
If left for too long without attendance, whatever bird was inside would most likely never make it out. What if the night had been too cold? What if the temperature got too hot during the day? What if there wasn’t enough moisture or what if there was too much?
Parrot wasn’t even sure when the nest appeared… He didn’t go to this side of the balcony much at all, so for all he knows it could’ve been there the whole time. But if it was, Theo would’ve definitely told him, right? It was probable that the bird who was responsible for building this nest and laying this egg did it in around 4 days, since it usually took birds two days to build a nest and a little over a day to actually form the egg, and laying an egg takes a few minutes at most.
Parrot could only hope the egg was alive, at the very least. If it was, he could take it in and raise it as his own. Even with the worry welling in him, he decided to watch the egg for a few hours to make sure it really had no parents to take care of it. Birds could leave their egg unattended for various reasons, and he didn’t want to disturb the nest if there actually was a parent to take care of the egg.
So that’s what he did. He watched the egg from a distance for a few hours, and as he saw no bird coming back to care for the egg, he knew it was abandoned for sure. He made his way back to the nest, staring down at it for a few seconds before gently lifting it into his palms. He knew he should be gentle with it, since a life was on the line if he went wrong somewhere and dropped it.
He decided to find Theo and ask him for help giving the egg a safe place to incubate until it hatched. It was a small egg, so it was probably a pretty small bird. It definitely needed shelter, and fast. Parrot could only pray to whoever was up there that this little soon-to-be-bird hadn’t frozen to death or something.
He pressed it lightly against his chest and decided to fly to the castle. Taking the ladder felt too risky, and he was already feeling protective over this egg. He was careful with it as he flew down, landing on the ground and walking the rest of the way to the castle.
Once Parrot was inside, he was met with Theo, who looked relieved.
“Parrot! I was about to go search for you. Where’d you go? Why didn’t you tell me where you were going?” Theo fussed over Parrot for a moment before looking at the egg pressed against his chest. “What’s that?”
“It’s my kid, bro.” Parrot smiled sheepishly. It was a little awkward, if he was being honest.
“...No way.” Theo groaned. “You aren’t keeping that.”
“Yes I am. It’s my kid now.” Parrot shot back
“No it isn’t- it’s just a random egg, Parrot. You can’t pick up random eggs and call them your kids!”
“But it has no parents… I feel too bad to leave it alone.”
“What do you mean it has no parents? There weren’t any birds near the nest?” Theo paused, confused.
“Yep. I stayed there for a few hours and watched it. No mother bird or father bird showed up…”
“You’re, like, a hundred percent sure?”
“Yes.”
“Oh god…”
“You’re the uncle now.” Parrot jabbed playfully.
“I’m not ready to be an uncle dude..” Theo complained, before relenting. “Fine, we’ll keep it. I can’t say no to you…” He didn’t put up much of a fight. “Are you even sure it’s alive? Where’d you even find it?”
“I found it on the railings of the tower we stayed in during the election. I assume it’s alive because I didn’t see the nest before.”
“Our tower? I didn’t see it, either… Was it there during the final battle against LAW?”
“I have no idea, dude.”
“Oh my god, bro… What do we even do now? How do we even care for it? You’re king now, and I’m your loyal guard, both of us are busy. We can’t be there for it 24/7.” Theo pointed out, and Parrot couldn’t help but agree. It was an impulsive decision to take it in, a new-found protectiveness driving Parrot’s mind, so he wasn’t thinking it through like he did with most of his decisions.
Parrot and Theo were left pondering on how to care for the egg, as neither of them really were parents before, and had little to no knowledge on how to care for one. But they sure were going to try, since Parrot was growing attached to it already.
It would be hard, but both knew it was worth it to at least try.