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Parrot huffed, catching his breath as he put his hands on his knees for support. He looked over to Theo, who was just as exhausted as him.
“Dude, that was,” Parrot coughed, his throat dry after sprinting through a snow biome. “So close.”
Theo, who was chugging water out of a potion bottle, redirected his attention to Parrot. “How’d they even find us?” He says as he hands over an extra bottle of water to Parrot.
Parrot straightens up, accepting the water bottle from Theo. He pops off the cork swiftly, chugging down the entire bottle. He wiped his mouth with his sleeves before replying. “I don’t even know dude.” Parrot’s voice pitched up out of irritation.
“Damn Boosfer and his bandits,” Theo muttered under his breath as he walked over to their happy ghast, Skye. He pulled the lead down, gently guiding her to their level. He chirped, calling Parrot over. “C’mon, let’s go.”
———
It was… calming.
The clear blue sky hung over them, small clouds forming and drifting as they started their travels across the sky. The sound of waves rippling underneath them, sunlight reflecting off the water.
Parrot’s hair blew gently in the wind, the air caressing his blue, green, and yellow strands. He stared at the book on his lap, tapping the end of the quill on the paper. “I got it!” He announced.
Theo glanced over at the book, squinting his eyes as if it could make him understand it more.
Parrot looked at Theo concerningly. “Do you get it, bro?” He asked, half teasing and half serious.
Theo stayed quiet for a second, seemingly pondering if he should lie or not. “…No.” He brought a hand up to his nape, scratching it awkwardly.
Parrot snickered lightheartedly, before pointing at the cipher at the top of the page. “This code is a Pigpen cipher, it basically uses like— tic tac toe grids.” Theo hummed, reminding Parrot he was still listening.
Parrot drew a grid for it to be easier to understand. “So the letter A goes in this square, B in this one, and so on.” He listed them down while he wrote it on the paper, the ink from the quill leaking just a bit.
Theo let out a little ahh, nodding along. “Ohh… I mean, that one’s easy.” He shrugged, leaning his head back.
Parrot furrowed his eyebrows. “Alright bro, don’t go thinking you’re so smart now.” He attempted to taunt Theo, but the slight upturn of his lips betrayed him, and now he’s just outright grinning.
“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?” Theo raised back up and scoffed, crossing his arms together.
“Nothing,” Parrot pushed away that topic, not looking forward to having a harmless argument in this beautiful afternoon. “Well, the ciphers in this book are easy to decode, anyway.”
Theo pointed to the line underneath the pigpen cipher, which was an array of letters that didn’t seem to form any word. “What’s this one?”
Parrot hummed in question. “Oh, this one’s really easy,” He circled the first letter. “It’s just a basic alpha-numeric institution where the number 1 is A, 2 is B, and… Yeah.”
Theo chuckled. “If it was this easy, you could’ve told me to help y’know.” He fiddled with his talons before focusing on the book again. “So we got coordinates?”
Parrot looked down at the very obvious… set of coordinates. “Well, yeah. We should probably start heading there before Boosfer and his gang find us or something.” He closed up the book with a little thud.
Theo nodded in agreement before redirecting Skye to fly towards the direction of the coordinates. He tugged on her rein slightly, signalling for the happy ghast to turn.
Parrot stretched, closing his eyes for a few seconds before reopening them. “It’ll be a slow journey before we get there,” He said in between a yawn. “So we can probably get some rest.”
“Oh man, this is gonna be boring.” Theo whined, dragging out the last syllable.
Parrot chortled before sharply exhaling. “Okay, dude. Just deal with it.” He breathed in the fresh air, looking out onto the horizon. We’re doing this for a good cause, Parrot thought to himself.
He looked to his side, at Theo who had his back turned towards him. He trusts Parrot enough to not have to be directly facing him, and Parrot trusts him just like that too.
Parrot sighs out of exhaustion, before bringing his knees up to his chin and resting his head.
Just gonna close my eyes for a little bit…
———
Parrot fluttered his eyes open.
The sunset was pretty. The sun was dipping into the horizon, spilling liquid gold all over the sky. Then it cooled into beautiful hues of velvet and violet. As the sun said its final goodbyes to the sky, the world started to chill up.
Wait. Parrot shot up, looking around. He wasn’t supposed to be sleeping. His eyes quickly drifted next to him, confirming if Theo was still there, alive and well.
He is. And he’s staring right back at Parrot.
“Are you okay dude?” Genuine concern was painted all over Theo’s face. His hand was on Parrot’s shoulder, offering him some kind of comfort.
Parrot rubbed his eyes, adjusting to the brightness of the world. “Yeah— yeah… My bad. I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”
Now Theo’s face was just pure disappointment andrelief. “Bro, you had me so worried.” He had his hand on his chest, as if he just experienced the worst heart attack.
Parrot giggled, the corner of his eyes creasing up. “Sorry, man.” He stared into the horizon, still smiling. He loves when the two of them just have moments of peace.
“Did you sleep?” Parrot asked without looking at Theo.
He could hear Theo shuffling in his seat. “Well, not when a complete chungie was sleeping on my back.” Theo joked, shooting a look at Parrot.
Parrot shot a look right back. They had a very competitive staring competition for a few seconds— before Parrot broke it and looked down into the sea. “Alright, bro.”
Theo cackled, proud of his little victory. “Hah! I win!” He beamed, shooting his arms up in joy.
Parrot sighed out of exasperation, before a smile broke onto his lips, and a soft laugh slipped out of him. “Not that serious dude,” He tried to sound authoritative, but the grin on his face made it sound otherwise. “You’re acting like you just won a three versus one.”
“It is that serious when you’re fighting ParrotX2 of the Unstable SMP!”
“Theo, you’re quite literally glazing me right now.”
The sound of small giggles shared between the two slowly faded out, the soft whistling of the evening wind replacing it. Parrot always feels a different kind of peace when he’s alone with Theo like this.
Not the kind of peace you feel when you’re alone—that’s entirely different—but the kind that you feel when you know you’re not. The one that reminds you that someone is by your side.
You only feel this when you’ve found your other half. The missing piece in the jigsaw puzzle life sets down on your table. The final stroke of paint in a portrait— the highlight of your painting.
But, sometimes, you only think you’ve found them. The one who completes you.
Sometimes, that puzzle piece doesn’t fit. You can mess up your painting, all by the flick of a hand.
There’s no need to worry though, because in a matter of time you could repair the flaws. Taking out other pieces and rearranging them. Painting over your mistakes, and even possibly making the portrait look better.
Parrot stared at Theo. To him, he is the missing puzzle piece. The paint on the brush.
He smiled, quietly appreciating the peace that is shared between them.
Parrot doesn’t wanna feel out of peace anymore.
———
The silence remained.
Though the sound of Theo’s wings sharply flicking—in discomfort, Parrot assumed—sometimes filled in that silence.
Theo poofed up his wing, shaking it in an attempt to get rid of debris. A tiny, fluffy feather fell out, flying into Parrot’s face.
It just had to be on his nose. Parrot sneezed, grabbing the feather and launching it out onto the air. The feather glided, following the pattern of the wind.
“Theo, are you fine? You’ve been fluffing up your wings for a while now.” Parrot asked, his voice toned with concern.
Theo groaned out of annoyance at his wings. “Yeah. Just that my— damn wings feel so icky.” He replied, his folded wings flapping against his back.
Parrot inspected Theo’s wings. “Dude, your wings are… So messed up.” He gasped, eyebrows furrowed at the sight.
Theo pinched the bridge of his nose. “Oh yeah, really? I couldn’t have figured.”
Instinctively—or something else other than instinct—Parrot reached out to Theo’s wings. His fingers slightly brushed the medium covert feathers before he realized what he was doing.
Immediately, he retracted his hand. “Sorry, sorry, sorry,” Parrot repeated, guilty of what he just did. He swallowed his saliva, quite nervous of what he’s about to ask. “Can I?” His voice dripped with hesitation.
The awkward silence enveloped them for a few moments, before Theo made a response.
“…Yeah.” It looked like Theo only agreed because he was obliged to. Parrot looked at him with uncertainty.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, bro,” Theo sighed. “I’d appreciate the help.” He smiled softly, refreshing Parrot of his ambiguity.
“Alright,” Parrot responded, a signal before he started preening. He unfolded his arm, gently grabbing the shoulder covert and dragging his fingers across.
He felt small feathers clumped up together by dried up blood, tiny debris and twigs in between coverts, and loose pin feathers.
“Holy, it's bad dude.” Parrot giggled, somewhat bullying Theo for having disheveled wings.
Theo scoffed. “Okay man, I went through a lot today.” He flapped his wings, softly hitting Parrot’s hand. Ehh, to be fair, they did go through a lot.
"Yeah, alright. But it was also kind of your fault, y'know?" Parrot rolled his eyes with a smirk. "Also, that means I'm the biggest bird now."
"Wait, what?! No? Who said— who said you're the biggest bird? I'm the biggest, most enormous bird bro!" Theo immediately shot back at Parrot, visibly hurt at something that's not even that serious.
Parrot frowned in annoyance. "Remember that one cave? I bet that I'm the biggest bird if there really was a trap in there."
Theo shook his head in refusal. "Hah, no way! I'm still the biggest bird!"
"Bro, just accept it."
"No way, not until I die bro."
Parrot scratched his eyebrow in exasperation. "You— you know what, I'll just start preening."
"Yeah! Get to preening the biggest bird!" Theo crossed his arms and puffed out his chest in pride.
Parrot carefully went through Theo's wings, cautious as to not accidentally tread over an open wound. God, that would hurt. Parrot silently winced at the thought of that. He continued combing the ragged feathers with his fingers, assessing the damage.
Slowly but surely, he began working his way down the cockatiel's wings, making sure to not miss any debris.
Although... This one pin feather seemed pretty loose, but also somewhat fine? Parrot paused, thinking deeply if he should pull it out.
Theo must have noticed this, because he opened his mouth in anticipation of asking why Parrot was taking so long.
And right as he was about to say the first syllable, Parrot made his decision. Instead of a question, an exceptionally loud yelp escaped Theo.
"Dude! Wh— What the hell was that?!" Theo's expression displayed certain levels of annoyance. He reached out to his back, attempting to soothe the phantom pain the feather left.
Parrot frowned. He didn't mean to hurt Theo. "Sorry— I didn't mean to..." He pinched the feather with his index finger and thumb, rolling it around.
"No! It's fine, it just caught me off-guard." Theo softened his expression. "...Sorry that I snapped too."
Parrot was unfazed, staring at the yellow feather in his hands. He gently stroked it, smoothing the barbs in between his fingers.
A few seconds passed, the cold air of the night engulfing them. However, a bit too many seconds have gone without Parrot continuing to preen Theo's feathers.
———
Parrot stared at the pile of feathers on the happy ghast's saddle. It felt all too familiar— feathers scattered all over, the pained yelp, the useless apology.
Swallowing the lump in his throat, he began preening Theo's wings again. Although, it felt as if he was unsure, like something could come over him and he would just pull out Theo's feathers.
Or he could take away his freedom. Parrot's eyes drifted shakily to the diamond sword on his belt. Beads of sweat began rolling down his temple.
It was obvious now. His slim hands quivered hastily, making him unable to focus on Theo's feathers. Just stop thinking about it.
It's over now.
You're not gonna be hurt anymore.
He's not coming back.
His breath hitched at the thought of that. Wifies... Already died. He heard it. He heard the explosion, he saw the death message.
So why does it feel like he's still haunting Parrot?
"Parrot? Parrot, can you hear me?" His chest hurts. His heart is beating too fast. His breathing is uneven.
The weight of a hand being placed on his shoulder subtly snapped him out of it. "Parrot, listen to me!"
He frantically looked around, still heavily breathing. Little beads of tears were gathered in the corner of his eye, and he didn't seem to notice. He quickly wiped it off with his hands.
Theo had both his hands on Parrot's shoulders, steadying him. "Dude, it's okay, you're fine."
Parrot stared into Theo's eyes, vision still blurry. Quickly, he regained his composition, and turned away. He wiped his eyes on his sleeves. "Sorry bro, I— I'm sorry."
Theo looked at Parrot, his hands now on his own lap. "Parrot..." He frowned, voice slightly cracking at the end.
"Sorry, it's nothing." Parrot sharply exhaled. "I'm really sorry, Theo, I didn't mean to worry you." He quickly explained, like he was scared that Theo was going to leave him because of this.
When Parrot finally met Theo's gaze, Theo looked down. "It's fine." He hesitantly replied.
"Theo.." Parrot felt like he was gonna start crying again. His eyes burn, and tears are starting to well up.
Suddenly, Theo pulled Parrot into a hug. It was haste, uncoordinated. He kept Parrot in his arms.
Timidly, Parrot wrapped his hands around Theo, settling them on his back. As he did, the tears came falling down. Parrot gasped for air, his nose sniffling.
They sat quietly for a few moments. In each other’s arms, comforted by the shared warmth. The small grunts and low purr emitted by Skye were all that could be heard in the air.
“You know you can trust me, right?” Theo mumbled, his voice low.
Parrot pulled away first, with no sign of wanting to. Dried up tears surrounded his eyes, making him look even more miserable. His eyes remained fixated on his lap.
"Yeah—" A wet cough escaped Parrot’s lips. The phlegm must’ve gathered while he was crying. “I know.” He cleared his throat.
Theo stared at Parrot's downturned head. Seeing Parrot like this made Theo's heart ache. "Do you wanna talk about it, or.."
Parrot immediately shook his head, pushing away the idea. "I'm fine, bro." Anymore thoughts about him would make Parrot retch.
"Parrot, I know you're not fine, but if you don't really wanna—" Theo cut himself off, afraid of pushing Parrot too hard. "...Never mind."
Suddenly, Parrot met Theo's eyes. Slowly, the corners of his lips rose into a small smile and he giggled at Theo's uncertainty. "It's okay Theo,"
"I just need you to give me some time."
Theo pouted. "Alright, dude." A downturned smile plastered on his face. "What are you laughing at?"
It took a few humiliating seconds before Parrot's giggles stopped. "Nothing, nothing," He said, a grin still placed on his face, until a yawn wiped it off.
After his long yawn, he uncovered his mouth. "Okay, turn back around, I'm gonna continue preening you."
"Wait, what? No dude, you've gotta rest! You literally just had an— episode, or something." Theo refused to turn his back on Parrot.
"Bro, preening you will help me calm down."
"No way, Parrot. Something—I don't know—could make you experience another one."
Theo was right. It was because of the preening and the feathers that Parrot had a panic attack. It's best for Parrot to probably just go to sleep again or something. But he doesn't wanna leave Theo unguarded again.
"Parrot. We can always just preen each other when he get home from searching for Verdaria or something." Theo tried to reassure Parrot.
Parrot hummed at that. But, he won't let Theo preen him. Not out of distrust or something, but he can't deny it. It really is out of distrust.
"I'm not gonna let you preen me, dude."
"Wha— well then, you can just preen me when we get home."
Parrot sighed, more of a snort though. "Alright, dude." He went over to sit next to Theo, carefully walking across. Their shoulders touched as Parrot sat cross-legged next to him.
His eyelids felt heavy, and his head was bobbing while he tried not to drift to sleep.
"Bro... Just go to sleep." Theo snickered at Parrot's stubbornness.
In response, Parrot mumbled out a slurred "No.." before he finally gave in and rested his head on Theo's shoulder.
Theo wrapped his arm around Parrot, keeping it on his shoulder to remain him steady.
———
I'm sorry, Theo.
I promise I'll tell you in a matter of time.
"I'm sorry," Parrot murmured, not expecting a response from Theo.
Theo must've been sound asleep, resting his head on Parrot's, luckily.
Sorry, was the last thing Parrot had thought of before he fell back into sleep's arms.