Chapter Text
Parrot’s only argument, after Theo had shot down all his other ones, was that there wasn’t a real way off the server except for dying. Once you were on, you were on.
This… didn’t tend to be something new players were told, but he, Wemmbu, Spoke and Flame had all been well aware of it before they joined.
This was the first time Parrot had ever thought about himself getting off of it.
Of course though, after having a dream where all his friends, Wifies, Theo, Dean, Luigi and Spepticle, had a picnic with him, Theo came to him and announced with some kind of smug aura that they’d done it! They could get people on and off!
It was very complicated and only one person could go at a time (“Hey, I know I’m your bodyguard and everything, but on the Hub you’re not a King, and you need some alone time.” Theo had said), but they managed it, and now Parrot was here. Standing on the outskirts of the Hub circle. It had been a long time since he’d been here.
It was loud, but Parrot was used to loud.
Despite himself, he already felt a part of him relax. Great, that meant Theo was right.
Parrot sighed. Now or never he supposed, and stepped into the crowd.
***
“Come on guys, we’re going to be late! The festival’s not around every year!” Shouted Ken as he skidded by and nearly crashed into a wall.
Wifies stood unimpressed by the door, shoes already on, bags already in his inventory.
“If you give yourself a concussion first, then we really won’t be able to go.” Wato remarked, standing in the middle of the house, the hall separating the kitchen and living room, doing absolutely nothing.
Ken threw himself over him dramatically. “Watoooo come onnn.” He whined.
Wato grinned over at Wifies, who couldn’t help but smile back.
Wifies shook his head, exasperated. “Ok dude, it’s time to go. You’re not gonna make me wait forever in my shoes are you?”
Wato rolled his eyes, peeled Ken off of him, and finally shuffled over. Ken cheered, trotted over to the picnic basket he’d left on the coffee table, and joined them at the door.
They finally made it out of the house, giggling and stumbling over each other.
“Stop, I’m gonna drop the basket!” Ken gasped when Wato reached over and shoved him a bit too hard. Wifies held them both out with his elbows. The perks of being in the middle he supposed. The con was Wato immediately targeting him instead. He shrieked and jumped away when the taller tried licking his neck.
“Get away from me!” He yelped.
Ken was too busy laughing to do anything remotely resembling help, so Wifies kept his hands out to keep Wato at a distance.
Wato gave him puppy dog eyes. Wifies glared at him. He stepped over to Ken and pushed him in between them.
“Wifiesssss.” Wato complained.
“Only good cats get to stand beside me.” He huffed, crossing his arms.
Ken bonked his head into Wifies’ shoulder happily. Wifies scratched his head and raised his eyebrows at Wato, who was pouting.
“Ok, ok.” Wifies dragged Wato over to his other side, and the man latched onto his arm. “Seriously, how did I turn into the cat sitter?”
“Cause you love us soooo much.” Ken sang.
“Debatable.” Wifies grumbled.
***
“Huh.” Parrot said, wondering if this was the main reason Theo had insisted he go today.
He’d found himself at a market, with decorations and music set up, people in costumes wandering by, and vendors calling out advertising what they sold.
He… didn’t have any money. The downside about the glitch they’d used to get him out was that his inventory was wiped. He was really hoping it would come back when he went back on the server.
Parrot settled for wandering around instead. The sun was high in the sky, and he didn’t know where he was going to stay overnight yet with his lack of money, but he was determined to have fun.
…Not being able to get anything didn’t really help with that last one, especially when he passed some delicious looking butter tarts (he hadn’t had one of those since he was little!) but he trekked on.
“Parrot!”
He jumped out of his skin when his name was called, and turned around. It wouldn’t be too surprising on Unstable (actually these days he’d be more surprised if people didn’t know him, considering his status), but this was not Unstable, this was the Hub.
Someone in a stall was waving at him. Someone… no way!
“Jay??” He hurriedly made his way back over.
Jay was his cousin and childhood best friend. They’d grown up with each other, hardly leaving the other’s side until Parrot finally got sick of their city server and left. He hadn’t really kept in contact with his family, kind of hard to when on top of being unable to leave Unstable, it was also next to impossible to get a message to someone not on it.
“Oh my gosh, Parrot!” Jay laughed, disbelieving. “I haven’t seen you in years!”
“Has it really been that long?” Parrot mused.
“Yeah.” Jay said. “I mean you left after turning nineteen, and the first year we talked often but then you kinda just… dropped off of the face of the Overworld.”
That was the second time within a few weeks someone had referred to him doing that, for completely different reasons.
“The server I’m on isn’t really great for messaging.” Parrot waved off vaguely. “And I’ve been on it for a couple years now.”
“What server?” Jay asked, leaning against the counter of his stall and setting his head on his hands. Parrot was struck with the sudden thought that Jay could never, ever be on Unstable. He didn’t want his childhood friend to lose the same light he had.
“Ah, you know.” Parrot shrugged. “Anyway, you still live on our old server?”
Jay’s brow furrowed with suspicion. When they were younger, Parrot had told him everything. These days, Parrot had a habit of telling people nothing. “…Yeah. Auntie and uncle miss you by the way. So do your siblings.”
Parrot winced at the thought of his parents. They hated anarchy servers. Another reason he could never let it slip where he lived.
His stomach growled. Jay perked up.
“Hey, try some of my croissants!” He exclaimed. Parrot winced.
“I don’t have any money. My inventory got wiped when I joined the Hub.” He protested.
“Oh that’s fine. You’re my friend dude, and I haven’t seen you in forever. I’m not gonna charge you.” Jay insisted, holding one of the treats up.
Parrot hesitated for only a moment later before caving. “Alright.” He grumbled, and took the croissant from the offered hand. It was delicious.
“So how’ve you been?” Jay asked as Parrot munched on the pastry. That was a really loaded question.
“Uh. Ok I guess.” He said. He did not say I’ve lost too many of my friends to count and I’m always worried I’m going to lose more, and I’m suspicious of everything, and now I’m King so I have to do a good job for Unstable, even though that means I’m too busy to do anything fun like go on adventures and scavenger hunts, which is exactly why Theo had to practically push me off the server kicking and screaming. “What about you?”
“Oh, I’m doing fine.” Jay responded. A bit of awkwardness seeped in. “I have a small world with a couple of my friends where I live now, but I go to visit home lots.”
Interesting. He still considered the city server home.
Parrot hadn’t really felt at “home” since maybe the potion shop in Capital City. But after leaving his family behind, he hadn’t really considered that place to still be home to him ever again. It wasn’t bad, and his family was great, but they were overprotective and he could tell they pitied him because of his inability to fly.
Theo didn’t. Wifies and Dean hadn’t. Maybe that’s why he cared more about his friends than his family. They didn’t look at him and always see his disability.
Speaking of his wings, they were cramping a little because of how long he’d had them pressed tightly to his back.
He stretched them, and Jay’s eyes immediately caught onto them.
Oh great. He pitied him too. Parrot scowled.
He folded them back in before they gave out on him.
Jay had gotten his wings before Parrot did. He’d been so excited to go flying with him once Parrot got his, but once he had, they’d quickly found out they didn’t work properly.
Whenever he flapped more than a couple times, a wave of exhaustion would go through the limbs and he wouldn’t be able to move them at all for sometimes even up to a few minutes. He could glide for a little bit, but there was a reason Wifies hadn’t bothered clipping them back in Paragon when Parrot was stuck surrounded by lava, and why he had ordered the guards to splash slow falling on him before pushing him off of high pillars. He couldn’t even stretch them for too long, which would make preening annoying.
When he was younger, they’d tried everything. Building up the muscles, massages, wire frames to hold them up, but nothing worked, and eventually, he’d gotten the diagnosis that he had a rare muscle disease only found in avians, that meant the muscles were actually incapable of getting stronger.
The way his family and friends and school and everyone else had acted after this made Parrot want to leave and never come back. He hadn’t even been too upset. It was hard to miss something you’d never been able to do. And he knew when he got older that he could use elytra.
Of course, this didn’t stop him from getting bullied at school, and everyone treating him like glass.
Thankfully, the people around him now didn’t do this. Most of them didn’t even care, which was honestly a relief. Obviously, he appreciated a little acknowledgment, but he didn’t need people to- to look at him like that.
“Can you not stare please, thank you.” Parrot said flatly. Jay had the decency to look a little embarrassed.
“Sorry, it’s just… do they still um-“ He stammered.
“No they still don’t work.” Parrot snapped. “That’s not how disabilities work. I would like it if you didn’t gawk at them every time you see me. If you were in a wheelchair and I stared at it every time I saw you, how would you feel?”
This was the first time he’d actually got on someone case about it. Wow, he felt good.
Jay looked ashamed, and Parrot took a deep breath to calm himself down. This was still his friend that he had grown up with. He didn’t deserve to feel the weight of all his trauma and dark thoughts. Even if what he said didn’t really count as that.
“Sorry.” He sighed. “But you and everyone else have been doing it for years and it pisses me off. Let’s move on. I still don’t have any money, but how about we go get lunch?”
***
Ironically, the loud market was right outside the library.
Wifies left Ken and Wato down the steps and stepped cheerfully inside. The librarian waved at him, like she did all the regulars.
He made his way over to the mythological section, like he did most of the time these days, and looked to see if there were any good books that talked about both Cthulhu and the King in Yellow.
Unfortunately, he didn’t find any, but he did find a really good copy of a book he’d been wanting for weeks. He signed it out and skipped back out of the building.
“Ok.” He huffed, taking his place in between his two best friends. “Let’s go find a place for our picnic.”
They came across a large grassy field and immediately picked the spot of the highest hill.
Ken stood by with the basket and did nothing while Wato and Wifies set the blanket down, and then Wato took the basket and set it down so he could tackle Ken. They both went tumbling down the hill, shrieking.
Wifies hummed and sat down, taking out containers and setting things up.
His friends came back up five minutes later with grass in their hair and tails puffed up.
“I can’t take you guys anywhere.” Wifies huffed, as if he was a tired father and they were his troublesome children.
Ken dropped down next to him and automatically reached for the strawberries.
Wato sat down as well, picking up a sandwich. “These are really good, Fies.” He complimented.
“Obviously they are.” Ken said before Wifies could respond, mouth full of strawberries. “All of his food is.”
Wifies’ face warmed, even though he’d heard this hundreds of times.
“It’s just a sandwich.” He protested, taking one for himself.
“A good one.” Wato insisted. “Is Dean coming?”
“Nah, he’s busy.” Wifies sighed, a little sad. “He promised we’d go together next time though.”
“Aw that’s ok. Uh, Wifies, I didn’t wanna say anything, but…” Ken hesitated. Wifies gave him a side eye, but then saw the serious look on his face.
“What’s up?” He asked. Wato sat up a bit straighter.
“You’re gonna tell him?” He clarified. Wifies looked over at him.
“What? What are you talking about?”
“We think we saw Parrot. In the crowd earlier. When you went into the library.” Ken blurted.
“What?” Wifies demanded. “Like, actually? There’s no way. There’s no- he wouldn’t die after all that. I don’t believe it. You must’ve seen someone else.”
Ken and Wato exchanged a look. Dread built up in his stomach. “It was him.” Wato said carefully. “I saw his face. And his wings. He had the same jacket too.”
Wifies put his head in his hands and groaned.
***
Lunch ended up going fine. Still awkward, but fine.
Jay had offered for Parrot to stay back home, and Theo had told him to go see his family, but he declined. He wasn’t ready for that yet. And he certainly didn’t want to spend a week with them. So his cousin had given him some money, and they’d parted.
The sun was setting now and Parrot had left the market and ended up back at the main Hub circle. Unlike this morning, it was now barren, and he could hear the main four portals humming softly behind him.
He stood there, painstakingly counting through the diamonds that Jay had left him, seriously considering just finding a small alley to stay in.
Parrot sighed. It would probably be cold, but he had his wings and jacket to keep him warm. Not exactly what Theo had probably thought by “Parrot having fun and relaxing in the Hub,” but there wasn’t anyone else he could-
“Oh my gosh.”
Oh no.
When he slowly turned around, Wifies was standing there, with Ken and Wato next to him.
“Ha! I was right!” Ken exclaimed. He was then promptly smacked over the head by Wato. “Owww.” He whined as the taller pulled him away. They crossed the Hub circle and entered an apartment made of blue stones at the beginning of the street.
Wifies and Parrot looked awkwardly back at each other.
Parrot swallowed. He’d been preparing to see him again, because he wanted to, but it was hard to feel like this wasn’t a dream because that was the only time he ever saw Wifies, and it also made him think of the graveyard back at the Northern Council. Logically he knew after dying on Unstable, you got kicked right off onto the Hub, but he’d still liked to believe his friends had been watching over him.
“You live over there with them?” Parrot finally asked, pointing over to the building with his thumb.
“Oh!” Wifies jolted. Evidently, he’d also got lost in his thoughts. “Ye-yeah. Sorry about Ken by the way. He uh- he and Wato said they saw you earlier and I wasn’t really too believing of the idea but you know Ken, he’s really stubborn so he wouldn’t let it go, and then Wato was joining in a bit so uh yeah, I’m gonna shut up now.”
Oh wow. Parrot hadn’t seen him play with the ends of his headband since before the Farlands.
Another short awkward silence passed.
“So. How was the festival?” Parrot asked, shifting on his feet. His wings were twitching on his back, wanting to take him up into the sky so he could flee. Unfortunately, he was incapable of this. “Since you were there too. Apparently.”
“It was fun.” A real, genuine smile came across Wifies’ face. It made something in his heart twist. This wasn’t- it was Wifies. It wasn’t the Director. “Ken and Wato were arguing like. The entire time. So I had to keep intervening. They almost tore the picnic blanket at some- oof!”
Parrot had surged forward and dragged him into a hug. “I missed you.” He choked out.
“Uhh.” Wifies wheezed, cautiously putting an arm around him, as if he wasn’t sure he was allowed. “I… missed you too?”
Parrot sniffled. He was warm and real underneath his hands. He could hear his heart beating a little faster than usual.
“Parrot.” Wifies said. “I’m-“
The avian pulled away and slapped him.
“Yeah ok, I deserved that.” Wifies sighed. “I’m sorry Parrot. I’m really, really sorry. I never- after you left me in the chamber I couldn’t- I’ve been wanting to apologize so bad-“
Parrot hugged him again. “Shut up, Wifies. I know you went back for the- the spyglass. And your windows were the colours of the beacon. And I should’ve paid more attention because then maybe- maybe-“
“There was nothing to be done, Parrot.” Wifies said, sounding tired. “I’d already made up my mind. And I told myself I didn’t care and what I was doing was for the greater good. Just- don’t think it was your fault. It wasn’t. I was… scared, and not doing ok, and the last thing I want you to do is blame yourself for it.”
“Ok.” He whispered. “I don’t forgive you, but. I missed you a lot. And I want… to try-“
Wifies pulled away this time. His eyes were wet, but he didn’t have any tears running down his face like Parrot did. “I don’t want to hurt you again.” He said softly, and that only succeeded in solidifying what he felt.
“You won’t.” Parrot said confidently. “Besides, we don’t need to be as close as we were. We probably won’t even see each other much when I go back.”
“Go back?” Wifies cocked his head to the side in that way that really made him look like a dog.
“To Unstable.” Parrot clarified.
Wifies blinked. “But… you’re here right now. How…?”
Oh man, Wifies had probably thought he died, and that was why he was on the Hub stumbling aimlessly around like he had nowhere to go.
“I didn’t die.” Parrot said. “Theo wanted me to take a break though, and managed to find a way to let me leave for a while. So I’ll stay on the Hub for a week and then go back.”
“Oh.” Wifies looked relieved. “Sooo, do you have anywhere to stay?”
***
Wifies’ room was cozy and small.
His bed was in a small nook in the corner with photos of him and his friends on the walls, along with glow in the dark stars. His desk took up most of the wall space next to the bed, it was filled with papers and there was a stack of books on the floor next to his chair, and above that-
“Hi Scarlet!” Wifies cooed, opening the gray cage on the wooden surface. A sparrow clambered out onto his arm, chirping wildly. The man turned around with a smile. “This is my bird, Scarlet. She can’t fly.”
“She can’t?” Parrot asked, coming closer. Her wings didn’t look deformed… and her feathers weren’t clipped either…
“Same reason as you actually. We think.” Wifies explained. “I tried prompting her to fly a couple times but she wouldn’t budge. One time though, she tried gliding off the kitchen counter and then fell the rest of the way to the ground. It was terrifying.”
“Oh.” Parrot murmured, an unexplained feeling writhing in his chest. He’d never met anyone else with the same disability he had. He knew there were other avians with it, that’s the reason it was even a classified disability anyway (not that people really knew about it), but knowing people had it wasn’t the same as getting to talk to someone who understood.
Scarlet chirped, looking up at Wifies and then over at Parrot. She hopped down the man’s arm.
“You wanna say hi?” Wifies chuckled, and then inhaled sharply. “Don’t-“
Scarlet leapt and clumsily glide over to Parrot’s arm, which he had instinctively held out. She tried to flap, and then landed heavily on his wrist, sagging.
“She’s never done that before.” Wifies gaped.
“I think… she understands that we have the same problem.” Parrot offered, bringing her up to his face. She nuzzled him and twitched her wings. Parrot twitched his own wings right back and smiled. “Yeah. She gets it.”
He never thought he’d relate to an actual bird.
***
Wifies was losing his mind.
And by that of course he means that he was panicking internally, because Parrot was in his house right now, and not just his house, his bedroom, where he was going to stay for an entire week before leaving and going back to his server where they probably wouldn’t be able to talk much again for the foreseeable future.
He’d excused himself to go pull out the spare air mattress in his closet and gazed longingly over to where Ken and Wato were sprawled on the couch together. They waved cheerfully. He did not wave back.
Parrot set Scarlet down to help him when he reentered, and Wifies suddenly realized that he should’ve cleaned up more before Parrot came in, instead of just hiding away his spyglass.
They dragged the mattress into the middle of the room so Parrot’s wings wouldn’t be constricted at all, and then Wifies went and dug up some blankets and a pillow. After that was done, it was time to make dinner.
He settled on deep fried fish, and tried not to linger too hard on the bright splotch of green and blue that was Parrot sitting by Ken and Wato at the kitchen counter out of the corner of his eye as he cooked.
Ken and Wato were asking the avian all sorts of questions about how Unstable was, which Wifies didn’t really want to hear about, so he tuned them out as much as possible and focused on the task at hand. It wasn’t too hard. Cooking always took his mind off of practically everything else.
So he fried the fish, mashed up some potatoes, and stuck a bowl of carrots in the microwave, humming nonsensically to himself the entire time.
At some point, while he was dishing out food onto plates, he realized Parrot was watching him. If he had a tail he was sure it would be puffing up right now. Thankfully, he did not.
“Alright.” He said, setting the plates down. “Here you go.”
“I WANT THAT ONE!” Ken immediately shouted, stretching out across the counter as far as he could go.
“HEY NO, THAT ONE IS MINE!” Wato exclaimed, pushing him away. “GO FIND ANOTHER!”
“They’re the same size.” Wifies huffed, exasperated. “If you would use your eyes, you know.”
His friends did not listen to each other. Wifies took a spot next to Parrot, who was watching them fight with barely concealed amusement.
“Sorry about them.” He sighed. “They don’t know how to be normal.”
Parrot chuckled. “They remind me of Theo. Are they always play fighting like-“
“Be CAREFUL.” Wifies snapped when Wato tackled Ken off his chair. They wrestled on the ground. “Sorry. Yes, they are.”
Parrot’s wings had fluffed up a bit when he’d scolded the two cat hybrids and it immediately made him feel guilty. “It’s alright.” He said, and his voice didn’t wobble or shake so it seemed he was telling the truth.
They began to eat, and eventually Ken and Wato grew tired and started to eat as well, but this included stealing food off each other’s plates.
“This is really good!” Parrot said. “I didn’t know you were so good at making fish!”
“He’s good at making everything.” Ken butt in, always the one to brag about his friends cooking.
“He makes really good burgers.” Wato piped up.
“Yes, yes, ok.” Wifies grumbled, cheeks warming. “I hear it every day, I get it.”
“We love you, Wifies.” Ken and Wato chorused. Wifies put his head in his hands. He was sure their only goal was to embarrass him in front of their guest. It wouldn’t be the first time.
He felt Parrot rest a wing over his back. Oh no, he was going to die. His heart was going to combust right here and there wouldn’t be anything anyone else could do.
Wifies shovelled food into his mouth and avoided looking up at his evil best friends, who were giggling to themselves. Parrot was quietly eating as well. He hoped he hadn’t messed anything up already.
***
It felt weird, settling in for the night.
Ken and Wato were… interesting. He realized he hadn’t really seen the full scope of their personalities back when they were on Unstable.
Wifies was nice. He was pretty much exactly how he was before everything went to shit.
He smiled a lot, and he was gentle in the way he spoke, and he looked at Ken and Wato like they had hung the stars in the sky.
Parrot had looked up from his comm when he heard Wifies exit the bathroom and saw him, now in pajamas, get pulled into a group hug. They stood there for a while, and he could hear them murmuring to each other. The hold tightened, and then they separated.
Parrot quickly looked back down and busied himself with fixing the blankets around himself.
Wifies entered soon after and gently shut the door with a sigh. Parrot expected to feel a spark of panic at the fact that he was now trapped in a room with him, but he didn’t.
“Wifies.” He said softly. “Come here please.”
The man jolted, looked around as if there was another one of him somewhere, and then awkwardly shuffled over. “Yeah?”
“Sit down.” Parrot huffed a laugh.
Wifies sat down beside the mattress. Parrot pulled him into a hug and sighed. The shorter tensed for half a second, and then melted into him. “Jeez, I’m getting so many hugs today.” He murmured. Parrot giggled, and then his ex best friend started giggling too, and suddenly it was like no time had passed at all.
“You’ve been in a lot of my dreams recently.” Wifies admitted.
“Really? So have you.” Parrot replied.
“Huh.” Wifies mused. “Then maybe this was supposed to happen.”
“Maybe.” Parrot said, and let him go. “Let me try something.”
Private messages between ParrotX2 and Wifies
<ParrotX2> Does this still work
<Wifies> It would seem it does
<Wifies> I wonder if it would still work after you go back on Unstable
“Which hey, I’ve been wondering.” Wifies said out loud. “Unstable isn’t… you found a way to leave, so why go back? I’m not trying to do the whole “you’ll be safer thing,” but I’m genuinely wondering. Cause it’s not really a great place.”
Parrot set his comm down and thought for a bit. “Well I mean, Theo’s there. And I have a lot of memories there too. And uh, I’m kinda obligated to be there now. Theo had to really fight with me on this ever happening. He really wanted me to take a break.”
The confusion was written all over Wifies’ face. “And you have to be there because…”
“I’m kinda the King now?” Parrot offered.
Wifies’ eyes bulged out of his head. “What?! Really?! Wow, I’m so proud of you!” He exclaimed.
Oh no. Tears flooded his eyes, and he pressed his hands to them.
“Parrot? What’s wrong? Did I say something bad? I’m sor-“
“Shut up, Fies.” The nickname slipped out accidentally, but he barrelled on. “I’ve just… I’ve always hoped you were p-proud of me, but I didn’t…”
“I am.” Wifies said firmly, pulling him into another hug. “I’m so proud of you Parrot. Thank you for not giving up. Thank you for moving on and finding better friends. And don’t ever forgive me for what I did. It was a terrible, awful thing, and I don’t want you to start thinking it wasn’t as bad as it was. I kind of wish you hated me instead, but-“
“I don’t.” Parrot interrupted. “I tried to for a while, but it’s hard because of everything that happened between us before that.”
“I know.” Wifies sighed. “I need… to show you something. But I don’t know if I’m ready yet. Sometime this week I will, I promise.”
“Ok.” Parrot agreed. “Thank you.”
***
Wifies tossed and turned until the clock read 1:03am before giving up.
He huffed, rolling out of bed and tiptoeing past Parrot’s sleeping form (at some point, he’d rolled onto his stomach so that he was laying half off the mattress, head just barely on the pilllow), and slipped out of his room, shutting the door behind him.
He dragged Wato out of bed, and the man didn’t even complain. The taller nuzzled Wifies’ hair and linked their pinkie fingers together as they crossed the hall and entered Kenadian’s room.
Ken hummed and opened his arms tiredly when the two crawled into his bed, and Wifies exhaled, relieved, when both of his best friends curled around him.
Ken kissed the crown of his head and Wato squeezed his hand.
Wifies had expected to start crying, but he didn’t feel any need to anymore. There was no reason to cry when Ken and Wato held him in their arms and he knew he would always have them.