Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

grian was gasping for breath, inhaling stale air as fast as he could and clutching his chest as if his heart would rip out at any second, claws close to shredding the fabric.

he wouldn't be surprised if it did, honestly. it felt like the world under him was collapsing and every part of his body would be torn limb from limb until he could do nothing but watch.

his whole body was shaking, eyes struggling to focus on any one object in front of him. he could taste blood on his tongue, feel it streaming in his veins. his heartbeat was so loud in his ear he could barely hear anything else.

he was sure he was about to die.

grian knew he wasn't safe, he never would be. he had been server hopping for days now, trying to lose the watchers. he was sure they would be following soon, they wouldn't let him go, never would. as soon as they caught wind of his escape, which would certainly be soon.

but his body was aching for rest, a short while at least. he needed something desperately, to sleep and to eat and to let his heart rest from the constant jack rabbiting anxiety coursing through his veins.

he found a server to rest, currently empty. he knew he only had a bit of time before it would be in use, he knew it was in the process of being prepped for a whole group of people, but.. he could stay until they arrived, surely.

he had been flitting around large public servers, but it was expected. he didn't have the power to infiltrate a private server. the watchers knew that, he was sure they hadn’t found it hard to track his whereabouts.

the only reason he managed to weasel into this supposedly private server was being it was inbetween states right now. he had managed to slip in at the perfect moment between being in use and being empty, which left the admin busy doing other things and not checking for unwanted visitors.

grian knew he wouldn't be able to stay for long, with the watchers and eventual players set to use this world, but he just needed a day or two.

he groaned as he pushed himself up, gripping hard onto a nearby tree and blinking harshly to focus his eyes on his surroundings, anything that could be helpful.

he was able to get some wood before his knuckles started to bleed, deciding any more would have to wait for later as he set one foot in front of the other, doing his best not to fall over.

his legs had barely managed to get him to a cave, blocking himself in and slumping against the hard stone. his wings ached terribly, not at all in a condition to be used. it hurt just to stretch them right now, a constant ache burning through his joints. his hind brain was buzzing with thoughts of creating a nest, the prospect something he hadn't even be able to think of in years. as much as he wanted to, sadly there was nothing more than leaves and his own clothes that he could use. it would have to wait.

while under the watchers gaze, he was treated as a lab experiment. being an avian omega male, he was always regarded with curiosity. his wings were forcibly bound, pushed and pulled and prodded by curious eyes. he hadn't been allowed to fly since being on evo, which had to be so many years from now. he could barely remember the faces of his friends, his sister.

he had closed his eyes many times, in his cage, sitting and drawing the faces in his mind of them. how pearl's brown hair would overflow past her shoulders, when she smiled she would squint her eyes a bit and she was always slightly taller than grian despite being younger.

she always bragged about her height, how she would beat up anyone who dare threaten her big brother. sometimes he wonders how things had managed so bad that he wasn't even able to protect his little sister, the one piece of family he had left in this world.

how he had failed her so terribly.

grian was doing his best to not break down, but he couldn't do much but shrivel and cry until he was able to pass out from exhaustion, the energy of fighting for his life draining at the prospect of a somewhat safe place.

all he wanted was to able to exist, with no eyes boring into his back, no claws scratching at his wings, no taunting smiles and being pushed around for fun.

it's been too long since he was able to sleep so well, which should have been troubling seeing as he spent the night on a cold stone floor.

but when grian woke up, he felt an odd sense of relief, refreshed in a way he had never felt before.

he had cried in his sleep, but the dried tears did little to destroy his mood, instead it reminded him of the thing the watchers hadn't managed to steal from him.

his humanity, his emotion, ability to feel and be himself.

watchers didn't cry, they didn't express much of anything except anger.

the anger was righteous and cold, and grian never wanted to become that. he would die before he allowed himself the unworthy glazed over stare of a wannabe god playing dolls with living people. he denied the riddles, abhors the puzzles and cringes at tests.

he would never become one of them.

grian had a lot of pride in himself, that was partially the reason he had managed to get himself in this situation anyways. he was stubborn and confident, not taking their games and riddles seriously and apparently insulting them or something.

he never got a full explanation on why they took him and destroyed his old world, but he knew that was part of it. they wanted to break him, see how far they could push and twist him until he was begging for mercy. but he was stronger than them, stronger than anything they put him through. he waited, so long he wasn’t sure the exact days but he knew he would get out as long as he waited and placated them.

one thing the watchers didn't account for was his need to be free, to fly.

never cage a bird.

grian knew that all too well, and he supposed the watchers did too. he wasn't sure they would try again if they caught him. he could imagine a million ways they could dispose of him, torturous and long-winded until he was begging for mercy.

despite the years of captivity, tortured and brainwashed into complacency, he never lost himself.

grian never backed down from a challenge, and the challenge of escaping beings who called themselves gods was the ultimate test of aptitude. his will carried him far, on bloodied feet he ran. his wings creaked as he let them spread, aching at the pain of finally opening up as he hopped from server to server.

the pain that shot through his joints at the new exercise after years of pain and avoidance was unbearable, it made him cry terribly, but it was worth it to never have to bind them again.

he knew they would recover, over a long period of time, and he was pushing his luck using them so freely while fleeing, but he had to give them a long break for now.

he examined his wings as gingerly as possible, letting them spread slightly until the pain was too much and gently preening what he could reach, shaky fingers slow at work to do as much as he could himself.

after the long-going session, he climbed out of his carved out hole in the side of a mountain and made his way down to a river.

it's been so long since he's felt grass beneath his feet, he could cry if he wasn't already so dehydrated from the running and crying.

he didn't even bother taking off his clothes before he clambered into the water, sighing in relief at the cool rush that shot up his spine at the chilly feeling. he reached down, cleaning his hands slowly before cupping water to clean his face as well. he drank a bit, blinking up at the sun as he basked in it. it felt like heaven coating the inside of his throat, managing only a small cough at the newly unusual sensation.

he was so high on anxiety before that he hadn't let himself sit and enjoy his freedom. feeling the sun on his face, air breezing through his overgrown hair and water clinging to his sleeves, he knew things would be better.

they had to be better.

he tried to ignore the dread settling in the depths of his stomach at the thought of anything going wrong.

he couldn't go through that again.

he would never be caged again, no matter what.

Chapter Text

xisuma had already had the framework for their next world, purely due to his own admin anxiety and habits of prepping things far too early when he had nothing better to do (or as keralis would say, sleeping).

he wasn't expecting to need it anytime soon, especially since it was still relatively early days for this season of hermitcraft.

he was truly lucky though, that he had set it up early because of.. well the moon.

it was a long story, but xisuma was just grateful he had already had a world pretty much ready for them to jump ship to once the moon collided into the world and ended up destroying everything.

he was already extremely stressed when they all spawned into the new server, too frazzled to do much but make sure everyone was okay and following them around just to make sure there were no odd side effects.

after having doc forcibly remove him from his claimed land, he wondered around, somewhat placated at the idea that everyone was okay.

he was still stressed and anxious, as he tended to be when they started a new season up, not to mention the reasons for the new start.

he figured it wouldn't kill him to just scan the code, make sure no deadly moons followed them into the next server over...

xisuma was almost done when he found an odd set of code that certainly shouldn't be on his screen.

his eyes squinted a bit as he ran them over it again.

something was on the server with them. or rather someone.

at least it wasn't a moon, but it was still troubling.

the only way someone could have gotten on was hacking in between the times he created it and when they got on, which means they would have been there for a couple days at least.

he hadn't seen anything troubling around spawn, no traps or death loops... so perhaps it wasn't as dangerous as his brain was trying to make it out to be.

still though, as the admin, he had to investigate.

he enlisted the help of joe and keralis, letting them know what he found and asking for help in looking around for anything odd or out of place (more than usual, because well.. hermitcraft was a bit of an odd place in general).

after easing him, if only a bit, he got back to his own investigating.

he still had quite a bit of code to sift though, a watchful eye to make sure whoever the intruder did didn't harm his code or change anything that could harm any players.

this would certainly be a long first day, he was sure of it.

–

ok so. little mistake on grian's part.

well, multiple mistakes, you might say.

first mistake is breaking his communicator. it was an old thing, barely clinging onto life and dropping it into a cave was the last straw for the poor device. even after grian managed to climb down to retrieve it, it was done for. now he had no way of leaving the server unless he managed to contact the admin and acquired a new one.

and speaking of the admin.. he and his group had joined far earlier than grian expected.

grian had only been there a few days, barely enough to recover his strength, especially when he was having a hard time finding food for himself.

honestly, he was pretty screwed.

the only good thing was that he hadn't managed to catch sight or a whiff of any of the players so far, and even now he was anxious about leaving his hidey hole in case someone did come by.

eventually though, he had to brave the outside to obtain some food, as much as his brain was begging him to hide forever.

he wasn't about to die due to hunger after all the shit he's gone through.

thankfully a few days went by peacefully enough, able to get himself some food and some more things to make his little cave a bit more habitable.

of course though, it had to end eventually, because today while he was hunting he caught an unfamiliar smell.

and not just that, an alpha smell, which is about ten times worse.

he was really praying that maybe this server was beta and omegas only or something, but he never got any good things, did he?

grian wasn't close enough to his den to be able to easily hide, so he did the next best thing.. he hid in a tree.

having no way of cutting his talons, they made climbing easy, and he was small enough to not show too easily past the leaves.

he did his best to be quiet, eyes scanning below him until he eventually spotted the supposed alpha walk underneath him.

he looked.. more normal that grian expected to say the least.

brown hair, normal looking clothes... maybe his eyes were a little bigger than he imagined but he wasn't exactly a big scary alpha. if grian had more strength he could probably take him in a fight, but right now he wasn't interested in letting anyone be aware of his presence, especially not an alpha.

he only had to wait a bit before the alpha passed by, although he had gone in the direction of his den so he may have to wait a bit to return home.

he could wait though, he still had hunting to get done so he slid down the tree and got back to it, trying his best to calm down.

–

to say xisuma was stressed was an understatement.

it had been quite a few days now and the three of them hadn't managed to find anything at all concerning the odd new player on the server.

he was just about ready to fall into the void for a second of peace, because how it was going right now wasn't exactly good.

he had barely gotten any sleep, constantly either looking for the player or searching through the code.

he had probably read every line of code about 10 times so far, but it simply didn't feel like enough.

xisuma was about to give up hope and actually create a hole to the void when he got a message from keralis. he silently prayed it wasn't the man asking him to get some sleep.

keralis: i found something
keralis: i'll send you the coords

xisuma could cry. genuinely cry in relief. as much as keralis' goofing off could bother him, he really did love the man.

it only took him a few minutes to make his way to keralis' coordinates, stumbling his way into a small cave which was... unsettling to say the least.

there was a pitiful bed made of leaves and moss in one corner, and a poorly crafted chest housing a little bit of supplies beside it.

"so... someone really is here," xisuma sighed, despite already knowing that, it just proved it further.

"not just someone, shashwammy, an omega," keralis shook his head slightly, sniffing a bit.

xisuma was a bit nose-blind with his mask so he could barely smell himself, let alone someone else.

"an omega left alone in the woods for how long...?" xisuma frowned to himself, not sure how to go about this.

he was pretty sure this player wasn't here to harm anyone, so that meant they were hiding. a hiding omega was never a good sign, and his instincts immediately wanted to help as much as he could.

"well.. they should come back here, perhaps we should gather some supplies and leave them. i'm sure this shy omega won't want two unknown alphas in their place," keralis shook his head, which made sense but still upset xisuma at the thought of just leaving them. he knew keralis felt the same, despite his calm demeanor he could probably smell the weak omega a lot more than him which was affecting his instincts.

"alright.. perhaps i should send out a message to let others know not to come in this forest..." xisuma said as they two left the cave, pulling out his communicator to let joe know they found something.

“yes, good idea. let’s hope we can get some things to help this sweet omega comfortable. whatever happened surely wasn’t good… the distress is very present,” keralis nodded as the two headed out of the forest, a small frown on his usually happy face.

xisuma didn’t mind the idea of allowing the omega to stay, mind whirling with worry at the thought of throwing them out now. he knew it was mostly instincts, but the thought of throwing anyone back into a dangerous situation wasn’t one that he enjoyed.

after sending a message off to joe, he managed to send one to the global chat, doing his best to omit as many details as he could as to not worry everyone. as much as he didn’t like not telling everyone, he didn’t need some of the more protective alphas coming by and spooking the omega, despite their best intentions.

he hoped this could all be sorted easily.. he was already losing enough sleep over this.

Chapter Text

perhaps things were worse than grian originally thought.

after his hunting session, he made it back to his cave just after nightfall, ears immediately perked up as he smelled the slowly fading scent of alpha. alphas.

two, if his senses weren’t failing him. one had to have been the one he saw from the treeline, but he had no clue the other one.

thankfully they weren’t still there, but grian was still on edge. they had been in his den, and seemingly left something.

he made sure to check the surrounding area to make sure there were no traps before opening the.. gift?

grian wasn’t sure what he was expecting but it certainly wasn’t a pile of blankets, pillows and food.

…were these alphas trying to court him? he only managed to see one of them and they never saw him.. did they like his smell that much?

grian was torn between being flattered and bothered they thought he was such an easy omega.

he was not about to roll over at the sight of two decent (maybe, he wasn’t even sure they weren’t assholes with gifts) alphas who gave him the slightest time of day. as much as his omega instincts swooned at the thought, he knew better.

he grumbled as he pulled out the blankets and pillows, at least he could make a proper nest now, and his omega hind brain was trilling at the smell of alpha all over the new objects in his nest. honestly, they were incredibly soft, he had to work hard not to just melt into it while working.

they would have just gone to waste, so he might as well…

oh wait, if they left a gift that meant they knew where his den was. they would probably come back looking for him.. he should probably relocate.

grian groaned at the thought, huffing as he laid in his nest.

it could wait till the morning, surely they wouldn’t brave the night just to catch sight of him. nobody was that stupid.

–

xisuma was, as usual, stressed. keralis had managed to ease him enough to get some sleep, the man could be very distracting, and xisuma hadn’t had much willpower to deny the both of them some pleasure.

but like always, it didn’t satiate his anxiety for long.

after he woke up in the middle of the night, a sleeping keralis cuddling in his arms, all he could think about is the lonely omega in the woods.

what if it was cold? or had some weird allergy and couldn’t eat the food the two provided? or worse, hostile mobs found their way into the omega’s cave?

there were a million things to worry about, and he was warm in bed.

it was ultimately selfish, which is what he kept telling himself as he slid out of bed and got dressed, grabbing his gear and heading out.

it was night so hopefully the omega was back at their cave and wasn’t in trouble.

xisuma could help them, or if they wanted to be left alone he could leave, simple as that.

but he would rather give the omega an option, let them know that there was a place they could heal and be comfortable with other people not in the woods.

despite a few loose zombies, he didn’t find much trouble on his way to the cave. it was hard to follow the scent trail that keralis so easily could, but he had other ways of tracking, thankfully.

he made it in under 30 minutes, and only standing in front of the cave realized how absolutely insane this was.

what was he supposed to say to the omega?

‘hey you don’t know me but i’m sure you smelt me before, can i take you home to make sure you’ll be safe? me and my mate both just want to take care of you!’

yeah like that’ll go over well.

xisuma sighed to himself, blinking a few times before slowly stepping inside, being as quiet as physically possible.

the omega was sleeping in the nest build by his and keralis’ gifts, making him smile.

he was mostly just glad that the omega was safe.. but he couldn’t help his alpha instincts loving the sight.

honestly the omega looked ethereal, messy brown hair framing his face and large wings behind him.

xisuma hadn’t imagined the omega would be a hybrid, an avian at that. from the coloring he could see past the dirt on his wings, he had to guess maybe a parrot or some type of smaller bird. the colors and his size would match that best.

he wasn’t exactly sure what to do now, the omega was asleep and he was torn between not wanting to wake him and not wanting to sit creepily and wait.

but.. he didn’t want to leave either.

it probably wouldn’t hurt to just wait a bit to make sure nothing happened to him, right?

…definitely.

–

grian didn’t want to admit it but he had the best sleep in years. the pillows were so unbelievably soft that he managed to fall asleep almost as soon as he laid down.

he didn’t even have the usual terrible dream of the watchers stealing him from his home and keeping him cramped in a small cage.

no, this time, it was so peaceful. just him and his friends on evo, playing, teasing and building. it felt so real and he yearned so terribly to feel that free happiness again. he had tears in his eyes when he woke up, but not from sadness, only happiness.

his amazing sleep was probably also why he hadn’t immediately noticed the distinct alpha smell currently swirling around his den and the figure sitting across from him against the wall, clearly concerned.

his eyes widened as he scrambled out of his nest, wings flared up despite the ache in them as he tried to make himself look bigger than he was. he blinked away his tears as best he could while keeping a hard glare.

“woah woah- i..i’m sorry for frightening you,” the alpha spoke up, hands in front of him in what was supposed to be a placating gesture, but only made grian back up more.

he wasn’t the one grian saw in the woods. he had an odd helmet covering the entirety of his face and weird looking clothes, along with having an accent different than his own. he had a strange smell as well, his alpha scent was more clean smelling than any other alpha he’d met.

since grian wasn’t talking, the alpha continued to speak.

“my name is xisuma.. i’m the admin of this server. now… i’m not exactly sure why you’ve come here, but i can only assume it’s to get away from a bad situation. and me and my group are more than willing to let you stay as long as you tell me a bit about yourself and promise you aren’t here to be malicious towards the server or the players,” despite his almost nervous tone, the alpha was good at sounding proper.

“...ex-eye-suma?” grian frowned a bit at the name, the syllables falling off his tongue weirdly.

instead of getting upset at his mispronunciation, the alpha just laughed. “could i possibly know your name?”

grian gave the man another look over, still slightly weary. he didn’t seem all that scary, being taller than grian but not massive by any standards.

“i wasn’t planning on staying on the server… but i broke my communicator so i couldn’t leave before you all joined. if you could get me a new one i’ll leave as soon as possible,” grian finally said, wings relaxing behind his back.

“well.. you can certainly leave if you’d like but perhaps we should have someone look over you first? you don’t seem in the best of shape and… if you’re running from something i promise you’ll be safe here,” the alpha- xisuma spoke up, fiddling with his fingers.

grian bit his lip, thinking anxiously. as much as he would genuinely love to find a server to call home, he knew it was only a matter of time until the watchers caught up to him.

“...they can come here. whoever… you want to look over me. and then, you’ll give me a communicator?” grian asked, trying to sound stern but it came out more as a question.

xisuma seemed to hesitate before nodding, “of course. thank you, i’ll be back later today with our doctor.”

before he made it fully out the hole he called a door, grian spoke up again, “thank you.”

xisuma nodded again, bowing his head slightly before disappearing.

as alphas went, grian didn’t think the admin was all that bad. he’s had far worse experiences in the past… that he didn’t particularly want to think of, in all honesty.

as long as xisuma kept good on his word, grian would be long gone by the time the watchers checked this server for him.

Chapter Text

“so… theres a mysterious omega in the woods who snuck in and is now trying to sneak out and you want me to make sure they aren’t injured?”

“it sounds bad when you say it like that,” xisuma frowned a bit, glancing over at the large creeper hybrid across from him.

doc gave a sigh, eyeing the admin.

“why haven’t you told everyone about this then?” he asked.

“well.. i didn’t want to worry everyone or the omega, if i had told everyone everyone would want to go visit and see them,” xisuma explained with a slight shrug.

“i suppose… knowing an omega is alone in the woods possibly injured is rubbing me the wrong way,” at least doc could feel the same alpha instincts xisuma had. he wasn’t sure how keralis wasn’t as anxious about it as he was, perhaps his usual easygoing nature.

“so… you’ll help me then?” xisuma asked slowly, noticing the stark lack of expression on doc’s face.

“i suppose i have to,” doc shrugged as he leaned against the wall of his base, “you know my instincts would bother me all day if i didn’t agree.”

xisuma wasn’t trying to be manipulative… but yes he did know that.

he felt bad, but only a little bit, because his own instincts were calming slightly as the two made their way into the woods and back to the omega’s den.

it was midday so they didn’t find much trouble along the way, although doc was big enough to get caught in foliage every now and then.

“what will you do if the omega is healthy and ready to leave?” doc asked as they walked.

xisuma hadn’t really thought of that. he assumed the omega would be too worse off if they left, and his instincts were bubbling at the thought of just letting the omega back into who knows what they were running from.

“you don’t want them to be healthy, do you?” doc continued on with a small smile as he glanced at the shorter alpha.

“well- of course i want them to be healthy,” xisuma stuttered out, cheeks red under his helmet even though doc could probably tell without having to see him.

“yes yes of course.. but if they aren’t healthy you’ll have more time to convince them to stay on the server,” doc nodded slowly, eyeing xisuma knowingly.

“...that may be. if they truly want to leave i can’t force them to stay… but if i had more time to convince them it would be fortunate.”

always proper with his words, doing his best not to give a hint of his true feelings. that his nerves were on end at just the idea of leaving the omega out of his sight let alone off his server.

he didn’t want to feel that way, of course, he knew plenty of omegas loathed how possessive alphas could get, but it wasn’t just his alpha instincts. anyone would be worried for someone hiding out from a dangerous situation, right?

“well i suppose we will see if luck is on your side,” doc spoke up as xisuma noticed them approaching the entrance of the den.

he gave a nervous glance to the creeper hybrid before going in first, so doc wouldn’t scare the omega.

“hello!-” xisuma was cut off by a pillow hitting his face.

“...sorry, you startled me,” the omega spoke slowly as xisuma let the pillow fall into his hands, groaning softly at the pain of his mask harshly pressing against his nose.

“um… its alright, sorry, i shouldn’t have barged in… i’ve brought doc- our uh doctor… well closest we have to a doctor. hes an alpha and a bit bigger than me but i promise he’s not going to harm you,” xisuma nodded before doc found his way in.

and despite his words, it was obvious that the little omega was scared shitless of the large creeper hybrid who had a neutral face on a good day.

oh boy.

–

this was a trip. a trap. a ploy. any other scheming words he could think of.

there was absolutely no way grian was getting out of this.

why would he trust this admin? he had smelled so deceptively sweet, unlike any alpha he’d met before who all smelled harsh. he was so gentle, his words, his voice.

but it was all a lie and now this giant robotic creeper hybrid alpha was going to grab him and sling him across his shoulder and take him coders knows where for all the servers alphas to crowd around and…

“are you alright?”

grian was brought out of his panic by the deep accented voice of the new alpha, who smelt like oil and gunpowder.

“...can i leave yet?” was all grian could manage, glancing between the two.

“could you perhaps let doc take a look at you first?.. especially your wings- i’ve heard how fragile they can be,” the admin- xisuma, tried his best to keep grian calm, obviously.

“i don’t feel comfortable having… an alpha so close to my wings..” grian spoke suddenly, crossing his arms over his chest and backing up. he was surprised at his own honesty but kept a stern face.

“but-”

“okay.” xisuma got cut off by doc’s simple word, the admin looking at the large alpha bizarrely.

“doc, we can’t let them leave if their wings are damaged,” xisuma said, glancing between the two.

“yes yes, i know. why don’t you have a beta or omega come? i can let them know what to look for, it won’t be hard to check them out if im guiding,” doc nodded, obviously not about to change his mind.

grian was honestly stumped at the agreement, but it helped his anxiety dissipate almost instantly. he’d had far too many alphas get close and try to destroy what was most precious to him.

xisuma obviously seemed torn but eventually nodded and started to message someone.

“um.. it’ll be a bit till he can arrive, could you let doc look over the rest of you or would you rather wait?” xisuma was back to being professional.

“...i should be fine,” grian nodded and slowly shuffled closer, still on the edge of his nest.

doc took that as a sign to get closer, bending down to sit across from grian.

“could you take off your jumper for me then?” doc’s tone was purely professional as well, and that was the only reason that grian slowly pulled his ratty red sweater off.

he had already known he wasn’t in the best shape, but he was especially self conscious since two alphas were now looking at his body.

“could i possible touch you? i just want to see if these bruises are purely external,” doc asked, hand hovering until grian nodded and let the alpha put his warm hand against grians chilled skin.

grian groaned at the pain at the slight touches, wincing as he tried his best to keep himself quiet to leave as soon as possible.

and as quick as it started, it was seemingly over.

“alright.. you can put your jumper back on,” doc nodded and grian was quick to obey, feeling far more comfortable in it.

“i know this isn’t what you want to hear but you aren’t in any condition to travel right now,” doc continued, making grian deflate, “i’m assuming you are extremely sore, from the amount of bruising your body has, i’m surprised you were able to move around and keep yourself fed at all, truly. you need to be resting as much as possible, and i’m sure there's more than just what i was seeing.”

as grian groaned at the idea of staying, xisuma seemed to sigh in relief.

“so… you aren’t going to let me go until i’ve healed…” grian spoke slowly, glaring at the admin.

“i…i’m truly sorry but it would go against my morals. i understand your frustration but the chance of you getting more injured or caught in something bad if i allow you to leave would be ten times worse. i can’t, in good conscious, let you leave. i hope you understand.” xisuma spoke so formally it was starting to piss him off.

grian was pissed off, but for some reason there was a part of him that was glad. that ached for someone to care this much about him. even if it was simply a moral dilemma, someone cared enough to not let him put himself in more danger… it had been a long time since he felt that towards him.

“...okay, but as soon as i’m healed im leaving,” grian couldn’t argue with the admin, he had no chance of fighting him mentally or physically for a decision change.

“of course.. provided your wings are alright as well and don’t impede your healing progress,” doc nodded as he stood up, dusting his lab coat.

“of course,” grian gritted out, glaring at the uncaring alpha.

thankfully it didn’t take much longer for the omega they were waiting for to appear.

he was slightly taller than grian, with tan skin and bleach blond hair, horns poking past the long strands.

“this was quite the message to get,” the omega said, with an accent closer to his own than the other two. he smelled weird. an odd combination like a doctors office mixed with a farm.

“thanks for coming, zed. i promise i’ll explain more later, could you help look at their wings?” xisuma asked, nodding towards grian.

“his, by the way..” grian corrected. he wanted to keep anonymity as much as he could before but there wasn’t much point if he was staying for a while.

xisuma simply nodded back to him as the new omega- zed, came over to sit with him in the nest.

grian shuffled to give zed room behind him, finding the smell less weird closer. it was like a farm animal loose in a hospital.. but like it belonged there?

grian was hyper aware of the next several minutes, which instead felt like hours. he knew they were being thorough but every little instruction the alpha gave the omega did, and didn’t do lightly.

he was much more glad it was an omega, but it was still weird to have another person inspecting and touching his wings so thoroughly after so many years of them being ignored.

he didn’t know if he was happy or uncomfortable, maybe both.

“they seem fine, if not a little weak.. perhaps just keep your flying to little trips when you are well enough to move around, too much too quick will harm yourself,” doc said as they finished, zed climbing out of the nest and moving beside the two alphas.

“okay… thank you,” grian wasn’t sure what to say besides that, honestly.

the rest of them were silent, but xisuma was picking at his fingers.

eventually he spoke up, “um- perhaps it would be best if you were closer to everyone- so we can better help you recover, i doubt this cave is very comfortable and it doesn’t seem easy to find your own food- we could make you a base- temporary of course… or you could stay with one of the hermits. maybe zed- or another omega.. a beta even, if you’d like,” xisuma was rambling and it seemed that doc and zed noticed. he had to guess it was a regular occurence from their reactions.

“he won’t want to stay with me if he doesn’t like alphas, impulse is always around,” zed spoke up with a small shrug.

“oh yes.. well.. erm.. lets see.. stress, iskall, gem perhaps..”

“if you could just make me my own place.. that would be fine,” grian shook his head. he didn’t want to get attached, make friends, he needed to be as distant as possible and then leave. that was the only way he could ensure he wasn’t found by the watchers and these players weren’t hurt when they eventually figured out he was here.

“of course, i’ll see whose available and can help,” xisuma nodded as he pulled out his communicator hastily.

grian wasn’t sure what he was doing, but he figured he would be moved pretty quickly. he just hoped they let him keep the blankets and pillows.. he’s become quiet fond of them.

and he supposed zed’s smell was kind of comforting, now sticking to his things.

he could definitely get through this.

Chapter Text

“this is… quite extravagant,” xisuma nodded slowly as he looked over the supposed starter base for the new omega.

he wasn’t sure why he let mumbo and scar handle it, seeing as the two could get carried away easily.

which is probably why he was standing in front of what looked like a mini mansion with in-depth detailing and foliage surrounding it.

“you did furnish it, right?” he asked, turning to the two.

“oh of course! all the necessities, promise!” scar grinned.

“now that this is done though.. are you going to explain to us why exactly…?” mumbo trailed off, raising an eyebrow at the admin.

“ah.. yes. that’s actually what the meeting is going to be about- which should be starting soon so why don’t we all head over there together?” xisuma checked the time on his communicator before turning on his heel and heading back to their communal spawn area that joe had designated for important meetings.

he didn’t have to look back to tell that both of them were nervous, but the sound of their footsteps let him know they were still following him, thankfully.

once the three made it to the area, a couple hermits were already there.

the admin didn’t have to wait long until everyone was there.

“alright… everyone’s here, that’s good..” xisuma nodded as he clapped his hands together to gather everyone’s attention.

“wheres zed?” tango asked, raising his hand as if he was in school still.

“ah yes, that has to do with the meeting.. he’s fine, no worries, but i’ll get to it,” xisuma promised with a nod, hoping it was enough to calm tango down a bit. he wasn’t exactly sure what was going on between those two and impulse, but it surely wasn’t his business.

“so. a bit after we all joined the server, i had noticed that.. someone else had managed to get on in between my creating it and us joining. of course, me, keralis and joe all investigated and found the new player, not to worry,” xisuma glanced around to gauge the expressions of the hermits.

“we found it was an omega not in great shape, and while he seems hesitant on staying, i managed to convince him to until he was healed up and able to take care of himself. zed is currently with him, keeping him company until i come back and the two of us will guide the omega to the temporary place built by mumbo and scar… if anyone has any questions, you’re free to ask them now.”

almost immediately scar’s hand shot up, xisuma slowly nodding towards him.

“soooo… do we get to meet him?” he asked timidly, xisuma wasn’t sure if it was his alpha instincts or scars outgoing nature but he had expected this.

“i would like to keep his visitors to a minimum as to not overwhelm him.. i’ll have to get his opinion and of course approval, but i would imagine probably a couple visitors a day to keep him from getting too stressed out over meeting people,” xisuma nodded, noting the slight pout on scars face.

“where did he come from?” this question came from cleo, who seemed skeptical. it was just in her nature, so xisuma didn’t take it personally against the omega.

“we aren’t sure yet, but i’m hoping to talk more to the omega and find out whats happened to him,” xisuma nodded, “but again, i’m prioritizing his comfort over information. i don’t want to overwhelm him, overall.”

xisuma answered a few more questions, mostly ones in good faith, before noting the time and deciding he should go get the omega to bring him back to his new temporary home.

with a goodbye, he went by himself to go to his cave, flying through the air peacefully and thinking about how they would need to walk back.

when he eventually got there, he was met with a heart warming sight of the omega and zedaph cuddling together in their sleep, curled up in the nest. his head was on zed’s chest and zed’s arms were wrapped around his waist.

he felt bad waking them, but he willed himself to go over and gently shake zed awake, who groaned at him. his slow moving woke the omega as well, who gave xisuma a halfhearted glare at ruining their cuddle session.

“cmon, everything’s set up for you,” xisuma offered a hand to help the omega out of the nest. he seemed to stare at it for a second before slowly taking it, letting the alpha pull him out. he tried to ignore how warm the hand was, instead starting to grab things from the nest once zed was out of it too.

the omega sounded slightly distressed at his nest getting deconstructed but didn’t stop, knowing he would need to do this if he wanted to build his new nest.

“alright… let’s head over,” xisuma nodded once he was finished, storing the nesting materials in his inventory and heading towards the door.

the omega slowly followed before glancing back around the room, fiddling with his fingers. “okay..” he spoke softly and set foot out of the cave with the other two.

the trek back was mostly uneventful, zed did his best to make conversation with the omega, which was both funny and helpful. the omega seemed new to talking to other people, had basic knowledge of some things and had a hard time understanding zed’s sense of humor.

but it was endearing seeing the two omegas talk, to xisuma at least. the omega seemed more comfortable with zed, which was a relief. he was hoping that after some time, the omega would come to meet and like all of the hermits.

xisuma was honestly really wishing that the hermits and knowing them could incentivize the omega to want to stay. he knew it was silly, but he couldn’t help but feel this omega belonged here, with them. sure, each hermit had their own special.. quirk. but… when xisuma looked back at how the omega smiled slightly at zed, he felt perhaps he did too.

the admin wasn’t a fan on chance, but he was really praying that everything would work out correctly. at least they had some time to try and make hermitcraft seem like the nicest place anyone would want to live… which of course he thought. but he hadn’t live in many nice places in the past, that's why he started hermitcraft in the first place.

he did his best to dislodge those memories from getting stuck in his head. he didn’t want to think about that right now, especially when he had plenty of other things to worry about.

when they finally reached the area set up for grian, xisuma noted that no hermits were hanging around, which was good, but he suspected at least some were watching from afar. he tried his best to ignore the message from his communicator alerting him to scar falling off of something.

he tried not to pay it any mind as he and zed led the omega into his new (temporary) home. he seemed… overwhelmed at the amount of space. xisuma really wished he had developed some sort of mind reading suddenly because he really wanted to know if the omega thought it was good or bad.

“um.. thanks,” he eventually spoke up, glancing at xisuma with those big eyes past his messy bangs.

“oh um- don’t thank me. a few of our other hermits-.. members made it for you,” xisuma nodded politely. “you don’t need to use the whole base, of course… our hermits have a tendency to get overexcited and build a bit.. much.”

the omega actually laughed at that, which eased xisuma a bit.

“well.. still thanks… i.. appreciate it,” even though the omega’s tone was awkward, xisuma could still hear the emotion in it. if he had to guess, he would say its been a while since the omega had received so much kindness… he hoped to remedy that.

“of course.. everyone here wants you to be comfortable and happy,” xisuma promised back with a nod. “and um.. i suppose we will leave you now. the place is stocked with anything you may need, and me or zed will come by to check on you whenever you need.. you are also.. free to leave whenever you want, but i would ask that you stay nearby so we can easily find you and make sure you’re safe.”

the omega nodded, “okay. cool. see ya.”

xisuma nodded slowly before zed gently tugged on his sleeve, tilting his head towards the door. he could probably tell the alpha felt uncomfortable leaving the omega.

“if you need anything, there are plenty of hermits about to help you,” xisuma promised before he turned and left with zedaph.

he let out a breath once the door was closed.

“you, my friend, need to relax a bit,” zedaph gave him a small smile, “everything will work out, i’m sure of it.”

“i really do hope so.”

Chapter Text

once the door was closed, grian turned back to look at the looming ceiling of this gigantic home.

he honestly had no fucking clue what to do with all this space. he felt smaller than usual, if he were to spread his wings he wouldn’t even reach halfway up the wall.

his first step, he decided, was to explore.

he made his way through the main area of the home and into one of the side hallways, curiously roaming. it was silent besides his feet on the wooden floor, slightly eerie but in a way that he couldn’t exactly be scared because the visuals were so stunning.

it felt haunted in a way, like something was already existing here and there just wasn’t room for the both of them. it felt like grian was intruding.

he let out a soft sigh, eyes running along the intricate wallpaper pattern, lines creeping up into the ceiling and morphing into dark wood. he had to stretch his neck back to see the ceiling, the way the glow of the hanging lights made the dark walls seem even more beautiful.

grian really didn’t feel comfortable here. not because he didn’t like it, because he had to admit the building was definitely one of the best he had ever seen.. no, he didn’t deserve all this. he was perfectly fine in his dark, small cave, cramped into the corner.

there was so much space, so much obvious work and love put into the building that was going to waste on someone like him.

he looked back down at the ground, huffing softly as he continued to walk the long hallway.

he eventually found a couple doors at the end, opening the one on the end of the hallway to reveal a large looking bedroom. a large dark wooden framed bed sat in the middle pressed against the wall, a deep red fabric covering the sheets and cleanly tucked in. a large window sat above the bed, the same shade of red used as curtains pushed back to let the sun shine in and onto the bed.

on the left wall stood a dark wood dresser and full length mirror, along with a potted plant. the other wall had a bookcase and desk, already some books provided.

as he stepped in, he noticed a large round rug on the floor. which honestly, felt like heaven on his cut up and bruised feet.

he basked in the feeling for a bit longer before noticing the other door beside the desk.

once opening it, he found a bathroom only slightly smaller than the bedroom.

it housed a glass paneled shower, a complicated looking bathtub and a sink, along with some amenities like towels and toothpaste.

it took all of his willpower to not jump into the shower with his clothes on just to get clean.

he was able to, thankfully, take the time to take his clothes off before soaking in the steaming hot water. it felt so hot he thought his skin might peel off, but it was honestly the best feeling ever. all he wanted was to shed a new skin, something nobody would recognize so he could just blend in and be like everyone else… be someone the watchers wouldn’t find.

he stayed in the hot water for more than he needed, staring at the tile wall in contemplation of his actions.

when he finally stepped out, he took a long sigh and wrapped himself in one of the fluffy towels left for him, and promptly sat on the floor to decompress, assuming it was clean enough.

honestly, grian was trying his best to not freak out. everything was happening so fast, he wasn’t even supposed to be here… wasn’t supposed to get to know any players or even be seen by them.

he knew the watchers would come eventually, he would need to find something out so these players didn’t get punished… their niceness and hospitality towards a runaway would only cause them pain.

perhaps if he was gone before the watchers caught on, these players would be spared. it was only the issue of healing. maybe he could get his hands on some healing potions to speed it up..

he let out a groan as he finally stood up and got dressed, lazily drying his hair with his towel as he walked out into the bedroom.

he wanted to explore more, truthfully, but he was suddenly very tired.

he assumed his adrenaline was running out, and his omega brain couldn’t resist this very safe and soft looking home as something he could trust. it had been a long time since those instincts were so sure of something, weren’t on such high alert that the smallest breeze was making him jump. it had been so long since he was able to relax without looking over his shoulder.

grian decided he was done fighting the instincts for at least tonight and fell back onto the large bed, sinking into the mattress with a happy sigh.

they didn’t cheap out, that’s for sure, this thing feels like heaven (but well, he isn’t used to much so he supposed this thing could be hard as a rock and he would still appreciate it).

grian wasn’t even sure how long it took for him to fall asleep, but it felt like seconds.

when he eventually did wake up, it was because he could hear voices outside the window of his bedroom.

he was naturally a light sleeper, due to the nightmares and paranoia and anxiety and all the other things he has dealt with, so he was on high alert as he sat up and glanced out the window.

despite his natural anxiety, it was just two guys who seemed to be talking, maybe about the building or him judging by them glancing towards his way every once and a while.

he slipped off the bed and stepped closer, not being able to help himself from wanting to… kind of spy on them?

he was able to hear them clearer closer to the window, deciding to stand out of sight just incase they were truly talking about them.

“well i dunno… i think we could have done more with it,” a british voice spoke up, letting out a slight sigh.

“oh cmonnn, this is like THE BEST we could have done on such short notice! and this omega doessssn’t really sound like the type who would want us pokin’ in his business just to get some details right,” the other, more american voice said back, a bit of a teasing lilt to his voice.

“i know! it just.. well perhaps we could speak to him and get his thoughts on it all,” british man said softly.

“oh believe me i reaaaaally wanna know what it’s all about. i’ve been holdin’ back cuz everyone’s been telling me to but… i can only hold my curiosity for so long!”

“i just want to make sure the base is adequate alright?”

“sureeee you do. i see through you mr. mumbo jumbo,” the american snickered. was that really the british man’s name? it was.. quite silly to say the least. maybe just a nickname.

“cmon, you want to speak to him too,” mr mumbo jumbo huffed out a sigh, apparently done trying to fight the other man on his intentions.

“of course i do!.. maybe we can just a lil? and then bail before aaaanyone catches us!”

“you’re truly a terrible influence on me..” mumbo spoke softly before he heard the other man giggle and the two start walking away.

grian felt silly, spying on the two who he would have to guess built this base. he could have just spoken up and said it was fine, more than fine, so frustratingly beautiful that it made grian want to build again just to show them how competent he was at making things and didn’t need their pity builds.

he sighed softly, moving out of the bedroom and towards the main area, curious if they truly were going to come chat with him.

he waited around a bit, looking around some more as he found a bookcase full of unique reads. it’s been so long since he’s read a book, or even felt one.

it felt nice, hands running across the textured hardcover surface as he took in that uniquely book smell, opening the cover and skimming the pages.

he was always a fan of fiction, dramatical fantasy books lured him in as a young child, and he was never the type to leave home without one to read in his off time.

grian was admittedly trying not to cry at the smell of a book, how silly it was, to miss something so miniscule… but he couldn’t help himself from hugging the book to his chest, praying to anyone that would listen that he wouldn’t have to go back to that cage, that hell where he was treated as something other than person.

he wanted to be left alone, let to read and shower and sleep, be mundane and speak to others without fear of how they will be punished for interacting with him.

perhaps he could find that here.. perhaps maybe for once he would be allowed some bit of peace.

…it seemed not today though, since there was a firm knocking at his door.

he centered himself, gently placed the book back and made his way to the front door while wiping his tears.

he supposed it was time to make nice with the locals… see if this was truly a place he could call home…