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The Main Hub was the place where everyone went to if they were changing Servers. It was also the place where you could buy things that you couldn’t find on most Servers. It was where all Admins went at least once a month to purchase items that their Players needed as the Main Hub was always crowded, but Players could be found there if they had permission from their Admins to go, and most of the time they went in groups; typically it was only the Admins why went to help keep the area as uncrowded as it was possible to keep the Main Hub. It was not a place to go if you were easily overwhelmed or had social anxiety, but it was where Grian had to go to gather new nesting materials.
Grian’s nest was something that all of the Hermits had seen at some point, and most, if not all, of them had been kidnapped by Grian to cuddle with him in it, but it was something that needed to be constantly maintained in order for Grian to be able to sleep properly. The nest was filled with blankets, pillows, and clothing from the Hermits, the Evolutionists, and the few people from the life games that he didn’t have clothing from. The clothing never changed, just more were stolen/given to him to be added as he needed/wanted. It was the blankets that were the main problem. As Grian rarely saw the pillows and only used them to make a platform for the blankets of his nest, he could get his pillows from anywhere, or ask Xisuma to get him some more pillows when he went to the Main Hub. The blankets were a whole different subject; since his nest was lined with the blankets, he needed to get blankets with textures that he could stand. He hated the texture of wool, and preferred soft and silky blankets, but there were a few other textures that he could tolerate. He never trusted anyone to get the blankets for his nest, no matter how much he trusted the person, because it was purely an instinctual and textural thing for choosing his nesting materials, and he was in desperate need of new blankets for his nest.
Grian had noticed that he hadn’t been sleeping as well a few weeks ago, but chalked it up to the stress of the upcoming MCC, however once MCC passed and he still was having trouble sleeping, he realised that it had to do with his nest and the textures that he could feel. He tried to push it off, really not wanting to have to go to the Main Hub, especially when X would be going the next week so he could go with him then, but he eventually caved after several days of sleepless nights, and went to go find Xisuma to get permission to go off server to get new nesting materials.
He found X in the Evil Emporium with his brother going over the profits that the pair had made that week. As much as he didn’t want to interrupt, he hadn’t slept properly in weeks, and really wanted to get some proper sleep. Hesitantly stepping into the room, he waited for one of the Admins to notice him, waiting for them to finish their discussion. It was EX who noticed him, nudging his brother and making a vague gesture in Grian’s direction to let X know that someone was waiting for him. X glanced back over his shoulder and smiled at Grian, or Grian thought he smiled, it was hard to tell with the helmet that both brothers wore.
“Hello Grian. What can I do for you?” X asked, moving away from the table to properly face Grian.
Grian took a deep breath before asking, “I need to go to the Main Hub for some new blankets for my nest. May I have permission to go, please?”
X hesitated, thinking the question over. It was obvious that Grian would only ask if it was his last resort as he had separation and social anxiety and got overwhelmed easily, and, judging by the shadows under his eyes, it had been a while since he had properly slept. Huffing out a sigh, X gave Grian permission, as long as he took two other Hermits with him. Shooting a smile at the Admins, Grian thanked X and went to go find his friends to ask if they could go with him. He eventually managed to locate both Scar and Mumbo who were both willing to go with Grian, and soon the trio was standing at the portal that would take them to the Main Hub. Taking a deep breath, Grian stepped through, closely followed by his two companions.
***
Entering the Main Hub was a headache, literally. Everyone was talking or yelling, people were rushing about to reach their destinations on time, and in general it was busy and Grian hated it. Turning to look up at Mumbo and Scar, being the shortest one was a pain sometimes, he reached out a hand and latched onto Scar’s robes, not wanting to physically touch someone when his nerves were already beginning to wear down. Either Scar hadn’t noticed that he had latched onto him, or wasn’t trying to draw attention to it, Grian didn’t know, but Scar hadn’t said anything about it so Grian kept his hold on him as they began to make their way through the portal area and head on over to the shopping centre located just outside of the portal area.
The trio started to make their way through the crowd, people running into them without so much as a care in the world. There were a few muttered apologies, but that was about it. It was during one such collision that Grian lost his hold on Scar’s robe and quickly lost sight of the pair. He was slightly shocked that he had lost sight of them as quickly as he had, both were significantly taller than the parrot hybrid, with Scar being some kind of elf and Mumbo being a vampire, but he was unable to see them. Without them, there were more people running into him, and everything seemed so much louder than it had been moments before. He was running to hide before he even realised what he was doing.
Swiftly making his way through the crowds of people, Grian made his way, on instinct, over to a ruined World Portal that he would be able to hide behind in an attempt to escape the crowds, the noise, and the panic he was feeling. He knew where the portal he hid behind once led to, he hoped he would know the portal of the world he was the Admin of. It was second nature for him to seek out Evo’s portal, as he used to be the one to make the monthly trek to the Main Hub, no matter how much he hated it. Evo had been something he was extremely proud of, and to see the ruined portal broke him. Normally when a world is abandoned like Evo had to be, the Elder Admins would remove the world and replace it with a new world for a new Admin to use, however the Watchers had taken over Evo, hence why it had to be abandoned, and the Elders were unable to remove it, so the portal and the corrupted world behind it would forever remain in the Main Hub reminding Grian of one of his many failures.
He didn’t notice that he was crying, or that his communicator was ringing; the only thing he knew was that he was alone in the Main Hub, everything was loud, he was exhausted and stressed, and his wings, which had been tucked away to prevent anyone from knowing that he was a parrot hybrid and to prevent any more unwelcome stimulation, were aching. All in all, it was horrible, and he didn’t think it would be getting better anytime soon.
***
When Grian had asked Mumbo and Scar to join him to gather some new nesting blankets from the Main Hub, the pair had been excited. They rarely got to go to the Main Hub, as Grian tended to go with Xisuma when the Admin was heading there for his monthly trip, so they were eager to accompany the avian. They both knew how anxious Grian could get, the first season he was on Hermitcraft was spent skirting around most of the Hermits until he got to know them better, so they knew that they would have to keep a close eye on him. That was why the pair was currently freaking out because they had, somehow, managed to lose Grian somewhere along the way, and he wasn’t answering his communicator.
The main reason that they lost the builder was his height. Grian was the shortest Hermit, so it was easy to overlook him in a crowd, and in a place as crowded as the Main Hub where people were constantly running into you, well, it wasn’t all that shocking that they had lost him. The fact that they were unable to find him caused them to panic, it should have been easy enough for them to locate the missing blond as he wouldn’t have gone back to Hermitcraft without them even if he had lost them, but without him answering his communicator it was practically impossible, meaning they were going to have to call X.
Neither of them wanted to be the one to have to contact X about this because they knew that he would be livid at them both no matter which one it was who contacted him. Biting the bullet, Mumbo pulled up Xisuma’s contact, pressing the call button and waiting for the Admin to answer with baited breath.
“Hello?” X answered, his questioning tone making it clear that he wasn’t expecting a call from any of them this early on in the trip.
“Hey X, slight problem, we kind of lost Grian?”
It was silent on the other end of the line for a long while before X said, very calmly, in the tone of one who wants to yell at you but knows that they can’t yell at you just yet, “What do you mean you lost Grian?”
Mumbo pales slightly at the tone, causing Scar to worry slightly for the pair’s continued existence. “Well, we were making our way through to the shopping area of the Main Hub, and when we glanced down we noticed that Grian wasn’t with us anymore. We tried to call him, but he hasn’t answered his communicator.”
“Have you looked around for him?” X asked in the same measured tone that he had previously used.
“Even if we tried to, it would be practically impossible for us to find him. This is only our third or fourth time here and this place is absolutely packed.” It was Scar who answered this time, having snagged Mumbo’s communicator from the man.
X sighed, before responding once again, “Right. I’ll see if he will answer my call, and if not, then I will come and find you two before we go and look for Grian. Stay right where you are.” And with that, X had hung up on the pair.
“He’s going to kill us when we are back home.” Scar whispered, burying his face in his hands. All Mumbo could do was nod. They were so going to die.
***
When X had received a call from Mumbo 10 minutes after Grian, Mumbo, and Scar had left for the Main Hub, he hadn’t been expecting to be informed that the pair of spoons had somehow lost Grian. It shouldn’t have been that hard to keep an eye on the avian, especially considering the fact that Grian latched onto whomever he was with in a place that crowded, but they had somehow managed to do so.
During the entire conversation, his twin had been losing his mind over the fact that Grian had somehow managed to get separated, especially considering the fact that Grian had clung to him on the rare occasion that EX was accompanying X on his monthly trip. X just glared at his brother before focusing back on his communicator and pulling up Grian’s contact. Pressing call, he waited for the builder to pick up, but to no avail. Grian wasn’t answering his call meaning that he had to actually go to the Main Hub.
Letting out a growl, he sent out a group message, asking if there was anything that his Hermits needed from the Main Hub. If he had to head to the migraine inducing place, he would at least get all of the shopping done that he would normally get done the next week. While he got many confused messages from his Hermits, he did eventually get a list put together of the items that were needed. Shooting one last glare at his brother who told him to have fun, he made his way to the portal and slipped through heading to the Main Hub.
***
Finding Mumbo and Scar was fairly easy. All X had to do was make his way through the portal area and head straight to the shopping centre where the pair were sitting on a bench just outside the main building. Both were fidgeting while they waited, eyes scanning the area constantly as they looked for their Admin. When they finally spotted him, they stood up and made their way over to him hoping that he had some kind of plan to find the missing parrot hybrid.
“Please tell us you have a plan.” Scar practically begged once they had made their way to Xisuma.
X sighed, “for the time being, we can only hope that he made his way here and is looking for nesting materials. If he is not here, then we will have to look around the portal area for him.”
With that being said, the trio made their way into the shopping centre, both looking for Grian and purchasing the materials that the other Hermits needed. While finding Grian was their main priority, they had no way of locating him so the only thing they could do was explore the shopping centre and hope to run into him; if they are unable to find him there, then they have to look through the portal area as they know that he didn’t return to Hermitcraft, so he had to be somewhere in the Main Hub.
It took about two hours for them to make it through the majority of the centre, and none of them had seen any sign of Grian. As more time passed, the group got more worried for the smaller, and devised a plan to search through the portal area. They wouldn’t be able to ask anyone as most people in the portal area were trying to get through the Main Hub as soon as they could, very few people actually enjoyed spending time in the main Hub, so they were alone in their hunt. There was a high likelihood that Grian would be hiding behind a portal, most likely an unused or rarely used one, so the group would split up and check around those kinds of portals making sure to keep an eye on their communicators to meet back up when they found Grian.
It was only after they had separated that Xisuma remembered that Grian used to be an Admin himself. It was difficult to remember as Grian did have an affinity for pranks and the likes, but he had no problems being serious when the situation called for it. Searching through his memories, X tried to remember the name of the Server that Grian was the Admin of; while it was in his file, X rarely looked through his Hermit’s files and only really looked through them when the situation called for it. This was one of those times, so X pulled out his communicator to call his brother so he could find out the name of Grian’s prior Server.
His communicator rang for a moment before EX picked it up, staying silent like he always did to unnerve whoever it was who had called him while forcing the caller to be the first person to speak.
“I need you to do something for me.” X said almost as soon as his twin had answered.
“You need something from me? That’s practically unheard of.” His brother quipped, sarcasm lacing his voice.
“I need you to look at Grian’s file and tell me what server he was the Admin of. If he is hiding behind one of the portals to escape from the noise and crowds, then he would have fallen back on instinct and hid behind his portal.”
There was silence on the other end, and X thought that EX was checking the file when his brother finally spoke. “Grian was an Admin?!
“You’ve read his file! What do you mean you didn’t know he was an Admin?!” X was on his last legs of his sanity now. He was completely done with this day, his players, and his brother, who he would probably wind up killing later, but he knew that the day was far from over. Grian would be clingy when he finally found him, they still had to get the nesting materials, get back to Hermitcraft, and probably be trapped in Grian’s nest for the rest of the day. Being trapped in the nest wouldn’t be too bad though, no one would disturb him when Grian was clinging to him.
“No, I didn’t know!” EX exclaimed, this time with paper rustling in the background. At least he was checking his file now.
Xisuma didn’t bother to answer his brother, deciding to wait for the answer to his original question.
“Evo. He was the Admin of Evo.”
“Thank you.” Was all X said before hanging up on his brother and making his way through the portal area. He had a vague idea of where the portal to Evo was, and while it took a bit of searching, he did find the portal in the end. The sight of the corrupted portal sent a spike of fear through his body; seeing just what the Watchers were capable of scared most people, especially considering the fact that not even the Elder Admins could remove the damage that they could cause. Before he could think more on the topic, the sound of breathing reached his ears. While the person was not quite hyperventilating, they were not breathing calmly either, so X swiftly made his way to the ruined portal and stepped around it.
As expected, Grian was curled up behind it, one arm holding his knees to his chest, the other rubbing the soft material of his jumper in an attempt to soothe himself. There were obvious tear tracks on his face, and he wasn’t breathing properly, but he was there and that was the most important thing at the moment. Well, getting Grian calm was probably more important, but considering that Grian had been missing in a place as crowded as the Main Hub, X was glad to see that he was relatively alright.
It took a while, but soon enough Grian was settled against Xisuma’s side while the Admin messaged Mumbo and Scar to let the pair know that he had found Grian and they would meet up with them in front of the shopping centre if they didn’t wish to return to Hermitcraft ahead of him and Grian. While X really wanted to head back to Hermitcraft, he didn’t trust Mumbo and Scar to not lose the avian once again, and Grian still needed his blankets. Getting a response back from the other two, he was informed that they would be waiting at the bench where X had initially found them.
Nodding to himself, X went to stand up, pulling Grian up with him. While Grian chirped in annoyance at being disturbed, he was placated with a hair ruffle. Making their way back to the shopping centre, the pair met back up with Mumbo and Scar before making their way back into the large building to begin helping Grian find the blankets that he needed for his nest.
***
Grian had remained close to Xisuma for the remainder of the trip while keeping a close eye on Scar and Mumbo’s positions. It took about an hour for Grian to find blankets that had the right textures, and it was slightly more difficult to do as he absolutely refused to be separated from the three of them, keeping a hand on one of them, generally X, at all times. They eventually managed to get enough blankets for Grian’s nest, it already had a pile of blankets but they were all a year old or older so it was time to get new fluffy blankets that would slowly accumulate the scents of his flock.
Once they eventually returned to Hermitcraft, all of them having a headache of varying intensities, X was dragged by Grian to his base and then motioned to stay put with a glare. Deciding to obey Grian’s orders, not wanting to see what kind of pranks the other would pull if he refused to, X settled against the wall as he watched Grian sort through the blankets and arrange them in his nest. While it may look like he was placing them haphazardly in the nest, it was obvious to the trained eye that there was some kind of organisation to the placements, organised chaos if you will.
It took a while, but the nest was eventually made to Grian’s satisfaction, happy little chirps and trills escaping the parrot. Looking back over to where X was, he made grabby hands at his Admin while he settled himself down in his nest. With a quiet sigh, Xisuma made his way into the nest, settling down next to Grian who instantly clung onto him. Well, at least no one could bother him now without the risk of upsetting Grian who was currently half asleep.
Carefully taking off his helmet, X situated the pair to a more comfortable position as Grian finally uncurled his wings from where he had them pressed against himself and laid one of them over X and the other settled behind him. Trilling quietly, Grian finally began to drift off, his instincts were finally happy with his nest and allowing him the ability to sleep. He felt X press a kiss to his forehead so he curled up closer to his Admin, letting out an exhausted coo before he finally fell asleep.
***
There would be time for Xisuma to kill Scar, Mumbo, and his brother later, once Grian had finally stopped clinging to him, but that was for Future Xisuma. Current Xisuma placed one last kiss to Grian’s forehead before allowing his eyes to slip shut and fall into some well deserved sleep.