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I hate this damn school.
Unlocking the front door and slamming it shut with a bang, Parrot tossed his satchel onto the kitchen counter before unceremoniously throwing himself face-first onto the living room sofa. He checked the clock (5PM) before closing his eyes. He had work in an hour. There was no time to nap. But today had been so tiring. Parrot used to be able to get through class after class, day after day easily without really caring about anything. Now though, he always felt this weird urge to come back to the apartment. Come home to-
“Parrot! Guess what?”
Parrot opened his eyes to see Spoke directly in front of him, chanting. Guesswhatguesswhatguesswhatguesswhat?
“Good first day, Spoke?” Parrot asked, sitting up. Spoke wasn’t taking too many classes this semester, since he had finished most of his requirements early on. It seemed he was just at UU for fun, which flabbergasted Parrot. Paying shulkers of diamonds each semester just to mess around! But Spoke always seemed to have money, or was able to convince someone to give him some. Parrot didn’t like to think about it too much, or he began to feel bad for Spoke’s victims.
“Yes, bro! Mapicc said he’s going to drop his morning class to take Exploit Origins with me!”
“That’s awesome, dude.” Parrot thought for a moment. Wait. That doesn’t make sense. “But I didn’t know you were taking Exploit Origins. I thought you were the TA for it?”
Spoke paused and gave Parrot a chagrined look. “Yeah. I am.”
Parrot had a bad feeling about this. “Did you tell Mapicc that?”
“…no.”
Parrot pulled Spoke’s arm so he was sitting next to him on the couch. The voidling dutifully allowed himself to be pulled down until he was comfortably falling into the sofa with Parrot. Parrot watched him prepare for criticism and sighed.
“Spoke, we’ve talked about lying to your friends, right? Especially about things there’s no good reason to lie about?”
“Well, I just, I thought that…” Spoke was clearly struggling for words. He took a deep breath. “I don’t know. I don’t know why I lied. He just assumed and I wanted him to take the class and be with me so I didn’t say anything.”
Oh Spoke… “Dude, it’s good you know you were wrong. Remember, best friends want honesty from you. Make sure to message him and tell him the truth before the class so he’s not surprised, okay?”
The exploiting major nodded in acceptance.
Parrot ruffled the boy’s hair. It was a disaster. “Go get me a comb, okay? I have to go to work soon but I can take care of it before I go.”
The voidling grinned and ran off. Parrot knew Spoke liked it when he combed his hair—it made him feel like he was back at home. Spoke’s dad, Minute, was out of town protecting the End, so Spoke wasn’t able to see him very often.
Parrot wondered what that was like, having someone you missed. Was it like what he felt when he thought about him? Sometimes, Parrot wasn’t sure if he actually missed him or if it was just the loneliness of his life getting to him. Biologically, he was a social creature, after all. No matter what though, Parrot always felt a little pang of something whenever he stared too hard at his spyglass.
The door slammed open.
“Yo, guys!”
Wemmbu strolled into the house, throwing his own satchel next to Parrot’s before sitting next to the avian, taking Spoke’s spot. He similarly collapsed into the couch, stretching out his limbs and taking his hair out of its tie.
“How were classes?” Parrot asked, though he suspected he already knew the answer. Wemmbu despised school. He found no use in being at Unstable, and was mostly here to appease his family.
“Useless. These combat classes are way too easy, and worse, they’re boring. I wish Egg was with me, but it’s not like combat majors and history majors have a lot of common class requirements.”
Parrot patted Wemmbu on the back sympathetically before suddenly stopping. What was he doing? Why was he touching Wemmbu when he didn’t have to? He never touched anyone, even just a pat. Parrot wasn’t physical like that. He preferred his space, and liked to give people theirs in return.
This is weird.
He moved his hand back quickly, and Wemmbu gave him a quizzical look. Fuck. How many times have I done that without realizing it?
“Is Flame home?” Parrot asked, desperate to distract.
“Right here bro.”
Entering from the hallway, Flame walked into the living room with Spoke, who was skipping with a rainbow wide tooth comb in hand. Flame sat on the empty side of Parrot while Spoke positioned himself between Parrot’s feet. The voidling passed the comb back to Parrot and began to play with his rainbow jacket tassels. He’s probably still feeling guilty about the situation with Mapicc…I hope he messages him soon.
“Classes good for you, Flame?” Parrot asked. He gently finger combed through Spoke’s hair, which grew entangled in his hands as Spoke leaned back against the couch. Hopefully this would help settle the guy.
“Great!” Flame gave a toothy grin. “I beat a whole bunch of chungies and had lunch with Lomedy. He brought me some of the bread he made this morning!”
Immediately, Wemmbu’s eyes snapped to Flame and laser-focused. “Did you bring any back?”
Lomedy was a fantastic baker. He occasionally sold some of his creations at the capitol market and always made a killing. Flame was lucky enough to be best friends with the master baker and get free food on occasion, which Wemmbu was known to take advantage of. Oftentimes after a sparing match, Flame would offer a "Lomedy treat" as a peace offering, and the two would be quick to make up. Unfortunately, Parrot suspected Wemmbu would not be quite so lucky today.
And just as he thought, Flame’s guilty face gave the answer away.
“Bro, are you kidding me?” Wemmbu growled in outrage.
“Look dude, I’m sorry, it was really good and I wasn’t paying attention so-“
Wemmbu began to pull Crucible out of his hotbar, so Parrot knew it was his time to intercede.
“Both of you shut up.” Parrot commanded. “I messaged Lomedy this morning and asked if he could bring some bread and cake by the apartment while I’m out at work. He said yes.”
Flame looked at him in surprise as he returned Fragger to his inventory. When did he pull that out? “Lomedy didn’t say anything to me.”
“Probably didn’t want you pestering him for the food early during your lunch.” Parrot shrugged. He began to run the comb through Spoke’s hair. The guy below him gave a hearty hum of approval, so Parrot continued.
Suddenly, Parrot felt a weight against his shoulder, and he turned his head to see Wemmbu against him, face turned away. Just barely, Parrot could see his face was a light shade of pink. This guy…
“How were your day, huh Parrot? Asking all of us but not telling yourself. Typical.”
Parrot ignored that last word. That was the nature of their relationship, damn it! They shared what they wanted and he shared nothing.
Even he could admit that was kind of unfair.
“Honestly not that bad. The only thing that sucked was Avian Battle.” Parrot shuddered.
Flame immediately sat up, no longer resting against the back of the couch. It was as if he could sense Parrot's desire the drop the class. “I know you don’t like it Parrot, but you need to know how to defend yourself.”
Last week, Parrot had overheard someone mention that ClownPierce, a bully from Parrot’s high school who had made it into Unstable University, was also taking Prison Making and Breaking I. Parrot had been appalled and had dropped out of the class immediately. I’m good enough at the breaking part already, who cares? He had then asked his roommates if they had any recommendations for open classes that he might take instead.
Flame had jumped to recommend a battle course, one that “would be absolutely perfect for you, Parrot”. When Parrot had shown some hesitance, Spoke had done that thing he does with his eyes and begged Parrot to learn how to defend himself, at least a little. The avian’s three roommates had been insisting on training Parrot in some basic fighting, but Parrot had been holding strong in resistance. In that moment though, Parrot, weakened, had agreed.
And now he was stuck in a class he hated.
“The professor is fine, I guess.” Parrot continued. “But the TA! It’s this guy named Theo—I had a class with him once in freshman year but haven’t seen him since. He’s the most annoying guy ever! He keeps trying to talk to me and stuff. He’ll come over to help me with my ‘form’ or whatever, then starts to yap about a bunch of random shit.”
Parrot continued to comb (maybe a bit more aggressively than before) as the room fell to silence. I have to be careful around Spoke’s horns. I don’t want to nick them, they’re pretty sensitive.
“Parrot.” Wemmbu said carefully. “It sounds like this guy wants to be your friend, bro.”
Parrot didn’t look up from Spoke. “Well he should stop! I don’t do friends.”
The silence was deafening. Parrot kept combing.
And then suddenly the entire room was filled with noise.
“You don’t do friends? Are you serious?” Wemmbu asked between bouts of laughter. It was loud enough to break the sound barrier, damn it. Parrot had to resist the urge to cover his ears.
“What do you think we are?” Flame added between his own guffaws. He put his hand on Parrot’s knee to ground himself as he continued to laugh.
Even Spoke was chucking! “Seriously, Parrot, come on.”
Parrot felt his face get hot. Sure, sometimes he thought of them as friends. But that didn’t mean anything! It was a slip of the tongue (the brain?), nothing more.
“Oh fuck off.” He said, moving to get up. Why did he bother with these guys?
“No!” Spoke grabbed one of Parrot’s legs to stop him from moving. Flame tightened his grip on the leg he had a hand on, pushing down with enough force to stop Parrot in his tracks. Parrot felt himself make a face of dissatisfaction, and Wemmbu smirked at him before lying back against Parrot’s shoulder.
“Our bad bro, we know you don’t like us pointing it out. But come on, you’ve got us! What’s one more person going to hurt.”
Well, Flame may have had a point, but Parrot wasn’t going to admit it.
“I have to go to work guys, seriously. Let me go.”
Wemmbu suddenly sat up at this and turned to the bird hybrid.
“Come on Parrot, why? Your scholarship gives you enough money for rent, and I’ll pay for food. Hell, if you feel bad about it, think of it payment for everything you do for us.”
Wemmbu had offered this numerous times, and Parrot knew he was being honest about covering everything.
Because what Parrot had discovered recently was that Wemmbu came from money. Like, serious money.
It was a bit stupid he hadn’t caught on before. Wemmbu was always willing to pay Parrot an extravagant amount for healing and wing maintenance. As it turned out, that was pocket change for him. Wemmbu’s adoptive parents, Saparata and Fluixon, were insanely wealthy, and loved to spoil their son. Wemmbu had asked Parrot if he wanted to meet them sometime, a request which Parrot had immediately rejected. Meeting the infamous Polarity couple sounded like a death wish for his nervous system.
“Come on Parrot, sit back down. My hair’s a mess.” Spoke urged. He nudged the avian’s leg.
Parrot hesitated.
“I already told them you’re sick, anyway.”
Parrot dropped the comb and looked down at Spoke.
“You what?! Dude, are you kidding me?”
The voidling had the audacity to look defensive.
“Bro, it’s the first day of classes! I thought we could all hang out or something.”
Parrot let the outrage in his chest swell. Who do these people think they are? We’re just roommates!
“You guy have got to stop making decisions involving me without me! This is just like the thing with my apartment-“
Flame suddenly leaned in to hug Parrot from the side, while Spoke wrapped his arms around both of Parrot’s legs. Wemmbu linked his arm through Parrot’s, leaning against Parrot again. It was a unified effort to keep Parrot attached to the couch. How do they come up with stuff like this? Is it preplanned?
“Come on bro, don’t be mad.” Parrot glared at Flame, who he was one-hundred percent sure had been in on this plan to sabotage Parrot's work schedule. “We just thought you could use a break. You’ve been working so much! The cafe can close without you for today.”
Parrot looked between the three weights on him, took a deep breath, and sighed. He did that a lot around this damn place.
“Well if you already called in for me…I guess there nothing to do.”
Spoke gave a whoop, and Parrot picked the comb back up.
~
That night, Parrot was reviewing the syllabus for his biomedical course when there was a knock on his bedroom door.
He glanced at the clock. Yeah, I guess it’s about that time.
He opened the door to find his three roommates gathered. Spoke was carrying the leftovers of Lomedy’s cake, holding it out in a peace offering.
“Yes?” Parrot asked, as he did every night for the past few weeks.
“We’re coming in.” Wemmbu shoved his way past Parrot, clearing the space for Spoke and Flame to enter behind him. Spoke handed the cake to Parrot (who placed it down on the desk) before diving head first into the bed and getting comfortable under the covers.
“Damn, that looks like it sucks.” Flame remarked as he squinted at Parrot’s syllabus. Parrot idly wondered if Flame had seen a syllabus since his freshman year. Combat classes didn’t really operate like normal classes—they tended to be a lot more tactile and less traditional. That was just the way Flame liked it, though. When Parrot practiced giving class presentations to Flame, the blaze hybrid was usually snoring by the halfway point.
“It won’t be that bad.” Parrot shrugged. “I’ve learned most of this before. It’s why I’m so good at patching up you two.”
Flame barked out a laugh. “Good to hear bro. You think you can help me with some stuff this semester? I’ve been putting off this stupid bio course, but it’s a school requirement-“
“Yeah dude, I’ll help.” Parrot cut him off. I guess he’s actually gotta lock in for this semester. “Just bring by the coursework next time.”
Flame grinned. “You’re the best.” He stretched him limbs before throwing off the covers and climbing into bed next to Spoke, who immediately threw a leg on top of his new bed buddy. Flame laughed and tossed an arm onto the voidling in exchange.
Parrot turned to Wemmbu, who sheepishly held up a familiar rainbow comb. “Do you think you could help me out too? Egg’s with his history group-“
Parrot rolled his eyes and snatched the comb away from the dragon hybrid. “You know the drill, hit the floor.” Why does he feel he’s always gotta mention these excuses? He can just ask me. Parrot knew he was a bit of a hypocrite. He never asked any of the three for help. He just let them do what they wanted to do (which often ended up assisting him anyway).
Wemmbu obediently sat down, and Parrot carefully took the man’s tiara and placed it on his bedside table before shoving the elegant cape off Wemmbu’s shoulders. It pooled on the floor in a disgraceful heap and the avian immediately felt bad. Silk was pricey material, after all.
“I’m sorry Wemmbu, I know that’s probably expensive-“
“Parrot. Seriously. I’m stacked, you gotta stop worrying about stupid shit like my cape getting dusty.”
And Parrot would have replied, except he felt a sudden pull at his wings. The wings no one was allowed to touch.
No!
In a panic, he turned quickly, hitting the back of Wemmbu’s head with the feathered appendages. The purple-haired man gave a yelp of surprise.
On the bed, Spoke was holding one of Parrot’s feathers, wearing an expression of surprise and guilt.
“Sorry Parrot, it’s just…you uh…had some loose feathers bro so I just thought…” he trailed off. He has the expression of a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar, which in any other situation, would have made Parrot laugh.
Instead, Parrot stared, not replying.
But to be honest, Parrot wasn’t with Spoke and Flame and Wemmbu anymore.
He was somewhere else.
Somewhere far away in a beach house with a boy with soulful eyes and a kind smile who said, “Parrot, let me take care of your wings. Trust me.”
“I can handle it, bro.” Parrot had replied.
And that boy with the purple headband had taken Parrot’s hands in his and told him, “Realistically, there’s nothing you can do alone that’s better than something we can do as two people.”
Parrot knew then that he would never forget him, his first friend, his only-
“Parrot! He’s sorry, bro, come on. Please.”
Parrot blinked.
Flame was leaning over him, hands on the avian’s shoulders. Spoke looked as if he was about to cry. Even Wemmbu had climbed onto the bed, worriedly poking Parrot’s arm as if to stimulate him back into the present.
Parrot let out a breath. Calm down. It doesn’t matter. They don’t know. They’ll never know.
“I’m sorry guys, it’s fine. Just…” He looked at the voidling, who quickly hid the feather behind his back. Parrot had no chance of getting that back, he knew. “Spoke, bro, you know I don’t like my wings being touched. Leave it alone, okay?”
Spoke nodded guiltily. Parrot had a sneaking suspicion this had been some kind of test, to check if he had changed his mind without simply asking him. But there was no way to confirm that, so he let it go. “I’m sorry Parrot, there just seemed to be some loose feathers, so I thought I could help.”
Parrot shook his head. “I-I can’t, bro. The answer is no.”
An avian’s wings were their most intimate part. Parrot, who had been determined to live a life of isolation, had long since sworn to never allow anyone else to lay a hand on his feathers.
But looking into the eyes of his three concerned roommates, he couldn’t help but add on, “…maybe someday.”
Spoke immediately smiled, and Flame laid back down. The voidling resumed his position next to the blade hybrid, and Parrot turned back to Wemmbu, who had once again sat on the floor, ready for the continued grooming.
As Parrot ran the comb through Wemmbu’s hair, he searched for a topic of conversation. There was one thing he wanted to talk about…but there wasn’t a good way to bring it up. Straight to the point, then.
“Wemmbu,” Parrot began. “Have you ever thought about switching your major?”
Wemmbu had been fidgeting with his garter buckle, but paused at Parrot’s words.
“Uh…how’d you know?”
Parrot had had his suspicions for a long time. Wemmbu seemed to hate his major a lot, especially recently. Even his enthusiasm to fight Flame had died down after he had mastered a power to call orbital canons at will, a power no one before had heard of. Parrot had asked Spoke if it was a known exploit, but Spoke had denied it. One day, Parrot would ask Wemmbu how he got his nukes, but not now. He was pushing enough for today.
“You want to change your major?” Flame asked from behind them, surprise coloring his voice. “I thought you loved combat? Like me?”
So Flame hadn’t noticed. Well, he can be a little oblivious at times, which is fitting considering the blindfold.
Wemmbu didn’t turn around but instead stared straight forward at the wall.
“I do, don’t get me wrong. But I don’t know if it’s how I want to live the rest of my life. Maybe…you can be the strongest.”
“Yes!” Flame cheered. Parrot turned around to give him a look.
Focusing back on Wemmbu’s hair, Parrot asked the obvious question. “Then what do you want to major in?”
No answer. Parrot continued to run the comb through the long purple hair, hitting a snag and slowly taking the time to detangle.
“I was thinking…maybe going into hero work?”
The room paused audibly, until, suddenly, Flame burst into laughter.
“You? A hero?” Flame asked. “Seriously, Wemmbu?”
Parrot heard Spoke quickly hit the combat major over the head, and Flame shut up. The silence returned.
“I didn’t realize you wanted to be a hero, Wemmbu.” Parrot said carefully. He had stopped combing at Wemmbu’s words, but resumed slowly.
Hero work would be incredibly out of character for Wemmbu. While combat masters generally fought regularly for loot and fun, heroes were a bit different. They fought on behalf of the Unstable people, helping those in need and being rewarded by those grateful. Many times though, the work was pro bono. Most heroes worked for the fulfilling nature and prestigious title, not for money. Parrot had originally wanted to be a hero for a while, but over the years had grown an appreciation for steady income that hero work probably wouldn’t provide.
Parrot supposed money wasn’t really a problem for Wemmbu, but still. The guy didn’t seem the “kind and helpful” sort, you know?
“I’m tired of fighting all the time.” Wemmbu whispered. Parrot began to braid the purple hair of the dragon hybrid as he let him talk. “It’s not that I don’t like combat. I just don’t want to keep fighting everyone for no reason when I know I’m the best.”
“Yo!” Flame interrupted in a tone of indignation, but Spoke shushed him again before turning to Wemmbu.
“That sounds really beautiful!” Spoke told the dragon hybrid cheerfully. Parrot was glad he could always trust Spoke to be supportive. "And you already took most of the required classes, since they overlap with combat classes a lot. So you probably won’t have to stay an extra year.”
Parrot considered this and smiled as he realized something. “You’re going to have to take morality courses, bro. That’s gonna be hilarious.”
“It’s gonna suck.” Wemmbu grumbled. “But Egg will be happy, I guess.”
Parrot finished off the braid and sat up.
“Well I’m happy for you, Wemmbu. I’m sure you’ll be the best hero ever. But I gotta go to bed now, guys. I have class tomorrow.”
Wemmbu stood up and rolled his eyes. Parrot felt Spoke grab his hand and pull him down onto the bed. Wemmbu followed soon after and laid on Parrot’s other side, staring at the ceiling.
“You know why I bought you this giant bed.” Wemmbu said casually, as if it would distract Parrot from his hand slowly making his way to Parrot’s. Parrot allowed Wemmbu to intertwine their fingers, and gave the dragon hybrid a squeeze of support back. He let Spoke give Wemmbu the response.
“For sleepovers!” Spoke exclaimed in answer, moving his head to rest it against Parrot’s arm.
Parrot felt something in him warm. He kept getting this weird feeling in his stomach these days, like a tickling sensation. It made him do things he wouldn’t usually do.
Like this.
Parrot watched in horror from the corner of his eye as his wings slowly extended to rest on top of the three in the bed next to him. He tried to pull them back in, but it was like they weren’t listening to him! Soon, Flame, Wemmbu, and Spoke were all covered in Parrot’s brightly covered feathers.
The three wisely chose to say nothing.
Flame leaned over Parrot’s wings to grab the comforter, allowing it to drape over all of them.
Silence fell over the room, and Parrot closed his eyes begrudgingly:
These damn guys really wouldn’t leave him alone, would they?
Maybe that was okay.
Parrot let himself drift off.