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The group sat together long after they had all finished their breakfast. Tommy got more and more comfortable with the group as time went on, and slowly the remaining feelings of panic that appeared whenever Grian moved too quickly in his and Ex’s direction disappeared. The feeling of panic was replaced by a warmth in his chest as Grian grinned at him and mantled his colorful wings to show them off to Tommy. Tommy could tell they needed to be preened soon. He wondered who Grian let help. Phil only ever let Techno help, but maybe here Grian had more people he trusted.
The moment couldn’t last forever though, and eventually Grian stood up with a slight groan, stretching his wings out wide.
“Whelp, I’d better start working on my base. I want to see if I can finish the back of it before I run out of daylight. It was nice seeing you two again, and if you need a place to get away from X-eye-suma, you’re always welcome in Boatem!” Grian said before walking back towards a half-finished cottage.
Ex sighed and stood as well, grabbing Jellie from where she’d settled in his lap, “Tommy and I should probably get going to. We need to get Jellie back to Scar and finish our exploring so that we can choose a base location.”
Mumbo’s eyes widened, “Oh I didn’t realize Jellie hadn’t gone home yet! Yes, please get Jellie back to Scar. He’s having a bad day, stuck in his wheelchair, he’d probably appreciate her company.”
Tommy glanced at Ex and saw Ex wince.
“Is it a flair up or just a bad day?” Ex asked.
“Knock on wood, it's just a bad day.” Mumbo said, knocking on the log under him. Ex and Xisuma both knocked on their logs, and Tommy followed suit just a moment after, a bit confused.
Ex leaned down and grabbed Jellie before standing up and stepping out of the campfire circle. Tommy scrambled to follow him, not wanting to be left alone in this unfamiliar place.
“Scar’s base is the massive wagon right?” Ex asked, grabbing Tommy by the hand.
The admin nodded with a small smile that Tommy only recognized because of his years of living around people in masks, “He calls it his Swagon. He’s probably up in his room, if you tap the right wheel an accessibility ramp will pop down, Doc helped him install it last week so he could get in and out with his wheelchair. He’s on the third floor, when you see him send my regards.”
Ex nodded and with a quick goodbye the two began to walk away. Tommy caught sight of the massive wagon across the central opening and gaped at the sight. It was huge. This hermit must truly be powerful to have built something so large and trust it wouldn’t be destroyed. Would he and Ex be safe? Ex seemed to trust this hermit but Ex seemed to trust everyone and… well he didn’t want Ex to be hurt because he trusted someone he shouldn’t have.
Ex was quick to notice his spiraling thoughts and pulled him out of them with a light squeeze of his hand.
“Don’t worry kid, Scar’ll love you. And if he doesn’t, that’s okay, we don’t have to hang around for long. We’ll be safe.” Ex said softly, “Scar might look scary, but he’s really nice. Just like the other hermits.”
“If you say so.” Tommy hesitantly replied. Maybe Ex was right. Maybe everything would be fine.
It took about ten seconds of being inside Scar’s home that Tommy found himself cursing his past self for being such a fool and not just dropping the cat in Boatem and dragging Ex back to the safety of the light house.
As Tommy looked around he found himself more and more freaked out. Why was the ceiling and floor of the second floor made of upgrade tables? Why was so much of the build made of copper, a material that had rarely shown up on his old server and often had to be imported? How could he afford to use such expensive blocks, how powerful was he that the other hermits would just leave him alone when he had so much? Despite Tommy’s stuttering steps, Ex kept walking, walking forward like he knew the place by heart. Tommy didn’t know whether Ex actually knew where they were going, or if he was just faking it until they found Scar.
Finally Ex pulled him down one of the long dark tunnels (why was everything so dark? Surely mobs would start spawning soon! Is that part of Scar’s defense? Is he trusting people would be too scared of the mobs riddling his base to steal from him?) and up a ladder that he noticed doubled as a lift, into a large open bedroom, with a small room on the opposite side of the ladder
Jellie yowled the moment they got within sight of the small room and leaped down from where she had settled on Ex’s shoulder, darting for the room. A rough laugh echoed and a delighted voice called Jellie’s name. Tommy was struck by a sudden terror and he pulled back, but Ex stepped forward, leaving him behind in doorway. Tommy ducked down on the ladder, hanging where they couldn’t see him but where he could still hear them.
“Hey Scar.” Ex said, “Jellie ended up with my kid and I at Suma’s this morning, so I thought I'd stop by and make sure she got home safely. Tommy’s with me but he’s not gonna come in until he’s comfortable, so he’s just gonna hang out outside for right now.”
“Oh Ex!” said the disembodied voice that Tommy figured was probably Scar, “I haven’t seen you in ages, you should have messaged me so that I could at least get dressed first!”
Tommy heard a shifting noise and then a couple loud clacks before Ex grunted and said, “No no, Scar you don’t need to get up, go ahead and stay in bed, Toms and I are fine.”
Tommy was too curious to resist peeking up over the edge to see what was happening. Ex was struggling with a man who leaned heavily on a cane, trying to usher the man back towards the unmade bed in the corner. The man pulled a maroon suit jacket over what must have been his pajamas, a bright purple set of sweatpants and a light green undershirt. He turned, obviously struggling slightly but determined, and grabbed a maroon top hat that matched his jacket, before finally letting Ex help him over to the wheelchair sitting next to the bed. The man turned and his eyes locked with Tommy’s.
Tommy flinched back with a silent gasp and practically fell back down the ladder to the second floor, sitting on the ground with his knees tight to his chest, so that he was out of sight of the bedroom and the two men within it. He heard more shuffling inside the room and hushed voices, but he couldn’t make anything out, not when the memory of Scar sunk heavily on his mind. Scar was disabled, used a cane and a wheelchair, and his face was covered in pale white scars. Who caused that? Was it another hermit? Was it someone outside hermitcraft? Is that why he could make such large bases without fear of being targeted, because the other hermits pitied him?
“Toms you doing okay?” Ex called, still in the room with Scar.
Tommy was having a hard time breathing, he remembered how dangerous Techno was, even when he broke his ankle that one time and had to use crutches for a couple months while it healed. Was Scar capable of fighting from his wheelchair or with his cane? Was he going to hurt Ex?
No surely that couldn’t be right, Ex would’ve warned him if Scar was dangerous. He would’ve told Tommy, like he told him about False and Grian and-- oh Void Grian. Grian and Scar were friends, was Grian going to come with his rockets and hurt them for disturbing Scar? What--
A soft purring noise broke Tommy out of his racing thoughts as something small and warm pushed against his legs. He opened his eyes just a crack and there was that cat. Jellie, he thought Ex had called her. She pushed against his hands until he was forced to pet her, barely noticing how his breath slowed from his state of panic. She let out the tiniest of meows and Tommy smiled.
“You okay kid?” Ex asked, significantly closer than he was before.
Tommy jumped and turned to see Ex standing on the lift as it came down from the third floor, and he saw Scar peaking at him from behind Ex, also on the lift. Tommy flinched and pushed Jellie away as gently as he could, trying to put distance between him and her, while also moving back, further into the storage room that made up the second floor.
“Control your cat.” Tommy said, staring at where Jellie had settled on the floor of the storage room.
“Aww do you not like cats? Sorry, Jellie’s a therapy cat, she tends to show up when she thinks people need help. Here give me a moment, I'll get her off you.” Scar said, wheeling himself around Ex and scooping Jellie up.
Jellie let out a quiet meow, almost a tiny wail, but curled up in Scar’s lap. Tommy ducked his head but kept a watchful eye on Scar, noticing a couple things he hadn’t seen before. He had thin tubing around his face, going to his nose. Tommy’s eyes widened slightly in realization, an oxygen line. The man backed off letting Ex step forward, kneeling next to Tommy.
“Hey bubs. Are you doing okay? You’re looking a bit panicked now.”
Tommy glanced up at Ex before avoiding the question once again. He had no idea how to answer. So instead he glanced in the direction of Scar.
“Are you…” he paused, looking up to Scar, “are you okay?”
Scar’s eyes widened, before he smiled happily at Tommy, looking genuinely friendly. The stretch of his scars across his face felt familiar in a sad way.
“Oh, don’t worry about me kiddo, it’s just a bad day. For now I'm just stuck in my chair until my body wants to work again. Most of the time I don’t need the chair, and just need my cane. Thanks for bringing Jellie back home, it’s always better when I have Jellie on days like today. What’s your name kid?” Scar said.
Tommy looked back at Ex who gave him a soft smile and answered for him, “This is Tommy, and he’s my kid.”
Scar’s eyes widened and he laughed, “when’d you have time to get a kid Ex? I thought you were too busy messing with us for that sort of stuff?”
Tommy’s eyes widened and he blushed at the implication. But something in the back of his mind crowed with glee at the idea of Ex actually being his dad.
“No no no!” Ex said, sounding just as flustered as Tommy felt, “nothing like that, i wouldn’t hide a kid for that long, he’s 17 Scar. I adopted him, found him in the void between seasons. If anyone was gonna be his blood family, it’d be Grian. The two look almost uncannily alike, especially with Tommy in one of Grian’s sweaters.”
Scar laughed, “can you imagine Grian with a kid? Imagine the chaos. Don’t let Grian corrupt your kid, we don’t need another Poultry Man flying around.”
Tommy watched the two in mild confusion, but he could ask Ex after they left. He was glad that Ex was having fun though. Scar seemed nice, and Jellie was a good cat. He hoped Jellie would survive for a while.
“Welp,” Ex said, “now that we’ve dropped Jellie off, I think Tommy and I will head out. We’ve had a busy morning, and we still need to find a place for our starter base, which means we have more places to visit before sundown. Have a nice day Scar, I hope you feel better tomorrow.”
Scar offered Ex a smile as Ex helped Tommy to his feet, knocking on the side of his wheelchair, “knock on wood.”
This time Tommy was a bit more prepared and when Ex reached out to knock on one of the wood barrels of the storage room, Tommy was much faster to follow suit.
“And don’t forget, you guys are always welcome to come build in Boatem with us. It’s nice to have friends close by.” Scar said, voice lilting up in a sales pitch.
Tommy watched Ex roll his eyes good naturedly at Scar’s antics, “we all live on the same continent, I think that’s plenty close enough. Besides, with all five of you around I know this place is gonna be way too busy. I’d rather we start alone, until Tommy gets used to you all. Exposure therapy, but for chaotic hermits.”
The duo descended from the Swagon and waved goodbye to Scar, then left Boatem, getting back on the main road very quickly, traveling by foot this time.
“Alright, we’re out now Tommy, how are you actually feeling? What do you think of Scar?”
Tommy scrunched in on himself for a moment before answering.
“Having a base that big is dangerous. Isn’t he fucking worried about someone with a grudge destroying it or some shit? Or does he not have to worry about that because he’s in a wheelchair?”
Ex stopped and turned to look at Tommy, “Tommy? You remember the rules of hermitcraft?”
Tommy gave him a weird look, “yeah? ‘No griefing, no stealing, no being unnecessarily mean to other hermits.’ But everyone knows the longer a server goes on the less the rules are fucking enforced. Eventually someone’s gonna snap and big homes like that are basically asking for someone to steal from or grief you or just fuck with you.”
Ex’s eyes widened, “oh no, oh dear Tommy. No no, that’s not how that works. I promise, that’s not how things work here. The rules are rules and the rules will always be enforced. Building big bases is part of what the hermits do, it wouldn’t work if the hermits were hurting each other or destroying anyone else’s builds. Pranks sure, fine, so long as you help clean it up if you go wrong. But never griefing or stealing.”
Tommy stared at Ex disbelievingly, before looking away and changing the subject, “Well? Where the hell are we going now?”
Ex sighed and let the subject drop. He had time to convince Tommy later. Instead he hummed softly, consulting the map he’d snagged from one of Suma’s chests the night before to help them find their way around the server.
“Well, we need to get your pants hemmed, but to do that we need to grab your new pants. So why don’t we stop back at the lighthouse to grab them, circle around the big eyes area, then head towards the swamp to see Stress. Think that sounds good?”
Tommy thought for a moment before nodding, “that sounds great.”