𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕: 𝟒,𝟒𝟔𝟗

cub / scar

Sunrises were criminally underrated, in Scar's opinion at least. On this particular day, which happened to be the first anniversary of this season as well as the season where Grian was first introduced as a hermit, Scar flew up with his elytra on top of one of the towers he had built himself.

Jellie, his precious cat followed along with him, sitting on his lap purring away. Ever since Scar had found Jellie lurking around, she has been constantly following Scar like a child following her parent.

"At least we got this whole area to ourselves, Jellie..." Scar said calmly, petting his Jellie gently. "I wonder what Cub is doing, I haven't seen him anywhere today."

Just as Scar said that out loud to his own cat, the sudden disruption of fireworks ringed both Scar and Jellie's ears. Jellie purred loudly, Scar took notice and looked back.

It happened to be Cub, holding a picnic basket and was in a more appropriate attire, bearing a cozy sweater and baggy pants because Cub doesn't know much about fashion unfortunately.

Scar expected it though, he pretty much know that at some point Cub is going to try to act as formal as possible by setting up a picnic date with him on top of one of his towers.

"Scar, I came here to drop by since it's only the two of us plus an adorable Jellie." Cub explained, setting up the date by putting down a white and red checkered picnic blanket on the roof of the tower. "Also, happy anniversary to this server."

The scientist opened the picnic basket, it was filled with food goodies for both Cub and Scar as well as Jellie to eat up. From the appetising smell of cake and cooked porkchop to the raw cod that Cub had to endure fishing for.

As the two members of their own founding company, Concorp, Cub and Scar had been together for years. When the two discovered that they were both Vexes, Scar began to develop feelings.

Now here they are, casually discussing about the future of Concorp and how to lure Mumbo into secretly helping them for their business which is a snobby move but, Mumbo was an easy target.

"So while everyone is acting all lovey dovey, we're both discussing about how to lure Mumbo in?" Scar boasted, having that bit of Vex attitude within him.

Cub chuckled, taking another bite out of his golden apple he had stolen from Iskall's shulker box just a few hours after he left his base to see Stress. "Not really, Scar."

They continued to eat their food, munching away everything from the picnic basket. Comfortable silence for the two of them.

Scar eventually spoke, his mouth full of cookies that would've lasted him a whole week. "What's up with you and taking me out these days anyway?"

Cub spat out his drink onto his baggy pants.

"Erm..." Cub's face turned red, this was such a rare occurrence for him to react like that in front of Scar. "I guess I wanted to make you feel better."

That ending up leaving Scar to leaning his head against Cub's shoulder, watching as the sun rise up slowly. "It's a normal day, right?"

Jellie curled up between Scar and Cub, licking her paws out of satisfaction. Scar had guessed Cub wanted to make this day a little more special, the two were just busy with their projects they don't even have that much time together.

So it was nice to see your best friend and soulmate prepare for you a picnic date alongside a jukebox constantly playing their favourite songs when they were young.

"Yep, another normal day as Concorp's founders."

There was another pause.

"Hey, Scar?"

The cowboy opened his eyes, about to fall asleep after overworking himself. "Hm, what is it Cub?"

"Thank you for being there for me and being a genuine good prankster partner."

"You too Cub, you'll always be my soulmate. Now give me a kiss."

"No kisses until lunch time."

Scar pouted.

"Come on, just one!"

"I'm not a good kisser, Scar." Cub complained.

Jellie glared at Cub, she was a cat but it was still scary knowing how Jellie knew about Scar's weaknesses and how much he loved Cub as his role model and person to gush over with when no one's watching.

"Fine, only once though."

Cub wasn't exactly the perfect kisser, just giving Scar kisses on the cheek and such. But in this case, here was Cub himself kissing Scar. Like, fully kissing him on the lips. Usually their relationship was kept subtle, even when it was private and god, Scar's stomach was already filling up with butterflies and feelings.

Scar broke off the kiss, not wanting Cub to feel like he has to kiss a little more to get Scar to feel better.

"Am I really a good kisser, Scar?" Cub asked.

"That was totally worth the wait, so yes."

xisuma / biffa

Xisuma was in another panic mode again. One, because the server was suddenly in shambles for the anniversary of when Xisuma created another portal to this new world and two, because apparently Biffa logged back in.

A few months actually, since Biffa logged into the server. Spending more time on his other worlds, resting and mainly talking to Xisuma by messaging. As a person that is constantly surrounded by new builders and people, Xisuma was quite a quiet person.

So when he saw that Biffa was coming back, on the 1st anniversary of Grian also becoming a hermit, Xisuma was getting excited. He nervously cleaned up his base, making sure that Evil X wouldn't come back again. Sure, the two have forgiven each other but EX was still as bad Concorp's marketing plans.

Couple of hours passed by, Xisuma grew tired and decided to take a quick break. He could be collecting more rare items at his farms but he felt lazy and slacking off. It does feel like a national holiday, although most of the hermits were either playing on Cub's new minigame or deciding wherever or not who actually one in the build off between the architects, Scar and Ren.

Xisuma dozed off, resting on the comfortable bed he was laying down upon. Across him however, was another person in the room. Sneaking in, he dragged the bed across the floor. It was indeed a difficult task, but Biffa is not giving up on making Xisuma surprised of who just "pranked" him.

Biffa managed to get Xisuma's bed on top of his base, he was a pretty strong person to carry all of Xisuma plus that the bed's weight. Xisuma woke up, rubbing his eyes. That quick nap lasted for over three hours, not a quick one to be clear. As Xisuma attempted to grab something, he only felt Biffa's robotic hand. Confused, he looked up only to find Biffa sitting next to him.

"W-Where am I?!" Xisuma scanned around the area, he was on top of his own base, which was blocks down below surface area. "And... Biffa?!"

Biffa snickered at Xisuma's change of voice tone seeing him suddenly next to him in bed. It surprising was able to squish Biffa in, sitting down to be precise. "You think I was joking?"

Xisuma, jumped out of the bed still wondering how the hell did Biffa managed to carry both him and his one single bed on top of his base. "Why would I think of that? I believe almost every word you say."

Biffa smirked, giving Xisuma the tightest hug. He really did miss having to see Xisuma everyday, always doing something.

"Busy today?" Biffa asked, thinking that Xisuma would've planned some admin stuff to fix off. Whatever that may be, Biffa had been around with him for years but still doesn't know how Xisuma has admin role.

Xisuma shook his head, more surprised that Biffa was here than Biffa being able to lift him and the bed off the floor and onto a roof for that matter.

"Nope, not at all I believe." Xisuma replied, shaking off his armour. "I'm just overwhelmed with you coming back on the day I created this server."

"I know, I know." Biffa said, putting his arm around X's shoulder. "Perhaps, we can take a full week break and build a small house for us?"

Xisuma blinked twice at the question Biffa just asked, is this his apology for not being in the server for months? Maybe Biffa missed him, that's what love is in X's opinion.

But for some reason, his mind would keep insisting to not go. Xisuma hasn't been stopping any breaks, constantly working on too many things at once. Now his loved one is just going to think that Xisuma is ignoring him. Which isn't the case, X just wanted to forget the fact that he missed being around Biffa.

"X? Is everything alright?" Biffa suddenly blurred out, visibly concerned.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Xisuma asked nervously.

"Yes? For God's sake Xisuma, you're my lover!" Biffa threw his robotic arms around, becoming more annoyed but warmed of how stupid his boyfriend is.

"Guess I'm a classified idiot to you." Xisuma smiled, cupping Biffa's cheeks with his hands.

Biffa's heart jumped, He's cute, he's so cute oh my god. I'm in love, I'm in love with someone I've known for years. Fuck.

"You're my idiot then." Biffa answered, kissing Xisuma's forehead.

And a few hours later, Stress and Iskall walks back from the snowy forest only to discover the small house. Iskall whispers something to Stress, as they hear the cheesy pop music that was playing from inside. The two didn't know who it was, but they look at each other, giggling.

Looks like the two were too busy dancing to Taylor Swift, just like what they used to years ago during Skype calls.

cleo / false

False was curious to see if Cleo was still at her pirate ship. Ever since her and the zombie got together, False was more than happy to see Cleo around.

Wherever she's fixing her pirate ship or just in the pub in general, False would stay by her side. However in this particular time, False was going to surprise her after Joe had stated how she loved it if her girlfriend was able to come today. It was a special day, so of course False would've said yes.

"Oh my goodness," Joe shouted across the bar.

False was still filling up the beer barrel with, well beer. "What's up, Joe?"

"Um, don't you think this is sorta creepy that we stole her pub keys and she didn't even notice a damn thing?" Joe mentioned while he was wiping the tables down.

"I'm sure she wouldn't mind." False disclosed, before taking a clear beer mug out of one of the chests and filling up with beer. "Want some?"

"Nah, don't want the hermits getting drunk too."

"Please don't say that, you know what happens when you get drunk Doc and drunk Ren mixed together."

"Drunk sex."

"And that's why Cleo didn't want Doc and Ren in her pub anymore."

Joe rolled his eyes, continuing on sweeping the floor. Just as False was able to grab another litre of cocktail, Cleo walked inside the building. She was indeed, shocked that the two were actually making the effort of surprising her.

The moment she walked in, it was probably at the wrong time. Joe started to sweat, Cleo was looking for those keys and himself, Joe Hills, has the keys in his pocket. Worst timing possible. False turned her back, almost falling off the ladder.

"Well... aren't you surprised?" Joe guessed, awkwardly standing there like a complete dad would do if they were called by the school because their daughter just got expelled.

"Actually, yes." Cleo beamed out, she was much more energetic than the last couple of days. Not as energetic as Grian could get, but at least having a smile on her face.

Cleo ran over to False, giving her a quick kiss. "Miss you lots, darling."

False chuckled, a tint of blush appeared on her cheeks. "You're okay! I-I'm so happy that you're not angry at us."

"Why would I ever be?" Cleo said, grabbing Joe's arm and wrapping it around her shoulders along with False's. "Besides, you two are my two best friends!"

Joe was flustered, scratching his neck. "I'm quite honoured? Y'all are cuter than me!"

"No, look at yourself Joe! You deserve all the dad mugs in the world." False responded in a friendly tone.

"Come on, let's have a drink!" Cleo gushed, grabbing two mugs and filling them with beer. She then gave each of the two beer mugs to Joe and False, she was an enthusiast for alcohol, even though Joe doesn't enjoy drinking it.

False on the other hand was getting the hang of alcohol, beer especially. Drinking a sip of it, she placed it down on the table. "Well, since we're all here what do we have discussing for?"

"The fact that it's been a year since we started on a small island again?" Joe began, taking another chug of the beer. He doesn't really want Cleo knowing that he hates drinking, so he just forces himself instead, but he's slowly enjoying it. "And that Grian? I'm telling y'all, you should've listened to me when I said he's up to trouble."

"Says the one that's associated with Cub and Scar." Cleo teased, nudging him, Joe responding with a loud sigh.

"Grian isn't so bad, even though the war happened..." False expressed bittersweetly. "I wish that never occured."

Joe and Cleo nodded, the war was something none of the hermits really talked about after it ended.

"And Grian's right. Doc, Impulse and Wels might have took it too far." Cleo added.

"But we were all part of the war, who do we gotta blame now? Ourselves. At least we all took the lesson." Joe opposed back, he was half finished with his beer. "May I have some more beer?"

Cleo was caught off guard that Joe was asking her for more beer, but agreed to pour in some more for him.

"Come on, guys. Look at the bright side." False frowned, just finishing the whole beer mug. "We were able to bring back friendships that were broken, I mean look at Wels and Jevin. Have you seen them?"

"They're so madly in love, I thought these two hated each other!" Joe commented in a dramatic way. "Everywhere, they're either having a date or doing something like that."

"But we're all happy, at least today." Cleo reminded the two, standing up from her chair. "We don't know if this server will reset all of a sudden but..."

"We'll remember that this was where the relationships have blossomed." Joe vowed, putting his beer mug up. "For all the hermits!"

False and Cleo looked at each other, smiling.

"For the hermits!"

team zit

"Ah, it's you."

Impulse was more than annoyed. Great, Tango actually came back. He was at the nether, leaving Zedaph and himself behind. Firstly, his betrayal and how it made Zed feel.

The aftermath of the war was the main reason. After Tango's "missing in action" stage, he comes back on the special day that is the server's creation. As much as even Impulse disliked Tango's ignorance to make his Zed feel like shit, he still allowed him to come inside.

On the other hand, Tango had a different perspective. He wasn't really going to the nether. Another world, actually. He revisited his village he used to go to while travelling, teaching them his ways of farming and creating a town square. It worked pretty well, even learning stuff he wished he could've learned before.

"I just wanted to see you two again." Tango said, his eyes were glowing red. "Not to sure if Zedaph still-"

"Just come in." Impulse interrupted.

Tango quietly walked into Impulse's and Zedaph's new base. It was renovated, everything Tango had there was either gone or put in storage. Originally, Team ZIT was inseparable. And Zedaph would consider these two as his closest friends.

It was during a period where Tango would often leave with Grian that Zed started to question if Tango and Impulse was hiding something from him. He didn't join the war, he didn't want to choose between Tango and Impulse.

But god, the way Tango treated Impulse hurted him. All the other hermits who weren't involved in this wanted it to stop, this was too much. Eventually when it was over, Zed had realised how much he held onto Tango more than Impulse.

And Tango having to leave Zed without him knowing? Terrible, he felt terrible and couldn't redeem himself from it. Even if it was just a typical war, the hermits would've gotten killed and wiped out.

Zedaph was lying down in the couch, reading one of the many books that he had found in villages. Peering up from his book, he saw Tango and Impulse standing in front of the couch.

He almost fell over out of surprise. "T-Tango, it's been a long time..."

Tango looked down in humiliation. "Look I'm sorry if I-"

"It's okay, I'm used to it." Zedaph doesn't look at Tango though, his eyes straight down at his book. But he wasn't reading anything.

Impulse was about to put all his anger at Tango for what he was trying to do, but then thought about Zedaph.

He was upset because of Impulse and Tango fighting, it didn't matter who he loved the most. Even if Impulse and Zed are closer and in love, Zed would feel betrayed and enraged knowing that the Impulse he knew wouldn't do that.

Tango glanced at Impulse, his friend. Ex friend, if that counts. He's aware by now that Impulse wasn't happy that Zed was ignoring the two of them.

So Tango used his devil tongue to whisper to Impulse, an ability that he can use to privately talk to any hermit without the use of texting and none of their surroundings knowing what they are talking about.

"He's clearly pissed off at the both of us." Tango explained, attempting to sound genuinely concerned which is a difficult task.

"Pissed off? Because you left us!" Impulse whispered at him, it was more of a quiet yelling.

"Us fighting won't fix anything."

"You shouldn't have joined Grian's side."

"Are you kidding? You're now using that excuse?"

"Please Tango. He's my boyfriend, I have to protect him."

"Then act like you're doing something." Tango hissed. "I make my faults too, Impulse. We both need to apologise."

Impulse stared at Zedaph, he was crying. He wasn't usually like this, but when it does happen, Impulse knew that he fucked up.

"We were going to start fresh, a new life. I don't blame you Impulse, I know you love Zedaph so much." Tango recited.

"When the server got rebooted, it gave us a new life, to be together as a family. But the war ruined us, it hurt Zed."

Tango grabbed a blanket near one of the shulker boxes and wrapped it around Zedaph, the blonde brit confused at what was happening.

"I miss us as Team ZIT. Please, just give me a chance to talk to him."

"What if... what if he doesn't forgive us?" Impulse panicked.

"Zed would never turn you away. He's in love, I can see it. All I want from him is to forgive me." Tango said quietly. "Let's bring Team ZIT back."

Impulse was stubborn at first but eventually had to accept it. "Fine, it'll probably take more time to forgive you but... I'll try to be nice to you again."

Tango chuckled. "No need to apologise, was kinda an asshole during the war anyways."

The ability worn off and Zedaph could finally hear Impulse and Tango. He felt intimidated, Tango was much taller and his horns have definitely grown.

"I'm so sorry, I think I overreacted too much and..." Zedaph wiped his tears away, he was quite sensitive at times despite being a cheerful person.

"Zed, I'm sorry." Tango began his apology, Impulse gulped at Zed's reaction, he was terrified.

"Me and Impulse shouldn't have joined in and we ended up leaving a large scar between the three of us."

Impulse crotched down, giving Zedaph a hug. "I'm sorry too for being such a stubborn person, I was too overprotective over you. I know you also miss Tango a lot."

Zedaph smiled, rushing to Tango to give him a hug. Tango had felt this rush of love filling up his heart, seeing Impulse and Zedaph's relationship grow.

Although he had dated Impulse in the past, Zedaph had now saw him as a friend he could always count on. Yes, Tango is over with falling for Impulse. But this was better for him, watching his two best friends happy.

So Zedaph hugged them both, he missed Tango. In general, he was happy that the team was back. That was the first time all of them had felt this sort of feeling, a reunion.

tfc / jess / xb (platonic)

When you're three people that barely come on the server, what does that equal to?

An unlikely friendship trio, that's for sure!

Jess, xB and TFC were all on board on meeting at Hermitville. Their minds were mostly on if they missed out on important events or that there's probably ice cream left in one of the chests.

"Hey, xB!" Jess greeted as he saw xB trying to also look for both Jess and TFC. "Have you found TFC yet?"

"This man is slow, slower than Santa." xB exclaimed, looking around Hermitville. "So I guess this is the place where all the hermits go to..."

"Eh, guess you say that this is mainly their hangout area."

TFC was behind them, with a large grin on his face. He was wearing his favourite shirt, which read "#1 Babysitter For All Hermits".

"TFC!"

"Okay, I have a question. Why is there a large dragon on that tall house?" TFC pointed at Grian's tower like house, which had a makeshift dragon blowing out fire made out of glass panes.

Jess was amazed. "This Grain dude is good at building stuff!"

"It's pronounced Grian, Jess..." xB corrected, embarrassed at Jess not being in the server for so long.

"My bad."

The three admired each of the builds, as dumb as it sounded, they were so impressed. TFC was more dumbfounded, how long did it take for Grian to build that? Why was Scar so obsessed with destroying the other builds? And why was Ren always talking about being a hippie?

As they were walking around, they noticed the hermits were also there. Jess was hesitant and it took TFC's warnings that he would steal all the ice cream if he didn't come to convince him that this wasn't bad.

"Everyone is interacting, this is so strange." xB muttered at TFC. "There's so many hermits I didn't even know that were in relationships!"

"Well obviously, we're all old and we need a bit in love in our life." TFC enthused, waving at Joe and Cleo who were about to enter a portal with False.

The assassin stayed behind the two though, still conflicted. Why was he so nervous over this? It felt like he was being judged silently, even though an assassin wouldn't give a shit as to what the other person would say.

"Guys?"

xB and TFC turned back, paying attention to Jess.

Jess removed his mask, he was now able to talk better. "Well, does that mean we can start a team name?"

"I mean, I'm usually busy but..." xB excused. "But a team name, that's cool!"

"Team names are stupidly cool, so sure." TFC said agreeably. "Speaking of which, what should it be?"

"Team TXJ?" xB suggested.

Jess bursted out laughing. "That sounds like a fanclub of a couple."

"Team Inactive?"

"That's so sad."

"Jess! I'm trying at least!" xB protested, going a little red.

TFC thought carefully. He then got a good name idea.

"You two, how about Team Vanilla?"

xB and Jess went quiet all of a sudden.

"Vanilla, the only hermits that missed out on everything. We're pretty basic, but we were there from the start. We never really quit, just having breaks." TFC proclaimed. "Even if we don't appear as often, we can still claim this Team name."

"TFC... that's such a stupid team name but I'll accept it!" xB chirped, giving the old grandpa a high five.

Jess probably had spent most of his time in his server either by himself or with one idiot and the grandpa with the only brain cells in the whole server.

For now on, the three would probably start appearing in the server. Sure, they have less of a following, especially when it comes to the fans. But what are they anyway? The NHO? Or the Logfellas? Nope, they're just called Team Vanilla because of the members love for ice cream.

But in the end, they all care for each other.

bonus: pixl /zloy

Zloy's alarm rang at least four times before he could hit the snooze button on his phone. He knew that it was a year since out of nowhere, him and his boyfriend and best friend Pixl were whitelisted in the server.

So now they're living in an apartment built by Xisuma, they don't really have to go to different servers and pay extra diamonds just because one's a mutant zombie and the other's a human.

Suddenly, Zloy felt something warm behind him. He was still in bed, not wanting to get up. Not that he hated mornings, Zloy just needed sleep.

The amount of editing and scripting he had to do, putting down blog posts and interacting with the hermits? Overwhelming, knowing that he had idolised the hermits and now he's friends with half of them.

Anyway, the zombie's face started to heat up.

It got worse when he felt a slight neck kiss. Zloy turned his body, blushing the moment he saw Pixl in bed with him. Slightly uneasy, because Zloy doesn't get enough sleep these days and Pixl was shirtless, that's even worse for the mutant.

"Why do you have to be shirtless, of all days?" Zloy mumbled quietly, covering his face with his hands out of embarrassment. "Everything, why is everything so-"

"We got another video to make." Pixl purred, putting a shirt on just in case Zloy accidentally faints today. "Let's go get breakfast, sweetheart."

Zloy threw a pillow at Pixl, still embarrassed yet and was questioning why he loved this dumbass so much. "Fine, treat me like your prince or I'll-"

"Zloy, please don't ever uwu me ever again, I swear to god-"