"So, Av-ick-sier, Av- Ax- A-vi-xier, Avxier?" Jaxa began, before grimacing. "God, I can't pronounce half of these names to save my life- anyways, why did you decide to join the Watchers, Tommy?"

Tommy shifted uncomfortably, seeming to hesitate a lot.

"Any answer's fine, Tommy, I'm just curious more than anything."

"Mostly to, um, get away froma certain someone on my server," Tommy mumbled, avoiding Jaxa's gaze. "They've been... a bit of a dick to me and my friends for the past couple of months."

Jaxa hummed with acknowledgement, tapping a finger on their desk.

"Okay, that's understandable," Jaxa smiled reassuringly, but at the same time blatantly forced. "There's been a couple other Watchers who've said similar." They paused for a moment, brushing their hair out of their eyes. His attention diverted when he realized that it was significantly shorter, having been cut to a more masculine style.

"Your hair-" Tommy said hesitantly.

"Oh, that," Jaxa laughed. "Result of multiple gender crisis- crisi? I dunno, and mild peer pressure from a friend. What was I going to ask again?" They frowned, struggling to remember. "Ah! Right - how are you doing?"

"Uh-" Tommy seemed confused by the question. "I'm doing okay?"

"That's um, that's good," Jaxa mused, seeming to be struggling to come up with anything to follow up with. "Just 'cause I don't want anyone to be really upset by something that's avoidable." They paused again, before laughing slightly. "Oh god, I sound like one of those HR advisers, please let me know if you ever want me to shut up."

"You don't want people to be upset," Tommy paused, trying to work through what they'd just said. "But you're part of a creepy stalker organization?"

Jaxa winced. They laughed nervously "Right- Um, that's a big flaw in my argument. Shut up."

Tommy sniggered.

There was a silent pause. Jaxa opened their mouth, before closing it again.

"I mean, are you sure? 'Cause like, you can talk to me about anything, you know that Tommy, right? You know that, hm."

"Yeah, I just, I just don't feel like I'm actually doing much here."

"Well that's fine Tommy, that's fine. I mean, you've always wanted to join the Watchers from a young age, right?"

"...No?" The taller raised a brow, much more confused.

Jaxa seemed unaffected. Their head tilted slightly, "But you've heard of them, right? Surely Phil would've told you. Phil's your father - am I allowed to reference your father? I mean, surely Phil would've told you?"

"I don't- know?"

"Are you sure? I mean, your memory's not any better than mine and mine's shit at the best of the times." They laughed. "Are you sure? If you think about it."

"No."

"Oh. Really? I mean, because he's certainly heard of them. He was very strongly against them, I mean, you hate Phil, right?"

Tommy no longer had any clue of what was going on, speaking of which, what the fuck is going on?

"Well- no?"

"But I mean, it makes sense. Of course you'd hate him. Any normal person would. You wouldn't like him after everything. He destroyed your country with Dream and he killed your brother - why would you like him?"

"That's not his fault-"

"Isn't it though? Because I mean, when you think about it, it really is. Wilbur might've begged for death, Phil physically stabbed him, y'know? I think that's something you should bear in mind, of course you're free to make your own judgement on him, I just think. You seem to be rather... forgiving? Of him. I mean, after everything he's done to you, everything he's put you through. I mean... Why wouldn't you hate him?"

"Because he's my father."

"Are you sure he never told you about them?"

"Yeah, I'm sure."

Despite how Tommy denied everything, They've remained insistent. Very insistent.

"Really though? Are you really sure? He'd have told you about it at least once, we're not that well kept of a secret."

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"You could've missed?"

"I mean- I don't think so."

"You're probably not just remembering it Tommy. Phil would've told you about it at some point if he was a good father, as you claim he was."

Tommy hesitated for a moment. "Phil was a good father." He stated, though it started sounding a bit less sure.

"How many times do I have to repeat it? No, he wasn't, you moron. Get a grip, he was manipulating you his entire life. Like Wilbur manipulated you. And you were oblivious about that until the end, so..."

Tommy was about to reply, but then someone else in the room coughed, announcing their presence. They both turned at the same time, and he sighed in relief, meanwhile Jaxa paled.

A figure stood by the half open door, hand still on the handle, other hand holding a stack of papers. Though their expression was deadpanned, her tone was sharp. "Am I interrupting something here?"

Jaxa shrunk back into their seat, before awkwardly laughing. "R-Rachel! You're back early!"

The older watcher seemed unimpressed, and instead raised a brow. "Care to explain what the hell I just walked into?"

"Nothing- nothing, really!" Jaxa shut off whatever Tommy was going to say. "We were just having a nice, formal discussion-"

"That's a fucking lie." The icy glare Zeichi gave did not lessen in the slightest.

She continued, relaxing into her usual posture before the younger could object. "Anyways, enough of this tomfoolery, you have other visitors waiting."

Zeichi walked into the room and pushed the door back, and right behind her, Zyno and Xelqua followed.

"Ah- Xelqua, Zyno! My two most favourite watchers!" They straightened up. "Wassup? Here to discuss the mission, right?"

"Yeah," Xelqua replied as he and the other sat on the seats in front of the table, just right next to the other blond. "Did you hear from Z-"

"Yeah, Zyno told me about the recent developments on your end." Jaxa paused. They paused for a moment. "So, how's EX holding up?"

"He looks just fine to me." The dirty blond shrugged. Hang on, there's two dirty blonds. Fuck. The one with the red top- oh wait. Shit. The shorter one- hang on a minute.

You know what, whatever, you know the one.

"Good to hear," Jaxa chuckled. "Haven't seen that bitch since the day they ran away."

"You knew him? What was he like back then?"

Meanwhile neither party noticed Tommy, who was not following with the conversation at all, just waiting for an explanation on what the actual fuck they were talking about.

"Quite timid, spite and anger towards their brother was what kept him going. They were reluctant to hurt him in the end though. He ended up bailing at the last second, as you heard."

"How long ago was that?" Grian asked, also completely failing to notice Tommy's ever growing confusion

"Eh, probably 5 years ago or whatever." Jaxa shrugged. "He ran away just a month or more before you came along. Rachel was the one dealing with that mess."

"Hang on-" Tommy started, before Zeichi completely cut him off.

"That's why you don't get people with previous connections." She rolled her eyes. "Never ends well."

"It's not my fault," Jaxa deflected. "Nobody objected, I just saw it as an opportunity."

"I get why you'd just let him through," Zyno shrugged, glancing at Grian.

"Wait- so who broke up with who?" Tommy finally was able to ask, and the room immediately went deadly silent.

"What?"

The silence was broken by Jaxa and Grian, simultaneously.

"Wh-" Tommy repeated. "You guys were the one talking about exes or some shit-!"

Silence fell again, before the two bursted out laughing.

"Oh god- Tommy- Oh no-" Zyno looked like he was trying his best to hold in his own laughter.

The boy grew even more confused. "What??"

"The EX we're talking about is a person," Zeichi clarified, seemingly unaffected. "Yes, it's their actual name. Short for 'Evil Xisuma'."

"Dumb name, I know," Grian sniggered. "I Think he changed his name when he was young, then dropped that for 'EX'. Should've stayed with what he changed it to originally, honestly."

"Wh- no one told me about this-" Tommy defended, feeling a bit frustrated that he got left out from this information. "So who the fuck is this Evil guy?"

Grian looked at SB, who then proceeded to look at Jaxa who then looked at Zeichi, who facepalmed, both mentally and physically.

"Oh for ender's sake how are you all even..." she trailed off, before sighing. "He's an ex-watcher who used to work for this division, though he ended up bailing halfway through a mission and betraying our kind."

"So why are we talking about this now?" Tommy asked, looking around in confusion.

"Xelqua got back in contact with him. And now he's working with us again... or whatever along those lines." Zeichi continued, glancing at Grian. "Is that correct, Xelqua?"

"Mostly," Grian shrugged. "Not convinced he's actually loyal, but the promise of redemption seems to be working for now. I can threaten him if need be, but if he's as gullible as his brother, there's not much we need to worry about."

"If you're sure."

"Are you really attacking this soon?" Jaxa asked, unable to keep a hint of skepticism out of their voice.

"I'm still only preparing it, probably will wait at least a few more days to actually do this, I need to come up with at least a more mediocre plan than just 'server go boom'." Xelqua answered irritably. "Already made some arrangements with some other divisions, so we should be good to go soon enough."

"So you're actually going to be doing this?" Zyno asked.

"Wh- what's that supposed to mean???" Grian turned. "Of course I am. I'm not gonna do an EX." Tommy started sniggering slightly.

"Sorry, just the way you phrased it," Tommy mumbled, a grin on his face.

"Anyway, moving on," Jaxa interrupted. "I hope you're as ready as you claim to be, Xelqua. We wouldn't what a repeat of what happened last time, though I can say that I trust you more than I ever trusted Xanthus. I've also seen the rough outline of that plan you presented, and I can say it's not half bad."

"Is that all you wanted to ask about?" Grian asked, irritation rising. He was sure, he had to be. It was a mix of just being questioned so much, and the slightest hint of doubt slowly worming it's way into his thoughts.

"If you're so desperate to leave, sure," Jaxa grinned, gesturing towards the door. Grian nodded with acknowledgement, bowing his head as he made his way out of the office, SB following a bit behind, and Tommy practically running to catch up.

.

..

.

"Wanna get some cupcakes and chill?" Grian asked as they exited the main HQ, glancing at the other two watchers. "Or ice cream, up to you."

Tommy's eyes lit up. "You guys sell ice cream around these parts?!"

"Yeah, don't you see all of the food stalls and vendors in the main area?" SB asked. "There's a lot of things here you wouldn't find in your average server."

"Though they still sell ice cream," Grian added, grin on his face. "So, ice cream?"

"DEFINITELY!" Tommy practically jumped with excitement, causing both SB and Grian to laugh.

"SB, you're paying," Grian quickly added.

"Oh goodness gracious." The other watcher rolled his eyes, but also had a small smile on his face. "You'll owe me an ice cream though."

"In the future, sure."

"Not too far in the future though, I don't want you dead before I get my money," SB laughed, grabbing a handful of coins from his pocket.

.

..

.

"So you guys are a corporate species, threatening to destroy servers and shit, and on the side you guys also go chill and open ice cream stores??"

SB and Grian glanced at each other.

"Yup. Basically us in a nutshell," Grian laughed.

"I wanna buy an ice cream truck when I'm older," Tommy decided firmly.

"Sounds fun, sounds fun." Grian chuckled. "God, I'm jealous. I'm practically stuck in my job as a double agent or some crap, wish I was just working at a simple ice cream store."

"You just want the ice cream."

"And?"

"I see no problem with that," Tommy sniggered.

"I actually had a job in an ice cream store for a short period of time," Grian added. "Then my best friend got murdered sorta, and I ended up quitting."

"Really? That's rough." Tommy winced. "Was the ice cream at least good?"

Grian laughed, though a bit more grimmer than usual. "Arguably, yes. Was it worth the trauma just to have it? Probably not."

"Trauma's never fun," Tommy sighed in agreement.

"Am I the only Watcher without any sort of trauma here?" SB asked, glancing at the two.

"Probably, lucky you." A tinge of bitterness crept its way into Grian's voice, signalling that it was probably time to change the topic. "Anyway, maybe I'll see if I can buy an ice cream shop once I'm done with this mission."

"Speaking of the mission," Tommy added, although he seemed a bit more reluctant to bring up the topic. "What was it about servers being destroyed?"

"Oh, right, forgot that we didn't actually give you a full rundown on the mission," Grian laughed. "The server I'm on is due to be destroyed within the next couple weeks."

Tommy frowned. "But you're getting the people out, right?"

Grian glanced at SB, uncertain on how to answer it.

"Not exactly," Grian eventually answered.

"What do you mean-"

He could've sworn a couple of tears were pricking at the corners of his eyes, threatening to drop.

"Well, you see, Tommy," he answered hesitantly, glancing once again at SB for reassurance. "Sometimes, there are people who threaten our society, and our entire way of living. And sometimes, very rarely, we have to go to extreme lengths to protect ourselves--"

"But-" Tommy choked out. "But that doesn't mean they deserve to die!" His breathing had increased, and Grian could sense the ever increasing feelings of betrayal and horror.

He reached a hand out in an attempt to reassure Tommy, but the younger flinched away.

"Maybe not. But Tommy, the thing is-"

"No!" Tommy interrupted, his voice heightening in pitch. One of the tears that had been threatening to spill over slipped down his cheek, but he quickly brushed that away. "You lied! You lied to me!" He backed away even further. "All you people do is LIE!"

Tommy took off, ducking behind a corner after a few seconds. The sound of his muffled sobs could still be heard, and Grian made a move to go after him before SB stopped him.

"Don't," SB said quietly. "He'll come around."

Grian nodded, a little shaken, but flicked a quick smile.

"I probably should be off," he deflected, trying to ignore the tangible betrayal that he could feel from a few feet away. "Dunno how long I can get away with away before they get suspicious, especially so soon after the Xanthus incident."

It was a reasonable excuse, even though they both knew it wasn't the real reason.

SB nodded in acknowledgement. "I'll call if there's any updates, or when I need one."

Grian smiled. "Thanks SB."

With that, Grian once again prepared to log back into the Hermitcraft server, with a slightly heavier feeling in his stomach, and slightly wavering resolve.