<This is it, chapter 30! Gosh, I can't have ever though of getting this far, but here we are! I'm not going to keep you any longer. So please enjoy!>

Mumbo and Iskall flew into Grian's base early the next morning, they didn't want to waste more time then needed in getting their boyfriend back so getting there early seemed logical.

They greeted Doc as they landed, the creeper was leaning against a wall near them, trident in hand as he called a greeting back at them.

Looking around they could see that almost everyone was there, and some were still asleep. Around half of the evolutionists were awake, but they stayed with the rest of the group that was still asleep. Out of the Hermits Keralis and Bdubs were still sleeping, but everyone else seemed to be awake.

They were about to walk over towards Ren, who was talking with Stress, when Markus appeared with the Void twins and the two Grian look alikes, "Ok everyone! I have some very good news and some less good news, but don't worry it's nothing to bad."

Everyone awake gathered around the five of them, all focused on Markus. The teen shifted slightly but continued on when EX placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, "So since all of the Evolutionists came back with the shards yesterday I was able to get started on the potion!" Cheers rang out through the concrete base at this, "But it's not done yet. It'll need around a week to set before we can use it, and then another day to fully get it ready."

"A week?" Asked Netty, her ears twitching anxiously, "We can't stay here for that long! We have to return to EVO. But I also want to find Grian."

"We all want to find Grian." Said Martyn, arms wrapping around his wife in comfort, "But Netty's right, we need to get back to EVO. Perhaps you guys can send a message to use when it's done, so that we can come back then?"

"Sounds good to me." Agreed Xisuma, and most of the Hermits quietly mumbled their agreements, "We'll call you up when it's all finished. When are you all leaving?"

"After everyone else is awake is a good time I think." Offered Netty as an option, "Then we can get some time to hang and say goodbye."

And so it was decided. The Hermits made sure to spend as much time as they could with all the Evolutionists, the last of which woke up around an hour after everything was decided and agreed upon. They shared funny stories about Grian, laughing over the many pranks and traps the dirty blond had pulled on both servers. They also talked about themselves. Deciding that since they'd be working together, well maybe not now but later, they might as well get to know each other.

Netty and Stress talked and laughed about all the silly pranks Grian had done to them and/or them. Netty also told small tricks to get Grian to head of to bed, like if you started stroking his hair he'd get really sleepy, or if you sung to him gently he'd also get very sleepy.

Stress thanked her for the information, as did Mumbo and Iskall, both having overheard the conversation. They blushed when Stress playfully berated them for eavesdropping, but she (and Netty too) then dissolved into hearty giggles and that kind of ruined it.

After that Mumbo and Iskall turned back to talk with Taurtis, the headphones wearing man silently laughing at the two of them. They quickly went back to talking, Iskall enthusiastically explaining about all the stuff that doesn't exist in EVO. Mumbo smiled as he watched his boyfriend try his best to describe a certain item but not finding the right word, it was adorable to watch him stumble over words trying to find the right one.

Mumbo looked away from his boyfriend to take in everybody else talking. Doc and Scar were talking about the shenanigans of Area 77 whilst the PP listened on with rapid attention, he was even pretty sure they were writing down stuff.

Mumbo watched everyone smile and laugh, and just for a moment he imagined that Grian was there with them, laughing loudly and telling tales of all of what he'd done on both servers to everyone. But then he remembered that he wasn't, that he was still away from them with no memory of them.

A hand on his shoulder brought him out of his thoughts, turning he was met with the face of Pearl, "You ok?"

"No. And I don't think I will be until we get Grian back." He answered honestly.

The blond gave him a sad smile, "Yeah, I don't think there will be anything very productive done back in EVO until we know he's safe, and even then we'll still worry."

"You've missed him."

Pearl smiled as she gazed out over the base, taking in the futuristic build, "Everyone has. He's the soul of us, it's hard to just let go of one's soul."

"You haven't let go of your soul, I can tell." Said Mumbo, looking at the EVO members in the base.

"Oh, you can tell? And here I thought you were just a big spoon." Laughed Pearl, light blue eyes shining with mirth.

He playfully scoffed, "You shouldn't believe a thing Grian tells you, it's all lies."

She opted to laugh at him instead of answering him, and soon the redstoner also joined in on the laughter. Iskall looked away from Taurtis and smiled at the laughs leaving his tall boyfriends mouth, Mumbo hadn't laughed or smiled much since Grian's kidnapping (or whatever the hell had happened) so it was nice to see him in such a good mood for once.

"You know, thi-" whatever Taurtis was about to say was interrupted by a red shape slamming into him.

"TAURTIS! IT IS GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN, I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU IN A WHILE." Chirped NPG, his little demon tail swishing happily back and forth.

"NPC Grian! It's good to see you as well, how have you been?" Asked the headphones wearing man, his previous conversation completely forgotten.

"I HAVE BEEN WELL! THOUGH I'VE MISSED YOU AND GRIAN, DO YOU KNOW WHEN HE'S COMING BACK?" Wondered the mechanic half demon, head tilted to the side.

"You've missed Grian?" Asked Taurtis confused, he thought NPG would be at least a bit mad at Grian for locking him away in a closet all the time.

The demon nodded enthusiastically at him, " I HAVE. EVER SINCE THE DAY HE LET ME OUT OF THE CLOSET FOR GOOD AND FIXED ME UP, AND HUGGED ME AND CRIED, WE'VE BEEN HANGING OUT A LOT. BUT THEN HE HAD TO GO HERE, SO I'VE MISSED HIM."

"Wait, hugged you and cried?" Asked Doc alarmed, the creeper, and everybody else's attention now NPG, "What happened?"

"I DON'T KNOW WHY HE DID IT." Said the demon with a little confused shrug, "BUT HE KEPT SAYING WEIRD STUFF, TO ME AND TO HIMSELF. IT WAS VERY CONFUSING, BUT HE LET ME OUT SO IT WAS OKAY."

"What type of weird stuff?" Asked Netty, a tiny bit afraid of what the answer would be.

"WELL, HE KEPT APOLOGIZING TO ME AND SAYING THAT HE "PROMISED TO NOT BE LIKE HIM ANYMORE AND THAT HE WAS SO SORRY FOR EVER LOCKING ME UP" AND THEN HE WAS MUTTERING ABOUT FINDING SOMEONE? I CAN'T REMEMBER A LOT OF IT, PLUS HE WAS BEING TOO QUITE FOR ME TO HEAR."

Horrified looks were shared around the group. Had he been remembering stuff about Xenagoras? But why was he remembering it randomly?

Xisuma was thinking about it for a few seconds before something hit him, "Was this around the time I came to visit him?"

The rustic house lover nodded, "YUP! I REMEMBER HEARING YOU AND GRIAN TALKING, YOU MADE HIM SMILE QUITE A BIT."

The admin smiled at that, "I'm glad I did. Also, I think I know what triggered it." Everyone looked at him, silently asking for him to elaborate, "It was me, or more specifically my name."

Cub snapped his fingers when he pieced it together, "He recognized the name Void, and he reacted badly to it."

A silence fell upon everyone at that, no one really wanted to say anything. And not much was said until the Evolutionists left, somber goodbyes and words of encouragement shared for both servers. And then they were gone, leaving the Hermits to talk between themselves in their close group of friends.

Mumbo and Iskall left for their cottage once more, and soon some other people left for their own bases too.

But Doc stayed, and Ren stayed with him. It was quite for a long time between them, both just sitting still and thinking.

Ren was the first one to speak up, in the form of a question, "What do we do now?"

Doc took a while to answer, prosthetic absentmindedly tapping against his thigh, "We wait, wait and live."

"For him." The wolf seemed to hold himself higher as he said the words, like he'd just said the finishing line of an amazing motivational speech before a big battle.

"For him." Agreed Doc with a smile. He leaned in and rested his head on the top of Ren's head, "And we'll do it together."

Ren reached out and took Doc's rough hand into his own softer ones, "As if you could ever get rid of me."

The creeper smiled down at the werewolf with a loving smile, "Wasn't even thinking about it Hündchen."

Ren returned the smile with a big one of his own, and he tilted his head up to show it off to Doc. The creeper laughed and popped his lovers nose as soon as he got the chance, laughter doubling as Ren pouted.

Seems like everything truly wasn't that bad after all, at least not in the moment.

<What can I say? I'm on an angst to fluff writing thing at the moment! (Might be me getting everyone ready for the things I have planned) Now it's really late and I should have been in bed an hour ago, so I'll see you all in the next chapter.

Have a wonderful time everyone!>