The Chained Watcher

Eavesdropping

"Okay, do we have anything new this week?"

Grian perched on one of the wall decorations while eavesdropping on this week's Secret Seekers meeting. Although he didn't always show up, he made a point to occasionally sneak in to keep them on their toes. Unfortunately, his preferred vantage point of the chandelier was a no-go, since they had started adding tripwires around the ceiling and pressure plates where they could.

This left him with much fewer options that would keep him both semi-comfortable and out of the way of any randomly flailing limbs. What he had settled for was a flaming hopper, taking the opportunity to practice using as little magic as he could while still getting the desired effect. Sure, with enough magic he could brute-force his way through any problem, but after his lengthy time deprived of all magic, he'd come to appreciate efficiency.

Besides, less magic is more stealthy, which he'll need if he ever has to use magic near a Listener base. But honestly, what are the chances of him needing to do that?

Tango starts sharing his unintentional info-dump from a couple days ago, and his embarrassment resurfaces again. He'd gotten too caught up in sharing information, and had forgotten entirely that normal people wouldn't know that sort of stuff. At least his long-term plans already included revealing what exactly he is to the other Hermits.

Hmm, is there something he can do to mess with them a little today? He can't do anything too openly weird anymore, since they've just started assuming that if something starts acting weird during a meeting it's his fault. They're not wrong, but it still makes it harder to pull off.

This means that he can't blow out the torches, mess with more compasses, move stuff with magic, or use basically any of his other all-purpose mischief-making methods. So then what can he do? So glad you asked! While he can't do anything big without drawing suspicion, he can do any number of small things that, even if they mostly go unnoticed, still count as mischief.

Carrying a bucket of meticulously collected dust, Grian started scattering it lightly in the air. Sure, it's not much, but it'll still make them sneeze. A plan doesn't have to be diabolical to be funny.

Next comes something he'll have to be careful doing, at least if he doesn't want to get caught. Precariously balancing on the flaming brazier, Grian stretched his arm out and tapped Bdubs on the shoulder. He immediately pulled back, and Bdubs made a questioning noise at the person beside him, who just happened to be Ren. Ren answered with a look of confusion, not understanding what Bdubs was asking.

"You tapped my shoulder, weren't you trying to get my attention?"

"I didn't touch you, I was paying attention to the meeting."

"Yes you did, I know what I felt."

"But I really didn't?"

"Oh, really. You're the one sitting next to me, who else could it have been?"

Ren's response was cut off by a sneeze, and his nose wrinkled as he tried not to sneeze again. His attempts were unsuccessful, and any sentence he tried to get out was punctuated by half-suppressed sneezes. Someone offered him a handkerchief, which he just held over his nose to stop the sneezes.

"You good there?"

"No, but I'll recover. When did it get so dusty in here, anyway?"

Several other Hermits sniff the air, before wrinkling their noses while also trying not to sneeze. They exchange looks, and grab long sticks that they start waving around through the air. It confused Grian for a moment, before he realized that this was probably their new 'Where's Grian' reaction. He made sure he was squarely on top of the flaming hopper/brazier, hoping the flames would keep them from waving the wooden sticks too close.

While there's nothing fundamentally bad about getting found, he enjoys seeing how long he can remain undetected while committing small acts of mischief. Besides, he'd rather not get bapped on the head by one of those sticks.

Having failed to find any hidden avian, the Hermits' expressions fall to confusion. Should he let them assume he's not there, or should he cause more trouble and see how long it takes them to figure out where he is? Decisions, decisions.

He makes his choice when Bdubs goes to sit back down, choosing the unfortunate Hermit again due to his proximity. A quick application of magic pulled the chair back just enough, letting Bdubs end up sitting on the ground instead of his seat. Nearly bursting with laughter, Grian instead chose to silently snicker at the offended look the poor chair was given.

He was reaching out to tap Tango's shoulder when all the communicators in the room simultaneously made a very loud noise. With a startled squawk, he lost his balance and ended up falling on top of Tango in a tangled mess of limbs. So much for stealth.

Any attempts to retreat were also cut off when Tango reacted to the accidental tackle by grabbing his arms and yelling, "I've got him!"

For a bit of context, when operating as members of the Secret Seekers, the Hermits would occasionally attempt to catch him with a trap to bargain for an extra clue. It's all in good fun, but they've only managed it once... Well, once before this time, at least.

Last time he'd given them null-gravity boots, which are more funny than practical, considering how the only thing they lighten is themselves. It had been hilarious watching Zedaph try them on and try not to end up upside down when the boots activated. Could Grian have made boots that didn't do that? Yes, but it's funnier this way.

Several of the other Hermits look like they're prepared to dogpile on him, so he releases his invisibility and flops over dramatically. They cheer triumphantly. He groaned.

"I can't believe I fell. Of all the ways to get caught, I slipped."

Tango let go of his arms, picking himself up off the floor while rubbing at a couple new bruises. "I can't quite believe it either, if I'm being honest. You quite literally came out of nowhere!"

Grian rolled his eyes. "Well yes, that was the point. And I was doing so well, too!" He glanced at his communicator, and offhandedly asked, "What was that sound they made anyways?"

<<<HubAnnouncement>>>: Alert!!! A new portal has appeared in the main hub! Volunteer explorers needed! Side note, A new sound has been added to help differentiate Hub Announcements from normal in-server messages. Please share your feedback on how we may improve this feature in the future.

So that loud sound they'd made was the new Hub Announcement sound? It's certainly attention grabbing, even if having so many communicators in one place made it a bit... overwhelming, to say the least.

"Where were you hiding, by the way? We couldn't find you with the sticks, and none of the redstone got tripped."

He grinned and asked slyly, "Is that what you'd like to spend your question on? Well you see, I was just-"

A thrown pillow cut him off before he could finish his sentence, while multiple Hermits shouted, "No!' at him. His grin was entirely unapologetic, though he did stop speaking, if only to avoid having whatever they had on hand chucked at him.

"I'll take it you want to save your question for later, then? Take your time to phrase it carefully before asking it?"

Impulse was the one to answer his question, sighing tiredly before responding with, "Yes, please, Grian. Are you going to make Tango be the one to ask it since he's the one who caught you?" He nodded. "Okay then. That means the rest of us don't have to worry about wasting the question on something random. So... Where were you hiding?"

Grian stuck out his tongue. "Not telling~"

Their communicators bleeped again, though this time at a much more tolerable level. Checking it, Xisuma wanted to have a brief server meeting for everyone to decide who's going exploring this time. Looking back up at the Hermits surrounding him, Grian asked, "Shall we go?"

~~~