Hermitcraft, Empires, and Life Series Oneshots :D

🫧 - Scarian

Context: fantasy/steampunk? AU, Scar is the elven king of Scarland and Grian is an avian "scientist" living in a pile of rocks between Scarland and the Hermit Empire (ruled by King Ren).
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Grian scribbled down some notes, every once in a while looking up to the rift he was examining to make sure he wrote everything down. He tapped his head, wondering what this meant for his world. The rift he'd found under his lab was growing, and it didn't show any sign of stopping. He hadn't sent anything through yet, out of fear it simply disappeared, but he may have to soon to make sure it at least wasn't dangerous.

Just as he finished up his observations, there was a knock, barely audible from the basement he was in. Grian sighed and spread his wings, jumping to get enough leverage to lift him off the ground. He hoped it wasn't any of the king's lackeys, they had been coming around recently trying to get him to join their empire. He'd refused many times, so many he had to tell himself daily that starting his own resistances were not the way to go about something like this. (He did, however, keep in contact with an already formed resistance inside the kingdom.)

The knock came again as he reached the door, folding his wings tightly against his back to avoid knocking anything over. He considered peeking out the window to see who it was, but decided not to run the risk of whoever it was seeing him. He opened the door cautiously, and was surprised to see an elf standing in his doorway. He looked startled, like he hadn't actually expected Grian to answer.

"Hello?" Grian said, expectantly. "Ah. Hello there." The elf replied, rubbing the back of his neck nervously, a sheepish smile on his face. His long brown hair kept falling into his face as he spoke, and he had to lean over a bit to fit in the door frame. (Of course, being a small guy, there was a bit of an oversight with Grian's doorframe. The only other person that could fit through without crouching was the King's right hand man, Bdubs.)

"Do you want to come in?" Grian asked, stepping to the side. The elf looked surprised a second time, as if he hadn't expected this, either. He did come inside though, into the cozy upper part of the home. Grian led him to the kitchen/dining room, sitting him down and getting them both some tea before they started talking.

The complete truth was, Grian knew who this elf was. His name was Scar, though perhaps King Scar would be more fitting now, as recently a new kingdom had come into existence right next door. To be honest, Grian hadn't expected a visit from the recently crowned king for quite some time. In fact, he hadn't really expected one at all. At least, not visits like to other king, doing his best to recruit the trouble making scientist.

Speaking of scientists;

"So um, you're like a scientist, right?"

So that's what Scar wanted. Grian took a long sip of tea to keep himself from making some sort of snarky remark. "I am. What do you need?" He asked, with an impressive amount of casualness. (For him, anyway.)

But he just couldn't help himself. Scar was so easy to mess with.

"I can't help you with your next door neighbor problem, if that's it."

Scar put down his teacup and started to wave his hands around frantically. "No! No, nothing like that!" He started, then noticed Grian's satisfied grin and paused. "Oh. You're joking." He stated, causing Grian to start giggling. After a moment, Scar joined in, laughing like he'd just been told the funniest joke he'd ever heard. In turn, this made Grian start laughing harder as well, and soon they were both doubled over in fits of giggles.

Finally, after their ribs started to hurt, they regained their composure, Scar wiping a tear from his eye. This left a comfortable air around them, and Grian noticed how Scar seemed to gain a lot more confidence in himself after they had stopped.

"Nothing like that. Ren is great, honestly. What I need is a tree."

Grian blinked. "A tree?" He asked, confused. Scar nodded.

"A big tree. Like, massive. To be the center of Scarland!"

He explained, waving his hands around as if building an imaginary miniature version of it, to show Grian.

"Well. I don't know how I could...maybe make a formula to get it to grow really big?" He said thoughtfully, taking out his notepad again.

"No!" Scar said, cutting him off. Grian looked up at him, confused. "Ah. I mean, wouldn't it look more organic if we built it together?" He asked, his sheepish demeanor from before returning. Grian quirked an eyebrow, putting his notepad away once again.

"Scar."

"Yeah?"

"Is this just an excuse to hang out with me?"

Scar's cheeks flushed red. Grian started to laugh again.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Scar said, putting a hand over his face to cover his embarrassment. Grian laughed harder.

"Dude, you don't have to ask me to build a tree with you to get me to hang out. I'll do it anytime." He said truthfully, between giggles.

"Well, I really do need help with the tree too, having you along would just be an added bonus."
Scar replied, grinning. Grian sighed, smiling back.

"Yeah, okay. I'll meet you in Scarland tomorrow?"

Scar nodded, his grian getting even wider. "Yes! I'll see you tomorrow. Thank you, Grian."