Featherweight - Hermitcraft AU

1

He felt a pain searing into his body. Had he fallen? Had he gotten hurt and forgotten, and now the bruises were causing this? He didn't think so. Whatever it was, it made it very hard to sleep.

He woke up and it was dark. He turned to his alarm clock, which read 3:27 AM.

Alright. No need to get up now. I'll just go back to sleep.

The man turned over to go back to sleep, and was instantly reminded of what woke him up in the first place. His back. Why did it hurt so much? He groaned and sat up, pulling off his shirt as he did. He stretched a bit and set his head in his hands, breathing in deep. He tried to force his eyes to stay open, but they refused.

Whatever , he thought.

He reached his hand behind his back, trying to feel for the sore spots. But rather than feel bruised skin, the man felt something else. It felt like feathers. Confused and tired, he jumped out of his bed and stumbled into his bathroom. A flick of the lightswitch revealed what he had felt.

Protruding from his shoulder blades were a pair of tiny, purple-y, feathered wings. He gasped, almost choking on his own spit. Panic started to set in. How did this happen? Why was this happening? His head dropped as he started to drift back off to sleep. He would have to deal with this in the morning.

He stepped back over to his bed, falling onto it. Without even bothering to put his shirt back on, he slowly pulled himself up to his pillow, and covered himself with the red comforter. He was asleep almost instantly.

The next morning came quickly.

The sound of the alarm clock jarred Grian awake.

"Oi, I really need to turn that to a tune that doesn't make me want to punch the clock." He muttered to himself.

He sat up and was momentarily confused as to why he wasn't wearing a shirt. The events of the previous night came to his mind when he spotted a purple feather next to him.

Crap.

Grian slid his legs over the side of his bed and stood up. He walked through the open bathroom door over to the mirror. Now that he was more awake, he could get a better look at his new...details. He hopped up onto the counter and sat down at an angle that made it somewhat easy to see his wings.

They were quite small, each about the size of his hand. He could move them, and they fluttered quite fast. The feathers were purple and shiny, almost iridescent.

If they were on anything else, person or animal, Grian would have thought them to be quite lovely.

But no. They were on him.

He hated them.

He was still examining his wings when the doorbell rang. Grian felt his stomach drop, anxiety filling his heart. He couldn't let anyone see the wings. No exceptions.

Thankfully, they were tiny and could easily be hidden underneath his classic red sweater. Grian hopped off the counter and ran into his room. He flung open his closet and grabbed one of the many red jumpers that were folded in there. Quickly, he grabbed a shirt as well, pulling that on before putting on the sweater. He ran down the stairs of his house to his front door. Hopefully whoever was at the door hadn't been waiting too long.

Grian turned the knob and pulled open the door. Standing on the other side was a tall, handsome, mustachioed man who was dressed comparatively fancy. He had a smile in his eyes and on his face.

"Good morning Grian! I hope I didn't wake you up." The man spoke, giving Grian a look-over.

"No, no you're alright Mumbo." Grian said with a yawn.

Mumbo chuckled. "You need more time to get ready?" He motioned slightly to the extreme case of bed-head that his friend was sporting.

"Uh, it's fine." The older of the two replied as he quickly did his best to fix his hair with his hands.

"Let's go then." Mumbo smiled and started to walk forwards. Grian shut the front door behind himself and quickened his pace to catch up with his long-legged buddy.

Grian was uncomfortable all day. It was hard to have fun with the other hermits when he could feel his little wings trying to be free. There were points where he was able to ignore his situation and actually enjoy the day, but those moments didn't last for long.

Between all of the building Grian and Mumbo had done today and the constant little stabs of pain, Grian was exhausted. But, he stuck it out.

Mumbo and Grian made their way up to the doorstep of G's home, discussing the work they had gotten done today.

"I think you'll have a real good shot at becoming Mayor" Grian said with surety.

"You really think so? I mean...we don't really have much of a plan other than the poster and the mayor bot." Mumbo looked down at Grian, who was a good amount shorter than him. The two had arrived at the door and had stopped walking.

Grian hesitated. Then, with a quick glance up at Mumbo — who quickly glanced away in return — he laughed, saying, "Trust me. It'll all turn out perfectly."

Mumbo rolled his eyes and laughed as well. "I think you've lost your 'Trust Me' privileges."

"Whatever!" Grian smiled, felt a sharp jab of pain and winced, as Mumbo started to slowly walk away from the doorstep.

"Alright! See you tomorrow!" The redstone-sprinkled man waved as he headed down the mansion steps.

Grian waved back, turned around, and entered his house.