Chapter Text
Parrot walks into his bedroom and finds Theo lounging in his nest, pajamas on and stretching.
He looks up at Parrot and gives a mischievous grin. "Hey dude."
"What are you doing in my room?"
Theo shrugs and puts his arms behind his head. "Waiting for you, I guess."
"Waiting…" Parrot murmurs. "… for me."
"Yeah man." Theo takes off his sunglasses and wipes the lenses on his gray shirt, matching his wings. "Do you not want to?"
Parrot frowns, immediately knowing what Theo is implying. "It wouldn't be bad, but don't you have your own room? Were you not assigned one?"
Theo shakes his head. "Nah, I have one. I just want to sleep in here. We used to share a nest all the time back in the potion shop and during the election. Too good to share a nest now?" He says that last part as a joke, but it still worries Parrot.
"Fine, bro. I guess you can stay here tonight." And Parrot knows it'll probably spiral to every night, starting with the excuse of "I need to make sure you're okay" or "heard a weird noise in the direction and want to keep watch" to none at all.
Parrot truly doesn't mind—it's kind of comforting, having Theo nearby.
"I'm gonna get changed first. Just stay here, bro."
"I'm not going anywhere, Parrot."
Parrot leaves his room to undress into more casual clothing, taking off his royal robes and replacing them with high-quality pajamas. He gently places his crown down on its pedestal, letting the jewels glimmer in the moonlight that leaks into the room.
Parrot returns to his nest and finds Theo right where he left him, this time sitting up and watching the door, waiting for Parrot to come back. The lamp in the corner flashes light close to Theo's face.
A quick smile flashes on both their faces, and Parrot walks over to the nest and flops down onto it.
Theo runs his fingers through Parrot's hair. "Stressful first hundred days, huh?"
Parrot shrugs and sighs in content. "Yeah… so many people oppose the idea of letting new players in…"
"Y'know," Theo begins, "I probably would have been one of those players if I hadn't already met you."
Parrot could pretend to be surprised, but truthfully, he wasn't.
"So many things would have been different if I hadn't saved you from spawn."
"Imagine if I died from one of the withers." Parrot says, muffled by his arms.
"I think the server would be in a worse state. Total anarchy."
Theo plays with Parrot's hair more, a substitute for not being able to preen Parrot's wings. He trusts Theo, but he still hesitates to let anybody too close to his wings. It took a long time for Parrot to even allow himself the freedom of lying down with his wings face up towards another person.
"You changed a lot of things," Theo says in a much quieter voice. "You changed me."
"Mm. In what ways?" Parrot can think of some, but a more vain part of him wishes to hear it.
Theo snorts. "You just want me to stroke your ego."
"Maybe." Parrot responds, humble as he can be.
"Well, for one, I'm a lot gentler now."
Theo is. When he and Parrot first met in the Farlands, Theo was quick and a bit clumsy, always in a rush for something. He fidgeted with his hands and scratched them until they were red.
Now, Theo handles things with so much care. It warms Parrot when he sees Theo handle a baby bird, or carry empty glasses, or glide his hands through Parrot's hair. It's soft and sweet and Parrot chirps in happiness.
"Hah," Theo laughs. "You chirped."
"At least I don't purr. Could you imagine that?" Parrot thinks of Wemmbu, who for some strange reason, despite having no physical traits of any feline, can let out the deepest purrs Parrot has ever heard. It's very funny, he has to admit.
"Eugh. Being able to let everybody know when you're happy would suck. Glad Wemmbu goes through that and not us."
There's a lapse of silence between them, where Theo continues threading through Parrot's hair and Parrot closes his eyes in comfort.
Then, "What about you?"
"Hm?" Parrot startles.
"Well," Theo picks up a specific strand of hair and pinched it between his thumb and index. "How have I changed you?"
And Parrot can think of many things. True to his name, he tends to parrot those around him, copying their mannerisms, actions…
But there's one that sticks out. "You've made me fuller."
Theo doesn't say anything for a while. "… what does that mean?"
Parrot lets out a chuckle, and he thinks of the implications. What does that mean?
After Wifies died, he was empty. It was like losing a part of him, a nerve or a piece of his brain or some other vital organ. But if he and Wifies were the brain and body, he and Theo are the organs and skin. Something that shields the organs from spilling out everywhere; a protector, a barrier.
When Parrot thought he'd never love again, he found Theo. The epitome of love in an unlikely place. Maybe what Parrot was missing was a contrast, someone who was willing to prove Parrot wrong.
He doesn't say this out loud, though, because then Theo would call him corny and probably flick his forehead. Instead, Parrot answers with, "You gave me back a part of myself I thought I lost, and more."
It's still corny, Parrot knows, but it encapsulates what he means to say. Wifies's hole in his heart will never be completely patched, and what has been fixed was done with bandages that have lost their stick, but he can make room for Theo, right next to everybody else Parrot cherished.
Theo takes off his glasses, and while he isn't crying, his eyes are glossy and it's probably the closest he's ever come to tearing up.
"Bro," Theo chokes, "you're so unbelievably corny." Just as Parrot knew he'd say.
"I know," a bright smile appears on Parrot's face.
Theo opens his arms and Parrot crawls in between the space, letting Theo's embrace close around him.
The lamp in the corner is still on, and Theo just barely reaches it to turn it off. He does, and all that illuminates the room is the moonlight.
Theo pushes Parrot into his shoulder and lays a kiss on the top of Parrot's hair. "I love you, dude."
"I love you too, Theo."
And as Theo's wings wrap around them, leaving just enough room for Parrot to wiggle through just in case he's uncomfortable, he's content. He's happier than ever.