Xisuma got hurt in a supplies run. Impulse had to run back to their base with xisuma losing a lot of blood.
Impulse was lucky to get xisuma back in time before he died and turned. Doc fixed xisuma and put a ix to get his blood back up.
After that, xisuma wasn't able to go on missions or supplies runs since xisumas body won't be able to get away from zombies.
So xisuma just stays in Docs lap all the time, cuddling him.
Xisuma gets frustrated with himself, sometimes. Doc has told him often that his body has already worked hard. Not only to heal from the the injury, but to fight off the infection as well. But X hates feeling useless. He hates sitting around doing nothing.
So, it was a surprise when on a supply run Tango and Impulse burst into Xisuma's room with very little grace. Both of them were nearly falling over themselves with excitement, and then they presented a wheelchair.
It wasn't anything impressive, just a standard hospital frame. But they were already talking about fixing it up, getting cushions that would be more comfortable even just remaking it. But, that way X would be able to get around their base easier and help out where he's able to. No more stressing about getting tired and stuck somewhere until he recovers.
It's a small thing. But Doc can see how much happier it makes X already.
It's not common for Xisuma to venture outside the server boundaries. Doc and Grian, however, are seasoned veterans. Though, Doc is mostly between two places, but Grian has travelled well.
So it's natural they'll tag along when Xisuma needs to. They can keep him safe. Mostly from himself. How can one man be so good at admin duties, yet so unobservant? They don't think he'd find anything if it wasn't for them. He walked straight past the portal he needed! Twice.
And they save money by sharing a room. And bed. Ideal.
A lot of people assume Xisuma is somehow related to the end because of his name. What they don't realise is the 'void' actually refers to the depths of the ocean. Xisuma's suit allows him to live on the surface with ease. Water breathing potions do the same trick, but they're inconvenient - especially in the early game.
Since he's so rarely out of his suit, only his lovers know of the bioluminescent markings that cover X's skin. Doc and Keralis adore them, how couldn't they? They're absolutely stunning.
Xisuma is a clumsy and derpy witch and his older sister pearl and little brother grian thinks it is funny even if Xisuma almost blew himself up 5 times
Experimentation and failure are part of how a witch learns, in the end! It's best that they don't let X blow himself up, nor anyone else, but that's why the almost is important.
Plus, X has met somebody called Doc lately who asks for Xisuma's help. They don't need to be Xisuma experts to tell the crush he obviously has on the the man.
All of empires is flirting woth xisuma and the hermits are getting jealous that they are flirting with there boyfriend
It's stupid, because they don't know if they're jealous that people are flirting with their boyfriend, or if they're jealous they're only flirting with their boyfriend. Like, come on! They're cute as well, don't they deserve a bit of flirting?
The solution obviously must be to start flirting with the Emperors themselves. Because they know Xisuma, and there's no way they're going to get anywhere with him. As much as they love him, he's a little bit useless at these things.
It was stupid and childish. Xisuma was well aware of this, and yet his stomach churned and heart ached whenever he had to spend time with fWhip or Pixl. Especially when other hermits were around.
It was always wow it's incredible you managed to make custom tools easily recoverable, or you got that server data so quickly! Xisuma was glad the Empires server was in such capable hands, and realistically he knew having two admins was easier than one. Not to mention Empires was a fraction of the size of Hermitcraft.
Still Xisuma tried to excused him from any conversations that involved admin work while he was on the Empires server. This was supposed to be a vacation of sorts. He was supposed to be having fun running around as a pirate, not having his blood boil when Tango ran his mouth off with fWhip about chunk loading and entity cramming.
He huffed, climbing into one of the many levels of Hermitopia and settled down in a lounge. He took off his helmet and ran a hand through his hair, trying to banish any of those annoying, useless thoughts. Maybe he should try listening to what fWhip or Pixl talked about one of these days. Maybe he could learn something that could make Hermitcraft run better. Void knows it's needed with people like Doc around.
"Shishwammy!" Keralis' voice startled him out of his brooding, and some of his underlying anger melted away immediately. "Oh look at that pretty face."
Keralis cupped Xisuma's face, pressing his cheeks until he made a pucker face. X simply laughed and gently pulled away from his fellow hermit, picking up his helmet so Keralis could sit next to him. "Hi, K. What are you doing here? Other than to tease me."
Keralis sat down with a bounce, sidling up close to X's side. Their legs touched and X appreciated the normalcy of it. Keralis was easy to start talking, and the admin was always happy to listen and lose himself in the noise.
"-Oh and fWhip-" Xisuma tensed at the mention of the goblin, shoulders rising to his ears. He barely even noticed his own reaction until Keralis pointed it out. "Shishwammy? Everything okay?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, everything's fine Keralis, don't worry."
Keralis was giving him that look, the look that meant he clearly didn't believe Xisuma. It was usually reserved for nights when X was claiming to have slept while five phantoms circled outside his base. He had half a mind to shove his helmet back on, but knew that was only going to prove Keralis' suspicions.
A very accusatory finger poked his chestplate. "Shishwammy, what did we say about burying emotions?"
"I'm not burying anything, K, honest." He stood up from the couch, giving in to his anxiety and pulling his helmet back over his head. "If anything I'm extra relaxed and unbothered. I don't have to worry about a server breaking down on me, or giant death machines powered by enough redstone to blow up the sun. Really, it's great that fWhip and Pixlriffs are able to handle the influx of people so easily."
There was a pause, the air between them tense. Then Keralis gasps, jumping up from the couch and leaning in close to Xisuma’s helmet. “Is our Shishwammy jealous?”
X splutters, flailing his hands in an attempt to push Keralis away from him. “Jealous? Why would I be jealous?”
“Shishwammy, Shishwammy, Shishwammy,” Keralis sighed, shaking his head and placing his hands on his hips. “Just because sweet fWhip and Pixlriffs are exceptional admins, doesn’t mean we think you’re any less exceptional.”
“Keralis, I'm not jealous.” X began to walk away, and was surprised when his boyfriend made no move to follow. He had a bad feeling about this…
---
Xisuma was hauling a shulker box out of a boat, tossing it onto a dock of Eversea. He lifted up his pirate hat, wiping the sweat off his face and pushing aside some of his hair. It was growing out and becoming a slight nuisance. He would need to get it cut before it started getting caught in his helmet seals. That was never a fun thing to deal with.
He was in the process of hopping out of his boat when rockets sounded above him, and he looked up to see Cleo landing just a few blocks away. “Ahoy!” He called in greeting.
Cleo had asked X to meet them on the outskirts of Eversea, and X had assumed it was to work on their little pirate ship. He had brought some materials and decided to take the water route to get him into the right headspace.
“X, right on time.” Cleo gripped his forearm, hauling him the rest of the way out of the boat. “Any specific reason you took a boat instead of flying?”
“Well you said you wanted to do something and since we were meeting in Eversea I figured it was pirate-y.” He gestures to his hat with a twirl of his hands.
“Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I didn’t have anything like that in mind.” They nodded for him to follow, so he left his shulker box for now. It would be fine on the dock, he was sure. “I wanted to talk to you.”
Anxiety spiked in his stomach, and he immediately wished he had his helmet to hide behind. He settled to wringing his wrists in a way he hoped wasn’t too obvious. “Oh, okay. Uh, what did you want to talk about?”
“Well,” they dragged the word out, leading them further into the dense jungle. “A certain big eyed fellow told me you were feeling a bit jealous, and I knew I couldn’t let that stand.”
“Keralis…” Xisuma growled, shaking his head and taking a few larger steps to walk beside Cleo. “Listen, Cleo, Keralis thinks something is wrong when really there isn’t anything wrong. I’m not jealous of fWhip or Pix, honestly.”
Cleo gave him a far too dangerous smile, “That’s funny, because he didn’t mention who you were jealous of.”
X froze, internally cursing himself. He opened his mouth to try and defend himself or backtrack in some way, when his wrists were grabbed and he was pressed against a nearby tree. His arms were pinned to the sides, Cleo looming over him with a smile that made him feel hunted.
The predatorial look was gone a moment later, though, a much gentler one taking over Cleo’s face. One of their cold hands let go of one of his wrists to cup his burning cheek, and he couldn’t help but lean into it. “Xisuma, you know we appreciate everything you do, right? That we all think you’re the greatest admin to have ever lived?”
X let out a startled laugh, “That’s a bit much.”
“But it’s true. For us, anyway.” They leaned in and placed a gentle kiss to his nose that made his eyes cross. “We aren’t going to run and replace you at the first admins we see.”
“I know that…” X felt breathless with Cleo this close, and he knew that was no doubt part of their plan.
“Then why are you jealous of them, hm?”
“I’m not-” A hand gripped his jaw, tilting his head back against the tree. It pushed his hat off, it falling into the grass with a soft sound.
“Don’t try and lie to me, X. Tell me what’s going through that head of yours.”
It took more effort than X would like to admit to swallow down the excuses he had ready. It was pointless trying to hide from Cleo, he knew this well by now. He hesitated, trying to squirm out of Cleo’s grasp only for their grip to tighten. He settled on looking off to the side, mouth moving as he tried to figure out how to articulate his thoughts.
“I just- They-” The hand on his jaw relaxed slightly so he could speak easier. “They do so much more than I do. The hermits appearing out of nowhere didn’t even seem to phase them. If even half of the Empires members had appeared out of nowhere on Hermitcraft I would have been panicking, but they handled it so easily.”
Cleo’s hand moved back to his cheek, and he kept his gaze averted, shame burning inside him. He should be above things like this. “And how do you know they weren’t overwhelmed, hm?”
“Well, they-”
“Not to mention, there’s two of them. There’s only one of you, X.”
“Yeah, but-”
“But nothing.” Cleo’s hand slides up into his hair, his body naturally relaxing at the touch. He meets their eyes again, seeing nothing but sincerity in them. “Comparing yourself to others doesn’t do you any good, ‘Suma. We love you just the way you are, for all that you do and put up with us.”
They press a gentle kiss to his lips, and he melts into it, eyes sliding shut. Their murmured praises settle into a mush of background noise, shadowed by their gentle touches that convey the meaning just as well.
---
Xisuma landed with a squelch under his feet, the skulk that had overtaken the grass sinking under his weight.
“Ah, Xisuma! What a pleasant surprise. Come to join in on the fun?”
Cub looked… Well, if it was anyone other than Cub, X would say that he looked concerning. However, the admin was more than used to Cub’s shenanigans, and how deep he embraced a role. He had heard about how jarring it was for the emperors, though, which seemed ironic considering the environment of the emperors themselves.
“Not join in, just to see what you’re doing.”
Cub didn’t need to be asked twice to delve into the story he’s created, explaining the point in spreading the skulk over the server. He was clearly enjoying himself, and nothing made Xisuma happier than seeing his hermits smiling.
“I’m glad we came to Empires, even if it was to just do something like this.” Cub finished, sitting down on the bit of remaining grass X had settled on to.
“To do something like this? You wouldn’t do it on Hermitcraft?”
“Nah, I wouldn’t want to bother you with that.” Confusion bubbled up in Xisuma’s chest, surrounded by a thin layer of fondness. He tilted his head at Cub, asking him to elaborate. “I know this is gonna be a pain to clean up, and I of course would do it if anyone asked me to. But, skulk is a bit unpredictable and it spreads to places I sometimes don’t even know. Pix told me about a trick he has to locate specific blocks within a certain area. It’ll make clean up easier for them.”
Any fondness X had still been feeling was replaced quickly with a lingering bitterness that he had been trying to get rid of. “Ah, I see.”
Cub could see through his helmet, though, and shoved X’s shoulder lightly. “That’s not me dissing your admin abilities, ‘Suma. I just don’t want you to try and come up with a solution to a problem I created, especially if this place already has said solution. You have your own stuff you’re working on and you barely rest as is. You do enough for us as an admin as is, I don’t want to add any more to your plate.”
Xisuma took a deep breath, and tried to let the rest of the bitterness fade away. Cub was looking out for him. Just like the rest of his hermits. At this point they’ve nearly all come to him individually and reassured him that he is their favorite admin, and as X thought about it, a settlement of acceptance washed over him.
Maybe he isn’t as technical of an admin as fWhip or Pix, but he is enough. His hermits don’t need anything else from him.
Keralis being scary protective of grian pearl and xisuma
Grian and Pearl find it funny, but they don't hesitate to hide behind Keralis smugly after causing problems.
Xisuma always insists Keralis doesn't need to worry about him. But Keralis will still step in the moment he senses danger. Sometimes, it just makes the situation worse. But Xisuma appreciates somebody looking out for him.
