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Dec 4, 2022

Stand Up [Grian/Doc]

[Fanfiction Masterlist]

This request is a little old, I hope you’re still hanging around and are happy with this take, anon :) Recommended Song for this story. I listened to it on loop while writing. ~*~

Grian smiled fondly, looking over to the field from the wall he was sitting on. Their little Empire was slowly but steadily beginning to grow. Well… Slow for the Hermits’ standards that was. Jimmy had been rather shocked at seeing all their underground farmwork. He should have known from Grian‘s stories, but then again, seeing it was a whole different thing than hearing about it. Maybe he should invite Jimmy over one day just to get to see the stupid face he’d make at all the farms there.

Impulse was in the middle of a rather boring discussion with Doc about how to build a farm that was efficient enough for their needs, but not so efficient it would crash this world‘s economy. Grian was pretty sure Jimmy would be a bit mad if they did that. Though if the rift stayed closed much longer it would happen sooner or later. The Hermits were rather bad at holding back. And some of the worst offenders had come along with him.

Impulse drew something onto the parchment that was laid out on the table between them and Doc made a thoughtful face, his sharp teeth biting down on his bottom lip, one hand ruffling his combed back hair.

Grian was pretty sure he didn‘t even realise he was doing it. But it was really an adorable sight. Nobody ever really believed him, but the moment he had fallen in love with Doc was when he heard him talking about complex redstone. Not that Grian understood a word he said about his world eating machines and complex circuits. Just the sight of Doc being so passionate about the most complicated redstone that he lost his usually so stoic demeanour, his eyes sparkling, hair slowly getting messier as he kept touching it in thought. Well nobody could blame Grian for thinking it was a rather attractive sight to behold.

Impulse glanced over in his direction and the moment they locked gazes, he laughed quietly, turning to Doc to mutter something, which made Doc look up at him, his thoughtful features softening into a smile. He put down the pen, muttering something to Impulse before walking over to him, the soft smile only growing.

“You’re doing it again”, Doc just said the moment he stood in front of the wall Grian was sitting on, their faces for once being on the same level so Grian didn’t have to look up at him.

“Doing what?”, Grian replied, feigning innocence.

Doc let out an amused huff. “Well according to Impulse you’re looking at me like a love sick attention starved puppy. His words, not mine. Though I see what he means. It’s adorable.”

Grian’s smile just got a little wider, his heart fluttering at the compliment.

“You can’t blame me. I rarely ever have the opportunity to watch you like this in Hermitcraft. We’re always so busy building the next big thing back at home. I’m enjoying it very much.” Grian glanced past Doc at Impulse and then back to Doc. “Though I will let Impulse know that I’m certainly no puppy.”

Doc hummed, leaning forward, resting his hands on Grian’s legs to lean in between them. “Yeah. You’re much more like a fox. Sly, smart… Probably why I like you so much. I’ve always been fond of foxes. Though you’re still not as quick in a fight as a fox. You think too much.”

Grian put a mock pout on his face. “Hey. I can fight. I beat you in like… a couple of wars. And I won the little murder game me and the others were part of!”

“You win because you’re smart. And that is not a bad thing. Not everyone can be a great fighter. But you don’t have to worry. If anything ever happens I’ll just follow your brains and be the muscles you need.” Doc then fully leaned in, putting a gentle kiss onto Grian’s pout, making him melt below the touch, a little content noise leaving Grian’s mouth. And suddenly he was being lifted up, letting out a high pitched squeak of surprise, clinging onto Doc’s body like a panicked koala. Doc just chuckled, holding him close, never once breaking the kiss as he held Grian up as if he weighed nothing.

Grian smiled softly once his racing heart had calmed down, not letting go until Doc finally let him down onto the ground gently, following him with his lips, bending forward until Grian’s feet touched the ground only then separating.

“I love you, little guy.”

“‘m not that little”, Grian grumbled in slight annoyance, though he had to admit that in this new world the Hermit’s fell a little below average size wise which made him even smaller in comparison now. Doc on the other hand fit right in, his tall height now just the average like all the other men here, that is if you didn’t count Joel’s godly form or Jimmy’s toy size. Grian still didn’t get how these lore revealing potions worked, but then again… He didn’t understand a lot of things in this world.

“Well. You’re big in all things that count”, Doc said in a teasing voice that made Grian blush and stutter at first, until Doc gleefully went on, “I meant your heart Grian. What else would I be talking about? Get your mind out of the gutter.”

Grian grumbled some choice word under his breath, hitting Doc in the stomach softly. “You’re an idiot.”

“I know. But I’m your idiot, am I not?”

Grian couldn’t stop the smile from returning back to his face and he got on his tiptoes, barely able to land a kiss onto Doc’s cheek.

“Now… While I think it’s cute to have you watching me work I think I remember you having a date with Scar and Jimmy in Tumbletown. You told me yesterday, remember?”

That made Grian’s heart drop as he quickly looked at the sky. “Oh fudge”, he just exclaimed, giving Doc another quick peck on the mouth before hurriedly taking out his Elytra.

“Thanks, love, see you later. Don’t explode our base with your redstone.”

“Will try!”, Doc called after him as Grian took off quickly, flying over to the little Western Town.

His eyes lit up when he finally reached the small town and he could see those two and Tango already standing by a large train that Grian knew at first glance had been built by Scar. That man was just too talented. His builds just stood out, even back home with a bunch of talented builders. Scar was always special. He just had the perfect attention to detail. When Grian landed he looked over at Tango, smirking at him when he realised how close Tango was standing to Jimmy, his tail resting around Jimmy’s waist. Well, well, well… He had never given those two much thought but maybe something great would come out of their accidental trip to the Empires World.

Tango must have noticed his gaze, as his cheeks turned a slightly dark blue and his eyes darted off to the side, his fingers twitching so close to Jimmy’s hand, his tail wiggling a little, but yet he didn’t move away. How cute. Grian could work with that. Playing matchmaker would be so much fun. And Jimmy would need it with how daft he was when it came to emotions.

They were in the middle of a deep discussion about how to connect Tumbletown to the Hermit’s area, when multiple beeping sounds came from Jimmy’s communicator. Jimmy looked at his wrist in confusion and then pressed a button to see the little holographic screen.

“Fwhip. Weird. He doesn’t really message me anymore lately. Rather comes over to bother me and-” Jimmy stopped, his eyes darting over the messages, eyebrows furrowing. “He says something weird is going on over at the portal. It apparently activated again, but it’s no longer purple. It’s… gold.”

The moment Grian heard that it felt like someone had grabbed his heart in an iron grip. “What?”, his voice sounded far too high, almost foreign to his own ears and Jimmy gave him a weird look.

“It’s gold. Do you know what’s going on? It’s yours after all. The rift on your side I mean. Is it supposed to do this? Does it mean you guys can go back?” As Jimmy asked that question, his eyes darted to Tango, looking slightly sad.

Grian didn’t answer right away, his mind running in circles, but his silence was enough for Scar to get worried at least.

“Grian. What’s going on? You’re as white as a Ghast. What does the portal turning gold mean? Is it… is it bad?”

And finally Grian moved into action, head whipping around to Scar, looking at his bright blue eyes. He then turned to Tango, his face becoming more and more worried. “You’re in danger. You need to hide. They’re coming. I need to- I- The portal. We need to block it. We need to destroy it. They’ll come through.”

“Who’s coming, Grian?”, Scar sounded worried, gently grabbing Grian’s arm.

Another beep from Jimmy’s communicator. He looked at the screen. “Fwhip said some people walked through. Him and Sausage are gonna try and talk to them.”

“Tell Fwhip to run! Tell him they can’t see him! He’s not human! They can’t know!”

Jimmy looked at him in confusion, not reacting to his words and Grian felt almost helpless. “Jimmy! NOW!” Hearing Grian use his proper name and raise his voice like that must have shaken something inside the other man and he quickly typed a message into his communicator, sending it off.

“Grian, mate, what is going on? You’re scaring me.”

Grian shook his head, fumbling through his inventory. “No time to explain. You need to take Tango and Scar and hide them somewhere. Get as far away from spawn as possible. In some cave or some area that doesn’t look inhabited. Somewhere where they won’t look.”

“Grian? Who’s ‘they’?”, Tango looked worried as well and Scar’s head was tilted to the side, his face full of confusion. How did they not understand that there was no time for explanations? They needed to leave now.

“They hunt non-humans. They shouldn’t be here. Jimmy. Please. Promise me that you’ll protect them. I can’t worry about everyone here. That is one less person I need to protect.”

Jimmy glanced at Grian and then his face hardened as he nodded. “Make sure my friends are safe, yeah?”

Grian nodded and that seemed to be enough as Jimmy started running, pulling a very confused Tango behind him, Scar throwing one last confused glance at Grian before running off as well. He was lucky Jimmy knew him well enough to see that this was serious. Any second he lost discussing the situation would just make it worse.

Finally, Grian pulled out the rockets from his inventory, rushing up into the sky and darting off into the direction of the portal. He needed to warn everyone. He needed to stop the portal. He couldn’t let them in. Not again.

While flying at a neck breaking speed he somehow miraculously managed to get out his communicator and shoot off a quick message.

<Grian> Danger! You need to hide! They’re coming!

<Grian> They’re after non humans.

Grian could hear countless beeping noises after he sent his message off, but he kept going. He didn’t have the time for explanations. If he would manage to close the portal before they came through there would be no need to fight. They’d all be safe.

His mind drifted to Doc. His fingers twitched, the urge to drift off to their area almost overwhelming. He wanted to go there so badly. He needed to make sure his boyfriend was safe, but in moments like this… He couldn’t risk the life of everyone on the server just to save Doc. So many of his friends were in trouble. Not just Doc.

And if they got Fwhip…

He just prayed they didn’t figure out he was the admin of this world. Fwhip looked inconspicuous enough. They would underestimate him for sure. Fwhip just needed to pretend someone else was the admin and maybe they wouldn’t gain that advantage. Grian had seen admins be forced to teleport everyone over under threats of torture before, he didn’t want to witness it again.

Finally, after flying over a mountain range he could see the portal glowing in the distance. The eerie golden shimmer might have looked beautiful to him a decade ago. But he knew better now. It meant nothing but destruction and suffering. The glow made him feel sick, a coldness spreading inside all the way to his bones.

When he was close enough to see shapes by the portal, he stopped in the middle of the air, out of breath, looking down at the figures, dread slowly filling him. As quickly as he could he landed in one of the trees, hidden behind the leaves, looking over at the portal.

He was too late.

Multiple people in uniform were standing right outside the portal. They had weapons drawn, pointing them at a group of people sitting on the ground, their hands folded behind their heads. Their weapons were emitting a golden glow, containing the same magic that powered their portal. He peeked through the leaves. Fwhip was kneeling there alongside Sausage, Pix and Xisuma. He felt almost guilty at the relief he felt when he realised Doc wasn’t there. But if he didn’t stop them it was only a question of time until Doc was their prisoner. They rarely ever stopped until they had every inhabitant of the world captured. He needed to stop them before it came to that. Someone landed next to him on a branch and Grian whipped around, his hand glowing purple as he thrust it forward only to hit a light icy blue mist that stopped him in his tracks.

“Scar?”, he hissed, looking at the man leaning against the tree trunk standing on a branch next to him. His eyes were glowing brightly, his own hand held out in defence. “You were supposed to hide! You and Tango! Don’t tell me you’re all-”

“Tango went with Jimmy. I couldn’t go without knowing Cub was safe. You wouldn’t abandon Doc either, so don’t expect me to run. Cub’s a vex as well, so that means he’s in danger if what you said is true. Looking over at the portal it seems to be.” Slowly the blue mist dissipated and Grian realised that Scar’s eyes were now focused on the purple magic surrounding Grian’s hand.

“Care to explain?”

Grian sighed, his eyes darting off to the portal again. Maybe having someone help him wasn’t too bad. He was pretty sure he could take those soldiers, but if they were to call for backup… It had been a long time since he had been in a proper fight. Practising magic from books and against mobs just wasn’t the same

“I’m a Watcher.”

Scar let out a short quiet huff of amusement, but he must have realised Grian wasn’t joking. “But… That is just a fairytale. Nothing but some old people's stories to scare children into behaving. Telling them of the ever present Watcher in every world that punishes you if you misbehave.”

Grian shrugged. “Well it’s true. I’m your Watcher. Not you as a person. Your world’s. I wish the part about every world having one was true, but we’re a bit understaffed. No Watcher on Empires at the moment but me.”

Scar followed Grian’s eyes to the portal, eyes darting between all the figures moving around as more soldiers stepped through. Commands were being shouted, but they didn’t quite reach them. Though Grian was pretty sure it was orders to search for more people in this world. Calls to find the admin they already had. Luckily they musn’t have figured out they already had him or they would be torturing Fwhip right now instead of just guarding him. “So what are they? What’s going on here?”

“They’re what we call the Hunters. They believe that non humans are… below them. They capture them and take them from their worlds.”

Scar’s eyes widened. “What?! What will they do with them.”

Grian remained silent, watching their friends, his heart sinking as he saw two soldiers drag a struggling Cleo and a very unconscious Joe towards the place in front of the portal. Cleo was quickly tossed to the side where Xisuma and Fwhip were kneeling while they put Joe on the ground next to the other humans. So they were already separating them into groups. They knew Xisuma wasn’t human.

“Grian. What will they do?”, Scar hissed, a low, almost threatening tone that Grian had never heard before.

“They sell them. It’s human trafficking, Scar… Well not so human, but you get what I mean. Once they’ve rounded up everyone- Once they leave through the portal, they’ll all be gone, scattered over the worlds, sold for a fortune. We need to stop them now.” Grian turned to look at Scar. “Listen. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you guys what I am, but that’s kind of part of the job. I’m just meant to watch. I wasn’t even meant to stay as long. I kind of took an extended leave to stay with Doc.”

“So the Watchers aren’t really there to stop misbehaving children, huh?”

Grian shook his head, smiling bitterly. “No. We’re… The Watchers were formed to fight them. Most of us are just liberated slaves with a talent for magic.”

“So you…”

“There’s no time for all that now”, Grian interrupted the question. While it was indeed true that they couldn’t just sit here and watch for much longer, he already despised the thought of talking about his own past with the Hunters. “We need to hurry before any of them are transported through the portal. Even with our magic we won’t be able to bring them back.”

Scar’s muscles tensed again at the reminder and Grian could feel his magic well to the surface. If he’d ever had any doubt of Scar’s strength, the amount of magic radiating off of him now would have proved him wrong. It wouldn’t be enough. Sadly. But this wasn’t Scar’s fight. It was his.

“Listen Scar… I need to ask something of you. Something dangerous. Will you still trust me?”

They looked at one another again. Scar’s eyes searched his for something, some sign that he was lying or that this was some elaborate prank.

“What do I need to do?”

“I need you to distract them. Not for long, don’t worry. Half a minute should be enough to disable the portal if you manage that long. Any more would help, but I don’t think that’s possible.” Scar raised an eyebrow, looking at Grian questioningly.

“You think you can defeat them?”

Grian’s eyes darted from one soldier to the next, looking closely at the weapons they were carrying, taking everything into account, thinking of every possible scenario. “Yes”, he finally stated, his voice full of confidence. He wasn’t saying this to make Scar feel better. He was sure he would be able to take them.

“Grian…” Scar hesitated for a moment. “How strong are you exactly?”

Grian just smiled cheekily instead of giving an answer. And it seemed to be enough of an answer, because Scar nodded. “Okay if you tell me how you plan to go in, I think I can-”

A scream stopped Scar mid sentence and in the way his magic flared to the surface Grian could immediately tell who’s scream it must have been.

He tried to stop Scar, to grab a hold of his arm, but even with the difference in power between them, an enraged vex was too fast for even Grian. There was barely anything that could stop a vex protecting its mate. Scar jumped from the tree before Grian had even fully grasped the situation. He could just watch as Scar burst right into the middle of the soldiers, where Cub had now been dragged to, bleeding from a wound on his head.

The soldier holding on to him fell without even a sound as Scar pounced on him, a glowing blue claw ripping into his body and practically tearing his heart out. Grian was frozen in shock. He had seen a lot of violence in his life, but Scar had always been so calm and gentle that Grian had thought his vex nature must have been rather dormant. This proved him very wrong.

Grian thought of jumping in as well and helping Scar in the fight, but he saw almost no way they could get out of it without losing. If he were to dive in now without a plan he’d lose most of his advantages. With the portal still open they’d immediately call for backup. How much more of them could he handle before even he would fall? And he knew this time he wouldn’t be so lucky to be rescued. The experiments they’d do on an imprisoned Watcher… He didn’t even want to imagine it.

Grian cursed silently, balling his hand to a fist, watching as multiple other soldiers were on Scar a moment later, their weapons sparkling with magic energy as they pressed them into Scar’s body. A shiver ran through Grian. He remembered how those felt. How they drained your magic and felt like electricity running through your whole body. Scar kept trying to fight, taking down another soldier before he went down, soldiers jumping forward to put him in chains. He felt so helpless, just being able to watch. He felt like he was somehow betraying Scar by letting him fight on his own.

And finally as the chains bound Scar completely they were able to fully subdue him, throwing him towards Cub where Scar stayed lying on the ground, breathing heavily, covered in bruises.

Damn it. That meant the ‘easy’ route was out of the question now. There was no way Scar could help him in the condition he was in. Grian needed to get close to the portal on his own. There was only one way he could think of that would get him close enough. Though that meant he couldn’t go guns blazing to destroy the portal. He summoned a small gem from his inventory. It was a deep purple and he knew that they might realise what it was once they saw it. They might see it inside his pockets so Grian did probably the stupidest thing he could and put it in his mouth instead before jumping out of the tree. It was tiny enough, just as small as a candy… In this difficult situation, it was the best place to hide something like that. It would make destroying it all the more easy.

He could feel his heart racing as he started walking along the roads, not even a single weapon in his hand. It felt like he was knowingly walking into a trap. But he wouldn’t. He knew what was lying ahead and he needed to go there to make sure everyone was safe.

It didn’t take long, walking up the road before he heard the shout of a soldier who had spotted him and seconds later two were running towards him.

“Stop right there, put your hands up!”

Grian froze, eyes widening, looking at them as if he had not expected their presence, feigning complete innocence “What is going on? Who are you?”

The soldiers didn’t answer, instead rushing forward, pointing their weapons at him. Grian quickly raised his hands, eyes darting from one to the other, doing his best to look confused at their presence.

“We discovered another one along the road. He looks human enough. We’re gonna take him over to the others to check him.”, one of them spoke into a little microphone stuck to his ear and he must have gotten some reply as he pressed the weapon against Grian’s chest, not yet activating it. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll follow our orders now, boy. No funny business. We’ve got some of your friends waiting and they might get punished if you misbehave.” Grian just nodded hurriedly, pretending to stumble forward in his hurry to walk over. One of the guys snorted, giving him an unimpressed look. Good. Let them underestimate him and lower their guard. The Hunter that had just spoken walked up to him, patting down his pockets, making sure he hadn’t concealed any weapon below his sweater. They didn’t check for the gem hidden inside Grian’s mouth and seemed happy enough with this more rough search. “Walk. Now.” One of them walked behind him as Grian followed the first hunter. They hadn’t even bothered chaining him up like Scar. But then again, none of his human friends were. How stupid of them. They were just inviting magical beings to mess up their plans. Not everyone looked non-human. If he didn’t want to comply and walk up to the testing with them he could have easily just killed them. They even knew there was multiple vex in this world and still decided to underestimate someone like that. They had always been so sure of their power as their sheer number overwhelmed a world. Like true bullies hiding in a crowd.

As they rounded the corner to the place in front of the portal multiple eyes were locked on Grian. He could see devastation in his friends’ eyes as they believed another one of them to be captured. Grian knew that nobody had expected him to be the big rescue. But in Xisuma’s face he saw some sort of hopelessness. Maybe X had thought he’d come up with a plan after all. Xisuma didn’t know he was a Watcher, but maybe he thought Grian would be the one to rally the troops. He wished he could signal his admin that he had a plan, but he wouldn’t take any chances.

He was shoved forward towards one of the hunters who had a sceptre in his hand that looked different than any of the other weapons. It was a long metal staff, a yellow shining gem attached to the top, magic swirling inside. A detection device. Grian just hoped they hadn’t advanced any further since he had last encountered them during his training days.

When they were in front of the man they stopped and Grian was shoved forward. He let himself fall with the momentum, landing on his knees. The sharp intake of breath at the stinging sensation in his hands was the only thing he didn’t fake at that moment. The sceptre touched his head and he could feel a cold wave wash over him. It felt like slimy cold tendrils were creeping all around inside him. It felt like last time. He knew they were searching for something. Some magic or something else that gave them the evidence they needed that he might not be fully human. Grian closed his eyes, pretending to be overwhelmed by the feeling when all he did was focus his magic to evade the search that was going on. He had been trained for a situation just like this, but it still took a lot of power to control his magic to move in such a precise way inside of him. When the feeling finally receded he took a shaking breath, looking up at the hunter with the staff again who looked at him slightly less hostile.

“He’s worthless. Put him with the other humans. Continue your search. There has to be more than those five. They always flock together on these kinds of worlds where they are welcomed as if they’re human.”

“Can’t we just make them talk?” One of the soldiers groaned, apparently annoyed by the inconvenience of having to do some work to enslave this world. It was almost baffling to Grian how much they always treated their hunt like the most boring and necessary job.

The sceptre carrying hunter stopped, let out a hum and then smiled, stepping back to Grian who still hadn’t stood up, grabbing a hold of his hair and pulling his head back.

“You want to tell me how many more monsters are in this world?”

“Not a single one except for you guys”, Grian hissed through gritted teeth and if he didn’t have the gem still in his mouth he would have spit right in that man’s face for even daring to ask him a question like that. None of them would betray one of their friends. “Then tell me who the admin is. We just want to have a little talk with them.” Grian forced himself to keep looking at the man in front of him as his eyes automatically wanted to dart over to where Xisuma and Fwhip were being held. From the way the guy was watching him he had hoped for that sort of reaction as well. “Kiss my arse.”

He earned himself a slap in the face. His cheek was stinging but he still smiled at the man, getting a weird sort of satisfaction from the annoyed look. He was pushed over to the side where his human friends were still kneeling. He wondered if the distance was close enough for the gem to shut down the portal. He wasn‘t sure and he couldn‘t risk anything. He hadn’t used this kind of magic a lot before, only ever in training. But if he waited too long things might turn sour as well. Grian looked around. He needed a distraction, but only Scar knew about his plans and he was knocked out cold.

Grian was pushed to his knees as well, right behind Joe who was lying on the floor. A quick glance showed Grian that the man wasn‘t as out of it as he had assumed. So he had woken up and was just pretending now. They locked eyes for a moment but Grian slowly looked away again, not arousing suspicion.

There were so many paths this could go on. He didn‘t know which one might work. He couldn‘t reveal his hand too early or he knew alarms would be sounded and things would change for the worse. If he spoke to Joe to clue him into any sort of plan, they might hear him and watch more closely.

He gazed over at the ‘non human’ side of the prisoners. Scar was out. Cub was probably not able to fight as well as he usually did. Especially not with Scar in danger. Cub was holding onto him tightly right now, throwing glares at anyone who stepped a little too close to his unconscious mate. Xisuma’s powers were more defensive and passive, not suited for what he needed. Fwhip… Grian wasn’t sure of his powers. Cleo was strong, but she’d prioritise Joe’s safety if it came to it. Not that Grian could blame her. Grian didn’t need to think any further.

There was an explosion close by and a loud shout of a voice that he recognized too well. His head whipped to the side to where a group of people were charging at them, weapons drawn. Doc was right there at the front, yelling bloody murder, a trident in his hand, the enchantments on it letting electric sparks fly, his eyes both glowing a bright red in his anger. And there behind him were the rest of the server. Everyone. Even Tango and Jimmy, whom he had sent away, were there, fighting side by side as they clashed against the soldiers.

This was perfect. This was the distraction he needed. And he needed to be quick. This was a situation that would make them call for backup as soon as they realised how strong the others were. Grian let his leg fly out, taking out the legs under the soldier guarding the prisoners that was closest to him. He fell forward and Grian jumped forward, over the fallen body, darting in between enemies and their weapons, rushing towards the portal. He had almost reached it, when a hand grabbed him, pulling him around and if he hadn’t been pressed against a heavily armoured body he would have certainly fallen from the sudden impact.

“Stop! Or I will kill him!”

There was a weapon at Grian’s neck. A simple iron sword. He was out of breath, looking over at where Doc was fighting, suddenly stopping in the middle of his tracks. They locked eyes and Grian could see the utter devastation and a fiery rage. The others seemed uncertain as well and Grian wanted to roll his eyes. They were sort of adorable. Had they really charged in without thinking of the possibility of a hostage being taken? Sure… The others who had been imprisoned had reacted quickly in a sensible way and ran away from their guards to be tossed weapons by their friends and pulled the wounded out of danger. Only Grian hadn‘t. He had run right into the enemies.

So now he was the hostage.

And he could see his friend’s weapons being lowered slowly one by one. They were ready to give up to make sure he’d be kept alive. It was sweet, but also kind of stupid. Even if he had been human… They shouldn‘t just throw their lives away like this.

The guard pulled him back a little towards the portal. Grian didn‘t struggle. He could see the soldiers now pointing their weapons at the others, encircling them, making sure they couldn’t run over to free him. Another step closer to the portal. He looked at Doc. He could see a desperate look in his eyes as fear overtook him. He expected them to pull Grian through the portal to never be seen again.

„Grian!“ Doc screamed for him and Grian smiled. A wide victorious smile. The gem was in between his teeth now. One of the soldiers looked at him, noticing it, but the moment he opened his mouth to shout out a warning it was too late. Grian bit down on the small crystal. It shouldn‘t have been possible, but the gem was a special artefact and the moment he put pressure on it it exploded into a wave of pure magic that sent an explosion like wave into every direction from where he stood. The soldier behind him flew away from the force, hitting the wall hard and crumbling to the floor. The others were far enough away to just be pushed away.

The moment the wave hit the portal it turned off. There were screams of shock and a multitude of weapons pointed in his direction now. But he didn’t mind. Every weapon pointed at him meant one less hunter threatening his friends. He let his magic flow free. Purple wings of moving energy sprouted from his back, glowing eyes appeared on every uncovered part of his body, opening up one by one.

“A Watcher! He’s a Watcher! Get reinforcements!”

“We‘re cut off!”

“Attack!”

A mix of screams and shouts rang around the area. Grian knew he should focus on the soldiers, but instead his eyes were zeroed in on Doc. He had always been scared of this moment. He should have told his partner before, but it had somehow never been the right time. He had always managed to pull up some sort of excuse.

Doc’s mouth was open and his eyes wide in shock. Grian averted his eyes, smiling sadly before raising his hands when the first hunters ran up to attack, making them fly through the air and land unmoving a few metres away. “This world is under my protection. Now let me tell you what I think about you attacking my friends.”

He was pretty sure he heard a delighted cheer somewhere from the side and it made his lips twitch upward as Jimmy’s voice filled him with warmth and comfort. At least one person would still be by his side after this was all over. Even when he was sure Jimmy was just as shocked as the rest he had already recovered, calling out encouragement.

They changed their focus from Grian now, trying to get a hold of his friends, probably trying to hold them hostage against him. But as one grabbed a still slightly dazed and distracted Doc, Grian’s magic started flowing around him like tendrils, swelling up with his anger, grabbing the attacker around the waist and throwing him up into the sky. His magic was swirling freely around him now and it felt so good. He hadn’t been able to let it run this free in so long, always having to hold it back and contain it. He could hear the power in him rejoice as it spread further and further.

The fight was over before it had even begun.

He still stood close to the portal, breathing heavily, feeling the drain of using this much powerful magic had put on his body. All his muscles were shaking and it was a wonder he could still stand up after all of this. The ground all around him was littered with bodies, none of them one of his friends, not a single new scratch on their bodies. When the adrenalin finally stopped running through him he realised that all eyes were on him and the purple haze dancing around him.

He wished he knew what they were thinking right now. If they’d hate him or fear him. He didn’t know what to do. He had just single handedly whipped out a small army after all. This was not a thing normal human beings did. Not even non-humans. After being granted the Watcher’s blessing and being trained for so long, he was ridiculously overpowered

He tried to call his magic back to at least look like his old carefree self, but now that it was unleashed it didn’t want to retreat. It always had a bit of a mind of its own. It would probably take at least a few hours or a few days to get the eyes on his skin to disappear. He gave a little glare at them and they only looked back at him. If he wasn’t so used to it, he’d be creeped out by his own power, so who was he to blame the others if they were?

His head was hanging low as he was still breathing heavily. He didn‘t dare look at them. He had lied. His whole relationship was built upon lies. Doc had enjoyed being the strong one and protecting him. Every other love declaration had been filled with promises to always protect him after all.

“Grian.” Doc‘s voice was soft and there were steps. Slow. Hesitant. Grian didn‘t dare look up, not even when Doc entered his field of vision. His eyes were locked onto the green feet sitting inside those ridiculous pink crocs that Grian had once gifted him as a joke.

“Looks like all those wars against you really had no chance of ever being won, huh?”

Grian‘s head snapped up. “I‘d never use my magic for that!”

When he finished his sentence he looked right at Doc and saw the softest and kindest smile there.

“I know. That sounds just like you. Making things unnecessarily hard on yourself just to have more fun. You always loved challenges. If someone were to hold back their overpowered magic it would be an idiot like you“, Doc said, his voice warm as he put a gentle hand onto Grian‘s cheek, never once flinching as the purple haze around Grian moved, snaking around Doc‘s arm. He knew the eyes would be moving as well, looking at the fingers touching him or right at the man in front of him. It should have been unnerving and disturbing, but Doc seemed to be completely unfazed by it.

“I- I lied. I lied to you. We‘ve been dating for so long and yet I have never told you the truth about who I am. I should have… I just thought- I trusted you, I swear. I was just afraid. And it was against the rules. I couldn‘t. And it was a convenient excuse not to and-“ The hand moved from his cheeks to his lips, a single finger pressing against his lips making him stop mid sentence as Doc made a shushing noise.

“Grian. It doesn‘t matter. You saved all of us. You ran straight into danger to save us. Why would we fear you? Are you scared of Cub and Scar?“ Grian shook his head. “Are you scared of Tango?“ He shook his head again. “Are you scared of me?“

At that Grian let out a soft laugh as the tension slowly left his body. He could feel tears well up in his eyes as relief flooded him. “How could I? You‘re the biggest softie in the whole wide world.”

“Then there‘s no reason to think we‘d be afraid of you. Surprised? Sure. But I could never be scared of the man I love.“

“Wouldn‘t you prefer I was just a human that you could protect? You always loved that.“

Doc chuckled, shaking his head the way you might at a small child, as if Grian had said something so very obviously stupid.

“Sure. It was nice to think you‘d need me. But then again, now I never have to worry about you. I‘m not with you because I can protect you and be a strong man. I‘m with you because I love you. Whether you need to be protected or you protect me. What does that even matter when we love one another?“

“So you don’t care?”

Doc smiled and shook his head again, putting a finger under Grian’s chin to tilt his head back ever so slightly before leaning down, stopping right before their lips met. “I love you. Then, now, and forever. Nothing will change that”, he whispered before moving the rest of the way, as if sealing his promise with a kiss. Grian could feel his magic move on its own, the purple mist slowly surrounding them, pushing Doc forward, as Grian went to put his arms around him and all of the eyes closing, as Grian’s own did.

He could hear his friends cheering from the side and he knew that he should have never worried. They accepted him just the way he was, no matter what that might be.

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melon-wing