Chapter Text
Grian was curled up in the bed of his starter base, hands covering his ears. Too loud. Too loud. Too loud. Every sound outside felt amplified by one hundred, the simple rustle of leaves in the wind hurt his ears. Void, why did he have to get like this now?
He hadn’t felt little in years; not since before Hermitcraft. Even then, he hadn’t ever felt as little as he was now. All of his thoughts washed away, brain fogged up. He didn’t have anything to help with this anymore. There was no one to help him through it either.
Tears pricked the corners of his eyes as he tried to think of who he could go to. He had nobody, as far as he was concerned.
Mumbo.
Mumbo used to help him with it before he joined the server. He almost opened his communicator to message the man, the feathers around his ears puffing up until he realized.
Mumbo was gone.
Grian missed Mumbo so, so much. He was always reliable when Grian needed preening, or when he felt small, or even when he just needed more building inspiration.
He’d been gone for ten months now, and Grian wasn’t faring well. He’d done everything from opening a rift to reconstructing their robot son to even trying to summon him. He was out of ideas.
He needed someone. Grian turned his head to face the window, focusing his attention on the little birds that would fly higher than he ever could. The bright red mushrooms sprouted outside. The glow of lanterns hanging from his elven neighbor’s tree.
His neighbor. Scar.
He could go to Scar for help, but would Scar know what to do? He always stuck his head in the clouds to escape what was going on. Grian almost felt the need to take care of Scar, but he had to give in to being little. He needed Scar, and he needed him now.
He opened his communicator to message Scar, but it seemed the other man had other plans.
<GoodTimesWithScar whispers to you: You mentioned something about needing a ton of terracotta? I have two shulkers. Bringing you some>
Scar was on his way already, and the fog in Grian’s mind begged him to tell him to stay for a while.
<You whisper to GoodTimesWithScar: can u stay 4 a lil bit plz>
<You whisper to GoodTimesWithScar: need ‘car>
Grian felt a little bit silly for telling Scar he needed him, but it was true. He trusted Scar, and he needed someone to take care of him.
Not more than a minute later, Grian heard fireworks being set off overhead. He covered his ears. Too loud. He spotted the man he was waiting for outside, probably waiting for him to answer the door.
<You whisper to GoodTimesWithScar: com in!>
Grian heard the familiar jingle of his door opening and footsteps walking his way. He caught sight of Scar’s blazer as he walked towards Grian, footsteps light as if he was trying to sneak up on him. He’d brought a small backpack with him.
“Hey, G, how are you?” Scar asked, sitting on Grian’s bed. Grian didn’t respond. Talking took too much work. Instead, he made grabby hands at the other.
“Okay, songbird,” Scar laughed. He crawled towards Grian, who happily trilled in response. He pulled Scar into himself and nuzzled his face into his shoulder. Scar smiled.
“Hey, angel?” Scar asked. Grian made a small noise of acknowledgment, lifting his head out of Scar’s shoulder to look into his eyes.
“How old are you right now?” he asked. Grian furrowed his brows and cocked his head to the side in thought, before holding up his pointer finger and his middle finger. Scar smiled. He snuggled himself into Grian, who looked drowsy and much happier than he had when Scar had first come in.
Scar beamed at the boy curled up next to him. It had been a while since he’d been a caregiver; he’d only done it for Cub in the past, but he loved the small smile on Grian’s face that was just there because he was.
“I have a surprise for you, little one,” Grian perked up at that. He finally sat up now, wings fluffed up. He wrapped himself in his sweater, waiting for Scar to show him the surprise.
“I thought you might be little from the way you messaged, so I brought you some things!” Scar pulled a brown bag from the foot of Grian’s bed. Grian’s eyes widened in awe as Scar pulled items out of it.
A onesie that looked the perfect size for Grian, patterned with little stars and moons. A red pacifier with a heart on it and “Angel” written in little plastic beads on the handle. A red, yellow, and cyan parrot stuffed animal that matched Grian’s wings to a T.
Grian chirped in excitement. “Tanks, ‘car! Love dem a lot!” He pulled Scar into a hug.
“Do you wanna go put your onesie on, kiddo?” Grian nodded, hopping off of his bed and running to the bathroom to change. Scar watched him jog, onesie dragging on the floor behind him.
Scar heard a crashing noise from the floor below, followed by a shout of pain. His smile immediately turned to a frown, sprinting towards the ladder and climbing as fast as he could. He needed to make sure his baby was okay.
“Prince? Are you okay?” He looked around frantically for the entrance to Grian's bathroom. He eventually found it, swinging the door open to reveal Grian sitting on the floor, tears welling up in his eyes.
“Little one, what happened?” Scar knelt beside the baby, searching for any injuries. Nothing looked too prominent except for a red spot on the entire left side of Grian’s body where he had presumably injured himself.
The tears were flowing now as the pain hit Grian like a bus. He was so excited to put on his onesie and show it to Scar, but he couldn’t quite get the zipper up on the front. It kept getting stuck at about his tummy, so he jumped to see if it would help.
And then he slipped.
There was a small puddle of water on the bathroom floor from Grian’s last shower, and he’d, unfortunately, jumped right in it and slipped. He’d fallen on his side with a loud thud .
“Oh no, sweetie,” Scar cooed. He scooped up Grian’s head with his hand, sitting him up. “Do you want me to put it on for you?” Grian nodded, tears still pouring down his cheeks. Scar pulled him up to stand, resting him against the wall and letting him hold onto his arm for support.
Scar fiddled with the fabric; it turned out to be bunched up where Grian had gotten it stuck. He pulled the fabric so it was smooth again. He zipped the zipper from where it had gotten stuck up to Grian’s collarbones.
“There you go, angel. Do you want me to carry you?” Grian nodded, pulling his sleeve over his hand and putting it in his mouth as something to chew on. Scar scooped him up and adjusted him in his arms so that Grian’s head was on his shoulder. Grian chirped in response, wiping the tears off of his cheeks.
Scar carried him down the ladder, one hand on the rungs and moving quickly in swift, practiced movements. He let Grian hook his legs around his waist as they walked back to Grian’s bed.
Scar replaced the sleeve in Grian’s mouth with his paci and sat him down, tucking the parrot plushie into his arms. Still, Grian refused to lie down.
“Do you want to go back to sleep? You seem pretty tired, little one,” Scar pointed out in a hushed voice. Grian shook his head rapidly.
“Nuh-uh.”
“Why not, baby?” Scar placed his hand on Grian’s cheek.
“Won’t go sleepy ‘til Pwofesso’ Beaks gets a ‘Car kissy,” Grian responded, spitting out his paci and holding his stuffie up to his caretaker’s face. Scar giggled, kissing the parrot plush on the forehead and patting the top of Grian’s.
“There you go. Now d’you wanna take a nap?” Grian shook his head once more, this time tilting it to the side.
“Can I get a ‘Car kissy, too?” he asked, voice as little as he was. Scar smiled.
“Of course, prince,” Scar kissed Grian’s forehead just as he did Professor Beaks’, and with that, Grian seemed content to go to sleep. Scar replaced the paci into his mouth and watched him smile, happy as ever.
And only after Grian had been asleep for quite a while had Scar gotten the notification that would leave him overjoyed when he woke up.
<Mumbo joined the game>