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Joe had been wandering around Boatem for the past three hours.
Grian had of course been watching aer, wondering what the hell he was doing. He hadn’t placed anything, only writing in his book every once in a while.
Now, Grian trusted Joe, aer had been some of the first to learn his wing folk secret and was confusing in a nice way… but , Grian still had a seedling of paranoia left in his trauma-addled brain telling him to confront the other.
Joe must have heard him take off, following him with aers eyes half closed as Grian flew over and landed a few feet away from where the other was standing.
“Can I ask what you're doing here?”
Half way through the sentence Joe was already flipping to the back of his book, showing the page to Grian with a mildly annoyed expression.
“Sore throat huh?” he frowned at that, rubbing his neck. Getting sick wasn't something players did, not often at least, and he's guessing Joe had just talked too much and aer’s throat was giving him pains as punishment.
“I've got some green tea and honey if you want?” he offered half heartedly, adding “some smooth coffee, too, if that's more your thing?”
At Joe's tilted head he couldn't help but laugh to himself.
“Home remedy for scratchy throats; come on, I'll put a kettle on the boil.”
It didn't take long to lead Joe into his starter base, digging around in the cabinets for his tea and coffee. Joe, ever the peaceful one, stood still, letting Grian curse under his breath as he couldn't find the containers for a solid three minutes.
“Ah ha! Alright Joe, do you like one or two.” Offering the two jars of hand-made hand-grown coffee and tea to Joe, Grian wasn’t surprised when of course Joe picked coffee.
The silence was only disturbed by the quiet bubbling of the coffee maker; thankfully he actually knew where the honey was, so the search for that wasnt stupidly long. A few moments later he handed the cup of coffee and honey to Joe, humming a quick ‘careful its hot’ before moving to clean up the coffee maker.
The quiet gasp of joy was what regained his attention.
Turning back to Joe, he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at how the other was staring at the drink, a light in aer’s eyes as he took another sip and let out a hum of pleasure.
“Glad you like it, tea’s normally the go-to with sore throats, but coffee serves basically the same purpose.”
Joe hummed in understanding, happily sipping at the mug with a smile.
Grian had an odd feeling he had just made a mistake.
—
Someone was knocking at his door.
He frowned and closed his coding notebook (he couldn't understand why Npg’s movement cut off his arms when walking, messing up his balance— it was self-learning, it shouldn't have bugs like that!) then stood, moving over to the door and opening it.
“Xisuma?”
Sure enough the admin stood at the door, eyes crinkled into a light smile behind voi’s visor.
“Hey, uh Joe sent me to you?”
Grian couldn't help but visibly cringe at how much X’s voice crackled.
“What happened?”
“Me and the brother were building and it kinda— accidentally mind you— ended up swinging a beam of wood into my throat? S’mostly healed but it’s aching and Joe said come to you?”
Grian blinked at him, processing that information. Building injuries weren't uncommon but he's pretty sure the honey trick was for sore throats from things like a cold, not for having a thing of wood slammed into your windpipe…
But then again, he had no idea, and it’s not like he could look it up anymore.
“I might? Come on in, let's see if it works…”
Leading X inside, Grian actually managed to find the items immediately this time around, frowning as he looked between the items and X’s helmet.
“Question, can you eat and drink normally, also can you smell anything?”
“Yes I can eat and drink things with a cannula, smelling’s iffy but normally yeah.”
“Cool, take a whiff of each, which one do you like more?”
He held the two cans out, waiting as X took off vois helmet and followed instructions.
“Two?”
“Ah, tea it is.”
Only moments later he was watching X’s eyes widen, staring down at the cup in fascination.
“How?” voi croaked.
“How what?”
“It’s so good? Are you sure it’s medicinal?”
“It’s not medicinal, it just happens to help with scratchy throats. Technically it’s meant to help keep natural borns awake.”
“It’s amazing.”
“I guess? I can't have it, just kinda grew it out of habit.” All of Evo had always guzzled the stuff, and it was one of the habits that he was glad had started to come back.
X’s eyes drilled into him and Grian was reminded that voi and Ex are twins— the pinkish irises suited them both and, in the dim light, they seemed to actually grow in color. X’s eyes seemed to be lighter than Ex’s, more purplish than red, and vois hair was a clean undercut compared to Ex’s yard of the stuff.
“I will pay you for more.”
“Ok? You don't have to, just ask and I’ll make you a cup.”
If only he knew what he had started that day.
—
“Uh, hey Etho?”
Now, it wasn’t that he and Etho weren’t friendly with each other, but this would be the first time Etho had actively seeked him out instead of just, say, stumbling across him in the middle of a panic attack. For some reason the other’s mask was down, resting around his neck for the first time since Grian had met him.
He also wasn't expecting Etho to start signing.
“You know jsl?”
He blinked a few times; the mask being down made sense now, jsl used a lot of mouthing. Just as Etho started to look disappointed, Grian found himself able to answer back in sign with a simple yes. He was a bit rusty, but it was a skill he was glad to keep up. Silly had taught him and Taurtis— they had used it to talk behind his back, and after that it was just something that he never really forgot.
Etho seemed to relax when Grian answered.
“Sick, sore throat, X sent me, help?”
It takes a few moments for him to piece it together before he nods, gesturing for Etho to enter. There were probably a few signs in there meant to make the message smoother that he just didn't know, but he got the bulk of it well enough.
He dug out the required containers, setting them on the counter before turning to Etho again.
“Smell, which better?”
At Etho’s confused look he shrugged.
“Very different.”
At that Etho squinted before doing as told, face scrunching up at both.
“Bitter.”
“Neither?”
“Neither.”
Grian hummed at that, tucking the items away and wracking his brain for other sore throat remedies; sure tea and coffee with honey was always the first one but… right, hot chocolate could do the trick too, and he should have some milk chocolate powder stored away. He had meant to save it for winter, but now worked just as well.
Holding the tin out to Etho he raised an eyebrow. After getting a nod of acceptance from Etho he moved to start simmering some milk, pausing when he remembered that dairy made running noses worse and changing to water. Didn’t it also make coughing worse, come to think of it?… Water was just a safer bet then. Etho stood a few feet away, watching him with mild interest in a way that both didn't bother him yet made the hairs on his neck rise.
Finally the water began to simmer and he added the powder, smiling as it dissolved just like it should. He was doing better with this “raw ingredients only” thing.
When it was well-mixed he poured it into a mug, offering it to Etho who took it with a whispered and slightly slurred “arigatou.” The familiar language prodded at his brain in a weird way; he had grown up speaking primarily English, but he’d been speaking Japanese almost as long. It was almost nice, to hear it from somebody other than Taurtis somewhere he felt safe.
He watched as Etho’s eyes widened slightly, staring at the cup in surprise.
“Good?” Grian signed, smiling to himself when Etho nodded.
The drink was finished fairly quickly, Grian taking the mug back to wash when a thought hit him.
“Aids?” he asked
“Broken, unfixable.”
“How?”
“Explode.”
Grian winced at that, rubbing his own ears in sympathy. He wished he could offer help, but he knew so little about medical engineering— sure he could maybe copy a working one or fix an intact broken one, but he honestly didn't trust himself with that. This probably wasn't like the cybernetics Doc and Iskall let him help with.
“New ones?” he asked.
Etho in turn shrugged, seeming mostly unbothered, if not mildly annoyed.
Which got him thinking.
“Kind?”
In response Etho reached out into nothing, closing his hand and opening it to show a pair of kind of bulky hearing aids; one seemed mostly fine, but the other one was charred black with the cover popped off and showing the inner workings. Grian wanted to scream at what he saw— the molten redstone in some of the segments easily explained why such a small device had such an extreme response. Redstone and electricity didn't get along well, and Grian was surprised Etho didn't have to respawn from what likely happened.
“Can I?” he asked, holding out his hand, to which Etho shrugged and handed them over.
He popped open the shell of the fine-looking one, noting where a few more delicate wires had worn away and snapped; it likely hadn't been working for a while, but he could see where the seal had failed and bits of redstone had started to accumulate, if he just…
“Can I fix it?” he asked and again Etho shrugged. It made sense that he wouldn't care, they were already broken and it wasn’t like Grian could do worse than the smoldering pile of plastic they already were. He wondered if Etho even could get a replacement, most disability help spawned in with a person and these things looked about as old as Etho claimed to be…
Just another challenge for him to dig into.
—
It had been a week and he was still struggling with the hearing aid.
He had to make sure that it was airtight enough that redstone couldn't get in, yet have enough air to not potentially overheat as well as receive sound properly, all while being small enough to fit on Etho’s ear with no extra support.
Etho had beaten his cold but seemed content to keep coming over for cups of hot chocolate, now made with milk to Etho’s delight. Currently he was sitting on Grian’s counters, sipping at his drink as he watched Grian with amusement as he carefully laid down the wires in the new shell he had molded. It wasn't any worse than creating entire circuit boards from scratch for his boys, but it was frustrating all the same.
“X’s ‘ere,” Etho mumbled, words slurring together slightly in the way that happened when people couldn’t hear what they were saying. “‘Rought Wels ‘n’ Jvin.”
Grian let himself curse, carefully setting his project down on a cloth and turning to the door.
“Hey Grian, you weren’t answering your com,” was what X said when Grian answered the door.
“Shit, uh sorry, working on a project, you need something?”
“Oh no sorry you just said that if I wanted a cup I could ask and I was wondering if…” void trailed off with an awkward smile, rocking back on vois heels.
“Oh yeah, I should probably take a break anyway, come on in.”
He tuned out the soft chatter that stirred up when the trio entered the house, faintly hearing the click that came with the twin admins removing their helmets. It doesn't take him long to brew up a few cups of tea and offer them to his guests, already semi lost in thought again.
He's back to trying to put together the hearing aid seconds later.
—
He had to call in backup when the prototypes still didn't meet his standards. Now him, Iskall, and Doc were all leaned over a blueprint, pointing at it and muttering to each other as they tried to find the faults.
Etho by this point had started just raiding Grian’s kitchen, making his own hot chocolate when Grian was busy. Though he did share, it tended to taste better if Grian made it, somehow. At the rate the powder was going, Grian was half tempted to charge.
Currently Etho was resting on the stairs, watching the three of them stress over where in the world redstone kept getting into the inner shell. The last thing they wanted was another explosion directly in Etho’s ear.
This time Grian was at least aware enough to realize he was being texted. It was Joe, asking if he could get aer and Cleo a cup of coffee. He confirmed he could, calling five as he went to start up the coffee pot.
Apparently along the way they had picked up a curious Scar, so Grian made yet another cup and waved to them as he went outside to stretch his wings.
—
“What are you making anyway?” Doc asked, Iskall trying to pull one of the thrown pencils from the wall and making a noise of question.
“Hot cocoa, want some?”
The home smells of chocolate and only chocolate moments later, and Grian’s yet again thankful that he never really liked chocolate.
—
Etho let out a short burst of a laugh when yet another prototype caught fire. They weren't exploding anymore at least, but dumping a pile of redstone on the prototypes and turning them on was probably not the smartest way of doing this.
“Where! Where is the crack!” Iskall yelled, burying their face in their hands with a fake sob as doc rubbed his eyes with a deep suffering sigh.
Grian himself didn't know what was going wrong— he had started using the same sealing techniques he used with his boys, yet somehow that wasn't working like it should. It had to be the difference in material, maybe they were mixing the plastic wrong, causing faults in the shells melding joints? He didn't use plastic often, it was too flimsy for his tastes, but this needed to be light so it’s not like he could use his favorite aluminum steel alloy. This had to be their twentieth attempt by now, they had combined sealing the internal circuitry with rubber as well as a shell covered in rubber to seal it, so maybe it wasn't the shell or main circuitry giving them trouble but the speaker system? Was there a gap they were missing here? Robotics were always a bitch to deal with…
He's suggesting trying to find if it’s the other main component that's the issue when his com buzzes, causing him to groan.
“I think that's our break cue,” Iskall jokes lightly, staring at the messy blueprints like they might cry.
“Agreed, take ten?”
Grian mumbles his approval as he looks at his com, rolling his eyes when it’s X asking for tea with a few more people.
“I should set up a shop,” he mutters, glancing at Etho who raises a curious eyebrow at him.
“One diamond per cup, that would be fair…” he's talking to himself he knows, Etho could lip read but shared he didn't want to put in the effort. Grian could respect that, make other people work to accommodate him not the other way around, either learn jsl or face his smug stare until the tech gang managed to figure out how to make him a new hearing aid.
It’s still nice to talk to the air at least.
“I respect you,” he signs to the other, smiling when Etho echos the motions.
He's made five cups when X’s group stops by, Beef and Hypno of all people joining the group of his tea drinkers. He starts tuning them out when he gives them their cups, only catching a few words about some kind of conflict between X and Joe before he’s absorbed back into blueprints and circuitry.
—
Ex and Zed had both joined the group of “how to fix Etho’s hearing aids” soon after that. They were starting to be convinced it was a server-side issue so Ex was called in, and Zed would probably help them with her left field ideas.
This of course also led to Grian making two more cups of hot chocolate than normal and deciding to expand his drink plant farms. The hermits were guzzling more than the Evo gang ever had, and he was honestly impressed.
“There shouldn't be anything server-side,” Ex muttered, com more like a laptop than a phone at the moment as it rather aggressively poked at the keys. “Disability aids are normally exempt from any code changes anyway.”
Zed hums, turning their newest prototype that had started sparking but at least hadn't burned yet. “Could you use a fire resistance enchantment to stop the overheating?”
“Redstone is the issue more than the overheating— it melts and absorbs the current, turning it into a piece of tnt that goes off at the slightest touch, like how creepers get super charged,” Doc explains with a hand wave.
“Honestly it’s a miracle Etho’s lasted as long as they did,” Grian adds, “ticking time bombs, really.”
Zed hums in thought, resting his chin on her hands and staring off.
“I could maybe fuck around with the code and remove that, but who knows what it could do,” Ex admits, “you need the microphone system for them to work but…”
“They create gaps,” everyone chorused, Iskall muttering a few swears in swedish under their breath.
“What about a filtering system?” Zed offers, “like you have in your helmet Ex?”
“It’s a bit big, but if you can figure out how to make it fit I can grab the spare blueprints X keeps in case one of ours breaks?”
“Fuck it why not, best we got at this point,” Grian sighed, running his hand down his face; one little project he thought would be fairly easily and it’s becoming a clusterfuck to rival his first attempts at making Npg…
There's a knock at the door that is enough extra stimuli to cause Grian to scream in frustration, apparently loud enough where even Etho glances in his direction from his book.
“That’s it, break, now— Ex go get the thing, I’m seeing what the fuck they want and making you all more hot chocolate to calm my nerves.”
He feels a bit bad about his scream when he opens the door to find Mumbo shifting awkwardly there.
“Hi,” he greets, trying and failing to not sound annoyed.
“Are you ok?” Mumbo croaks, and Grian blinks a few times at his voice. “You were yelling and I got worried.”
“Project, it’s going horrid, what the hell is wrong with your voice?”
“I uh, might have inhaled a bit too much sand?”
“Get your ass in here, I’m making you something with honey.”
He really shouldn't be surprised Mumbo preferred tea.
—
Bdubs had joined them now, not for any reason other than moral support. He too now got a cup at the local ticking time bomb that was trying to figure out how to make Etho a pair of aids that would work.
“I'm convinced the only reason his last ones lasted so long was spawn protection,” Iskall chuckled with thinly veiled despair. It was a bit surprising that Iskall was both the most determined yet most defeated with this project.
“Ok filter didn't work, that's fine, that's fine,” Doc laughed, his own a bit more unhinged.
Grian just hid himself in his wings so he wouldn't have to see their newest smoldering attempt.
He was going to run out of refined silver and plastic at this rate.
He doesn't even blink when there's a knock at the door, registering Joe offering him a smile and inviting the small group he had brought with. Apparently Tango and Impulse were curious as to what Zed was up to and had tagged along with Cleo and Joe’s coffee trip.
He only sort of hears them say something about a drink war before a thought occurs to him and he nearly barrels back to the others.
“What if we set up a replaceable mesh? He’d just have to switch it out every day and if we make the filter fine enough the particle shouldn't get through, right?” he glances around, a little desperate. “ Right ?”
—
When he woke up in the mornings now he just automatically started brewing the three main drinks.
He would offer Etho the other’s favorite mug (Grian had gotten really bored at some point and spent a week just making albeit poor quality dishes and cutlery specifically for a reason that escaped him) with hot cocoa in it when he arrived at the same time everyday, would raise an eyebrow at Bdubs who woke and slept with the sun apparently and was almost always already making himself comfortable in the brainstorming area. He’d point out the drinks as the rest of the group trickled in, they'd work for an hour, take a five minute break, and then the rest of the server would stop by for their drink of choice which Grian was really tempted to charge for by now.
At some point the rest of the server not brought in by Joe or X stopped by and started joining in the new tradition of getting a drink in the morning. The cups, thermoses and water bottles taken always returned clean and undamaged and occasionally with a small token of thanks. Anything from cool rocks (which Grian now had a miniature chest full of that he adored) to totems of undying was on the table with the gifts.
It was one of the reasons he refrained from charging.
He was currently watching with mild fascination as X and Joe of all people were having what looked like a glaring match in his kitchen.
“What the hell is going on here?” he asked, the two’s gazes not leaving each other as X spoke.
“Yeah Joe , what's going on, huh?” He could tell it was joking the second X spoke, it was probably just some lighthearted argument.
“I don't know X , will you admit coffee’s better than your hot water?”
“Says the one drinking what's basically flavored mud!”
Oh god.
Grian couldn't help but laugh, curling up slightly as he realized what he’d caused.
He had brought the tea vs coffee controversy here.
It had been on evo somewhat, an underlying thing that only really sparked if people came to get their week of brew at the same time. Back when Grian just made it in bulk and told them to either drink it hot or figure out how to warm it up before running off to whatever his goal of the day had been.
But already he could tell this was going to be another mycelium resistance event.
What was it with him and starting wars, huh?
“Hey, kitchen is a truce zone, get your drinks and then take it outside,” he told them when his laughter finally subsided, rolling his eyes as he grabbed a thing of bread (actually cooked bread, he remembers why he always cursed out yeast now) and moved past them to get back to his project. “Honestly, you guys are drinking it plain too, it’s better with creamer or different types of tea but I never have the time to make any.”
He giggles to himself when he sees them both perk up, eyes locked on him.
“Yeah, I mean, I’ve got to gather the milks and fruits and different flowers and the sugars,” he sighs, taking a bite of his bread, “and then the blending and saturation and don't get me started on the drying process. I’m only one person, so you guys are stuck with it plain.” He shrugs before looking thoughtful. “Though I suppose if you guys go get them for me… I could name whichever side helps me with this the most the better drink?”
“Give me a list,” Joe demands, X nodding right along.
He giggles to himself again; that took care of at least some of his troubles.
—
“The noise quality’s kinda bad,” Etho admits to them, “bit tin-y and muffled.”
“Probably the mesh, it works but the material’s messing with sound quality,” Iskall hums, tapping their fingers in thought.
“What if we used positive charged fibers, so the dust is attracted and stays on the mesh but the sound quality is better because of wider gaps?” Grian offers, already mentally sifting through what kinds of thread would be best.
“That would work, the thinner the better,” Doc agrees. “Spider silk won’t work, and clearly any metals won't either…”
There was a screeching sound from outside, what sounded like some light hearted sword fighting, ethos face scrunching up as he removed the aids.
“S’really bad,” he says, Grian giving him a nod and taking back the prototypes.
Grian himself could hear even more supplies being left at his door, whoever had been sparring then flying off in an obnoxious burst of fireworks.
“I could maybe get my hands on some chiffon? That's the thinnest fabric I can think of,” Grian hums, ignoring how Ex was tilting its head as it stared out the window at the slowly growing pile of coffee and tea supplies.
“Would it be sturdy and woven together enough to work as a mesh? If I remember correctly it’s pretty easy to tear…”
The door opened, Grian glancing up to see a slightly confused Ren peering inside.
“Hot cocoa, coffee, and tea’s over there, we’re trying to make Etho new hearing aids, no idea why you’re joining so late but if you choose the cocoa make yourself comfortable in here, you choose tea or coffee go outside and join the war.”
Ren ended up choosing the cocoa.
—
He made the brews and additives on friday, then labeled each type and let the hermits mix their own drinks together. He made two things of caramel creamer and three times the hazelnut tea because those always went first. He turned on the brewers every morning and waved as the hermits stopped by. He had etched their names into the bottoms of their preferred containers so nobody would accidentally take some else’s, even if the glaze on all of them was far too different for any such mistake.
He’d greet Etho, who would greet him back. Etho would get the first cup of the day because Bdubs always waited for the ok to have his. Then it was testing materials and painstakingly weaving light meshes to try and get the proper filter without messing up the sound quality too much or getting redstone embedded in the inner systems.
Doc and Ren would stop by soon after that, and then the trickle of hermits would begin. Boatem would always get theirs first, and Ex was a coin flip if it would even stop by.
It was a nice routine, simple even.
The group watched as Etho flicked on the newest attempt, then snapped his fingers at varying lengths from his ear and carefully adjusted the volume on his aids.
“Only really has the not-hearing to hearing static,” Etho admitted with a raised eyebrow. “Unless it's got a whine I can't hear yet, it looks like you guys got it finally.”
Grian startled when Iskall let out what sounded like a cheer and a sob in the same breath, falling backwards and laying there, giggling like they were deranged.
Well, Etho’s project was finished.
Which meant one thing…
“You guys wanna join in the drink war?”