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If there was one thing that all Admins hated about becoming an Admin, it was the fact that, with all of the work they did (both in taking care of their Players and the world and Code) they didn’t get paid. The Admin Council expected them to find a way to provide for their Players, while keeping them safe and protected, without any help, and while they all knew what they would be getting themselves into when they started their Admin training, that didn't mean they didn't feel appreciation from the Council, and on the rare occasion from their own Players, for all the blood, sweat, tears, hard work, and long hours that they put into everything.
Because of this, a system ended up being put in place by the Admins to help them show one another appreciation for the work that they were doing, and while no one knew who started it, who had given out the very first sticker with a note saying that the Admin was doing a good job and should be proud of themself, they all just kept doing it, boosting the moral of the other Admins who were in the same boat as they were; after all stickers were cheap to buy!
No Players knew about this, it was a tradition solely for the Admins to partake in, not wanting to worry their Players, or make them think that they didn't know that their Players cared about them- the only people who knew that this even happened were the Admins. However, after the months that had been spent planning the big Hermitcraft x Empires crossover, both of the worlds Players slowly started to realise some of what was going on, and decided that they should make more of an effort to show their appreciation for their Admins.
***
It had been three days since the Hermits had arrived on Empires, and Scott, Xisuma, Grian, and fWhip were all hanging out by the Empires Meeting Hall, all talking about their servers, both past and present, reminiscing on all the fun times they had, when Scott paused in what he was saying, before he smiled and changed the subject entirely.
“Oh! I meant to do this earlier,” the teal haired man started, pulling a small roll of paper out of his inventory, “but- here! I managed to get my hands on a new sticker roll, and, for the work that I know this crossover took-” Scott held out two cut out stickers, one was of a little goblin, and the other was a dragon.
Grian huffed out a laugh as he took the small dragon, and fWhip just shook his head fondly at his Player, taking the goblin.
“Is this because I just so happen to be a goblin this time around?” fWhip found himself asking, causing Xisuma to snicker as Scott shook his head.
“Nope! I saw the sticker sheet the last time I was out preparing for the next MCC, and it had some really cute mythical creatures on it that I just had to have. The goblin was a total coincidence, promise.”
“Hmmm, I guess we’ll believe you Scott, but that’s only because I saw the sheet you’re talking about when I last had to head to the Main Hub to pick up some odds and ends for the Hermits,” X chimed in, grabbing a random sticker out of his inventory and handing it to fWhip as well, getting an offended gasp from Grian.
“I see how it is! I help organise this so you get a break from the world, and I don’t even get a sticker! The audacity, 'Suma!” Grian cried out, causing the other three to burst out laughing.
When they had calmed down, X smirked at Grian, “make another game and then we’ll talk.”
“Wha- You know how much time goes into those games! Fine! But I better get seven stickers for it!”
“Oh, absolutely not. The most I’ll go for one of your Life Games is four,” Xisuma said, getting a scandalised gasp from Grian.
“Four! When I gave you a total of 21 stickers for Season Eight?!”
“Wait, how did he get so many for one season? I thought you only gave him five per season?” Scott asked, having learned this during the last MCC Grian had taken part in, and had received five stickers from the parrot hybrid for the work that he had put in.
“Yeah, well, he got a sixth sticker for having to put up with his older brother and his attempt to become the richest Hermit, and then 15 for the moon crashing into the world and all the headaches and such that that ended up causing, forcing us all to flee the world to save ourselves.” Leaning against his Admin as he spoke, Grian gestured widely to help visualise what a mess Season Eight had been for Xisuma to deal with.
“Ah, that makes sense. If you do make another Life Game, I expect to be invited,” Scott commented, getting a laugh and a nod from Grian.
From there the four broke back into idle chatter, before they parted with called goodbyes, needing to get back to what they had to do for the day, laughing about how, one day, they might actually be paid for all of the work they did.
However, none of them had realised that, about halfway through the initial sticker conversation they were no longer alone- Jimmy and Scar, who had been on the hunt for some materials for Tumble Town, had stumbled across the conversation and ended up listening in, having been drawn in by the talk of stickers, and stuck around when they realised that the stickers held some sort of deeper meaning for the four, and were hoping to find out more, wanting to know just why stickers seemed to hold such importance to the four Admins.
***
“Did-Did you understand any of that?” Scar asked, turning to look at Jimmy now that the four Admins had vanished from view.
“Was I supposed to? I mean, it was just stickers. Why were they acting like they were the most precious thing in the world?” Jimmy replied, before his head tilted to the side. “Perhaps it had something to do with that last comment about being paid one day.”
“You might have something there, and I think I know just the person to ask,” Scar claimed, before he grabbed Jimmy’s hand and started to drag the sheriff behind him on the hunt for Keralis- Xisuma’s best friend and possibly the one person, besides X’s brother, who knows the most about Hermitcraft’s Admin.
***
It took Scar and Jimmy two hours to find the wide-eyed man, all thoughts of materials needed for Tumble Town having been forgotten long ago. Scar had beamed when they spotted Keralis, and Jimmy had let out a small sigh of relief, looking forward to resting while talking with the man.
“Keralis! You have no idea how long we have been looking for you!” Scar called out, coming to a stop just a few feet away from Keralis.
“Hello Sweetfaces. What can I do for you both today?” Keralis asked, wide eyes blinking at them.
“Well, we were on the hunt for materials to expand Jimmy’s empire, now that I am here and can help out a friend, when we stumbled across Grian, ‘Suma, Scott, and fWhip talking about stickers. Now, you know me K, I am always intrigued by stickers,” Jimmy nodded along with these words, “so the Sheriff and I stopped to see if we could find out what was up with the stickers, but- well,-” here Scar broke off, unsure of what to say next, when Jimmy chimed in, having now caught his breath from the two hour hunt for Keralis.
“Why were they treating them like priceless treasures?”
Keralis paused for a moment, unsure if he should be explaining this to two people who had never been an Admin (Keralis had been an Admin once himself, before he decided that he would leave the Admining to someone else), before he sighed, plopping down on ground, and motioning for Scar and Jimmy to do the same.
“It’s a bit of a long story, but to put it in the simplest of terms, Admins are not paid anything for all of the work they do.”
“Wait, but that makes no sense! They look after us, the world, and the Code! Why wouldn’t they be paid for that?!” Scar exclaimed, confusion clear on his face.
Keralis could only sigh, pursing his lips for a moment as he formulated his answer. “Who knows. They have more than enough money to pay them, and they deserve the work, but they haven’t paid them for anything that they do, so the Admins started giving one another stickers. It’s an Admin only thing, as far as I am aware, but they probably wouldn’t mind if you gave them little trinkets… just not stickers, let’s leave that for the Admins to give to one another. Some of them have dedicated books for their stickers, Sheswammy does, and each sticker has a little slot and it has a label to show who gave him the sticker. Grian has given him the most, especially after Season Eight, but he loves to get them when he passes other Admins in the World Hub, and he keeps his own with him to hand out to Admins he encounters.”
“But what kind of trinkets?” Jimmy found himself asking, wanting to know how he could show appreciation to fWhip and Scott for everything they do; Grian as well, but his friend could definitely be… a bit much, however, he did make the Life games, so he did have something going for him, even if he does spend most of his time trying to annoy him.
“Hmmm, probably something they can collect. Oh! Buttons or pins would probably work really well.”
“Buttons or pins?” Scar asked, “what kinds of buttons or pins?”
“Any really. Probably the smaller ones, without the pin out the back so it can be stored in a book. I would suggest doing ones with pictures or words, and not bother with solid colours, but solid colours would also work if you can’t find any fun ones. However, they would check the same boxes that stickers do, and I have a feeling that they would really like them. It’s nice to know you’re appreciated for what you do.” Keralis smiled, now that the idea was there, he would most definitely be getting his hands on some buttons for his Sheshwammy, and for Grian as well.
“That sounds like it will work. Can we tell the rest of the Empires members and Hermits about this?” Scar questioned, Jimmy nodding along with his words.
“Yeah, the more who do this, the more appreciated they will feel. Though, perhaps don’t mention that you know about the stickers. Admins tend to be very closed off about that.”
“You got it!” Jimmy chirped out, dragging Scar to his feet and starting to tug him along, “thanks Keralis!”
“It was no problem, Jimmy,” Keralis responded with a wave, Scar happily waving back before the pair were off to go find their friends to help spread the news, and to plan what pins and buttons to get.
***
Jimmy and Scar were quick to spread the news, and a plan was put into action. The Empires members got permission to head to the Main Hub to do some light shopping from fWhip, and the Hermits gave them some of their saved money, from doing odd jobs between seasons, to get them some buttons and pins as well.
From there, the buttons and pins were distributed out, a few being kept back because the person who got it liked it so much, and then they gave a button each to their Admins for putting up with them.
While Xisuma, Grian, Scott, and fWhip never actually learned why their Players were suddenly giving them buttons and pins (everyone deciding to keep it a secret so the four Admins wouldn’t think that they were doing this out of some kind of obligation), they did greatly appreciate what they had been given, as it helped to solidify that they were doing something worthwhile with their lives, and their Players gratitude was better than any monetary pay that they could receive.