Chapter Text
The morning breeze gently brushed the hair out of Lomedy’s face. Lomedy closed his eyes and took a deep breath, opening them while slowly exhaling. He looked down at the heavy bamboo basket he was holding, full of bright orange carrots. Carrots were better harvested in the morning—and with a friend.
Lomedy turned his head in search of a certain warrior friend. It didn’t take him long to spot him. “Nice timing!” Lomedy laughed as Flamefrags uncrouched at the perfect moment.
Flame also had a basket, borrowed from Lomedy, of course. Flame hoped to get some carrots out of this so he could make golden carrots. The saturation was marvelous to have for combat. Of course, that wasn’t the only reason Flame had volunteered.
“You done?”
Flame turned around. “Yeah, that lowkey took a while, bro,” Flame chuffs.
Lomedy smiles. “It did, but I mean, at least we got it done!”
_________________________________
The river water was cool to the touch. Flame and Lomedy were currently rinsing the harvest.
“You know, I knew you were a changed man and all, but I didn’t think you’d spend your morning, like, picking carrots,” Lomedy teased.
Flame laughed. “Well, what else am I supposed to do, bro? I’ve got nothing else to do, so might as well.”
“You finally embracing the farmer life?” Lomedy joked.
Flame scoffed. “Alright bro, I wouldn’t say I’m embracing farmer life. Plus, I mean, I don’t really have other friends anyway.”
Lomedy paused. “You don’t have other friends?”
“Yeah bro, but it’s literally chill or whatever. I don’t need that many friends, bro,” Flame replied.
“Well, what about the people you teamed up with to take down Law? Aren’t they your friends?”
Flame internally groaned. “Well—I wouldn’t say they're my friends... more like acquaintances. Lowkey just people I know.”
“Well, maybe they consider you a friend.” Lomedy says.
“Hah. I doubt that,” Flame laughed.
“Whatever you did shouldn’t be that bad! I mean, if you apologized, they’d hang out with you!” Lomedy said, jumping up. “Let’s go find out what they actually think. Let’s go make amends!”
“NO! Bro, like, there is NO NEED for all that! Seriously—Bro! I’m telling you, it’s whatever, bro!” Flame shouted in a panic as Lomedy started walking away.
“We can start with the King! Perhaps we can take him a cake, like a peace offering?” Lomedy beamed.
“Bro, he’s probably like— busy. He’s doing king stuff. We shouldn’t just, like, go bother him for no real reason, bro,” Flame groaned.
___________________________________
He would never do this himself. EVER. God, he probably looked like a complete chungie right now. No armor, just the stupid box.
“Flame? You listening?” Lomedy questioned.
“What? Oh yeah—my bad bro... you were saying?”
“You nervous?”
“What? No! I mean, bro, it’s Parrot... he couldn’t hurt a bee if he wanted to.”
“Then what’s wrong?”
“Nothing, bro—just…let’s get this over with…” Flame huffs.
_______________________________
“The King is busy right now.”
Flame and Lomedy frowned at the guard.
“We know him! Like—personally! We just want to drop by—”
“Flamefrags?” a voice said.
Flame immediately froze. Theo.
“YOOO! Dude! It’s so great to see you, man!” the bird exclaimed.
“Theo. What’s good, bro?” Flame said, forcing a small smile.
“Come on, come on! Let's go!” Theo said, gesturing for them to follow.
“See, not everyone hates you!” Lomedy whispered excitedly.
“Shut up Bro—just stop talking!” Flame whispered back, dying of embarrassment.
——————-
“So, what brings ya here?” Theo says, his voice carrying some cheer.
Flame hesitates for a little too long, so Lomedy answers for him.
“We just wanted to drop by real quick and say hi to the King,” Lomedy says, mirroring the cheerful energy Theo gave.
“Ah, well you're in luck, because Parrot isn’t drowning in paperwork right now,” Theo laughs.
Lomedy chuckles. Flame is so glad he has Lomedy with him right now to smooth out the awkwardness. Lomedy catches all the social cues that Flame otherwise would completely miss.
“Who is it?!” says a muffled voice behind the large, fancy door.
“It’s me, and two guests!”
“Come in!”
Theo opened the large door and let Flame and Lomedy walk in first. The first thing they noticed was the sheer amount of books that surrounded them; it seemed like a small library. In the center sat Parrot. The bright golden crown on top of his head was a great contrast to Parrot's fluffy brown hair, which he seemed to prefer these days.
“Flame?” Parrot said in a questioning manner. He stood up to greet his guests.
“….and?” He smiled unsurely at Lomedy, having never met him before.
“Lomedy! Nice to meet you!” Lomedy held out a hand.
“Nice to meet you too,” Parrot said, shaking Lomedy’s hand.
“So, what brings you guys here?” Parrot tilted his head slightly, his eyes wandering to the box Flame held.
Flame suddenly felt his face flush. What was he even supposed to say? That he’s here to make friends? Hell no, but anything he said would make him seem like an absolute chungie anyway. Not to mention his former trainer was right behind him, making it all the more humiliating.
Lomedy caught on to his friend's hesitant behavior. He wanted to let Flame figure out friendships himself, but he recognized that Flame isn’t really the type to just... make friends. It was painfully obvious; Flame just assumed everyone was an enemy. So, he took mercy on him.
“I made you a cake! To, like, congratulate you on winning the crown.” Lomedy smiled warmly, discreetly elbowing Flame.
Flame broke out of his trance and held out the box for Parrot to take.
“That’s sweet! Thank you guys!” Parrot smiled at the pleasant surprise.
“Say, the four of us should hang out sometime. I haven’t seen you since we jailed Lettuce.”
Flame grins a bit. “Yeah… it’s been a while.”
“So what have you been up to?” Parrot asks, setting the box down on the coffee table.
“Nothing… just trying to, like, live peacefully,” Flame answers, a bit more sure of himself.
“That’s great! Peace on the server feels reachable!” Parrot laughed.
“Dudeee! That looks so good!” a voice said from behind Parrot.
Parrot whipped his head around to see Theo had already opened the box.“THEO!” Parrot scolded.
“My bad! I was just interested! That looks amazing, guys,” Theo complimented.
“It was all Lomedy. He’s good at that stuff,” Flame chuffed.
Lomedy’s face flushed a little at the compliment. “It’s carrot cake. I had a good harvest this time around.”
“Dude, you gotta let me try some. There’s no way you're eating this yourself,” Theo said, licking a bit of buttercream off his fingers.
“You can have the piece you touched,” Parrot glared, dragging the box away from Theo to properly shut it.
Both Flame and Lomedy chuckled at the light banter.
“What’s it been like as King, bro?” Flame asks, now more comfortable.
“Tiresome. You know… you two know a good amount about farming, right?” Parrot’s mood shifts, as if a lightbulb went off in his head.
“Well—I mean—I’m not really—”
“I do! And Flame’s learning. He pretty much knows more than the average player,” Lomedy interrupts.
“Good, good! I need your guys' help with something related to that! I’ve been wanting to establish more farms so players can have access to affordable food!” Parrot says, grabbing a book and quill to write ideas down.
“You guys don’t mind if I pick your brains about this… right?” Parrot smiles sheepishly.
Lomedy and Flame exchange a glance, then nod in unison.
“For sure, bro. Let’s do it,” Flame shrugs.
“Boringgggg! I’m going to ask the kitchen for some tableware so we can discuss the boring king stuff over some cake!” Theo says, slipping out of the room.
Parrot rolls his eyes, then turns his attention back to the two in front of him.
“Let’s take a seat.” The chairs were plush, expensive velvet that made Flame feel like he was going to ruin them just by sitting there. After a few minutes of brainstorming farm ideas, Theo came back into the room, with a small stack of tableware and forks.
"Found 'em! The kitchen staff was confused on why I needed four plates, they thought Parrot was having a secret meeting with the generals or something."Theo laughs.
"In a way, he is," Lomedy joked, taking the plates and helping pass them around.
The room was suddenly filled by the scent of fresh cream cheese frosting and cinnamon.
Parrot sliced into the cake, when he handed a piece to Flame, their eyes met for a second. There was no tension—no "Immortal Demon" vs. "King" energy—just two friends eating cake.
"Wow," Parrot muttered after the first bite. "Lomedy, this is amazing…what’s in here?”
"Hard labor. Flame’s sweat and tears went into the carrots used."
"Just sweat, bro. I don't cry," Flame huffed, though he was already halfway through his own slice.
He leaned back, feeling the worry he’d been carrying since the riverbank finally go away.
Parrot swallowed a bite and pointed his fork at a map pinned to the wall.
"But seriously, look at the South District. It’s lowkey a desert for food right now. If we could set up a carrot and potato farm there, the new players wouldn't have to travel more than three thousand blocks just to not starve." Parrot said, in deep though.
Flame leaned forward, he’s was more interested now.
"You’d need a obsidian wall around it, bro. Raiders love hitting the easy targets. If you want it to last, you gotta build it like a fortress, not just a garden." Flame added.
"See…” Lomedy says, "You do have a 'Farmer Brain' under all that armor."
Flame rolled his eyes, yet he couldn’t help the small smile.
Parrot looked over his notes, he made a quick sketch of what he wanted the area to look like.
“I’m definitely going to put these notes to use. A ‘Fortress Farm’ is exactly what the South District needs so the new players don't get robbed for their bread.”
Flame gave a stiff, awkward nod. “Yeah, I mean... it’s just basic strategy, bro. No big deal.”
“Teamwork makes the dream work!” Theo chirped, stacking the empty plates.
He looked at Flame and gave a sharp, supportive wing-tap to his shoulder that caught flame off gaurd.
“You’re lowkey a natural at this ‘not-being-a-demon’ thing, Flame. Don't tell the others I said that, though—might ruin your rep.” He teased
Flame rolled his eyes. “Alright, alright, get off me, bro. We should probably get going, you guys are probably busy.”
Parrot stood as well, adjusted his crown, and walked them toward the library doors.
“Thanks again, guys. For real. It’s been a while since I had a conversation that didn't involve someone complaining about taxes or territory’s .”
He looked at Flame specifically. “Drop by anytime, bro. Seriously. Friends dont need an invite.”
Flame paused at the threshold, his hand hovering over the doorframe. “Yeah. Maybe. We’ll see, bro.”
______________________________________
As the doors creaked shut behind them, the quiet palace hallway felt different than it had an hour ago.
“That went great, we should go see the others now—”
“BRO—NO!” Flame’s voice echoed off the stone walls in a panicked half-scream.
“One peace offering a day! That’s the limit! I am literally at my capacity for being 'nice,' bro.”
Lomedy just laughed, spinning around to face his friend. “Fine, fine. But you have to admit... it was lowkey kind of fun, wasn't it?”
Flame looked back at the palace, and let out a long, slow exhale.
“It was... whatever, bro. Let’s just go home.”