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There are a few facts that Egg has come to realize since joining this server at the request of his best friend.
For one, this wasn’t going to be a normal time on a normal server.
There was more than just collecting items and there was more then just building dirt shacks. Within a few days of being on this server, Egg had almost died several times and the only reason he was still here instead of halfway through a Hypixel lobby was because Wemmbu needed him here. It wasn’t often that Wemmbu ever asked for help, so he wasn’t going to break that trust that has been years and years in the making.
Secondly, there were some weird people here.
Egg would not pretend to be totally aware of all of the intricacies of the dynamics here on the server. Afterall, he could care less if he knew people or if people knew him. He was just here to have fun, after all. But the more he learned, the more he wondered how the server hasn’t imploded on itself yet. Exploits that ended in a server wide manhunt for a random teen? Chunk bans that could force someone into an in between of servers and be lost to the code of the world until it was broken? Hell, even the huge builds that were some were torn to shreds by actual nukes and some were still standing tall, looming over Egg in an almost oppressive manner were slowly getting to him. None of this was normal on any sort of level.
Though, most of all, Wemmbu had changed .
It was normal for Wemmbu to come crashing back into his life after a few months of near nothing with a story of betrayal and grandiose on his grinning lips. He would explain about how he twisted the words of others for a worthwhile story and paid people in real, actual money that could be spent anywhere no matter the server just for a group to be disbanded due to in-fighting. He would laugh about the pranks and creations he’s built and spent weeks of his life building all for a few simple things, all for the sake of causing a little bit of mischief.
Now, Wemmbu was a little more subdued. When Egg had been asked to join this server and help Wemmbu create a civilization on a new server that Wemmbu had joined, he had expected for it to go like things always did for the imp. Instead, Wemmbu was willingly following the word of a man named Zam, who he claimed to trust and had no intentions of betraying. He was fighting to protect something that didn’t even help him and would always drag on arguments with Egg about his, honestly very real, suspicions about the vault they were building around.
No longer was Wemmbu running around causing mischief for the sake of it. No longer was he baiting people into getting outrageously mad and attempting to fight him. Now, Wemmbu was just…Wemmbu.
And while it was different, Egg knew that he would stay by Wemmbu’s side through every phase of his life. Because that is what best friends do.
When Egg woke up—an action that happens every night purely due to paranoia—the bedroom (or stone hovel, if Wemmbu were the one to be describing it) felt emptier than usual. It was hard for a stone alcove to feel particularly full , sure, but when you are used to another body next to you in both waking moments and sleeping ones, it is quite easy to tell when that body isn’t there.
Wemmbu was still here , though. Because his sword, something that Egg could only see due to his excess of Eyes because the room was apparently missing a lantern, was still leaning up against the wall next to his bed—easy access, Wemmbu had claimed—and the imp never left an area without some means of protection. IBut Wemmbu didn’t typically leave the room during the night anyways. So something probably happened. And Egg was not awake enough to entertain the idea of anything bad. Despite all of that, though, he couldn’t help but throw the covers off of his bed and start his search as fast as he could.
His first stop is the main area with all of their gear and items. Egg had worked to make it larger a little earlier, but all that does for him now is make it feel like this place was even more devoid of life. There is a chest or two that aren’t latched shut properly, something that Egg knows he hadn’t done himself—and Wemmbu was always too quick in checking chests to ever shut them right—so he can only assume he’s on the right path.
Egg turned to the right and saw the extra hallway-like space that he had started to carve out and add rooms to before being dragged away by Wemmbu on a random side quest. From one of the rooms, there is a flickering light coming from it that looked a lot like the missing lantern in the corner of the bedroom.
It's safe to say that Egg doesn’t waste any time in making his way to the room and pushing open the make-shift door that really wasn’t doing much and paused right before walking in.
Because right there was Wemmbu.
Wemmbu, knelt down on the floor with strands of hair on the floor and shears in his hand and a posture set like he was right about to cut out another chunk of hair. Wemmbu, with bags under his eyes and a surprised look on his face for a split moment like he wasn’t expecting Egg to come and find him before it goes back to that careful neutral face.
( “Why do you keep your hair so long if you keep getting into fights, bro?” Egg remembered asking Wemmbu when they were much, much younger. Egg had been stood behind Wemmbu, his hands busy with twisting the strands into braids.
“Looks cool,” Wemmbu had replied with a shrug, kicking his feet back and forth from the chair he was sitting on. “Gives a whole vibe to it when I kick their ass. And I like doing things with it.”
Egg had hummed and paused his braiding. It was to Wemmbu’s mid back and the only time Egg can remember ever seeing scissors near it was when Wemmbu had accidently gotten slime stuck in his hair and had to cut a chunk of it out.
“Would you ever think about cutting it?” Egg questioned. And that had gotten a laugh out of Wemmbu.
Never, that laugh had said. Never would I ever. )
Wemmbu, who would never cut his hair and was currently doing just that.
Egg stared at the shears. And at Wemmbu. And at the purple hair on the floor. And drew in a breath and rubbed at his tired eye. Egg was sometimes seen as the voice of reason in their friendship but even he knew when he needed to go with the flow.
“Bro, that shit is going to be so choppy,” he said and took a step closer to Wemmbu. “Let me do the back.”
He almost hesitated when he saw an almost panicked look in Wemmbu’s eyes. It reminded Egg too much of the look his best friend would get for a split second the moment Egg was in any danger. A weaker man would've pulled back, especially at the twitching of Wemmbu’s fingers that made it seem like he was reaching for his inventory.
But Wemmbu has helped Egg out more times than he could count. This was something that Egg could do to return the favor. Even if it isn't all that life saving.
He knelt down in front of Wemmbu and reached out to the hand that the imp had clutched around the shears. With his visible eye flickering between Wemmbu’s face and his hand, he slowly pried Wemmbu’s hand open to retrieve the shears.
Moments later, Wemmbu was willingly releasing the shears in the same moment most of his body untensed. “Thank you,” Egg whispered quietly, sitting down right at Wemmbu’s side. He was just in Wemmbu’s peripheral, something Egg knew that the other preferred.
“We really should be doing this with wet hair,” Egg complained in a grumble as he grabbed a few locks of hair and started comparing the lengths. Dear Lord, Wemmbu really was just hacking at his hair. Egg was glad that he hadn't gotten to past the shoulders or else he deeded that Wemmbu would have to go bald. Then they would have another crisis on their hands.
As Egg started to even out the layers the best he could, he spoke up—really starting to realize that a bald Wemmbu would be too cursed, even for this crappy server. “Do you have any preference about how short it is?” He asked.
Wemmbu’s head twitched like he was about to shake his head no before remembering that there were a pair of pretty sharp shears right next to him. “No,” he started out bluntly, “I just want it short. I want it gone.” There was a somewhat hollow look to the fighter’s eyes and Egg wanted nothing more than to find a way to take all of his pain away. Honestly, Egg had hoped that it never could have ever reached this point
He sighed in an attempt to clear his mind and get ready for the task at hand. “Alright, bro, I got it.” Because he really did. Egg didn’t really need anymore info because, unlike some people, he could use context clues to guess what Wemmbu had going on in that head of his.
It had something to do with Zam, that was clear. Because ever since that conversation those two had after Wemmbu had sent him away for, Wemmbu has been steadily retreating in on himself unless he was in a situation where he needed to pull that protective bravado layer on his entire being just to be seen as normal to others. It was horrible and Egg couldn't do anything but watch. That yellow ribbon had gone missing two days ago, so there was another point directed at that smiling bastard being the issue.
When the sound of shears clipping and tufts of hair falling to the floor would get too much, Egg found himself just rambling about whatever he could think of. He asked about any future plans that Wemmbu had (only getting a small hum in response, which caused for Egg to " accidentally" tug at Wemmbu’s hair slightly to spur him into actually responding) and talked about what he was pretty sure they had on hand for meals and that maybe they would need to go out hunting for more meat soon. Egg talked about how the flowers and grass are slowly regrowing in the craters and how, if Wemmbu wanted it, they could probably get some purple dye now and use it to dye his sheets his signature color and more things like that.
He spoke about simple, mundane things.
When Egg finished, Wemmbu’s hair looked way more presentable than it had when the angel had first walked into the room. It was layered as hell, sure, but it was evened out now and Egg was even able to salvage two semi-longer pieces near the front, which Egg had braided and used two blue ribbons that Egg himself often used to tie his own hair up when it got a little two long.
It was nice. It was Wemmbu. And that was all that mattered.