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Joel was walking around Lower Stratos, checking up on his citizens making sure everything was running smoothly. It’d been too long since he had a day to just walk around and talk to his people, seeing the happy and comfortable lives they led inspired him to do even more for his empire. He was chatting with some of his clerics when he caught a glimpse of Scar in the distance. With a grin Joel went out to meet him, he hadn’t seen much of the Hermits since none of them decided to stay in Stratos. And besides, if memory serves Scar was staying in the Pixar Empire, he’d love to hear how that’s been going.
“Well well well, if it isn’t the latest deputy. How’s everything at that theme park of empire? Bet you feel right at home huh?” Joel said, laughing a bit at his own joke but in his defense, he is hilarious. As Scar fully walked up to him Joel thought maybe leading with a joke wasn’t such a good idea after all. Scar looked pissed, it was almost unnerving to see him like that.
“Joel.” He spat out through gritted teeth, managing to look down on him even though Joel was taller than him in his godly form.
“Ok, not in the mood for jokes I got you.” Joel held up his hands placatingly, an easy smile on his face. “What can I do for you then?” He subtly angled himself between Scar and his frightened clerics, hoping to deescalate whatever this was as quickly as possible. He didn’t know what could have gotten Scar so angry but he suddenly had a very bad feeling about this surprise visit.
“We need to talk. Privately.” Well, shit.
“Sure thing, let’s head to Upper Stratos. Hermes is with Sausage for the weekend so we’ll have the place to ourselves.” Scar gave a curt nod before spinning on his heel with not so much as a backwards glance. He practically marched over to the bubble column, shooting upwards without a word. Joel frowned after him but opened his large white wings and soared up to meet him. He loved having real wings, it was his favorite thing he’d ever managed to pull off with Empires strange magic. They made elytra look like a joke, he was really going to miss them when they inevitably moved on to the next server.
“Ok!” Joel said as soon he landed, trying to get in control of the situation. “Why don’t you have a seat, I’m sure we can work out whatever this is.” He gestured to a table and chair nearby, flashing Scar a bright smile, trying to dim the aggressive atmosphere a little.
It decidedly did not work, if anything Scar only looked angrier.
“Fine, Let’s just get this over with.” He said, clutching the head of his cane with white knuckles. Now Joel wasn’t scared of Scar of all people but it was definitely bizarre to see him so angry, or y'know, angry at all. It was putting him on edge, he hated that he didn’t understand what was happening.
They both had a seat, Joel spared a glance at the impressive view but Scar didn’t seem interested in sightseeing. He pushed a bowl of fresh fruits towards Scar with a put on smile, trying to appear relaxed and in control. “So I’ll ask again, what can I do for you Scar?” Scar didn’t bother with the food, he just stared Joel down, looking him dead in the eyes.
“You need to lay off Jimmy with this toy bullshit.” Joel physically startled, both by the rare curse and the off the wall topic. Of all the things Scar could have been upset about this hadn’t even crossed his mind as a possibility.
“What? Come on Scar, are you serious? It’s not that big of a deal.” That was apparently the wrong thing to say because Scars face only darkened.
“Joel, I’m serious. It’s gone too far. You’ve had your fun, it's time to stop.” Scars eyes seemed to brighten as he spoke, Joel was only vaguely familiar with vex magic but he could still recognize it at a glance. Of course he’s always known of Scars magical origins but he’d never seen it in action so plainly. It was definitely unnerving, Joel could see it being frightening to someone else.
“Scar just chill, it’s all in good fun Timmy knows that. I know he lays it on kinda thick with his reactions but I’m telling you you don’t have to worry.” Joel was slightly relieved that this whole thing seemed to be a misunderstanding, there should be no problem clearing this mess up. He snagged an apple for himself, smiling lightly. “What they not have jokes on Hermitcraft? Didn’t you guys have a whole prank war? Or like, several? You should know as well as anyone that it’s part of what makes SMP’s so fun in the first place.”
Where he was expecting understanding and maybe a slightly sheepish apology for the overreaction he only found more intense anger. “But this isn’t like those at all!! Those prank wars were culma- culmanination- they started from a ton of small, harmless pranks and revenge spread over the whole server. Not everyone piling on and targeting one player for months on end!” Scar ran a hand through his hand looking slightly manic. “And it’s not just his builds or his base or whatever! It’s his body! How can you justify that!” Scar sounded serious as death, not even a hint of a smile as he fumbled his words. Joel frowned hard at that, how could their teasing get so misconstrued?
“Scar relax, there’s nothing wrong with his body, he just looks a little different. If you ask me, it's an improvement! Trust me when I say Timmy doesn’t mind the teasing ok? It’s nice that you guys have been getting closer but you really don’t have to worry about him so much.” Scar honest to god looked like he was about to cry, Joel felt terribly out of his depth. “How about you have some food and I’ll call over Grian or something ok?” He said with what he hoped was a calming smile, reaching over to place a hand over Scar’s own.
“Don’t touch me!” Scar yelled, yanking his hand back and standing abruptly. “Just- just forget it! I really thought I could get you to listen, I had you all wrong SmallishBeans.” Before Joel could protest, Scar had slung on his elytra and flew off in a burst of rockets and a cloud of ash.
Joel looked after him, practically gaping. Did that seriously just happen? What was Scar’s problem? He shook his head roughly, trying to clear his head. It was fine, whatever was up with Scar was his own problem. Joel should just brush it off and focus on his own empire. Besides, Scar probably just needed some time to cool off so he could see how ridiculous he was being. Honestly, he had no idea how their harmless little pranks had been so blown out of proportion. Some of these Hermits just didn’t understand them, he almost felt bad that Tim was stuck with him.
—
Now normally Joel would have no problem writing off the bizarre interaction. After all he’s known Tim for years -far longer than Scar has he might add- and he’s always known that Jimmy’s perfectly fine with a little light hearted fun. Always has been. Scar was just being dramatic, reading into Timmy’s exaggerated anger at the pranks, seeing problems where none existed. It was all coming from a good place, that Joel was sure of, but it was completely unwarranted.
Still, for whatever reason he couldn’t get the conversation out of head. He kept replaying it back, he’d never seen Scar so angry. Not even during the Life Series were their negative emotions were magically heightened. And on behalf of Tim of all people! Bizarre really was the only word for it. Really the fact that Joel was even still thinking about this was ridiculous. Jimmy was fine, he's always fine, he’s Jimmy for goodness sake! Even still, it might be nice to just… have him around for a bit. It’s been a while since he’s shown off his gorgeous empire and it looks even better when compared to that dust bowl. It’d be a right good time, having Jimmy over for a bit. Not because he was worried, just… because. And if it helped get that stupid interaction out of his head than all the better.
—
It took a little longer than Joel had expected for Tim to have a free afternoon to come over. Honestly Tumble Town was such a small empire he had no idea what Jimmy could be doing that was so important and time consuming. He had a sneaking suspicion Timmy was putting off this whole thing but he couldn't come up with a reason why. Joel had even jokingly threatened to come down to Tumble Town instead but around that same time Timmy was able to make it after all.
He spotted Tim flying into Upper Stratos, the sight of his wings made Joel chuckle a little. They looked like they were made of bits of paper and scraps fabric, the amount of detail Empires could put into a glamor never ceased to amaze him.
“There he is! I was starting to think you’d never show up, Timmy the toy.” Jim bristled and narrowed his eyes, making Joel grin even wider.
“Joel.” Timmy said shortly, crossing his arms as he stared up at him.
“Still got that great sense of humor huh? Well c’mon, c’mon, I’ve got us set up down the way.” Joel said, slinging an arm over Tim’s shoulders leading him through the only slightly treacherous pathways.
He took the long way around Stratos, being sure to point out the newer builds and gardens. Jim nodded along and paid him the occasional compliment but seemed overall disinterested. He didn’t understand why Timmy was insisting on being such an ass today. Every remark was short and jabbed, he didn’t even bother talking about himself when prompted.
Whatever Tim’s deal was Joel was sure it wouldn’t last long, he had actually gotten a pretty decent feast set up for them and some good food could lift anyone’s mood. “Here we are!” Joel said as he led them into an open pavilion with a grand table and chairs. “Come on and have a seat, we’ve got tons of food so have as much as you want.” He walked up to one of the marble chairs at the head of the table with Timmy not far behind.
Jimmy looked blankly down at the extravagant meal, something twisting over his features that Joel didn’t catch. “I… I don’t know Joel. I really only had time for a short visit, I didn't realize you had all this planned. Maybe you should message Lizzie or Fwhip, see if anyone else could swing by instead.”
Joel felt a touch of anger bubbling up under his skin. Sure, he was kinda doing this to make a point to Scar but he was also doing it because he had barely seen Jimmy in weeks. If Joel was being completely honest with himself he was looking forward to this, to spending some time with his friend. When he did reply he tried to sound more teasing than genuinely annoyed. “Oi come on Tim don’t be that way, at least eat something.” Jimmy's face only darkened at the words, he refused to look up from the table.
“Joel I can’t.”
“What? Honestly Jim I don’t even understand why you're being so stubborn it’s just-“
“Joel. I can’t eat it.” Jimmy cut him off with a vaguely… detached and cold tone. It put Joel on edge. He gripped the back of the chair until it cracked, still not entirely used to his ‘godly’ strength.
“I don’t know what you mean.” He wanted to keep joking, keep prodding and insisting but when he tried the words warped in his throat. His reply came out far more even and serious than he had meant it too.
“I just…” Jimmy paused like he was taking a deep breath but Joel couldn’t see his chest move with it. “I can’t eat. Anymore I mean. I’m all-“ he gestured vaguely at himself “-plastic and stuff y'know. No stomach, or throat for that matter. I stopped getting hungry a while ago anyway.” He managed to look up this time, flashing Joel what was probably meant to be a self-deprecating smile but it came out far too shaky and uneven.
“What.” Joel didn’t even mean to speak, his voice flat and detached.
“Oh come off it, surely you know what I mean.” He said, any semblance of a smile gone in an instant. “All part of the joke right? That’s how Empires is, full of old magic. Why else would you be able to fly without elytra and-“ he glanced down at the cracked chair, seemingly noticing it for the first time “- destroy your own very nice, marble furniture with your bare hands. Are you good man? Feeling ok?”
No. No he wasn’t. “All of your changes, their- their all just cosmetic.” He managed to reply ignoring Jimmy’s question.
“Well that’s how they started sure, that’s how Empires has always worked. Do you want to sit down maybe? Seriously, you look a little pale.” Jim walked over as he spoke, placing a hand on Joel’s arm, gently pushing him into the chair. Joel’s eyes caught on his hands. On his shiny, plastic hands, on the ball joints that he abruptly realized he could see into. He could see through the gaps in the joints when he bent them just right, light peaked through edges. “Honestly you’d think a ‘god’ such as yourself wouldn’t get sun stroke.” Jimmy squinted up at the sun- or no that’s not right. He didn’t squint at all, just looked at it with open eyes, seemingly unbothered by the brightness. “Well whatever the case maybe you should call Shelby, have her take a look at you. Couldn’t hurt anyway. Or maybe it could, her potions seem a little dodgy.”
Jimmy turned to walk away -to leave- and suddenly Joel was speaking again. “No!” Jimmy turned back slowly, looking at Joel with an apprehensive expression. “I’m not-“ he cut off with a quiet curse before forcing himself to look Jim in the eyes “I’m not sick, I’m not having sunstroke or overheating or whatever. You can’t seriously mean to tell me you are physically turning into an actual plastic, lifeless toy!” Joel thought he saw Jimmy flinch at the word lifeless and the pit in his stomach grew.
“I don’t know what you want me to say.” Was Jimmy’s cautious reply, he was leaning away slightly as if he expected Joel to jump up and lunge at him. “Surely you’ve known this. You’ve been doing this, not on your own sure, but this whole thing was your idea.” Joel wished Jimmy would shout, that he’d be mad, outraged even. But he didn’t and he wasn’t. He seemed almost… resigned.
“What on earth are you talking about?” Joel was vaguely aware his voice was getting higher pitched with his frantic confusion. “You're actually… what you can’t eat, what else? You can talk clearly, and walk around and be all-“ he cut off gesturing wildly in Jim’s general direction. “What the hell are you even on about?!”
“Ok, take a deep breath Joel. We can talk about it but not while you're freaking out, let’s just take a breath.” Jimmy’s mouth moved like he was breathing, he gestured a breathing motion with his hands, but his chest didn’t move.
“Are you even breathing?! What on- oh my, oh my void what…” Joel tore his eyes away from Jimmy -from that thing that Jimmy was- staring resolutely down at the table desperately trying to breathe. Jimmy didn’t say anything, just sat down beside him letting him work through his panic.
It took several long minutes for Joel to calm down, his panic sizzling out into an anxiety that pricked over his skin but didn’t suffocate him quite as much. “Ok.” He said looking up from the table, he steeled himself before turning back towards Jimmy. It was like he was seeing him for the first time, his eyes caught on all the things that were wrong. His smooth, shiny skin, his glassy unseeing eyes, the obvious joints in his jaw- there was so much. “Ok, so you're actually turning into a toy? It’s not a glamor, not cosmetic, not in your control, it’s just… happening.”
“Well yeah of course.” Jimmy said, sounding uncertain like anything he said could push Joel into another panic attack. “Just like when I had the Cod Empire, the changes started as cosmetic and then became real. I grew gills and real fins, I was able to breathe underwater and swim way faster than I could before; it physically changed me. Doesn’t… your changes, their more than just your look right?” With a sickening feeling Joel nodded.
“Well- yeah. I really can fly and change size and all that stuff but I thought… I wanted this to happen. I thought you had to want it for it to work.” He said lamely, suddenly seeing all the cracks in his logic for the first time.
“Well you're not wrong really. It’s, how do I put this?” Jimmy turned to the side, staring off at nothing. “Someone has to want it, some player or something, but it doesn’t have to be the actual person changing necessarily. When you and the other emperors started acting like and treating me like I was a toy I started becoming one.” He shrugged, looking back at Joel with a strained smile. “Honestly it’s pretty straight forward, it never even crossed my mind you didn’t realize what was happening.”
Joel was going to throw up. He felt physically sick, he was so disgusted. “But I didn’t want this! It was just a joke, I didn't mean anything by it!” Joel realized he was shouting again but he couldn’t bring himself to care.
“Oh. Ok.” Jimmy said quietly, so incredibly quietly Joel barely heard it. That effectively knocked the wind out of his sails. They sat there in silence for a moment, staring at each other with sick understanding.
“I- you,” Joel cut off with a groan. “Ok, I can’t think straight right now, could you- or would you I guess, just stay here for tonight? I want to talk about this more but I just can’t right now.” He took a deep breath, steeling himself. “I’d feel better knowing you were here.” It was a bit more honest than he liked to be, a bit more open and sincere but it felt necessary.
Jimmy blinked incredulously at him before nodding wordless. “Sure Joel, I can stay the night, that’s ok.” Joel didn’t even realize he was holding his breath until that moment.
“Thank you, I just- thanks.” Was his stilted reply. He stood on shaky legs and led Jimmy over to one of the guest houses. Suddenly all the food he had gathered looked very unappetizing.
Jimmy followed Joel throughout the streets of Upper Stratos silently, still mulling the conversation over in his mind. However Jimmy imagined this going when he finally agreed to come over was so deeply wrong, but how could he have seen this coming? He couldn’t believe Joel didn’t know.
The building Joel led him to was as impressive in architecture and design as anything else in Stratos, the finery put Jimmy a little on edge. Joel’s builds were phenomenal for sightseeing but he preferred his own more humble and homely builds for actually living in. But Joel quickly ushered him towards the bedroom. He bid Jimmy goodbye and goodnight in a strained, stilted voice before practically running away.
Jimmy turned back towards the frankly ridiculously extravagant guest room. He didn’t have the heart to tell Joel he couldn’t sleep either. He fell back on the bed with a dull thud, staring blankly at the ceiling.
So Joel didn’t know how far this whole toy bit was going. Even though he was arguably the main driving force behind it, and inarguably how it all started in the first place. That… wasn’t great. Well in some ways it was! Joel didn’t mean for it to go this far, to take this much of his ‘humanity’ away. Not that he was much of a player anymore but Joel didn’t need to know about that.
He sat up, staring into the mirror on the far side of the room. Staring at himself. He kept doing that, he couldn’t help it. He’s never particularly liked his appearance but it was still always undeniably him. Or it was. He’d taken it for granted really.
If Joel didn’t realize how much Jimmy had changed, if he wasn’t doing it on purpose, did he have any control over it at all? Jimmy had just assumed that he did, that all his severmates were controlling it together somehow. That they wouldn’t let it go too far. Of course it’d already gone much much farther than Jimmy was comfortable with but that was part of the joke wasn’t it? What was stopping it from going even further then? It had already started chipping away at his basic functions, how long could he actually go on like this?
He stared at his reflection. Toys don’t blink and he didn’t blink. Toys don’t breathe and he didn’t breathe. Toys don’t think either, they can’t have their own thoughts, their own feelings. They aren’t capable of walking or talking or expressing themselves- there was no them to express.
He managed to tear his glassy, painted on eyes away from the mirror. He closed them even though he knew he didn’t need to, even though he was suddenly afraid he’d be unable to open them again. He could feel the deep well of power still buried within himself. Not Empires power but his. The gift that was forced into his code, woven deeper than the server could reach.
He Listened. He Heard Joel pacing around his throne room. He Heard the villagers below in the city begin to close up their shops and start to head home to their families. And below it all he Heard the server. Empires was buzzing with Old Magic. It danced over every block, blew through every breeze, it sounded like a gentle hum in most places but in others it was loud. Places like Stratos.
Jimmy didn’t think any of the other emperors really knew what the Old Magic was or how it worked but that didn’t stop them from wielding it. A remnant from when worlds were spoken into existence, the Old Magic clung to a small handful of servers and worlds even as they passed through update after update. It was manipulated by a player's will -though Jimmy found his own will worked well enough- twisting the world to serve their ideas and their stories.
Stratos was really a testament to the whole concept, Joel had taken to the Old Magic like a fish to water this season. His whole base was suspended in the clouds with his own will, he grew physically and magically powerful. Nearly all of Stratos' magical prowess was drawn from the fountain. Joel didn’t just acknowledge the Old Magic, he gave it a name and a vessel in the center of his empire. It was so loud.
Jimmy was able to open his eyes just fine after all, he really needed to get a hold of himself. He crept silently out of the guest house, navigating the crumbling streets of Stratos until he reached the fountain. He sat on the edge and Listened.
It was strongly attuned to Joel, that much made sense, and it was fairly similar to the Old Magic that had been deforming his body. It was more than just Joel willing him into a toy, but he had started it and he’d been pushing it more than anyone else. The magic in him and in the fountain formed a sort of harmony, connected but different, flowing with the strong wills of the other emperors and Joel specifically.
He tried to push his own will in, to redirect or even slow the magic turning his muscles and organs and skin into fleece and string and plastic. But of course it didn’t make a difference, he was basically trying to undue the will of the whole server at this point. He let some of his Listener magic flow into it, hoping it would strengthen his pull but Listeners aren’t very… practical. Their power was meant to be used at a distance, not to interfere with players so directly. It couldn’t beat back the Old Magic, not with it pooled as strongly as it was in Stratos and as strongly as it was in himself.
The Old Magic that filled this place with a loud chorus was attuned to Joel and he had wanted this. To make him this. He worried that soon it would make him nothing at all.
He was so busy Listening he didn’t hear Joel walk up behind him. When he cleared his throat Jimmy jumped about a foot in the air. “Joel! Oh gosh you scared me, I didn’t hear you walk up.” He said, clutching his empty chest.
“Sorry! I actually didn’t mean to scare you I swear, I just… saw you sitting over here. Wanted to check on you I guess.” He sounded about as unsure as he looked, fidgeting awkwardly and staring off to the side. It didn’t suit him. “What are you doing anyway?”
Jimmy turned away, gazing back into the fountain as if it could -or would rather- give him any answers. “Oh nothing. Your fountain doesn’t like me very much.” Joel made a questioning noise that Jimmy didn’t bother acknowledging.
Silence lapsed for a few moments before Joel spoke again. “You should probably get some sleep Jim, if you… can you even? Now I mean?” Jimmy shot him a strained smile, shaking his head a little. “Shit.” Joel said so quietly under his breath Jimmy wasn’t convinced he was meant to hear it.
“You should sleep though, can’t run an empire when you're exhausted.” Jimmy said with what was hopefully an encouraging smile. Joel just shook his head and sat next to him with a sigh, looking out over Lower Stratos.
Jimmy followed his gaze, looking down over the structures and letting the silence linger.
“Alright fuck it, I’m so sorry Jimmy.” Jimmy snapped his head over to look at Joel, a little taken aback by his outburst. He couldn’t remember ever hearing Joel sincerely apologize. “I was just joking around, I didn’t think the server would actually change you. And then when it did I just made everything worse! I thought it was all just cosmetics, nothing serious, nothing harmful. I swear I never meant for it to go this far, I promise.” Jimmy was about to reassure him, to tell him he forgave him and it was fine, but he stopped as he Heard the Old Magic ripple at Joel’s words.
“You- you actually mean that don’t you?” He said instead, much quieter than he meant to.
“Of course I do!” Joel looked a little devastated that he would think otherwise.
“Would you help me? Help… stop it or slow it down at least?” Jimmy didn’t realize until after he had spoken that he forgot to move his jaw with his words, too caught up in his head, in the chorus of Old Magic changing its tune as they spoke. It wasn’t until Joel paled slightly, leaning back the smallest amount that he realized.
“Yes! I just- I don’t know how. But I’ll figure it out, I’ll figure something out, I promise!”
“That’s ok, thank you Joel, really.” He didn’t bother with his jaw now that Joel had seen him speak without it. After his vocals moved to his voice box he’d just been moving it for appearances anyway. “Here, could you try something for me?” He held out a hand to him, trying not to be disturbed when he couldn’t feel Joel gripping it back.
Joel was nodding frantically before he even finished speaking. “Yeah, yeah of course anything.”
Gently Jimmy adjusted his grip to Joel's forearm and moved his hand into the fountain's water, being sure not to touch it himself. “Ok, this is going to seem kinda weird just… try to repeat after me.” He paused for a moment, putting all his focus into Listening to the Old Magic.
He began whispering to Joel in End. It was the same language the Watchers and Listeners used in all their texts and magic, it was practically impossible to learn if it wasn’t your first language -Xisuma was the only player he’d met who could understand it let alone speak it- but he’d had that knowledge drilled into him. Joel’s attempts to repeat it were sloppy at best, but it didn’t matter. Joel wanting to help him must have been sincere because the Old Magic attuned to him rushed to his aid. Jimmy’s Listener magic only spurred it on, redirected through Joel it was far more effective at interacting with the Old Magic gathered here.
The water shimmed with an eerie green light, the ripples caused when Joel’s hand entered grew in size until the water was swirling violently around him. Joel’s breath hitched and he briefly faltered before continuing to repeat Jimmy’s spells and chants. Jimmy Listened to the water, to Joel, to the Old Magic.
“Ok,” he said, voice unintentionally quiet, if Joel wasn’t right next to him there was no way he would have heard him. “Now push me in.” Joel’s head snapped back to look at Jimmy incredulously. “It’s ok, I promise.” Joel took a visible breath, bracing slightly before carefully lowering Jimmy under.
The Old Magic flowed into his body with more strength and presence and purpose than ever before. It was all encompassing and suffocating. He could feel his code wretch and shift, twisting back towards its original form with frightening speed.
Jimmy grabbed Joel’s arm and pulled, trying to get enough leverage to pull himself out. It wasn’t necessary though, as soon as he did Joel was yanking him out himself. He breached the surface and took a breath. A deep, aching breath, like he wasn’t just recovering from being under water but from all the weeks he spent without breathing, without being able to breath.
“Holy shit, Jim are you ok?” Joel said, pulling him from the side of the fountain so he was sitting on the cobbled streets. He nodded, still too busy breathing to respond.
“I- yes.” He could feel his vocal cords making the sounds in his throat. “Thank you.”
“You don’t need to thank me.” Joel said, sounding slightly manic. “Oh void that scared me, what just happened?”
Jimmy shot him a shaky but sincere grin. “Don’t think too hard about it.” He held his hand up in front of his face. It wasn’t reversed, not completely, it would take more than just two of them to undo the will of the whole server. But where there were ball joints now there were thin groves. Where there was plastic now there was skin, still unnaturally smooth skin but skin nonetheless. And he could breath, and blink and talk and- and cry he abruptly realized.
“Jimmy! Jimmy, what's wrong?” Jimmy just shook his head, looking back at Joel with a face splitting smile.
“Nothing, nothing’s wrong. Nothing at all.” He could feel his skin being stretched by his smile, could feel his teeth and the spit in his mouth. “It’s- that did more than I would have ever hoped for.”
“It- yeah?” Joel said, sounding small and distinctly hopeful.
“Yeah.” Jimmy said, wiping away his tears. He fell back unceremoniously on the ground, laying flat on his back and staring up at the stars. It was a bit uncomfortable on his wings but he was far too elated about feeling uncomfortable to try and move to a better position. After a few minutes of hesitation Joel laid down next to him, following his gaze.
“You're still not- you look like how you did a few months ago.” He nodded at Joel's words even though he knew he couldn’t see it.
“Yeah. It wasn’t just you turning me into a toy, the rest of the server would have to want to help me too. It’s ok though, this is so much better, I can be content with this.” He said with a soft smile.
Joel sat up abruptly, leaning over Jimmy so his face filled his vision. “No. That’s not- we’re not just stopping here! Obviously everyone else will help! If they knew- if we’d known what we were really doing to you none of us would have had any part of it. I’m sure they’ll help. I know they will.” Jimmy was a little stunned by his immediate and visceral reaction.
He… maybe Joel was right. If he was this guilty about this whole thing then maybe… it was just so much more than he would have ever dared to hope for. But maybe Joel was right, maybe he could go back to normal.
Jimmy smiled up at him and let himself feel real hope.