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Purpled had felt numb for months now. At first he figured it was because he was adjusting to Las Nevadas and recovering from the demolition of his UFO. It persisted though. The dull pain of nothingness in his heart grew more and more with each passing day, as wariness settled heavily in his soul. The monotony and solitude of Las Nevadas was exhausting.
From the Space Needle, where he stood slumped over the railing, he could see the stars. His home. Not this artificial desert Sam and Quackity built. Purpled felt a pull in him, urging him towards space. But there was nothing he could do now. His only way back had been destroyed. His only remnant of his home, his family.
Tears welled in the corners of Purpled’s eyes. He quickly wiped them away. He was strong, stronger than nothing but a long forgotten memory.
“Hey Purpled!” Quackity greeted with a warm smile, leaning against the rail next to Purpled. “What’s up? What’re you doing up here so late?”
“Thinking, I suppose.” Purpled answer honestly, no hesitation in his voice.
Quackity gave a nod, gazing over his city. “This is a good place to think. Nice and quiet.” The conversation died there, both of them looking off into the distance. Quackity at his casinos and neon, Purpled up at the sky, stars barely visible through the light pollution.
Ten or so minutes passed, Purpled’s mind empty and alert. “Can I ask what’s on your mind?” Quackity said, turning to face Purpled head on.
Purpled’s shoulders slumped as he returned Quackity’s stare. “I just,” He caught himself. Purpled was prideful, in himself and his abilities. He wouldn’t let himself be vulnerable in front of the person who used him as a tool and decimated his only connection to home. “Nothing.” He said firmly. “I just think I might be leaving soon.”
Quackity was shocked, it was evident on his face. His mouth jarringly agape. "I'm sorry, you what?" He spoke calmly, clearly still in control.
"You heard me. I don't want to be part of this anymore." Purpled said firmly. His gaze never wavered away from Quackity's. He had to remain strong.
"You can't just leave." Quackity scoffed. Quackity turned, looking back out to Las Nevadas, something about him seeming more confident, more cocky than before. "Let's just say if you did leave, where would you even go?"
Purpled gripped the railing harder. "I'd just make a new home. I don't need this place."
"True, you can build a house anywhere." Quackity spoke with a fond smile, shaking his head. "But if you’re all alone, isolated from everyone on the server, what’s the point? You’d be insignificant, pretty much dead. And when everyone on this server kills one another, you’ll be the only one left. Completely clueless to it all because you choose to run away and in effect die.” There was a tense silence as Purpled stared at Quackity, taken aback. His knuckles went white with how he was strangling the railing. “You don't want to die, do you Purpled?”
“No. I don’t. I just,” Purpled hated how he felt cool tears fall from his eyes. He hated how emotional he was being. He hated how Quackity pulled him into a hug. He hated how desperately he clung to Quackity. He hated how that was the first time he’d been hugged in years.
::
After his conversation with Quackity, Purpled realized he would need a place to go once he escaped Las Nevadas. His mind immediately went to Punz, the man who he saw as an older brother. He'd surely taken him in, no questions asked. The problem was that it wasn't a guaranteed solution. Punz was extremely difficult to contact. Even if he'd been on the server, it was impossible to find his location. Purpled figured the chat might help, but after several messages left unanswered, he gave up on the idea.
Back to the drawing board, Purpled had to come up with someone else. He could contact Hannah, he and her were at the least acquaintances back in Hypixel, but after the Red Banquet, Purpled was hesitant to contact anyone associated with the egg. Who to trust, his mind wandered from relationship to relationship. Eventually, he settled on one person.
Tommy was far too quick to trust, an obvious, and frankly dangerous habit to have. However, Purpled could use it to his favor. He'd befriend Tommy and then move in with him. Both of them knew what it felt like to be manipulated, to be regarded as nothing. How hard could it be to make friends with TommyInnit?
::
"Hey Tommy." Purpled waved at the blonde who was kneeled outside his hobbit hole.
Tommy turned away from his carrot garden to see Purpled stood there, armorless and relaxed. "Hey Purpled." He said cautiously, setting down his trowel. "What can I do for you?"
Purpled was sure to approach slowly and calmly before taking a seat a few feet away from Tommy. "Nothing. Just came to hang out with you, I guess." Purpled started to pick at the grass. "If you don't mind, I mean. I can go."
Tommy quickly shook his head, taking a seat as well. "No, you're fine. I was actually getting kind of lonely anyways." He said with a nervous chuckle. "So, um, yeah…" A few awkward seconds of silence passed. "How are you?"
"I'm good." Purpled said dryly. He glanced at Tommy. Tommy met Purpled's eyes and smiled brightly. This was going better than he thought it would. He expected Tommy to be extremely defensive and loud, like he had always been, but this Tommy was desperate for Purpled's attention. "Do you want any help with your farm?" Purpled offered, moving a bit closer to Tommy.
"I, um, sure!" Tommy handed Purpled a trowel and the pair got to work, chatting about anything, from the stars and Purpled's home planet, to Tommy's son, Shroud, to what shade of red was Tommy's favorite and what shade of purple was Purpled's. The small felt natural in a way Purpled hadn't experienced in years, and he loved it.
::
The next time Purpled came around was when Tommy and Tubbo we're hanging out. They had been walking down the Prime Path when Purpled passed them. "Purpled!"
Purpled turned around and grinned. "Hey Tommy, Tubbo."
"Hey! You wanna hang with me and Tubbo?" Tommy asked with a smile. "We're just walking down the Prime Path."
"Sure." Purpled walked at Tommy's left, Tubbo at his right. The trio wandered around the centeral part of the SMP, farming primes and just chatting.
After a while, Tubbo decided to be mischievous. "Let's be mischievous." He said. "Let's rob some people."
"Oh, bit Tubbo," Tommy grabbed his bestie's shoulder. "We shouldn't steal from people. It's wrong."
"Aw, but it's fuuuun…" Tubbo pouted. "Purpled! Should we rob some people?"
Purpled was shocked by Tubbo's bluntness, but smiled calmly. "Sure. Sounds like fun." Then, much to Tommy's displeasure, the thievery ensued.
::
Tubbo pouted, leaning over a fence. "Ugh, why'd Tommy have to run away?" Tommy had left the pair after a few hours of robbery, far too worried they'd somehow get exiled again. Purpled didn't mind, he understood where the boy was coming from. Now he and Tubbo we're just chilling out a little away from the central SMP. "What're we supposed to do now?"
Purpled shrugged, laying down in the grass. "It's getting kinda late. I think I might have to head back to Nevadas soon."
"Awww, not you too!" Tubbo whined, taking a seat next to Purpled. "Let's do something first. "Wanna bake cookies?"
"Sure."
They spent the rest of the evening baking not only cookies, but cake too. When Purpled returned to Las Nevadas late into the night, no one had even realized he'd been missing.
::
Tommy had invited Purpled over to hang out with him and Ranboo. Purpled wasn't completely sure what to expect, but nonetheless he was excited. It felt like he and Tommy, and even Tubbo, were friends, and he was ready to add Ranboo to that list.
Purpled arrived in Snowchester, as per Tommy's request, and knocked on the door to Tubbo's house. In a moment it swung open. "Hey Purp!" Tommy greeted loudly, giving Purpled a warm hug. "I'm glad you could come."
Purpled returned the hug gladly. "Of course." He said simply before pulling away.
Tommy backed away, letting Purpled in. "Ranboo's upstairs, he's with Shroud and Micheal." Tommy spoke quickly, heading for the ladder on the other side of the cabin. "We're just hangin' out, watching the kids."
Purpled followed Tommy up the ladder. "That's alright. But, who's Micheal?" He asked, pulling himself onto the second floor before losing the trap door. Looking back, he was met with the sight of a small zombie-piglin seated at a table with Shroud, the pair focused on scribbling with crayons.
"Micheal's mine and Tubbo's son." Purpled jumped, looking to his left. Ranboo sat at another, larger, table. "Hi." He said simply with a wave. "Nice to see you."
Purpled smiled an awkward grin, standing up. "Hey." Tommy led Purpled over to the table, taking a seat next to Ranboo. "I didn't know either of you had kids."
Ranboo shrugged, turning his attention to the children. "Yeah, well Micheal's mine and Tubbo's son. We've had him for a while." He said, looking at Micheal with an affectionate smile. "But yeah.. Oh, and thanks for watching them with Tommy and I!" Ranboo chirped, looking back at Purpled.
"Oh, yeah, it's no problem." Purpled said cooly.
The hours passed, Micheal and Shroud running around and playing. Meanwhile, Tommy and Ranboo chatted, Purpled keeping more to himself than anything. Every once in a while, Ranboo or Tommy would ask him a question. Eventually he got comfortable enough and joined the conversation.
When he left, Purpled felt confident enough to say he had three friends.r
::
Purpled had never been to a sleepover before. He expected he'd just hang out with Tubbo, Tommy, and Ranboo for maybe an hour then they'd all go to bed. When the clock struck 2:00am, Purpled was confident in saying this was the best night of his life in recent memory.
The four of them hadn't done much the entire night other than talk. About Snowchester and L'Manburg, about their kids, about knitting and gardening and building. Purpled just sat and listened, he had always been a good listener. Then, he was prompted with a question. "What's living in Las Nevadas like anyways?"
Purpled couldn't exactly remember which one of his friends asked him that, but it didn't really matter. He felt the rush of loneliness he got whenever he thought of the country. The solitude.
"It's fine. I guess." Purpled answered after a second of silence. "It's just-" Purpled was going to spill his feelings again. And sure, it would be to friends, but still, is that something he really wanted to do? Was he actually comfortable opening up to them?
After a lot of hesitation, Purpled spoke. "I-It can be lonely." He mumbled. "Really lonely." He felt someone put a hand on his shoulder.
"A-And it's not even like I want to be there anyways. I was fine here, in my UFO. And then Quackity- he blew it up!" Purpled could feel hot tears flow down his cheeks. Why? He wasn't sad, he was fine.
"And then told me to join him and where else was I supposed to go?" Someone pulled him into a hug.
"There's nowhere I can even go…" Purpled mumbled out, a put in his stomach setting in.
"Purpled," Ranboo spoke calmly. "Do you want to stay with us? You don't have to stay in Las Nevadas."
"Yeah!" Tubbo cheered, keeping his voice low. "You can stay in our home in Snowchester. Tommy practically lives there already."
Tommy laughed awkwardly. "Yeah, that could be fun. What do you think, Purpled?"
After more hesitation, Purpled answered. "I think that'd be great."
::
Late in the night, when Las Nevadas was at its quietest, Purpled slipped away into the night.
He ran and ran and ran, jumping into the nether. And in a matter of minutes, he was panting outside Snowchester, making his way to Tubbo's house. As soon as he stepped into the door, Tommy, Tubbo, and Ranboo welcomed him with open arms and a warm embrace.
It took three weeks for anyone to notice Purpled's disappearance from Las Nevadas. He didn't care though. He was finally home.