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Bdubs has a secret.
It’s nothing bad, really, and he’s sure all of the other hermits would accept him if he ever told them, it’s just… combined with his height and large eyes, he didn’t want them to look at him differently.
See, Bdubs is a cat hybrid.
No one else knows about this, except Scar, of course, because they’re besties and tell each other everything, and Scar is also a cat hybrid, but other than that no one knows.
And Bdubs will do everything in his power to keep it that way.
He used to tuck his ears away using his headband, and just shoved his tail down the leg of his pants. This was fine, at least for a while, but it was… uncomfortable. Bdubs was infinitely grateful for his new hoodie. It was large enough to cover everything comfortably, and he could fit so many cool rocks in the spacious pockets. Plus, it was quite fashionable, in Bdubs’ own opinion.
Everything was working out just fine. No one was suspicious of him, taking his wardrobe change as just him being excited for the new moss blocks, which, well, that too. Bdubs spent his time working on his own projects, the big eyes shopping district, the horse course, and, his personal favorite, the perfect redstone service shop.
He was checking the stock now, eagerly hoping that someone, anyone finally ordered something this time. He opened the barrel, holding his breath, trying not to get his hopes up, and…
There was a piece of paper inside. Someone had left a request.
Someone had left a request! Bdubs was practically vibrating with joy. He quickly snatched the piece of paper, reading what was written on it in blocky chicken scratch.
Etho - Sugarcane farm .
Seeing Etho’s name made Bdubs’ heart jump into his throat and bees start swarming in his stomach. Etho wanted Bdubs to do redstone… for him! For Etho! Bdubs was… excited? No, nervous. Nervous and excited. Nervoucited? It didn’t matter. What mattered was that he was going to make a sugar cane farm for Etho.
He clutched the paper closer to his chest. What if the farm wasn’t good enough? What if Etho didn’t like it? Bdubs shook his head to dispel these thoughts. No, it was going to be good enough. Better than good enough. It was going to be the best redstone machine Bdubs had ever built!
It was going to be perfect.
It wasn’t perfect.
Bdubs had been working for hours, and he still couldn’t get the stupid machine to work. It was STUPID! he had thought it out so thoroughly! Why wasn’t it working?!
He wiped his sleeve across his forehead. What with working so hard lifting all these heavy blocks and components in this hot biome, he was sweating buckets. He sighed. It sure would be nice to take off his hoodie right now, but…
He turned his head to his left, and then his right. Technically, there was no one around… and he was in the middle of nowhere… hardly anyone ever came over here, surely it would be fine, just for a couple minutes.
Having made his decision, he pulled the hoodie over his head, leaving his white undershirt underneath. His fluffy brown ears perked up instantly, free from the confines of the moss. His tail uncurled as he stretched, taking in the feeling of air against his bare arms. It was nice, and he already felt a lot better.
With newfound determination, he tied the hoodie around his waist and lost himself in his work once more.
Etho was shopping at boatem, perusing the many carriages of the G-train. Iskall said he was addicted, but Etho disagreed. He didn’t have a problem. He could stop whenever he wanted. He just had to take advantage of all these sweet deals. Iskall would understand, when they saw how well stocked the base was.
He was just perusing the variety of wool available when he noticed the sun starting to set. It looked awfully pretty, casting all the impressive builds and landscaping in a soft golden glow. He hardly got to enjoy it, though, because all too suddenly it was day time once again. His communicator buzzed in his coat pocket.
BDoubleO100 went to sleep. Sweet Dreams!
Etho chuckled. Classic Bdubs, always right on time for sleeping the night away. Then he remembered, ‘ oh yeah, I ordered a sugar cane farm from Bdubs. I wonder if he built it yet. ’ He decided he should go check, just in case.
He pocketed his communicator and gathered his shulker boxes before heading to where he had hitched his (unnaturally fast) donkey, having decided to enjoy the lovely paths around the continent rather than walk through the nether.
He climbed onto his mount and smiled, thinking of just who was responsible for those paths.
Bdubs was making great progress! He had figured out what was wrong and fixed it (he put an observer down the wrong way. Figures.) so now it should work perfectly! He was quite proud of his creation. It was unconventional, and certainly not optimized, but it was pretty, it was unique, and it was his.
Etho was going to love this.
Bdubs was loading up the TNT, getting ready to do a quick test run, when he heard the telltale sound of hooves against dirt. Someone’s coming! Quickly Bdubs reached for his hoodie, hands falling to his waist, and, wait, where was it? Where was his hoodie? He could have sworn he’d tied it around his waist, and… oh, no. It must have fallen off when he went to sleep.
Bdubs frantically looked around for where he had left his bed, relaxing as he spotted it, his beloved mossy sweater draping off the side, but then tensing up as he realized it was way over there , all the way at the other side of his machine and then some. Don’t panic, there’s no need to panic, he could still make it, if he’s fast.
He saw Etho and his donkey emerge from the tree line, directly in the line of sight of the bed. There was no way he could make it.
Bdubs was doomed.
Thinking quickly, he dove to hide behind the structure he had just built.
To say Etho was impressed by what he saw was an understatement. It certainly didn’t look like a conventional redstone farm, that’s for sure. He got down from his saddle and led his donkey to a convenient nearby hitching post, giving him a quick pat on the head and a golden carrot, as a treat, because he’s a good boy.
Etho started walking up to the machine, when something caught his eye. Bdubs had left his bed out, which was typical of him, but there was something else, something green draped haphazardly across the blankets. Was that Bdubs’ sweater? He picked it up and tilted his head at it. He wouldn’t just leave it here, unless…
“Bdubs?” Etho called out into the open air, “Bdubs are you here? Where are you?”
He was met by silence, and was about to accept that Bdubs was, in fact, not there, when he heard a clatter, like something had been knocked over, and a barely muffled “dammit!”
Well, that certainly sounded like him. “Bdubs?”
Honestly, he wasn’t fully expecting a reply, but he got one. “Nope! B-Bdubs isn’t here right now!”
Etho walked closer to the machine, inspecting the redstone. “Oh really? That’s a shame. I was gonna tell him about what a great sugarcane farm this is.”
“Wuh- we-well you can’t! Not right now! Come back later!” Came the stuttered reply.
Etho hummed, and turned toward the direction of the voice. “Well why not?”
“Because! Because! Just because! That’s the reason! You can go away now! Buh bye!” Bingo. The voice was just around the corner. Etho had him now. He turned past a nearby post to see Bdubs huddled up against the wall of the structure.
“Hi Bdubs.” Bdubs yelped and jumped about 3 feet into the air. It was actually kind of impressive. His arms flailed before settling in front of him in a defensive stance.
“ETHO! DON’T LOOK AT ME!” He yelled, but it was too late. He’d already seen the fluffy brown ears that sat upon Bdubs’ head of hair, pulled back against his head in surprise.
Etho was sure his eyes were the size of dinner plates. “Bdubs… are those… kitty ears?” Bdubs clapped his hands to his head in a futile attempt to hide them.
“NO! you must be seeing things! Hah! Kitty ears! That’s RIDICULOUS! why would I have kitty ears?” Etho saw something fluffy flick out behind him, the same color as his very soft looking ears.
“Is that a tail?” Bdubs flinched, moving so one arm was wrapped around his head, still not fully obscuring his floofy ears, and one held behind him to try and hide his tail.
“NO! NONONO! THERE’S NOTHING THERE! GO AWAY NOW!”
“Bdubs…” Etho took a step closer, Bdubs took a step back.
“Listen! How about you just forget what you saw here today! This never happened, capiche? Can we agree on that?”
“Hey hey, Bdubs, it’s okay. I promise I won’t tell anyone.” Bdubs relaxed slightly at his words, arms still not coming down from their positions. Etho set the mossy hoodie he was still holding down on one of the nearby acacia trapdoors, reaching out gently to Bdubs. Bdubs tensed up, but made no moves to back away. Etho gently took Bdubs arms and brought them down to rest between them.
Bdubs’ ears and tail flicked nervously, and he wasn’t making eye contact, looking intently down and to the side. A pink flush began to spread over his nose and cheeks.
Etho smiled. “Oh my gosh, Bdubs, you’re so…”
“Don’t say it.”
“So very…”
“Don’t you dare.”
“So excruciatingly…”
“Etho I swear to-“
“ Cute!”
Bdubs groaned dramatically. “ NOO! I am not cute! How dare you! This is an outrage! This is… this is insulting! disrespectful!” Bdubs crossed his arms as he ranted, blush ever present.
Etho chuckled. “So cute.”
Bdubs groaned again and put his face in his hands. ‘ Yeah, There’s no denying it, this is the cutest thing ever.’ Etho decided. Etho put one hand on Bdubs’ shoulder, the other gently easing his hands from his face. “Hey, Bdubs,” Bdubs lowered his hands, and now Etho was lightly cupping his cheek. Bdubs was looking up at him now, his cheeks puffed out and pouting. Etho could die a happy man, right then and there. “You know this doesn’t change anything, right?”
Bdubs furrowed his brows and tilted his head. His ears tilted with it. Etho felt all warm and bubbly inside at the sight. “Really? You… you don’t see me any differently?”
Etho smiled in a way you could see clearly with just his eyes alone. “Nope, you’re still the same funny, creative, talented Bdubs I’ve always known.” Etho could feel the way his cheeks warmed up under his palm.
“But… but…! you called me cute! How is that not viewing me differently?”
Etho chuckled with his whole chest. “Oh, Bdubs,” he said, tilting his head slightly. “I’ve always thought you were cute.”
Bdubs made a noise, somewhere between a whine and a stutter. “Y-you! AUGH!” Bdubs grabbed fistfuls of Ethos' vest, and buried his face in his chest to hide his bright red face. “This is so unfair.” He mumbled against the fabric.
Distantly, Etho wondered if he could feel his own racing heartbeat through the layers of clothes he wore. Etho moved his hands so one rested on the small of Bdubs’ back, and the other on his head, petting the soft hair there. Bdubs cozied into the embrace, and Etho felt so giddy.
“I just…” Bdubs sighed, “It’s stupid, but… I really didn’t want you to find out this way.”
Etho pushed Bdubs back, just enough so he could look him into his eyes again. He furrowed his brows, debating something silently in his head. “Etho?” Bdubs said, concern and confusion in his voice. Finally, Etho made his decision. He gently held Bdubs by the chin, tilting his head up to look at him directly. His other hand left Bdubs’ waist to take the fabric that covered his own face.
Slowly, hesitantly, Etho pulled his mask down. Bdubs gasped quietly . “There…” he said, scarred lips curling up into a shaky but genuine smile. “Now we’re even.”
Bdubs looked absolutely starstruck, looking at Etho, truly looking at Etho, like he had just presented the moon and stars on a silver platter, just for him. Bdubs rested one of his hands against his face, thumb brushing against the old scars and stubble. Etho’s breathing stuttered.
Bdubs exhaled, halfway to a laugh, in pure astonishment. They both leaned forward. “Etho, I…”
BOOM!!
They both jumped at the sound of the explosion, immediately bursting their little bubble. Bdubs looked up to the farm, seeing that the minecarts were going and sugarcane was being collected. He stared, for a moment, then he laughed, once, twice, until he was nearly doubled over in absolute hysterics.
“ IT WORKS! ” He yelled between bouts of laughter. “My farm WORKS! Look at it! Look at it! ha HA!!” Etho couldn’t help it, and also began to laugh and laugh until his sides hurt.
“Bdubs that is-“ he stopped to let out wheezy snickers, “the best sugarcane farm I have ever seen. Wow. ” Bdubs wiped a tear from his eye and looked at Etho with a face splitting grin, and wow Etho really has it bad for him. Just being here, laughing together, made him so, so happy.
If only he could make a moment last forever.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t, and Bdubs’ communicator buzzed audibly from his pants pocket. He took it out and his eyes went wide (wider than they already are, that is) as he read the message. “Oh shoot! I’m late for a meeting with the other big eyes guys!” He looked up at Etho, apologetic. “I… I have to go now.” He said it hesitantly, like he really, really didn’t want to.
“Yeah, yeah no, I understand. You go do your important business things.” Etho nodded, smiling somewhat sadly. Then he remembered the sweatshirt, still hanging precariously off the edge of a nearby trapdoor. He took it and handed it to Bdubs. “I believe this is yours.”
As Bdubs took the mossy sweater from Etho, their fingers brushed, and they could both feel their faces grow a shade more pink. “Thank you.” Bdubs said, and pulled it over his shoulders. He kept the hood down, just for now. He packed away his shulker boxes, taking out his elytra and rockets. He fumbled slightly with the straps, but managed to get them on fine. He turned around and prepared a rocket, looking at Etho over his shoulder. “I… I guess I’ll see you around.”
“You can count on it.” He said, and Bdubs smiled nervously, but genuinely. Full of hope. He had turned his head toward the sky and was just about to take off, but was stopped by Etho’s hand on his shoulder. “Wait, just one more thing.” Bdubs furrowed his brow and tilted his head. Before he could lose his courage, Etho leaned down and gave Bdubs a quick kiss on the corner of his mouth.
Etho leaned back, grinning at Bdubs’ stunned expression. “Thank you for the sugarcane farm.” He said, Then pulled his mask right back up in its usual place over his mouth and nose.
Bdubs just stood there, completely flabbergasted, before his communicator buzzed again; probably angry messages telling him to hurry up and get there already! “A-ah! Welcome! You’re welcome! Yes! Of course! All in a day's work!”
Etho laughed and ruffled Bdubs’ hair before pulling his hood back over his head for him. “Go on, then. You don’t wanna leave them waiting, do you?”
“Right. Right! I’ll see you later Etho! I promise!” And with that, he spread his wings and set off a rocket, soaring off into the sky.
Etho watched him go until he was fully out of render distance, feeling like he was truly on top of the world.